A Guide to Land-Use and Land-Cover

Change (LUCC)

A collaborative effort of SEDAC and the IGBP/IHDP LUCC Project

September 2002
Alex de Sherbinin1
Abstract
Humans have been altering land cover since pre-history through the use of fire to
flush out game and, since the advent of plant and animal domestication, through
the clearance of patches of land for agriculture and livestock. In the past two
centuries the impact of human activities on the land has grown enormously,
altering entire landscapes, and ultimately impacting the earth's nutrient and
hydrological cycles as well as climate. Land-use and land-cover changes are
local and place specific, occurring incrementally in ways that often escape our
attention. Yet, collectively, they add up to one of the most important facets of
global environmental change. This thematic guide provides an introduction to
these changes, and walks the readers through important topics in land use and

land cover change research: deforestation, desertification, biodiversity loss, land

cover and the water cycle, land cover and the carbon cycle, and urbanization.
How to Use this Guide
The richness of this guide resides in the many and varied links to bibliographic
resources, many of which are available on-line. Readers are encouraged to
toggle between the written sections and the references and related resources to
gain a better sense of the breadth of research in this important area of study.
Note that references are dynamically linked to sections of the guide. The
Reference section in the table of contents provides references for the entire
guide, but when one toggles to references from a particular chapter or section,
only references for that chapter or section will appear. The LUCC Guide's
bibliography exceeds 1,300 entries, many of which were not specifically cited in
the text. To access the larger bibliography, users are encouraged to use the
bibliographic search page. A full description of CIESIN Thematic Guide

functionality can be found by accessing the help page from the navigation bar.
Acknowledgements
This guide was compiled as a joint project of CIESIN (through the Socioeconomic
Data and Applications Center) and the Land-Use and Land-Cover Change
(LUCC) International Project Office (IPO) in Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium. The
LUCC Project is a Program Element of the International Geosphere-Biosphere
Program (IGBP) and the International Human Dimensions Program on Global
Environmental Change (IHDP). The author gratefully acknowledges the
substantial contributions and editorial suggestions of Dr. Helmut Geist, Director
of the LUCC Project IPO. Dr. Geist reviewed Chapters 2-4 and Chapter 8 of this
guide, providing useful insights, additional material and references. The author
also wishes to thank LUCC Project collaborators Dr. Helen Freitas of the
Department of Botany, University of Coimbra, Portugal, for reviewing Chapter 5
(biodiversity), and Dr. Thomas Veldcamp of Wageningen University, the
Netherlands, for reviewing Chapters 6 and 7 (water cycle and climate change,
respectively). CIESIN research assistants Monica Beard and Ke Xu provided

valuable assistance in the early stages of preparation of this guide, including

compilation of on-line resources for the database of resources. Roseanne
Schwartz provided valuable assistance with the structuring of the database. Any
deficiencies of the final product are the responsibility of the author.
Dr. Thomas Rudel of the Department of Human Ecology at Rutgers University
provided a database of almost 1,000 citations of journal articles, books,
dissertations and reports addressing deforestation. These were incorporated into
the database of references and related resources associated with this guide. Dr.
Rudel's bibliography was compiled under contract with the Forest Inventory
Section of the Forestry Division of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization
(FAO).
Suggested citation: de Sherbinin, A. 2002. "Land-Use and Land-Cover Change,"
A CIESIN Thematic Guide, Palisades, NY: Center for International Earth Science
Information Network of Columbia University. Available on-line at
http://sedac.ciesin.columbia.edu/tg/guide_main.jsp
Work for this thematic guide was supported by the U.S. National Aeronautics and
Space Administration, Goddard Space Flight Center under contract NAS5-98162
(for the Socioeconomic Data and Applications Center). The views expressed in
this guide are not necessarily those of CIESIN, SEDAC, Columbia University, or
NASA.
----------------------1

Center for International Earth Science Information Network (CIESIN), Columbia

University, Palisades, NY, USA. Email: adesherbinin@ciesin.columbia.edu

Introduction
This thematic guide addresses land-use and land-cover
change in the context of global environmental change.
Although natural land cover has changed over long time
spans due to natural processes such as continental drift and
glaciation, this guide is primarily concerned with human

transformations of the earth's surface which have greatly

intensified in the past three centuries.
Land use is the term that is used to describe human uses of
the land, or immediate actions modifying or converting land
cover. It includes such broad categories as human
settlements, protected areas and agriculture. Within those
broad categories are more refined categories, such as urban
and rural settlements, irrigated and rainfed fields, national
parks and forest reserves, and transportation and other
infrastructure. Land cover refers to the natural vegetative
cover types that characterize a particular area. These are
generally a reflection of the local climate and landforms,
though they too can be altered by human actions. Examples
of broad land cover categories include forest, tundra,
savannah, desert or steppe, which in turn can be sub-divided
into more refined categories representing specific plant
communities (e.g., oak-pine scrublands, mangroves,
seasonally flooded grassland, etc.).
The scientific research community called for substantive
study of land-use and land-cover changes during the 1972
Stockholm Conference on the Human Environment, and
again 20 years later at the 1992 United Nations Conference
on Environment and Development (UNCED). In the past
decade, a major international initiative to study land-use and
land-cover change (LUCC), the LUCC Project, has gained
great momentum in its efforts to understand driving forces of
land-use change (mainly through comparative case studies),
develop diagnostic models of land-cover change, and
produce regionally and globally integrated models (Lambin et
al. 1999, Geist 2002).

But why is such an understanding important? How do landuse and land-cover change processes link to broader
changes in the global environment, and to efforts to obtain
environmental sustainability? The strong interest in land-use
and land-cover results from their direct relationship to many
of the planet's fundamental characteristics and processes,
including the productivity of the land, the diversity of plant
and animal species, and the biochemical and hydrological
cycles. Land cover is continually molded and transformed by
land-use changes such as, for example, when a forest is
converted to pasture or crop land. Land-use change is the
proximate cause of land-cover change. The underlying
driving forces, however, can be traced to a host of economic,
technological, institutional, cultural and demographic factors.
In fact, humans are increasingly being recognized as a
dominant force in global environmental change (Moran 2001,
Turner 2001, Lambin et al. 2001). Changes in land use are
likely the most ancient of all human-induced environmental
impacts, and the first to obtain a magnitude to warrant the
title "global." For example, land-cover change, especially the
conversion of forested areas into other uses, has been
identified as a contributing factor to climate change,
accounting for 33 percent of the increase in atmospheric
CO2 since 1850, and a leading factor in the loss of biological
diversity. Overgrazing and other agricultural practices in
developing countries are causes of land degradation and
desertification. Water diversion for land irrigation consumes
about 70 percent of all water withdrawals and is sufficiently
significant to stop the flow of such large rivers as the
Colorado (US), Huang Ho (China), and Amu Darya (Central

Asia) from reaching the sea during the dry season. Human
uses of land usurp as much as 40 percent of the net primary
productivity of the earth, and changes in these may alter
ecosystem services locally and globally (Vitousek, et al.
1997).
Equally important is the impact of these regional and global
changes on society. By altering ecosystem services, changes
in land use and cover affect the ability of biological systems
to support human needs, and such changes also determine,
in part, the vulnerability of places and people to climatic,
economic or socio-political perturbations. Take, for example,
conversion of forested areas to crop lands, pasture or human
settlements. Deforestation can result in the loss of
biodiversity, especially in the tropics; biodiversity loss results
in declines in ecosystem integrity, and also genetic losses
that may impede future scientific advances in agriculture and
pharmaceutics. Deforestation can also impact hydrological
processes, leading to localized declines in rainfall, and more
rapid runoff of precipitation, causing flooding and soil erosion.
And finally, scientists have come to a better understanding of
the role that forests play in the carbon cycle, and how forest
burning in certain parts of the world are important
contributors to greenhouse gases that contribute to climate
change. Clearly, all of these changes impact society.
This dual role of humanity in both contributing to the causes
and experiencing the effects of global change processes
emphasizes the need for better understanding of the
interaction between humans and the terrestrial environment.
This need becomes more imperative as changes in land use
become more rapid. Understanding the driving forces behind

land-use changes and developing models to simulate these

changes are essential to predicting the effects of global
environmental change (Veldkamp et al., 2001).
2.1 Historical Changes in Land Use and Land Cover

A major reason for researching historical land use and land

cover change is that by understanding the past, we can
better understand future trajectories. For example, maps
depicting US counties with the high percentage of land in
agriculture from 1790 onwards illustrate the steady
progression of agricultural lands from the Northeast to the
mid-West, with major concentrations also in the California
Imperial Valley and other inland basins (Maizel et al. 1998).
Land use changes such as urbanization tend to radiate out
from existing areas of the same class, and many models take
advantage of this characteristic to make predictions of future
change (Briassoulis 1999).
The most significant historical change in land cover has been
the expansion of agricultural lands. Today close to a third of
the earth's land surface is devoted to pastures or cropland,
which amounts to approximately one-half of all lands suitable
for agriculture. Since the dawn of plant domestication the
progression of cropland was relatively slow. The past century
witnessed over half of the worldwide increase in agricultural
lands, and in the developing world half the land cover
conversion occurred in just the past 50 years (Houghton
1994).
There are two major land cover change databases, including
the Global Croplands Dataset (Ramankutty and Foley 1999)
and the History Database of the Global Environment

(Goldewijk 2001), that chronicle past changes in cropland.

Potential future expansion of croplands are examined by
Fischer et al. (2001) in their Global Agroecological
Assessment. The greatest increases in land used for
cultivation are predicted for Africa and Latin America, with
substantial additional parts of Europe/Russia and North
America also coming under cultivation to meet future
demands for food.
Historical changes in other land-cover types such as forest
cover and urbanized areas are addressed in summary
fashion in Turner (2001). As Houghton (1994) points out, the
major reason for land-use change is to increase the local
capacity of lands to support the human enterprise. Yet,
together with the "positive" changes - i.e., those that make
land more productive - there are also unforeseen impacts
that can reduce the ability of land to sustain the human
enterprise. Today, localized changes around the world add
up to massive impacts that are altering planetary
biogeochemical cycles. Thus, it can be argued that even
modest changes in land cover have some unintended
consequences.

3 Deforestation
Throughout history, the fate of the world's forests has strongly reflected the
pattern and intensity of land use by societies. Demand for agricultural land,
timber, and other forest products, as well as technological change in agriculture,
significantly impacts the mode and rate of transformation of forested areas.
Biophysical triggers may also play a role, such as fire dynamics, which are linked
to agricultural activities or natural phenomena such as ENSO droughts. These

demands are often linked to present-day developing countries experiencing

deforestation, which will be the focus of much of this chapter. It is worth noting,
however, that technological changes in agriculture (e.g., development of sodbusting plows that opened up the American mid-West) contributed significantly to
a "forest transition" in many European countries during the 19th and 20th
centuries, in which net national forest cover stopped declining and began to
increase (Mather 2001). Thus, technology cuts both ways, leading in some
regions to declines in forest cover, and in others to increases.
Society's special interest in deforestation, as compared to other land use/land
cover change issues, may be partly attributable to the stark nature of the
transition from forest area to cleared land. Deforestation occurs relatively quickly,
and in contrast to some other transitions (e.g., from crop land to pasture, or from
productive land to degraded land), is easily observable by the human eye.
Through the use of remote sensing technologies, large areas can be monitored,
and estimates of deforestation can be obtained (see Section 3.1 for a short
description of land cover change monitoring methodologies).
Deforestation has a number of repercussions, many of which are dealt with in
separate chapters of this thematic guide:

Deforestation can lead to soil erosion or impoverishment, especially in tropical areas where soils
tend to be thin and nutrient-poor.
Deforestation is linked to habitat loss, which is a leading cause of species endangerment and
biodiversity loss, particularly in humid tropical forests.
Deforestation affects the hydrological cycle through changes in evapo-transpiration and run-off;
and
Deforestation, and particularly forest burning, contributes to green-house gas emissions that bring
about climate change.

Despite its apparent ease of detection, deforestation rates are still a matter of
some debate. Section 3.1 addresses monitoring of land cover change, and the
extent and rate of deforestation in temperate and tropical areas. Section 3.2
addresses the causes and processes of deforestation, drawing on a review of the
most recent literature. Finally, Section 3.3 addresses potential policy
interventions.

3.1 The Extent and Rate of Deforestation

Today, roughly 39 million square kilometers (29 percent) of the world's land
surface is under forest cover (FAO 2000), and of that 28 million square
kilometers is in so-called "closed forests" of 40 percent canopy cover or above
(Singh et al. 2001). Since the end of the last ice age, approximately half the
world's forest cover has been lost, most of it due to the expansion of human
activities and settlements (Kapos 2000). In terms of primary forest, in contrast to
secondary or other successional forests, much less remains. The World
Resources Institute (1997) estimates that only one-fifth of the world's original
forest cover remains, largely in blocks of undisturbed frontier forests in the
Brazilian Amazon and boreal areas of Canada and Russia.
Measuring the extent and rate of deforestation is not as simple as it might at first
appear (Singh et al. 2001). The first challenge is to define what is meant by a
"forested area." In other words, what density of tree cover is required for an area
to be considered a forest? Figure 3.1 shows a "continuous fields" tree cover map
prepared by the Global Land Cover Facility (DeFries et al. 2000). This maps
shows that far from being homogenous, land areas can vary from 10 to 100
percent forest cover and still be considered forests.

Figure 3.1. Continuous Fields Tree Cover Map. Source: Global Land Cover Facility, University of Maryland;
see citation DeFries et al. 2000.

Once a threshold is defined, whether it be closed forests (i.e., trees with

interlocking crowns and a canopy density of 40% or above) or open forest (i.e.,

40% crown cover or less), the next challenge has to do with how forest cover
change is monitored. For smaller areas, it may be possible to do a parcel-byparcel inventory to determine rates of change. However, for large or inaccessible
areas such as the Brazilian Amazon, the only realistic approach is to utilize
remotely sensed imagery (generally from satellites, but also from airplanes). This
requires, then, that the analyst has at least two sets of images, one set
proceeding the deforestation event or events, and one set following.
The next step is image processing. Processing requires a classification of both
sets of images (i.e., breaking the continuous field data into discrete categories
such as forest, road, crops, pasture, etc.), and then a change matrix in which the
analyst computes the change from one of the land use/land cover categories into
other categories. In this way it is possible to obtain the percentage of land area
that was forest and is now in one of several other types of land use. Note that an
added difficulty, particularly with imagery from so-called "passive" sensors
(sensors that rely on the sun's illumination), is that it is vital to obtain relatively
cloud-free imagery, or else large areas may be obscured by cloud cover. This is
a particular challenge in the humid tropics. Radar, or active sensors that bounce
an energy pulse off the land surface, are being used in such zones with some
success.
Because remote sensing imagery is expensive to acquire and to process,
generally deforestation studies limit themselves to some sample area, say a subnational administrative unit or a well defined geographic area. Thus, efforts must
be made to obtain a random sample of forested areas, or else the estimates of
deforestation will be biased.
The Global Forest Resources Assessment of the U.N. Food and Agriculture
Organization (FAO) is a major assessment that has developed estimates of
deforestation at the global, regional and national levels once every 10 years
since 1980. For its 2000 assessment (also known as FRA 2000), the FAO
utilized a relatively low threshold for forest cover of 10 percent minimum crown
cover (FAO 2000). The assessment is based on a combination of reports by

national authorities, and a 10 percent sample remote sensing survey for tropical
areas.
Before presenting results of the FRA 2000, it is important to note that there is
disagreement about the assessment's results, and even some recognition within
the FRA report itself about the limitations of their methodology. A briefing paper
by the World Resources Institute (WRI) identifies a number of potential problems
with the FRA 2000 (Matthews 2000):

Methodological changes for each assessment since the first one in 1980 make comparisons to past
assessments difficult (and therefore estimates of deforestation rates subject to uncertainty);
The use of self-reported data by countries is criticized on two grounds: (1) countries may have
incentives to underestimate deforestation, and (2) data and monitoring systems in most countries
are generally inadequate; and
The report relies on remote sensing surveys that cover randomly scattered plots in the world's
forest areas. According to WRI, because deforestation is not randomly distributed, but tends to
proceed outwards from transportation corridors, a 10 percent sampling rate is insufficient to
identify how much forest is being lost.

There is a further concern that the 10 percent crown cover threshold includes
lands that most non-specialists would consider to be tundra, wooded grassland,
savanna or scrubland, not forest.
Interestingly, despite WRI's concerns that deforestation rates are being
underestimated by the FRA methodology, the Tropical Ecosystem Environment
Observation by Satellite (TREES) initiative has recently arrived at estimates of
deforestation rates in the humid tropical domain (i.e. closed forests) that are 23
percent below the estimates developed by FRA 2000 for the same time period
and type of forest (Achard et al. 2002). Furthermore, Steininger et al. (2001)
found in their "wall-to-wall" remote sensing study of the Bolivian Amazon that the
rate of deforestation is almost four times lower than that reported by the FRA
2000. According to FAO sample survey estimates from 1981-1990, annual forest
loss in Bolivia was proceeding at the rate of 5,810 square kilometers per year,
whereas the estimate based on wall-to-wall remote sensing coverage for the
period 1987-1993 was only 1,529 square kilometers per year. Nevertheless,
owing to different baseline figures, the FAO estimated a slightly larger remaining

forested area (483,100 sq. km. in 1995) than did Steininger et al. (437,904 sq.
km. in 1994).
Bearing in mind, then, some of these methodological issues and difficulties
inherent in establishing firm deforestation rates, FRA 2000 results at global and
regional levels are shown in Table 1. From the assessment, some interesting
patterns are evident. The two most forested land areas are the European
republics of the former Soviet Union (including Russian Siberia) and South
America, each with just over 22 percent of global forest resources, and each with
approximately half of their land areas under forest cover. The regions with least
forest cover are Asia (due to land conversion for agriculture and large desert
areas) and Africa (largely due to deserts). The highest changes in forested area
were Africa and the Caribbean, each losing close to 1 percent of their forest
cover over the decade. In contrast, most temperate and developed regions saw
net growth in forested areas of between 0.1 and 0.3 percent.

Collectively, the Forest Resources Assessment, TREES and Global Land Cover
2000 (a recent initiative which has yet to publish deforestation statistics)
contribute to our understanding of deforestation patterns and dynamics, and
provide firmer basis for decision-making.
3.2 The Causes and Processes of Deforestation

This section is based upon on a recent study conducted by the Land Use and
Land Cover Change (LUCC) project on the causes of tropical deforestation,
which is the most complete examination of the topic to date (Geist and Lambin
2002, Geist and Lambin 2001). The study took the form of a meta-analysis - a
statistical analysis of numerous case studies to examine patterns and processes
of deforestation in many locations around the world. A phenomenon with as
much local differentiation as land use and land cover change requires an overarching analysis of individual case studies if we wish to generalize the findings
and come up with policy recommendations.
In thinking about the processes of deforestation, it is useful to draw a distinction
between the proximate causes and underlying driving forces. Proximate causes
are human activities or immediate actions at the local level, such as agricultural
expansion, that originate from intended land use and directly impact forest cover.
For example, a proximate cause might be a farmer's decision to clear a plot of
land for pasture. That decision, in turn, is embedded within a context, such as
economic incentives and disincentives, government policies, access to markets,
land tenure systems, and the socio-cultural environment in which the farmer
lives. These constitute the driving forces - that is, the fundamental social
processes that underpin the proximate causes, and that may operate at much
broader scales.
The LUCC project meta-analysis examined 152 sub-national case studies - 78
from Latin America, 55 from Asia, and 19 from Africa - covering a time period
from 1880 to 1996, with the majority of case studies falling in the fifty year period
from 1940 to 1990. To be included, studies needed to quantify the rate of forest
cover change, include quantitative data analysis or in-depth field investigations,
consider clearly named factors as potential causes of deforestation, and be
absent of obvious disciplinary biases. The study focused on four proximate
causes: infrastructure extension, agricultural expansion, wood extraction, and
other causes (e.g., predisposing environmental factors, biophysical factors, and
social disruptions such as war and population displacements). These, in turn,

were related to a number of underlying drivers which were subdivided into

demographic, economic, technological, policy, institutional, and cultural factors
(see Figure 1).
The study refuted two broad schools of thought that had hitherto dominated the
debates about deforestation. One of them held that deforestation is the result of
single-factor causation, such as shifting cultivation or population growth. The
other school held that the causes behind deforestation are irreducibly complex. In
other words, that correlations among deforestation and multiple causative factors
are many and varied, revealing no distinct pattern.
What the meta-analysis revealed was that tropical deforestation is driven by
identifiable regional patterns of causal factor synergies, of which the most
prominent are economic factors, institutions, national policies and remote
influences (at the underlying level) driving agricultural expansion, wood
extraction, and infrastructure extension (at the proximate level).
3.2.1 Proximate Causes

In terms of immediate causation, tropical deforestation is best explained by

multiple factors rather than single variables. Globally, the most prominent "triad"
is agricultural expansion coupled with wood extraction and infrastructure
expansion. These three factors combined were present in 25 percent of the 152
cases examined. Subsets (agriculture & wood, agriculture & infrastructure, and
wood & infrastructure) were present in an additional 36 percent of cases.
Agriculture leads the lists of causes. The expansion of cropped land and
pastures is present, generally in combination with other causes, in 146 of 152
cases (or 96 percent).
Under these three broad categories - agriculture, wood extraction and
infrastructure - it is possible to identify important subcategories. For example,
within the category "extension of agricultural lands," permanent cultivation and
cattle ranching were present in 48 and 46 percent of cases, respectively,
whereas shifting cultivation was found in 40 percent. Under infrastructure,
transportation extension (road building, railroads and water ways) was present in

close to two-thirds of all cases. Settlement and market extension were less
prominent, at just over a quarter of all cases. And, under wood extraction,
commercial exploitation of forests outweighed fuel wood extraction almost two to
one, with 52 percent and 28 percent of the cases respectively. Considering all
the detailed categories, permanent cultivation, transport extension, and
commercial wood extraction predominate, each being present in 50 percent or
more of the cases.
There are some regional differences among the proximate causes. In Asia,
agriculture-wood (22%) and agriculture-wood-infrastructure (38%) causes
dominate, partly as a result of state enterprise forest exploitation and subsequent
settlement of those areas by poor subsistence farmers. In Latin America,
agriculture-infrastructure (32%) and agriculture-wood-infrastructure (19%) are
predominate causes of forest loss. In Africa, all four factors (agriculture-woodinfrastructure-other) are found in 26 percent of all cases, with agriculture-other
(16%) showing up also significant. The "other" in these cases includes civil wars
and population displacements.
3.2.2 Driving Forces

At the aggregate level, it is striking that combinations of synergetic drivers rather

than single drivers are associated with tropical deforestation. Eighty-eight percent
of the cases are driven by multi-factor terms of causation, and the largest
proportion of all cases (36%) includes some elements of each of the five major
factors - economics, institutions, technology, culture, and demographic change.
Economic factors are present in 81 percent of all cases, and clearly dominate the
underlying causes. Commercialization and the growth of mainly timber markets
as well as market failures are frequently reported to drive deforestation. Low
factor costs (for land, labor, fuel or timber), price increases for cash crops, and
the "ecological footprint" of remote urban-industrial centers through the demand
for raw materials underpin about one-third of the cases each. With few
exceptions, factors related to economic development through a growing cash

economy show little regional variation and, thus, constitute a strong underlying
driving force of deforestation.
Institutional factors such as policies on land use and economic development
(especially as related to colonization), transportation, or subsidies for land-based
activities are found in 78 percent of the cases. Many of these policies directly or
indirectly promoted the exploitation of resources in forest frontier areas. Lack of
adequate governance structures, as manifested by corruption, lawlessness,
cronyism, and mismanagement of the forestry sector, were found to be important
institutional factors (42 percent of all cases). Land tenure and property rights
issues, which are frequently highlighted in the literature on deforestation, showed
up primarily in Asia (60% of Asian cases). Issues of open-access resources and
squatting by landless farmers showed up in approximately one-fifth of all cases.
So-called "land races," in which settlers clear forest in order to claim legal title to
the land, were present in 13% of all cases, mostly in Latin America.
Technological factors in the wood and agriculture sectors, in combination with
other driving forces, constitute the third most important driver, underlying 70
percent of all cases. Technological changes in the forestry sector in the form of
chain saws and heavy equipment, and in wood processing, are associated with
deforestation in 45 percent of all cases. Asia, in particular, was found to have a
significant incidence of inappropriate logging technologies. Agro-technological
factors were present in a similar proportion of cases, but the picture is complex
and does not provide an easy-to-generalize pattern. Modification of farming
systems through intensification (high-input, labor-intensive agriculture) and
extensification (low-input, large area cultivation) was present in one-third of all
cases; thus neither intensification nor extensification does a particularly good job
of explaining deforestation in all cases.
Cultural factors were present in two-thirds of all cases. These include attitudes
and perceptions such as unconcern for forests due to low morale and frontier
mentalities, lack of stewardship values, and disregard for "nature." Such attitudes
were more widespread in the Asian and Latin American cases. In parts of Asia

(Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia) and Latin America (Amazon lowlands, the
Pet?n region of Guatemala, and Costa Rica) forest colonization is or has been
viewed as important for national land consolidation, security, unity and military
defense. In a more limited number of cases in Latin America, forest frontiers
were viewed as an important safety valve to forestall land reform in more
populated areas. Household-level behavioral factors were present in over half of
all cases with less regional variation. These include profit-orientation of actors
(both local settlers and absentee landlords), traditional or inherited modes of
cultivation or land-exploitation, and a commonly expressed sentiment that it is
necessary to clear the land to establish an exclusive claim.
Finally, demographic factors such as natural increase or in-migration were
explicitly mentioned in 61 percent of all cases. Most of its explanatory power
tends to be derived from interlinkages with other underlying forces, especially in
the full interplay of all five major drivers. Many cases did not specify beyond
broad notions of population pressure and growth, but those that did tended to
identify in-migration more frequently than natural increase. The authors also
investigated the utility of the I=PAT (impact=population x affluence x technology)
formulation used by Ehrlich and Ehrlich (1990) in explaining cases of
deforestation. They found that in 46% of all cases P, A and T, broadly speaking,
operate together in a synergetic driver combination. However, in 93% of theses
cases, policy and institutional factors (which are left out of the I=PAT formulation)
operated along with, or were even causative, of the PAT variables.
3.2.3 Conclusions

Deforestation is a complex, multiform process which cannot be represented by a

mechanistic approach. Mechanistic models are built on the belief that we know
the processes by which a system operates and that individual processes can be
modeled using scientific laws, or rules, described by simple equations. Given the
large number of interacting factors driving deforestation, and given interactions at
different levels of causality (underlying forces, trigger events, mediating factors,

proximate causes) only a system approach seems appropriate. System models

are mathematical descriptions of several complex, interacting processes.
While the development of a "universal model" of deforestation is probably out of
reach, a collection of specific models which represent the particular interactions
between a reduced set of dominant driving forces for a given process of
deforestation, specific to a geographic situation, is feasible. Some of the placespecific processes that could be modeled include subsistence agriculture,
commercial agriculture, colonization activities, or logging, and some of the
geographic situations in which different bundles of causal factors predominate
include forest frontiers, roadside areas, and peri-urban areas.
In terms of research design, the authors conclude that the LUCC research
platform (Turner et al. 1995) proved to be a fruitful platform from which to
proceed to develop a general understanding of the drivers of land use and land
cover change, and from which to conduct a systematic comparison of a large
number of subnational case studies. Although the systematic comparison of
local-scale case studies is labor intensive, the authors feel that it is a much more
fruitful line of inquiry than cross-national statistical analyses such as those
commonly conducted in the 1980s and early 1990s in which national level rates
of deforestation are correlated with economic or population growth rates (e.g.,
Allen and Barnes 1985, Amelung and Diehl 1992; see Rudel and Roper 1997b
for a more sophisticated example of such an analysis).
Readers desiring more details on the methodology and findings of the LUCC
project meta-analysis may download the full report, What Drives Tropical
Deforestation (LUCC Report Series No. 4), from the LUCC project website listed
in the references and related resources associated with this section.
3.3 Policy Intervention

The previous section on causes of deforestation (Section 3.2) described the

degree to which institutional factors (i.e., governmental and international policies)
can affect deforestation. Just as policies can contribute to deforestation, they can
also be one of the strongest mechanisms for reducing forest loss.

Before discussing some possible policy measures for reducing rates of

deforestation, it is worth considering cases in which deforestation may not
necessarily present a problem. A classic case is that of New England, where
much of the forest cover was lost during the colonial and industrial periods, as
land was cleared for agriculture, and wood was used in construction, ship
building, and as a power source. Today, due to the complete restructuring of the
New England economy, most of the forest ecosystems have been restored, and
there is little evidence of the previous land uses apart from occasional stone
fences and house foundations. In many parts of the world, selective tree cutting
is a vital part of forest management, and actually enhances biodiversity and
certain ecosystem functions. Properly managed, forests represent a renewable
resource that has tremendous potential to contribute to sustainable economic
development. Thus, it would be wrong to paint a categorically negative picture of
deforestation.
Nevertheless, the introduction to this chapter lists a number of reasons why
deforestation may, under certain circumstances, be a significant concern. Among
other things, deforestation can lead to soil erosion or impoverishment, especially
in tropical areas where soils tend to be thin and nutrient-poor; it is linked to
habitat loss, which is a leading cause of species endangerment and biodiversity
loss, particularly in humid tropical forests; it affects the hydrological cycle through
changes in evapo-transpiration and run-off; and it releases stored carbon, and
therefore contributes to climate change.
The concern over tropical deforestation in particular relates to their biodiversity,
the risk of soil erosion, and their roles as major carbon sinks. Some have likened
tropical rainforests to the "lungs of the world," owing to the amount of oxygen that
they generate through photosynthesis. Another important factor is the extent of
these forests and their relative rate of depletion. The largest remaining rain forest
blocks are in Central Africa and Brazil, measuring hundreds of thousands of
square kilometers (World Resources Institute 1997). Yet they are disappearing at

rates of up to 1-2 percent annually due to pressures from commercial interests

and settlers.
So how can policies shape the future patterns and rates of deforestation? Major
policy dialogues and approaches are outlined in the following subsections.
3.3.1 International Policy

International policy and policy dialogues often set the precedent for national-level
policies, and therefore can be very important, their influence being felt even at
local levels. At the 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and
Development (UNCED), a non-binding Statement of Forest Principles was signed
pledging parties to more sustainable use of forest resources. In addition, Agenda
21 (Chapter 11) discusses (a) sustaining the multiple roles and functions of all
types of forests, forest lands and woodlands; (b) enhancing the protection,
sustainable management and conservation of all forests, and the greening of
degraded areas through forest rehabilitation, aforestation, reforestation, and
other rehabilitative means; and (c) promoting efficient utilization and assessment
to recover the full valuation of the goods and services provided by forests, forest
lands and woodlands. Agenda 21 promotes improved legislation, action plans,
and research for halting deforestation.
The International Tropical Timber Agreement (ITTA) initially entered into force in
1985, and has been superceded by a new agreement negotiated in 1994. The
ITTA has among its objectives to "encourage the development of national
policies aimed at sustainable utilization and conservation of tropical forests and
their genetic resources, and at maintaining the ecological balance in the regions
concerned in the context of tropical timber trade." The ITTA has no price
regulation mechanisms or market intervention provisions, and accords equal
importance to trade and conservation. The primary purpose of its secretariat, the
International Tropical Timber Organization (ITTO), is to provide an effective
framework for consultation among producer and consumer member countries on
all aspects of the world timber economy within its mandate. ITTO has a
commitment to ensure that all tropical timber products traded by Member States,

which account for 95% of all tropical timber trade, originate from sustainably
managed forests.
The UN Forum on Forests (UNFF) is the successor to the Intergovernmental
Forum on Forests (IFF) and the Intergovernmental Panel on Forests (IPF).
Housed within the UN Economic and Social Council, the objective of the UNFF is
to promote the management, conservation and sustainable development of all
types of forests and to strengthen long-term political commitment to the
implementation of existing agreements, such as the Forest Principles of Agenda
21 and those developed under the IFF/IPF, and in a manner consistent with and
complementary to existing international legally binding instruments relevant to
forests. Among its functions is to monitor and assess progress at the national,
regional and global levels through reporting by Governments, as well as by
regional and international organizations, institutions and instruments, and on this
basis consider future actions needed. On the basis of this monitoring and
assessment, the Forum will consider the development of a legal framework on all
types of forests. This process will also develop financial provisions to implement
any future agreed legal framework.
Although there is no international convention on forests, there are a number of
conventions that touch on forest-related issues, including the Convention on
Biological Diversity, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered
Species, and the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (issue number
206 of FAO's Unasylva addresses forestry-related conventions in more detail).
3.3.2 Economic Policy

According to Singh et al. (2000), "Forests will be protected when the people
conclude that forest conservation is more beneficial (e.g., generates higher
incomes or has ecological or social values) than their clearance." This succinctly
summarizes the argument for economic policies: as long as there is a greater
incentive to cut forests than there is to preserve them, deforestation is likely to
continue.

Therefore, a key element of any policy response needs to be economic policy. In

many countries, economic policies are geared more towards promoting
deforestation than to reducing it. Examples of so-called perverse incentives
(subsidies) to the forestry and agricultural sectors that include tax preferences,
capital and infrastructure supports, credit and insurance support, and marketing
and price supports. Internationally, such policies amount to billions of dollars
each year that directly or indirectly underwrite the costs of large and mediumsized enterprises in the logging and agricultural sectors - the most significant
contributors to forest clearance. Removing such subsidies, therefore, would
reduce the economic incentive to deforest.
Another issue is under-valuation of forest resources. According to Noble and
Dirzo (1997), "there has been a history of undervaluing the forest resource; for
example, royalties, purchase costs, or 'stumpage' payments have often been set
too low to recover the costs of management, let alone the costs of externalities."
These low prices provide an incentive for land-managers to sell off forest
resources so as to put into place agricultural systems with higher rates of return.
The authors suggest putting into place full valuation of forest products, including
non-timber products such as fruits, water catchment and other so-called
"ecosystem services," and intangible values.
At the international level, debt-for-nature swaps have been introduced in a
number of developing countries, in which a country arranges to have part of its
debt canceled in return for setting aside land areas as protected areas. With
agreement reached on the Kyoto Protocol, an increasing number of private
sector firms in the energy sector are investing in carbon-sequestration projects in
the humid tropics. The Protocol obliges industrialized (Annex 1) countries to
reduce their greenhouse gas emissions, and creates innovative mechanisms by
which emissions allocations can be traded among states. Parties may meet part
of their emissions targets by sequestering carbon in forests, which are also
referred to as carbon sinks or offsets (see Chapter 7 for details). The Protocol's
Clean Development Mechanism permits Annex 1 parties to invest in afforestation

and reforestation projects in non-Annex 1 (developing) countries. A number of

developing countries have been exploring the possibility of entering the carbon
market by protecting tropical forests or reforesting large areas. However,
international prices for carbon still remain fairly low (generally between $1-15 per
metric ton), and it is unclear how markets will respond in the future. So, the
promise of carbon trading for forest conservation on a large scale remains to be
seen.
At the local level, easements and management agreements can provide
incentives to conserve forestlands. Easements represent a method commonly
used in developed countries, in which property taxes are reduced in return for the
landowner's commitment to preserve the natural resources and restrict certain
kinds of land use. Conservation easements generally take the form of written
contracts, and the intent is that although the forest area remains in private hands,
it will be protected in perpetuity (Mitchell and Brown 1998). Management
agreements take the form of tax incentives or direct support to land owners to
engage in conservation-related behaviors. They are designed to keep land in an
appropriate use, such as forestry or agriculture. The largest of these is the
Federal Reserve Program in the United States.
Indirectly, policies that promote recycling and alternatives to wood in construction
can reduce the rates of deforestation. OECD countries have increased the
percentage of waste paper that is recycled by an average of 29 percent over the
past decade. Paper recycling rates now average about 42 percent of for the
OECD (CIESIN and YCELP 2002). Recycling reduces the economic incentive to
cut down forests.
3.3.3 Legal Entitlements and Land Tenure Policy

One of the drivers of deforestation discussed by Geist and Lambin (2001) is the
race to obtain legal title. This driver is or has been especially prevalent in
countries in which frontier areas were essentially open to anyone who wished to
stake a land claim. This is increasingly rare, though parts of the Brazilian and
Ecuadorian Amazon continue to be settled in this way. In Brazil, until recently

settlers were required to keep one half of their allotment of 100 hectares in forest.
This law was recently changed to reduce the threshold to 20 percent.
Secure land tenure has been posited as a crucial determinant of sustainable land
management. This is based on the assumption that if the landowner has legal
title to the land, he/she will be more likely to invest in the property and manage it
properly than if title is unclear. However, research has not necessarily borne this
out, and in Switzerland, Africa, and parts of South Asia, common property
resource management has resulted in sustainable management of forestlands for
generations (Gibson et al. 2000, McKean and Ostrom 1995).
Entitlements to forest resources can be customary or codified. For instance, land
owners may allow certain uses on their land, such as gathering of non-timberforest products (NTFPs), that are purely customary (Scoones 1998). These
entitlements may be seasonal or year round, and may be limited to certain
subpopulations (women, herders). As with common property resource
management institutions, such customary entitlements can have enduring
qualities that make up an important component of livelihood strategies.
3.3.4 Conservation Policy

Two major approaches can be summarized under conservation policy:

conventional protected areas and collaborative management approaches. Both
have their roles.
Conventional protected areas are areas set aside by governments for
conservation purposes. The IUCN protected areas categories show that there
are different levels of protection, each designed to meet specific conservation
needs while permitting various degrees of use. Category I includes strict nature
reserves, which are managed mainly for science of wilderness protection.
Categories II and III are national parks and natural monuments managed mainly
for ecosystem protection and recreation. Category IV are habitat and species
management areas, managed primarily for species protection. Categories V and
VI include, respectively, landscapes/seascapes and managed resource protected
areas designated for sustainable use of ecosystems. By 2000, the world's 30,000

protected areas covered over 13,250,000 square kilometers of the earth's land
surface (WCPA 2002).
Within conservation circles, there are debates about which policies are most
effective in ensuring the protection forest resources. In a study of 93 protected
areas in 22 tropical countries, Bruner et al. (2001) found that the majority of parks
are successful at stopping land clearing, and to a lesser degree effective at
mitigating logging. The researchers found that park effectiveness correlated with
basic management activities such as enforcement, boundary demarcation, and
direct compensation to local communities. The authors conclude that even
modest increases in funding would directly increase the ability of parks to protect
tropical biodiversity.
Collaborative management approaches seek to include communities, the private
sector, researchers and other stakeholders in decision-making processes that
lead to management plans. Collaborative or participatory management
developed in response to what was perceived to be an over-reliance on "guns
and fences" for conservation that overlooked local needs. The collaborative
management approach operates along a continuum, from consultation to outright
delegation of decision-making to stakeholders (Borrini-Feyerabend et al. 2000,
Borrini-Feyerabend 1997, Participatory Management Clearinghouse).
Collaborative or co-management has evolved out of many traditional forms of
common property resource management, such as those practiced by Swiss
communes or traditional forest-dwellers. The approach has been utilized with
great success in India, where the Forestry Department has delegated forest area
management authority to many local communities.
3.3.5 Population Policy

Although population dynamics was not the biggest factor in determining

deforestation rates according to the study cited in Section 3.2 (Geist and Lambin
2001), population policy plays an important role in national sustainable
development strategies. Because family planning and reproductive health
services are generally scarce in isolated forest areas, efforts are being made to

link conservation and family planning interventions in some regions.

