Socioeconomic factors influencing land cover changes in rural areas: The case of the Sierra de Albarracín (Spain)

Melendez-Pastor, Ignacio; Hernández, Encarni I.; Pedreño, José Navarro; Gómez, Ignacio

doi:10.1016/j.apgeog.2014.04.013

Cited by 45 publications

(32 citation statements)

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“…Alternatively, some authors have questioned this perceived positive impact of land abandonment. For example, there can be an increase in land degradation [37] and wildfires [38,39], a decline in biodiversity [40], and an expansion of invasive species [41,42]. The impacts of outmigration that lead to land-use changes are not uniform and permanent [43,44].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Outmigration and Land-Use Change: A Case Study from the Middle Hills of Nepal

Race

2019

Land

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Outmigration has become a key livelihood strategy for an increasing number of rural households, which in turn has a profound effect on land management. Studies to date have mainly focused on migrant households, and there is limited literature on the differences in land management practices of migrant and nonmigrant households. This article drew on a current study to explore how outmigration affects land management practices in the context of rapidly changing rural communities and economics in the middle hills of Nepal. The data were collected in Lamjung District in western Nepal using a mixed-method approach. We found that underutilization of farmland is a more prominent phenomenon than land abandonment, with rural communities moving to less intensive farming. Importantly, the increasing underutilization of farmland is not just occurring among migrant households. There are a range of complex factors which influence land-use decisions and the subsequent outcomes for landscapes. A high risk of food insecurity in Nepal is likely to be exacerbated if the current trajectory of underutilization and abandonment of farmland continues. A suite of policy tools that can be selectively applied depending on the local context may be more effective than broad-brush national policies in tackling the underlying causes faced by rural communities.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Outmigration and Land-Use Change: A Case Study from the Middle Hills of Nepal

Race

2019

Land

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“…Abandonment of cropland, which is one of the most important stages of forest transition, has been considered the outcome of industrialization and urbanization by forest transition theory (Barbier, Burgess, & Grainger, ; Grainger, ; Mather & Needle, ; Rudel et al, ). Rural–urban migration and the reduction in agricultural labour forces have been invoked as the main drivers leading to cropland abandonment of marginal areas in developed countries (Gellrich, Baur, Koch, & Zimmermann, ; Izquierdo, Angelo, & Aide, ; Izquierdo & Grau, ; Mather, ; Melendez‐Pastor, Hernández, Navarro‐Pedreño, & Gómez, ; Nanni & Grau, ; Rudel et al, ; Rudel, Bates, & Machinguiashi, ; Verburg, van Berkel, van Doorn, van Eupen, & van den Heiligenberg, ) and the mountainous regions of China (Shao, Zhang, & Li, ; Yan et al, ; Zhang, Li, Song, & Shi, ). Cropland abandonment has strong environmental and socio‐economic impacts and consequences, such as conflicting biodiversity changes (Izquierdo et al, ; Queiroz, Beilin, Folke, & Lindborg, ; Woodhouse, Good, Lovett, Fullerc, & Dolmana, ), carbon stock increase (Schierhorn et al, ; Shang, Cao, Guo, Long, & Deng, ; S. P. Wang et al, ), fire hazards (Moravec & Zemeckis, ), soil erosion (Cerda, ; Zeller, Bardgett, & Tappeiner, ), anabatic poverty (Khanal & Watanabe, ), and marginalization of historic agricultural landscapes (Elbakidze & Angelstam, ; EU, ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…and the reduction in agricultural labour forces have been invoked as the main drivers leading to cropland abandonment of marginal areas in developed countries (Gellrich, Baur, Koch, & Zimmermann, 2007;Izquierdo, Angelo, & Aide, 2008;Izquierdo & Grau, 2009;Mather, 1992;Melendez-Pastor, Hernández, Navarro-Pedreño, & Gómez, 2014;Nanni & Grau, 2014;Rudel et al, 2005;Rudel, Bates, & Machinguiashi, 2002;Verburg, van Berkel, van Doorn, van Eupen, & van den Heiligenberg, 2010) and the mountainous regions of China (Shao, Zhang, & Li, 2015;Yan et al, 2016;Zhang, Li, Song, & Shi, 2014). Cropland abandonment has strong environmental and socio-economic impacts and consequences, such as conflicting biodiversity changes (Izquierdo et al, 2008;Queiroz, Beilin, Folke, & Lindborg, 2014;Woodhouse, Good, Lovett, Fullerc, & Dolmana, 2005), carbon stock increase (Schierhorn et al, 2013;Shang, Cao, Guo, Long, & Deng, 2014;S.…”

