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Use Systems (use + system)

Distribution by Scientific Domains
Life Sciences50%

Kinds of Use Systems

  • land use system
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    Selected Abstracts

    Trading Land Development Rights under a Planned Land Use System: The "Zhejiang Model"

    CHINA AND WORLD ECONOMY, Issue 1 2009
    Hui Wang
    Q15; Q24; R52; R58 Abstract China's state planned land use system, including regulations such as setting planned quotas for land use, basic cropland preservation, and pursuing a balance between the conversion of arable land into non-agricultural use and the supplement of new agricultural land, has substantially constrained the economic growth of industrial provinces in China. This article explores the innovative reforms adopted by Zhejiang Province through land development rights (LDR) transfer within a locality and LDR trading across localities. We argue that there is a "Zhejiang model of LDR transferring and trading," which, we believe, has significant implications not only for fostering an efficiency-enhancing market for land development rights and agricultural land preservation, but also for optimal use of land and a more balanced regional development. One important policy issue relating to China's rural land system is that under China's land requisition system, farmers are usually under compensated for urban land-taking. [source]

    Carbon sequestration under Miscanthus: a study of 13C distribution in soil aggregates

    GCB BIOENERGY, Issue 5 2009
    MARTA DONDINI
    Abstract The growing of bioenergy crops has been widely suggested as a key strategy in mitigating anthropogenic CO2 emissions. However, the full mitigation potential of these crops cannot be assessed without taking into account their effect on soil carbon (C) dynamics. Therefore, we analyzed the C dynamics through four soil depths under a 14-year-old Miscanthus plantation, established on former arable land. An adjacent arable field was used as a reference site. Combining soil organic matter (SOM) fractionation with 13C natural abundance analyses, we were able to trace the fate of Miscanthus -derived C in various physically protected soil fractions. Integrated through the whole soil profile, the total amount of soil organic carbon (SOC) was higher under Miscanthus than under arable crop, this difference was largely due to the input of new C. The C stock of the macroaggregates (M) under Miscanthus was significantly higher than those in the arable land. Additionally, the C content of the micro-within macroaggregates (mM) were higher in the Miscanthus soil as compared with the arable soil. Analysis of the intramicroaggregates particulate organic matter (POM) suggested that the increase C storage in mM under Miscanthus was caused by a decrease in disturbance of M. Thus, the difference in C content between the two land use systems is largely caused by soil C storage in physically protected SOM fractions. We conclude that when Miscanthus is planted on former arable land, the resulting increase in soil C storage contributes considerably to its CO2 mitigation potential. [source]

    The Assessment of Land Resources: Achievements and New Challenges

    GEOGRAPHICAL RESEARCH, Issue 2 2002
    Donald A. Davidson
    It is surprising that despite all the pleas and policies regarding the development of sustainable land use systems, there is still considerable ignorance regarding the nature and significance of land resources. This paper traces the development and achievements of land evaluation during the 20th century, with particular reference to soils. The most active period was between 1950 and around 1980 with the development of soil and land capability surveys, methodological advances initiated with the FAO Framework for Land Evaluation, and regional land resource assessments. Thus there were considerable achievements in land evaluation by the early 1980s, and subsequently there have been important advances in the subject through the application of GIS, spatial analysis, modelling and fuzzy set algebra. Since the late 1990s there has been a phenomenal rise in interest in soil quality assessment. Considerable debate has focussed on definition, and methods of assessment and monitoring. The latter part of this paper discusses the major challenges to the development and application of land evaluation. The inadequacy of much soil survey data in terms of variables, quality, spatial coverage and scale is emphasised. Also, there is a continuing need to highlight the centrality of land resource issues in any attempt to develop sustainable land use systems. [source]

    Bush encroachment under three contrasting land-use practices in a mesic South African savanna

    AFRICAN JOURNAL OF ECOLOGY, Issue 2009
    B. J. Wigley
    Abstract This study determined the effects of land-use practice had on the rate and extent of bush encroachment in a mesic savanna in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Changes in woody cover were measured for 1 km2 sites in areas under communal, commercial and conservation land-use systems for the period between 1937 and 2000. Land users from each area were interviewed to gain the histories of each area and to determine how the changes in woody cover had impacted them and whether anything was being done to counteract the spread of trees and shrubs on their land. Bush encroachment occurred across all three of the land-use types in the 67-year period between 1937 and 2000. The results showed that land-use practice had enormous impacts on the process of bush encroachment. The communal site showed a decrease in grass (21%) and tree (5%) cover and an increase in shrub cover (13%). At the commercial site, there was a considerable decrease in grass cover (46%) and moderate increase in shrub cover (10%) and a massive increase in tree cover (36%). The area under conservation showed a substantial decrease in grass cover (47%), a slight decrease in shrub cover (19%) and a massive increase in tree cover (66%). The perceived causes of these changes were fairly similar amongst the different land users. The changes were mostly not perceived to be a problem for the communal land users. The main advantages mentioned were increased woody resources for building and firewood and increased browse availability. The commercial and conservation land users perceived the changes to have significant negative connotations including the loss of grazing land and biodiversity and secondary invasion of encroached areas by alien plant species. Despite these perceptions, very little has been done to combat bush encroachment in the commercial and conservation land use systems. [source]

    Land Transitions in the Tropics: Going Beyond the Case Studies

    BIOTROPICA, Issue 1 2010
    Marķa Uriarte
    ABSTRACT Estimates of the percent of Earth's land surface that has either been transformed or degraded by human activity range between 39 and 50 percent, with agriculture accounting for the vast majority of these changes. Although much of the focus of research on land use and cover change in the tropics has been on deforestation, ongoing socioeconomic changes both locally and globally have made land transitions in the tropics extremely fluid. In addition, feedbacks between land cover change and human behavior constrain the extent and trajectories of land transitions. The sustainability of land use systems in the tropics depends on an understanding of coupled human,natural systems that can lead to general frameworks for management and prediction. The unprecedented availability of land use/cover data together with ecological data collected at large spatial scales offer exciting opportunities for advancing our understanding of socioecological systems. We rely on six studies of land transitions in the tropics to illustrate some promising approaches and pose critical questions to guide this body of research. [source]