Governments that pay attention to population policy, and implement clientcentered family planning programs, are more likely in the long run to experience
population stabilization, an important component of overall sustainable
development (Gardner-Outlaw and Engleman 1999, PRB 2001).
4 Desertification

According to Article 1 of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD)

"'desertification' means land degradation in arid, semi-arid and dry sub-humid areas resultin

various factors, including climatic variations and human activities." Land degradation, in turn

reduction in the biological and economic productivity of terrestrial ecosystems, including soi

vegetation, other biota, and the ecological, biogeochemical and hydrological processes that
operate therein (Reynolds 2001). Several other concepts are important in studying land

degradation and desertification: sustainability or the ability of the land to remain productive o

long time periods; resilience or that quality of a resource that makes it sustainable or resista

degradation; vulnerability or the risk of specific adverse outcomes for people or ecosystems
face of different stresses; and carrying capacity or the number of people and animals the la
normally support without being significantly stressed.

Land degradation results from human and natural processes that cause a reduction in the n

resource base or the regenerative capacity of terrestrial ecosystems. Natural processes suc

floods, erosion, drought and forest fires have shaped natural landscapes well before human

evolution. These transformations can benefit one community of plants or animals over anoth

However, implicit in the concept of degradation is a human value judgment - that is a switch

a desirable state to a less desirable state as perceived by humans. The prologue of the UNC

emphasizes that "human beings... are at the center of concerns to combat desertification an

mitigate the effects of drought." What has happened in the past two centuries is that the imp
human agricultural, industrial and extractive activities, when coupled with natural and huma
induced climate variation, is leading to land degradation on an unprecedented scale.

Thus, land degradation and the related term "desertification" must be understood as the res
human activities and natural factors that produce negative outcomes for the livelihoods of p

living in those environments. Land degradation can occur anywhere, and is particularly prev

in areas of subsistence agriculture and mountainous environments. Land can also be degra

by extractive, waste disposal or industrial activities (see Chapter 8 on urbanization). There i

consensus over the definition of the term "desertification" (Glantz and Orlove 1993, Reynold
2001), but for the purposes of this guide we will adopt an approach similar to the UNCCD:

desertification is degradation that occurs in drylands, the arid, semi-arid and sub-humid area
the world and particularly those in the lower latitudes.
The processes of land degradation and desertification are not new. Bunney (1990) offers

evidence of land degradation from early human history in the area surrounding Lake Patzcu
Mexico. Olson (1981) examines clues from the collapse of ancient civilizations such as the
(Central America) and Sardis (Turkey) that suggest that over-exploitation of land resources

played a significant role. In the 1930s the United States experienced a prolonged drought in

mid-west called the "dust bowl" which led to localized economic collapse, farm foreclosures

population displacements. Only recently, however, have degradation processes commande

attention from policymakers at the regional and global levels.
The 1972 Stockholm Conference on the Human Environment was a milestone in concern o

environmental preservation. In 1974, the United Nations called for global action on desertific

with the passage of Resolution 3337 (XXIX) recommending a Conference on Desertification

(UNCOD) in 1977. It took another 15 years, however, for an internationally sanctioned plan

action to be developed in the form of the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD

of the three "Rio Conventions" (so-named because they were created at the 1992 UN Conv
on Environment and Development).

This chapter includes sections addressing: the causes of land degradation and desertificatio

(4.1); the status and extent of land degradation and desertification (4.2); costs associated w
land degradation and desertification (4.3); and Policies for Controlling Land Degradation an
Desertification (4.4).
4.1 The Causes of Land Degradation and Desertification

In the context of land degradation and desertification, researchers speak of "fast" and "slow

variables. In terms of biophysical variables, crop yield, for example, would be a fast (or quic

changing) variable whereas soil fertility, which affects yield, is a slow (slowly changing) varia

In terms of socio-economic variables, household debt would be a fast variable whereas mar

access, which affects debt, is a slowly changing variable. Importantly, these biophysical and
socio-economic variables are closely linked and constantly changing, both in the short- and
term.

As this suggests, land degradation and desertification have natural (or biophysical) and hum

induced components. It is sometimes difficult to determine where the biophysical componen

leaves off and the socio-economic drivers begin. As Reynolds (2001) notes, "The complex o

socio-economic and biophysical causal factors involved in land degradation has differing lev
influence in different regions of the world and at different times." This section will begin by

exploring the human causes of land degradation and desertification, followed by a discussio
human interactions with biophysical processes.
4.1.1 Human Activities and their impacts

As with deforestation, it is possible to speak of proximate causes and indirect drivers of land
degradation and desertification. The proximate causes include factors such as cropland
expansion, intensification of agriculture and livestock extension, especially in so-called
"constrained ecosystems" where environmental fragility is linked to periodic drought, poor s

steep slopes (Agbo et al. 1993). Wood extraction and infrastructure extension can also play

significant roles. The latter includes the extension of human settlements, road extension, an
spread of irrigation technologies such as channels, boreholes, watering points.

The indirect drivers of land degradation and desertification include population density and g

migration, and policies that encourage or subsidize unsustainable practices (e.g., overstock

livestock, decreases in fire frequency, irrigation with saline water, etc.). Wars, internal confli
and refugee resettlement programs can also cause population displacements into fragile
environments. If refugees are resettled in new ecological zones, they may bring with them
practices that are not adapted to local climatic conditions. Or they may be resettled at a

population density that is inappropriate to the new environment. This same dynamic may oc

when formerly nomadic peoples come to live in permanent settlements, which has happene
parts of Central Asia and the Sahel.

We can divide human activities that affect land degradation roughly into two realms. The firs

the agricultural sphere, which includes cropping and pastoral activities that affect agroecosystems. The second are those activities that affect the ecology of natural or quasi-natu
ecosystems.

Agricultural land degradation is a gradual process in which soil nutrients and organic matter
depleted. Cropland soil degradation occurs as a result of cropping in which soil conservatio
practices are either absent of insufficient. Soil conservation practices include application of

external inputs (e.g., organic or chemical fertilizers); terracing, bunds or contour plowing; an

fallowing (i.e., periodically taking the cropland out of production). Under continuous cropping

no external inputs, crop land will naturally become depleted of key nutrients (e.g., minerals s
as nitrogen, phosphate and potassium) and organic matter.

Pasture land, on the other hand, can become degraded through over-grazing - i.e., a densit

livestock in excess of the carrying capacity of the land. Livestock affect both the soil structur

the vegetation cover of herbaceous plants. Removal of vegetation cover exposes soil to the
elements (wind and rain), which when combined with soil disturbances, can speed erosive
processes.

There are three principal soil degradation processes: physical, chemical and biological. The

involves a decline in soil structure, leading to reduction in infiltration, increase in rainfall runo

and exacerbation in erosion by water and wind (Lal 2001). The second, chemical degradatio

involves processes such as salinization, alkalinization, leaching, and acidification. The last o

these includes reduction in humus quality and quantity or declines in soil biodiversity. The o
result of these processes is:

reduction in biomass productivity

water pollution, contamination and eutrophication

decline in air quality through suspended dust particles
emission of carbon, nitrous oxides and other greenhouse gases into the atmosphere

Soil: A Critical Natural Resource

Soil is much more than a simple medium for crop production. It is a dynamic ecosystem, a

membrane that cycles life-sustaining nutrients between bedrock and atmosphere. Good so

are home to some of the world's highest and most diverse populations of species, including

earthworms, insects and microorganisms that help plants absorb nutrients and even protec

against disease. These organisms break down dead plant and animal tissue to form humus

dark and crumbly carbon-based portion of soil. Healthy soils rich in humus soak up water, i

airflow and resist erosion. Humus-poor soils shed water, restrict root growth and break apa

rough weather. Soil ecosystems are threatened by the progressive loss of organic material

farmers abandon organic for chemical fertilizers and offer the land less fallow, or resting, tim

Currently, however, little research is being conducted on the species composition and biolo
properties of soils.

Cultivated soils lose not only humus and organisms but also micronutrients needed for plan

human health. Fertilizers replace nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium in soils, but rarely m
else. As crop after crop is reaped from the soil and shipped elsewhere, with little return of

comparable organic material to the soil, there is no assurance that sufficient micronutrients
remain in the soil for future crops and future generations.
Source: Engleman and Leroy 1995.
Soil degradation is particularly severe in regions of the world where continual cropping and

input agriculture is practiced. This includes large regions where subsistence farming is the r
much of East, Southeast, and South Asia; sub-Saharan Africa; and parts of Latin America.

Mountain and hill regions are particularly prone to land degradation through physical proces
(soil erosion), though investments in terraces in those areas have greatly reduced erosive

processes. However, it is important to note that soil degradation is not limited to the develop
world. Soil erosion affects large parts of the American mid-West, as witnessed by the thous
of tons of topsoil that are carried via the Mississippi River into the Gulf of Mexico each year
(Anderson and Magleby 1997).
Drylands are prone to land degradation in the process commonly known as desertification.

Drylands are regions in which the ratio of precipitation to evapotranspiration is 0.65 or lower
ratio is also referred to as the index of ariditiy). The vast majority of drylands are in pasture
rangelands (88 percent). Only nine percent are in rainfed cropland, and three percent are u

irrigation (UNEP 1992). The most commonly cited reason for dryland degradation is over-gr

Firewood collection in some regions, particularly for large urban areas, has resulted in reduc
in tree cover and consequently greater exposure of land to erosion. Salinization and water l

can also be a problem in irrigated drylands. The former occurs in areas with insufficient drai

where salts contained in the irrigation water remain in the soil and increase in concentration

(Dregne 1986). The latter results from a rising water table, to the point where plant roots are
permanently saturated.

Human impacts on natural or quasi-natural dryland ecosystems include habitat fragmentatio

loss; introduction of alien and invasive species; air, soil and water pollution; and climate cha

(Reynolds 2001). Activities that affect these ecosystems include some of those agro-pastora
firewood collection activities mentioned above. Another activity is fire management, which

depending on the circumstances may mean either excess use of fire, or reduction of fire. W

are an important part of dryland ecosystem functioning, so any change in fire regimes can h
adverse impacts.
4.1.2 Human-Biosperical Linkages

The human activities described above tend to exacerbate pre-existing conditions. These ca
divided into meteorological dimensions and ecological dimensions.

The meteorological or climatic dimension of desertification relates to the paucity and variabi

rainfall, and to the extremely high rates of evapotranspiration. With or without human settlem
arid and semi-arid regions are characterized by highly variable rainfall. The tragic droughts

Sahel and Ethiopia of the mid-1970s and 1980s are testimony to the variability of rainfall, th

fragility of these environments and the vulnerability of the populations that live in them. How

there is evidence to suggest that changes to land cover itself can affect the micro-climate in
certain regions (Taylor 2001, Kumar et al. 1998). Progressive removal of vegetation cover

changes the surface albedo (the degree to which the land surface reflects the sun's energy)

can also reduce atmospheric humidity, which in turn affects cloud formation and precipitatio

Thus, land clearance activities may have positive feedbacks that create localized reductions
atmospheric humidity and rainfall. Links between the land surface characteristics and the
hydrologic cycle are further explored in Chapter 6.

Research suggests that airborne dust and smoke from fires may cause reductions in rainfal

Activities such as grazing and agricultural cultivation that expose and disrupt topsoil can inc

the amount of dust blown into the air. Land clearing activities through burning sends up plum
smoke (often visible on satellite images). Dust and smoke have relatively large particle size

These larger-sized nuclei have the effect of increasing the threshold for droplet formation in
clouds, thereby reducing rainfall (Rosenfeld 2001).

The ecological dimensions of desertification relate to the natural characteristics of dryland a

Dryland soils are sensitive to disturbances because they contain small amounts of organic m
and have low aggregate strength. Tillage and grazing by domesticated animals can have

profound effects on these soils, including lowering their permeability to water (thus decreasi
infiltration), disturbing their surface integrity (thus increasing erosion), and decreasing their
nutrient levels for plant growth (Reynolds 2001). Vegetation is composed of grasslands,

shrublands, and savannas, with trees scattered or concentrated along water courses. Unde

these circumstances, tree cutting activities or grazing has significant long-term impacts if do
an unsustainable rate.
Thus, the complex of pre-disposing factors and human activities work together to adversely

the delicate ecological balance. Communities in dryland areas are adapted to periodic droug

conditions, but a fundamental question is whether or not the same traditional practices of low
intensity agriculture and herding can be carried out higher levels of intensity (due to higher
population densities) without causing long-term damage. Add to this the policy measures
implemented by some governments to sedentarize nomadic peoples, and the pursuit of
sustainable development in drylands becomes even more complicated.
4.2 The Status and Extent of Land Degradataion and Desertification

One of the largest efforts to date to measure soil degradation was the Global Assessment o

Human Induced Soil Degradation (or GLASOD; UNEP 1990). The GLASOD data base cont

information on soil degradation within map units as reported by numerous soil experts aroun
world through a questionnaire. It includes the type, degree, extent, cause and rate of soil

degradation. According to this expert assessment, the land area prone to soil degradation is

estimated at about 2 billion ha (or 20 million Km2), of which 562 Mha (29.7 percent) is agric
land, 685 Mha (34.8 percent) is permanent pastures and 719 (35.5 percent) is forest and

woodland (Oldeman et al. 1991 in Lal 2001). Some 1.6 billion ha are reported by GLASOD

subject to erosion - 1.1 billion to water erosion and 500 Mha to wind erosion (Middleton and
Thomas 1997).
Drylands account for roughly 47 percent of the global land mass, or approximately 5.2 billio

Of this, roughly 60-70 percent are said to have undergone some level of desertification. Sixt
percent of all drylands are found in Africa and Asia (32% each). Another 12 percent are fou

North America, 11 percent in Australia, and 9 percent in South America. Though these regio

may appear to have less drylands, they nevertheless make up important proportions of their
landmasses (e.g., over 75 percent of the Australian continent). Region by region assessme

drylands and desertification can be found in Dregne (1986) and Dregne and Chou (1992), a
assessment for China can be found in Zhu and Wang (1993).

GLASOD was an important benchmark, but it has come under criticism recently for being ov

generalized. According to Orone (1996), "the accuracy, meaning, and practical usefulness o

these estimates of global desertification trends are increasingly questioned, particularly give

difficulty of determining the causal relationships of such complex processes." Others sugges

there is a need to move beyond such global estimates by undertaking localized studies and
the-ground measurements (Niemeijer and Mazzucato 2002).

This reflects the desire on the part of scientists to put the understanding of land degradation

desertification extent and processes on firmer empirical footing. Current data deficiencies ar

to the limited number of databases, and to the fact that these data have a limited temporal s

and mainly reflect biophysical conditions. The socioeconomic dimensions are derived from s

overlay techniques (man/land ratios, human population carrying capacity), and no systemat
and global data sets exist on human causes, since individual case studies follow different

protocols. A new direction would be to link biophysical and socioeconomic properties such a

example, soil properties (physical, chemical, biological) with landscape or ecosystem dynam

which in turn are linked to land-use practices (land tenure, livestock, wealth, etc.). Such a da
would need to be georeferenced and allow for measuring system changes.
Understanding of the extent and rates of desertification have also been clouded by definitio

confusion and various myths, such as the "the myth of the marching desert" (Forse 1989), w

have sometimes served to further the objectives of international development agencies rath

than clarify the nature of the problem (Warren and Agnew 1988). One of the common

misconceptions is that deserts expand outwards from a core. This would suggest that the w

combat it is to put up "green fencing" as a way to stop the progression of dunes from swallo
up the land. Actually, desertification can be highly localized, spreading from an area that is

degraded outwards (Forse 1989, Dregne and Chou 1992). Stopping the southward moveme
the Sahara, therefore, is more easily achieved by increasing the sustainability of farming sy
in the savanna belt (just south of the Sahel) than by tree-planting further north.
Some recent evidence throws into doubt the notion that the Sahara is actually growing at al
examination of AVHRR satellite data covering the southern fringe of the Sahara shows that
the fringe of the desert (as marked by the 200 mm rainfall isoline) has fluctuated markedly,

has been virtually no net increase in the desert's area from 1980 to 1997 (Tucker and Nicho
1999). In fact, the trend line suggests that the region just to the south of the Sahara (known

Sahel) has actually become slightly greener (moister) during this time period. Schulz (1994)
suggests that the Saharan desert may not have changed much in overall extent since the 1
century.

Research on soil degradation in one Sahelian country, Burkina Faso, examined the evidenc

support of desertification using several approaches. They looked at correlations at the provi

level between agricultural yields, population density, rainfall, and manual versus animal trac

tillage. The researchers then examined soil nutrients and characteristics for samples taken f
the same area in 1960 and the mid-1990s. Finally, they examined the difference in soil
characteristics between long-term cultivated and uncultivated lands. Results showed little

supporting evidence for widespread degradation of crop and fallow land; yield fluctuations w
found to be more highly correlated with rainfall than with population densities or level of
technological inputs (Niemeijer and Mazzucato 2002).
It is likely that future studies of land degradation and desertification will need to rely on

combinations of satellite observations of climate and land cover, coupled with ground-based

assessments of human activities and soils, to be able to draw firm conclusions about trends

severity. An example of this approach is a quantitative assessment of observed wind erosio

the Manix Basin of the Mojave Desert in southeastern California from 1979 to 1997 was bas

field trips, Landsat Multispectral Scanner (MSS) imagery, and Airborne Visible Infrared Imag

Spectrometer (AVIRIS) data (Okin et al. 2001). It revealed that 3,000 ha of land were direct

disturbed by central-pivot irrigated fields, housing developments and roads, and 3,000 to 9,0

of land may be expected to be indirectly disturbed through sand blown several kilometers be
the downwind boundary of a field. This sums to 6,000 to 12,000 ha total disturbance, or 15of the total basin floor area, and approximately 23-45% of the non-playa area of the basin.
4.3 The Costs of Land Degradation and Desertification

Desertification costs are often borne by the poorest of subsistence farmers and herders. Glo

UNEP estimates that economic losses from desertification are more than $42 billion. The co

land degradation and desertification are most often measured in terms of lost productivity. T
could mean reduced crop yields, grazing intensities, etc. Secondary costs include loss of
ecosystem services, and indirect costs are those associated with mitigating desertification.

Dregne and Chou (1992) provide criteria for a global assessment of desertification, classifyi

land according to usage and range of desertification severity, and offer a cost-benefit analys

recapturing lands. They also present tables on the annual income foregone due to desertific
and on the cost of rehabilitation over a 20-year period.
In the United States, loss of crop yield due to soil degradation has been a subject of extens
study. Langdale and Shrader (1982) provide tables on crop yield estimates associated with

various levels of soil erosion. Mokma and Sietz (1992) report on a study of soil erosion's eff

on crop yields in South-central Michigan. The authors found that production in severely erod
plots averaged 21 percent less than production in normal or slightly eroded soils.
Indirect costs of land degradation and desertification generally include the effects of damag

to sediments in streams, canals, dams, and reservoirs. These are usually harder to assess,

many of the impacts may not be felt directly by the farmer. Reynolds and Stafford-Smith (20

suggest that a distinction needs to be made between the local costs and the regional impac

Gully erosion to the local land manager may not result in any discernible decrease in incom

to the manager of the hydroelectric dam downstream, the increased sedimentation may rep
real costs in terms of reductions in power generation. Should it be determined that the gully
erosion is having an impact on hydroelectric power generation, it still remains to be determi

the gullies can be economically rehabilitated and who should bear the cost. These issues m

desertification mitigation complicated.

4.4 Policies to Combat Land Degradation and Desertification

In this section we focus first on policies to prevent land degradation, and then examine
desertification control.
4.4.1 Land Degradation

Approaches to prevent land degradation have been around since the dawn of plant
domestication. Indigenous knowledge systems the world around have been employed for
centuries to ensure that soil and water are conserved for optimal cropping. For example, in

Central America the dibble stick is used to punch holes for seed planting on steep slopes, w

plowing would lead to severe erosion. Elephant grass is planted on hillsides in East Africa b

forage, and as a valuable means to prevent soil erosion. Terraced rice cultivation in Nepal a

Philippines has been in practice for hundreds of years. And farmers in West Africa have lon
branches and stones to slow rainwater runoff, thereby increasing infiltration.

Since the early 20th century, governments began to be actively engaged in soil conservatio
efforts to protect a vital part of the national patrimony. The Natural Resource Conservation

Service (formerly the Soil Conservation Service) of the United States has thoroughly mappe

tested soils in every corner of the country, and provides advice to farmers on how best to m
their croplands. Conservation tillage is becoming increasingly popular, both for its soil

conservation attributes, and for reductions in greenhouse gas emissions that result. Sophist

technical equipment for precision farming, which utilizes global positioning systems to custo

fertilizer and pesticide applications, are now being deployed in large-scale industrial agricult

In the developing world, some have posited that increasing population densities in rural area
inevitably lead to land degradation and declining yields. And there is evidence to support th
argument, though population size or density is rarely the sole contributing factor. Rather,

population variables tend to be part of a matrix of factors that include failed institutions, clim
conditions, inherently poor soils, and lack of incentives for proper soil management (e.g., te

insecurity, low market prices). However, there is much to be learned from regions where the
downward spiral of soil degradation and poverty has not inevitably resulted from increasing

population density.

Case studies from Machakos District in Kenya and in Chivi communal area in Zimbabwe su

that improved soil productivity and more secure livelihoods can and do occur in a context of
increased population density, and even benefit from it (Tiffen et al. 1994, Scoones 1997). T

factors that can be important for averting land degradation include appropriate technologies

soil management adopted and propagated by local farmers (rather than imposed from outsi
access to markets, road infrastructure and development of local market towns for food
processing; cash-cropping as opposed to purely subsistence agriculture; and development
local management capacity and skills through education and agricultural extension. Rather

blanket solutions, Scoones (1997) urges more fine-tuned and people-centered developmen

interventions in which the historical context and local specificity of needs are acknowledged
an approach recognizes local environmental knowledge, and sees the agricultural research
facilitator rather than an expert prescribing solutions.
Integrated soil fertility management (ISFM) responds to many of these concerns. ISFM

emphasizes context-specific adaptive responses, tailored to local conditions and opportuniti

and constraints faced by farmers, and it advocates a careful management of nutrient stocks

flows (IIED 2000). Recognizing that efforts to improve soil fertility through the use of organic

fertilizers alone have been stymied because of the lack of sufficient organic matter in the loc

environment (e.g., manure, crop residues and household wastes) and the high labor require

to collect and apply organic matter, ISFM supports approaches that combine organic and m

fertilizers (Breman & van Reuler 2000). Furthermore, recognizing that farmers need adequa

incentives to manage soil resources, policies that promote ISFM include a supportive macro

economic environment (e.g., adequate farm-gate prices), access to inputs at reasonable co

research and extension tailored to farmer needs and constraints.
4.4.2 Desertification

Because desertification is essentially land degradation that occurs in drylands, many of the
remedies discussed above are also applicable in dryland environments. Desertification is a
significant problem in the world's least developed countries, from the countries of the Sahel

West Africa, where per-capita incomes hover around $1000 per year, to arid parts of the Ind

Subcontinent. With this in mind, the UNCCD has promoted approaches to combat land
degradation that focus on poverty alleviation and that utilize local-level participatory
methodologies, similar to ISFM. According to Article 1 of the Convention, "combating

desertification includes activities which are part of the integrated development of land in arid
semi-arid and dry sub-humid areas for sustainable development."

The Convention text refers frequently to sustainable development, climate change, biologica
diversity, water resources, energy sources, food security, and socio-economic factors. The
interactions between these issues and desertification are often not fully understood, but the
clearly important. The Convention therefore emphasizes the need to coordinate desertificat
related activities with the research efforts and response strategies inspired by these other

concerns. The Convention has already succeeded in promoting the development of nationa
action plans and in leveraging donor resources to support implementation.
Reynolds and Stafford Smith (2002) provide five policy-relevant assertions from a major

conference on desertification hosted by Dahlem University in Berlin in June of 2001 (see Ta

These assertions represent state-of-the art thinking on desertification that are relevant to
decision-making.

Source: Reynolds and Stafford Smith (2002).

The Dahlem workshop came to a number of recommendations of relevance to implementat

the UNCCD:

Desertification has no universal solution, yet there are a limited number of sensible

approaches to be pursued. What works in grasslands with nomadic pastoralists will li

not be transferable to environments were rainfed subsistence agriculture is practiced

what works for the rainfed farms will not necessarily work where irrigation is prevalen

Everything to do with desertification is affected by the scale and purpose of concern. Desertification must be
disaggregated to specific types of degradation and other changes in human-environment systems at the commun
possibly, the national level.
It is better to address the underlying causes or drivers of desertification (the 'slow' variables) rather than to try to
only the consequences (the 'fast' variables). Greater understanding of the drivers is necessary, and there needs to
better interaction between scientists and policy makers at all levels.
Coordination of aid programs addressing desertification is needed.
National governments, as parties to the UNCCD, should be urged to take their commitments under the conventio
seriously. In particular governments should identify, through integrated natural and social science research, the c
'slow' variables at the community and national level so as to address them before critical thresholds are crossed i
intervention costs markedly increase.

There are a number of initiatives underway that aim to contribute to a better understanding

desertification and to explore policy responses. The Dryland Land Degradation Assessment

proposed project under the UNEP Global Environmental Facitlity (GEF), is intended to assis

the development of drylands through the provision of better information on land degradation

Assessment, Research and Integration on Desertification (ARID) is a joint LUCC and Globa

Change and Terrestrial Ecosystems (GCTE) initiative, the goal of which is to test and refine

Dahlem Desertification paradigm (described above). Finally, there is AIRDnet, an internation

network of researchers with a multitude of case studies, the goal of which is to classify what

matters in terms of fast and slow variables, drivers, etc., in which locations, and why, and to
develop integrated assessment models.
5 Biological Diversity
Biodiversity is the web of life that distinguishes planet Earth from the
other lifeless spheres in our solar system, if not the universe. There are
three different levels of diversity: ecosystem diversity, species diversity,
and genetic diversity (i.e., diversity within species). Our focus here will be
on terrestrial (as opposed to aquatic) ecosystem diversity, and on species
diversity within terrestrial ecosystems.

The number and types of organisms inhabiting the planet have varied
immensely during geologic history. In part, these variations have been
caused by the evolution of new types of organisms and the elimination of
others due to environmental changes and mass extinctions, as occurred
at the end of the Mesozoic period 65 million years ago which saw the
extinction of the dinosaurs.
Now, however, human transformations of the earth's surface are a force
of geologic proportions that is affecting biodiversity in almost every corner
of the world. Changes are occurring rapidly enough that the result is a net
loss of species rather than a proliferation of new life forms. Species have
been disappearing at 50-100 times the natural rate, and this is predicted
to rise dramatically. Based on current trends, an estimated 34,000 plant
and 5,200 animal species - including one in eight of the world's bird
species - are critically endangered. According to the IUCN Red List
(2000), almost 10 percent of animal species and 14 percent of plant
species are critically endangered.
The greatest human impact on biodiversity is the alteration and
destruction of habitats, which occurs mainly through changes in land use:
draining of wetlands, clearing of land for agriculture, felling of forests for
timber, and pollution of the environment and fragmentation. Other impacts
on biodiversity, which will not be dealt with in this guide, include the
development and potential proliferation of genetically modified organisms
(GMOs), direct exploitation (e.g., over-harvesting of plants or animals),
and introduction of alien (non-native) species.
Loss of species is significant in several respects. First, breaking of critical
links in the biological chain can disrupt the functioning of an entire
ecosystem and its biogeochemical cycles. This disruption may have
significant effects on larger scale processes. Second, loss of species can
have impacts on the organism pool from which medicines and
pharmaceuticals can be derived. Third, loss of species can result in loss

of genetic material, which is needed to replenish the genetic diversity of

domesticated plants that are the basis of world agriculture (Convention on
Biological Diversity).
In recent years, the international scientific community has made
considerable progress toward fostering global awareness of the
importance of biodiversity. As a result, a number of multiagency
organizations have been established, and many conservation programs
have been implemented. Nevertheless, the task of biodiversity
conservation is daunting. This chapter will explore several issues at the
interface of land-use and land-cover change and biodiversity. Section 5.1
provides an overview of the current distribution of terrestrial biodiversity.
Section 5.2 explores those land conversion practices that are most
harmful to biodiversity. Section 5.3 explores approaches to biodiversity
conservation. Section 5.4 addresses biodiversity and climate change, and
the ways in which current conservation efforts may fall short if they do not
adequately account for likely ecosystem alterations and movements.
5.1 The Current Status of Terrestrial Biodiversity

Nobody knows for sure exactly how many species exist, or how rapidly
species are disappearing through extinction (species are defined here as
a population of organisms that are able to interbreed freely; Wilson in
Glowka et al. 1994). About 1.75 million species out of an estimated total
of 10-20 m. have been collected and named by systematists, with the
most undercounted species being found among bacteria, protoctista
(microorganisms), insects and fungi. Though the total number of species
is unknown, biologists and taxonomists have accomplished reasonably
complete samples in specific regions such as Western Europe. Species
inventories show that some ecosystems are richer in terms of biodiversity
than others. Groombridge and Jenkins (2000) go so far as to say that "the
single most important fact about biological diversity is that it is not evenly

distributed over the planet."

In general, species diversity per unit area tends to increase with
decreasing latitude, with highest diversity found in the tropics. Thus, in
terms of natural land cover classes, tropical forests have the highest
densities of biodiversity per unit area; desert, tundra, and boreal forests
have the lowest. Topographical variations in the landscape lead to higher
species diversity, and some highly localized ecosystems, such as
wetlands, are also species-rich. Recognition that some areas possess
higher levels of biodiversity, and especially endemics (plants or animals
that are only found in localized areas), has fueled interest in the
identification of biogeographical areas of species richness, and therefore
of high conservation value.
5.1.1 Biodiversity Hotspots

A variety of approaches have been utilized to identify areas of high

species richness and endemism. The "hotspots" term was coined by
Norman Myers (1988) to indicate areas of high conservation value that
are facing significant threats to conservation. Myer's first version was
entirely focused on tropical rain forests. In its most recent iteration
(Mittermeier et al. 1998), the hotspots analysis identified 24 high priority
areas, including some temperate areas such as the California coast, the
Mediterranean and New Zealand. Collectively, these 24 areas constitute
just 2 percent of the earth's land surface, but contain an incredible 45
percent of known plant diversity and 35 percent of all non-fish vertebrates
that are endemic (meaning they can be found no where else).
The Global 200 approach, adopted by the World Wide Fund for Nature
(WWF), identifies 233 high priority areas that are globally representative
of all habitat types. Olson and Dinerstein (1998) suggest that although
tropical moist forests contain over half of all species diversity, the many
other ecosystems that contain the remaining 50 percent also deserve

consideration. These include tropical dry forests, tundra, temperate

grasslands, polar seas, and mangroves, which all contain unique
expressions of biodiversity with characteristic species, biological
communities, and distinctive ecological and evolutionary phenomena.
Given their focus on ecoregions, large units of land or water containing a
characteristic set of natural communities, and given the large number of
regions included on the list, the Global 200 ecosystems comprises a
much larger proportion of the terrestrial land surface.
Hotspots and the Global 200 represent priority-setting efforts that focus
on high value and highly threatened ecosystems. The Global 200 report
states that, among terrestrial ecosystems included on their list, 47 percent
are considered critical or endangered and 29 percent are vulnerable,
leaving a little over a quarter that are stable or intact. An alternative
approach, developed by Wildlife Conservation Society and CIESIN
(2002), is to identify the world's last great wild areas, and to concentrate
resources and attention to securing as much of those regions under some
kind of conservation status. Presumably, this can be done at far less cost
than conservation in densely settled areas. Ultimately, however, the two
approaches are complimentary; Mittermeier et al. (1998) suggest that the
hotspots approach be undertaken in combination with efforts to conserve
the last remaining "pristine" wilderness areas.
5.1.2 Methods for Measuring and Mapping Species Diversity

A number of methods have been developed to estimate populations in a

given environment. May (1988) reviews the kinds of information needed
to make the answers more precise. The author considers various factors
affecting biodiversity, including structure of food webs, relative abundance
of species, number of species and of individuals in different categories of
body size, and other determinants of the commonness and rarity of
organisms. Reid (1992) takes the question a step further. Using a

species-area curve (a curve that defines the relationship between land

area and the number of species contained in it), he attempts to define a
relationship between extinction rates in a region and the amount of
habitat that is lost. Wilson (1988) uses archipelago systems to illustrate
the relationship between habitat size and species diversity. The author
presents a table of current estimates of the number of described species
of earth organisms and also discusses the natural longevity and rate of
decline of species.
Researchers have sought methods for extracting biodiversity information
from remote sensing imagery. Obviously remote sensing cannot detect
individual organisms, and therefore will never fully replace field surveys.
However, analysis of images has helped researchers to identify areas
that are likely to be species rich based on their spectral signature.
Podolsky (1996) has developed a software tool called Diversidad to
analyze Landat imagery of different ecosystem types, and has found
through field verification that it consistently identified the locations of
highest and lowest diversity. Beyond mapping landscape-level diversity,
Rey-Benayas and Pope (1995) explore applications of Landsat TM
imagery for monitoring of natural resources, planning development, and
designing nature reserves. Similar corridor and park planning initiatives
utilizing remote sensing are underway in Central America (NASA/CCAD
Mesoamerican Biological Corridor) and in Brazil's Atlantic Rainforest.
Remote sensing can also be used to develop indicators related to the
compositional, structural and functional components of biodiversity (Noss
1990).
5.2 LUCC and Biodiversity Loss

This section examines a number of land-use and land-cover change

patterns that are leading to biodiversity loss. Given the importance of
forests to biodiversity conservation, readers are encouraged to review

Section 3.2 of this guide, which describes the drivers of deforestation.

