Soil spatial analysis and agricultural land use optimization by using GIS

The extent of anthropogenic land use in watersheds determines the amount of pollutants discharged to streams. This indirectly and directly affects stream water quality and biological health. Most studies have therefore focused on ways to reduce non-point pollution sources to streams from the surrounding land use in watersheds. However, the mechanistic pathways between land use and the deterioration of stream water quality and biological assemblages remain unclear. This study estimated a structural equation model (SEM) representing the impact of agricultural and urban land use on water quality and the benthic macroinvertebrate index (BMI) using IBM AMOS in the Nam-Han river systems, South Korea. The estimated SEM showed that the percent of urban and agricultural land in the watersheds significantly affected both the water quality and the BMI of the streams. Specifically, a higher percent of urban land use had directly increased the biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) and total phosphorus (TP), and deteriorated the BMI of streams. Similarly, higher proportions of agricultural land use had also directly increased the BOD, total nitrogen (TN), and total phosphorus (TP) concentrations, and lowered the BMI of streams. In addition, it was observed that the percent of urban and agricultural land use had indirectly deteriorated the BMI through increased BOD. However, we were not able to observe any significant indirect effect of the percent of urban and agricultural land use through increased nutrients including TN and TP. These results indicate that increased urban and agricultural land use in the watersheds had directly and indirectly affected the physicochemical characteristics and benthic macroinvertebrate communities in streams. Our findings emphasize the need to develop more elaborate environmental management and restoration strategies to improve the water quality and biological status of streams.

The domination of forestland and forest policies by agriculture is a major problem in the U.S. Historically, forestland presented a formidable obstacle that had to be overcome if farming was to take place. Thus, forestland was converted to agricultural land. Forestland was cleared and put into production of agricultural commodities. Therefore, it can be shown that there is a relationship between agricultural land use and forestland use. This relationship has shown forest use to be a weak competitor for agricultural land. This study traces out the historical interactions between agricultural and forestry policies. Trends in agricultural and forestry land use are identified and related to specific policies and/or institutional connections.

This chapter examines the influence of agricultural land uses on the occurrence of landslides in the humid tropical environments of Kigezi highlands in South Western Uganda. Analysis of the agricultural land use practices is a prerequisite to understanding landscape fragility and community resilience to landslide hazards. An analysis of agricultural land use patterns was undertaken through interpretation of Sentinel 2A images for 2016. The imagery data was acquired from the European Space Agency (ESA) Sentinels Scientific Data Hub. Field surveys and investigations were also carried out to establish and map the spatial distribution of landslide hazards. Six agricultural land use categories were identified, namely, annuals, perennials, grazing, fallow, wood lots and agroforestry. Considering the agricultural land use patterns, annual crops are the dominant agricultural land use type spanning 69% of the total area followed; by perennials (13%). Grazing land and fallows covered 11% and 5%, respectively. The study revealed that annual crop land is the most affected agricultural land use category. Out of the 65 landslide scars mapped, 31% occurred on annual crop areas. Wood lot areas experienced the least landslide occurrence (4%). A close spatial distribution of agricultural land use practices and landslide occurrence is discernible. It is recommended that a comprehensive tree planting campaign be carried out in areas prone to landslides since it was inferred that wood lots suffered least from landslides. It is also recommended that farmers be encouraged to restore and manage terrace bunds which could help to check on water velocity and consequently increase on slope stability.

Agricultural land use is essential for prosperity and sustainability of a city. However, the performance of detecting agricultural land use based on vegetation parameters will be substantially reduced when the vegetation changed in type, quantity and condition. This study believed that soil moisture, a fundamental soil parameter, is able to detect agricultural land use. A method was proposed to evaluate city-scale agricultural land use detection capability based on three temporal statistics of soil moisture in both local and global perspectives. Using GF-1 images as a data source, an experiment in Wuhan city was performed to discuss the city-scale agricultural land use detection capability based on soil moisture. Soil moisture were inverted by the modified perpendicular drought index derived from GF-1 images. Under the visual and quantitative comparisons, it was found that the temporal mean of soil moisture performed much better than the temporal standard deviation of soil moisture and the temporal coefficient of variance of soil moisture. The overall accuracy and Kappa coefficient of the temporal mean of soil moisture reach 91.7% and 0.81, respectively, demonstrating its great capability of detecting city-scale agricultural land use. A global analysis is implemented by regression analyses with true zonal agricultural statistics, showing a high global accuracy in agricultural land use detection.

