Land Degradation & Development最新文献

{"title":"Land Degradation's Influence on Livelihoods of Small‐Scale Farmers and Land Care Workers in Ladybrand, South Africa","authors":"Alexander Mabunga Msipa, Antoinette Lombard, Ilse Aucamp, Jussi Baade","doi":"10.1002/ldr.5474","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/ldr.5474","url":null,"abstract":"Land degradation influences the natural resource‐based livelihoods of agricultural communities whose livelihoods are dependent on the productivity of the land. South Africa has been and still is considerably affected by land degradation which adversely influences livelihoods and well‐being. The article reports on the findings of a study aimed at determining how land degradation in the Ladybrand area, Free State Province, South Africa, influences the livelihoods of small‐scale farmers and land care workers, and what land management strategies can mitigate land degradation for sustainable livelihood outcomes. The explorative study adopted a qualitative research approach and an instrumental case study research design. A purposive sampling method was used to select 13 small‐scale farmers (general and commonage) and 14 land care workers for the study. Data were collected through focus group interviews and were analysed using thematic analysis. The findings indicated the causes of land degradation in Ladybrand that jeopardise land management practices for sustainable livelihoods, namely, the high volume of invasive plants, land pollution, overgrazing, unsecure land tenure systems and poor access to markets. Strategies recommended to mitigate land degradation and improve land management practices for sustainable livelihoods include rotational grazing, tenure security for small‐scale farmers, increasing access to markets and institutional support to small‐scale farmers and land care workers. This study documents the insights of small‐scale farmers and land care workers on land degradation and their commitment to practise sustainable land management.","PeriodicalId":203,"journal":{"name":"Land Degradation & Development","volume":"33 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.7,"publicationDate":"2025-01-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142991971","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Ecological Risks and Patterns Associated With Land Use/Cover Changes Along the Belt and Road Initiative Routes","authors":"Yinjie He, Xinran Liu, Dafang Wu, Shuangcheng Li, Ping Zhou","doi":"10.1002/ldr.5483","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/ldr.5483","url":null,"abstract":"This study aims to uncover the characteristics of land use/cover (LULC) changes over a macro‐scale and long‐term period, as well as to assess their associated ecological risks. LULC changes are closely tied to ecological and environmental processes such as climate change, biodiversity, soil conservation, and water purification. With global population growth and urbanization, LULC changes have left a significant ecological footprint. To achieve the UN's Sustainable Development Goals, understanding the negative impacts of LULC changes is essential. This study employs GIS spatial models to analyze the spatiotemporal evolution of LULC changes in Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) countries post‐BRI proposal, using remote sensing monitoring and the InVEST model. During the ancient Silk Road period, living and production spaces occupied only 2.15% of the area. By 2013, this had expanded to 12.98% due to agricultural land growth, notably in central India and the Eastern European Plain. From 2013 to 2021, living and production spaces continued to increase, while ecological spaces decreased, with notable expansions in southeastern coastal China, Java, and the Mediterranean. Post‐BRI, LULC changes led to the decreased quality risks of landscape fragmentation, carbon emissions, and nitrogen eutrophication, but increased the quality risks of habitat quality degradation, soil erosion, and phosphorus eutrophication.","PeriodicalId":203,"journal":{"name":"Land Degradation & Development","volume":"11 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.7,"publicationDate":"2025-01-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142992027","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Soil Health Under Global Change and Human Impact","authors":"Nataliya Bilyera,&nbsp;Benjamin L. Turner,&nbsp;Xuechen Zhang,&nbsp;Huadong Zang,&nbsp;Maxim Dorodnikov,&nbsp;Yakov Kuzyakov","doi":"10.1002/ldr.5487","DOIUrl":"10.1002/ldr.5487","url":null,"abstract":"<div>\u0000 \u0000 <p>Soil health is pivotal to sustain biological productivity, maintain environmental quality, and ensure the health of plants, animals, and ultimately humans. Global changes—such as climate warming, elevated CO₂ atmospheric concentration, droughts, and floods—as well as human impacts like land-use change, chemical contamination, and application of fertilizer and pesticides, threaten soil health. Protecting soil health and raising global awareness on this topic are now critical to ensure sustainable management of natural and agricultural ecosystems under global change. This Special Issue includes 19 studies in three thematic groups. The first group includes methodological advances in the assessment of soil health, exploring new tools, techniques, and approaches for accurate evaluation. The second group encompasses studies examining how soil health responds to land-use change, agricultural and forestry practices. The third group addresses human-induced pollution and its effects on soil health. Overall, these studies provide contemporary insight into soil health in managed and natural ecosystems and methods for soil health evaluation. These contributions will shape strategies to sustain soil functions and preserve healthy soils for future generations, including efforts to meet Sustainable Development Goals for the 21st century.