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confidence: 99%

An estimation of the extent of cropland abandonment in mountainous regions of China

Sun

et al. 2018

Land Degrad Dev

127

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With the wages for migrant workers increasing dramatically in China since 2003, the size of the agricultural labour forces has been shrinking rapidly. Intensively substituting agricultural machinery for the shrinking farm labour force is hardly possible for croplands in the mountainous regions of China where mechanization is difficult to achieve due to small field size and rough terrain. This has eventually led to cropland abandonment in these regions. Considering the high pressure for food security in China, cropland abandonment in the mountainous regions should not be ignored. By employing a novel method, this study estimates the extent of recently abandoned croplands (period 2000–2010) and the changes that can be expected in the future in China's mountainous areas. The results show that the total extent of abandoned croplands in Chinese mountainous counties during the period 2000 to 2010 is estimated at 147 million mu (1 mu = 666.67 m2); in total, about 28% of croplands in mountainous counties was abandoned, including croplands converted in the Grain for Green Programme. With 3 scenario assumptions, a sizeable extent, 114 to 203 million mu, of croplands may be abandoned from 2010 to 2030 with the rapid decrease and ageing of projected farm labour forces. This could exacerbate the future challenges of maintaining China's food security. A substantial increase in agricultural project investments, including land consolidation and agricultural productive fixed assets, especially microtillage machines, could help mitigate the risk of cropland abandonment. Additionally, land‐use and environmental policymaking should take into account the expanding cropland abandonment in mountainous regions.

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“…The population of the Sierra de Albarracín is continuously decreasing since the early XX century due to rural abandonment. This process of decline in rural population results in a reduction of an extensive livestock activity that is largely responsible for the maintenance of shrublands and pastures [47] and promoting forest regeneration [7]. In the last 25 years, Spain has undergone deep social and administrative changes (rural abandonment, new forestry policies, and administrative changes) promoting vegetation recovery by the reduction of grazing pressure as a result of depopulation of rural areas [48].…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Remote sensing allows the study of the role of terrestrial vegetation in large-scale global processes (e.g., the carbon cycle) [5]. The scientific community often relies on data gathered by satellite sensors because of their synoptic view, worldwide coverage, and repeated temporal sampling capability of the Earth's surface enabling monitoring of vegetation dynamics from regional to global scales [6,7].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Multitemporal Analysis in Mediterranean Forestland with Remote Sensing

Melendez-Pastor¹,

Hernández²,

Pedreño³

et al. 2016

Landscape Ecology - The Influences of Land Use and Anthropogenic Impacts of Landscape Creation

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The study employs a Fourier transλorm analysis approach to assess the land-cover chanμes in a mountainous Mediterranean protected area usinμ multi-temporal satellite imaμes. Harmonic analysis was applied to a time series oλ Landsat satellite imaμes acquired λrom to to extract inλormation about land cover status with a veμetation spectral index, the Normalized Diλλerence Veμetation Index NDVI . Ancillary cartoμraphic inλormation depictinμ land cover classes and the enlarμement oλ the protected area over time i.e., maps showinμ the oriμinal delineation in and subsequent enlarμement in were employed as additional λactors to understand veμetation-cover chanμes. Siμniλicant diλλerences in the NDVI and harmonic components values were observed with respect to both λactors. The application oλ the Fourier transλorm was particularly successλul to extract subtle inλormation. The harmonic analysis oλ the NDVI time series revealed valuable inλormation about the evolution oλ the landscape. The initially protected area northern sector seems more aλλected by human activities than the southern sector enlarμed area in as revealed by the analysis oλ the λirst harmonic component that was closely related with veμetation coveraμe. Rural abandonment is a major driver oλ land-cover chanμes in the study area.

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Socioeconomic factors influencing land cover changes in rural areas: The case of the Sierra de Albarracín (Spain)

Cited by 45 publications

References 44 publications

Outmigration and Land-Use Change: A Case Study from the Middle Hills of Nepal

Outmigration and Land-Use Change: A Case Study from the Middle Hills of Nepal

An estimation of the extent of cropland abandonment in mountainous regions of China

Multitemporal Analysis in Mediterranean Forestland with Remote Sensing

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