Spatio-temporal evolution of agricultural land use change drivers: A case study from Chalous region, Iran

We analyse historical land use/land cover changes beginning from 1996 to 2013 and apply an agent-based model to simulate potential agricultural land use change scenarios in Uganda. The model incorporates farmers’ decision-making processes into biophysical and socioeconomic factors and uses these to analyse the effect of farmers’ decisions on agricultural land use changes. Geographic information system tools are employed to build spatial relations between farmers and land cover systems. Satellite images are used to represent the initial land cover conditions and serve as observed land cover datasets to calibrate the simulated results. Significant agricultural and grassland cover and urban land uses are experienced in 72 and 36% of the regions, respectively, while wetland land uses increased significantly in 82% of the regions. On the other hand, 91% of the regions experience reductions in forest cover except for Teso region which reports gains of 62% in forest cover. Acholi is the only region (extreme outlier) that reports dramatic gains in wetlands of over 880%. The results of the simulation model are promising, and the model was successful at representing historical and future scenarios of agricultural land use patterns at a national level.

The study assessed agricultural land use change and food security linkage in Nigeria from 1981 to 2023. The study adopted a historical survey design using time series data spanning the period of 43 years from 1981 to 2023.Data on the variables were collected from the archives of World Bank and Food and Agriculture Organization database and analyzed using descriptive statistics such as mean, maximum and minimum with trend graphs, Autoregressive distributed lag model (ARDL) after testing for unit root, granger causality test and Autoregressive Moving Average (ARIMA) model. The Augmented Dickey-Fuller (ADF) test for unit roots indicated that agricultural land use change is integrated of order one, I(1), while food security is integrated of order two, I(2). This suggests that both variables follow a random walk, meaning their future values do not revert to their past values. The results from the Bound test for a long-run relationship between agricultural land use change and food security showed that the F-statistic value of 4.676068 exceeds the upper critical bound of 4.35 at the 5% significance level, confirming a long-run relationship between the two variables. Additionally, the pairwise Granger causality test revealed a significant causal link between agricultural land use change and food security. The trend forecast indicated that over the next decade, agricultural land use change is expected to follow a downward trend, while food security is projected to increase, assuming other factors remain constant. Based on these findings, the study suggests that the government should implement comprehensive food security monitoring systems to track changes in land use and food security indicators. Early warning systems could prove valuable in predicting and addressing potential food security challenges, particularly in light of declining agricultural productivity.

Purpose. The aim of the article is to define land plots as an object of accounting, outline (substantiation, etc.) directions of rational use of agricultural land and formation of financial and economic incentives for land users. Methodology of research. General scientific and special methods were used to achieve the goal: the dialectical method of scientific knowledge – for considering land plots as objects of accounting, researching measures for the rational use of land; analysis – to assess incentives for encouraging land users to conduct effective activities; graphic – for visual display of the obtained results; abstract and logical method – for forming research conclusions and proposals. Findings. Peculiarities of land plots as objects of accounting are studied. The categories of land are separated by economic purpose. The method of accounting of land plots at enterprises is described. The normative legal acts that regulate operations on the accounting of land plots are considered. Directions for improving the accounting of land plots and rational land use are proposed. The main ways of financial and economic encouragement of land users to conduct efficient farming have been determined. Originality. It is proposed to add additional indicators to the form of statistical reporting No. 50-сг “Main economic indicators of the work of agricultural enterprises”. It was determined that the main areas of rational land use should be: development and implementation of national and regional soil protection programs and soil fertility improvement; improvement of the principles of implementation of ecological and landscape land management; improvement of the legislative framework regarding the protection of agricultural lands; efficient use of land by implementing crop rotation and scientifically based land management. Financial and economic incentives for land users are offered, namely: payments for anti-erosion works per 1 ha of agricultural land; reimbursement of costs incurred in the process of carrying out reclamation works; exemption from payment of land tax or rent of land that is under improvement; compensation for lost income from agricultural land due to low productivity; periodic payments for increasing fertility organically; partial exemption from taxes of agricultural producers who are effectively engaged in solving environmental problems; provision of preferential loans to land users for the purchase of special equipment: anti-erosion, land reclamation and other restoration equipment. Practical value. It has been proven that compliance with the above measures of rational use of agricultural land will lead to efficient land use. The results of the research can be used by agricultural enterprises during their economic activities. Key words: accounting of land plots, agricultural land, rational use of land, land ownership, land use, agricultural enterprises.