Many of the same LUCC processes are also driving biodiversity loss.
As noted in the introduction to this chapter, species extinction predates
the appearance of hominids on the planet, yet there is no doubt that even
prehistoric human activities have speeded species loss. Through their
use of fire and through hunting, it is thought that early hominids
contributed to the extinction of many large terrestrial mammal and bird
species (Groombridge & Jenkins 2000). It is really only with the advent of
large-scale agriculture, though, that species extinction rates began to
rapidly increase. Today, agriculture channels some 40 percent of the
planet's net primary productivity to meet human needs. According to
Tilman et al. (2001), "land use and habitat conversion are, in essence, a
zero-sum game: land converted to agriculture to meet global food
demand comes from forests, grasslands, and other natural habitats."
Today, 1.54 billion ha (or 15.4 m. square km.) is in cropland, and 3.47
billion ha is in pastureland, and according to Tilman et al. these are
projected to increase 1.89 billion hectares and 4.01 billion ha respectively
by 2050. Thus, by 2050 approximately 45 percent of the world's land
surface will be dedicated, in one way or another, to agriculture.
While agriculture sometimes represents a wholesale conversion of land
from natural states to crop or pastureland, often the process is a gradual
one in which a succession of land uses "punches holes" in the fabric of
nature in ways that can be deleterious to biodiversity. This process is
known as forest or habitat fragmentation. Fragmentation can lead to
reductions in total genetic variation, dispersal barriers and, for plants, the
potential loss of key biotic interactions with pollinators and dispersal
agents (IAI 1994).
The effects of fragmentation on species viability vary from species to
species. Some species may actually benefit from the additional "edge
effects" that are produced as fragmentation progresses, creating more

boundary areas between forest and cleared lands. However, the majority
species are likely to be negatively affected, especially as habitat patch
sizes decline below a minimum required for population viability. If a
species becomes marooned on a patch, this means that it is effectively
cut off from reproduction with the larger population. This can lead to
inbreeding and its attendant negative impacts on the genetic makeup of
the population. Fragmentation can also make species more vulnerable to
disease and storms, and alter relationships between predator and prey.
Looking to the future, it is likely that future demands for land, not just from
agriculture, but for urban and industrial land uses and extractive activities
will continue to put pressure on natural areas. The debate over oil drilling
in Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge illustrates the tensions over
conservation versus economic development. Opponents argued that
drilling would interfere with caribou breeding grounds and trammel upon
an otherwise pristine natural area. Proponents argued that the United
States is overly dependent on foreign oil, that oil from the refuge would be
a vital step towards energy self-sufficiency, and that drilling had not
harmed conservation on the north slopes of Alaska. A similar debate is
taking place in the Ecuadorian Amazon, where oil exploration and drilling
have been underway for several decades, and have led to the opening up
of vast tracts of land for settlement.
A study of human population and biodiversity distribution in Africa showed
that human population density was highest in areas of high biodiversity,
leading the authors to conclude that "conflicts between conservation and
development are not easily avoided because many densely inhabited
[areas] contain species found nowhere else" (Balmford et al. 2001). In the
more densely settled northeastern U.S., others have sought a solution by
channeling human settlements in a way that will not eliminate wildlife
habitat (White et al. 1997).
Recognizing these inherent challenges to biodiversity conservation,

Section 5.3 addresses several approaches to addressing biodiversity

conservation.
5.3 Approaches to Biodiversity Conservation

Two major approaches to conservation policy, traditional protected areas

and collaborative management, are outlined in Section 3.3 on policy
intervention in deforestation. Briefly, traditional protected areas harness
the power of the state to define areas in which varying degrees of
conservation (from strict preservation to protected multi-use landscapes),
to set policies for land and resource use, and to enforce those policies
through allocation of resources and prosecution of offenders.
Collaborative management or community-based natural resource
management works with multiple stakeholders - government, community,
and private sector - to identify and implement approaches to conservation
that may include varying degrees of sustainable natural resource use
(See NRM Changelinks). These two approaches are not mutually
exclusive, and many instances of collaborative management in and
around protected areas have been documented (Borrini-Feyerabend
1996).
There are also a number different approaches or theories that guide onthe-ground conservation as it relates to land use and land cover. One of
these is the development of conservation corridors that connect a series
of protected areas with protected landscapes so as to provide animal
migration routes in response to habitat fragmentation. In Central America,
which owing to its location as a land bridge between North and South
America contains some 7-8 percent of the world's biodiversity on just one
percent of its land surface, an ambitious initiative is underway to create a
Mesoamerican Biological Corridor (MBC; see NASA/CCAD and
PROARCA). The MBC intends to use a combination of land purchases
and incentives to convince farmers living in the corridors to abandon

slash and burn agriculture and cattle ranching for planting shaded coffee
and cacao, which an serve as habitat for birds (Kaiser 2001). Similar
corridor initiatives have been undertaken to link habitat remnants in
Florida, and new initiatives are planned for Europe, western Australia, the
Himalayas, and Brazil's Amazon and Atlantic forests.
Gap analysis is a tool that was developed to identify the gaps between
species distribution and existing protected areas (Scott et al. 1993). In
contrast to a species-by-species approach, or habitat protection for a
single flagship species (e.g., lions or pandas), gap analysis identifies the
gaps in representation of biodiversity in areas managed exclusively or
primarily for the long term maintenance of populations of native species
and natural ecosystems. Once identified, gaps are filled through new
reserve acquisitions or designations, corridors, or through changes in
management practices.
Conservation of agro-biodiversity through improved land-management is
an important objective of the Convention on Biological Diversity (see
CBD's Agricultural Biodiversity website). A dozen crops together provide
about 75 percent of the world's caloric intake. In terms of animal protein
intake, just three domestic animals - pigs, cattle and chickens - constitute
the largest sources (Groombridge & Jenkins 2000). The importance of
this greatly reduced number of crops and animals means that conscious
efforts will need to be taken to protect agro-biodiversity, if not for other
reason because little utilized or exploited crop varieties provide important
genetic information that can help to combat diseases and pests in the
future. Some of the most valuable genetic resources are in the fields of
subsistence farmers in the developing world, and countries like Mexico
have made a conscious effort to exclude genetically modified crops in
order to preserve the purity of their local varieties.
5.4 Biodiversity and Climate Change

There are a number of major issues at the interface of biodiversity, land

use and climate change. As climate changes, ecosystems will respond to
changes in temperature and precipitation as well as changes in the
carbon-dioxide concentrations in the atmosphere. These changes are
likely to favor some species and to negatively affect others, which will
alter competitive relationships and may cause invasions by "generalist"
species (Walker and Steffan 1997). Perhaps most significantly, there is a
risk that climatic changes will occur more rapidly than individual species
are able to adapt. For those species that are able to migrate with climate
change (seeking appropriate habitat as it literally moves out from under
them), there is a risk that migration "escape routes" will be closed due to
anthropogenically altered landscapes or natural barriers, such as
mountains, rivers and oceans (Malcolm and Markham 2000). The ultimate
result could be large-scale extinctions.
An analysis of WWF's Global 200 ecosystems (see Section 5.2) suggests
that more than 80 percent of these biologically rich regions will suffer
extinctions of plant and animal species as a result of global warming;
changes in habitats from global warming will be more severe at high
latitudes and altitudes than in lowland tropical areas; the most unique and
diverse natural ecosystems may lose more than 70 percent of the
habitats upon which their plant and animal species depend; and many
habitats will change at a rate approximately ten times faster than the rapid
changes during the recent postglacial period (Malcolm et al. 2002).
Unlike the introduction of invasive species, land conversion, and other
threats to biodiversity, because climate is globally pervasive, it will affect
even remote wilderness areas that to date have experienced little of
anthropogenic change. Walker and Steffan predict that more natural
ecosystems will be in an early successional state, and that the biosphere
will be "weedier" and structurally simpler, by comparison with ecologically
complex old-growth areas. The study of climate change impacts on

biodiversity is still in its infancy, but several path breaking workshops and
research initiatives suggest future research directions for those interested
in how humanity can mitigate the impacts of climate change on other
species (Global Change in Terrestrial Ecosystems, IAI 1994). There is
also increasing interest in how to address, at the policy level, the complex
linkages between climate change and biodiversity (IUCN 2001,
Convention on Biological Diversity).
6 LUCC and the Hydrological Cycle
There are many connections between land surface characteristics and
the water cycle. First, and most obviously, land cover can affect both the
degree of infiltration and runoff following precipitation events. Secondly,
the degree of vegetation cover and the albedo (degree of
absorption/reflection of sun's rays) of the surface can affect rates of
evaporation, humidity levels and cloud formation. This section of the
guide briefly covers factors that affect the infiltration and/or runoff of
precipitation, and how the land surface in turn affects precipitation. Then it
turns to dams and reservoirs as important land cover features. Lastly it
examines the relationship between land cover and natural hazards such
as droughts and floods.
6.1 Infiltration and Runoff

There are two paths of escape for surplus water - through infiltration into
underground aquifers, and as surface water flows. Natural land cover has
various properties that help to regulate water flows both above and below
ground. Forest canopy and leaf litter, for example, help to attenuate the
impact of raindrops on the earth's surface, thereby reducing soil erosion.
Roots hold the soil in place, especially on steeper slopes, and also
absorb water. Openings in leaf litter and soil pores permit the infiltration of
water, which is carried through the soil into the ground water. Where

ground cover is insufficient, sheet, rill and/or gully erosion may result
(Field 1997). Such erosion reduces the productivity of the land and may
result in sedimentation of water courses down stream.
Streams eventually carry excess surface water to the ocean, though they
may feed intermediate destinations such as lakes and wetlands. In their
natural states, the network of streams in a catchment will slow down
water flows so that there is a significant lag time between a period of peak
precipitation and peak runoff further downstream. Riparian forests can
serve as important buffers, reducing sediment loads and keeping runoff
from moving too quickly into streams.
Wetlands are natural parts of the landscape where water collects.
Wetlands act like sponges, absorbing water during periods of high runoff,
and gradually releasing it. Wetlands also serve as natural water filters,
removing impurities and sediments (see "Background papers on Wetland
Values and Functions" in related resources). At one time the function of
these ecosystems was relatively undervalued, and many wetlands were
drained for agriculture and other forms of development. Today, however,
there is increasing recognition of the valuable ecosystem services
provided by wetlands, from flood control to fisheries.
Mountains and uplands are recognized as the water towers of the world,
providing reliable supplies of freshwater to lowland areas (Becker and
Bugmann 2001). High mountain areas with significant snow pack release
water gradually in the summer months, helping to ensure steady water
flows even in the driest months. Climate change is reducing snow pack in
some regions, with consequences for the sustainability of these water
supplies. Just as important, land cover change can affect runoff to lower
elevation areas; extensive deforestation, for example, can contribute to
flash flooding at lower elevations.
Urbanization is associated with a proliferation of impervious surfaces,
such as paved roads, parking lots, and rooftops. In built-up environments

the impervious surfaces may exceed 80 percent of land cover. The effect
of such surfaces is two fold. First, it increases the speed of runoff, with
rain water being channeled to streams much more rapidly than under
conditions of natural vegetation cover. Secondly, infiltration is reduced,
which reduces the groundwater levels and therefore the base flow of
streams (the "steady state" stream flows that are fed by groundwater
between precipitation events; more on this topic can be found in How
Urbanization Affects the Hydrologic System under related resources). In
urban areas, streams are also frequently "channelized" using cement
bottoms and embankments. Under such conditions, streams have been
stripped of their natural character, and flood runoff peaks dramatically
after rainfall events.
6.2 Land surface interactions with weather and climate

Land surface characteristics can, in turn, affect temperature and humidity

levels in the lower atmosphere. Thus, vegetation patterns and soil
moisture levels can affect cloud formation and precipitation through
convection (the spontaneous rise of air). Certain land cover types, such
as bare ground, heat more rapidly and transmit radiant heat to the
overlying air. As air rises it also cools, and the moisture in the air
condenses and eventually forms clouds, leading in some cases to
precipitation.
Research conducted under the Hydrological-Atmospheric Field
Experiment in the Sahel (HAPEX-Sahel), the semi-arid region of West
Africa, found positive feedbacks between land surface and climate.
According to Taylor (2001), after initial rainfall events in the Sahel,
"...growing vegetation and moister soil are able to absorb more solar
energy than the previously arid and sparsely vegetated surface. In
addition moisture is... available for evaporation, both at the soil surface
and in the root zone. These changes affect the temperature and humidity

of the lower atmosphere and make rainfall more likely."

Conversely, in dry years soils tend to have higher albedos (absorbing less
of the sun's energy) and there is less moisture available for evaporation,
which can lead to a positive feedback in the opposite direction, yielding
lower rainfall.
Research on land-use and atmospheric interactions is now underway in
the savanna belt of the Volta Basin with the goal of better predicting how
future land use and climate changes will affect agricultural water
availability and electricity generation at Lake Volta (GLOWA Volta). Also,
scientists are doing research on land-cover and cloud formation in the
tropical humid environment of the Amazon Basin under the auspices of
the Large Scale Biosphere-Atmosphere Experiment (LBA) (Silva Dias
2001). The complex interactions between land surface and weather and
climate patterns are not yet fully understood by scientists. Part of the
difficulty is isolating the effect of local or regional land cover from other
factors, such as atmospheric circulations and ocean surface
temperatures.
6.3 Dams and reservoirs

In the past half century, dams and reservoirs have become an

increasingly important part of anthropogenic land cover change. Today
there are over 45,000 large dams (dams over 15 m height, or with
reservoirs containing 3 million cubic meters of water), and total annual
freshwater withdrawals today are estimated at 3,800 cubic km, twice as
much as 50 years ago. Dams are constructed for hydroelectric power,
flood control, irrigation, and water supply, and many dams serve multiple
purposes. Even though they make up only a small percentage of total
land cover, these artificial water bodies often facilitate other forms of land
cover change, such as development of large-scale irrigated areas and
urbanization, that cover far larger areas.

According to the World Commission on Dams (2001), large dams can

have numerous impacts on ecosystems. These include:

the loss of forests and wildlife habitat, the loss of species

populations and the degradation of upstream catchment areas due
to inundation of the reservoir area;

the loss of aquatic biodiversity, of upstream and downstream fisheries, and of the
services of downstream floodplains, wetlands, and riverine, estuarine and adjacent
marine ecosystems; and
cumulative impacts on water quality, natural flooding and species composition where a
number of dams are sited on the same river.

Furthermore, dams and reservoirs impact the hydrologic cycle by

increasing evaporation (dams in arid areas can lose 5 percent of total
withdrawals to evaporation) and loss of downstream aquifers due to
reduced replenishment. Environmental flow requirements (which include
managed flood releases) are increasingly used to reduce the impacts of
changed stream flow regimes on aquatic, floodplain and coastal
ecosystems downstream.
The Commission notes that sedimentation and the consequent long-term
loss of water storage is a serious concern globally, and the effects will be
particularly felt by basins with high geological or human-induced erosion
rates. Thus, land cover change that promotes increasing sediment loads,
such as agricultural land uses or deforestation, affect the water storage
and electricity generation capacity of dams.
6.4 Natural Hazards: Drought and Flooding

Land-use and land-cover change can contribute to natural hazards such

as drought and flooding. Some of the linkages between land degradation
and drought that lead to desertification were explored in Chapter 4. The
link between land cover and flooding is also important. Detailed historical
research in one watershed, the North Fish Creek in Wisconsin, suggests
that rapid deforestation for farmland contributed to sedimentation and

flooding in the 19th century (Fitzpatrick et al. 1999). According to the

researchers:
"hydrologic and sediment-transport modeling indicate that modern flood
peaks and sediment loads in North Fish Creek may be double that
expected under pre-settlement forest cover. During maximum agricultural
activity in the mid-1920's to mid-1930's, flood peaks probably were about
3 times larger and sediment loads were about 5 times larger than
expected under pre-settlement forest cover."
Floods, together with earthquakes and severe weather events, are ranked
among the most severe natural disasters, both in terms of human
casualties, but also in financial losses. Flooding and land slides in the
aftermath of Hurricane Mitch in Central America (1998) and in the
hillsides of Caracas, Venezuela after heavy rains in late 1999 cost
thousands of lives and millions of dollars in flood damages. Analysis after
the disasters in both cases pointed to land clearing on steep slopes, and
haphazard development, often by those too poor to invest (without
outside assistance) in improved practices. A forward looking strategy of
preserving natural forests and investing in sustainable agriculture,
especially in uplands, can significantly reduce potential losses caused by
flooding (Jackson and Scherr 1995).

7 LUCC and Climate Change

Overwhelming scientific evidence suggests that emissions of several greenhouse
gases -carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxides in particular - are bringing
about climatic change. The scientists participating in the Intergovernmental Panel
on Climate Change Third Assessment conclude that "an increasing body of
observations gives a collective picture of a warming world and other changes in the
climate system" (IPCC WGI 2001).
Recognition of man's role in changing the climate, and concern for adverse impacts,

has spurred the negotiation and implementation of the United Nations Framework
Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and its Kyoto Protocol. It has also
spurred intensive research into the carbon cycle. In fact the Kyoto Protocol of the
UNFCCC represents the first attempt by mankind to manage a global
biogeochemical cycle of any kind, and the task is daunting. If it stands any chance
of success, it needs to be based on the best scientific data about how the carbon
cycle is affected by anthropogenic emissions and land use change, and how
humans can mitigate climate change through altering the carbon cycle.
7.1 Carbon Cycle Overview

The transport and transformation of substances in the environment, through living

organisms, the atmosphere, oceans, land, and ice, are known collectively as
biogeochemical cycles. The Earth system is composed of a number of
biogeochemical cycles, all powered by the sun's energy. These global cycles
include the circulation of certain elements, or nutrients, upon which life and the
earth's climate depend. Carbon is one of the most significant elements in that cycle.
Plants and animals are approximately 50 percent (by dry weight) carbon. Carbon in
the form of carbon dioxide (CO2), carbon monoxide (CO) and methane (CH4) is
also a significant contributor to greenhouse gases that trap the sun's energy as it is
stored and released as long wave emissions from the earth's surface.
Carbon represents only 0.27 percent of the elements in the earth's crust, but
because it exists in both reduced and oxidized states it is vital for life processes
(Houghton and Skole 1993). Only plants and some microbes are capable of
reducing carbon. Cellulose, carbohydrates, proteins and fats are all forms of organic
matter or reduced carbon. Ultimately, they are all derived from photosynthesis,
which converts the sun's energy into embodied (or latent) energy. Fossil fuels
represent organic matter that was formed millions of years ago that escaped
oxidation and was buried in the earth.
Oxidation occurs through two processes, respiration and combustion. All living
organisms engage in respiration; it is the process that releases the latent energy

stored in organic matter. Combustion occurs through the burning of organic matter
or fossil fuels. Burning of fossil fuels that have been buried for millions of years
beneath the earth's surface provides a net contribution of new carbon dioxide to the
short-term system (as opposed to the long-term system in which cycles occur in
geologic time over millions of years). It is the combustion of fossil fuels that has now
raised the specter of climatic change.
The major reservoirs of carbon are, in decreasing order, the intermediate and deep
oceans (36,730 billion tons, or Gt), fossil fuels (4,130 Gt), soil (1,200 Gt),
atmosphere (720 Gt), surface ocean (670 Gt), and plants and animals (biomass at
600-1,000 Gt) (Falkowski et al. 2000). Rocks also store some 75 million Gt of
carbon, but these are largely inert and therefore do not contribute to the carbon
cycle. The most significant fluxes occur between the biota/soil layer and the
atmosphere (on the order of 120 Gt per year of uptake and release by the biota/soil
layer), followed by the ocean surface and atmosphere (on the order of 100 Gt/year
in both directions, with a net uptake by oceans of 2.5 Gt).
Throughout most of human history these flows have been in approximate balance.
Only recently has the consumption of fossil fuels, which contribute 5.2 Gt/year to the
atmosphere, and the large-scale transformation of landscapes, which contribute a
net of between 0.4 and 2.5 Gt/year, threatened to upset this balance (Houghton &
Skole 1993). The result is that carbon dioxide concentrations in the atmosphere
have risen by 28 percent since 1850, from approximately 285 ppm to roughly 366
ppm at present (IPCC 2000). If we take a longer time horizon, concentrations have
actually risen by two-thirds, from the 220 ppm average that has been in effect for
the past 420,000 years (Falkowski et al. 2000).

Figure 7.1 Diagram of the Carbon Cycle, Units in Gigatons (note: stock and flow quantities may differ slightly from
the text above) Source: Schimel, et al. 1995. CO2 and the Carbon Cycle. In: Climate Change 1994. Cambridge, UK:
Cambridge University Press.

The uptake of carbon in so-called "sinks" (reservoirs of carbon) is governed in part

by other nutrient cycles. Falkowski et al. (2000) note that humans have also had a
major impact on the cycles of nitrogen, phosphorus, and sulfur. Agricultural activities
(chemical fertilization and nitrogen fixing plants) have doubled the fluxes for nitrogen
and quadrupled the fluxes for phosphorus. Fossil fuel and biomass burning
emissions have doubled the fluxes of sulfur. Though the increase in these other
nutrients should in theory increase carbon uptake, the effects of theses changes on
the carbon cycle are poorly understood.
The uptake and release of carbon by natural and anthropogenically altered
ecosystems will also be affected by temperature. According to the latest IPCC
scenarios, average global temperatures will increase by between 1.4 and 5.8o C by
2100, and by even more at higher latitudes. One of the "wild cards" of global
warming is that scientists do not know precisely how this warming will affect carbon
fluxes from biomass and soils. Depending on how ecosystems respond, they may
either mitigate or reinforce warming trends through uptake or release of carbon

dioxide.
For standing biomass, it is understood that increased temperatures, all things being
equal, lead to higher rates of photosynthesis. For soils, although increased
temperatures lead to higher rates of respiration (and therefore CO2 release), field
experiments in North American grasslands and highland tropical forests suggest
that at already high temperatures, such as those that pertain during the summer
months, incremental changes in temperature do not significantly affect soil
respiration (Rustad 2001). One region of greater concern, however, is boreal
forests, where due to low year-round temperatures, detritus collects on the forest
floors but does not decompose. Temperatures are increasing faster towards poles
than at lower latitudes, and as temperature increases, these substantial carbon
reservoirs may be subject to significantly enhanced respiration (BOREAS Project).
In terrestrial ecological systems, carbon is retained in live biomass, decomposing
organic matter, and soil. Changes in land use can result in the release of carbon
into the atmosphere, or withdrawal of carbon from it. In the former, land-use change
is a source, and in the latter it is a sink. The following two sections explore the
mechanisms for release and storage of carbon through land-cover change.
7.2 Contribution of GHG Emissions from Land Clearing

Forests are among the most carbon-dense ecosystems, comprising approximately

75% of live organic matter. When soils are included, forests hold almost half of the
carbon of the world's terrestrial ecosystems (Houghton & Skole 1993). Although
some changes in land use increase the amount of carbon stored, the trend over the
past 300 years has been to decrease the area in forests. Woods Hole Research
Center estimates that annually 1.6 Gt of carbon are released from changes in land
use, resulting in a net decline in terrestrial carbon stocks. Since 1850, the total
carbon emissions from land-use change are on the order of 136 Gt.
Deforestation can take a number of forms, each of which has different implications
for carbon emissions. If the forest is burned, this results in a direct emission of
greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. Remote sensing images such as the

MOPITT image below (Figure 7.2) show the dramatic increase of carbon monoxide
emissions during the dry season over the Brazilian Amazon, when farmers are
preparing their fields and ranchers are clearing forest for cattle.

Figure 7.2 MOPITT Carbon Monoxide Emissions Monitoring over South America. Source: NASA's Visible Earth.

Other forms of deforestation may have a less significant impact on climate change.
For instance, deforestation for firewood collection may result in a net carbon
balance, because as trees are cut, new trees take their place and begin absorbing
CO2 through photosynthesis. Deforestation for construction materials or furniture
can have varied effects, depending on how long the wood is "locked up" in some
useable form. Plywood for concrete molds may be discarded soon after it is used,
thereby immediately contributing to emissions through burning or decay, whereas
wood locked up in furniture or building construction may remain that way for years.
According to the Woods Hole Research Center, From 1850 to 1990 about 107 Gt of
carbon were lost from terrestrial ecosystems, but 10 Gt accumulated in wood
products.
Conversion of natural ecosystems to croplands and pastures has resulted in net

releases of 73 Gt. These agro-ecosystems continue to take up carbon, but at levels

generally inferior to the previously forested ecosystems because their carbon
density is far lower. Furthermore, harvested crops and decaying residues in the
fields eventually result in releases of carbon back into the atmosphere.
For its heat trapping potential and its significance in global biogeochemical cycles,
carbon dioxide is one of the most important greenhouse gases. However, land-use
changes can result in emissions of other greenhouse gas emissions as well. Aber
and Mellilo (1991) list 10 additional greenhouse gases that are released by
terrestrial ecosystems, many of which have much greater heat-trapping capacity
that carbon. Among others, these include:

methane (CH4), which is emitted by wetlands, rice paddies, and animals (i.e.,
an indirect contribution from pasture lands)

nitrous oxide (N20) and nitrogen oxides (NOx) which is emitted by fertilized agriculture and biomass
burning
ammonia (NH3), which is emitted by animals, fertilized agriculture, and biomass burning
carbon monoxide (CO) from biomass burning
sulfur gases from wetlands, wet tropical forests, oceans, fertilized agriculture, biomass burning
water vapor from forests

Those with longest atmospheric lifetimes have received greatest attention because
of the potential for increased production to result in lasting increases in atmospheric
concentrations. After carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxides are thought to
have the greatest potential to trap outgoing long-wave radiation, thus contributing to
the greenhouse effect.
7.3 Sequestration of Carbon through Land Management

In the past decade there has been growing interest in mitigating human impacts on
the climate through activities in two principal domains: emissions reductions through
increased fuel efficiency and sequestration of carbon in terrestrial ecosystems.
There is also ongoing research into how to increase carbon sequestration in rocks
and oceans. The IPCC's Special Report on Land Use, Land-Use Change, and
Forestry is dedicated to an assessment of the feasibility, from scientific, technical

and institutional perspectives, of withdrawing carbon from the atmosphere through

the use of terrestrial sinks (IPCC 2000).
The largest terrestrial reservoirs of carbon are tropical and boreal forests, which
store 428 and 559 Gt of carbon respectively in above- and below-ground biomass.
Savannas and grasslands also store large amounts of carbon (over 300 Gt each),
wetlands store 240 Gt, and temperate forests store 159 Gt (IPCC 2000). Because of
the importance of forests as carbon sinks, most of the policy attention has been
focused on how to increase carbon uptake through these ecosystems.
Trees grow (and gain carbon) when the amount of carbon fixed through
photosynthesis exceeds the amount of carbon lost from respiring leaves, branches,
stems and roots (Barnes et al. 1998). At the forest ecosystem level, the net carbon
uptake or emission will be determined by the balance of plant photosynthesis and
respiration, as well as respiration by decomposers (Aber & Mellilo 1991). Newly
planted or regenerating forests will continue to uptake carbon for 20 to 50 years
after establishment, depending on species and site conditions. The rates vary
depending on forest type and latitude, from a low of 0.4-1.2 t/ha/yr- in boreal regions
to a high of 4-8 t ha/yr in tropical regions. A forest ecosystem as a whole will tend
toward a zero carbon balance at maturity.
In July 2001, the contracting parties of the UNFCCC, with the exception of the
United States, reached agreement on a plan for implementing the Kyoto Protocol.
The Protocol obliges industrialized (Annex 1) countries to reduce their greenhouse
gas emissions, and creates innovative mechanisms by which emissions allocations
can be traded among states. In addition, parties may meet their emissions targets
by sequestering carbon in forests. The Protocol's Clean Development Mechanism
permits Annex 1 parties to invest in afforestation and reforestation projects in nonAnnex 1 (developing) countries. A number of developing countries have been
exploring the possibility of entering the carbon market by protecting tropical forests
or reforesting large areas (de Sherbinin et al. 2002).
One such effort is taking place in the Noel Kempff Mercado National Park in
northeastern Bolivia (see Noel Kempff Mercado Climate Action Project in related

resources). The park covers more than 3.7 million acres of dense tropical rainforest,
and the project is expected to sequester 7 million to 10 million tons of carbon during
its 30-year life, largely through protection of existing forests and accumulation of
additional biomass in currently unforested areas. As part of the justification, project
proponents need to prove that the encompassed area would otherwise have been
deforested; in other words, by protecting the forest, the project is yielding carbon
sequestration benefits that would not otherwise have accrued had the area been left
open for logging. Similar pilot projects are testing approaches to carbon
sequestration in Costa Rica, Uganda and several industrialized nations.
Although the potential for carbon sequestration in forests is quite significant, the way
forward is fraught with difficulties (IPCC 2000). The challenges have to do with
accurately measuring carbon uptake that would not have occurred apart from the
project intervention (so-called additionality), or leakage of emissions that occurs
when one forest is adequately protected but the forest cutting activity is simply
displaced to another area that is not subject to such restrictions. There are also
technical matters of setting up a carbon accounting system, and identifying
appropriate tools (such as remote sensing) so that carbon monitoring over vast
tracts of land can be done in a cost effective manner. Some have also voiced
concern that monocropped tree plantations might supplant natural forests, with their
biodiversity and ecosystem values. Finally, there is the issue of permanence.
Though sequestration may be useful in the short term, for slowing the rate of climate
change by soaking up "surplus" carbon-dioxide, protecting a forest indefinitely would
require institutional arrangements that would also last indefinitely, something that
humans have never attempted.
Globally, drylands are more important than temperate forests in terms of carbon
storage (199 Gt versus 159 Gt). Some experts see great promise for linking actions
to combat desertification to actions that would mitigate against climate change
through carbon sequestration (Olson et al. 2001). Dryland agricultural soils are
extensively degraded in many parts of the world, which means they lack nutrients
and organic matter. Increasing nutrients and organic matter is good not only for

increasing crop productivity; it also happens to lead to increases in soil carbon. By

judicious use of chemical fertilizers and organic matter inputs, some see the
possibility for reversing the steady decline in agricultural productivity in some
regions while simultaneously stockpiling carbon in agricultural soils (USGS 2000,
Woomer et al. 2001).
There are many other land management activities that can enhance carbon uptake,
and a number of other land-use change activities that are not addressed above.
These are enumerated in Table 1 below. Such activities are being considered under
Article 3.4 of the Kyoto Protocol.

Source: IPCC. 2000. Land Use, Land-Use Change, and Forestry, Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.

7.4 Climate Change Impacts on LUCC

The location of today's terrestrial ecosystems is the result of multiple factors,

including latitude, altitude, topography, geology, soils, and climate. If projected
changes in temperature and rainfall occur, there will be a displacement of
ecosystems from their current locations, in some cases by hundreds of kilometers.
This has left some conservationists wondering if the current network of protected
areas will adequately protect species that exhibit limited ranges (so-called
endemics), or if species will even be able to migrate fast enough to keep up with
climate change. The issue of climate change impacts on biodiversity and

ecosystems is addressed in greater detail in Section 5.4; connections between

desertification and climate change are addressed in Section 4.1.
Aside from direct impacts of climate change on crop yields (Rosenzweig & Iglesias
2000), climate change may also result in the migration of agro-ecosystems in ways
that can affect global food production (Walker & Steffen 1997). The US National
Assessment on Climate Change Impacts (USGCRP 2000a, 2000b) devotes
substantial space to the question of climate change and agriculture, and finds that
the Southeast's forests and agricultural lands may be transformed into a savanna
and grassland due to warming and drying, and that the currently arid areas of the
Southwest are likely to become moister. Fischer et al. (2001) predict migration of
agro-ecosystems northwards in the northern hemisphere, which will benefit some
temperate countries, particularly those with large frontier lands to the north (e.g.,
Russia and Canada). Figure 7.3 shows these changes in productivity, with green
representing positive change and red representing negative change.

Figure 7.4 Impacts of Climate Change on Cropping Production Potential of Rain-fed Cereals. Source: Fischer, G.,
M. Shah, H. van Velthuizen, and F. O. Nachtergaele. 2001. Global Agro-ecological Assessment for Agriculture in
the 21st Century. Laxenburg, Austria: IIASA.

Sea level rise resulting from melting glaciers may result in a net loss of land as
oceans inundate low-lying coastal areas. Coastal flooding from sea level rise is
already occurring in many regions that are affected by land subsidence (e.g., the
northeastern United States, the Mississippi Delta, and eastern China) (see Sea

Level Rise Reports). Sea level rise may result in coastal wetlands being lost,
alterations in delta and estuarine environments, changes in coastal erosion, and
farmland loss (Eisma 1995, Titus and Richman 2001). A number of studies have
sought to estimate the number of people vulnerable to sea-level rise (Gornitz 2002,
Small and Cohen 1999). Other studies have focused on the vulnerability of coastal
cities to sea level rise (Schiller et al. 2001, Nicholls 1995). Due to trade and
relations with agricultural hinterlands, many large urban agglomerates have
developed on coastlines. Although coastal defenses may be greater around urban
areas as compared to rural areas, the infrastructure and fixed capital that could be
negatively affected are also more significant.

8 LUCC and Urbanization

Recent analyses suggest that 83 percent of the earth's land surface has
been affected by human settlements and activities, leaving only 17
percent in wilderness (WCS & CIESIN 2002). According to one set of
estimates, urban built-up areas, with average population densities of
approximately 200 persons per square km., probably comprise around
four percent of all land uses worldwide (Small 2002). A joint project by
CIESIN, IFPRI and the World Bank (2002) is currently testing and
implementing methodologies for measuring the extent of urban built-up
areas. Urban areas are expanding, particularly in the developing world.
UN Population Division estimates suggest that the world's population will
become majority urban by 2010; in contrast the world was only 37 percent
urban in 1970.
Though the extent of urban areas is not that large when compared with
other land uses such as agriculture or forestry, their environmental impact
is significant. This is due not only to the large concentrations of population
that are found in cities, but because they are centers of political, cultural
and economic influence, and are often the location of significant industrial

activity. In the era of economic globalization, so-called "megacities" like

New York, London, Sao Paulo and Singapore draw on resources and
economic activities around the world to build their wealth and prominence
(Schiller et al. 2001).
This is sometimes referred to as the urban ecological footprint (Turner
2001). Urban areas rely on vast hinterlands for food, raw materials for
industry, energy, water supplies, construction materials, recreational
areas and myriads of other goods and services. A whole field of study has
emerged in the area of urban or industrial metabolism, defined as the
"integrated collection of physical processes that convert raw materials
and energy, plus labor, into finished products and wastes" (Ayres and
Simonis 1994). Folke et al. (1997) estimated that the cities of Baltic
Europe appropriate for their resource consumption and waste assimilation
an area of forest, agricultural, marine and wetland ecosystems that is
565-1130 times larger than the area of the cities themselves.
In terms of urban impacts on the environment and land cover change,
there are direct and indirect impacts. The direct impacts include human
settlements, industrial and infrastructure land uses, and the expansion of
these land uses into areas of natural or agricultural lands. A number of
researchers are examining the impact of urban sprawl on crop-land loss
(Heilig 1999, Vincent et al. 2002). Urban built up areas have direct
impacts on the hydrological cycle, as addressed in Chapter 6. And,
because urban paved and built up land surfaces tend to absorb heat and
to re-radiate it at night, they can also create heat islands that affect plant
physiology as well as the health and welfare of urban dwellers (see Urban
Growth Seen from Space).
The indirect impacts of urban areas on land use and land cover can be
even more important. For example, cities expropriate water from large
distances; in some cases, such as in the New York City water supply
districts, this may have the effect of conserving large areas of land that

might otherwise be developed (NYC-DEP). In others, such as in Los

Angeles, the expropriation may have a negative impact on the ecology of
natural water bodies such as Mono Lake and the Colorado River.
A significant indirect impact of urban areas is the need for sinks or
dumping sites for the great volumes of waste they produce. Urban wastes
can be solid, liquid or gaseous. Problems of solid waste disposal have
become increasingly problematic as land fills have reached their
maximum capacities. Cities generally have few solutions other than to
truck their waste at great cost to distant landfills, or to incinerate it. Owing
to shortages of space for land fills, European and a number of North
American cities have increasingly opted for incineration. Problems arise
from emissions of toxic fumes, especially dioxins, lead and mercury, and
then the disposal of toxic ash. New York City faces a waste removal crisis
of mammoth proportions with the closure of its major dump, Fresh Kills on
Staten Island. Currently it is shipping trash to landfills as far away as
Pennsylvania and Virginia.
Liquid waste, or sewerage, are generally treated and released into water
bodies. This can, under certain circumstances, result in completely dead
water bodies in which rivers, lakes or bays can no longer sustain life due
to an excess of biochemical oxygen demand. For example, daily
discharges into Rio de Janeiro's Guanabara bay include 465 tons of
organic matter, 68 tons of which receive adequate treatment, and 9.5 tons
of oil, and the Iguacu and Estrela Rivers which drain the Bay's watershed
are often anoxic (Kreimer et al. 1993). In Northern Europe, natural
wetlands are often used to filter impurities from water during the latter
stages of sewerage treatment. This builds on the natural characteristic of
wetlands as nutrient sinks (Folke et al. 1997).
Atmospheric pollutants can have a significant impact on land use and
land cover. Folke et al. estimate that the CO2 emissions of major cities
alone would consume 95 percent of the carbon absorptive capacity of the

world's forests. Another major problem is air pollutant impacts on natural

vegetation and crops. Acid rain has been a documented problem that
damages forest lands in Eastern Europe and North America (see Effects
of Acid Rain: Forests). Chameides et al. (1994) examine the impact of
ground-level ozone on crop production in three large "metro-agro-plexes"
- areas of intense agricultural and industrial production in North America,
Northern Europe and China/Japan - and find that it may be reducing
global crop production by a few percent. This impact is likely to intensify
due to projected increases in nitrogen oxides, an important precursor to
ozone.
Urbanization pathways lead to different impacts on rural landscapes in
the developed and developing world. In the developed world, large-scale
urban agglomerations and extended peri-urban settlements fragment the
landscapes of such large areas that various ecosystem processes are
threatened. Ecosystem fragmentation, however, in peri-urban areas may
be offset by urban-led demands for conservation and recreational land
uses. In a different vein, economically and politically powerful urban
consumers tend to be disconnected from the realities of resource
production and largely inattentive to the impacts of their consumption on
distant locales. Urbanization in the developing world outbids all other
uses for land adjacent to the city, including prime croplands. Cities attract
a significant proportion of the rural population by way of permanent and
circulatory migration, and the wages earned in the city are often remitted
by migrants to rural homelands, in some cases transforming the use of
croplands and creating "remittance landscapes." Perhaps most
importantly, this urbanization changes ways of life ultimately associated
with demographic transitions, increasing expectations about consumption,
and potentially a weakened understanding of production-consumption
relationships noted for the well-developed world (Lambin et al. 2001).

Glossary of Terms for LUCC Thematic Guide

Arable land
Land cultivated with crops. Land that is fallow or used for pasture
for less than five years is also considered arable land.
Biological diversity
Biological diversity is the variety of life on Earth, from the
simplest bacterial gene to the vast, complex rainforests of the
Amazon. There are three different levels of diversity: ecosystem
diversity, species diversity, and genetic diversity (i.e., diversity
within species).
Carbon sequestration
A natural part of the carbon cycle, sequestration involves the
removal of carbon from the atmosphere as it is absorbed by
oceans and terrestrial ecosystems. In order to reduce carbon buildup in the atmosphere (which leads to global warming),
researchers are experimenting with ways of accelerating the
process of carbon sequestration in terrestrial ecosystems, and even
geologic formations.
Carbon sinks
Areas with significant above or below-ground storage of carbon.
Tropical forests are among the ecosystems with the highest
carbon densities.
Catchment
A catchment is part of a drainage basin in which all surface water
flows through a single outlet to a larger river or water body.
Classification
Classification is the process of taking continuous land-cover
attributes and separating them into categories. Classification is
generally done using image processing software, and can either
by supervised (the researcher tells the computer which spectral
signatures represent which land cover types) or unsupervised (the
researcher simply instructs the computer to create a given number
of classes).
Defined as all lands with a forest cover of trees with their crowns
Closed forests
interlocking and a canopy density of 40% or above. The boundary of
40% coverage is convenient because it can be estimated with ease when
the coverage of trees is 40% of the distance between two tree crowns
equaling the mean radius of a tree crown.

Desertification
Drainage systems
Ecosystem
Fallow land

Land degradation in arid, semi-arid and dry sub-humid areas

resulting from various factors, including climatic variations and
human activities
Streams converge and join to form rivers, which reach the sea to
complete a part of the hydrologic cycle.
A local biological community and its pattern of interaction with
its environment.
Land that has been temporarily removed from cultivation or
pasture to restore its productivity.

Forest area

Areas with a minimum of 10% crown cover of trees and/or bamboos,

generally associated with wild flora and fauna and natural soil
conditions, and are not subject to agricultural practices. Note that in
some countries, some areas are statutorily defined as Forest Area that
contain no tree cover.

Forest cover

All lands with a tree canopy density of more than 10%, though
they may not be statutorily notified as forest.
The worlds remaining large, intact natural forest ecosystems that
are largely, if not exclusively, primary forest that has never been

Frontier forests

Hydrologic cycle
Land cover

Land degradation

cut.
A global system of pathways by which water moves through the
atmosphere and oceans and upon or beneath the earths land
surfaces.
Land cover refers to the natural vegetative cover types that
characterize a particular area. These are generally a reflection of
the local climate and landforms, though they can be altered by
human actions.
From an agricultural perspective, land degradation has been
defined as a reduction in the soils capacity to produce crops or
biomass for livestock. From an ecological perspective, land
degradation can be seen as damage to the healthy functioning of
land-based ecosystems.

Land use

Land use is the term that is used to describe human uses of

the land, or immediate actions modifying or converting land
cover. It includes such broad categories as human
settlements, protected areas and agriculture.

Rain forest

A forest in an area that receives more than 2500 mm (8 feet) of

rain annually.
Precipitation falling on lands follows flow paths both beneath and
above the surface.
Increase in concentration of salts in topsoil that results from
inappropriate irrigation practices (e.g., lack of drainage, excessive
irrigation), potentially rendering land unfit for cultivation.
Excess soil water that moves downward may reach a saturated
zone to become ground water.
A remote sensing term that means a study that includes imagery
of the whole area under in investigation, rather than just a sample.
Often images are combined in a mosaic to cover a large
geographic area.
Infiltration of large volumes of water, generally through
irrigation, can bring the water table very close to the surface.
Crops cannot grow in perpetually saturated soils.

Runoff
Salinization
Subsurface water
Wall to wall imagery or
coverage
Waterlogging

Sources
Forest terms: United Nations Environment Program (UNEP). 2001. An Assessment of

the Status of the World's Remaining Closed Forests. Nairobi, Kenya: UNEP.
Selected agricultural terms: Engleman, R., and P. Leroy. 1995. Conserving the Land:

Population and Sustainable Food Production. Washington, DC: Population Action

International.

Hydrologic terms: Strahler, A.N., and A.H. Strahler. 1989. Elements of Physical

Geography. New York: John Wiley & Sons.

References
Articles | Books & Reports | Conference & Working Papers | Correspondence | Data & Applications | Educational
Resources | Government & Legal Documents | Maps | Online Reference Resources | Organizations / Institutions |
Periodicals | Research programs & projects | Web Portals

Articles
resource: Achard, F., H.D. Eva, H.-J. Stibig, P. Mayaux, J. Gallego, T. Richards, and J.-P. Malingreau. 2002.

