Exploring the effects of drastic institutional and socio-economic changes on land system dynamics in Germany between 1883 and 2007

Human appropriation of net primary production in Bangladesh, 1700–2100

The human appropriation of net primary production (HANPP) is an integrated socioecological indicator of the intensity of land use. HANPP is associated with changes in global biogeochemical cycles of carbon, water, nitrogen and other substances as well as in ecosystem functions, services and biodiversity. Understanding patterns in HANPP is therefore important for the integrated analysis of the global land system. Attempts to explain spatial patterns of HANPP need to take both socioeconomic and natural factors as well as their interaction into account. In order to contribute to the understanding of global geographical patterns of HANPP, we discuss here the statistical analysis of a global national-level data set that includes data on HANPP and its components as well as selected potential determinants of HANPP for the year 2000. This statistical analysis is complemented with a discussion of findings from long-term country-level case studies conducted by ourselves and our students. We find that HANPP is higher in naturally more productive countries. Population density emerges as the most powerful factor determining HANPP per unit area and even has a strong influence on national-level patterns in per-capita HANPP. The interrelation between HANPP and economic growth or development is complex. On the one hand, growing affluence is associated with richer diets and other consumption patterns that tend to drive up HANPP, but on the other hand, economic growth is also associated with growing biomass trade as well as technological innovations that can help to reduce the amount of HANPP caused per unit of biomass consumption. While drawing some preliminary conclusions from our analysis, we also underline the necessity for further research

Mapping human appropriation of net primary production in agroecosystems in the Heihe River Basin, China

Applying the Human Appropriation of Net Primary Production framework to map provisioning ecosystem services and their relation to ecosystem functioning across the European Union

Tropical forests support core biological, hydrological and socioeconomic functions essential to life on earth. An assessment based on the Human Appropriation of Net Primary Production (HANPP) could help reduce exploitation of these forests, increasing their adaptive capacity and lessening their vulnerability to losses of Net Primary Productivity (NPP). Here we apply HANPP to the study area, based on Land Use Impact variability between the forest and contiguous roads and plantations by application of Geographical Information Systems of Protected Area Tools. We used the human activity index and biomass extraction from forest to study the effects of population pressure. The final land use impact map showed that the largest area of forest land (37 %) is now in urban and agricultural use, and that these areas are located within 0–3 km of the forest land. NPP with human intervention showed, total NPP of the forest decreased by 7.4 %, from 104.4 to 96.6 gCm−2 month−1. This study developed a new HANPP model and enhanced the usefulness of HANPP indicators by demonstrating the impact of human activity inside the forest. Because NPP changes most in higher–productivity areas, suitable policies should be enforced to avoid further human interference in the area.

An integrated method to quantify human appropriation of net primary production in grasslands of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau

It is crucial to decouple and coordinate human consumption and its environmental pressure for achieving sustainable development. As an important aspect of United Nations Sustainable Development Goal (SDG12), sustainability on material consuming is still in its early stages of research. To address the research gap in sustainable consumption of vegetation net primary productivity (NPP), this study analyzed the spatio-temporal dynamics of human consumption and environmental pressure in the Yangtze River Economic Zone (YREZ) using consumption-based HANPP (cHANPP) and Human Appropriation of Net Primary Production (HANPP) as indicators. Later, we measured their decoupling relationship using Tapio decoupling approach. We found that distribution of HANPP and cHANPP were regionally separated, with the former mainly concentrated in the middle and upper reaches provinces, while the latter concentrated in the lower reach provinces. From 2004 to 2019, the relationship between HANPP and cHANPP changed from strong negative decoupling to weak decoupling in the YREZ. Furthermore, the relationship was differed among different regions. As a whole, developing regions showed a weak decoupling state, experiencing an increase in environmental pressure (i.e., HANPP) alongside increased human consumption (i.e., cHANPP). In contrast, developed regions showed a strong decoupling state, experiencing a decrease in environmental pressure (i.e., HANPP) alongside increased human consumption (i.e., cHANPP). Our study highlights that different countermeasures should be formulated by regions according to their own situation to realize sustainable regional development.

