Esther S. Wiegers

Bio: Esther S. Wiegers is an academic researcher from International Potato Center. The author has contributed to research in topics: Land use, land-use change and forestry & Land use. The author has an hindex of 2, co-authored 2 publications receiving 43 citations.

Land Use Intensification and Disintensification in the Upper Cañete Valley, Peru

Abstract: Farmers in the Upper Canete valley have both disintensified and intensified land use. The direction of land use change depends on the production zone in which it takes place. Although land in the distant rainfed agropastoral zone is disintensified through land abandonment and an increase of the fallow period, land in the nearby irrigated agropastoral zone is intensified through more frequent cropping, and the use of high-yielding potato varieties, fertilizers, and pesticides. Simultaneous intensification and disintensification contradicts Boserup's theory of agricultural intensification, which predicts unilinear change for all land use systems within a village territory. Population has decreased in the Upper Cante valley, but this factor alone cannot explain the dynamics of land use. Land use change is also driven by differences and complementarity between production zones, their distance from the villages, and social, economic, and technological change.

Land Use Intensiécation and Disintensiécation in the Upper Canete Valley, Peru

Abstract: Farmers in the Upper Canete valley have both disintensieed and intensieed land use. The direction of land use change depends on the production zone in which it takes place. Although land in the distant rainfed agropastoral zone is disintensieed through land abandonment and an increase of the fallow period, land in the nearby irrigated agropastoral zone is intensieed throughmorefrequent cropping, andtheuseof high-yielding potatovarieties, fertilizers, and pesticides. Simultaneous intensiecation and disintensiecation contradicts Boserup's theory of agricultural intensiecation, which predicts unilinearchange for all land use systems within a village territory.Population has decreased inthe Upper Canetevalley, but thisfactor alone cannot explain the dynamics of land use. Land use change is also driven by differences and complementarity between production zones, their distance from the villages, and social, economic, and technological change.

Abandonment of agricultural land: an overview of drivers and consequences

Abstract: Agricultural activities and their complex effects on nature conservation, and the services that ecosystems deliver to humans are controversial. We present an overview of land abandonment, its driving forces and its consequences for landscape, biodiversity and humans. A descriptive metaanalysis of independently published studies highlighted the fact that the abandonment of agricultural land is a phenomenon mostly driven by socio-economic factors such as immigration into areas where new economic opportunities are offered to rural people. Ecological drivers such as elevation and land mismanagement leading to soil erosion are of secondary importance. We identified the major problems related to abandonment of agricultural land and quantified their relative importance. In order of decreasing importance, they were biodiversity loss, increase of fire frequency and intensity, soil erosion and desertification, loss of cultural and/or aesthetic values, reduction of landscape diversity and reduction of water provision. The impacts of these problems were not equally relevant in all regions of the world. The abandonment of agricultural land may also benefit humans. The benefits include passive revegetation and active reforestation, water regulation, soil recovery, nutrient cycling and increased biodiversity and wilderness. In a world that is becoming less natural and more intensively exploited by humans, we suggest that (1) farmland must be viewed in a context of multi-functionality to take advantage of ecosystem goods and services, (2) at the global scale, the abandonment of agricultural land is mostly positive for humans and (3) there is a need for the implementation of policies based on the payments for environmental services that encourage human societies to reconcile agricultural use, nature conservation and ecological restoration.

Adoption of agroforestry innovations in the tropics: A review

Abstract: The period since the early 1990s has witnessed an explosion of research on the adoption of agroforestry innovations in the tropics. Much of this work was motivated by a perceived gap between advances in agroforestry science and the success of agroforestry-based development programs and projects. Achieving the full promise of agroforestry requires a fundamental understanding of how and why farmers make long-term land-use decisions and applying this knowledge to the design, development, and ‘marketing’ of agroforestry innovations. This paper reviews the theoretical and empirical literature that has developed during the past decade analyzing agroforestry adoption from a variety of perspectives and identifies needed future research. Much progress has been made, especially in using binary choice regression models to assess influences of farm and household characteristics on adoption and in developing ex-ante participatory, on-farm research methods for analyzing the potential adoptability of agroforestry innovations. Additional research-needs that have been identified include developing a better understanding of the role of risk and uncertainty, insights into how and why farmers adapt and modify adopted systems, factors influencing the intensity of adoption, village-level and spatial analyses of adoption, the impacts of disease such as AIDS and malaria on adoption, and the temporal path of adoption.

Globalization and Land-Use Transitions in Latin America

Abstract: Fil: Grau, Hector Ricardo. Universidad Nacional de Tucuman. Facultad de Ciencias Naturales e Instituto Miguel Lillo; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Cientificas y Tecnicas. Centro Cientifico Tecnologico Conicet - Tucuman; Argentina

Guest Editorial, part of a Special Feature on The influence of human demography and agriculture on natural systems in the Neotropics Globalization and Land-Use Transitions in Latin America

Abstract: Current socioeconomic drivers of land-use change associated with globalization are producing two contrasting land-use trends in Latin America. Increasing global food demand (particularly in Southeast Asia) accelerates deforestation in areas suitable for modern agriculture (e.g., soybean), severely threatening ecosystems, such as Amazonian rain forests, dry forests, and subtropical grasslands. Additionally, in the coming decades, demand for biofuels may become an emerging threat. In contrast, high yields in modern agricultural systems and rural-urban migration coupled with remittances promote the abandonment of marginal agricultural lands, thus favoring ecosystem recovery on mountains, deserts, and areas of poor soils, while improving human well-being. The potential switch from production in traditional extensive grazing areas to intensive modern agriculture provides opportunities to significantly increase food production while sparing land for nature conservation. This combination of emerging threats and opportunities requires changes in the way the conservation of Latin American ecosystems is approached. Land-use efficiency should be analyzed beyond the local-based paradigm that drives most conservation programs, and focus on large geographic scales involving long-distance fluxes of products, information, and people in order to maximize both agricultural production and the conservation of environmental services.

Global change and the intensification of agriculture in the tropics

Abstract: z Bridging understanding of local environmental change with regional and global patterns of land-use and land-cover change (LUCC) remains a key goal and challenge for our understanding of global environmental change. This meta-analysis attempts to bridge local and regional scales of LUCC by demonstrating the ways in which previously published case studies can be compared and used for a broader regional synthesis in the tropics. In addition to providing results from a meta-analysis, this paper suggests ways to make future case studies more widely comparable.