The drastic depletion of elephant habitats in the dry zone of Sri Lanka has led to intense human-elephant conflict (HEC) in a region that is home to one of the celebrated agrarian settlements in Asia. Known as the tank villages, these settlements have a long history of human coexistence with elephants and other wild animals. However, the escalating incidence of human-elephant fatalities and crop losses to farmers indicates that the mode of interaction between the tank village inhabitants and the elephants has transformed from coexistence to conflict. Both population and agricultural land use pattern dynamics have contributed to agricultural expansion and loss of elephant habitat in the dry zone of Sri Lanka. However, our knowledge of how the agricultural land use pattern dynamics has contributed to the drastic depletion of elephant range in the dry zone is limited. This research attempted to gain insight into the role of agricultural land use dynamics on elephant habitat depletion and HEC in Sri Lanka through the study of Kuttikulama, a dry zone tank village. The data were collected through focus group discussions, key informant interviews and a cross sectional survey. The study revealed that agricultural land use patterns in traditional dry zone villages have changed in major ways over the last few decades. Such changes included the transition from a shifting-cultivation mode of farming to a fixed sequential mode of farming, the expansion of the per capita cropping area, and the disappearance of communality in agricultural land use patterns. The changes were found to have significantly contributed to a shift in human–elephant interactions from relatively harmonious ones to contentious ones. The study reveals the potential of traditional and alternative cropping and land use systems to minimize human-elephant conflict in Sri Lanka.

Agricultural land use in Europe has changed considerably in the last decades. However, our understanding of agricultural land use changes, especially changes in land use intensity, is limited because the evidence is fragmented. This paper presents a systematic review of case study evidence on manifestations and underlying drivers for agricultural land use change in Europe. We analyzed 137 studies that together report on 76 cases of intensification and 143 cases of disintensification. Observed changes were manifested as expansion or contraction of agricultural land as well as in changes of land management intensity, landscape elements, agricultural land use activity, and specialization/diversification. Economic, technological, institutional and location factors were frequently identified as underlying drivers, while demographic drivers and sociocultural drivers were mentioned less often. In addition, we found that farmers were very important as moderators between underlying drivers and manifestations of agricultural land use change. Farmer decisions differed between different farmer types, and according to their characteristics and attitudes. We found major land use change trajectories in relation to globalization of agricultural markets, the transition from a rural to an urban society, and the shift to post-socialism in central and eastern Europe.

SummaryLakes and reservoirs bury large quantities of organic carbon (C) and nutrients (nitrogen,N; phosphorus,P) in their sediments, especially when expressed relative to the small area they occupy. Global estimates ofCand nutrient burial rates in reservoirs require a quantitative understanding of the wide variation in the rates and ratios at whichC,NandPare sequestered in sediments.We examined how catchment and reservoir characteristics relate to sediment organicC,NandPconcentrations, stoichiometric burial ratios (C : P,C : N,N : P) and burial rates in 13 small reservoirs across a catchment land use gradient in theMidwesternUnitedStates.SedimentPconcentrations were positively correlated with urban catchment land use and negatively correlated with agricultural catchment land use. Stoichiometric burial ratios varied with catchment land use. BothN : PandC : Pwere positively correlated with agricultural land use, while these ratios were negatively correlated with urban land use and forested land use.In general, rates ofC,NandPburial per unit lake area were not related to land use in the catchment, but were all positively correlated with catchment area to lake area ratios. Results from our study reservoirs suggest that reservoir burial rates are more tightly coupled with morphometric catchment characteristics than with land use.Our results suggest that small reservoirs are regionally and globally significant for biogeochemical processing. However, regional variation requires that much more comprehensive sampling is needed for accurate estimates of global element burial rates.

