Geologically constrained changes to landforms caused by human activities in the 20th century: A case study from Fukuoka Prefecture,Japan

Human activity has been recognized to be an important geomorphic agent, and the resulting changes to landforms and land cover are regarded as a global problem. Although there has been much research into the relationships between geomorphic processes and types of land use such as agriculture, mining, and urbanization, it is important to clarify spatiotemporal human impacts on topography on a regional scale when predicting future changes in land cover.This study examined changes in land use to clarify the distribution and impact of anthropogenic changes to landforms, as well as the influence of geology on the extent of these changes. In a case study from Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan, changes in land use over the last century were analyzed using a geographic information system (GIS). The study area, which covers approximately 4930 km², has experienced urban development since 1950 and has a current population of over 5 million. Land use data were prepared using paper-based early editions of topographic maps. Subsequently, the distribution of anthropogenic landforms was evaluated by comparing landforms with regional geological data.GIS analysis using our prepared land use data, landform data, and regional geological data has clarified the following characteristics of the study area. (1) Land uses prior to 1950 were constrained by topographic relief. After 1950, land use was characterized by urban sprawl. Urban areas expanded and contained both higher elevations and steeper slopes at their margins. The relationships between land uses and landforms during this urbanization are unclear. (2) The area of urban land increased in the geological regions with Paleogene sedimentary rocks (PSD) and Mesozoic granitic rocks (GR) during the 20th century. The largest coal mining area in Japan was located in the PSD geological regions, and ancient iron working was common in the GR geological regions, particularly during the 7th century. This result indicates that the land use distribution, especially urban areas in sloping terrain, is related to the regional geology. (3) Deforestation related to land use resulted in steeper terrain in forest land in the PSD and GR geological regions. These changes to landforms in forest areas occurred as a result of rapid urban sprawl and have created many new boundaries between forest areas with steeper slopes and urban areas with gentler slopes. This phenomenon may have caused an increase in the frequency of sediment-related disasters.This case study indicates that predictions of anthropogenic changes to landform, which are important for the assessment of global climate change and natural hazards, must clarify the relationships between land uses, landforms, and regional geology.     

Scenarios of land system change in the Lao PDR: Transitions in response to alternative demands on goods and services provided by the land

Sudden and gradual land use changes can result in different socio-ecological systems, sometimes referred to as regime shifts. The Lao PDR (Laos) has been reported to show early signs of such regime shifts in land systems with potentially major socio-ecological implications. However, given the complex mosaic of different land systems, including shifting cultivation, such changes are not easily assessed using traditional land cover data. Moreover, regime shifts in land systems are difficult to simulate with traditional land cover modelling approaches. A novel simulation approach was employed that focused on simulating changes in land systems rather than focusing on land cover. With the CLUmondo model we simulated three scenarios of potential developments between the years 2010 and 2030 assuming different degrees of international market integration and sustainable growth objectives. Although all scenarios show a decline of shifting cultivation systems, the respective orientation of markets and land governance resulted in strongly different land change trajectories. The land system changes are strongly location dependent and different trajectories are found in different parts of the country. Some scenarios show clear elements of land sparing with intensification of land management in the valleys and re-growth of forest on sloping land. Other scenarios show elements of enhanced multi-functionality. The approach addressed methodological challenges in simulating land system regime shifts and complex mosaic landscapes while accounting for societal demands for different types of goods and services from land systems. The land systems approach allows a nuanced representation of different types of forests and agricultural systems such as shifting cultivation and commercial agricultural plantations. Simulation results contribute to a debate about desired future land use on the national scale including its environmental and socio-economic implications.     

Beyond density: municipal expenditures and the shape and location of development

A clear understanding of the relationship between development patterns and municipal expenditures is complicated by how one chooses to quantify these patterns. Extant literature often employs a single density measure to capture the low-density nature of sprawl. While density provides an intuitive link to economies of scale and congestion costs, it fails to capture other spatial characteristics of sprawl related to centrality, connectedness, and mixed use that may influence municipal expenditures according to Smart Growth and New Urbanism advocates. This study uses Massachusetts orthoimagery data to construct multidimensional measures of residential and commercial land use patterns. Municipal expenditures associated with public works, fire, and police are regressed on multidimensional measures of land use as well as a number of demand controls. Findings indicate that economies and diseconomies do exist with respect to the multidimensional metrics considered. Support is mixed for development patterns emphasized by Smart Growth and New Urbanism advocates.     

Population dynamics, socioeconomic change and land colonization in northern Jordan, with special reference to the Badia Research and Development Project area

The paper reports on preliminary observations from northern Jordan aimed at testing the view that people migrate from areas of relatively high potential for cultivation to the marginal semi-arid/arid frontier because of social differentiation, political factors or environmental constraints. Cultivated areas have been mapped from multi-date remotely sensed imagery, a typology of fields in the area has been constructed, and their dynamics between 1972 and 1992 analysed. In addition, semi-structured interviews with farmers attempted to understand the reasoning behind village growth, changing farming systems and cultivation practices. The findings are discussed in the context of the area's demography and national and regional shifts in economic policy.     

