Framing the search for a theory of land use

Abstract

Land system science and affiliated research linked to sustainability require improved understanding and theorization of land and its change as a social-ecological system (SES). The absence of a general land-use theory, anchored in the social subsystem but with explicit links to the environmental subsystem, hampers this effort. Drawing on land-use explanations, meta-analyses, and associated frameworks, we advance a broad framework structure of eight elements-aggregations of explanatory variableswith links to the biophysical subsystem, for systematic comparisons of extant explanations. Tests and models can be employed to identify which set of variables and their configurations provide robust explanations of across land uses, identifying the potential for theory development. The framework and its application are applicable to both top-down and bottom-up explanatory approaches employed in the social sciences. Links to the environmental subsystem invite future exploration of SES explanations that reach across the different dimensions of global change and sustainability science.

From land-use/land-cover to land system science

“…This development has been frustrated, as noted above, by the complexity of land systems and the absence, to date, of systematic, comparative assessments of the range of land system explanations, as initially called for in the early development of the international science agenda on land use (Turner et al 1994). Given the advances in understanding land uses and systems, the broader community of researchers may be poised to undertake the exploration in question (Turner et al 2020).…”

Vegetation ecology with anthropic drivers and consequences

“…Key research will need to further address remnants in terms of time lags in response that lead to eventual payment of extinction debts and the cumulative effects of land-use change up to global scale. Vegetation scientists should keep abreast of developments in land system science (Turner et al, 2020) and opportunities to integrate social and ecological approaches.…”

Experts’ Perception of the Key Drivers of Land-Use/Land-Cover Changes in Serbia from 1990 to 2012

“…Changes in land use and land cover are the result of complex interactions among numerous drivers operating at various spatial levels. The complexity of the drivers has attracted considerable attention in recent years in a wide range of scholarly disciplines and research fields [15]. Noteworthy contributions to systematizing the knowledge on LULCCs and the division between underlying (factors of change) and proximate drivers, i.e., LULCCs, have been made by [8,[16][17][18].…”