</p>\u0000 </div>","PeriodicalId":203,"journal":{"name":"Land Degradation & Development","volume":"36 3","pages":"683-688"},"PeriodicalIF":3.6,"publicationDate":"2025-01-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143020249","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Effects of Forest Types on Soil Particulate Organic Carbon Contents and Distribution Along a Subtropical Climate Transect in China","authors":"Zhiheng Zheng, Qinqin Xu, Yalin Hu","doi":"10.1002/ldr.5467","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/ldr.5467","url":null,"abstract":"The influence of various types of forests on the storage of C in forest soil is significantly more concerned in recent decades, as these ecosystems are crucial for mitigation of the effects of global climate change. Nevertheless, uncertainties remain surrounding the impact of different forest types on the stability and distribution of SOC. The influence of forest types on the content and distribution characteristics in CPOC, FPOC, MAOC fractions. Importantly, we found that the forest types significantly affect the content of SOC (<i>p</i> = 0.020), POC (<i>p</i> &lt; 0.001), and MAOC (<i>p</i> &lt; 0.001), there was a significant forest type × region interaction effect (SOC: <i>p</i> = 0.019, POC: <i>p</i> = 0.025, and MAOC: <i>p</i> = 0.003). The random forest analysis showed that FPOC and MAOC were the main factors affecting SOC which indicated FPOC and MAOC have higher relative importance to SOC. The subtropical forests POC and MAOC storage and distribution are driven by separate environmental factors. POC storage in subtropical forests is mainly controlled by exogenous C inputs and soil transformation processes, while subtropical forests’ MAOC storage is primarily controlled by constraints on C inputs and C stabilization mechanisms. Different environmental factors result in forest types with faster decomposition rates having more C stored in the total soil C pool in the MAOC. Altogether, this research emphasizes the importance of different forest types to SOC pools and provides valuable information for the distribution and stability of SOC fractions in different forest types.","PeriodicalId":203,"journal":{"name":"Land Degradation & Development","volume":"120 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.7,"publicationDate":"2025-01-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142991970","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"The Effect of Rural Land Mortgaging on Rural Transformation at the Regional Level in Bangladesh","authors":"Subrata Saha, Mohammad Jahangir Alam, Al Amin Al Abbasi, Ismat Ara Begum, Panam Parikh, Maria Fay Rola-Rubzen","doi":"10.1002/ldr.5476","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/ldr.5476","url":null,"abstract":"Land mortgaging plays a significant role in Bangladesh's economy due to the reliance of a significant portion of its population on agriculture and the growing importance of land tenure systems in promoting agricultural development and employment diversification. Yet, little is known about its role in rural transformation. The objective of this research is to examine the role of land mortgaging in the rural transformation in Bangladesh. The effect of land mortgaging is examined on two measures of rural transformation—(1) the share of high-value agricultural commodities and (2) the share of nonfarm employment opportunities across small, medium, and large farms. The study utilizes panel data for 64 districts from 2000 to 2016 using the Household Income and Expenditure Survey data and employing econometric modelling. Using the Fixed Effects Model, Ordinary Least Squares, and Feasible Generalized Least Squares, we found a positive and statistically significant relationship between the amount of land mortgaged out and rural transformation. The findings reveal that land mortgaging acts as a significant catalyst for rural transformation, facilitating investment in high-value agriculture and diversifying income through non-farm employment. The analysis further highlights the variability of this effect across different farm sizes, with smaller farms showing a more pronounced positive effect. Access to electricity and technology were also found to have significant positive associations with rural transformation, underscoring the role of infrastructure and technological advancements in agricultural productivity and employment diversification. The findings suggest that targeted policy interventions that consider the intricate effects of land mortgaging can enhance agricultural efficiency and support the economic diversification of rural areas in Bangladesh.","PeriodicalId":203,"journal":{"name":"Land Degradation & Development","volume":"9 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.7,"publicationDate":"2025-01-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142991290","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Mixed Grazing Enhances Bacterial Diversity and Network Stability More Than Single Grazing in Both Nondegraded and Moderately Degraded Grasslands","authors":"Jiazheng Xu, Xuefeng Wu, Jin Hu, Yurong Yang","doi":"10.1002/ldr.5468","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/ldr.5468","url":null,"abstract":"Soil microbial communities are integral in supporting the sustainability of grassland ecosystems. Livestock grazing exerts varied impacts on soil microbial communities due to distinct grazing behaviors and feeding preferences. However, the