Land use and land cover change in Greater Dhaka, Bangladesh: Using remote sensing to promote sustainable urbanization

This study evaluates land use/cover changes and urban expansion in Greater Dhaka, Bangladesh, between 1975 and 2003 using satellite images and socio-economic data. Spatial and temporal dynamics of land use/cover changes were quantified using three Landsat images, a supervised classification algorithm and the post-classification change detection technique in GIS. Accuracy of the Landsat-derived land use/cover maps ranged from 85 to 90%. The analysis revealed that substantial growth of built-up areas in Greater Dhaka over the study period resulted significant decrease in the area of water bodies, cultivated land, vegetation and wetlands. Urban land expansion has been largely driven by elevation, population growth and economic development. Rapid urban expansion through infilling of low-lying areas and clearing of vegetation resulted in a wide range of environmental impacts, including habitat quality. As reliable and current data are lacking for Bangladesh, the land use maps produced in this study will contribute to both the development of sustainable urban land use planning decisions and also for forecasting possible future changes in growth patterns.     

Land use legacies of the Ohio River Basin: Using a spatially explicit land use change model to assess past and future impacts on aquatic resources

Land uses and their legacies are a major driver of human impacts on the environment. Decision makers have recognized that the legacies of land-use activities continue to influence ecosystems, particularly aquatic ones, for decades or centuries. The main objectives of this paper are to develop land use legacy maps to (1) assess historical and future (predicted) shifts in dominant land use classes (urban, agriculture, forest) in the Ohio River Basin (ORB), and (2) determine the past and future location of catchments in the ORB exceeding critical land use thresholds (10% and 38% urban and agricultural use of catchment respectively) for water quality and other aquatic resources. Our land use legacy simulations show that approximately 80% of the ORB has remained as agriculture (∼37%), forest (∼34%), urban (∼7%) and other classes (∼2%) from 1930 to 1990. Within the remainder of landscape, agriculture to forest (∼16%) and agriculture to urban (∼1.5%) transitions were the most common land use changes between 1930 and 1990. Our forecast model shows that approximately 94% of the ORB will remain as forest (∼47.46%), agriculture (∼35.77%), urban (∼8.84%) and other classes (∼2.07%) between 2000 and 2050. 1.44% and 1.37% of the ORB is predicted to transition from forest to urban and agriculture to urban between 2000 and 2050, respectively. Our results also demonstrate that 13% and 74% of the catchments in the ORB already exceeded critical urban and agricultural land use thresholds in 1930, respectively. We predict that 37% of catchments in the ORB will have exceeded critical urban land use thresholds by 2050, whereas the proportion of catchments to exceed critical agricultural use will decrease to 45%.     

Simulation of soil erosion and deposition in a changing land use: A modelling approach to implement the support practice factor

Using the USPED (Unit Stream Power Erosion Deposition) model, three land use scenarios were analysed for an Italian small catchment (15 km²) of high landscape value. The upper Orme stream catchment, located in the Chianti area, 30 km south of Florence, has a long historical agriculture record. Information on land use and soil conservation practices date back to 1821, hence offering an opportunity to model impacts of land use change on erosion and deposition. For this study, a procedure that takes into account soil conservation practices and potential sediment storage is proposed. The approach was to calculate and model the flow accumulation considering rural and logging roads, location of urban areas, drainage ditches, streams, gullies and permanent sediment sinks. This calculation attempts to assess the spatial variability, especially the impact of support practices (P factor). Weather data from 1980–2003 were taken into account to calculate the R factor. However, to consider the intense pluviometric conditions in terms of the erosivity factor, the 0.75th quantile was used, while the lowest erosivity was modelled using the 0.25th quantile. Results of the USPED model simulation show that in 1821 the mean annual net erosion for the watershed was 2.8 Mg ha^− 1 y^− 1; in 1954 it was 4.2 Mg ha^− 1 y^− 1; and in 2004 it was 5.3 Mg ha^− 1 y^− 1. Conservation practices can reduce erosion processes by ≥ 20 Mg ha^− 1 y^− 1 when the 1821 practices are introduced in the present management. On the other hand, if the support practices are not considered in the model, soil erosion risk is overestimated. Field observation for the present-day simulation confirmed that erosion and associated sediment deposition predicted by the model depend, as expected, on geomorphology and land use. The model shows limitations that are mainly due to the input data. A high resolution DEM is essential for the delineation of reliable topographic potential to predict erosion and deposition especially in vineyards.     

Linking pesticides and human health: A geographic information system (GIS) and Landsat remote sensing method to estimate agricultural pesticide exposure

Accurate pesticide exposure estimation is integral to epidemiologic studies elucidating the role of pesticides in human health. Humans can be exposed to pesticides via residential proximity to agricultural pesticide applications (drift). We present an improved geographic information system (GIS) and remote sensing method, the Landsat method, to estimate agricultural pesticide exposure through matching pesticide applications to crops classified from temporally concurrent Landsat satellite remote sensing images in California. The image classification method utilizes Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) values in a combined maximum likelihood classification and per-field (using segments) approach. Pesticide exposure is estimated according to pesticide-treated crop fields intersecting 500 m buffers around geocoded locations (e.g., residences) in a GIS. Study results demonstrate that the Landsat method can improve GIS-based pesticide exposure estimation by matching more pesticide applications to crops (especially temporary crops) classified using temporally concurrent Landsat images compared to the standard method that relies on infrequently updated land use survey (LUS) crop data. The Landsat method can be used in epidemiologic studies to reconstruct past individual-level exposure to specific pesticides according to where individuals are located.