Determination of Deforestation Rates of the World's Humid Tropical Forests. Science, Vol. 297, pp.
999-1002
description: This analysis from the EC Joint Research Centre's TREES project found that the global net rate of
change in forest cover for the humanid tropics is 23% lower than the generally accepted rate. This
result affects the calculation of carbon fluxes in the global carbon budget.
note: Available by subscription through www.sciencemag.org

keywords: Carbon Cycle, Carbon Sequestration, Climate Change, Deforestation, Forest Cover Change, Remote
Sensing, Tropical Forests

resource: Allen, J.C. and D.F. Barnes. 1985. The Causes of Deforestation in Developing Countries. Annals of

the Association of American Geographers, 75(2): 163-184.

keywords: Deforestation

resource: Amelung, T., and M. Diehl. 1992. Deforestation in Tropical Rain Forests: Economic Causes and
Impact on Development. Tubingen, Germany: J.C.B. Mohr.

resource: Anderson, A. 1990. Smokestacks in the rainforest: Industrial development and deforestation in the

Amazon Basin. World Development 18 (9): 1191-1205

description: Anderson illustrates the role of industrial development--and the demand for fuelwood--in
destruction of Amazon Basin forests.

resource: Balandrin, M. F., J. A. Klocke, E. S. Wurtele, and W. H. Bollinger. 1985. Natural plant chemicals:

Sources of industrial and medicinal materials. Science 228: 1154-60

description: Balandrin et al. document the value of plants as sources of industrial and medicinal materials.
URL: http://www.ciesin.columbia.edu/docs/002-266/002-266.html

resource: Balmford, A., J.L. Moore, T. Brooks, N. Burgess, L.A. Hansen, P. Williams, and C. Rahbek. 2001.

Conservation Conflicts Across Africa. Science, Vol. 291, pp. 2616-2619.

description: The authors find that human population density is positively correlataed with species richness of

birds, mammals, snakes, and amphibians. This association holds for widespread, narrowly endemic,
and threatened species and looks set to persist in the face of foreseeable population growth.
note: Available by subscription at www.sciencemag.org
keywords: Biodiversity, Conservation, Population, Population Density

resource: Blum, E. 1993. Making biodiversity profitable: A case study of the Merck/INBio agreement.
Environment 35 (4): 17-20, 38-45

description: Blum describes the agreement between Merck Pharmaceutical and the Costa Rican Instituto
National de Biodiversidad (INBio) in this article.
URL: http://www.ciesin.columbia.edu/docs/002-270/002-270.html

resource: Bruner, A.G., R.E. Gullison, R.E. Rice, G. A. B. da Fonseca. 2001. 'Effectiveness of Parks in

Protecting Tropical Biodiversity,' Science, Volume 291, Number 5501, pp. 125-128.
description: The authors assessed anthropogenic threats on 93 protected areas in 22 tropical countries to test the
hypothesis that parks are an effective means to protect tropical biodiversity. They found that the
majority of parks are successful at stopping land clearing, and to a lesser degree effective at
mitigating logging, hunting, fire, and grazing. Park effectiveness correlates with basic management
activities such as enforcement, boundary demarcation, and direct compensation to local
communities.
URL: http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/291/5501/125

keywords: Parks, Protected Areas

resource: Bunney. S. 1990. Prehistoric farming caused devastating soil erosion. New Scientist 125 (1705): 20
description: Bunney offers evidence of land degradation from early human history.
URL: http://www.ciesin.columbia.edu/docs/002-272/002-272a.html
resource: Cao, M., and F. Woodward. 1998. Dynamic responses of terrestrial ecosystem carbon cycling to

global climate change. Nature 393: 249-252.

description: The authors use a terrestrial biogeochemical model, forced by simulations of transient climate
change with a general circulation model, to quantify the dynamic variations in ecosystem carbon
fluxes induced by transient changes in atmospheric CO2 and climate from 1861 to 2070. They draw
a conclusion that terrestrial ecosystem carbon fluxes both respond to and strongly influence the
atmospheric CO2 increase and climate change.
note: Available at http://www.nature.com

resource: Carbon, J. G. et al 2000. Carbon Metabolishm of the Terrestrial Biosphere: A Multitechnique

Approach for Improved Understanding. Ecosystems (2000) 3: 115-130.

description: In this article, the author reviews the current status of the terrestrial carbon cycle, which plays a
major role in the global carbon cycle and multiple, complementary and independent methods that
allow scientists to study the strength and location of the global- and continental-scale carbon sources
and sinks.
URL: http://link.springer-ny.com/link/service/journals/10021/index.htm

resource: Chameides, W.L., P. S. Kasibhatla, J. Yienger, H. Levy. 1994. Growth of Continental-Scale MetroAgro-Plexes Regional Ozone Pollution and World Food Production Science Vol 264 No 5155

(Apr. 1, 1994), pp. 74-77.

description: This article examines the impact of tropospheric ozone on crop production in three major metroagro-plexes.
note: Available by subscription through www.jstor.org

resource: Changnon Jr., S. A. 1987. An assessment of climate change, water resources, and policy research.

Water International 12: 69-76

description: Changnon provides citations to research covering 10 broad classes of climate change-water impact
studies in 'An Assessment of Climate Change, Water Resources, and Policy Research.' Impacts will
likely vary according to location.
URL: http://www.ciesin.columbia.edu/docs/006-141/006-141.html

resource: Cohen, S. J. 1986. Impacts of CO2- induced climatic change on water resources in the Great Lakes
Basin. Climatic Change 8: 135-53

description: Region-specific studies are included Cohen's article.

URL: http://www.ciesin.columbia.edu/docs/006-140/006-140.html
resource: Crawford, O.G.S. 1928. Air Survey and Archaeology. Ordnance Survey Professional Papers, new
series 7.

resource: Detwiler, R. P., and C. A. S. Hall. 1988.Tropical forests and the global carbon cycle. Science 239:

42-47
description: Detwiler and Hall focus on the geodynamics of carbon in this article.
URL: http://www.ciesin.columbia.edu/docs/002-123/002-123.html

resource: Eriksen, S. 2001. Linkages between climate change and desertification in East Africa. Part 2: Policy

linkages between climate change and desertification. Arid Lands Newsletter 49. University of
Arizona.
description: The implementation of convention commitments can thus potentially contribute to strengthening the
existing policy framework and providing financial and technical assistance for implementing
practical measures. The measures briefly outlined in this article represent a means of addressing
global environmental concerns while also enhancing basic local survival.
URL: http://ag.arizona.edu/OALS/ALN/aln49/eriksen-part2.html

resource: Eriksen, S. 2001Linkages between climate change and desertification in East Africa: Part 1:

Physical and social linkages. Arid Lands Newsletter 49. University of Arizona.
description: In this article, it is argued that policy measures aimed at ameliorating the effects of climate change
can effectively build on measures to combat desertification. The article looks at how the global
issues of climate change and desertification can be effectively addressed at the local level in subSaharan Africa, by presenting presents results from research carried out through case studies in two
dryland areas: Same District in Tanzania and Kitui District in Kenya, further described in Eriksen
(2000).
URL: http://ag.arizona.edu/OALS/ALN/aln49/eriksen-part1.html

resource: Falkenmark, M. 1990. Global water issues confronting humanity. Journal of Peace Research 27 (2):

177-90
description: Falkenmark surveys the politics of freshwater resource management, from the interaction of
individuals to the interaction of nations.

resource: Falkowski, P. 2000. Integrated understanding of the global carbon cycle- A test of our knowledge.

Science October 13; 290: 291-296.

description: The author concludes that although natural processes can potentially slow the rate of increase in
atmospheric CO2, there is no natural ' savior' waiting to assimilate all the anthropogenically
produced CO2 in the coming century. A systems approach is needed to overcome the limitation of
knowledge to describe the interactions between the components of the Earth system and the
relationship between the carbon cycle and other biogeochemical and climatological processes.
note: Available by subscription at www.sciencemag.org

resource: Farnsworth, N. R., and D. D. Soejarto. 1985. Potential consequence of plant extinction in the United

States on the current and future availability of prescription drugs. Economic Botany 39 (3): 231-40
description: Farnsworth and Soejarto survey the importance of plant use for medicines.
URL: http://www.ciesin.columbia.edu/docs/002-267/002-267.html

resource: Fearnside, P. M. 1982. Deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon: How fast is it occurring? Interciencia

7 (2): 82-85.
description: Fearnside attempts to answer the frequently asked question 'How fast is it occurring?
URL: http://www.ciesin.columbia.edu/docs/002-110/002-110.html

resource: Folke, C., A. Jansson, J. Larsson, and R. Costanza. 1997. Ecosystem Appropriation by Cities.

Ambio, Vol. 26, No. 3, pp. 167-172.

description: This article describes results of research into the ecological footprint of cities in Baltic Europe and
globally.
keywords: Ecological Footprint, Urbanization

resource: Forse, B. 1989. The myth of the marching desert. New Scientist 4 (1650): 31-32
description: Forse argues against movement of deserts as a dominant cause of desertification
URL: http://www.ciesin.columbia.edu/docs/002-185/002-185.html
resource: Geist, H.J, and E.F. Lambin. 2002. Proximate Causes and Underlying Forces of Tropical

Deforestation. BioScience, Vol. 52, No. 2, 143-150.

description: Based on a meta-analysis of 152 sub-national case studies, this article summarizes the causes and
drivers of deforestation.
keywords: Deforestation

resource: Glantz, M. H., and N. S. Orlovsky. 1983. Desertification: A review of the concept. Desertification

Control Bulletin 9: 15-22

description: Desertification is of particular interest to climatologists in their attempts to understand climate
variation and change on both short and long time scales. With increasing pressure on governmental
decision-makers to allow populations to move into the climatically marginal areas the implications

of natural variations in climate have become even more important in decisions relating to the use by
society of its land in these desertification-prone regions. One can easily assert that there will always
be climatic deserts. However, man-induced extensions of these deserts or the creation of desert-like
conditions in areas where they had not existed can and must be avoided.
URL: http://www.ciesin.columbia.edu/docs/002-479/002-479.html

resource: Gleick, P. H. 1993b. Water and conflict: Fresh water resources and international security.

International Security 18 (1): 99-104

description: Gleick presents four indices of vulnerability relative to freshwater resources.
URL: http://www.ciesin.columbia.edu/docs/006-305/006-305.html

resource: Gomez-Pompa, A., C. Vasquez-Yanes, and S. Guevara. 1972. The tropical rain forest: A non-

renewable resource. Science 117 (4051): 762-65.

description: The authors argue that deforestation is proceeding at an accelerated pace, and if the trend is allowed
to continue, very large portions of the forest will be gone by the turn of this century.
URL: http://www.ciesin.columbia.edu/docs/002-111/002-111.html

resource: Goreau, T. J. 1992. Control of atmospheric carbon dioxide. Global Environmental Change 2 (1): 5-

11
description: Goreau presents a program in this article. The plan consists of a massive tree replanting program
over 4 million square kilometers at a cost of $400 per hectare and includes a proportionate fossilfuel user fee based on historical emissions.

resource: Gornitz, V. 2002. Coastal Populations, Topography, and Sea Level Rise. Goddard Institute for

Space Studies.
description: Approximately 400 million people live within 20 m of sea level and within 20 km of a coast,
worldwide. However, these figures are not very precise, and do not permit developing an accurate
estimate of the number of people threatened by sea-level rise.
URL: http://www.giss.nasa.gov/research/intro/gornitz_04/

keywords: Climate Change, Land Use, Urbanization

resource: Hansen, J., and M. Imhoff. Satellites Shed Light on a Warmer World. NASA Goddard Space Flight
Center News.
URL: http://www.gsfc.nasa.gov/topstory/20011027heatisland.html

resource: Helldn, U. 1988. Desertification monitoring: Is the desert encroaching? Desertification Control

Bulletin 17: 8-12

description: Helldn addresses systematic expansion of desert boundaries.
URL: http://www.ciesin.columbia.edu/docs/002-178/002-178.html

resource: Houghton, R. A. 1999.: The U.S. Carbon Budget: Contributions from Land-Use Change. Science

285: 574-577.
description: The rates at which lands in the United States were cleared for agriculture, abandoned, harvested for
wood and burned were reconstructed from historical data for the period 1700-1900 and used in a

terrestrial carbon model to calculate annual changes in the amount of carbon stored in terrestrial
ecosystems, including wood products.
note: Available by subscription at www.sciencemag.org

resource: Houghton, R. A., D. L. Skole, and D. S. Lefkowitz. 1991. Changes in the landscape of Latin

America between 1850 and 1985. Forest Ecology and Management 38: 143-99
description: A study of the 'Changes in the Landscape of Latin America between 1850 and 1985,' attributes
deforestation to human settlement as evidenced by expansion of pasture, croplands, and shifting
cultivation

resource: Houghton, R.A. 1994. The Worldwide Extent of Land-use Change. BioScience, 44(5): 305-313.
keywords: Deforestation
resource: IGBP Terrestrial Carbon Working Group 1998.: The Terrestrial Carbon Cycle: Implications for the

Kyoto Protocol. Science 280: 1393-1394.

description: According to the Kyoto Protocol, Annex 1 countries can reduce emissions by limiting fossil fuel
consumption or by increasing net carbon sequestration. The article illuminates a number of
problems that will seriously limit the Kyoto Protocols effectiveness as follows: 1.The protocol
limits the allowable terrestrial sources and sinks of carbon to strictly defined cases of 'aforestation,
reforestation and deforestation'since 1990. 2.The 1990 estimates of carbon emissions, which form
the baseline for all emission reduction targets of the protocol, exclude sinks to terrestrial
ecosystems. 3.The protocol is not based on a full carbon budget applied continuously in time but
instead applies a partial budget to discontinuous 'commitment' periods.
URL: http://www.sciencemag.org/

resource: Janetos, A. C. 1997. Do We Still Need Nature? The Importance of Biological Diversity

Consequences: The Nature and Implications of Environmental Changes Vol. 3 Saginaw Valley State
University
description: The author explains the importance of biodiversity and the possible reasons that lead to the
declination of biodiversity today. It also provides potential consequences of these changes.
URL: http://www.gcrio.org/CONSEQUENCES/vol3no1/biodiversity.html

resource: Kaiser, J. 2001. Bold Corridor Project Confronts Political Reality. Science, Vol. 293, pp. 2196-

2199.
keywords: Biodiversity, Conservation

resource: Kerr, J.T., D.J. Currie. 1995. Effects of Human Activity on Global Extinction Risk. Conservation

Biology, Vol. 9, No. 6, pp. 1528-1538.

description: This study quantifies the factors contributing to biodiversity loss at that national level. It explores
six factors - human population, per capita GNP, extent of protected area, total cropland, birth rates,
and per capita CO2 emissions - and found that after correcting for various factors, 28-50% of the
remaining variation in biodiversity threats was attributable to human factors.
keywords: Biodiversity, Human Dimensions

resource: Lal, R. 2001. 'Soil Degradation by Erosion,' Land Degradation & Development, Vol. 12, No. 6, pp.

520-539.
description: Soil degradation by accelerated erosion is a serious problem and will remain so during the 21st
century, especially in developing countries of the tropics and subtropics. Yet, its extent, severity,
and economic and environmental impacts are debatable. Estimates of global and regional land area
affected are tentative and subjective. Results of field measurements are often technique-dependent.
Considerable progress has been made in modeling soil erosion, yet field validation of these models
remains to be done for principal soils and ecoregions.
note: Can be accessed by suscription at http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/cgibin/issuetoc?ID=88511538
keywords: Crop Yields, Desertification, Erosion And Productivity, Soil Carbon Dynamics

resource: Lambin, E.F., Turner, B.L. II, Geist, H.J., Agbola, S.B., Angelsen, A., Bruce, J.W., Coomes, O.,

Dirzo, R., Fischer, G., Folke, C., George, P.S., Homewood, K., Imbernon, J., Leemans, R. Li, X.,
Moran, E.F., Mortimore, M., Ramakrishnan, P.S., Richards, J.F., Sknes, H., Steffen, W., Stone, G.,
Svedin, U., Veldkamp, T.A., Vogel, C., Xu, J. 2001. The Causes of Land-Use and Land-Cover
Change: Moving Beyond the Myths. Global Environmental Change: Human and Policy Dimensions.
Vol. 11, No. 4, pp. 5-13.
description: Based on the expertise of 25 international case study experts, this paper explores myths of causality
in land change and provides pathways of land development in the fields of tropical deforestation,
rangeland modification, urbanisation, and agricultural intensification.

resource: Le Hourou, H.N. 2002. Man-made deserts: Desertization processes and threats. Arid Land

Research and Management, Vol. 16, No. 1, pp. 1-36.

description: Desertization is defined as the irreversible extension of desert land forms and landscapes to areas
where they did not occur in a recent past. Such extension does not result from a would-be increasing
aridity as there is no evidence of any global long-term trends in rainfall in arid lands since the period
of instrumental record (ca. 150 years). The 0.5degrees C of global temperature increase over the past
100 years remains well within the range of historical fluctuations. The creation of man-made deserts
is actually the result of long-lasting mismanagement of natural resources under the pressure of
excessive human and livestock populations. Such land abuse may drive ecosystems beyond their
resilience potential or recovery. The causes and mechanisms of arid land degradation pertain to
direct and indirect activities, processes, and phenomena, which are not necessarily linked to aridity
or drought. Causes, severity, and extent of desertization are quantified from various sources. The
potential for biological recovery is analyzed and the ways and means to achieve rehabilitation
assessed. The conclusion addresses the issue of the future of desertization under the additional threat
of an increased aridity that might occur assuming a possible global temperature increase of the entire
planet, triggered by atmospheric pollution. It tries to quantify the possible increase of aridity under
various scenarios.
note: Available by subscription at http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals/online/1532-4982.html

keywords: Desertification
resource: Leach, J.F.a.M. 1998. Reconsidering the extent of deforestation in 20th century West Africa.

Unasylva, 48(4): 38-46.

URL: http://www.fao.org/forestry/FODA/UNASYLVA/unasyl-e.stm
keywords: Deforestation

resource: Linden, E. 1991. Lost tribes, lost knowledge. Time (September 23): 46-54
description: Linden surveys the importance of the knowledge, the wealth of which indigenous people have on

the virtues of plants and insects is also in danger of being lost. Indigenous knowledge has survived
by being passed on orally.
URL: http://www.ciesin.columbia.edu/docs/002-268/002-268.html

resource: Lonergan, S., and B. Kavanagh. 1991. Climate change, water resources and security in the Middle

East. Global Environmental Change 1 (4): 272-90

description: Lonergan and Kavanagh evaluate freshwater security in the Middle East and include a discussion of
potential climatic changes in the region.

resource: May, R. M. 1988. How many species are there on earth? Science 247: 1441-49
description: May surveys answers to the question 'How Many Species Are There on Earth?' and reviews the

kinds of information needed to make the answers more precise. The author considers various factors
affecting biodiversity, including structure of food webs, relative abundance of species, number of
species and of individuals in different categories of body size, and other determinants of the
commonness and rarity of organisms.
URL: http://www.ciesin.columbia.edu/docs/002-253/002-253.html

resource: Mayaux, P., F. Achard, J.P. Malingreau. 1998. Global tropical forest area measurements derived

from coarse resolution maps at a global level: a comparison with other approaches. Environmental
Conservation, Vol. 25, pp. 37-52.
description: Definition of appropriate tropical forest policies must be supported by better information about
forest distribution. New information technologies make possible the development of advanced
systems which can accurately report on tropical forest area issues. The European Commission
TREES (Tropical Ecosystem Environment observation by Satellite) project has produced a
consistent map of the humid tropical forest cover based on 1 km resolution satellite data. This baseline reference information can be further calibrated using a sample of high-resolution data, in order
to produce accurate forest area estimates.
keywords: Forest Cover Change, Forest Monitoring, Remote Sensing

resource: McKean, Margaret, and Elinor Ostrom. 1995. 'Common Property Regimes in the Forest: Just a Relic

from the Past?' Unasylva Vol. 46, No. 180, pp. 3-15.
description: Common property regimes, used by communities to manage forests and other resources for longterm benefits, were once widespread around the globe. Some may have disappeared naturally as
communities opted for other arrangements, particularly in the face of technological and economic
change, but in most instances common property regimes seem to have been legislated out of
existence. This happened in two basic ways: where common property regimes - however elaborate
and long-lasting - had never been codified, they may simply have been left out of a country's first
attempt to formalize and codify property rights to the resources in question.
URL: http://www.fao.org/docrep/v3960e/v3960e00.htm

keywords: Deforestation, Institutions, Natural Resource Management

resource: Meher-Homji, V. M. 1991. Probable impact of deforestation on hydrological processes. Climatic

Change 19: 163-73

description: Meher-Homji contends that a reduction in forest cover in India, Southeast Asia, Africa, and Latin
America caused a decrease in precipitation.
URL: http://www.ciesin.columbia.edu/docs/002-159/002-159.html

resource: Meyer, W.B. 1995. Past and Present Land Use and Land Cover in the USA. Consequences, Vol. 1,

No. 1.
description: Most of the land in the United States is privately owned, but under federal, state, and local
restrictions on its use that have increased over time. The difference between public and private land
is important in explaining and forecasting land use and land cover change, but the division is not
absolute, and each sector is influenced by the other. Private land use is heavily influenced by public
policies, not only by regulation of certain uses but through incentives that encourage others. Public
lands are used for many private activities; grazing on federal rangelands and timber extraction from
the national forests by private operators are the most important and have become the most
controversial. The large government role in land use on both government and private land means
that policy, as well as economic forces, must be considered in explaining and projecting changes in
the land. Economic forces are of course significant determinants of policy -- perhaps the most
significant -- but they remain to some degree an independent variable.
URL: http://www.gcrio.org/CONSEQUENCES/spring95/Land.html

keywords: Historical Land Use, Land Cover, United States

resource: Micklin, P. P. 1988. Dessication of the Aral Sea: A water management disaster in the Soviet Union.

Science 241: 1170-76.

description: Micklin offers a dramatic example of negative effects of freshwater management in this article.
Between 1960 and 1987 the surface area of the Aral Sea decreased by 40 percent, and salt and
pollutant levels increased significantly, with substantial adverse impacts on human health.
URL: http://www.ciesin.columbia.edu/docs/006-238/006-238.html

resource: Mitchell, B.A., and J.L. Brown. 1998. 'Stewardship: A Working Definition,' Environments, Vol. 26,

No. 1, pp. 8-17.

description: This article provides an overview of innovative approaches to land conservation such as easements,
land trusts, management incentives, etc.
keywords: Conservation

resource: Mokma, D. J., and M. A. Sietz. 1992. Effects of soil erosion on corn yields on Marlette soils in

South-central Michigan. Journal of Soil and Water Conservation 47 (4): 325-27

description: Mokma and Sietz report on a study of soil erosion's effects on crop yields and they found that
production in severely eroded plots averaged 21 percent less than production in normal or slightly
eroded soils.
URL: http://www.ciesin.columbia.edu/docs/002-226/002-226.html

resource: Myers, N. 1988. Threatened Biotas: Hotspots in tropical Forests. The Environmentalist, No. 8, pp.

178-208.
description: In this article, Norman Myers introduces the concept of hotspots, which was later elaborated in
partnership with Conservation International.
keywords: Biodiversity, Tropical Forests

resource: Myers, N. 1988. Tropical deforestation and climatic change. Environmental Conservation 15 (4):

293-98
description: Myers discusses forests' effect on the dynamics of moisture-bearing air masses, emphasizing their

role in local and regional moisture condensation.

URL: http://www.ciesin.columbia.edu/docs/002-122/002-122.html

resource: Myers, N., and T. J. Goreau. 1991. Tropical forests and the greenhouse effect: A management

response. Climatic Change 19: 215-26

description: Myers and Goreau recommend a large-scale reforestation program in the humid tropics over 2
million square kilometers. The authors propose that developed countries bear most of the cost and
tropical countries provide land and labor.
URL: http://www.ciesin.columbia.edu/docs/002-163/002-163.html

resource: Nicholls, R. 1995. Coastal Megacities and Climate Change. GeoJournal, Vol. 37, No. 3, pp. 369-

379.
description: Examines the potential impact of sea-level rise on several large cities.
keywords: Climate Change, Sea-Level Rise, Urbanization

resource: Niemeijer, D., and V. Mazzucato. 2002. 'Soil Degradation in the West African Sahel: How Serious

Is It?' Environment, Vol. 44, No. 2, pp. 20-31.

description: This article provides data from a study in Burkina Faso which refutes the notion that soil
degradation is occurring at the rate commonly claimed. Land management is a crucial factor in
understanding how Sahelian soils have been able to maintain fertility.

resource: Noble, I.R. and R. Dirzo. 1997. 'Forests as Human Dominated Ecosystems,' Science, Vol. 277, 25

July 1997, pp. 522-525.

description: Forests are human-dominated ecosystems. Two forms of management, agroforestry and wholelandscape management for logging are discussed. Management strategies for sustainable forestry are
being developed, but there is a need for further interaction among foresters, ecologists, community
representatives, social scientists and economists.
keywords: Forest Management

resource: Noss, R.F. 1990. Indicators for Monitoring Biodiversity: A Hierarchical Approach. Conservation

Biology, Vol. 4, No. 4, pp. 355-364.

description: The authors expands three primary attributes of biodiversity - composition, structure, and function into a nested hierarchy that incorporates elements of each attribute at four levels of organization:
regional landsacpe, community-ecosystem, population-species, and genetic.
Biodiversity,
Indicators
keywords:

resource: Okin, GS, B. Murray, and W.H. Schlesinger. 2001. Degradation of sandy arid shrubland

environments: observations, process modelling, and management implications. Journal of Arid

Environments. Vol. 47, No. 2, pp. 123-144.
keywords: Land Degradation

resource: Olson, G. W. 1981. Archaeology: Lessons on future soil use. Journal of Soil and Water

Conservation 36 (5): 261-64

description: Olson provides examples of ancient civilizations disrupted as a result of abusive land exploitation.

URL: http://www.ciesin.columbia.edu/docs/002-225/002-225.html
resource: Olsson, L., A. Warren, and J. Ard. 2001.The potential benefits of carbon sinks in dryland

agricultural soils. Arid Lands Newsletter 49. University of Arizona

description: This article analyses the potential benefits of carbon sinks in dryland agricultural soils and raises the
issue that inclusion of soils in degraded dryland agroecosystems as an accountable carbon sink
should be carefully considered.
URL: http://ag.arizona.edu/OALS/ALN/aln49/olsson.html

resource: Pfaff A. S. P. (1998) What Drives Deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon? Evidence from Satellite
and Socioeconomic Data. Journal of Environmental Economics and Management 37: 26-43

resource: Pfaff, A. S. P., S. Kerr, R. F. Hughes, S. Liu, G. A. Sanchez-Azofeifa, D. S. Schimel, J. Tosi, and V.

Watson. 2000.The Kyoto protocol and payments for tropical forest: An interdisciplinary method for
estimating carbon-offset supply and increasing the feasibility of a carbon market under the CDM.
Ecological Economics 35: 203-221
description: Protecting tropical forests under the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) could reduce the cost
of emissions limitations set in Kyoto. However, evidence regarding tropical carbon sinks is sparse.
This paper presents a general method for constructing an integrated model (based on detailed
historical, remote sensing and field data) that can produce land-use and carbon baselines, predict
carbon sequestration supply to a carbon-offsets market and also help to evaluate optimal market
rules.

resource: Ramankutty, N., and J.A. Foley (1999). Estimating historical changes in global land cover:

croplands from 1700 to 1992, Global Biogeochemical Cycles 13(4), 997-1027

description: A data set showing changes in the extent of crop lands from 1700 to 1992.
URL: http://sage.meteor.wisc.edu/pages/datamodels.html#Anchor-Historical-35882

keywords: Agriculture, Land Use

resource: Rattan, L. 2001. Desertification control to sequester carbon and reduce net emissions in the United

States. Arid Lands Newsletter 49. University of Arizona

description: The objective of this report is to assess the potential of dryland ecosystems of the U.S. to sequester
carbon and reduce the country's net gaseous C emissions.
URL: http://ag.arizona.edu/OALS/ALN/aln49/lal.html

resource: Repetto, R. 1990. Deforestation in the tropics. Scientific American: 262 (4): 36-42
description: Repetto reports that forest resources in the industrial world may have reached the equilibrium phase
or be in a slight decline. Tropical forest resources are currently undergoing depletion at an
accelerated pace,

resource: Rey-Benayas, J.M., and K.O. Pope. 1995. Landscape Ecology and Diversity Patterns in the Seasonal

Tropics from Landsat TM Imagery. Ecological Applications, Vol. 5, No. 2, pp. 386-394.
description: The authors examine landscape diversity in the tropical forests of northeastern Guatemala with
analyses of Landsat imagery. They demonstrate the potential of TM-based land-cover maps and
diversity indices in designing and monitoring nature reserves

keywords: Biodiversity, Conservation, Remote Sensing

resource: Reynolds, J.F. 2001. 'New Initiatives on Desertification and Land Degradation,' LUCC Newsletter,

No. 7, December 2001.

description: Discusses results of the Dahlem Conference on Global Desertification, June 2001.
URL: http://www.geo.ucl.ac.be/LUCC/lucc.html

keywords: Desertification
resource: Riebsame, W. E. 1988a. Adjusting water resources management to climate change. Climatic Change

13: 69-97
description: Riebsame explores whether the managers and management systems of the global freshwater
resource are prepared for the task.
URL: http://www.ciesin.columbia.edu/docs/006-241/006-241.html

resource: Rosenfeld, D. 2001. Smoke and desert dust stifle rainfall, contribute to drought and desertification.

Arid Lands Newsletter 49. University of Arizona.

description: This article looks at dust as a mechanism for amplifying the effects of desertification.
URL: http://ag.arizona.edu/OALS/ALN/aln49/rosenfeld.html

resource: Rudel, T., and J. Roper. 1997b. The Paths to Rain Forest Destruction: Crossnational Patterns of

Tropical Deforestation, 1975-90. World Development, Vol. 25, No. 1, pp. 53-65.
description: Recently published crossnational data on tropical deforestation vary in quality, but with appropriate
safeguards they can be used to analyze the causes of tropical deforestation. We use these data to
assess the major explanations for tropical deforestation from 1975-90.
keywords: Deforestation, Population

resource: Rustad, L. 2001. Matter of Time on the Prairie. Nature, Vol. 413, pp. 578-579.
description: Research suggests that extrapolating from the short-term effect of global warming on ecosystems,
especially the effects of increased temperature on soil respiration, may yield misleading results.
note: Available by subscription at http://www.nature.com
keywords: Carbon Cycle, Climate Change

resource: Sayer, J. A., and T. C. Whitmore, 1991. Tropical moist forest: Destruction and species extinction.

Biological Conservation 55: 199-213

description: Sayer and Whitmore examine the impact of deforestation on loss of species in this article.

resource: Scoones, I. 1997. 'The Dynamics of Soil Fertility Change: Historical Perspectives on Environmental

Transformation from Zimbabwe,' The Geographical Journal, Vol. 163, No. 2., pp. 161-169.
description: Soil fertility is currently highlighted as a major issue for African agricultural development. But
embedded within policy statements are a series of underlying assumptions and methodological
commitments. The paper questions these, arguing that an historical approach to understanding the
dynbamics of soil fertility change offers important insights of relevance to development policy and
planning

keywords: Land Degradation, Soil Fertility

resource: Scott, J.M., F. Davis, B. Csuti, R. Noss, B. Butterfield, C. Groves, H. Anderson, S. Caicco, F.

D'Erchia, T.C. Edwards, J. Ulliman, and R.G. Wright. 1993. Gap Analysis: A Geographic Approach
to Protection of Biological Diversity. Wildlife Monographs No. 123, Supplement to the Journal of
Wildlife Management, Vol. 57, No. 1.
description: The conventional approach to maintaining biological diversity generally has been to proceed species
by species and threat by threat. The authors suggest that piecemeal approaches are not adequate by
themselves to address the accelerating extinction crisis and, furthermore, they contribute to an
unpredictable ecological and economic environment. The paper describes an approach called Gap
Analysis, which identifies the gaps in representation of biological diversity (biodiversity) in areas
managed exclusively or primarily for the long term maintenance of populations of native species
and natural ecosystems (hereinafter referred to as bio diversity management areas). Once identified,
gaps are filled through new reserve acquisitions or designations, or through changes in management
practices.
URL: http://www.gap.uidaho.edu/About/Overview/WildlifeMonographs/default.htm

keywords: Biodiversity, Conservation, Geographic Information Systems (GIS)

resource: Sedjo, R. A., and M. Clawson. 1983. How serious is tropical deforestation? Journal of Forestry 81:

792-93.
description: Sedjo and Clawson maintain that conversion of forested areas is a rather modest and localized
process with implications far less serious than often suggested.
URL: http://www.ciesin.columbia.edu/docs/002-112/002-112.html

resource: Shukla, J., C. Nobre, and P. Sellers. 1990. Amazon deforestation and climate change. Science 247:

1322-25
description: Shukla, Nobre, and Sellers present a model that simulates land conversion from forest to pasture and
shows significant changes in temperature, evapotranspiration, and precipitation following forest
conversion.
URL: http://www.ciesin.columbia.edu/docs/002-160/002-160.html

resource: Silva Dias, M.A.F., C.A. Nobre, and J.A. Marengo. 2001. 'The Interaction of Clouds and Rain with

the Biosphere,' Global Change Newsletter, No. 45, pp. 8-11.

description: Preliminary results of this research indicate a picture of an intrinsically coupled rain producing
system where different processes interact at different space and time scales and where the
underlying surface, either forest or deforested, actively participates in several mechanisms of cloud
formation.
URL: http://www.igbp.kva.se//uploads/nl_45.pdf

keywords: Hydrologic Cycle, Water

resource: Singh, G., R. Babu, P. Narain, L. S. Bhushan, and I. P. Abrol. 1992. Soil erosion rates in India.

Journal of Soil and Water Conservation 47 (1): 97-99

description: Singh et al. devoted their studies to issues of rate and extent of land degradation throughout the
world and in individual countries in this article.
URL: http://www.ciesin.columbia.edu/docs/002-413/002-413.html

resource: Skole, D., and C. Tucker. 1993. Tropical deforestation and habitat fragmentation in the Amazon:

Satellite data from 1978 to 1988. Science 260: 1905-09.

description: Skole and Tucker use Landsat imagery of the Brazilian Amazon forest to monitor 'Tropical
Deforestation and Habitat Fragmentation' in the area. Their study provides an estimate of the
deforested area and a view of the fragmentation pattern, an issue of foremost importance in
biological diversity.
URL: http://www.ciesin.columbia.edu/docs/002-115/002-115.html

resource: Small, C., and J. Cohen. 1999. Continental Physiography, Climate and the Global Distribution of

Human Population. Proceedings of the International Symposium on Digital Earth.

description: Human populations are not uniformly distributed on Earth's landmasses. The spatial distribution of
the global human population at any time shows large variations over a wide range of spatial scales.
Understanding this distribution is fundamental to understanding the relationships between humans
and the environment. The recent availability of moderate resolution population data and higher
resolution geophysical data now makes it possible to quantify the spatial relationships between
population and basic geophysical parameters related to continental physiography and climate.
URL: http://www.ldeo.columbia.edu/~small/population.html

keywords: Urbanization
resource: Smith, D. and T. E. Huxman. 2001. Elevated atmospheric CO2 and deserts: Will increasing CO2

alter deserts and the desertification process?. Arid Lands Newsletter 49. University of Arizona.
description: This paper presents the results of a three-year experiment at the Nevada Desert FACE Facility
(NDFF) located within the Mojave Desert. The experiment looked at the interplay of increased CO2
and its affects on plant growth, production and water retention.
URL: http://ag.arizona.edu/OALS/ALN/aln49/smith.html

resource: Smith, N. J. H., and R. E. Schultes. 1990. Deforestation and shrinking crop gene-pools in Amazonia.

Environmental Conservation 17 (3): 227-34

description: Smith and Schultes discuss shrinking of crop gene-pools through deforestation, introduction of
species, overexploitation of plant and animal species, environmental pollution, and global changes.
keywords: Deforestation

resource: Southgate, D. 1990. The causes of land degradation along 'spontaneously' expanding agricultural

frontiers in the third world. Land Economics 66 (1): 93-101

description: Southgate concludes that deforestation-induced land degradation in developing countries is a direct
result of land tenure systems that facilitate property-right acquisition in idle lands.
URL: http://www.ciesin.columbia.edu/docs/002-408/002-408.html

resource: Starr, J. R. 1991. Water wars. Foreign Policy 82 (Spring): 17-36

description: Starr provides more detail on military and political aspects.
URL: http://www.ciesin.columbia.edu/docs/006-304/006-304.html
resource: Sunderlin, W. 1997. Deforestation, livelihoods, and the preconditions for sustainable management in

Olancho, Honduras. Agriculture and Human Values, 14(4): 373-.

keywords: Deforestation

resource: Swisher, J. N., and G. M. Masters. 1991. Buying environmental insurance: Prospects for trading of

global climate-protection services. Climatic Change 19: 233-40.

description: Swisher and Masters suggest establishing international carbon-emission offsets as a means by which
international markets could trade carbon-saving services. The markets would provide a currency for
rewarding actions that reduce global carbon emissions, allowing developing nations to profit from
use of clean energy technologies. The authors maintain that such a plan would encourage protection,
rather than depletion, of tropical forests.
URL: http://www.ciesin.columbia.edu/docs/002-165/002-165.html

resource: Taylor, C. M. 2001. Feedbacks between the land surface and the atmosphere in the Sahel. Arid

Lands Newsletter, No. 49, May/June 2001. University of Arizona

description: Lying between the Sahara desert to the north and moist tropical savanna to the south, the African
Sahel is a region which suffers from very variable annual rainfall. In recent years, however, there
has been a prolonged drought, with annual rainfall only exceeding the long-term average in a
handful of years since 1968. Because of this, the region has become a focus of much scientific effort
to try to understand the underlying causes of the drought. An important aspect of this research has
examined the role of feedbacks between the land surface and the atmosphere. The research
presented in this paper tests the hypothesis that a reduction in vegetation cover over the Sahel could
disrupt the regional atmospheric circulation, reducing rainfall and contributing to the persistence of
arid conditions.
URL: http://ag.arizona.edu/OALS/ALN/aln49/taylor.html

resource: Tilman, D., J. Fargione, B. Wolff, C. D'Antonio, A. Dobson, R. Howarth, D. Schindler, W.H.

Schlesinger, D. Simberloff, and D. Swackhamer. 2001. Forecasting Agriculturally Driven Global

Environmental Change. Science, Vol. 292, pp. 282-284.
description: During the next 50 years, which is likely to be the final period of rapid agricultural expansion,
demand for food by a wealthier and larger population will be a major driver of global environmental
change. This article addresses likely expansion of agricultural lands and the increase of crop
fertilizers that will lead to eutrophication of water bodies.
note: Available by subscription at www.sciencemag.org

keywords: Agriculture, Land-Cover Change

resource: Tschakert, P., 2001. Human dimensions of carbon sequestration: A political ecology approach to

soil fertility management and desertification control in the Old Peanut Basin of Senegal. Arid Lands
Newsletter 49. University of Arizona.
description: In this article, the author argues that social science can help to broaden this emerging carbon agenda
by introducing human dimensions in what otherwise risks being nothing more than technical
feasibility assessment.
URL: http://ag.arizona.edu/OALS/ALN/aln49/tschakert.html

resource: Tucker, C. J., H. E. Dregne, and W. W. Newcomb. 1991. Expansion and contraction of the Sahara

Desert between 1980 and 1990. Science 253: 299-301

description: Tucker, Dregne, and Newcomb document movement of the Sahara.
URL: http://www.ciesin.columbia.edu/docs/005-319/005-319.html

resource: Tucker, C.J., and S.E. Nicholson. 1999. 'Variations in the Size of the Sahara Desert from 1980 to

1997,' Ambio, Vol. 28, No. 7, pp. 587-591.

description: Satellite data and ground rainfall measurements were used to study variations in the size of the
Sahara Desert from 1980 to 1997. Through a combination o fthe satellite and ground data, the 200
mm/yr precipitation boundary was mapped for the Saharan-Sahelian regino by year. Although
hihgly significant year-to-year variation in the size of the Sahara Desert has occurred, no
systematically increasing or decreasing trend during the time period was evident.
keywords: Desertification Monitoring, Remote Sensing

resource: Turner, B.L. 2001. Land-Use and Land-Cover Change: Advances in 1.5 Decades of Sustained

International Research. GAIA-Ecological Perspectives in Science, Humanities, and Economics. Vol.