effects of livestock diversification on the soil microbial community in moderately degraded grassland compared with nondegraded grassland are still uncertain. To narrow this gap, we carried out a grazing experiment in the eastern Eurasian steppe by altering livestock diversification (nongrazing [NG], cattle grazing alone [CG], sheep grazing alone [SG], and mixed cattle and sheep grazing [MG]) in both nondegraded [ND] and moderately degraded grasslands [MD] for 3 years. We applied high-throughput sequencing to investigate microbial diversity, community composition, co-occurrence network structure, and community assembly processes in the topsoil (0–10 cm). Our study revealed that MG significantly enhanced bacterial richness (144.6%, <i>p</i> = 0.005), fungal richness (30%, <i>p</i> = 0.003), network stability and topological properties (5.7% more nodes, and 7.1% higher positive connection ratios) compared to NG in nondegraded grassland. Furthermore, MG had relatively high stability of bacterial networks compared with single grazing in both nondegraded and moderately degraded grasslands. Additionally, the assembly of soil microbial communities in grassland was dominated by stochastic processes, whereas MG reduced the randomness in fungal community assembly. Moreover, bacterial communities exhibited a stronger association with soil characteristics in terms of diversity, composition, and stochastic processes, while fungal communities demonstrated a greater correlation with plant characteristics. Our findings indicated that MG promoted soil bacterial diversity and network stability while reducing the importance of stochastic processes compared to single grazing. However, the effect was largely dependent on the habitat condition of grassland. The results of this study highlight that diversifying livestock grazing can be an effective management practice to maintain the stability of grassland on the eastern edge of the Eurasian steppe belt from the perspective of the soil microbial community.","PeriodicalId":203,"journal":{"name":"Land Degradation & Development","volume":"102 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.7,"publicationDate":"2025-01-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142990519","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Understanding the Grain Production Growth Pathways Transition and Its Implications for Sustainable Grain Production in China","authors":"Xiaorong Wang, Xiaoqing Song, Ying Wang, Xiong Wang, Houxing Gao","doi":"10.1002/ldr.5477","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/ldr.5477","url":null,"abstract":"The grain production growth pathways transition can achieve the dual strategic objectives of increasing grain production and ensuring ecological security by adjusting the input structure of production factors. However, the current understanding of the transition patterns and driving mechanisms of grain production growth pathways remains inadequate, posing challenges to sustainable grain production. To address this research gap, this study establishes a theoretical analysis framework, proposes methods for identifying and partitioning, and uses panel data to reveal the patterns and driving mechanisms of this transition. The main findings indicate that induced production substitution directly causes the shift in grain production growth pathways from being driven by improvements in grain land productivity to improvements in grain labor productivity. This transition process shows significant differences among grain crop types and regional spatial heterogeneity. The primary contribution of this study is its comprehensive understanding of the driving mechanisms behind grain production growth pathways transition from the perspective of the evolution of production factors. This includes the economic-social, socio-institutional, and environmental-site dimensions of drivers, which influence the induced substitution process of grain production factors and thereby drive the grain production growth pathways transition. We recommend formulating spatial planting plans based on the transition stages and implementing differentiated production targets and subsidy policies for various crops and regions. These findings and recommendations are valuable for ensuring grain security and promoting sustainable production.","PeriodicalId":203,"journal":{"name":"Land Degradation & Development","volume":"20 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.7,"publicationDate":"2025-01-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142991291","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"The Combined Effects of Topography and Climate Factors Dominate the Spatiotemporal Evolution of the Ecological Environment in the Yangtze River Economic Belt","authors":"Shouhai Shi, Hua Qiu, Shunping Ji, Zhaohui Luo","doi":"10.1002/ldr.5479","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/ldr.5479","url":null,"abstract":"The Yangtze River Economic Belt (YREB) is a key eco-environmental protection barrier and economic engine in China. Understanding the characteristics of its eco-environmental spatiotemporal evolution and mechanisms driving these changes is important for revealing shifts in ecosystem structure and function. However, the governing elements of the ecological environment and how these components interact remain unclear due to the strong coupling impact of urbanization and climate change. This paper constructed a long-term series remote sensing based ecological index (RSEI) to evaluate the characteristics of eco-environmental variation of YREB during 2000–2024. Subsequently, the fundamental reasons of the eco-environmental evolution were quantitatively analyzed using optimal