TY - CHAP

T1 - Finite land resources and competition

AU - Haberl, Helmut

AU - Mbow, Cheikh

AU - Deng, Xiangzheng

AU - Irwin, Elena G

AU - Kerr, Suzi

AU - Kuemmerle, Tobias

AU - Mertz, Ole

AU - Meyfroidt, Patrick

AU - Turner II, B. L.

PY - 2014

Y1 - 2014

N2 - Rising demand for land-based products (food, feed, fi ber, and bioenergy) as well as conservation of forests and carbon sinks create increasing competition for land. Landuse competition has many drivers, takes different forms, and can have many significant implications for ecosystems as well as societal well-being. This chapter discusses several emerging issues, including the effect of increased demand for nonprovisioning ecosystem services ( biodiversity conservation and carbon sequestration), urbanization, bioenergy, and teleconnections. Three major types of land-use competition are discerned: production versus production (e.g., food vs. fuel), production versus conservation (e.g., food production vs. conservation), and built-up environment versus production or conservation (e.g., food vs. urban). Sustainability impacts that result from land-use competition are analyzed and found to differ strongly between the differenttypes of land-use competition. They are associated with important trade-offs andhigh uncertainty. Institutional aspects related to land-use competition are discussed using a conceptual model that distinguishes types of institutions (government, private, community) as well as their functions (objectives, distribution/ equity, effectiveness/efficiency). Analysis of long-term trajectories suggests that land-use competition is likely to intensify in the medium- to long-term future, mainly in the face of expected scarcities in resource supply (e.g., in terms of limited resources such as fossil fuels), mitigation and adaptation policies related to climate change, as well as climate change impacts and demographic pressures. The chapter concludes with a discussion of majorresearch gaps, and it outlines priority research topics, including the improved analysis of interdependencies of land and energy systems, “ land architecture” (i.e., the significance of spatial confi gurations), and multiscale models to assess local-global connections and impacts.

AB - Rising demand for land-based products (food, feed, fi ber, and bioenergy) as well as conservation of forests and carbon sinks create increasing competition for land. Landuse competition has many drivers, takes different forms, and can have many significant implications for ecosystems as well as societal well-being. This chapter discusses several emerging issues, including the effect of increased demand for nonprovisioning ecosystem services ( biodiversity conservation and carbon sequestration), urbanization, bioenergy, and teleconnections. Three major types of land-use competition are discerned: production versus production (e.g., food vs. fuel), production versus conservation (e.g., food production vs. conservation), and built-up environment versus production or conservation (e.g., food vs. urban). Sustainability impacts that result from land-use competition are analyzed and found to differ strongly between the differenttypes of land-use competition. They are associated with important trade-offs andhigh uncertainty. Institutional aspects related to land-use competition are discussed using a conceptual model that distinguishes types of institutions (government, private, community) as well as their functions (objectives, distribution/ equity, effectiveness/efficiency). Analysis of long-term trajectories suggests that land-use competition is likely to intensify in the medium- to long-term future, mainly in the face of expected scarcities in resource supply (e.g., in terms of limited resources such as fossil fuels), mitigation and adaptation policies related to climate change, as well as climate change impacts and demographic pressures. The chapter concludes with a discussion of majorresearch gaps, and it outlines priority research topics, including the improved analysis of interdependencies of land and energy systems, “ land architecture” (i.e., the significance of spatial confi gurations), and multiscale models to assess local-global connections and impacts.

M3 - Book chapter

SN - 9780262026901

T3 - Strungmann Forum reports

SP - 35

EP - 69

BT - Rethinking Global Land Use in an Urban Era

A2 - Seto, Karen S

A2 - Reenberg, Anette

PB - MIT Press

CY - Cambridge, MA

ER -