10, No. 4, pp. 269-272.
description: An overview piece on the state of LUCC research, and the growing understanding in the area of
'land science.
keywords: Land-Cover Change, Land-Use Change

resource: Veldkamp, A., Lambin, E.F. 2001. 'Editorial: Predicting land use change.' Agriculture, Ecosystems

and Environment. Vol. 85, Nos. 1-3, pp. 1-6.

description: This editorial introduces into a special issue on predicting land use changes, providing a state-of-theart overview on recent LUCC modelling achievments and introducing practical applications.

resource: Vitousek, P.M., H.A. Mooney, J. Lubchenco, J.M. Melillo. 1997. Human Domination of Earth's
Ecosystems. Science, Vol. 277, 25 July 1997, 494-499.

description: The authors argue that human alteration of Earth is substantial and growing. Between one-third and

one-half of the land surface has been transformed by human action; the carbon dioxide
concentration in the atmosphere has increased by nearly 30 percent since the beginning of the
Industrial Revolution; more atmospheric nitrogen is fixed by humanity than by all natural terrestrial
sources combined; more than half ofa ll accessible surface fresh water is put to use by humanity; and
about one-quarter of the bird species on Earth have been driven to extinction.

resource: Walker, B., and W. Steffen. 1997. An Overview of the Implications of Global Change for Natural
and Managed Terrestrial Ecosystems. Conservation Ecology, Vol. 1, No. 2.

description: Global change is the net effect of individual and interactive effects of changes in land use,

atmospheric composition, biological diversity, and climate. A synthesis of the past six years'
activities of the Global Change and Terrestrial Ecosystems project of the IGBP (International
Geosphere-Biosphere Programme) deals with global change effects as ecosystem responses and
living with global change. Ecosystem responses are considered in terms of changes in function and
vegetation composition/structure.
URL: http://139.142.203.66/pub/www/Journal/vol1/iss2/art2/index.html
keywords: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Land Use

resource: White, D., P.G. Minotti, M.J. Barczak, J.C. Sifneos, K.E. Freemark, M.V. Santelmann, C.F. Steinitz,

A.R. Kiester, and E.M. Preston. 1997. Assessing Risks to Biodiversity from Future Landscape
Change. Conservation Biology, Vol. 11, No. 2, pp. 349-360.
description: Using Monroe County, Pennsylvania as a test case, the authors examined the impacts of possible
future land development scenarios on the biodiversity of a landscape.
keywords: Biodiversity, Conservation, Urbanization

resource: Williams, M. A., 2001. Interactions of desertification and climate: Present understanding and future

research imperatives. Arid Lands Newsletter 49. University of Arizona.

description: This paper gives a general overview of the findings and direction of research in understanding
climate and desertification.
URL: http://ag.arizona.edu/OALS/ALN/aln49/williams.html

resource: Zhu, Z., and T. Wang. 1993. Trends in desertification and its rehabilitation in China. Desertification

Control Bulletin 22: 27-30

description: In the arid and semi arid regions of north China the main aspect of degradation is sandy
desertification (including shifting sand dunes, sand dune reactivation, shifting sands spreading into
grasslands and wind erosion in dry farmland). It covers about 334,000 km2 of which 197,000 km2
has already been desertified and 137,000 km2 is being threatened by its process. A population of
about 35 million people is affected.
URL: http://www.ciesin.columbia.edu/docs/002-224/002-224.html

resource: de Sherbinin, A., K. Kline, and K. Raustiala. 2002. Remote Sensing Data: Valuable Support for

Environmental Treaties. Environment, Vol. 44, No. 1, January/February 2002.

description: This article examines current and future applications of remote sensing to meet the needs of
multilateral environmental agreements in terms of assessment, monitoring, and negotiation. The
article also provides a brief primer on remote sensing principles.
keywords: Environmental Treaties, Remote Sensing, Treaties, Treaty And Agreement Verification

Books & Reports

resource:
source:
description:
resource:
URL:

2nd International Conference On Land Degradation

The Working Group on Land Degradation and Desertification of the International Union of Soil
This conference
entitled,
'Meeting
The
Land Degradation in thein21st
Century,' occurred
Agbo,
V., N. Sokpon,
J. Hough,
and
P. Challenges
West. 1993.ofPopulation-Environment
a Constrained
Ecosystem
in
Northern
Benin.
In:
G.
Ness,
W.
Drake,
and
S.
Brechin
(eds.).
Population-Environment
http://www.nhq.nrcs.usda.gov/WSR/Landdeg/ld99.htm
Dynamics: Ideas and Observations. Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press, pp. 283-300.
This chapter describes research into population-environment linkages in a resource-poor area of
A.P.
Koohafkan,
Northern
Benin. Desertification, drought and their consequences, Sustainable Development
Food
and Agriculture Organization (FAO)
Land Degradation
Short summary of issues related to desertification and drought.

description:
resource:
source:
keywords:
description:
URL: http://www.fao.org/waicent/faoinfo/sustdev/EPdirect/EPan0005.htm
resource: Amede, T., T. Belachew and E. Geta 2001. Reversing the degradation of arable land in the Ethiopian
resource:
description:
resource:
description:
URL:

Highlands. Russell Press, Nottingham, UK

Aber,report
J. D. and
J. M.onMelillo.
1991. Terrestrial
This
focuses
the Ethiopian
Highlands Ecosystems.
and is a resultPhiladelphia:
of a researchSaunders
programCollege
by the African
Highlands Initiative (AHI) and the Ethiopian Agricultural Research Organization in response to soil
fertility problems. The program conducted research and tailored specific methods of restoring or
Achard,
F., H.
Eva,
A. Glinni,
P. Mayaux,
T. Richards,
H.J. Stibig.
1998. Identification of
maintaining
soil
fertility
to different
socio-economic
classes
of farmers.
Report detailing work of the TREES project.
http://www.iied.org/pdf/Soils_23.pdf

resource: Anderson, M. and R. Magleby. 1997. Agricultural Resources and Environmental Indicators, 1996-97,
Agricultural Handbook No. 712, US Department of Agriculture, 356 pp.

description: This report identifies trends in land, water, and commercial input use, reports on the condition of

natural resources used in the agricultural sector, and describes and assesses public policies that affect
i
d
i
l
li i
i l
bi i d
di f
i
hi

description: Report detailing work of the TREES project.

resource: Agbo, V., N. Sokpon, J. Hough, and P. West. 1993. Population-Environment in a Constrained

Ecosystem in Northern Benin. In: G. Ness, W. Drake, and S. Brechin (eds.). Population-Environment
Dynamics: Ideas and Observations. Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press, pp. 283-300.
description: This chapter describes research into population-environment linkages in a resource-poor area of
Northern Benin.
keywords: Land Degradation

resource: Amede, T., T. Belachew and E. Geta 2001. Reversing the degradation of arable land in the Ethiopian

Highlands. Russell Press, Nottingham, UK

description: This report focuses on the Ethiopian Highlands and is a result of a research program by the African
Highlands Initiative (AHI) and the Ethiopian Agricultural Research Organization in response to soil
fertility problems. The program conducted research and tailored specific methods of restoring or
maintaining soil fertility to different socio-economic classes of farmers.
http://www.iied.org/pdf/Soils_23.pdf
URL:

resource: Anderson, M. and R. Magleby. 1997. Agricultural Resources and Environmental Indicators, 1996-97,
Agricultural Handbook No. 712, US Department of Agriculture, 356 pp.

description: This report identifies trends in land, water, and commercial input use, reports on the condition of

natural resources used in the agricultural sector, and describes and assesses public policies that affect
conservation and environmental quality in agriculture. Combining data and information, this report
examines the complex connections among farming practices, conservation, and the environment,
which are increasingly important components in U.S. agriculture and farm policy. The report also
examines the economic factors that affect resource use and, when data permit, estimates the costs and
benefits (to farmers, consumers, and the government) of meeting conservation and environmental
goals. The report takes stock of how natural resources (land and water) and commercial inputs
(energy, nutrients, pesticides, and machinery) are used in the agricultural sector; shows how they
contribute to environmental quality; and links use and quality to technological change, production
practices, and farm programs.
URL: http://www.ers.usda.gov/publications/ah712/
keywords: Conservation, Farming Practices, Land Use, Natural Resources, Water Quality

resource: Barber, C.V., E. Matthews, D. Brown, T. H. Brown, L. Curran, C. Plume. 2002. State of the Forest:

Indonesia. Washington, DC: World Resources Institute.

description: Illegal logging in Indonesia has been rampant for years and is believed to have destroyed some 10
million ha of forest. Indonesia's wood-processing industries operate in a strange legal twilight, in
which major companies that -- until the economic crisis of 1997 - attracted billions of dollars in
Western investment, obtain more than half their wood supplies from illegal sources. Wood is
routinely smuggled across the border to neighboring countries, costing the Indonesian government
millions of dollars in lost revenues each year.
URL: http://www.wri.org/wri/forests/indoforest.html

keywords: Deforestation, Governance, Indonesia

resource: Barnes, B.V., D.R. Zak, S.H. Denton and S.H. Spurr. 1998. Forest Ecology (4th edition). New York:
John Wiley and Sons.

description: Chapter 18 of this book contains an excellent summary of the carbon balance of trees and ecosystems.

keywords: Carbon
resource: Barrow, C. J. 1991. Land degradation: Development and breakdown of terrestrial environments. New

York: Cambridge University Press

description: Barrow discusses regions that have been recognized specifically as problem areas--either because of
the severity of the problem of land degradation or the potential impact on society and the
environment. He proposes debt-swap approaches to correct the problem.
keywords: Land Degradation

resource: Batterbury, S., A. Warren. 1999. Land Use and Land Degradation In Southwestern Niger: Change

And Continuity. End of Award Report for SERIDA (Social & Environmental Relationships In
Dryland Agriculture) to the Global Environmental Change (GEC) Initiative, UK Economic and Social
Research Council.
URL: http://www.regard.ac.uk/research_findings/L320253247/report.pdf
keywords: Desertification, Land Degradation, Sahel

resource: Beckel, L. (ed.). 2001. Megacities: The European Space Agency's Contribution to a Better

Understanding of a Global Challenge. Salzburg, Austria: GEOSPACE Verlag.

description: This marvelously illustrated large-format book utilizes a variety of remote sensing imagery to
examine the phenomenon of urbanization. It contains profiles of over 30 cities.
keywords: Remote Sensing, Urbanization

resource: Becker, A., and H. Bugmann (eds.). 2001. Global Change and Mountain Regions. IGBP Report 49.
description: This document describes an implementation strategy for Global Change and Mountain Regions as an
Initiative for Collaborative Research and is approved by the Scientific Steering Committees of the
projects of the International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme.
URL: http://www.igbp.kva.se//uploads/report_49.pdf
keywords: Hydrologic Cycle, Mountains

resource: Blixt, S. 1992. Gene banks for plant conservation. Chapter 12 in Conservation of biodiversity for

sustainable development, ed. O. T. Sandlund, K. Indar, and A. H. D. Brown. Oslo: Scandinavian

University Press
description: Blixt discusses 'Gene Banks for Plant Conservation' in this article

resource: Borrini-Feyerabend, G. (ed.). 1997. Beyond Fences: Seeking Social Sustainability in Conservation,

Gland, Switzerland: IUCN.

source: IUCN-The World Conservation Union
description: Beyond Fences is designed to help professionals involved in conservation initiatives to identify the
social concerns that are relevant for their work, assess options for action and implement them.
Volume 1 is a companion to a process of planning, evaluating or re-designing a conservation
initiative; an experience of 'learning by doing' expected to involve a series of meetings and fieldbased activities. Volume 2 is a reference book to be consulted, as needed, at various stages in the
same process.
URL: http://www.iucn.org/themes/spg/beyond_fences/beyond_fences.html

keywords: Biodiversity, Conservation

resource: Borrini-Feyerabend, G. 1996. Collaborative Management of Protected Areas: Tailoring the Approach

to the Context. Gland, Switzerland: IUCN-The World Conservation Union.

description: This book provides a short introduction to collaborative or 'community-based' natural resource
management, and illustrates the concept through many examples of successful collaborative
management of protected areas.
URL: http://www.iucn.org/themes/spg/Tailor/index.html

keywords: Biodiversity, Conservation, Natural Resources, Protected Areas

resource: Bouwman, A. F. 1990. Soils and the greenhouse effect. New York: John Wiley
description: Bouwman also considers the reflectance properties of soils as part of the chapter. The author

emphasizes the effects of deforestation-induced changes in soil albedo on surface winds and run-off
rates, and the ensuing effects on local and regional climate.

resource: Briassoulis, H. 1999. Analysis of Land Use Change: Theoretical and Modeling Approaches. The Web

Book of Regional Science, Regional Research Institute, West Virginia University.

description: This chapter provides an excellent overview of the historical development of land-use and land-cover
change research.
URL: http://www.rri.wvu.edu/WebBook/Briassoulis/Chapter2(Histoverview).htm

resource: Center for Sustainability and the Global Environment (SAGE). 2002. Atlas of the Biosphere. Institute
for Environmental Studies, University of Wisconsin.

URL: http://atlas.aos.wisc.edu/
resource: Collins, M., ed. 1990. The Panama Canal--No forest, no canal. In The last rain forests, 105. Published

in association with the International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources
(IUCN). London: Mitchell Beazley Publishers
description: Collins demonstrate the impact of deforestation on local climate in the real world in case studies in
this article.

resource: Committee on the Human Dimensions of Global Change, Commission on Behavioral and Social

Sciences and Education, National Research Council. 1998. People and Pixels: Linking Remote
Sensing and Social Science. Washington, D.C.: National Academy Press.
source: National Research Council
description: This volume first time, through theoretical exploration as well as case study evidence, addresses the
value of remotely sensed data for human dimensions research on global environmental change,
emphasizing land-use and land-use change processes. It provides a glossary and guide to data
resources.
URL: http://www.nap.edu/books/0309064082/html/index.html

keywords: Remote Sensing, Social Sciences

resource: Covich, A. P. 1993. Water and ecosystems. In Water in crisis, P. H. Gleick (ed). New York: Oxford

University Press
description: Covich discusses ecosystem integrity in this article.

resource: Down to Earth: A simplified guide to the Convention to Combat Dersertification, why it is necessary

and what is important and different about it.

source: United Nations Secretariat of the Convention to Combat Desertification
description: First published in 1995, this book is designed for the public and the media to gain an appreciation and
understanding of desertification. The first part of the book deals with desertification issues. The
second part goes into implementation of programs that combat desertification.
URL: http://www.unccd.int/publicinfo/downtoearth/downtoearth-eng.pdf

resource: Dregne, H. E. 1986. Desertification of arid lands. In Physics of desertification, ed. F. El-Baz and M.

H. A. Hassan. Dordrecht, The Netherlands: Martinus, Nijhoff

description: The article discusses three key desertification processes in arid lands: deterioration of vegetative
cover due to overgrazing, wood cutting, and burning; wind and water erosion resulting from improper
land management; and salinization due to improper use of irrigation water.
URL: http://www.ciesin.columbia.edu/docs/002-193/002-193.html

resource: Dregne, H. E., and N-T. Chou. 1992. Global desertification dimensions and costs. In Degradation and

restoration of arid lands. Lubbock: Texas Tech. University

description: Dregne and Chou provide criteria for a global assessment of desertification. The authors classify land
according to usage and range of desertification severity, and offer a cost-benefit analysis for
recapturing lands.
URL: http://www.ciesin.columbia.edu/docs/002-186/002-186.html

resource: Drigo, R. and A. Marcoux. 1999. Population dynamics and the assessment of land use changes and

deforestation. Food and Agriculture Organization for the United Nations.

description: Focuses on Amazonian deforestation in relation to population dynamics.
URL: http://www.fao.org/sd/WPdirect/WPan0030.htm

resource: Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs (DGIS) and the International Institute for Environment and

Development (IIED). 2000. Integrated Soil Fertility management. Policy and Best Practice Document
7. London, IIED.
International
Institute for Environment and Development (IIED).
source:
description: This guide examines the issues at stake in relation to soil fertility management, the reasons why
policy makers should be concerned about soil degradation,the lessons learned from interventions in
this field,and the type of policies which contribute to a more sustainable management of soils.
URL: http://www.iied.org/pdf/Drylands_BestPrac.7.pdf

keywords: Integrated Soil Fertility Management

resource: Eisma, D. (ed.). 1995. Climate Change Impact on Coastal Habitation. Lewis Publishers.
description: This book contains chapters addressing many aspects of projected sea-level rise on land-use change.
keywords: Sea-Level Rise
resource: Engleman, R., and P. LeRoy. 1995. Conserving the Land: Population and Sustainable Food
Production Washington DC: Population Action International

source: Population Action International

description: The long debate about population growth and food supply can be summarized in a simple question: Is

it fundamentally the earth or humanity that produces food? If the earth, key indicators suggest some
limits are already approaching. If humanity, past experience is ground for optimism. When asked for
more food, the world's farmers, helped by agricultural scientists, almost always come through. The
reality, of course, is that both human and natural resources are essential to agriculture. But the balance
between the two is shifting. Every year the worlds population gains nearly 90 million people, while
farmland loses an estimated 25 billion metric tons of topsoil. Although food production historically
has kept pace with population growth, key trends presented in this report suggest reason for concern:
URL: http://www.cnie.org/pop/conserving/landuse.htm
keywords: Land Degradation, Population And Environment, Soil

resource: Farnsworth, N. R. 1988. Screening plants for new medicines. Chapter 9 in Biodiversity, ed. E.O.

Wilson. Washington, D.C.: National Academy Press

description: Farnsworth argues that despite the data available on the importance of the higher plants as sources of
active principles in the pharmaceutical industry, little effort is made currently to screen plants for this
use.
URL: http://www.ciesin.columbia.edu/docs/002-256c/002-256c.html

resource: Fischer, G., M. Shah, H. van Velthuizen, and F. O. Nachtergaele. 2001. Global Agro-ecological

Assessment for Agriculture in the 21st Century. Laxenburg, Austria: IIASA.

description: This report presents a summary of the methodology and results of a comprehensive global assessment
of the worlds agricultural ecology. The national-level information with global coverage enables
knowledge-based decisions for sustainable agricultural development. The Agroecological Zones
approach is a GIS-based modeling framework that combines land evaluation methods with
socioeconomic and multiple-criteria analysis to evaluate spatial and dynamic aspects of agriculture.
The results of the Global AEZ assessment are estimated by grid cell and aggregated to national,
regional, and global levels. They include identification of areas with specific climate, soil, and terrain
constraints to crop production; estimation of the extent and productivity of rain-fed and irrigated
cultivable land and potential for expansion; quantification of cultivation potential of land currently in
forest ecosystems; and impacts of climate change on food production, geographical shifts of
cultivable land, and implications for food security.
URL: http://www.iiasa.ac.at/Research/LUC/Papers/gaea.pdf

keywords: Agriculture, Agroecosystems

resource: Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). 1999. The State of the Worlds Forests Report. Rome:

FAO.
source: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
description: This 1999 report is published every two years and gives the status of forests worldwide and new
developments in the forestry sector. The State of the World's Forests 1999 reports gives figures on
global forest cover; current efforts to assess forest resources; the forest fires of 1997 and 1998; recent
trends in forest management; the significance to forestry of the Kyoto Protocol of the Framework
Convention on Climate Change; current and projected forest products production, consumption and
trade; recent trends in forest policy, legislation and institutions; and the international dialogue and
initiatives on forests, among other topics.
URL: http://www.fao.org/forestry/FO/SOFO/SOFO99/sofo99-e.stm

resource: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), Committee on Forest Development

in the Tropics. 1985. Tropical forestry action plan. Rome: Food and Agriculture Organization of the
United Nations.
description: The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization proposes recommendations and a budget plan
for a comprehensive forest management program at the global scale in the Tropical Forestry Action
Plan.
URL: http://www.ciesin.columbia.edu/docs/002-162/002-162.html

resource: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). 1993. 1990 Forest Resources

Assessment: Tropical countries. Rome: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
description: It provides information on the forests of tropical countries.
URL: http://www.ciesin.columbia.edu/docs/002-471/002-471.html

resource: Forests-Water-People in the Humid Tropics: Past, Present and Future Hydrological Research for

Integrated Land and Water Management, Bangui, Central African Republic, 30 July-4 August 2000.
source: UNESCO
description: This conference had several goals: (1) To identify the chief questions that policy makers, resource
managers and local communities have in relation to land and water management practices. (2) To
synthesize research results on tropical forest hydrology and the hydrological impacts of forest
disturbance and conversion for the scientific, policy-making, and resource managing communities,
using appropriate formats respectively. (3) To demonstrate what can be achieved with the presently
available knowledge in terms of guidelines for optimum land management and to explore ways of
enhancing the implementation of such guidelines at the national, regional and local level. And (4) To
highlight innovative methodologies to support land and water resources decision making, particularly
at the large river basin scale; and to distinguish the impacts of climatic variability from those of landuse change on the hydrology.
URL: http://www.nwl.ac.uk/ih/help/kl/index.html

resource: Frederick, K. D. 1991. Water resources: Increasing demand and scarce supplies. In America's

Renewable Resources, ed. K. D. Frederick and R. A. Sedjo, 63-71. Washington, D.C.: Resources for
the Future
description: Frederick analyzes this issue in the United States and presents a range of alternatives including use of
technology; improved management of supply; and management of demand.

resource: Freeman, P. H., and R. Fox. 1994. Satellite mapping of tropical forest cover and deforestation: A

review with recommendations for USAID. Arlington, VA: Environment and Natural Resources
Information Center, DATEX.
description: They review four ongoing efforts by the United States and others to map tropical forests worldwide
with satellite imagery.
URL: http://www.ciesin.columbia.edu/docs/005-325/005-325.html

resource: Gardner-Outlaw, T., and R. Engleman. 1999. Forest Futures: Population, Consumption and Wood

Resources. Washington, DC: Population Action International.

source: Population Action International
description: Explores the relationship between population and consumption trends and deforestation.

URL: http://www.populationaction.org/resources/publications/archive.htm

keywords: Consumption, Deforestation, Population Dynamics

resource: Geist, H.J, and E.F. Lambin. 2001. What Drives Tropical Deforestation? LUCC Project Report Series

No. 4, Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium.

description: Based on a meta-analysis of 152 sub-national case studies, this book addresses in a comprehensive
manner the causes and drivers of deforestation.
URL: http://www.geo.ucl.ac.be/LUCC/lucc.html

note: Visit the LUCC Project publications page for a PDF version of the book.
keywords: Deforestation
resource: Geist, H.J. 2002. The IGBP-IHDP Joint Core Project on Land-Use and Land-Cover Change (LUCC).

in: A. Badran et al. (eds): The Encyclopedia of Life Support Systems Vol. 5 : Global Sustainable
Development - Land Use and Land Cover. UNESCO-EOLSS Publishers.
source: UNESCO
description: This document tracks the LUCC projects dual approach to land-use and land-cover change science,
i.e., to provide (in)direct observations and projections my model, by summarising the four main
groups of strategic actions applied during project implementation from 1995 to 2001: development
and coordination of scientific networks, various outreach activities, coordination of research in
regional networks, and integration of individual research through endorsement.
URL: http://www.eolss.com

keywords: Land-Cover Change, Land-Use Change

resource: Gibson, Clark, Margaret A. McKean, and Elinor Ostrom (eds.). 2000. People and Forests:

Communities, Institutions, and Governance. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.

description: People and Forests explores the complex interactions between local communities and their forests. It
focuses on the rules by which communities govern and manage their forest resources. As part of the
International Forestry Resources and Institutions research program, each of the contributors employs
the same systematic, comparative, and interdisciplinary methods to examine why some people use
their forests sustainably while others do not. The case studies come from fieldwork in Bolivia,
Ecuador, India, Nepal, and Uganda.
keywords: Deforestation, Institutions, Natural Resource Management

resource: Gleick, P. H. 1993a. Water in crisis. New York: Oxford University Press
description: Gleick presents a variety of information about the Earth's water resources. The table 'Water Reserves

on the Earth' presents approximations of the total water supply, both fresh and saline. The table
'Global Fresh Water Resources, by Country' presents freshwater inventories. The tables 'Drainage
Area, Runoff, and Suspended Sediment Discharges for Major Rivers of the World' and 'Major Lakes
of the World' provide quantitative measurements for major rivers and lakes, respectively. Little
qualitative information about freshwater resource data is available, but the table 'Quality of Database
for 21 of the Largest River-Sediment Discharges to the Ocean' presents qualitative determinations for
sediment discharges of some large rivers.

resource: Glowka, L., F. Burhenne-Guilmin, H. Synge, J.A. McNeely, and L. Gundling. 1994. A Guide to the

Convention on Biological Diversity. IUCN Environmental Policy and Law Paper No. 30, Gland,
Switzerland and Cambridge, UK: IUCN.
description: This book provides a comprehensive guide to the CBD, including its terminology, articles, and the

specific issues confronting the convention.

keywords: Biodiversity, Treaties

resource: Groombridge, B., and M.D. Jenkins. 2000. Globa Biodiversity: Earth's Living Resources in the 21st

Century. Cambridge, UK: World Conservation Monitoring Center.

description: An excellent primer on biodiversity, this book has many excellent maps and graphs.
keywords: Biodiversity

resource: Groombridge, B., ed. 1992. Global biodiversity: Status of the Earth's living resources. New York:
Chapman & Hall

description: The World Conservation Monitoring Center (WCMC) identifies legislation that protects ecosystems
and habitats as the most important measure for the conservation of species in the section 'The
Protection of Natural Habitats.
URL: http://www.ciesin.columbia.edu/docs/002-265/002-265b.html

resource: Handbook for the Field Assessment of Land Degradation

source: Michael Stocking & Niamh Murnaghan, Overseas Development Group, University of East Anglia,

Norwich, UK
description: This practical handbook sets out rapid and non-technical methods for measuring and assessing land
degradation in the field. Stocking and Murnaghan demonstrate these by using indicators that are
relevant and applicable to real farming situations. In addition to the methodology, the handbook
considers the interpretation of the measurements, looking in particular at how combinations of
different indicators can give robust conclusions as to the severity of land degradation. There is a
strong emphasis on the importance of these technologies in contributing towards environmental
protection policies and for the well-being of rural land users.
URL: http://www.unu.edu/env/plec/l-degrade/index-toc.html

resource: Hecht, A. D. 1991. Foreward to Anthropogenic climate change, ed. M. I. Budyko and Y. A. Izrael.
Tucson, AZ: University of Arizona Press

description: Hecht predicts a largely favorable effect on the distribution of freshwater resources, based on
historical climatic analogs, in the foreword to Anthropogenic Climate Change.
URL: http://www.ciesin.columbia.edu/docs/006-135/006-135.html

resource: Heilig, G. 1999. Can China Feed Itself? Laxenburg, Austria: IIASA.
description: The growth of cities and towns also leads to the conversion of arable land to built up areas, although

increasing population density (e.g., 'vertical growth' through high rises) somewhat moderates this
effect. In contrast to agricultural land-use changes, which are usually reversible, transformation of
arable land to built up areas, such as highways or settlements, tends to be permanent or reversible
only at very high costs. Data show that during from 1988 to 1995 some 980,000 ha of cultivated land
had been used for construction activities of all kinds
URL: http://www.iiasa.ac.at/Research/LUC/ChinaFood/argu/impact/imp_31.htm
keywords: Agriculture, China, Urbanization

resource: Hilhorst, T. and F. Muchena. (Eds.) 2000. Nutrients on the Move: soil fertility dynamics in African

farming systems London Report from the International Institute for Environment and Development

description: This book presents a series of case studies on soil fertility management strategies from six African

countries: Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Kenya, Mali, Uganda and Zimbabwe. The case studies provide
details of the wide range of soil fertility management practices currently implemented by small-scale
farmers in Africa. They underline the importance of 'niche management', where certain fields are
deliberately nurtured at the expense of others. They also illustrate the dynamics of soil fertility
management and analyse the factors affecting incentives to maintain and replenish soil nutrients at
farm level.
URL: http://www.iied.org/drylands/nutrients.html

resource: Houghton, R.A., and D.L. Skole. 1993. 'Carbon.' In The Earth as Transformed by Human Action, B.

L. Turner II, W. C. Clark, R. W. Kates, J. F. Richards, J. T. Mathews, and W. B. Meyer (eds). New
York: Cambridge University Press, pp. 393-408.
description: This chapter provides a clear explanation of the carbon cycle and its relationship to land-use and landcover change.
keywords: Carbon Cycle, Climate Change

resource: IPCC WG1. 2001. Summary for Policymakers: A Report of Working Group I of the

Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

description: This policy brief, generated by IPCC's Working Group 1 of the Third Assessment, provides a
summary of the scientific basis for climate change.
URL: http://www.ipcc.ch/pub/spm22-01.pdf

keywords: Climate Change

resource: IUCN-The World Conservation Union. 2001. Climate Change and Biodiversity: Cooperation between

the Convention on Biological Diversity and the Framework Convention on Climate Change. Gland,
Switzerland: IUCN.
URL: http://www.iucn.org/themes/biodiversity/sbstta6/climate_change_english.pdf
keywords: Biodiversity, Climate Change

resource: Indian National Academy of Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, U.S. National Academy of

Sciences. 2001. Growing Populations, Changing Landscapes. Studies from India, China, and the
United States, 299 pp. Washington, D.C., USA: National Academy Press.
source: Indian National Academy of Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, U.S. National Academy of
Sciences
description: The final report of this LUCC endorsed project (1995-2001) is a consistent comparison of six cases
from the worlds three most populous countries. It identifies intertwined population, consumption and
technology effects, and stresses the importance of government policy rather than population growth.
URL: http://www.nap.edu/books/0309075548/html/

keywords: Land-Cover Change, Land-Use Change, Population

resource: InterAmerican Institute for Global Change Research (IAI). 1994. Report of the IAI Worksdhop on the

Study of the Impacts of Climate Change on Biodiversity, August 9-12, 1994, Guadelajara, Mexico
URL: http://ww3.iai.int/WorkRe1.htm
keywords: Biodiversity, Climate Change

resource: Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). 1990. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate

Change: The IPCC impacts assessment. Canberra, Australia: Australian Government Publishing
Service
description: The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (1990) IPCC Impacts Assessment, a report jointly
sponsored by the World Meteorological Organization and the United Nations Environment
Programme, reviews methodological approaches to hydrologic consequences of climate change. The
report also covers some model-based analyses of hydrologic and water resource changes in large
regions and countries, showing a mixture of impacts.

resource: Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). 1991. Climate change: The IPCC response

strategies, 77-84. Washington, D.C.: Island Press

description: The executive summary of Climate Change: The IPCC Response Strategies (Intergovernmental Panel
on Climate Change 1991) includes 14 near-term and six long-term options for the preservation and
management of world forests. The panel suggests development of a World Forest Conservation
Protocol covering temperate, boreal, and tropical forests in the context of a climate convention
process that also addresses energy supply and use. The working group report states, however, that
solutions must be based on an integrated approach that links forestry to other policies.
URL: http://www.ciesin.columbia.edu/docs/002-166/002-166.html

resource: Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. 2000. Land Use, Land-Use Change And Forestry.

Special report from the IPCC. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
description: Covers topics such as the global carbon cycle, Kyoto Protocol, afforestation, reforestation, and
deforestation (ARD) activities. Contains a special summary for policy makers.
URL: http://www.grida.no/climate/ipcc/land_use/index.htm

keywords: Carbon Sequestration, Climate Change, Deforestation

resource: International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD). 2001. Rural Poverty Report 2001: The

Challenge of Ending Rural Poverty. Rome: IFAD.

description: In this report, the International Fund for Agricultural Development argues that, to be successful,
poverty-reduction policies must focus on rural areas. To overcome disadvantages stemming from
remoteness, lack of education and health care, insecure and unproductive jobs, high fertility and
(often) discrimination as women or ethnic minorities, the rural poor need: legally secure entitlements
to assets (especially land and water); technology (above all for increasing the output and yield of food
staples); access to markets; opportunities to participate in decentralized resource management; and
access to microfinance.
http://www.ifad.org/poverty/index.htm
URL:

resource: Jackson, L.A., and S. Scherr. 1995. 'Nondegrading Land Use Strategies for Tropical Hillsides.' 2020

Vision Brief 27, International Food Policy Research Institute.

source: International Food Policy Research Institute
description: By 2020, current food production methods will be unable to meet the food demands of the growing
world population. As high-productivity lands become more scarce and food demand increases, large
populations will depend on hillside agricultural production for their livelihoods. To prepare for 2020,
policies must evolve that address the needs of hillside inhabitants while promoting land use systems
that are appropriate to the physical and economic conditions of these areas. This paper addresses
hillside characteristics, their land use systems and policies for sustainable cultivation of hillsides.
URL: http://www.ifpri.cgiar.org/2020/briefs/number27.htm

keywords: Land Degradation

resource: Kasperson, J.X., Kasperson, R.E., Turner, B.L.II (eds). 1995. Regions at Risk. Comparisons of

Threatened Environments, 586 pp. Tokyo, Japan: United Nations University Press.
description: This is one of the first consistent, international comparisons of social and environmental change with
view upon the human driving forces of land use and cover change in nine case study regions. It
presents qualitative trajectories of change, vulnerability and societal responses.
URL: http://www.unu.edu/unupress/unupbooks/uu14re/uu14re00.htm

keywords: Hazards, Land-Cover Change, Land-Use Change, Vulnerability

resource: Kerr, S., A. Pfaff, A. Sanchez and M. Boscolo. 2001. How can carbon sequestration in tropical forests

be rewarded? Evidence from Costa Rica. In: Theodore Panayotou ed. Environment for Growth in
Central America, Environmental Management for Sustainability and Competitiveness (Harvard
Institute for International Development).
description: As empirical evidence that human activities are affecting the global climate increases, so do efforts to
identify and evaluate climate mitigation and adaptation options. Forest managers and policy makers
around the world are increasingly participating in and following such efforts, since forestry activities
(e.g., reforestation, slowing deforestation, or improved forest management) could in principle play an
important role within the set of climate-change mitigation strategies.
URL: http://www.motu.org.nz/pdf/carbon_sequestration.pdf

resource: Kerr, S., A. Pfaff, and A. Sanchez. 2001. The Dynamics of Deforestation and the Supply of Carbon

Sequestration: Illustrative Results from Costa Rica. in Theodore Panayotou ed. Central America
Project, Environment: Conservation and Competitiveness. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Institute for
International Development.
description: This chapter aims to contribute to the effective design of the rules that could allow low-cost carbon
sequestration efforts in any number of tropical locations to replace high-cost emissions-reduction
efforts in developed northern countries. The Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) of the Kyoto
Protocol could potentially create such a market.
URL: http://www.motu.org.nz/pdf/dynamics.pdf

keywords: Carbon Sequestration

resource: Kreimer, A., T. Lobo, B. Menezes, M. Munasinghe, R. Parker, and M. Preece (1993). Rio de Janeiro:

In search of Sustainability. In: Towards A Sustainable Urban Environment: The Rio de Janeiro Study,
World Bank Discussion Paper 195, Washington, DC: World Bank.
description: This chapter examines the sustainability of Rio de Janeiro from multiple perspectives.
keywords: Sustainability, Urbanization

resource: Kumar, A., K.C. Malhotra, S. Raghuram, and M. Pais. 1998. 'Water and Population Dynamics in a

Rural Area of Tumkur District, Karnataka State,' in Water and Population Dynamics: Case Studies
and Policy Implications, A. de Sherbinin and V. Dompka (eds.). Washington, DC: AAAS.
source: AAAS
URL: http://www.aaas.org/international/ehn/waterpop/india.htm

resource: Lambin, E.F., Baulies, X., Bockstael, N., Fischer, G., Krug, Leemans, T.R., Moran, E.F., Rindfuss,

R.R., Sato, Y., Skole, D., Turner, B.L. II, Vogel, C. 1999. Land-Use and Land-Cover Change
(LUCC). Implementation Strategy. (IGBP Report 48, IHDP Report 10), Stockholm, Bonn: IGBP and
IHDP Secretariats, 125 pp.
source: IGBP, IHDP
description: Following the publication of LUCCs Research/Science Plan in 1995, this document lays out the
pathway of how to implement LUCC research globally, until project completion in 2002:
development and coordination of scientific networks, various outreach activities, coordination of
research in regional networks, and integration of individual research through endorsement.
URL: http://www.geo.ucl.ac.be/LUCC

resource: Langdale, G. W., and W. D. Schrader. 1982. Soil erosion effects on soil productivity of cultivated

cropland. Chapter 4 in Determinants of soil loss tolerance. American Society of Agronomy special
publication no. 45. Madison, WI: American Society of Agronomy, Soil Science Society of America
description: Langdale and Shrader provide tables on crop yield estimates associated with various levels of soil
erosion.
URL: http://www.ciesin.columbia.edu/docs/002-211/002-211.html

resource: Lanly, J. 1982. Tropical forest resources. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations

(FAO) paper no. 30. Rome: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.
description: The reports present extent and annual rate of disturbance of the tropical moist forests.
URL: http://www.ciesin.columbia.edu/docs/002-113/002-113.html

resource: Maijala, K., and N. Kolstad. 1992. Gene banks for livestock conservation. Chapter 14 in Conservation

of biodiversity for sustainable development, ed. O. T. Sandlund, K. Hindar, and A. H. D. Brown, 23042. Oslo: Scandinavian University Press
description: Maijala and Kolstad address 'Gene Banks for Livestock Conservation' in this article

resource: Maizel, M., and R.D. White, S. Gage, L. Osborne, R. Root, S. Stitt, and G. Muehlbach. 1998.

