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Food, Feed, Fuel, Timber or Carbon Sink? Towards Sustainable Land UseSustainability of Land Use: A Systems Approach

Food, Feed, Fuel, Timber or Carbon Sink? Towards Sustainable Land Use: Sustainability of Land... [By using a systems approach to the analysis of the environmental sustainability of land use and land use change, this chapter presents a background overview of the past and present links between land use, society and environment. Land use has changed dramatically throughout time in order to support the changing needs of an increasing human population. This has mainly consisted in the conversion of forests to cropland and grassland during the first agricultural revolution. The industrial revolution, coupled with the green revolution, allowed for unprecedented increases in yield, as advances in technology resulted in impressive increases in yield. However, these improvements have not eradicated hunger in the world and, despite some local and sporadic improvements, food insecurity is increasing. Land cover and land use changes are among the most significant impacts of human society on the environment, particularly on climate, ecosystems and biodiversity. Focus is given to the carbon budget. The historical net effect on the carbon balance is substantial. The close link between the carbon and energy cycles highlights the impact on other species caused by disruptions to these cycles. The second part of the chapter identifies a multitude of system tools and frameworks for assessing sustainability. The final section of this chapter integrates the concepts and terms used in these frameworks with those commonly used in LCA. As a result, a harmonised framework is proposed, allowing the convergence of different disciplinary frameworks.] http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png

Food, Feed, Fuel, Timber or Carbon Sink? Towards Sustainable Land UseSustainability of Land Use: A Systems Approach

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References (48)

Publisher
Springer Netherlands
Copyright
© The Author(s) 2021
ISBN
978-94-024-2097-5
Pages
15 –53
DOI
10.1007/978-94-024-2099-9_2
Publisher site
See Chapter on Publisher Site

Abstract

[By using a systems approach to the analysis of the environmental sustainability of land use and land use change, this chapter presents a background overview of the past and present links between land use, society and environment. Land use has changed dramatically throughout time in order to support the changing needs of an increasing human population. This has mainly consisted in the conversion of forests to cropland and grassland during the first agricultural revolution. The industrial revolution, coupled with the green revolution, allowed for unprecedented increases in yield, as advances in technology resulted in impressive increases in yield. However, these improvements have not eradicated hunger in the world and, despite some local and sporadic improvements, food insecurity is increasing. Land cover and land use changes are among the most significant impacts of human society on the environment, particularly on climate, ecosystems and biodiversity. Focus is given to the carbon budget. The historical net effect on the carbon balance is substantial. The close link between the carbon and energy cycles highlights the impact on other species caused by disruptions to these cycles. The second part of the chapter identifies a multitude of system tools and frameworks for assessing sustainability. The final section of this chapter integrates the concepts and terms used in these frameworks with those commonly used in LCA. As a result, a harmonised framework is proposed, allowing the convergence of different disciplinary frameworks.]

Published: Apr 16, 2021

Keywords: Systems approach; Land use and land use change; Agricultural revolution; Industrial revolution; Green revolution; Food security; Carbon cycle; Life cycle impact assessment

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