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and-use activities—whether converting throughout the globe, ranging from changes taining economic and social benefits.
natural landscapes for human use or in atmospheric composition to the extensive
changing management practices on modification of Earth_s ecosystems (3–6). For Food Production
human-dominated lands—have transformed example, land-use practices have played a role Together, croplands and pastures have become
a large proportion of the planet_s land sur- in changing the global carbon cycle and, pos- one of the largest terrestrial biomes on the planet,
face. By clearing tropical forests, practicing sibly, the global climate: Since 1850, roughly rivaling forest cover in extent and occupying
subsistence agriculture, intensifying farmland 35% of anthropogenic CO2 emissions resulted È40% of the land surface (17, 18) (Fig. 2).
production, or expanding urban centers, hu- directly from land use (7). Land-cover changes Changing land-use practices have enabled
man actions are changing the world_s land- also affect regional climates through changes world grain harvests to double in the past four
scapes in pervasive ways (1, 2) (Fig. 1, fig. S1, in surface energy and water balance (8, 9). decades, so they now exceed È2 billion tons
and table S1). Although land-use practices Humans have also transformed the hydrologic per year (19). Some of this increase can be
vary greatly across the world, their ultimate cycle to provide freshwater for irrigation, in- attributed to a È12% increase in world cropland
outcome is generally the same: the acquisition dustry, and domestic consumption (10, 11). area, but most of these production gains resulted
of natural resources for immediate human Furthermore, anthropogenic nutrient inputs to from ‘‘Green Revolution’’ technologies, includ-
needs, often at the expense of degrading en- the biosphere from fertilizers and atmospheric ing high-yielding cultivars, chemical fertilizers
vironmental conditions. pollutants now exceed natural sources and have and pesticides, and mechanization and irrigation
Several decades of research have re- widespread effects on water quality and coastal (4, 20) (fig. S2A). During the past 40 years,
vealed the environmental impacts of land use and freshwater ecosystems (4, 12). Land use there has been a È700% increase in global
has also caused declines in biodiversity through fertilizer use (4, 5) and a È70% increase in
1
Center for Sustainability and the Global Environ- the loss, modification, and fragmentation of irrigated cropland area (21, 22).
ment (SAGE), University of Wisconsin, 1710 Univer- habitats; degradation of soil and water; and Although modern agriculture has been
sity Avenue, Madison, WI 53726, USA. 2Department
of Geography and Earth System Science Interdisci-
overexploitation of native species (13) (SOM successful in increasing food production, it
plinary Center, University of Maryland, College Park, Text S1). has also caused extensive environmental dam-
College Park, MD 20742, USA. 3Department of Global Ironically, just as our collective land-use age. For example, increasing fertilizer use
Ecology, Carnegie Institution of Washington, Stanford, practices are degrading ecological conditions has led to the degradation of water quality in
CA 94305, USA. 4National Center for Atmospheric across the globe, humanity has become de- many regions (4, 12, 13) (fig. S2B). In ad-
Research (NCAR), Post Office Box 3000, Boulder, CO
80307–3000, USA. 5Center for Limnology, University pendent on an ever-increasing share of the dition, some irrigated lands have become
of Wisconsin, 680 North Park Street, Madison, WI biosphere_s resources. Human activities now heavily salinized, causing the worldwide loss
53706, USA. 6Institute of Arctic Biology, University of appropriate nearly one-third to one-half of of È1.5 million hectares of arable land per
Alaska, Fairbanks, AK 99775, USA. 7Center for Con- global ecosystem production (14), and as de- year, along with an estimated $11 billion in
servation Biology, Department of Biological Sciences,
371 Serra Mall, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, velopment and population pressures continue lost production (20). Up to È40% of global
USA. 8QUEST, Department of Earth Sciences, Uni- to mount, so could the pressures on the bio- croplands may also be experiencing some de-
versity of Bristol, Wills Memorial Building, Bristol BS8 sphere. As a result, the scientific community is gree of soil erosion, reduced fertility, or over-
1RJ, UK. 9Department of Atmospheric Sciences, Uni- increasingly concerned about the condition of grazing (20). The loss of native habitats also
versity of Illinois, 105 South Gregory Street, Urbana,
IL 61801, USA.