Historical Interrelationships Between Population Settlement and Farmland in the Conterminous

United States, 1790 to 1992. In: Sisk, T.D. (ed.), Perspectives on the land use history of North
America: a context for understanding our changing environment. U.S. Geoligical Survey, Biological
Reources Division, Biological Science Report USGS/BRD/BSR-1998-003
description: The historical interrelationships between farmland and population settlement patterns have long been
the subject of conjecture. Simple overlays of counties with historical population and farmland data,
together with national soils and topographic data layers, provide a useful way to describe this delicate
relationship spatially, as well as temporally. As new farmlands (cropland and grasslands) were being
created at the population frontier early in the period between 1760 and 1992, certain other areas were
being bypassed to be farmed only later when drainage and/or irrigation was possible. Other areas
characterized by poor climate, steep slopes, and soils unable to support either cropland, pastureland,
or grassland uses were unsustainably farmed or never farmed at all.
URL: http://biology.usgs.gov/luhna/chap2.html

keywords: Agriculture, Cropland

resource: Malcolm, J.R., C. Liu, L.B. Miller, T. Allnutt, and L. Hansen. 2002. Habitats at Risk: Global

Warming and Species Loss in Globally Significant Terrestrial Ecosystems. Gland, Switzerland:
Worldwide Fund for Nature (WWF)

description: The report examines the impact of climate change on the terrestrial ecosystems that WWF identified

as among the 233 most important globally. According to the report's authors, if the atmosphere's CO2
concentration is doubled in the next 100 years, the following effects are predicted: 1) More than 80
percent of the ecoregions tested will suffer extinctions of plant and animal species as a result of global
warming; 2) Changes in habitats from global warming will be more severe at high latitudes and
altitudes than in lowland tropical areas; 3) Some of the most unique and diverse natural ecosystems
may lose more than 70 percent of the habitats upon which their plant and animal species depend; and
4) Many habitats will change at a rate approximately ten times faster than the rapid changes during
the recent postglacial period, causing extinctions among species unable to migrate or adapt at this fast
pace.
URL: http://www.panda.org/goforkyoto/report.cfm
keywords: Biodiversity, Climate Change

resource: Malcolm, J.R., and A. Markham. 2000. Global Warming and Terrestrial Biodiversity Decline. Gland,
Switzerland: World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF).

description: Past efforts to model the potential effects of greenhouse warming on global ecosystems have focussed
on flows of energy and matter through ecosystems rather than on the species that make up
ecosystems. For this study, the authors used models that simulate global climate and vegetation
change to investigate three important threats to global terrestrial biodiversity: 1) Rates of global
warming that may exceed the migration capabilities of species; 2) Losses of existing habitat during
progressive shifts of climatic conditions; and 3) Reductions in species diversity as a result of
reductions in habitat patch size.
URL: http://www.panda.org/resources/publications/climate/speedkills/speedkills.html
keywords: Biodiversity, Climate Change

resource: Mather, A. S. 1990. 'Tropical Forests,' in Global Forest Resources. London: Belhaven Press
description: Mather explains why the transformation of tropical forests is considered a global phenomenon with
singular implications.

resource: Mather, A. S. 1990. Historical Perspectives on Forest Resource Use. In Global Forest Resources.

London: Belhaven Press

description: Mather suggests that forests typically go through a three- to four-phase cycle. He proposes a simple
sequential model of forest resources trends, which includes a phase of unlimited resources, a phase of
depletion, a phase of expansion, and a phase of equilibrium.

resource: Matthews, E. Understanding the Forest Resources Assessment 2000. Forest Briefing 1. Washington,
DC: World Resources Institute.

source: The World Resources Institute

description: This March 12, 2001 press release criticizes the FAOs The State the Worlds Forests Report. By
clicking on the Find Out More button, you can link to a larger WRI report in PDF format.
URL: http://www.wri.org/press/fao_fra5.html

resource: McCaffrey, S. C. 1993. Water, politics, and international law. In Water in Crisis, P. H. Gleick (ed.).

New York: Oxford University Press

description: McCaffrey describes several international shared-water situations and the principles involved in
achieving solutions

resource: McNeely, J. A. 1992. The biodiversity crisis: Challenges for research and management. Chapter 1 in

Conservation of biodiversity for sustainable development, ed. O. T. Sandlund, K. Hindar, and A. D.

H. Brown. Oslo: Scandinavian University Press.
description: McNeely offers a good overview of the significance of the loss of biodiversity and the global
magnitude of the problem.

resource: McNeely, J. A., K. R. Miller, W. V. Reid, R. A. Mittermeier, and T. B. Werner. 1990. Conserving the

world's biological diversity. Gland, Switzerland: International Union for the Conservation of Nature
and Natural Resources and Washington, D.C.: World Resources Institute, Conservation International,
World Wildlife Fund-US, and the World Bank
description: The International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources also surveys
biodiversity in the sections on Australia, Brazil, Colombia, Indonesia, Madagascar, Mexico, and Zaire
in Conserving the World's Biological Diversity.
URL: http://www.ciesin.columbia.edu/docs/002-257/002-257.html

resource: Middleton, N., and D. Thomas (eds). 1997. World Atlas of Desertification (2nd edn). London:

Edward Arnold, 182 pp.

keywords: Desertification

resource: Moran, E.F. 2001. Progress in the Last Ten Years in the Study of Land Use/Cover Change and the

Outlook for the Next Decade. Human Dimensions of Global Change (ed. A. Diekman et al.).
Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press.
description: This book chapter presents an overview and outlook on the human dimensions of LUCC research
since about 1990.

resource: Murphy, D. D., and S. B. Weiss. 1992. Effects of climate change on biological diversity in Western

North America: Species losses and mechanisms. Chapter 26 in Global Warming and biological
diversity, ed. R. L. Peters and T. E. Lovejoy. Castleton, New York: Hamilton Printing
description: Murphy and Weiss explore the potential effects of global warming on entire montane biotas of
mammals, birds, butterflies, and plants in the Great Basin of North America, then narrow their focus
to the fate of one threatened species of butterfly.
URL: http://www.ciesin.columbia.edu/docs/002-262/002-262.html

resource: Myers, N. 1980. Conversion of tropical moist forests: A report prepared for the Committee on

Research Priorities in Tropical Biology of the National Research Council. Washington, D.C.:
National Academy of Sciences
description: In this article, Chapter 3 covers the role of agriculture; Chapter 4, the timber trade; and Chapter 5,
cattle raising. The report also offers a region by region review of the world'sforested areas.
URL: http://www.ciesin.columbia.edu/docs/002-106/002-106a.html

resource: Myers, N. 1980. Conversion of tropical moist forests: A report prepared for the Committee on

Research Priorities in Tropical Biology of the National Research Council. Washington, D.C.:
National Academy of Sciences.
description: The report presents extent and annual rate of disturbance of the tropical moist forests.

URL: http://www.ciesin.columbia.edu/docs/002-106/002-106b.html
resource: Myers, N. 1992. Ecological complexity. Chapter 4 in The primary source: Tropical forests and our

future. New York: Norton

description: Myers emphasizes the importance of tropical forests due to their ecological complexity and discusses
their unique dynamics.
URL: http://www.ciesin.columbia.edu/docs/002-109/002-109.html

resource: Nash, L. L., and P. H. Gleick. 1993. The Colorado River basin and climatic change: The sensitivity of

streamflow and water supply to variations in temperature and precipitation. EPA report no. 230-R-93009. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Policy, Planning and
Evaluation
description: Nash and Gleick describe the study of the Colorado River Basin, an important water resource in the
southwestern United States in this article.
URL: http://www.ciesin.columbia.edu/docs/006-302/006-302.html

resource: Norton, B. 1988. Commodity, amenity, and morality: The limits of quantification of valuing

biodiversity. Chapter 22 in Biodiversity, ed. E. O. Wilson. Washington, D.C.: National Academy

Press
description: Norton discusses three issues in valuing biodiversity in this article by explaining that Commodity
value refers to the economic income or benefit drawn from the sale of the species or their products;
amenity value is the level of improvement enjoyed from use of the species; and moral value deals
with the subjective importance attached to the existence of individual species.
URL: http://www.ciesin.columbia.edu/docs/002-256b/002-256b.html

resource: Olson, D.M., and E. Dinerstein. 1998. The Global 200: A Representation Approach to Conserving the

Earth's Distinctive Ecoregions. Report prepared by the Conservation Science Program, World
Wildlife Fund-US.
description: Conservationists have justifiably focused on the preservation of tropical moist forests (rainforests)
because they harbor an estimated 50 percent of species on Earth. However, a comprehensive strategy
for conserving global biodiversity should strive to save the other 50 percent of species and the
distinctive ecosystems that support them. Tropical dry forests, tundra, temperate grasslands, polar
seas, and mangroves all contain unique expressions of biodiversity with characteristic species,
biological communities, and distinctive ecological and evolutionary phenomena.
URL: http://www.wwfus.org/global200/

keywords: Biodiversity, Conservation

resource: Plotkin, M. 1988. The outlook for new agricultural and industrial products from the tropics: Natural

pesticides. In Biodiversity, ed. E.O. Wilson, 111-12. Washington, D.C.: National Academy Press
description: Plotkin examines the potential of tropical plants that have developed chemical defenses to deter
predation by herbivorous animals as the basis for natural and biodegradable pesticides
URL: http://www.ciesin.columbia.edu/docs/002-256d/002-256d.html

resource: Population Reference Bureau (PRB). 2001. Healthy People Need Healthy Forests: Population and
Deforestation. Washington, DC: PRB.
source: Population Reference Bureau (PRB)

description: A policy brief that explores connections between deforestation, ecosystem health and human health

and wellbeing.
URL: http://www.prb.org/Content/ContentGroups/Articles/011/Healthy_People_Need_Healthy_Forests.htm
keywords: Deforestation, Health, Population Dynamics

resource: Postel, S. 1993. Water and agriculture. In Water in Crisis, ed. P. H. Gleick, 56, 62-63. New York:
Oxford University Press

description: Postel explains the importance of water in agriculture in this article.

resource: Ramsar Convention on Wetlands, Background papers on Wetland Values and Functions.
source: Ramsar Convention on Wetlands
description: This web site provides background papers on the ecological functions of wetlands, and the ecosystem
services that they provide to society. These include flood control, groundwater replenishment,
shoreline stabilization and storm protection, sediment and nutrient retention and export, water
purification, recreation and tourism, reservoirs of biodiversity, and climate change mitigation.
URL: http://www.ramsar.org/values_intro_e.htm
keywords: Land Cover, Wetlands

resource: Reid, W. R. 1992. How many species will there be? Chapter 3 in Tropical deforestation and species

extinction, ed. T. C. Whitmore and J. A. Sayer. New York: Chapman and Hall
description: Using a species-area curve, Reid attempts to define a relationship between the number of species that
will become extinct in a region and the amount of habitat that is lost.
URL: http://www.ciesin.columbia.edu/docs/002-252a/002-252.html

resource: Report of The United Nations Conference on Environment and Development, Chapter 12, Managing

Fragile Ecosystem: Combating Desertification and Drought.

description: Chapter 12 emphasizes the global nature of desertification and suggests that the priority in combating
desertification should be the implementation of preventive measures for lands not yet degraded. The
document also lists recommendations for action at national, regional, and international levels.
URL: http://sedac.ciesin.columbia.edu/pidb/texts/a21/a21-12-desertification-and-drought.html

resource: Reynolds, J.F. 2001. Desertification. In: Encyclopedia of Biodiversity, Academic Press.
description: A good summary overview of issues around desertification, including causes and policy responses.
keywords: Desertification, Land Degradation
resource: Saving Biodiversity: A Status Report on State Laws, Policies and Programs
source: Defenders of Wildlife
description: This report makes two significant advances on behalf of environmental law and policy. First, it

continues the effort of establishing biodiversity conservation as a central indicator of overall

environmental protection by creating a matrix of key biodiversity legal components. Second, this
report compiles the extremely varied laws and programs of the 50 states to help government officials
and non-government advocates better protect biodiversity.
URL: http://www.defenders.org/pb-bst00.html

resource: Schulz, E. 1994. Changing use of the Sahara desert. In: Roberts, N. (Ed.), The changing global

environment. Oxford & Cambridge: Blackwell, pp. 371-396.

keywords: Desertification

resource: Schwartz et al. present five case studies covering water quality and health in this article.
description: Schwartz et al. present five case studies covering water quality and health in this article.
resource: Schwarz, H. E., J. Emel, W. J. Dickens, P. Rogers, and J. Thompson. 1990. 'Water Quality and

Flows.' In The Earth as Transformed by Human Action, B. L. Turner II, W. C. Clark, R. W. Kates, J.
F. Richards, J. T. Mathews, and W. B. Meyer (eds). New York: Cambridge University Press, pp. 254256.'
description: Schwartz et al. present five case studies covering water quality and health in this article.

resource: Schwarz, H. E., J. Emel, W. J. Dickens, P. Rogers, and J. Thompson. 1990. Water quality and flows.

In The Earth as transformed by human action, ed. B. L. Turner II, W. C. Clark, R. W. Kates, J. F.
Richards, J. T. Mathews, and W. B. Meyer, 254-56. New York: Cambridge University Press
description: Schwarz et al. maintain that a significant portion of the world's people suffer from some form of
water-related disease, and whether infectious or non-infectious in nature, the results can be equally
debilitating.
URL: http://www.ciesin.columbia.edu/docs/002-183/002-183.html

resource: Singh, A., H. Shi, Z. Zhu, and T. Foresman. 2001. An Assessment of the Status of the World's

Remaining Closed Forests. Nairobi, Kenya: United Nations Environment Program (UNEP).
source: United Nations Environment Program (UNEP)
description: This report provides an assessment of the status of the world's closed forests, together with some
interesting background on methodological issues related to the estimation of forest cover.
URL: http://grid2.cr.usgs.gov/publications/closedforest.pdf

keywords: Forest Asssessment, Forest Cover, Forest Monitoring

resource: Sisk, T.D. (ed.). 1998. Perspectives on the land use history of North America: a context for

understanding our changing environment. U.S. Geological Survey, Biological Resources Division,
Biological Science Report USGS/BRD/BSR-1998-0003 (Revised September 1999). 104 pp.
URL: http://biology.usgs.gov/luhna/contents.html
keywords: Land Use, North America

resource: Southgate, D., and C. F. Runge. 1990. The institutional origins of deforestation in Latin America.

University of Minnesota, Department of Agriculture and Applied Economics. Staff paper no. P90-5.
St. Paul, MN: University of Minnesota
description: Southgate and Runge reach a similar conclusion in this article as in 'The Causes of Land Degradation
along `Spontaneously' Expanding Agricultural Frontiers in the Third World.
URL: http://www.ciesin.columbia.edu/docs/002-407/002-407.html

resource: Townshend, J., M. Hansen, R. DeFries, R. Sohlberg, A. Desch and B. White. 2001. Better Monitoring

of National and Global Deforestation Possible with Satellites

source: NASAs Earth Observing System
description: This May 30, 2001 press release is critical of the FAOs report on forest since they did not use the
latest technology and found inaccuracies in the report.
URL: http://eospso.gsfc.nasa.gov/eos_homepage/eharchive/01/may/deforestation.html

resource: Turner, B. L., R. H. Moss, and D. L. Skole, eds. 1993. Relating land use and global land-cover

change: A proposal for an IGBP-HDP core project. Report from the IGBP-HDP Working Group on
Land-Use/Land-Cover Change. Joint publication of the International Geosphere-Biosphere
Programme (Report No. 24) and the Human Dimensions of Global Environmental Change
Programme (Report No. 5). Stockholm: Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences
description: The authors survey the many international programs and organizations that have expressed the need
for addressing land-use and land-cover changes as a research priority.
URL: http://www.ciesin.columbia.edu/docs/002-105/002-105.html

resource: Turner, B.L. II. 2001. 'Toward Integrated Land-Change Science: Advances in 1.5 Decades of

Sustained International Research on Land-Use and Land-Cover Change.' Advances in Global

Environmental Change Research (ed. W. Steffen). Berlin, New York: Springer Verlag.
description: This paper makes a first step from 'classical' LUCC research into an integrated land science
perspective. It summarizes trends, causes and models/methods applied in LUCC science.

resource: U.S. National Academy of Sciences. 1974. More water for arid lands. Prepared by an ad hoc advisory

panel of the Board on Science and Technology for International Development, Commission on
International Relations, National Research Council. Washington, D.C.: National Academy of
Sciences
description: The U.S. National Academy of Sciences presents a regional study that focuses on a water-poor
climatic zone and documents methods for enhancing the use of the restricted freshwater resource.
URL: http://www.ciesin.columbia.edu/docs/006-242/006-242.html

resource: UNEP. 1992. World Atlas of Desertifcation. London: Edward Arnold Publishers.
resource: US Global Change Research Program (USGCRP). 2000a. Climate Change Impacts on the United

States. New York: Cambridge University Press.

description: The National Assessment of the Potential Consequences of Climate Variability and Change is a
landmark in the major ongoing effort to understand what climate change means for the United States.
The Assessment was called for by a 1990 law, and has been conducted under the US Global Change
Research Program in response to a request from the Presidents Science Advisor. This site contains
the final approved version of the report of the National Assessment Synthesis Team, which was a
federal advisory committee made up of experts drawn from government, universities, industry, and
non-governmental organizations.
URL: http://www.gcrio.org/NationalAssessment/

keywords: Climate Change

resource: US Global Change Research Program (USGCRP). 2000b. Climate Change Impacts on the United
States Overview: Ecosystems in the Future

description: The natural vegetation covering about 70% of the US land surface is strongly influenced both by the

climate and by the atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) concentration. To provide a common base of
information about potential changes in vegetation across the nation for use in the regional and sector
studies, specialized ecosystem models were run using the two major climate model scenarios selected
for this Assessment.
URL: http://www.usgcrp.gov/usgcrp/Library/nationalassessment/overviewecosystems.htm
keywords: Climate Change, Ecosystems

resource: USGS Carbon Sequestration Workshop, Dakar, Senegal September 25-27, 2000.
source: United States Geological Survey, Eros Data Center
description: This workshop explored the potential for carbon sequestration in West African agro-ecosystems, a
region of the world that is likely to be impacted greatly by climatic changes.
URL: http://edcsnw3.cr.usgs.gov/ip/carbonwkshp2000.html
keywords: Carbon Sequestration, Climate Change

resource: United Nations Environment Program (UNEP). 2000. Global Environmental Outlook-2000. London:

Earthscan.
description: While each part of the Earth's surface is endowed with its own combination of environmental
attributes, each area must also contend with a unique, but interlinked, set of current and emerging
problems. GEO-2000 provides an overview of this range of issues, and then addresses environmental
problems in chapters focusing on each of the world's regions.
URL: http://www.unep.org/geo2000/english/index.htm

resource: Walsh, S.J., Crews-Meyer, K.A. 2002. Remote Sensing and GIS Applications for Linking People,

Place, and Policy. Norwell, Mass.: Kluwer Academic Publishers.

description: This book collects cases which bring the people and pixels approach one step further towards an
integration of policy impact and of GIS methodology.

resource: Wilson, E.O. 1988. The current state of biological diversity. In Biodiversity, ed. E.O Wilson, 3-18.

Washington, D.C.: National Academy Press

description: Wilson uses archipelago systems to illustrate the relationship between habitat size and species
diversity. The author presents a table of current estimates of the number of described species of earth
organisms and also discusses the natural longevity and rate of decline of species.
URL: http://www.ciesin.columbia.edu/docs/002-256a/002-256a.html

resource: Woomer, P.L., Tieszen, L. T., Tschakert, P., Parton, W. J., Tour, A. 2001. Landscape Carbon

Sampling and Biogeochemical Modeling: A two-week skills development workshop conducted in

Senegal. SACRED Africa, Nairobi, Kenya.
The
depletion of natural and agricultural resources due to continuous land management in Africa
description:
results in reduced crop and livestock production, food insecurity, and the subsequent inability to
invest in land improvement. This situation is expressed as widespread rural poverty and
environmental degradation that is best mitigated by restoration of organic resources available to
affected stakeholders. A net increase in total system carbon (C) accompanies the improvement in
organic resource availability, but this relationship is poorly understood because land management is
seldom viewed from the perspective of carbon accounting. A confluence of interest exists between the
need of land managers to increase the availability of organic resources in degrading lands and the

need of society as a whole to mitigate changes in the earths atmosphere and climate.
URL: http://edcsnw3.cr.usgs.gov/ip/carbonseq/carbonwkshp2001.pdf
keywords: Carbon Sequestration, Climate Change, Desertification

resource: World Commission on Dams. 2001. Dams and Development: A New Framework for Decision-

Making. The Report of the World Commission on Dams. November 2000.

description: Through its Global Review of the performance of dams, the WCD report presents an integrated
assessment of when, how and why dams succeed or fail in meeting development objectives. This
provides the rationale for a fundamental shift in options assessment and in the planning and project
cycles for water and energy resources development.
URL: http://www.dams.org/report/wcd_overview.htm

keywords: Hydrologic Cycle, Water

resource: World Resources Institute. 1992. 'Root causes of biodiveristy loss.' World resources 1992-1993. New

York: Oxford University Press

description: In the section 'Root Causes of Biodiversity Loss' of World Resources 1992-1993, the World
Resources Institute proposes seven causes, including population growth and increasing resource
consumption; ignorance of species and ecosystems; poorly conceived policies; global trading
systems; inequity of resource distribution; failure to account for the value of biodiversity; and
interaction of these factors.
URL: http://www.ciesin.columbia.edu/docs/002-616/002-616.html

resource: World Resources Institute. 1992. The Status of Selected Habitats. In World Resources 1992-1993.

New York: Oxford University Press

description: The World Resources Institute investigates the state of disturbance of major ecosystems in the section
'The Status of Selected Habitats'.
URL: http://www.ciesin.columbia.edu/docs/002-254/002-254a.html

resource: World Resources Institute. 1992. World resources 1992-1993. New York: Oxford University Press.
description: The World Resources Institute emphasizes that a critical aspect of security of freshwater resources is
water quality, which has a direct bearing on the health of human, plant, and animal communities that
use the resource.
URL: http://www.ciesin.columbia.edu/docs/006-307/006-307.html

resource: World Resources Institute. 1997. The Last Frontier Forests: Ecosystems and Economies on the Edge.

Washington, DC: WRI, March 1997.

source: World Resources Institute
description: The first scientific assessment of the world's large, intact natural forests -- what the World Resources
Institute calls 'frontier forests' -- revealed that it's not just tropical forests that are in trouble. The
world's most endangered frontier forests are in the temperate zone which includes the United States
and Europe.
URL: http://www.wri.org/wri/ffi/lff-eng/

keywords: Forests

resource: World Resources Institute. 2000. Human Modification of Freshwater Systems,' from the World

Resources 2000-2001, Washington DC: WRI.

source: World Resources Institute
description: This web page provides a summary of the pilot analysis of global ecosystems analysis of freshwater
systems, and a full PDF version of the report. These systems have been altered since historical times,
but such modifications skyrocketed in the early to mid-1990s. Projects include: modifying waterways
to improve navigation, draining wetlands, constructing dams and irrigation channels, and establishing
interbasin connections and water transfers.
URL: http://www.wri.org/wr2000/freshwater_humanmod.html

keywords: Water, Wetlands

resource: de Klemm, C. 1993. Guidelines for legislation to implement CITES. Gland, Switzerland, and

Cambridge, U.K.: International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN)

description: de Klemm discusses the major aspects of CITES implementation, stresses the role of resolutions

adopted by the Conference of the Parties in the interpretation of the provisions of the Convention and
formulates recommendations for specific measures that might be taken by the Parties.
URL: http://www.ciesin.columbia.edu/docs/002-610/002-610.html

Conference & Working Papers

resource: Borrini-Feyerabend, G., Farvar, M. T., Nguinguiri, and J. C. Ndangang. 2000. Co-management of Natural
source: IUCN-The World Conservation Union and GTZ
This volume
to assist
facilitators
and
of co-management
processes.
provides guidelines
description:
K. is
F.,designed
D. W. Litke,
C. M.
Tate, S. L.
Qi,partners
P. B. McMahon,
B. W. Bruce,
R. A. It
Kimbrough,
and J. S.
resource: Dennehy,
Heiny.
(1998)
Does
Land
Use
Contribute
to
Contaminant
Inputs
and
Affect
Habitat
Characteristics
and
URL: http://nrm.massey.ac.nz/changelinks/cmnr.html
Biological Communities in Streams? Taken from a m
keywords: Biodiversity, Conservation, Natural Resources
description: By measuring the organochlorine pesticides and PCBs in bed sediment and fish tissue at a site, the author offers
a clearer picture of the persistence of these compounds in the environment and their relation to land-use
Breman, H., and H. van Reuler, 2000. Integrated soil fertility management to trigger agricultural intensification
resource: settings.
The use of external agricultural inputs, fertilizer in particular, could solve the problem of overexploitation of
URL: http://water.usgs.gov/pubs/circ1167/nawqa91.6.html
description:

keywords: Integrated Soil Fertility Management

Dennehy, K.F., Litke, D.W., Tate, C.M., Qi, S.L., McMahon, P.B., Bruce, B.W., Kimbrough, R.A., and Heiny,
J.S.,
1998.
What The
Are the
Cumulative
of Mixed
(Urban/Agriculture)
on WaterOakland,
Quality?CA:
Taken
Burns,
W. 2000.
Possible
ImpactsEffects
of Climate
Change
on Pacific Island Land
State Use
Ecosystems.
from a much larger report titled, Water Quality in the South Platte River Basin, Colorado, Nebraska, and
While
it is anticipated
thatGeological
most nations
will ultimately
sufferonadverse
from15,
climate
Wyoming,
1992-95 U.S.
Survey
Circular 1167,
line at consequences
, updated October
1998 change, small
http://www.pacinst.org/burnsecocc.pdf
USGS
Biodiversity,
Change, Ecosystems
By measuringClimate
the organochlorine
compounds in bed sediment and fish tissue at a site, the author draws a
conclusion that these compounds were greater in mixed land-use areas than in land-use settings that were
exclusively urban or agricultural. This result represents a cumulative effect of multiple land uses
(urban/agriculture).
URL: http://water.usgs.gov/pubs/circ/circ1167/nawqa91.c.html

resource:
resource:
description:
URL:
source:
keywords:
description:

resource: Dodds, D. J., 1998. Population Growth and Forest Cover Change in the Ro Pltano Biosphere Reserve,

Honduras. Center for the Study of Institutions, Population, and Environmental Change. Indiana University.
description: This study constructs a time series of demographic data, aerial photographs, and satellite imagery to quantify
changes in population and agricultural intensification for three communities within the northern Ro Pltano
Biosphere Reserve.
i
/
h/d
h /d dd
h l
URL h //

keywords: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Ecosystems

resource: Dennehy, K. F., D. W. Litke, C. M. Tate, S. L. Qi, P. B. McMahon, B. W. Bruce, R. A. Kimbrough, and J. S.

Heiny. (1998) Does Land Use Contribute to Contaminant Inputs and Affect Habitat Characteristics and
Biological Communities in Streams? Taken from a m
description: By measuring the organochlorine pesticides and PCBs in bed sediment and fish tissue at a site, the author offers
a clearer picture of the persistence of these compounds in the environment and their relation to land-use
settings.
URL: http://water.usgs.gov/pubs/circ1167/nawqa91.6.html

resource: Dennehy, K.F., Litke, D.W., Tate, C.M., Qi, S.L., McMahon, P.B., Bruce, B.W., Kimbrough, R.A., and Heiny,

J.S., 1998. What Are the Cumulative Effects of Mixed (Urban/Agriculture) Land Use on Water Quality? Taken
from a much larger report titled, Water Quality in the South Platte River Basin, Colorado, Nebraska, and
Wyoming, 1992-95 U.S. Geological Survey Circular 1167, on line at , updated October 15, 1998
source: USGS
description: By measuring the organochlorine compounds in bed sediment and fish tissue at a site, the author draws a
conclusion that these compounds were greater in mixed land-use areas than in land-use settings that were
exclusively urban or agricultural. This result represents a cumulative effect of multiple land uses
(urban/agriculture).
URL: http://water.usgs.gov/pubs/circ/circ1167/nawqa91.c.html

resource: Dodds, D. J., 1998. Population Growth and Forest Cover Change in the Ro Pltano Biosphere Reserve,

Honduras. Center for the Study of Institutions, Population, and Environmental Change. Indiana University.
description: This study constructs a time series of demographic data, aerial photographs, and satellite imagery to quantify
changes in population and agricultural intensification for three communities within the northern Ro Pltano
Biosphere Reserve.
URL: http://www.cipec.org/research/demography/dodds_ppr.html

resource: Eyasu, E. 1998. Is Soil Fertility Declining? Perspectives on Environmental Change in Southern Ethiopia.

London. From the 'Managing Africas Soils' series from the International Institute for Environment and
Development.
source: International Institute for Environment and Development
description: Eyasu takes the examination of soil fertility from Ethiopias national scale down to the local scale. Arguing that
important information is lost when soil fertility is generalized to the national level, Eyasu analyzes farmers soil
management practices at the local level with case studies of farmers in South West Ethiopia.
URL: http://www.iied.org/pdf/soils_wp2.pdf

resource: Fitzpatrick, F.A., J.C. Knox, and H.E. 1999. Whitman. Effects of Historical Land-Cover Changes on Flooding

and Sedimentation, North Fish Creek, Wisconsin. US Geological Survey.

description: Results from hydrologic and sediment-transport modeling indicate that modern flood peaks and sediment loads
in North Fish Creek may be double that expected under pre-settlement forest cover. During maximum
agricultural activity in the mid-1920's to mid-1930's, flood peaks probably were about 3 times larger and
sediment loads were about 5 times larger than expected under pre-settlement forest cover. These results indicate
that future changes from pasture or cropland to forest will help reduce flood peaks, thereby reducing erosion
and sedimentation.
URL: http://wi.water.usgs.gov/pubs/WRIR-99-4083/wrir-99-4083.pdf

keywords: Land Cover, Natural Hazards, Water

resource: Hastings, D. A. (1998) Land Cover Classification: Some New Techniques, New Source Data. National Oceanic

and Atmospheric Administration

description: This paper discusses several processes that may potentially improve land cover classifications and seeks to link
imagery-based classifications and ground observations. Examples are given for Asia.
URL: http://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/seg/tools/gis/acrsclas.shtml

keywords: Land Cover Classification

resource: Kummer, D. M. 1992. Tropical deforestation: A literature review. In Deforestation in the postwar Philippines.

Geography research paper no 234. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press

description: Kummer briefly reviews many of the factors involved in deforestation.

resource: Podolsky, R. 1996. Software Tools for the Management and Visualization of Biodiversity Data. Paper produced

for the UNDP Global Environmental Facility office.

description: Biodiversity data, like biodiversity itself, is complex and difficult to manage. This report provides information
that will make it easy for biodiversity professionals to accomplish several key tasks. First, this report will allow
them to find useful software packages for the management and visualization of their data. Second, it will allow
them to communicate directly with publishers, authors and users of biodiversity software. Third, this report will
enable them to use the internet and World Wide Web as a resource for accessing software and technical
information. Lastly, the report has information that will let biodiversity professionals participate in various
internet discussion groups and upcoming conferences relevant to biodiversity.
URL: http://www3.undp.org/biod/bio.html

keywords: Biodiversity, Data, Geographic Information Systems (GIS), Remote Sensing

resource: Reich, P., H. Eswaran and F. Beinroth. Global Desertification Tension Zones. Joint paper from the USDA

Natural Resources Conservation Service and the University of Puerto Rico.

description: Reich, Eswaran and Beinroth identify troubled areas of desertification, termed desertification tension zones.
Using spatial databases on global soils and climates and published information on land resource constraints,
derivative maps of major land resource stresses, land quality, vulnerability to desertification, and susceptibility
to wind and water erosion were developed. The soil map was also used to identify locations and extent of major
constraining soils. For Africa and Asia, the analysis was further coupled to studies on population density using
an interpolated population database.
URL: http://www.nhq.nrcs.usda.gov/WSR/Landdeg/papers1/tzpaper.html

keywords: Desertification
resource: Reich, P., H. Eswaran and F. Beinroth. Global Dimensions of Vulnerability to Wind and Water Erosion. Joint

paper from the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service and the University of Puerto Rico.
description: The global assessment of wind and water erosion reported in this empirical study employs a simplified model
considering only soil and climatic variables. The purpose is to obtain global and regional estimates of areas of
land susceptible to different intensities of erosion. By relating to population densities, the areas of high risk for
water erosion are demarcated on maps and they help to identify regions that require additional attention to
conservation.
URL: http://www.nhq.nrcs.usda.gov/WSR/Landdeg/papers1/ersnpaper.html

resource: Reynolds, J.F., and D.M. Stafford Smith. 2002. An Integrated Assessment of the Ecological, Meteorological

and Human Dimensions of Global Desertification. Dahlem Workshop Report 88. Berlin: Dahlem University
Press.
description: This book represents a synthesis of thinking presented at the Dahlem Conference on Desertification in June
2001, and as such represents a 'state-of-the-art' on the human dimensions of desertification.
keywords: Desertification, Human Dimensions, Land Degradation

resource: Schiller, A., A. de Sherbinin , W. Hsieh, A. Pulsipher. 2001. The Vulnerability of Global Cities to Climate

Hazards. Paper presented at the Open Meeting of the Human Dimensions of Global Environmental Change
Research Community, 4-5 October 2001, Rio de Ja
description: An extended framework for vulnerability is emerging from a joint research team at Clark University, the
Stockholm Environment Institute, Harvard University, and Stanford University. This paper is a first attempt to
explore the utility of this extended vulnerability framework, by conducting a preliminary application of it to
three global coastal cities with regard to their vulnerabilities to climate hazards. The cities are Mumbai
(Bombay), Rio de Janeiro, and Shanghai.
URL: http://sedac.ciesin.columbia.edu/openmeeting/downloads/1008002293_presentation_aschiller_riopaper1220.pdf

keywords: Climate Change, Urbanization, Vulnerability

resource: Scoones, I. 1998. Sustainable Rural Livelihoods: A Framework for Analysis. IDS Working Paper 72.
description: The concept of sustainable livelihoods is increasingly important in the development debate. This paper

outlines a framework for analysing sustainable livelihoods, defined here in relation to five key indicators. The
framework shows how, in different contexts, sustainable livelihoods are achieved through access to a range of
livelihood resources (natural, economic, human and social capitals) which are combined in the pursuit of
different livelihood strategies (agricultural intensification or extensification, livelihood diversification and
migration). Central to the framework is the analysis of the range of formal and informal organisational and
institutional factors that influence sustainable livelihood outcomes. In conclusion, the paper briefly considers
some of the practical, methodological and operational implications of a sustainable livelihoods approach.
URL: http://www.ids.ac.uk/ids/bookshop/wp/wp72.pdf
keywords: Sustainable Livelihoods

resource: Smith, O.B., and S. Koala. 1999. Desertification: Myths and Realities, paper presented at the Canadian Science

Writers Annual General Meeting, 27-29 May 1999.

description: This paper draws attention to some of the myths surrounding the desertification debate, and argues that
desertification is a global phenomena with global ramifications. The authors argue that although there is general
consensus that the desertification process is not about advancing deserts, the concept is still prevalent, perhaps
because it catches and attracts attention. Unfortunately, it may lead to the utilization of inappropriate control
techniques and a waste of resources.
URL: http://www.idrc.ca/Media/DesertMyths_e.html

keywords: Desertification
resource: The Ecological Component of an Integrated Amazon Study (also known as LBA), The Effects of Forest

Conversion
source: Large Scale Biosphere-Atmosphere Experiment in Amazonia
description: This 1995 document outlines a plan to study the ecological and biogeochemical consequences of land-use and
land-cover changes in the Amazon. It seeks to answer the question of how tropical forest conversion and regrowth, and selective logging, influence carbon storage, nutrient dynamics, trace gas fluxes and surface water
chemistry in the Amazon

URL: http://www-eosdis.ornl.gov/lba_cptec/eng/reports/ManausReport1995.html
resource: Tiffen, M. M. Mortimore, and F. Gichuki. 1994. Population Growth and Environmental Recovery: Policy

Lessons from Kenya. IIED Gatekeeper Series No. 45, London, International Institute for Environment and
Development.
description: The beneficial interactions among population growth, growth in output per head, and improvements in
environmental status were studied for the period 1930-1990 in Machakos District, Kenya. The outcome of the
study shows not only improvement of the environment. It also conflicts with other common beliefs, for
instance, that there has been little increase in agricultural productivity in Africa, that increased commercial
production harms food supplies, that investment in semi-arid areas does not pay as well as investment in more
humid areas, that out-migration is all negative, and that development depents overwhelmingly on government
initiative and aid support.
keywords: Erosion, Population And Environment, Soil Management

resource: Titus, J.G., and C. Richman. 2001. Maps of Lands Vulnerable to Sea Level Rise: Modeled Elevations along the

U.S. Atlantic and Gulf Coasts. Climate Research 18, pp. 205-228.
description: Understanding the broad-scale ramifications of accelerated sea level rise requires maps of the land that could be
inundated or eroded. Producing such maps requires a combination of elevation information and models of
shoreline erosion, wetland accretion, and other coastal processes. Assessments of coastal areas in the United
States that combine all of these factors have focused on relatively small areas, usually 25 to 30 kilometers wide.
In many cases, the results are as sensitive to uncertainty regarding geological processes as to the rate of sea
level rise
http://www.epa.gov/globalwarming/publications/impacts/sealevel/maps/index.html
URL:

resource: Vincent, R.K., M. Baquero Garcia, and N. S. Levine. 2002. Landsat TM Assessment of Cropland Loss Due to

Urbanization in N.W. Ohio. Presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Soceity for Photogrametry and
Remote Sensing (ASPRS).
description: Urbanization of Northwestern Ohio has resulted in loss of agricultural croplands between the years of 1984 and
1999. A Landsat TM-based classification scheme was desired to quantify these changes in land use. A
conservative method was developed for determining the number of hectares of cropland lost to urbanization in
parts of NW Ohio. Less than 3% of each countys cropland was changed to urban over the ensuing 15 years.
URL: http://americaview.usgs.gov/resources/documents/ASPRS%20CROPLAND%20LOSS%20final(Vincent).pdf

resource: Warren, A., and C. Agnew. 1988. An assessment of desertification and land degradation in arid and semi-arid

areas. International Institute for Environment and Development paper no. 2. London: Ecology and Conservation
Unit, University College.
description: The author emphasizes the role of political, economic, and social institutions as factors in land degradation.
URL: http://www.ciesin.columbia.edu/docs/002-315/002-315.html

resource: Wood, C., S. E. Sanderson, and D. Skole. Human Dimensions of Deforestation and Regrowth in the Brazilian

Amazon: Integrating Data from Satellites, Demographic Censuses and Field Surveys. From the Basic Science
and Remote Sensing Initiative (BSRSI) website.
description: This proposal hopes to link local land use dynamics to macro-scale driving forces that ultimately may influence
policy directions that can alter human land use and cover relations. This project strives to link Basin-wide
Landsat data on the Brazilian Amazon to Brazilian demographic census data as a means to explain the
relationship of population to deforestation and develop methods to scale up from the local and regional analysis
of human-induced deforestation to incorporate socio-economic variables that shape how humans interact with

the land in the Amazon.