The Tana Delta, on the east coast of Kenya near Somalia, comprises riverine mangrove forests, wetlands and rangelands and is home to a range of indigenous pastoralist, farmer and fisher communities, whose traditional multi-user livelihood strategies have helped preserve exceptional local biodiversity. This study assesses conflicts over biomass through an analysis of Human Appropriation of Net Primary Production (HANPP), an indicator used by system ecologists that quantifies human-induced changes on the productivity and harvest of biomass flows. HANPP is calculated by seeing how much of the net primary production (NPP) of biomass flows created through solar energy are appropriated by human activity, and how much is left in the ecosystems for other species. In this article we introduce calculations of the HANPP in political ecology by studying not only the distribution of biomass between humans and non-humans but also (and this is the main point) between different groups or social classes of humans. We also ask what alliances are being made to protect biodiversity and keep livelihoods intact. In a sugar cane plantation economy, biomass production and the proportion appropriated by humans may increase, the Orma pastoralists and the Pokomo farmers would be dispossessed, less biomass would be available for local 'wild' biodiversity, and a much larger proportion of the NPP would be exported as sugar or ethanol.Key words: Human appropriation of biomass; bioeconomy; biodiversity; property rights; pastoralists; sugar cane; wetlands.

land economic problems of 'villages in the city' affect harmonious development of urban and rural areas seriously. It is essential to plan land use of 'villages in the city' effectively and change the problem that land utilization rate is low to protect farmers' benefits and promote harmonious development of the society. For this, this thesis explores land use of 'villages in the city' in the aspects of policy and planning and makes the government reach a consensus with farmers in the aspect of urban village renovation.

The drylands in northern China are expected to face dramatic land system change in the context of socioeconomic development and environmental conservation. Recent studies have addressed changes of land cover with socioeconomic development in the drylands in northern China. However, the changes in land use intensity and the potential role of environmental conservation measures have yet to be adequately examined. Given the importance of land management intensity to the ecological conditions and regional sustainability, our study projected land system change in Hohhot city in the drylands in northern China from 2013 to 2030. Here, land systems are defined as combinations of land cover and land use intensity. Using the CLUMondo model, we simulated land system change in Hohhot under three scenarios: a scenario following historical trends, a scenario with strong socioeconomic and land use planning, and a scenario focused on achieving environmental conservation targets. Our results showed that Hohhot is likely to experience agricultural intensification and urban growth under all three scenarios. The agricultural intensity and the urban growth rate were much higher under the historical trend scenario compared to those with more planning interventions. The dynamics of grasslands depend strongly on projections of livestock and other claims on land resources. In the historical trend scenario, intensively grazed grasslands increase whereas a large amount of the current area of grasslands with livestock converts to forest under the scenario with strong planning. Strong conversion from grasslands with livestock and extensive cropland to semi-natural grasslands was estimated under the conservation scenario. The findings provide an input into discussions about environmental management, planning and sustainable land system design for Hohhot.

The continuous growth of the economy and population have promoted increasing consumption of natural resources, and raised concerns regarding the upper limits of the terrestrial ecosystems with biomass accessible for humanity. Here, human appropriation of net primary production (HANPP) was employed to assess the influence of human activities on terrestrial net primary production (NPP), and a detailed method was introduced to simulate the magnitude and trends of HANPP in the Yangtze River Delta. The results showed that the total HANPP of the Yangtze River Delta increased from 102.3 Tg C yr−1 to 142.2 Tg C yr−1, during 2005–2015, with an average of 121.3 Tg C yr−1. NPP changes induced by harvest (HANPPharv) made the dominant contribution of 79.9% to the total HANPP, and the increase of HANPPharv in cropland was the main driver of total HANPP growth, which was significantly correlated with the improvement in agricultural production conditions, such as total agricultural machinery power and effective irrigation area. The proportion of HANPP ranged from 59.3% to 72.4% of potential NPP during 2005–2015 in the Yangtze River Delta, and distinguishable differences in the proportions were found among the four provinces in the Yangtze River Delta. Shanghai had the largest proportion of 84.3%, while Zhejiang had the lowest proportion of 32.0%.

