BACKGROUND The GTAP model has been used to estimate biofuel policy induced land use changes and consequent GHG emissions for more than a decade. This paper reviews the history of the model and database modifications and improvements that have occurred over that period. In particular, the paper covers in greater detail the move from the 2004 to the 2011 database, and the inclusion of cropland in...

Aim Agricultural intensification and urbanization are important drivers of biodiversity change in Europe. Different aspects of bee community diversity vary in their sensitivity to these pressures, as well as independently influencing ecosystem service provision (pollination). To obtain a more comprehensive understanding of human impacts on bee diversity across Europe, we assess multiple, comple...

Interactions between food demand, biomass energy and forest preservation are driving both food prices and land-use changes, regionally and globally. This study presents a new model called Nexus Land-Use version 1.0 which describes these interactions through a generic representation of agricultural intensification mechanisms within agricultural lands. The Nexus Land-Use model equations combine b...

Objective: The aim of this study is to provide a management plan for the Sykan watershed of Darre shahr city located in Ilam province using GIS in land use planning. Methods: For land using of Sykan watershed of Ilam province with about 9 hectares area, map of classes, elevation, percent slope, geographical aspects, soil characteristics, vegetation density and the final map units were combined ...

To advance global change research, it is essential to reconstruct changes in historical cropland coverage on a regional scale in China. This paper presents data collected from 244 local gazetteers, government statistical records and remote-sensing land cover data from the Shandong Province. The study reconstructed the spatial distribution of the rate of reclaimed land at the county level and co...

The City of Mississauga in Ontario has been experiencing a fast urban growth in the past two decades which has caused rapid loss of the valuable farm and open space land. Land-use and land-cover maps of the City were produced from Landsat TM images for 1985 and 1999, spanning a period of 14 years. Dramatic changes in land use and land cover have occurred, with loss of forest, cropland and water...

Provision of food is a prerequisite for the functioning of human society. Cropland where food and feed are grown is the central, limiting resource for food production. The amount of cropland needed depends on population numbers, average food consumption patterns, and output per unit of land. Around the globe, these factors show large differences. We use data from the Food and Agriculture Organi...