URL: http://www.bsrsi.msu.edu/overview/NASALUCC.html
keywords: Deforestation, Remote Sensing

Correspondence
resource: Christopher Small, Scientist at Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, Personal Communication, 11

April 2002
description: Utilizing the city lights (night at light) data sets as an indication of brightly lit urban area, a total
area of 5,180,457 sq.km appears to be lit up under continuous lightling. If the total of earth's
inhabited area is 117,897,000 sq.km (from Gridded Population of the World), then 4.4 percent of the
world's inhabited land surface appears to be urbanized (brighlty lit). Of the world's total land
surface, 3.9 percent appears to be urbanized. For more on this research, visit the web site.
URL: http://www.ldeo.columbia.edu/~small/population.html

Data & Applications

resource:
source:
URL:
description:
URL:
resource:

Africover
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
http://apps.fao.org/page/collections
The Africover project looks to establish, by and for the whole of Africa, a digital geo-referenced
http://www.africover.org/index.htm
First Global Carbon Monoxide (Air Pollution) Measurements

source:
resource:
description:
source:
description:
URL:
URL:

NASAs Terra spacecraft as part of the Earth Observing System (EOS) Program
Central American Vegetation/ Land Cover Classification and Conservation Status
NASA's Terra spacecraft has assembled a view of the world's air pollution traveling through the
CIESIN
atmosphere, across continents and oceans. For the first time, it is possible to identify the major
Produced
Natureand
Conservatory
in where
collaboration
with US
andanywhere
Central American
sources ofby
airThe
pollution
closely track
the pollution
goes,
on Earth. partners,
Be sure tothis
check
out
the
movie
link
that
shows
the
movement
of
carbon
monoxide
over
a
10-month
period.
http://www.ciesin.columbia.edu/new/download_data.html
http://visibleearth.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/viewrecord?8086

resource:
source:
resource:
description:
source:
URL:
description:

Environmental Treaties and Resource Indicators (ENTRI)

Socio-Economic
DataCover
and Applications
Center (SEDAC), CIESIN
GRID-Geneva
Land
Data Collections
Provides
online
searches
and
queries
about
environmental treaties and policies.
UNEP-GRID
http://sedac.ciesin.columbia.edu/entri/
Provides a collection of downloadable land cover data sets at regional and global scales.

URL:
resource:
keywords:
source:
description:
resource:
source:
description:

http://www.grid.unep.ch/data/grid/landcover.html
FAOSTAT Agriculture Data
Data, Land Cover
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
This is a listing of FAOs database collection. By clicking on the land use link, one can get to a page
Global Environment Monitoring System Freshwater Quality Program
United Nations Environment Programme GEMS/WATER

The GEMS/Water programme is a multi-faceted water science programme oriented towards

understanding freshwater quality issues throughout the world. Major activities include monitoring,
assessment, and capacity building. The implementation of the GEMS/Water programme involves
several United Nations agencies active in the water sector as well as a number of organizations
around the world.
URL: http://www.cciw.ca/gems/gems.html
keywords: Water, Water Quality

resource: Global Land Cover Characteristics Data Base

that allows for data queries on a variety of fields- from permanent pasture to arable land.
URL: http://apps.fao.org/page/collections

resource: First Global Carbon Monoxide (Air Pollution) Measurements

source: NASAs Terra spacecraft as part of the Earth Observing System (EOS) Program
description: NASA's Terra spacecraft has assembled a view of the world's air pollution traveling through the

atmosphere, across continents and oceans. For the first time, it is possible to identify the major
sources of air pollution and closely track where the pollution goes, anywhere on Earth. Be sure to
check out the movie link that shows the movement of carbon monoxide over a 10-month period.
URL: http://visibleearth.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/viewrecord?8086

resource:
source:
description:
URL:
keywords:

GRID-Geneva Land Cover Data Collections

UNEP-GRID
Provides a collection of downloadable land cover data sets at regional and global scales.
http://www.grid.unep.ch/data/grid/landcover.html
Data, Land Cover

resource: Global Environment Monitoring System Freshwater Quality Program

source: United Nations Environment Programme GEMS/WATER
description: The GEMS/Water programme is a multi-faceted water science programme oriented towards

understanding freshwater quality issues throughout the world. Major activities include monitoring,
assessment, and capacity building. The implementation of the GEMS/Water programme involves
several United Nations agencies active in the water sector as well as a number of organizations
around the world.
URL: http://www.cciw.ca/gems/gems.html
keywords: Water, Water Quality

resource: Global Land Cover Characteristics Data Base

source: USGS Earth Resources Observation System (EROS) Data Center
description: This is a 1-km resolution global land cover characteristics spatial database for use in a wide range of
environmental research and modeling applications.
URL: http://edcdaac.usgs.gov/glcc/globdoc2_0.html
keywords: Land Cover

resource: Global Land Cover Characterization

source: U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), the University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL), and the European

Commission's Joint Research Centre (JRC)

description: This project generated a 1-km resolution global land cover characteristics database for use in a wide
range of environmental research and modeling applications. The databases have 1-km nominal
spatial resolution and are based on 1-km Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR)
data spanning April 1992 through March 1993.
URL: http://edcdaac.usgs.gov/glcc/glcc.html

keywords: Land Cover

resource: Global Network Of Sites For Assessing Biogeochemical and Biophysical Consequences Of Land

Cover Change
source: University of Marylands Global Land Cover Facility
description: This project addresses the current lack of data sets at spatial and temporal scales required by models
to investigate feedbacks between observed land cover change and biophysical and biogeochemical
processes affecting climate, trace gas fluxes to the atmosphere, terrestrial carbon dynamics, and
hydrology. High-resolution (30 meters to 1km) data sets are provided for a number of sites where
extensive land cover change has occurred during the satellite record. Sites represent various types of
land cover change and cover the spatial extent of at least one Landsat scene (185 by 185 sq. km)
from the 1970's to present time.
URL: http://glcf.umiacs.umd.edu/index.html

resource: Goddard Institute for Space Studies Datasets and Images

source: NASA
description: This page offers access to a number of datasets which describe land-use characteristics at 11

resolution and to some sample data product images. Datasets available include: cultivation intensity,
fractional inundation, normalized difference vegetation index, population density, soil units,
vegetation, and wetland ecosystems.
URL: http://www.giss.nasa.gov./data/landuse
keywords: Land Use

resource: Goldewijk, K.K. 2001. History Database of the Global Environment - HYDE. Netherlands: National

Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM).

description: This is a spatial database of land cover change since 1700. Adequate knowledge of the past is
essential for understanding what is happening in the present and may happen in the future. It is
beyond doubt that human activities have modified the natural environment considerably, while it has
recently become clear that during the last centuries the intensity and scale of these modifications
have increased significantly.
URL: http://www.rivm.nl/env/int/hyde/

keywords: Agriculture, Historical Land Cover, Land Cover

resource:
source:
description:
URL:
note:

Historical Croplands Dataset, 1700-1992

Center for Sustainability and the Global Environment (SAGE), University of Wisconsin
This dataset provides snapshots of cropland extent for 10 to 50 year intervals since 1700.
http://sage.aos.wisc.edu/pages/datamodels.html#Anchor-Historical-35882

Dataset described in Ramankutty, N., and J.A. Foley (1999). Estimating historical changes in global
land cover: croplands from 1700 to 1992, Global Biogeochemical Cycles 13(4), 997-1027
keywords: Agriculture, Cropland

resource: Houghton, R. A., and J. L. Hackler. 2001. Carbon Flux to the Atmosphere From Land-use Changes:

1850 to 1990. The Woods Hole Research Center, Woods Hole, Massachusetts
description: The database documented in this numeric data package, a revision to a database originally published
by the Carbon Dioxide Information Analysis Center (CDIAC) in 1995, consists of annual estimates,
from 1850 through 1990 of the net flux of carbon between terrestrial ecosystems and the

atmosphere resulting from deliberate changes in land cover and land use, especially forest clearing
for agriculture and the harvest of wood for wood products or energy based on nine regions (North
America, South and Central America, Europe, North Africa and the Middle East, Tropical Africa,
the Former Soviet Union, China, South and Southeast Asia, and the Pacific Developed Region) and
the globe.
URL: http://cdiac.esd.ornl.gov/epubs/ndp/ndp050/ndp050.html

resource: IUCN Red List of Threatened Species

source: IUCN Species Survival Commission
description: This database lets you search to see if a particular species or type of species is threatened. IUCN-

The World Conservation Union, through its Species Survival Commission (SSC) assesses the
conservation status of species, subspecies, varieties and sub-populations on a global scale in order to
highlight taxa threatened with extinction, and therefore promote their conservation.
URL: http://www.redlist.org/

resource: LOICZ Typology Data Set

source: Land-Ocean Interactions in the Coastal Zone (LOICZ)
description: In order to achieve the LOICZ goals of global synthesis and models, it is necessary to make full use
of the existing research that is carried out in more restricted geographic areas. A coastal typology
has been proposed as a way of generalizing and extrapolating the results of well studies areas to not
so well studies areas. For the typology data set, variables have therefore been selected for which
global or near global data is available and which would promote a wide variety of applications
within the wider LOICZ research community.
URL: http://www.nioz.nl/loicz/projects/core/typo/typodoc.htm
keywords: Coastal Zone

resource: Land-surface Hydrology Data Links, University of Arizona

description: This site provides links to journals, resources, and remote sensing and other data of relevance to
land cover and hydrology,
URL: http://www.hwr.arizona.edu/hydro_link.html

resource: Major Land Uses

source: US Department of Agriculture
description: This site gives state, regional, and national estimates of 15 major land uses including cropland,
pasture and grazing, forest, and urban uses for Census of Agriculture years between 1945-92.

URL: http://www.ers.usda.gov/data/sdp/view.asp?f=land/89003
resource: Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectro-radiometer (MODIS 250m)
source: University of Maryland Global Land Cover Facility
description: "Contracted by NASA to develop Enhanced Land Cover and Land Cover Change Products from
MODIS, the University of Maryland provides several data sets related to vegetative cover. They
include: 16 day Vegetation Index; Vegetative Cover Conversion; Vegetation Continuous
Fields.Moderate-resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) is a key instrument aboard the
Terra and Aqua satellites. MODIS creates an electromagnetic picture of the entire Earth every 2
days "

URL: http://glcf.umiacs.umd.edu/MODIS/main.htm
resource: Monthly Maximum Global Vegetation Index and Land Cover Classifications
source: NOAA
description: Dataset consists of four thematic coverages; a) Scaled Normalized Difference Vegetation Indices, b)

Land cover Classification, c) Source Example: Scaled normalized Difference Vegetation Indices and
d) Source Example: Land Cover Classification. Data are gridded at a resolution of 10 and 5 minutes.
URL: http://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/seg/eco/cdroms/gedii_b/datasets/b04/tk.htm#top

resource: Organizations With Spatial Data, Including Land Cover Data

source: USGS
description: A list of organizations that provide a range of spatial data including land cover data. Lists a variety
of national and international sources as well as universities.

URL: http://landcover.usgs.gov/otherorganizations.html
resource: PROARCA Central American Vegetation/Land Cover Classification and Conservation Status
description: This mapping project assessed the degree to which both existing and proposed terrestrial protected

area networks protect/would protect landscape-level biodiversity, which are represented as

vegetation types delineated from remotely-sensed imagery. A comprehensive, standardized, and
thematically appropriate map of Central American vegetation and landcover types was developed by
classifying AVHRR imagery (Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer imagery -- 1 square
kilometer resolution) using advanced digital image processing routines and expertise provided by a
Central America Vegetation Working Group. The data accurately reflect conservation status up to
1995.
URL: ftp://ftp.ciesin.columbia.edu/pub/data/conservation/
keywords: Biodiversity, Conservation, Remote Sensing

resource: Population, Land Use, and Emissions (PLUE) Project

source: SEDAC
description: The PLUE project is an effort to link a range of georeferenced demographic and other

socioeconomic data products with remote sensing data related to land cover and use. This site
contains several datasets such as: a census archive, china dimensions, global population data,
gridded population, Mexico demography, and Michigan integrated population-land use.
URL: http://sedac.ciesin.columbia.edu/plue/

resource: Ramsar Wetlands Data Gateway

source: Socio-Economic Data and Applications Center (SEDAC), CIESIN
description: This web site provides access to the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands site database, with
information on more than 1,000 wetlands of international importance in 131 countries.
URL: http://sedac.ciesin.columbia.edu/ramsardg
keywords: Wetlands

resource: Real-Time Water Data

source: USGS
description: Admist all the warning that the site provides provisional data that is subject to change, the USGS

provides real-time depictions of streamflow conditions for 3,000 on-line stations throughout the U.S.
They will even graph a stream's flow conditions for the week with their provisional data.
URL: http://water.usgs.gov/realtime.html

resource: The Last of the Wilds Project

source: Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) and the Center for International Earth Science Information

Network (CIESIN). 2002.

description: Human influence on the earths land surface is a global driver of ecological processes on the planet,
on par with climatic trends, geological forces and astronomical variations. This project sought to
systematically map and measure the human influence on the earths land surface today. The project
website provides two data sets for download: Wild Areas, and the Human Footprint.
URL: http://www.ciesin.columbia.edu/wild_areas/

resource: The National Hydrography Dataset

source: USGS, EPA
description: The National Hydrography Dataset (NHD) is a comprehensive set of digital spatial data that

contains information about surface water features such as lakes, ponds, streams, rivers, springs and
wells. Within the NHD, surface water features are combined to form "reaches," which provide the
framework for linking water-related data to the NHD surface water drainage network. These
linkages enable the analysis and display of these water-related data in upstream and downstream
order. The NHD is based upon the content of USGS Digital Line Graph (DLG) hydrography data
integrated with reach-related information from the EPA Reach File Version 3 (RF3).
URL: http://mac.usgs.gov/mac/isb/pubs/factsheets/fs10699.html

resource: UNEP and International Soil Reference and Information Centre (ISRIC) . 1990. Global Assessment
of Human Induced Soil Degradation (GLASOD).

source: UNEP and International Soil Reference and Information Centre (ISRIC)
description: The GLASOD database contains information on soil degradation within map units as reported by

numerous soil experts around the world through a questionnaire. It includes the type, degree, extent,
cause and rate of soil degradation
URL: http://www.grid.unep.ch/data/grid/gnv18.html
keywords: Desertification, Soil Degradation

resource: USGS Water Resources of the United States

source: USGS
description: These pages provide access to water-resources data collected at approximately 1.5 million sites in all
50 States,the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico. Water-quality data are available for both
surface water and ground water. Examples of water-quality data collected are temperature, specific
conductance, pH, nutrients, pesticides, and volatile organic compounds. This web site serves current
and historical data. Data are retrieved by category of data, such as surface water, ground water, or
water quality, and by geographic area. Subsequent pages allow further refinement by selecting
specific information and by defining the output desired. Terminology can be found in the dictionary
of terms.
URL: http://water.usgs.gov/nwis+F30

resource: Water Evaluation Planning System

source: WEAP
description: Developed by the Stockholm Environment Institute's Boston Center at the Tellus Institute, WEAP

provides an integrated framework for water assessment. With WEAP, users explore a wide range of
scenarios for water supply and demand, environmental preservation and policy options. WEAP is a
flexible, transparent and user-friendly tool particularly useful for engaging stakeholders in an open
process.
URL: http://www.seib.org/weap/

resource: Water Watch: Maps and Graphs of Current Water Resources Conditions
source: USGS
description: This site provides maps of real-time streamflow compared to historical streamflow for the day of the
year for the United States.
URL: http://water.usgs.gov/waterwatch/

resource: World Conservation Monitoring Centre

source: United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), World Conservation Monitoring Centre
description: They provide assessments and early warning studies in forest, dryland, freshwater and marine

ecosystems, research on endangered species and biodiversity indicators. Extensive use is made of
geographic information systems and other analytical technologies that help to visualize trends,
patterns and emerging priorities for conservation action.
URL: http://www.unep-wcmc.org/

Educational Resources
resource: Agriculture & Forestry Pages, EPA's Global Warming website
source: Environmental Protection Agency
Containsofinformation
and links to the UN Framework Convention document.
description:
Acid Rain: Forests
resource: Effects
http://www.epa.gov/globalwarming/actions/agforestry/index.html
URL: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
source:
description:
resource:
source:
URL:
description:
keywords:
URL:
keywords:
resource:
description:
resource:

Researchers have found that acid rain causes slower growth, injury, or death of forests. Acid rain has
been
implicated
in Cascade
forest andEffects
soil degradation in many areas of the eastern United States. This
Biodiversity
Loss:
educational web site provides more information on acid rain impacts on forests.
World Resources Institute
http://www.epa.gov/airmarkets/acidrain/effects/forests.html
The loss of a species can have various effects on the remaining species in an ecosystem--what kind
Acid Rain, Air Pollution, Forests
http://www.wri.org/wri/biodiv/cascade.html#LUTG Resource Links.doc
Biodiversity
Environmental Literacy Council

A
useful
guide for students and teachers to important internet-based educational resources on themes
Earth
Trends
such as land, water, the atmosphere, ecosystems, energy, food, and society and the environment.
Resource Institute
source: World
URL: http://www.enviroliteracy.org/index.php
description: Get figures on various topics from water resources to agriculture to forest and grasslands. You can

URL: http://earthtrends.wri.org/index.cfm
resource: Exploring the Environment: Global Climate Change
source: Wheeling Jesuit University/NASA Classroom of the Future

URL: http://earthtrends.wri.org/index.cfm
resource: Effects of Acid Rain: Forests
source: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
description: Researchers have found that acid rain causes slower growth, injury, or death of forests. Acid rain has
been implicated in forest and soil degradation in many areas of the eastern United States. This
educational web site provides more information on acid rain impacts on forests.
URL: http://www.epa.gov/airmarkets/acidrain/effects/forests.html
keywords: Acid Rain, Air Pollution, Forests

resource: Environmental Literacy Council

description: A useful guide for students and teachers to important internet-based educational resources on themes
such as land, water, the atmosphere, ecosystems, energy, food, and society and the environment.

URL: http://www.enviroliteracy.org/index.php
resource:
source:
description:
URL:
keywords:

Exploring the Environment: Global Climate Change

Wheeling Jesuit University/NASA Classroom of the Future
Teacher and student resources focusing on climate change, the carbon cycle and remote sensing.
http://www.cotf.edu/ete/modules/climate/GCmain.html
Carbon Cycle, Climate Change

resource: Field, L.Y. 1997. Best Management Practices for Soil Erosion. West Lafayette, Indiana: Purdue
Research Foundation.

description: Soil erosion is a gradual process that occurs when the actions of water, wind, and other factors eat

away and wear down the land, causing the soil to deteriorate or disappear completely. Soil
deterioration and low quality of water due to erosion and run off has often become a severe problem
around the world. Many times the problems become so severe that the land can no longer be
cultivated and is abandoned. The key to minimizing soil erosion and saving the farm lands is the
farmer. Ultimately, farmers are the ones who must reduce the level at which erosion sediments are
dislodged from their cropland. This program will discuss the erosion process, its effects on crops
and the environment, and the Best Management Practices (BMPs) that can be implemented to limit
or contain soil movement from the land.
URL: http://abe.www.ecn.purdue.edu/~epados/erosbmp/src/title.htm

resource: Following A Watershed

source: Environmental Science Institute
description: This educational site takes the question:' What can be deduced about the effects of varied land use

on the Stoney Brook subwatershed by evaluating the quality of both water and soil at several points
to determine both chemical and biological constituants?' and builds an experiment that the user can
walk through to answer the question.
URL: http://www.woodrow.org/teachers/esi/1997/09/

resource: Girardet, H. Cities as Superorganisms.

description: Contains material on urban metabolism and sustainability of urban areas.

URL: http://www.oneworld.org/guides/thecity/superorganisms/index.html
keywords: Urbanization
resource: Global Deforestation
source: University of Michigan lecture on deforestation
description: This series of lectures covers topics such as the importance of forests, their functions, the causes of
deforestation and how has land use changed. Developed in February of 2001.
URL: http://www.sprl.umich.edu/GCL/globalchange2/winter2001/lectures/deforest/deforest.html

resource: Graham, S., C. Parkinson, and M. Chahine. The Water Cycle. NASA's Earth Observatory.
URL: http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Library/Water/
resource:
source:
description:
URL:
keywords:

How Urbanization Affects the Hydrologic System

resource:
source:
description:
URL:
keywords:

Introductory Land and Water Learning Module, Michigan State University

US Geological Survey
A simple explanation of urbanization's impact on the water cycle.
http://wwwga.usgs.gov/edu/urbaneffects.html
Urbanization, Water

Michigan State University

A useful tutorial and resource for educators on the links between land use and the water cycle.
http://www.iwr.msu.edu/edmodule/water/nwtrindx.htm
Hydrologic Cycle, Land Use, Water

resource: Losses of Biodiversity and Their Causes

source: World Resources Institute
description: The website introduces some direct and indirect factors that lead to the loss of biodiversity. It also

provides links to some related WRI articles. In one of the article 'Mechanisms for the Loss of
Biodiversity', the direct mechanisms include habitat loss and fragmentation, invasion by introduced
species, the over-exploitation of living resources, pollution, global climate change, and industrial
agriculture and forestry are discussed briefly. It is good for newcomers.
URL: http://www.wri.org/wri/biodiv/gbs-ii.html

resource:
description:
URL:
keywords:

Noel Kempff Mercado Climate Action Project

This project, based in a national park in Bolivia, seeks to sequester carbon in forest 'sinks'.
http://www.noelkempff.com/English/CarbonMonitoring.htm
Carbon Sequestration, Climate Change

resource: Rain Forest Report Card

source: Tropical Rain Forest Information Center, Basic Science and Remote Sensing Initiative
description: The Rainforest Report Card is part of the Tropical Rain Forest Information Center that partners with
NASA. There are facts, statistics, deforestation movies, and case studies links. The Rainforest
Virtual Tour is a fun way of sampling of what you might come across in a Central American
Rainforest.
URL: http://www.bsrsi.msu.edu/trfic/

resource: Remote Sensing Core Curriculum

source: American Society for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing (ASPRS)
description: This site is a gateway to a series of lectures and exercises that guide one through rudimentary

understandings of RS to its practical applications. Volumes go progressively to more advanced

levels. Expect some links to be broken, but the majority are still good and very useful as a learning
tool. There are several links to case studies.
URL: http://www.research.umbc.edu/~tbenja1/
keywords: Remote Sensing

resource: Rosenzweig, C., and A. Iglesias. 2000. Potential Impacts of Climate Change on World Food Supply:

Data Sets from a Major Crop Modeling Study. Palisades, NY: CIESIN.
description: This educational website provides interactive access to data from a major crop modeling study, and
information related to climate change impacts on agriculture.
URL: http://sedac.ciesin.columbia.edu/giss_crop_study/index.html

keywords: Agriculture, Climate Change

resource:
source:
URL:
keywords:

The Carbon Cycle

NASA's Earth Observatory
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Library/CarbonCycle/
Carbon Cycle

resource: Understanding the Carbon Cycle

source: Woods Hole Research Center
description: This website gives a general overview on land use and the carbon cycle. Good for secondary school
teachers and students as an introduction to the carbon cycle.
URL: http://www.whrc.org/science/carbon/carbon.htm
keywords: Carbon Cycle, Land Cover

resource: Water Balance of Africa: Exercises on GIS in Water Resources for Africa
source: FAO/UNESCO
description: These exercises are intended for self-learning in the application of GIS using Arcview to hydrologic
issues in West Africa, in particular, in Morocco. They were prepared for a short course on GIS in
Water Resources presented at the Direction Gnrale de l'Hydraulique in Rabat, Morocco, on 12-14
November 1996.
URL: http://civil.ce.utexas.edu/prof/maidment/gishydro/africa/africa.htm

Government & Legal Documents

resource: Ramsar Convention on Wetlands website
source: Ramsar Convention on Wetlands
URL: http://www.ramsar.org
resource: The Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD)
description: The Convention on Biological Diversity, commonly referred to as the CBD, was one of two major
treaties opened for signature at the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development
(UNCED) in 1992.
URL: http://www.biodiv.org
keywords: Biodiversity

resource: U.S. Department of the Interior. 1987. Waterfowl for the future: The North American waterfowl

management plan. Washington, D.C.: U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service

description: A joint program undertaken by the Canadian and American governments to assure the survival of
migratory ducks, geese and swans.
URL: http://www.ciesin.columbia.edu/docs/002-269/002-269.html

resource: United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD)

source: United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD)
description: The question of how to tackle desertification was a major concern for the 1992 United Nations

Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED), which was held in Rio de Janeiro. The
Conference supported a new, integrated approach to the problem emphasizing action to promote
sustainable development at the community level. It also called on the United Nations General
Assembly to establish an Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INCD) to prepare, by June
1994, a Convention to Combat Desertification in Those Countries Experiencing Serious Drought
and/or Desertification, Particularly in Africa. The Convention was adopted in Paris on 17 June 1994
and opened for signature there on 14-15 October 1994. It entered into force on 26 December 1996,
90 days after the 50th ratification was received. Over 170 countries are now Parties.
URL: http://www.unccd.int
keywords: Desertification

Maps
resource:
source:
URL:
description:
keywords:
URL:

Biodiversity Atlas of the US and Canada

National Geographic Society
http://edcwww.cr.usgs.gov/earthshots/slow/LasVegas/LasVegas
A National
Geographic page of maps, which illustrate what humans stand to lose in the biodiversity
Satellite
Images
http://tectonic.nationalgeographic.com/2000/biodiversity/index.cfm

Kapos, V. 2000. Original Forest Cover Map, Cambridge, UK: UNEP-WCMC.

Earthshots: Satellite Images of Environmental Change
UNEP-WCMC
USGS
This map depicts the extent of original forest cover and current forest cover for both tropical and
This case study on the land change and the growth of Las Vegas would be a good classroom tool to
temperate/boreal forests.
URL: http://www.unep-wcmc.org/forest/original.htm
keywords: Forest Cover

resource:
resource:
source:
source:
description:
description:

http://edcwww.cr.usgs.gov/earthshots/slow/tableofcontents
URL: http://edcwww.cr.usgs.gov/earthshots/slow/LasVegas/LasVegas
keywords: Satellite Images

resource: Kapos, V. 2000. Original Forest Cover Map, Cambridge, UK: UNEP-WCMC.
source: UNEP-WCMC
description: This map depicts the extent of original forest cover and current forest cover for both tropical and
temperate/boreal forests.

URL: http://www.unep-wcmc.org/forest/original.htm
keywords: Forest Cover
resource: NYC-DEP -- New York City Department of Environmental Protection. Maps of New York City's

Water Supply System.

URL: http://www.nyc.gov/html/dep/html/wsmaps.html
keywords: Hydrology, Water Supply

resource:
source:
description:
URL:
keywords:

Newton, A. 2001. Global Distribution of Current Forests, Cambridge, UK: UNEP-WCMC.

UNEP-WCMC
This map describes the current distribution of forests globally by forest type.
http://www.unep-wcmc.org/forest/global_map.htm
Forest Cover

resource: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Soil Conservation Service. 1977. Some serious erosion areas in the

United States. Forth Worth, TX: South National Technical Center

description: The United States Department of Agriculture Soil Conservation Service used these data from an
exhaustive inventory of land use and soil loss conducted to to develop the map 'Some Serious
Erosion Areas of the United States.
URL: http://www.ciesin.columbia.edu/docs/002-220/002-220.html

resource: USDA's World Soil Resources

source: US Department of Agriculture (USDA)
description: This web site provides a series of maps describing soil regions, land stresses, desertification, water
erosion, wind erosion, water holding capacity, etc.
URL: http://www.nhq.nrcs.usda.gov/WSR/mapindx/maps.htm
keywords: Desertification, Land Degradation, Soil

Online Reference Resources

resource: Bibliography: Environmental Change and its Impact on Species/Ecosystems
Pacific Institute
source:
URL: http://www.pacinst.org/wildlife.html

supporting ecosystems. 2880 citations have been included to date and the bibliography will be
updated every two months. Ultimately, each entry will be categorized in a variety of ways,
permitting key word searches and compilations by subject, region, or author.
URL: http://www.pacinst.org/wildlife.html

resource: Climate Change and its Impact on Biodiversity

source: Pacific Institute
description: The Pacific Institute's large (1,700+) bibliography on the effects of climate change on biodiversity.
Users may view files as html or download them in Adobe Acrobat format.
URL: http://www.pacinst.org/wildlife.html

resource:
source:
description:
URL:

Virtual Library of Ecology and Biodiversity

Rice University
This site provides basic reference information pertaining to biodiversity and ecology.
http://conbio.net/vl/

Organizations / Institutions
resource: Global Land Cover Facility

University of Maryland Global Land Cover Facility

source:
URL: http://www.wmo.ch/web/homs/whycos.html

description: You can download remote sensing images from the NASA/NOAA Pathfinder Land (PAL) data set.

Data set has a resolution of 1 km and a record length of 14 years (1981-1994), providing the ability
to test the stability of classification algorithms. Includes red, infrared, and thermal bands in addition
to Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI).

URL: http://gaia.umiacs.umd.edu:8811/landcover/index.html

resource: Natural Resource Conservation Service

management. WHYCOS is based on a global network of reference stations, which transmit

hydrological and meteorological data in near real-time, via satellites, to NHSs and regional centres.
These data enable the provision of constantly updated national and regionally-distributed databases,
of consistently high quality. WHYCOS aims to support, in all parts of the world, the establishment
and enhancement of information systems which can supply reliable water-related data to resource
planners, decision makers, scientists and the general public.
URL: http://www.wmo.ch/web/homs/whycos.html

Periodicals
resource: Conservation Ecology
description:
resource:
source:
URL:
URL:
keywords:
keywords:

Conservation
Unasylva:
An Ecology
International
is an Journal
electronic,
of Forestry
peer-reviewed,
and Forest
scientific
Industries
journal devoted to the rapid
UN
Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)
http://www.consecol.org/Journal/
http://www.fao.org/forestry/FODA/UNASYLVA/unasyl-e.stm
Biodiversity, Conservation, Ecology
Forestry

resource: GCTE News: Newsletter of the Global Change and Terrestrial Ecoystems (GCTE) Core Project of
URL: http://www.gcte.org/Newlett-Broch-Post-Present.htm
resource: Land Degradation & Development
URL: http://www.interscience.wiley.com/jpages/1085-3278/
resource: Land Use and Water Resources Research
description: Land Use and Water Resources Research is a web-based journal devoted to the water resource,
URL: http://www.luwrr.com/
keywords: Hydrology, Water Resources
resource: The Arid Lands Newsletter
source: The University of Arizona
description: The Arid Lands Newsletter is published semiannually for an international readership by the Arid
URL: http://ag.arizona.edu/OALS/ALN/ALNHome.html
keywords: Arid Lands, Desertification

resource:
source:
URL:
keywords:

Unasylva: An International Journal of Forestry and Forest Industries

UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)
http://www.fao.org/forestry/FODA/UNASYLVA/unasyl-e.stm
Forestry

Research programs & projects

resource: ACCELERATES: Assessing Climate Change Effects on Land use and Ecosystems: from Regional

Analysis to The European Scale

The ACCELERATES project seeks to examine the relationship between agricultural land use
description:
URL: http://www-eosdis.ornl.gov/BOREAS/bhs/BOREAS_Home.html
to environmental
changeSensing
drivers and environmental protection, as reflected specifically in
Climate Change,
Forests, Remote
keywords: responses
http://www.geo.ucl.ac.be/LUCC/research/endorsed/accelerates/Accelerates.html
URL:

resource: Causes and Consequences of Land Cover Change in a Greater Ecosystem: Trend and Risk Assessment,

Monitoring, and Outreach

Montana
State
source: BAHC
and
the University
Initiative for Collaborative Research on 'Global Change in Mountain Regions'
resource:
description: This project provides relevant studies to quantify changes in natural and human forcing functions,
cover and use,Cycle
and ecological
Biosphericprocesses,
Aspects ofland
the Hydrological
(BAHC) responses, which can permit integration of
source: ecological
LUCC processes and environmental changes into decision making and strategies in the context of landchange, hot
spots and
criticalstrives
regions
theand
regional/sub-regional
This Mountain
Research
initiative
toatlink
coordinate existinglevel.
research, to initiate new
description: cover
http://www.geo.ucl.ac.be/LUCC/research/endorsed/greater/greater.html
URL: projects
where required, and to foster multi-disciplinarity. The Initiative is structured around four
Change
http://www.pik-potsdam.de/~bahc/
keywords:
URL: Land-Cover

resource:
source:
resource:
description:
source:

Central African Regional Program for the Environment (CARPE)

University
Maryland
BIGFOOT:ofCharacterizing
Land Cover, Leaf Area Index, FPAR, and NPP
CARPE is a long-term initiative by USAID to address the issues of deforestation and biodiversity loss
in
the Congo Basin forest zone, in the middle of the African continent. This site links to several
NASA
documents, abstracts, remote sensing images and products and resources.
URL: http://carpe.umd.edu/
BIGFOOT validates MODIS Terrestrial Ecology Products with satellite and in-situ measurements.
description:
BIGFOOT has four field sites: a boreal forest, a tallgrass prairie, a mixed deciduous-conifer forest, and
URL: http://www.fsl.orst.edu/larse/bigfoot/
resource: Characterizing Land Cover Heterogeneity and Land Cover Change from Multisensor Satellite Data
Maryland
source: University
Land-CoverofChange,
Terrestrial Carbon Cycle
keywords:
description: "This project addresses the need to develop improved regional and global land cover products that

resource:
source:
description:
URL:
keywords:

incorporate spatial and temporal heterogeneity of vegetation. The applications for these products are
primarily regional and global biosphere-atmosphere models. The proposed research focuses on both
conventional land cover classification products and alternative approaches to depict land cover
BOREAS
Project:
Ecosystem-Atmosphere
Study
heterogeneity
over Boreal
large areas.
Initial results include
the generation of a 1km global land cover product
depicting the distribution of major biomes, continuous fields of vegetation characteristics including
NASA,
NOAA, NSF,
Canada,
Agriculture
Canada and the generation of a global
woody, herbaceous
andEPA,
bareEnvironment
components at
1km and
8km resolutions,
1km percent tree cover layer using a fusion approach of classification and mixture modeling."
The Boreal Ecosystem-Atmosphere Study (BOREAS) is a large-scale international interdisciplinary
http://www.geo.ucl.ac.be/LUCC/research/endorsed/character/character.html
experiment in the northern boreal forests of Canada. Its goal is to improve our understanding of the
Land-Cover Change

resource: Coastal Marsh Project

and to improve computer simulation and weather models so scientists can anticipate the effects of
global change.
URL: http://www-eosdis.ornl.gov/BOREAS/bhs/BOREAS_Home.html
keywords: Climate Change, Forests, Remote Sensing

resource: Causes and Consequences of Land Cover Change in a Greater Ecosystem: Trend and Risk Assessment,
Monitoring, and Outreach

source: Montana State University

description: This project provides relevant studies to quantify changes in natural and human forcing functions,

ecological processes, land cover and use, and ecological responses, which can permit integration of
LUCC processes and environmental changes into decision making and strategies in the context of landcover change, hot spots and critical regions at the regional/sub-regional level.
URL: http://www.geo.ucl.ac.be/LUCC/research/endorsed/greater/greater.html
keywords: Land-Cover Change

resource: Central African Regional Program for the Environment (CARPE)

source: University of Maryland
description: CARPE is a long-term initiative by USAID to address the issues of deforestation and biodiversity loss
in the Congo Basin forest zone, in the middle of the African continent. This site links to several
documents, abstracts, remote sensing images and products and resources.
URL: http://carpe.umd.edu/

resource: Characterizing Land Cover Heterogeneity and Land Cover Change from Multisensor Satellite Data
source: University of Maryland
description: "This project addresses the need to develop improved regional and global land cover products that

incorporate spatial and temporal heterogeneity of vegetation. The applications for these products are
primarily regional and global biosphere-atmosphere models. The proposed research focuses on both
conventional land cover classification products and alternative approaches to depict land cover
heterogeneity over large areas. Initial results include the generation of a 1km global land cover product
depicting the distribution of major biomes, continuous fields of vegetation characteristics including
woody, herbaceous and bare components at 1km and 8km resolutions, and the generation of a global
1km percent tree cover layer using a fusion approach of classification and mixture modeling."
URL: http://www.geo.ucl.ac.be/LUCC/research/endorsed/character/character.html
keywords: Land-Cover Change

resource: Coastal Marsh Project

source: NASA/University of Maryland
description: The purpose of the Marsh Project is to analyze the surface condition of coastal marshes and detect

areas that are at risk for rapid loss of land area. Overall coastal marsh health and potential for
deterioration have been assessed for much of the east coast of the United States. The result of Project
operations has been the development of a Marsh Surface Condition data set and improved scientific
analysis of coastal marshes.
URL: http://glcf.umiacs.umd.edu/data/CoastalMarsh/html/overview.htm
keywords: Coastal Zone, Wetlands

resource: Continuous Fields Tree Cover Project

source: University of Maryland Department of Geography
description: This site shows the characterization of terrestrial vegetation from the Advanced Very High Resolution

Radiometer (AVHRR). Describes land cover as continuous fields of vegetation characteristics using a
linear mixture model approach. This prototype data set contains 1km cells estimating: 1) Percent tree
cover; 2) Percentage cover for two layers representing leaf longevity (evergreen and deciduous); and 3)
Percentage cover for two layers estimating leaf type (broadleaf and needle leaf).
URL: http://glcf.umiacs.umd.edu/treecover/index.html

resource: Conversion of Land Use and its Effects (CLUE)

source: Wageningen University
description: The CLUE Modeling Framework is a dynamic, multi-scale land-use change model. The objective of

the project is to develop a framework for a spatially explicit, multi-scale, quantitative description of
land use changes. We aim at the determination and quantification of the most important biogeophysical
and human drivers of agricultural land use, on the basis of the actual land use structure. The results of
such analyses are incorporated in a dynamic model, describing changes in areas of different land use
types. The project is organized in the form of different case studies for specific countries: Central
America, China, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Honduras, Java and Philippines.
URL: http://gissrv.iend.wau.nl/~clue/

resource: DIVERSITAS: An International Program on Biodiversity Science

description: DIVERSITAS is an international global environmental change research programme sponsored by the
International Council for Science (ICSU), SCOPE (Scientific Committee on Problems of the
Environment), IUBS (International Union of Biological Sciences), IUMS (International Union of
Microbiological Societies) and UNESCO-MAB (Man and the Biosphere). Its missions are: 1) to
promote integrative biodiversity science, linking biological, ecological and social disciplines in an
effort to produce socially relevant new knowledge; and 2) to provide the scientific basis for an
understanding of biodiversity loss, and to draw out the implications for the policies for conservation
and sustainable use of biodiversity.
URL: http://www.icsu.org/DIVERSITAS/
keywords: Biodiversity, Monitoring

resource: Developing New Methods for Monitoring and Forecasting Land Use Change
source: Macaulay Land Use Research Institute
description: In regards to rural Scotland, this program of research aims to develop innovative methods for

documenting actual patterns of agricultural and forestry change, understanding their causes, and
develop methods for forecasting future patterns of land use change under different socio-economic and
policy scenarios.
URL: http://www.geo.ucl.ac.be/LUCC/research/endorsed/monitandforecast/monitandforecast.htm#Relevance

resource: Drylands Ecosystem and Desertification Control Programme Activity Center

source: United Nations Environment Programme
description: This general site has a wealth of information in it about global efforts to curb desertification. From a
'Guide to Desertification Control' to a catalogue of success stories, this is a good place to start for an
overview of the desertification issue

