Land-Use and Land-Cover Change Pathways and Impacts

Abstract

Of the challenges facing the Earth over the next century, land use and land cover changes are likely to be the most significant. This anthropogenic process affects many parts of the earth’s system (e.g., climate, hydrology), global biodiversity, and the fundamental sustainability of lands. Various estimates indicate that 50 percent of the ice-free land surface has been affected or modified in some way by human activity (Vitousek et al., 1997), while 10 to 55 percent of the net primary productivity has been captured by human land use activities (Rojstaczer et al., 2001). Over the next century, global population is projected to increase by 50-100% and it is likely that there will also be an increase in the global standard of living. Thus pressures to further convert or manage “natural” ecosystems for human needs as well as capturing more of the global net primary productivity are also likely to increase.