Mountain agroecosystems deliver essential ecosystem services to society but are prone to climate change as well as socio-economic pressures, making multi-functional land systems increasingly central to sustainable mountain land use policy. Agroforestry, the combination of woody vegetation with crops and/or livestock, is expected to simultaneously increase provisioning and regulating ecosystem services, but knowledge gaps concerning trade-offs exist especially in temperate industrialized and alpine regions. Here, we quantify the aboveground carbon (C) dynamics of a hypothetical agroforestry implementation in the Austrian long-term socio-ecological research region Eisenwurzen from 2020 to 2050. We develop three land use scenarios to differentiate conventional agriculture from an immediate and a gradual agroforestry implementation, integrate data from three distinct models (Yield-SAFE, SECLAND, MIAMI), and advance the socio-ecological indicator framework Human Appropriation of Net Primary Production (HANPP) to assess trade-offs between biomass provision and carbon sequestration. Results indicate that agroforestry strongly decreases HANPP because of a reduction in biomass harvest by up to − 47% and a simultaneous increase in actual net primary production by up to 31%, with a large amount of carbon sequestered in perennial biomass by up to 3.4 t C ha-1 yr-1. This shows that a hypothetical transition to agroforestry in the Eisenwurzen relieves the agroecosystem from human-induced pressure but results in significant trade-offs between biomass provision and carbon sequestration. We thus conclude that while harvest losses inhibit large-scale implementation in intensively used agricultural regions, agroforestry constitutes a valuable addition to sustainable land use policy, in particular when affecting extensive pastures and meadows in alpine landscapes.

In the coming decades, there will be a global increase in demand for biomass and in advocating GHG emission removal technology and practices. In the agriculture and forestry context, intensification of land use is the most promising solution—together with processing efficiency—in balancing consumption, rated as human appropriation of net primary production (HANPP), with Net Primary Production (NPP) from atmospheric CO2 fertilization. Forest plantations, croplands, cultivated pastures, lianas, palms and other secondary vegetation have shown yield gains from CO2 fertilization, while native forest (trees) experience short-lived increases in growth rates and are out-competed by fast-growing components—secondary vegetation. There is evident path of degradation in non-managed, native tropical forests fueled by atmospheric CO2 fertilization. Following such BAU scenario, tropical forests would experience important dwindling in tree cover on a temporal scale. An alternative IFM scenario is proposed combining contemporary silviculture techniques, adapted land use intensification and HWP increase. This would contribute additional atmospheric CO2 removals, certifiable as CDR goods able to generate carbon credits and financial incentive for cultivation of improved native tree species. These CDR credits can be included in tropical countries’ NDC and presented at UNFCCC as an ITMO for fighting global climate change.

Accurately assessing the planetary boundary for China’s functional biosphere integrity is constrained by the scarcity of high-precision agricultural land-use data. To address this limitation, we reconstructed China’s historical cropping patterns based on our recently developed 1-km crop harvest area dataset and used these inputs to drive the dynamic global vegetation model LPJmL, enabling spatially explicit assessments of China’s functional biosphere integrity since the industrial period. We quantified the Human Appropriation of Net Primary Production (HANPP) and an ecological disruption metric (EcoRisk) to characterize the spatiotemporal evolution of functional biosphere integrity and its deviation from the Holocene baseline. We further identified China-specific planetary boundary thresholds and assessed the spatial heterogeneity of transgression patterns in terms of functional biosphere integrity. Our results indicated that the Huang-Huai-Hai Region and the Middle-Lower Yangtze Region experienced persistently high risks of boundary transgression, while Northeast and Southern China regions transitioned from a safe operating space to high-risk states during the mid-to-late 20th century. Notably, while HANPP has stabilized or declined in response to recent ecological policies, EcoRisk remains at a critically high level. These findings provide a valuable reference for assessing biosphere integrity in China and offer a framework for translating planetary boundary thresholds to regional scales.

This paper focuses on the use of net primary productivity (NPP) as a measure of sustainable management in the Mississippi and Ebro deltas. Temporal changes in NPP were quantified for these two deltas based on the aerial coverage of different habitat types. Human appropriation of net primary productivity (HANPP) was used as a measure of direct human use of deltaic productivity. In both deltas, NPP has declined since 1900 due to a high level of HANPP in the Ebro and wetland loss in the Mississippi. In the Mississippi, NPP declined from 2500 g·m−2·yr−1 in 1900 to 2000 g·m−2·yr−1 in 1990, with a decline to 1750 g·m−2·yr−1 predicted by 2050. In the Ebro, total system NPP has increased from 700 to 1000 g·m−2·yr−1 due to subsidized agricultural production, mostly of rice. High HANPP of 35% reduces remaining NPP to 600 g·m−2·yr−1. The natural energies and anthropogenic subsidies that maintain natural and human-modified deltaic ecosystems are analyzed. Elimination or reduction of important pulsing cycles has led to environmental deterioration and higher economic costs and necessitates high levels of subsidies. Incorporating natural energies is the best way to manage deltas sustainably. The use of wetlands for wastewater treatment and river diversions are presented as examples.