URL: http://www.unep.org/unep/program/natres/land/
resource: Drylands Program
source: International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED)
description: The Drylands programme aims to promote the sustainable, equitable, participatory and decentralised
management of natural resources in dryland Africa, through policies and institutions, thereby
contributing to improved livelihoods, poverty reduction, and long term ecological and economic
sustainability. The website contains many working papers.
URL: http://www.iied.org/drylands/index.html
keywords: Desertification, Drylands, Livelihoods, Sustainability

resource: Environment Canada's Land Use Impacts on Hydrology and Aquatic Ecosystems Project
description: This Project contributes new knowledge and scientific advice on environmentally sustainable land use

practices to meet Environment Canadas goal of understanding and minimizing human impacts on the
health of aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems. Land management activities such as agriculture and
forestry can be major stressors on Canadas water resources. Results from research on hydrological,
chemical and aquatic ecological responses to land management are used by Environment Canada, in
partnership with other departments, to develop environmentally sustainable codes of practice. The
Project also assesses the environmental implications of land cover changes caused by human activity
and formulates new approaches for environmental management.
URL: http://www.cciw.ca/nwri/aeirb/luihaep.html
keywords: Hydrology, Land Use

resource: Global Change and Subsistence Rangelands in southern Africa: Resource Variability, Access and Use

in Relation to Rural Livelihoods and Welfare.

source: Centre for Arid Zone Studies, University of Wales and several others
description: The general objective is to analyze the dynamic relationships between rangeland state and rural
livelihoods and to identify, in the context of southern Africa, policy options and interventions that
would optimize, sustainable, the welfare of the range communities while maintaining rangeland
productivity. Project consists of fieldwork in Botswana, Lesotho and South Africa, analyzing historic
information and current data sets, and creating modeling and synthetic techniques.
URL: http://www.bangor.ac.uk/rangeland

resource: Global Change and Terrestrial Ecosystems (GCTE)

description: A core project of the IGBP and ICSU, the scientific objectives of the Global Change and Terrestrial

Ecosystems project are to predict the effects of changes in climate, atmospheric composition, and land
use on terrestrial ecosystems, including (i) agriculture, forestry, soils; and (ii) biodiversity; and to
determine how these effects lead to feedbacks to the atmosphere and the physical climate system.
URL: http://www.gcte.org/
keywords: Climate Change, Ecosystems

resource: Global Observation of Forest Cover (GOFC)

source: Global Observation of Forest Cover (GOFC)

description: GOFC is a coordinated international effort working to provide ongoing space-based and in-situ

observations of forests and other vegetation cover, for the sustainable management of terrestrial
resources and to obtain an accurate, reliable, quantitative understanding of the terrestrial carbon
budget. GOFC conducts pilot projects and develops prototype products within three primary themes:
forest cover characteristics and changes, forest fire monitoring and mapping and forest biophysical
processes.
URL: http://www.gofc.org/gofc/

resource: HAPEX-Sahel: the Hydrology-Atmosphere Pilot Experiment in the Sahel, 1990-1992

description: HAPEX-Sahel (Hydrological and Atmospheric Pilot Experiment in the Sahel) is an international land-

surface-atmosphere observation program that was undertaken in western Niger, in the west African
Sahel region. The overall aims were to improve our understanding of the role of the Sahel on the
general circulation, in particular the effects of the large interannual fluctuations of land surface
conditions in this region and, in turn, to develop ideas about how the general circulation is related to
the persistent droughts that have affected the Sahel during the last 25 years. The field program obtained
measurements of atmospheric, surface and certain sub-surface processes in a 1deg x1deg area that
incorporates examples of many of the major land surface types found throughout the Sahel. An
important consideration was that the data must to be applicable to the scales of current general
circulation models (GCM).
URL: http://www.ird.fr/hapex/htdocs/whatis.htm
keywords: Climate, Desertification, Land Cover

resource: Institutional Demographic and Biophysical Dimensions Of Forest Ecosystem Change In the Western

Hemisphere
source: Center for the Study of Institutions, Population and Environmental Change
description: This projects hopes to address three questions: How is human behavior at household and community
levels linked to regional and global change processes? How can macro-scale physical processes
observed and modeled at global level be linked to meso- and micro-level human organizational and
decision-making processes? How do institutional arrangements influence the direction and size of the
impact of human driving forces, such as population and road networks, on forest ecosystems and
global change processes? A central focus of the research is to contribute to HDGC by developing
theories and methods that enhance the community's ability to address scale issues. The project looks at
three forest ecosystems and examines the role of institutions in bringing about differential outcomes in
forest conditions through time.
URL: http://www.geo.ucl.ac.be/LUCC/research/endorsed/cipec/cipec.html

resource: Instrument For Detecting Land Cover For Europe (INDAVOR)

source: Instrument For Detecting Land Cover For Europe (INDAVOR)
description: The project INDAVOR is setup to develop a GIS-based Change Detection system in order to classify

land use patterns (from NOAA-AVHRR) for the last 10 years. The system will be able to determine
the accuracy of the classifications and percentage changes of the land use mapping units. The results of
this methodology will be demonstrated within the LOTOS model (Long Term Ozone Simulation
model).
URL: http://www.geo.ucl.ac.be/LUCC/research/endorsed/indandnfo/INDAVORANDNFOSEUR.HTML

resource: LUCCs Science Plan

source: International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme (IGBP) and the International Human Dimensions of

Global Environmental Change Programme (IHDP)

description: The global environmental change community has increasingly recognized the significance of land-use
and land-cover change and the need for an interdisciplinary research approach to the subject. This
recognition prompted the International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme (IGBP) and the International
Human Dimensions of Global Environmental Change Programme (IHDP) to explore the possibility of
a cooperative research project/program with the general goal of improving our basic under-standing of
the dynamics of Land-Use and Land-Cover Change (LUCC) globally, with a focus on improving our
ability to model and project such change. The two programs commissioned a Core Project Planning
Committee/Research Programme Planning Committee1) for Land-Use and Land-Cover Change
(CPPC/RPPC LUCC) to create a science/research plan2) for a jointly sponsored LUCC core
project/research program.
URL: http://www.geo.ucl.ac.be/LUCC/lucc.html

resource: Lacoast - LAnd cover changes in COASTal zones

source: Joint Research Centre
description: Lacoast has an objective to make the exhaustive quantification of land cover changes of the European
coastal zones, within the period between 1975 and the 1990s, date of CORINE Land Cover. The
primary results are: a European geo-referenced database of land cover for the coastal zones dated
1975/78, compatible with CLC; statistics of land cover changes and their spatial representation;
methodological developments on assessing historical land cover and their dynamics from past. From
those results environmental indicators were developed as well as indicators relevant for integrated
management of coastal zones.
http://www.geo.ucl.ac.be/LUCC/research/endorsed/lacoast/lacoast.htm
URL:

resource:
source:
description:
URL:
keywords:

Land Cover Land Use Change Program

NASA
Contains a good reference page of significant project results.
http://lcluc.gsfc.nasa.gov/products/SignificantResults/index.asp
Land Use, Land-Cover Change

resource: Land Cover and Vegetation

source: The Global vegetation Monitoring Unit
description: The Global vegetation Monitoring Unit carries out several activities related to Land Cover mapping

and monitoring. The Global Vegetation Monitoring Unit is coordinating and implementing the
GLOBAL LAND COVER 2000 Project (GLC 2000) in collaboration with a network of partners
around the world. To achieve this objective GLC 2000 makes use of the VEGA 2000 dataset: a dataset
of 14 months of pre-processed daily global data acquired by the VEGETATION instrument on board
SPOT 4.
URL: http://www.gvm.sai.jrc.it/Vegetation/defaultVegetation.htm

resource: Land Use Change: Methodological Approach to Understand the Interactions Nature / Society in
Coastal Areas (Alencoast)

source: Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Commission of the European Communities Joint Research Centre and

others
description: The aim of this project is to understand the land use changes in coastal areas through the analysis of the
impact of the human and biophysical dynamics. The research will be based on a cross-disciplinary
approach to understand the change in coastal areas, integrating both socio-economic and biophysical
dimensions. The study will examine the societal driving forces political, economic, institutional and
social - that influence the development of coastal areas and modify the landscape by changing land
forms, land use and land cover.
http://www.geo.ucl.ac.be/LUCC/research/endorsed/alencoast/alencoast.html
URL:

keywords: Coastal Zone

resource: Land Use In Temperate East Asia (LUTEA)
source: Land Use In Temperate East Asia (LUTEA)
description: The overall objectives are 1) to better understand the role and consequences of changes in climate,

ecosystem dynamics, human demography, and socio-economic transitions on land use and land cover
in temperate East Asia during the past 100 years and into the next decade; and 2) develop a mechanism
to assess the short-term and long-term changes in food security and environmental conservation in the
TEA region. The region of study extends from China; Korea, DPR; Korea, R; Japan; Mongolia; and
Eastern Russia.
URL: http://www.geo.ucl.ac.be/LUCC/research/endorsed/lutea/LUTEA.HTML
keywords: East Asia, Land Use

resource: Land Use and Climate Change Impacts on Carbon Fluxes (LUCCI)
source: Colorado State University
description: This project looks to quantify the interactions of human-induced land use change, regional climatic

changes, and regional carbon dioxide fluxes in a linked-model framework. This has enhanced our
understanding of the partial contributions of ecological (soil fertility), climatic, economic, and sociocultural factors in determining land use. LUCCI seeks to develop a linked modeling system that
combines farm-level rotation information, market- level processes that determine input and output
processes, and a biogeochemical model capable of modeling crop yield and long-term ecosystem
status. Then they hope to utilize the linked models to assess possible consequences of climate change
on land use patterns and net carbon exchange on natural and managed systems in the ARM-CART
region of Oklahoma.
URL: http://www.geo.ucl.ac.be/LUCC/research/endorsed/lucci/lucci.html

resource: Land Use and Land Cover: Using Geographic Information Systems to develop a Sense of Place
source: Environmental Science Core Institute
description: This study of land use and land cover is model for teachers to follow. It is intended to provide students
insight about global connections and give a sense of environmental integrity by first developing a
sense of place. Using Geographical Information Systems, or GIS for short, in the classroom helps
students to gain a 'sense of place' by personalizing how they view their own neighborhood and
realizing the myriad of connections to the global life system we call the Earth. 'Sense of place' is an
essential component for instilling in citizens a sense of environmental stewardship. GIS is a way of
looking at data from our environment within a spatial context. GIS involves mapping data and
interpreting the relationships among that data and making inferences. GIS data can be mapped and
analyzed through use of computer programs such as ArcView

URL: http://www.woodrow.org/teachers/esi/1997/02/CORE.htm
keywords: Geographic Information Systems (GIS), Land-Cover Change
resource: Land Use for Global Environmental Conservation (LU/GEC)
source: Global Environmental Research Program, National Institute for Environmental Studies, Japan
description: Funded by Environment Agency of Japan, the first phase of the LU/GEC project, a 3-year study

launched in 1997, ended last year. In the first phase, a model was developed for projecting long-term
land-use change and applied the model to China as a whole. The second phase of the LU/GEC project,
entitled Study on the Processes and Impacts of Land-use Change in China, has 4 elements: 1) GISbased Long-term Projection of Land-use Change in China; 2) Digital Database for Diagnostic Analysis
of the Environment in Northern and Northeastern China; 3) Analysis of Land-use Change in the Lower
Yangtze River Basin due to Industrialization and Urbanization; and 4) Environmental Degradation in
Northern and Northeastern China due to Land-use Change.
URL: http://www-cger.nies.go.jp/lugec/lugec1.html
keywords: Land-Cover Change

resource: Land Use/Land Cover Change Project, SAGE (Center for Sustainability and the Global Environment),

Institute for Environmental Studies, University of Wisconsin-Madison

source: SAGE (Center for Sustainability and the Global Environment)
description: SAGE scientists are examining the effects of land use activity on the global environment, with a
particular emphasis on changes in natural resources and ecosystem services on regional to global
scales.
URL: http://sage.aos.wisc.edu/pages/landuse.html

keywords: Land Use, Land-Cover Change

resource: Land-Use/Land-Cover Changes in Africa: Multiscale remote sensing and spatial modeling
source: Universite catholique de Louvain along with several others
description: This program seeks to develop and test methods to infer data on land use systems and land-cover

change processes in African landscapes by integrating remote sensing information with long-term
ethnographic studies. This project also will perform a comparative analysis of land-cover change
processes in Africa to identify general patterns of change and look to understand the path of changes of
African farming systems in relation to ecological/climatic variability, demographic changes and the
development of commercialization.
URL: http://www.geo.ucl.ac.be/Recherche/Teledetection/index.html

resource: Land-use change and nitrogen release in the Ipswich watershed

source: Clark University and the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole, MA
description: This project has extrapolated deforestation to over the next 100 years and analyzed its implication for
nutrient release in the Ipswich River Watershed, MA, which is just north of Boston. Through this
modeling process, the project created a GIS-based method that can be applied elsewhere to simulate
human impacts across a landscape. The research makes important links in integrative modeling
because the Ipswich River flows into Plum Island Sound, a salt marsh estuary.
http://www.geo.ucl.ac.be/LUCC/research/endorsed/Ipswich/Ipswich.htm
URL:

resource: Landsat Pathfinder/Humid Tropical Forest Inventory Project

source: Basic Science and Remote Sensing Initiative
description: This project includes the acquisition and analysis of Landsat MSS and TM data for the entire humid

tropics from 1970s to the present. Approximately 5000 scenes have been analyzed to produce digital
maps which track the rate of deforestation and geography to create an archive of Landsat data for the
global change research community. The project has constructed digital databases and digital
information management systems to make the satellite data and products available to the research
community at no cost.
URL: http://bsrsi.msu.edu/overview/pathfinder1.html

resource: Managing Changing Flood and Drought Risk

source: Societal and Institutional Responses to Climate Change and Climatic Hazards
description: Three concerns -- adapting to climate change, managing natural hazards, and land use policy --

underlie the aims and objectives of SIRCH. The interdisciplinary SIRCH team will examine adaptive
responses in managing water resources. Specifically, the project will evaluate institutions that govern
present hydrological risks (drought, flood and water quality) and how they might respond to future
risks, in the context of global change. Case studies in Spain, the Netherlands and England will provide
a "real-world" focus for the conceptual and analytical developments, examining local adaptive
responses and options for managing the transition to the climates and climatic risks of the future.
URL: http://www.geo.ucl.ac.be/LUCC/research/endorsed/sirch/SIRCH.HTML

resource: Mediterranean Desertification and Land Use

source: MEDALUS
description: MEDALUS is an international research project to investigate the effects of desertification on land use

in Mediterranean Europe. Funded by the Commission of the European Communities and participating
with the Climatic Research Unit, this project has three objectives. The first is a physically-based model
to describe environmental processes operating at the hill slope scale. The second is developing a new,
physically-based model (MEDRUSH) which is designed to operate at the river basin scale and to
simulate landscape changes over hundreds, instead of tens, of years. Thirdly, the team explored
opportunities to address the problems of desertification at a Mediterranean-wide large scale.
URL: http://www.cru.uea.ac.uk/cru/projects/medalus/

resource: Millennium Ecosystem Assessment

description: An integrated ecosystem assessment is an analysis of the capacity of an ecosystem to provide goods

and services important for human development. The capacity of ecosystems to produce goods and
services ranging from food to clean water is fundamentally important for meeting human needs and
ultimately influences the development prospects of nations. The Millennium Ecosystem Assessment
will meet the needs of the following uers: 1) International Ecosystem-related Conventions; 2) National
ministries and departments involved in environment and sustainable development planning; 3) the
Private Sector; and 4) Civil Society:
URL: http://www.millenniumassessment.org/en/index.htm
keywords: Biodiversity, Ecosystems

resource: Mineral Investments and Land-Use/ Land-Cover Change in the Americas

source: LUCC International Network
description: This project addresses the role of global flows of direct investment in driving land-use/land-cover

change at the local and regional scale, via a 5-year program of inter-linked education and research
activities. The research component consists of four comparative case studies of land-use/land-cover
change within mineral extraction regions of the Americas (Arizona, U.S.; Sonora, Mexico; Orinoco
Belt, Venezuela; and southern Andes, Peru). Analysis of the case studies will be used to generate a
model of the socio-cultural and political-economic institutions through which the process of mineral
investment drives land-use/land-cover change.
URL: http://www.geo.ucl.ac.be/LUCC/research/endorsed/mineralinv/mineralinv.html

resource: Modeling Agricultural Land Use at the Regional Scale

source: The Integrated Model to Predict European Land use (IMPEL) Project
description: The purpose of the European Commission funded IMPEL project was to generate scientific knowledge
to inform European climate and environment policy. The project focused on the development and
application of modeling methodologies to assess agricultural land use change in a range of European
demonstration regions. The resulting modular modeling framework (named IMPEL) was based on
existing models (both biophysical and socio-economic) that were integrated and adapted for climate
change impact assessment.
URL: http://www.geo.ucl.ac.be/LUCC/research/endorsed/impel/IMPEL.html

resource: Modeling Land-Use and Land-Cover Changes in Europe and Northern Asia
source: International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA)
description: This project concentrates on compiling comprehensive biophysical and socio-economic databases for

countries in North and East Asia (in particular, China), on adapting existing and developing new model
components in support of an integrative assessment approach, and on establishing collaborative
relationships with scientists and institutions in the region.
URL: http://www.iiasa.ac.at/Research/LUC/

resource: Modeling and Forecasting Effects of Land Use Change in China Based on Socio-Economic Drivers
source: Boston University and the Chinese Academy of Sciences
description: This project aims to model and explain the interaction between economic development and land-use

conversion in the Pearl River Delta of Guangdong Province in Southern China. This study extends
prior remote sensing efforts to analyze land-use changes by explicitly modeling the socioeconomic
forces that drive land conversion. Using a combination of high spatial resolution satellite imagery and
panel socioeconomic data, we will develop a socioeconomic model that quantifies the relation between
driving economic and demographic forces and land-use patterns. We intend to generate insight into the
effects of economic development on carbon dioxide emissions, methane fluxes, land-use patterns, and
local and regional albedo.
URL: http://www.geo.ucl.ac.be/LUCC/research/endorsed/modandfor/MODANDFORE.HTML

resource: NASA's Land Cover/Land Use Research Website

source: NASA
description: This website provides an extensive, annotated list of remote sensing instruments and research

programs sponsored by NASA for the study of land use and land cover.
URL: http://www.earth.nasa.gov/research/land/
keywords: Land Cover, Land Use, Remote Sensing

resource: NASA/CCAD Mesoamerican Biological Corridor Project

source: National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and Central American Commission for

Environment and Development (CCAD)

description: A three-year project is underway to map and monitor land cover of the Mesoamerican Biological
Corridor. The project is divided into two components: 1) land cover/land use mapping and 2) the
development of a web page to provide project information and remote sensing data of Central
America. Participants include personnel from NASA, the Global Hydrology and Climate Center,
National Space Science and Technology Center, the University of Maine, Jet Propulsion Laboratory,
and the Central American Commission for Environment and Development (CCAD). Additionally,
there are representatives participating from each of the seven Central American countries.
URL: http://www.ghcc.msfc.nasa.gov/corredor/

keywords: Biodiversity, Conservation, Remote Sensing

resource: National Gap Analysis Program
description: Gap Analysis is a scientific means for assessing to what extent native animal and plant species are

being protected. It can be done at a state, local, regional, or national level. The goal of Gap Analysis is
to keep common species common by identifying those species and plant communities that are not
adequately represented in existing conservation lands. Common species are those not threatened with
extinction. By identifying their habitats, Gap Analysis gives land managers, planners, scientists, and
policy makers the information they need to make better-informed decisions when identifying priority
areas for conservation.
URL: http://www.gap.uidaho.edu/default.htm
keywords: Biodiversity, Conservation

resource: National Land Cover Characterization Project

source: USGS
description: Twenty-one classes of land cover were mapped, using consistent procedures for the entire U.S. The
resulting land cover dataset is being used for a wide variety of national and regional applications,
including watershed management, environmental inventories, transportation modeling, fire risk
assessment, and land management. For access directly to the dataset, click here
http://landcover.usgs.gov/mrlcreg.html
URL: http://landcover.usgs.gov/nationallandcover.htm

resource: Non-Fossil Europe (NFOSEUR)

source: Non-Fossil Europe (NFOSEUR)
description: The aim of NFOSEUR is to develop and implement an operational method to derive net primary

production estimates for European ecosystems using RS techniques. The method will be based on the
concept of finding fingerprints for different ecosystems. This method will be used as an input data
source and to calibrate the climatic change model IMAGE II developed by the RIVM in the
Netherlands

URL: http://www.geo.ucl.ac.be/LUCC/research/endorsed/indandnfo/INDAVORANDNFOSEUR.HTML
resource: Pan-European Land Use and Land Cover Monitoring
source: Pan-European Land Use and Land Cover Monitoring
description: "The project aims at establishing a 1-km pan-European land cover database that can be updated

frequently. The database will be based on the integrative use of multi-spectral and multi-temporal 1-km
resolution NOAA-AVHRR satellite data and ancillary data. PELCOM is a three years project accepted
as a shared cost action under the Environment & Climate section of the European Union's 4th
framework RTD program. The project started in September 1996 and is carried out within an
international framework.Pan-European Land Use and Land Cover Monitoring."
URL: http://www.geo.ucl.ac.be/LUCC/research/endorsed/pelcom/PELCOM.HTML
keywords: Pan-European Land Cover

resource: Pattern to Process in Amaznia: Measurement and Modeling of the Inter-Annual Dynamics of

Deforestation and Regrowth

source: Basic Science and Remote Sensing Initiative (BSRSI)
description: This project seeks to understand the interannual variability in deforestation and abandonment rates in
the Brazilian Amazon region.
URL: http://www.bsrsi.msu.edu/overview/lba.html

resource: Population Dynamics, Landscape Patterns and Environmental Changes: Relationships between People,

Pixels and Biophysical Gradients

source: University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
description: The Carolina Population Center and the Department of Geography have combined to examine, the
adoption of family planning alternatives related to the accessibility of the population to sub-district
health centers and the relationship between environment and population in Nang Rong district,
Thailand. The population-environment project explores the relationships between deforestation,
agrosystems, and migration of labor studied through the spatial integration of historical satellite data,
village and household locations, topography, transportation, and demographic characteristics
represented within a geographic information system. Change detections of landcover types and plant
productivity from the satellite data, GIS-based network analysis of patient access to health care,
integration of comprehensive demographic population surveys, and spatial analysis approaches serve
as the analytical framework for this research.
URL: http://www.geo.ucl.ac.be/LUCC/research/endorsed/popdyn/POPDYN.HTML

resource: Project Gigalopolis: Urban and Land Cover Modeling

source: US Geological Survey and University of California at Santa Barbara (UCSB)
description: Urban settlements and their connectivity will be the dominant driver of global change during the

twenty-first century. Intensely impacting land, atmospheric, and hydrologic resources, urban dynamics
has now surpassed the regional scale of megaloplolis and must now be considered as a continental and
global scale phenomenon. Project Gigalopolis extends and refines the Clarke urban growth model
enabling predictions at regional, continental and eventually global scales
URL: http://www.ncgia.ucsb.edu/projects/gig/
keywords: Remote Sensing, Urban Modeling, Urbanization

resource: Quantifying Landscape Pattern and Fragmentation: A Transect Analysis Approach in Alberta.
source: University of Alberta
description: The overall goal of this proposal is to contribute to a better understanding of the relationship between

land use intensification/land cover change and biodiversity losses in Canada. The main objective is to
develop methodologies and tools, using remote sensing and (GIS), which can permit integration of
LUCC processes and environmental changes into decision making and strategies in the context of
conservation biology and sustainable forest management at the regional/sub-regional level. These
objectives will be addressed by means of a transect analysis in Alberta.
URL: http://www.geo.ucl.ac.be/LUCC/research/endorsed/alberta/alberta.html

resource: Research in global change in the Mediterranean: A regional network. (RICAMARE)

source: Research In global ChAnge in the Mediterranean: A REgional network. (RICAMARE)
description: The objective of RICAMARE is to set up a Mediterranean Regional Network for Research in Global

Change, with the aim of developing regional collaboration in global change research between scientists
from European and non-European countries around the Mediterranean Basin. ICAMARE links natural
and social scientists from countries around the Mediterranean interested in tackling the interrelationships between the natural and human environment in order to develop strategies for sustainable
development in the region.
URL: http://medias.obs-mip.fr:8000/ricamare/page.html

resource: Skole, D. L., W. A. Salas, M. L. Cropper, A. Karsedi, J. Alba, C. Silapathong, S. Saharifa, and S.

Abdulla. Models of the Inter-annual Dynamics of Deforestation in Southeast Asia: Is the Missing Sink
for Carbon in Land Cover Change? Proposal from the Basic Science and Remote Sensing Initiative
(BSRSI) website.
description: This proposal will develop regional research on the dynamics of land use and cover change in
Southeast Asia. The proposal focuses on merging satellite remote sensing data from existing NASA
programs, in particular the Landsat Pathfinder project, with new remotely sensed data and socioeconomic data to improve our understanding the inter-annual dynamics of deforestation, regrowth and
a suite of other land use transitions in this important region.
URL: http://www.bsrsi.msu.edu/overview/seasiaprop.html

resource: South East Asia LUCC/START Regional Project

source: South East Asia LUCC/START Regional Project
description: The main objectives of this research project are as follows: 1) To develop an operational methodology

for monitoring land use and land cover changes especially for forest changes over the years 1980-2000;
2) To make the analysis of causal factors or driving forces of those land use and land cover change; 3)
To analyze the environmental issues resulting from land use and land cover changes; 4) To identify the
parameters vital in the management of watersheds; 5) To seek scenario of changes that are likely to
occur up to the year 2000 using appropriate modeling application.
URL: http://www.geo.ucl.ac.be/LUCC/research/seastart.html
keywords: Deforestation

resource: Southern African Savannas: Sustainable Management of Natural Resources - A Synthesis Study of

Human Impacts and Enhancement of Social and Economic Benefits

description: Human induced land use change has a greater effect on savanna structure and net primary productivity
than any other environmental changes. Savannas generally have low human population density as their
capacity to support intensive agriculture and livestock grazing are poor; however, population pressure
and land-use changes are likely to be greater here than in other biomes over the coming decades. The
agro-pastoral communities in savannas are highly dependent on the natural vegetation, which is
vulnerable to degradation. Strong social and economic forces will continue to force the conversion of
forests to savannas and grasslands to pasture or agriculture fields, although tourism is supporting
conservation of large areas of savannas in Africa. This site includes a number of research papers.
URL: http://www.savannas.org.uk/

keywords: Grasslands, Land Use, Savanna

resource: Sustainable Livelihoods Research Programme
source: Institute for Development Studies (IDS)
keywords: Desertification, Sustainable Livelihoods
resource: Sustainable Water Use under Changing Land Use, Rainfall Reliability and Water Demands in the
Volta Basin (GLOWA Volta)

source: Global Change in the Hydrological Cycle (GLOWA) Volta Project

description: This project is a collaboration between several government and academic enterprises. The project

analyzes the physical and socio-economic determinants of the hydrologic cycle, and seeks a
scientifically sound assessment for sustainable use and development of water resources in the Volta
Basin of Ghana.
http://www.glowa-volta.de/
URL:
keywords: Hydrologic Cycle, Water

resource: The Human-Environment Regional Observatory Project (HERO)

description: The overarching goal of the HERO project is to develop the infrastructure needed to monitor and

understand global environmental change and other human-environment interactions at local and small
regional scales. To reach that goal, the project has four strategies. First, HERO is developing research
protocols and data standards for collecting human-environment data, which will allow the studying and
monitoring of the human dimensions of global environmental change at individual sites while enabling
cross-site comparisons and generalizations. Second, HERO is building an intelligent networking
environment that will help investigators share data, analyses, and ideas from remote locations. Third,
HERO is testing proof-of-concept by applying the protocols, standards, and intelligent networking
environment to an important research question at several sites. Finally, HERO is organizing an
international network of researchers who are working on the human dimensions of environmental
change and who will use the HERO infrastructure.
URL: http://www.geo.ucl.ac.be/LUCC/research/endorsed/HERO/Hero2001.htm
keywords: Land-Cover Change

resource: The Interaction Between Population Growth and Land-use Change

source: The Indian, Chinese and US National Science Academies
description: This project will conduct case studies on population growth and land-use change in China, India, and

the United States. The proposed joint effort is intended to provide comparable data sets, along with
searching analyses to identify causative factors. The studies will cover a broad range of population and
land-use issues for both rural and urban communities. This cooperative effort is expected to contribute
substantially to our understanding of the interaction between population and land use and identify
alternatives for transitioning toward sustainable use of resources.
URL: http://www.geo.ucl.ac.be/LUCC/research/endorsed/tri_acadamy/tri_acadamy.html

resource: The Land-Cover and Land-Use Change in the Southern Yucatn Peninsular Region
source: George Perkins Marsh Institute at Clark University, Harvard Forest at Harvard University, and El

Colegio de la Frontera Sur (ECOSUR), Mexico

description: This project uses spatially explicit probability approaches for modeling and projecting deforestation
and land conversion linked to remotely sensed imagery in the Southern Yucatn Peninsular Region.
The project uses that study of LCLUC in the former old-growth, tropical forests at the base of the
peninsula to determine the trajectories of change for longer-term monitoring and assessment there and
to develop new LCLUC models of change linking remotely sensed imagery directly to socioeconomic
factors that drive land management decisions.
URL: http://earth.clarku.edu/lcluc/index.html

resource: The Land-Use Change Analysis System (LUCAS) for Evaluating Landscape Management Decisions
source: LUCAS
description: LUCAS is a computer-based application specifically designed to integrate current and forthcoming

information for providing a multidisciplinary modeling environment for addressing research questions
concerning land use and its impacts, applying adaptive management approaches in order to address
management questions concerning landscape-impact assessment, and designing a tool for workstations
supporting the Unix operating system, X-Windows, and Motif user libraries. The immediate objectives
of LUCAS are to integrate the various components of the Olympic Peninsula/Southeastern
Appalachian Biosphere Reserve Land-Use Model discussed in Section 1.1, and to develop a graphical
user interface (GUI) capable of extracting different forms of land-use data for the adaptive
management approach.
URL: http://www.cs.utk.edu/~lucas/publications/ieee/ieee.html

resource: The Miombo Network

source: Land-Use and Land-Cover Change (LUCC)
description: Can also check out: The aims of the Network are to develop a better understanding of how land use

and land-use change in miombo affect land cover and associated ecosystem processes; what impact
these changes are having on peoples' livelihoods; what contribution these changes are making to global
change; and how global change in turn could affect land-use dynamics and ecosystem structure and
function. A CD ROM of the projects data along with bibliographies and documents that support
global change research are also available.
http://miombo.gecp.virginia.edu/cd/index.htm
URL:
keywords: Africa, Land Use, Land-Cover Change

resource: The NASA Landsat Pathfinder Humid Tropical Deforestation Project

source: NASA and the University of Maryland Department of Geography

description: The Humid Tropical Deforestation Projects goal is to map global deforestation for the humid tropics.
Data sets from both the TM (Thematic Mapper) and MSS (Multispectral Scanner System) of Landsat
are being used for three time periods in the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s. The project is focusing on the
three regions where most of the tropical deforestation in the world has occurred - the Amazon Basin,
Central Africa, and Southeast Asia.
URL: http://www.geog.umd.edu/tropical/

resource: Tropical Ecosystem Environment Observation by Satellite (TREES)

source: Global Vegetation Monitoring European Commission
description: The objectives of this project are to produce relevant an accurate information on the state of the

tropical forest ecosystems, analyze this information in terms of deforestation trends and its possible
impacts and make the information available in an appropriate format to the user community. TREES
produced the first global reference map of the worlds humid tropical forests from coarse spatial
resolution remote sensing satellite imagery and seeks to develop a reliable method for forest change
assessment in the humid Tropics using Earth Observation techniques. The metadata of all the multiannual data collected and all products issued from the TREES project have been integrated into the socalled Tropical Forest Information System (TFIS) and one can also find description of the activities by
continent (Latin America, Africa, South East Asia).
URL: http://www.gvm.sai.jrc.it/Forest/defaultForest.htm
keywords: Forest Monitoring, Remote Sensing

resource: Tropical Forest Mapping Project for Africa

source: NASA
description: This project looks at deforestation in tropical Africa and hopes to remedy the lack of reliable data and
survey information that has made the estimation of areas of intact forest surprisingly difficult to
establish. In this study, high-resolution satellite imagery will be used to map areas of forest clearing
and types of land cover for the entire central African tropical region. The Radar Images & Products
Button links to several place-based information sources such as papers and maps.
URL: http://www-radar.jpl.nasa.gov/africamap/

resource: Urban Dynamics Research Program

source: USGS
description: Analyzes land use change in urban environments. This site gives facts, links to temporal maps, case
studies of San Francisco and Washington D.C. complete with movie maps of growth, regional
assessments throughout the country, and links to papers and abstracts.
URL: http://edcdgs9.cr.usgs.gov/urban

resource: Urban Environmental Monitoring (UEM) Project - Global Urban Monitoring with ASTER
source: University of Arizona
description: The purpose of this project is to provide a dedicated observation strategy for urban environmental

monitoring around the world using data acquired by the Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and
Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) currently orbiting the Earth on board the Terra satellite. The project
will study 100 of the largest urban centers, with an emphasis on those in arid and semi-arid
environments

URL: http://elwood.la.asu.edu/grsl/UEM/
keywords: Remote Sensing
resource: Urban Growth Seen from Space
source: NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
description: This website provides examples of remote sensing applications focused on US Metropolitan areas,
including Atlanta, Georgia, and Portland, Oregon.
URL: http://svs-f.gsfc.nasa.gov/imagewall/aaas.html
keywords: Remote Sensing, Urbanization

resource: Urban Respiration Project

source: Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
description: Cities and their associated industrial areas are dynamic entities which consume and metabolize fuels,

foodstuffs, and industrial and commercial chemicals in the course of daily urban activities. This
consumption of organic and inorganic materials leads directly to 'respiration' of a wide range of trace
gases from urban areas. Many of these respiration products play a major role in urban and regional air
polution, while the longer lived gases can be a significant input to global atmospheric chemical
budgets. This project examined these issues in Manchester, New Hampshire and Boston,
Massachusetts.
URL: http://metro.mit.edu/urbanair/overview/index.html
keywords: Air Pollution, Urbanization

resource: Urban/Rural Database Project

source: Center for International Earth Science Information Network (CIESIN), International Food Policy

Research Institute (IFPRI) and the World Bank

description: This project seeks to develop a global data set of urban and rural land cover extent and associated
population estimates.
keywords: Population, Urbanization

resource: World Resources Institute. 2000. Forest and Land-use Change Carbon Sequestration Projects.

Washington, DC: WRI.

source: World Resources Institute
description: This is a summary and brief description of forest and land-use change carbon sequestration projects.
Projects are divided up by locations such as Belize, Guatemala and Russia. Also includes a link to the
Forests Absorbing Carbon Emissions (FACE) program in the Czech Republic.
URL: http://www.wri.org/climate/sequester.html

Web Portals
resource: Carbon Cycle Science Program of the U.S. Global Change Research Program

major contributor to the planetary greenhouse effect and the potential for climate change. Carbon
dioxide (CO2) and methane (CH4) concentration have been increasing in the atmosphere, primarily
as a result of human use of fossil fuelsand land clearing, and are now higher than they have been for
at least 400,000 years. Of the CO2 emitted to the atmosphere, about half is currently taken up as part
of the natural cycling of carbon into the ocean, and into land plants and soils. These reservoirs of
carbon are known as carbon 'sinks.' Changes in land management practices and the addition of CO2
and nutrients are known to have the potential to enhance significantly the uptake of carbon,
particularly by forests and croplands.
URL: http://www.carboncyclescience.gov/index.html
keywords: Carbon Cycle, Climate Change

resource: Earth Observatory

source: NASA
description: This is a good site for newcomers to land-use and cover change. It accesses datasets that can build

animations on various topics from land classification to the biosphere. The site also contains several
good reference links and case studies on current projects. Good for teachers of middle or high
school.
URL: http://www.earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Topics/land.html

resource: Gateway to Land and Water Information

source: Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)
description: This gateway website provides information on the state and trends of land, water and plant nutrition

management at national, regional and global scales. The purpose is to promote sustainable
agricultural land practices. The gateway has two functions: (1) An access point to global, regional
and national reports compiled by FAO and the participating institutions worldwide; and (2) An entry
point to the worldwide web of information on land, water and plant nutrition and related subjects.
URL: http://www.fao.org/landandwater/swlwpnr/swlwpnr.htm
keywords: Hydrology, Land, Water

resource: NASA's Visible Earth

source: National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)
description: This web site provides image galleries covering all elements of the earth system: solid earth,
atmosphere, cryosphere, oceans, biosphere. It also includes images of human impacts and
agriculture.
URL: http://www.visibleearth.nasa.gov/
keywords: Remote Sensing

resource: Natural Resource Management (NRM) Changelinks

description: This site aims to provide a practical resource for those who work with communities to help them

identify and adopt more sustainable natural resource management practices. It contains a rich array
of online resources.
URL: http://nrm.massey.ac.nz/changelinks/
keywords: Conservation, Natural Resource Management

resource: Participatory Management Clearinghouse

source: IUCN-The World Conservation Union, World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), and the Ramsar

Convention
description: This clearinghouse facilitates the exchange of experiences and perspectives from local practice to
the global debate. It promotes and disseminates a better flow of rich and diverse information on
participatory management by bringing together world-wide information, networks institutions,
experts and resources that are currently dispersed. This sharing of lessons enhances the social and
environmental impact of participatory management of natural resources.
URL: http://www.iucn.org/themes/pmns/index.html

keywords: Collaborative Management

resource: Population-Environment Research Network
source: International Union for the Scientific Study of Population (IUSSP), International Human

Dimensions of Global Environmental Change Program (IHDP), and CIESIN, Columbia University
description: The Population-Environment Research Network seeks to advance academic research on population
and the environment by promoting on-line scientific exchange among researchers from social and
natural science disciplines worldwide. The website features a fully searchable bibliographic
database, including many in the area of land-use and land-cover change.
URL: http://www.populationenvironmentresearch.org

keywords: Demography, Ecology, Population And Environment, Population Dynamics

resource:
source:
description:
URL:
keywords:

Sea Level Rise Reports

US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
An excellent collection of reports on sea level rise in the United States.
http://www.epa.gov/globalwarming/publications/impacts/sealevel/index.html
Climate Change, Sea-Level Rise

resource: Supporting Dryland Development and Contributing to Poverty Eradication

source: United Nations Development Program UNDP Office to Combat Desertification and Drought
description: UNDP recognizes the link between land degradation and poverty. In their effort to halve poverty by
2015, they propose to support policy development and capacity building to empower the poor,
assisting in sustainable environmental regeneration, and macro and micro- economic integration.
URL: http://www.undp.org/seed/unso/public.htm

resource: Water Resources of the United States

source: US Geological Survey
description: Provides up-to-date information on surface water, ground water, water quality and water use across
the United States.
URL: http://water.usgs.gov/
keywords: Hydrology, Water Resources

resource:
source:
description:
URL:

Watershed Information Network

Environmental Protection Agency
Provides a web portal to information on US watersheds.
http://www.epa.gov/wateratlas/

Need help or information?

Copyright 1994- 2002
The Trustees of Columbia University in the City of New York.