parameters-based geographical detector (OPGD). Results indicated: (1) The average RSEI of YREB was 0.68, indicating a rather high overall eco-environmental quality (EEQ), with 73% of the region having RSEI values more than 0.60. The regions with excellent conditions were concentrated in Zhejiang, Jiangxi, Guizhou, and Hunan, while the poorer areas were in northwestern Yunnan, southwestern Sichuan, and western Hubei. (2) The EEQ of YREB mainly showed a degradation trend, with degraded areas exceeding 80% over the past 25 years. In the future, most areas might face higher risks of ecological degradation. (3) Digital elevation model (DEM), temperature (Tem), and population (POP) were key driving factors of the ecological environment. There were significant interactions between certain factors, with the interaction between DEM and potential evapotranspiration (Pet) explaining 62.2% of the ecological quality distribution. The findings assisted the creation of an ecological civilization by offering policy proposals for managing and conserving ecological environments.","PeriodicalId":203,"journal":{"name":"Land Degradation & Development","volume":"22 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.7,"publicationDate":"2025-01-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142991293","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Impact of Slope Cutoff Factor on Soil Erosion Estimates: A Hilltop Mine-Based Comparative Geospatial Study","authors":"Thappitla Srinivas Rohit, Vasantha Govind Kumar Villuri","doi":"10.1002/ldr.5478","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/ldr.5478","url":null,"abstract":"The task of soil erosion estimation received a significant push by integrating remote sensing and geographical information systems (GIS) with the Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE) in the early 1990s due to its ease of applicability. The Topographic (LS) factor played a quintessential role in soil loss determination, especially for undulating regions. In most worldwide soil erosion studies, the topographic factor extracted from the Digital Elevation Model (DEM) using “LS equations” failed to account for the varying slopes before the material joins a stream or a river. In this study, the slope length (L) and slope steepness factor (S) derived without and with the slope cutoff factor are compared and analyzed for a hilltop mine. The results reflect that the LS factor and, ultimately, soil erosion are over-estimated owing to the absence of any limits on the slope length (L) factor in undulating terrains when used conventionally in a GIS environment. The mean soil erosion estimated with slope cutoff factor is 252.26 ton ha⁻¹ year⁻¹, whereas 332.81 ton ha⁻¹ year⁻¹ in the conventional application of the same LS equation. The overestimation of soil erosion was reduced by 35% as per the volume-based validation study. Thus, the study proves the usefulness of the slope cutoff factor, which, to date, has mostly been neglected in soil loss research and soil erosion studies for undulating terrains. The pattern of soil erosion also highlights the negating impact of vegetation on steep slopes, cementing their role as Nature based Solution (NbS) for soil erosion by dynamic landscapes like Mines.","PeriodicalId":203,"journal":{"name":"Land Degradation & Development","volume":"27 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.7,"publicationDate":"2025-01-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142991289","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Far-Reaching Impact of Microplastics on Agricultural Systems: Options for Mitigation and Adaptation","authors":"S. Rajendrakumar, Dil Bahadur Rahut","doi":"10.1002/ldr.5459","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/ldr.5459","url":null,"abstract":"Microplastics has emerged as a pervasive pollutant with far-reaching implications for agriculture. This review paper evaluates existing research on microplastics in agricultural systems, exploring their impacts on land, crop growth, farm animals, and consumer health. Using the PRISMA framework and systematic review process, 811 papers were identified in the initial search, and only 164 papers were used for this study after following the inclusion and exclusion criteria. Our study found that high-density polyethylene and polyvinyl chloride are widely used plastic types in agriculture, followed by polypropylene, polystyrene, and polyethylene terephthalate. This prevalence is likely due to the extensive use of plastics in agriculture systems, such as for mulching, handling harvested products, bags for fertilizers and pesticides, samplings, and seed storage. The study found serious adverse consequences of microplastics on crops, animal health, soil, and consumers. It also highlights the need for comprehensive strategies to mitigate these impacts, by using bioplastics, application of treated water for irrigation, proper disposal of plastics, and following sustainable agricultural practices. Adaptation measures such as soil remediation, different microplastic removal technologies, and policy interventions emerge as a crucial strategy to cope with microplastic pollution. The paper concludes with a call for interdisciplinary research to better understand the complexities of microplastic pollution and to develop sustainable solutions to protect natural ecosystems, agricultural ecosystems, human health, and food security.","PeriodicalId":203,"journal":{"name":"Land Degradation & Development","volume":"46 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.7,"publicationDate":"2025-01-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142990542","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}