global ecosystems and Becosystem services[ affects agricultural production by degrading
(15, 16) (SOM Text S2). the services of pollinators, especially bees
*To whom correspondence should be addressed:
jfoley@wisc.edu
Land use thus presents us with a dilemma. (23, 24). In short, modern agricultural land-
.Present address: Woods Hole Research Center, On one hand, many land-use practices are use practices may be trading short-term in-
Woods Hole, MA 02543, USA. absolutely essential for humanity, because they creases in food production for long-term losses
small-scale
estimated to be È1800 to natural farms perature increase during the
2300 km3 yrj1 (22, 27) (fig.
S3A). Agriculture alone ac-
counts for È85% of global
ecosystems intensive
agriculture ? last several decades resulted
from urbanization and other
land-use changes (9). Land-
consumptive use (22). As a cover change has also been
result, many large rivers, es- implicated in changing the
pecially in semiarid regions, regional climate in China;
have greatly reduced flows, recent analyses suggest that
and some routinely dry up the daily diurnal tempera-
(21, 28). In addition, the 0% ture range has decreased as
extraction of groundwater pre-settlement frontier subsistence intensifying intensive a result of urbanization (42).
reserves is almost univer- Land-use practices also
stage in land use transition
sally unsustainable and has change air quality by alter-
resulted in declining water Fig. 1. Land-use transitions. Transitions in land-use activities that may be experienced ing emissions and changing
tables in many regions within a given region over time. As with demographic and economic transitions, societies the atmospheric conditions
(21, 28) (fig. S2, B and C). appear also to follow a sequence of different land-use regimes: from presettlement nat- that affect reaction rates,
ural vegetation to frontier clearing, then to subsistence agriculture and small-scale farms,
Water quality is often and finally to intensive agriculture, urban areas, and protected recreational lands. Dif- transport, and deposition.
degraded by land use. In- ferent parts of the world are in different transition stages, depending on their history, For example, tropospheric
tensive agriculture increases social and economic conditions, and ecological context. Furthermore, not all parts of ozone (O3) is particularly
erosion and sediment load, the world move linearly through these transitions. Rather, some places remain in one sensitive to changes in vege-
and leaches nutrients and stage for a long period of time, while others move rapidly between stages. [Adapted tation cover and biogenic
agricultural chemicals to from (1) and (2)] emissions. Land-use prac-
groundwater, streams, and tices often determine dust
rivers. In fact, agriculture has become the lands (35). Furthermore, forest management sources, biomass burning, vehicle emission
largest source of excess nitrogen and phospho- in many regions is acting to improve forest patterns, and other air pollution sources.
rus to waterways and coastal zones (12, 29). conditions. For example, inadvertent nitrogen Furthermore, the effects of land use on local
Urbanization also substantially degrades water fertilization, peatland drainage, and direct man- meteorological conditions, primarily in urban
quality, especially where wastewater treat- agement efforts increased the standing bio- heat islands, also affect air quality: Higher
ment is absent. The resulting degradation of mass of European forests by È40% between urban temperatures generally cause O3 to in-
inland and coastal waters impairs water sup- 1950 and 1990, while their area remained crease (43).
plies, causes oxygen depletion and fish kills, largely unchanged (36, 37). These forests have
increases blooms of cyanobacteria (including become a substantial sink of atmospheric Infectious Disease
toxic varieties), and contributes to waterborne carbon (È0.14 Pg C yrj1 in the 1990s) (37), Habitat modification, road and dam construc-
disease (12, 30). although other ecosystem services (including tion, irrigation, increased proximity of peo-
those provided by peatlands) and biodiversity ple and livestock, and the concentration or
Forest Resources are likely diminished. expansion of urban environments all modify
Land-use activities, primarily for agricultural the transmission of infectious disease and can
expansion and timber extraction, have caused a Regional Climate and Air Quality lead to outbreaks and emergence episodes
net loss of È7 to 11 million km2 of forest in the Land conversion can alter regional climates (44). For example, increasing tropical defor-
past 300 years (17, 32, 33). Highly managed through its effects on net radiation, the di- estation coincides with an upsurge of malaria
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