Land use intensification affects the relative importance of climate variation and active land degradation: Convergence of six regions around the world

Autor: Sanjuán, María E., Martínez‐Valderrama, Jaime, Ruiz, Alberto, del Barrio, Gabriel
Přispěvatelé: Universidad de Alicante. Instituto Multidisciplinar para el Estudio del Medio 'Ramón Margalef', European Commission, European Research Council, TRAGSA Empresa de Transformación Agraria
Rok vydání: 2022
Předmět:
Zdroj: RUA. Repositorio Institucional de la Universidad de Alicante
Universidad de Alicante (UA)
Land Degradation & Development
ISSN: 1099-145X
1085-3278
DOI: 10.1002/ldr.4326
Popis: We explored the relative importance of climate oscillations and human-driven disturbances on the change in vegetation biomass in agroecosystems, and whether it is associated with land use. Our main contribution is a quantitative treatment of these factors in equivalent terms, i.e. not assuming any of them to be principal. The study was carried out in the drylands of the Iberian Peninsula, NW Maghreb, Palestinian West Bank, Mozambique, China and NE Brazil, using satellite time-series and the corresponding climate fields, at ten-year observation periods with spatial and temporal resolutions of 1000 m (250 m in Palestine) and one year, respectively. For each region, we separated the relative weights of climate and time by fitting multiple-stepwise regressions to a vegetation index as the dependent variable, and annual aridity (Aridity) and year number (Time) as predictors. The relative strength of the resulting standard partial regression coefficients was then compared by the Wilcoxon signed ranks test, and their combined associations with land uses were determined using Chi-square tests. Some points of convergence are as follows: (1) The relative weights of Aridity and Time depend on particular regional conditions and can be determined. (2) Such weights are associated with land use intensification, such that if vegetation increases over Time, Aridity increases its relative importance with intensification; if vegetation is degrading, Aridity is always more important than Time. (3) Aridity is an indicator of vulnerability to climate warming. Resilience can be improved by reducing land use intensification. 4. Vulnerability may worsen under constant climate if agriculture is intensified. These patterns enhance an integrated understanding of Sustainable Development Goals Indicator 15.3.1, particularly its land cover and productivity trend components.
This study was funded by the European Commission [LifeWatch ERIC—SUMHAL ref. LIFEWATCH-2019-09-CSIC-13, MELODIES— FP7 Contract 603525 and BIODESERT—ERC Grant Agreement 647038], the European Space Agency [DUE—DesertWatch Extension Contract 18487/04/I-LG, and Dragon Projects 10367 and 32396] and Tragsatec (Grupo Tragsa) [Contract 25.604].
Databáze: OpenAIRE
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