The study aims to identify some factors affecting agricultural land use management and propose solutions to improve it in Lang Son province. Secondary data were collected from agencies related to agricultural land use management. Primary data were collected through a direct survey of 250 officials and civil servants implementing agricultural land use management and through 2 steps. Step 1 identifies factors that may influence agricultural land use management. Step 2 collects opinions on the level of influence of the factors identified in Step 1. The hypothetical model of factors affecting land use management has 10 independent variables and 01 dependent variable, and they were evaluated through the testing criteria using SPSS20.0 software. Agricultural land use management is influenced by 28 factors belonging to 10 factor groups, with impact rates ranging from 3.65% to 23.57%. The group of factors of inspection, examination, and sanctioning of land related administrative violations has the most impact, and the group of factors of infrastructure conditions has the least impact on land use management. Proposed solutions include strengthening inspection, examination, and strict penalties for land violations; Completing and properly resolving complaints, denunciations, and land disputes; improving human resources; Organizing and implementing well land use management, etc.

Nearly 40% of the Earth’s ice-free surface area is cropland or pasture. Measurements of dissolved organic matter along a gradient of agricultural land use suggest that agricultural watersheds contain less complex, more microbially derived dissolved organic matter than natural wetlands. Nearly 40% of the Earth’s ice-free surface area is cropland or pasture1. Agricultural land use can increase the delivery of nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorus to fluvial ecosystems2, but the impact of farming on riverine dissolved organic carbon is still largely unknown, despite increasing recognition that rivers act as important modifiers in the global carbon cycle3,4. Here, we examine the character of riverine dissolved organic matter in 34 watersheds along a gradient of agricultural land use. We show that changes in the character of dissolved organic matter are related to agricultural land use, nitrogen loading and wetland loss. Specifically, we find that the structural complexity of dissolved organic matter decreases as the ratio of continuous croplands to wetlands increases. At the same time, the amount of microbially derived dissolved organic matter increases with greater agricultural land use. Furthermore, we find that periods of soil dryness are associated with a decrease in the structural complexity of dissolved organic matter. We suggest that these effects of land use and climate on the character of riverine dissolved organic matter have important implications for global carbon cycling, owing to their potential to control rates of microbial carbon processing (for example, uptake, retention and outgassing) in agricultural systems.

Abstract: The earthquake that occurred on 30 September 2009 had an impact on patterns of use of agricultural land and human settlements. Many agricultural lands are turned into residential land, especially the city of Padang. The purpose of this research ; (1). To see patterns and changes in the use of agricultural land in the city of Padang in the aftermath of the 2009 Padang earthquake; and (2) To see the population distribution pattern after the earthquake in Padang City. The method used is spatial and temporal analysis of changes in land use and population distribution before the earthquake and after the earthquake. The results of the study indicate that there has been a change in land use in the City of Padang from 2008-2012. Upland land that is widely used for agricultural business has decreased by 6%. Furthermore, there has been a change in land use in the city of Padang from 20012-2018. The decrease occurred on forest land by 38% and paddy fields by 41%. This decrease occurred due to the conversion of land into settlements which increased to 188%. In 2012, there was a decrease in population, especially in the districts of South Padang, North Padang, West Padang, East Padang and Bungus Teluk Kabung. In other Districts there was an increase, especially those that led eastward. Shifting land cover and the population of the city of Padang affect the Padang City Spatial Pattern. Keywords: Earthquake, Land Use, Spatial Analysis

Since 2006, the interdisciplinary project “Leventina – Prehistoric Settlement Landscape”, funded by the Swiss National Foundation, is being conducted under the coordination of the Department of Pre- and Protohistory of the University of Zurich with researchers from further disciplines. The project investigates prehistoric settlement and economy in various altitudinal zones of the Alpine Ticino valley. One of the aims is to reconstruct the agricultural, pastoral and forestal land use in the Bronze and Iron Ages, and to evaluate the influencing factors on the spatial distribution of subsistence economy areas. A wide range of spatial and archaeological data as well as literature and field data describing properties in particular of the ancient economic plants was available for the purpose. Based on these data, a factor analysis and a subsequent prediction were conducted in order to evaluate the variables with a likely impact on agricultural land use at prehistoric times, and to detect potential agricultural land. Additionally, using predictive modeling, we aimed at extracting factors with impact on the spatial distribution of Bronze age settlement sites and generating a potential map of areas used for settlement. Furthermore, a cost path analysis was conducted to investigate different traffic routes across the main ridge of the Alps in terms of travel time.