Journal ArticleDOI
Estimating the world's potentially available cropland using a bottom-up approach
Eric F. Lambin,Eric F. Lambin,Holly K. Gibbs,L. Ferreira,Ricardo Grau,Philippe Mayaux,Patrick Meyfroidt,Douglas C. Morton,Thomas Rudel,Ignacio Gasparri,Jacob Munger +10 more
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In this paper, the authors adopt a bottom-up approach by analyzing detailed, fine scale observations with expert knowledge for six countries or regions that are often assumed to include most of potentially available cropland.Abstract:
Previous estimates of the land area available for future cropland expansion relied on global-scale climate, soil and terrain data. They did not include a range of constraints and tradeoffs associated with land conversion. As a result, estimates of the global land reserve have been high. Here we adjust these estimates for the aforementioned constraints and tradeoffs. We define potentially available cropland as the moderately to highly productive land that could be used in the coming years for rainfed farming, with low to moderate capital investments, and that is not under intact mature forests, legally protected, or already intensively managed. This productive land is underutilized rather than unused as it has ecological or social functions. We also define potentially available cropland that accounts for trade-offs between gains in agricultural production and losses in ecosystem and social services from intensified agriculture, to include only the potentially available cropland that would entail low ecological and social costs with conversion to cropland. In contrast to previous studies, we adopt a "bottom-up" approach by analyzing detailed, fine scale observations with expert knowledge for six countries or regions that are often assumed to include most of potentially available cropland. We conclude first that there is substantially less potential additional cropland than is generally assumed once constraints and trade offs are taken into account, and secondly that converting land is always associated with significant social and ecological costs. Future expansion of agricultural production will encounter a complex landscape of competing demands and tradeoffs. © 2013 Elsevier Ltd.read more
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Journal ArticleDOI
Brazil's Soy Moratorium
Holly K. Gibbs,Lisa Rausch,Jacob Munger,Ian Schelly,Douglas C. Morton,Praveen Noojipady,Britaldo Soares-Filho,Paulo Barreto,L. Micol,Nathalie F. Walker +9 more
TL;DR: It is argued that a longer-term commitment is needed to help maintain deforestation-free soy supply chains, as full compliance and enforcement of these regulations is likely years away.
Journal ArticleDOI
Pervasive transition of the Brazilian land-use system
David M. Lapola,Luiz Antonio Martinelli,Carlos A. Peres,Jean Pierre Henry Balbaud Ometto,Manuel Eduardo Ferreira,Carlos A. Nobre,Ana Paula Dutra Aguiar,Mercedes M. C. Bustamante,Manoel Cardoso,Marcos Heil Costa,Carlos Alfredo Joly,Christiane Cavalcante Leite,Paulo Moutinho,Gilvan Sampaio,Bernardo B. N. Strassburg,Bernardo B. N. Strassburg,Ima Célia Guimarães Vieira +16 more
TL;DR: In this article, the authors consider the evolving relationship between land-use change and greenhouse gas emissions in Brazil and argue that strong enforcement of sector-oriented policies and solving long-standing land tenure problems, rather than simply waiting for market self-regulation, are key steps to buffer the detrimental effects of agricultural intensification at the forefront of a sustainable pathway for land use in Brazil.
Journal ArticleDOI
Mapping the world's degraded lands
Holly K. Gibbs,J.M. Salmon +1 more
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors review prominent databases and methodologies used to estimate the area of degraded land, translate these data into a common framework for comparison, and highlight reasons for discrepancies between the numbers.
Journal ArticleDOI
Land pressures, the evolution of farming systems, and development strategies in Africa: A synthesis
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors synthesize how people, markets and governments are responding to rising land pressures in Africa, drawing on key findings from the various contributions in this special issue.
Journal ArticleDOI
Cropland expansion outpaces agricultural and biofuel policies in the United States
TL;DR: This paper found that crop expansion resulted in substantial transformation of the landscape, including conversion of long-term unimproved grasslands and land that had not been previously used for agriculture (cropland or pasture) dating back to at least the early 1970s.
References
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Journal ArticleDOI
Food Security: The Challenge of Feeding 9 Billion People
H Charles J Godfray,John Beddington,I. R. Crute,Lawrence Haddad,David Lawrence,James F. Muir,Jules Pretty,Sherman Robinson,Sandy M Thomas,Camilla Toulmin +9 more
TL;DR: A multifaceted and linked global strategy is needed to ensure sustainable and equitable food security, different components of which are explored here.
Journal ArticleDOI
A Large and Persistent Carbon Sink in the World’s Forests
Yude Pan,Richard Birdsey,Jingyun Fang,Jingyun Fang,Richard A. Houghton,Pekka E. Kauppi,Werner A. Kurz,Oliver L. Phillips,Anatoly Shvidenko,Simon L. Lewis,Josep G. Canadell,Philippe Ciais,Robert B. Jackson,Stephen W. Pacala,A. David McGuire,Shilong Piao,Aapo Rautiainen,Stephen Sitch,Daniel J. Hayes +18 more
TL;DR: The total forest sink estimate is equivalent in magnitude to the terrestrial sink deduced from fossil fuel emissions and land-use change sources minus ocean and atmospheric sinks, with tropical estimates having the largest uncertainties.
Supporting Online Material for A Large and Persistent Carbon Sink in the World's Forests
Yude Pan,Richard A. Birdsey,Jingyun Fang,Richard A. Houghton,Pekka E. Kauppi,Werner A. Kurz,Oliver L. Phillips,Anatoly Shvidenko,Simon L. Lewis,Philippe Ciais,Robert B. Jackson,Stephen W. Pacala,A. David McGuire,Shilong Piao,Aapo Rautiainen,Stephen Sitch,Daniel J. Hayes +16 more
Posted ContentDOI
World agriculture towards 2030/2050: the 2012 revision
TL;DR: In this paper, a re-make of the Interim Report World Agriculture: towards 2030/2050 (FAO, 2006) is presented, which includes a Chapter 4 on production factors (land, water, yields, fertilizers).
Journal ArticleDOI
Global land use change, economic globalization, and the looming land scarcity
Eric F. Lambin,Patrick Meyfroidt +1 more
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors argue that the displacement, rebound, cascade, and remittance effects that are amplified by economic globalization accelerate land conversion, and that sound policies and innovations can reconcile forest preservation with food production.
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