August 1997
INFERENTIAL STUDIES OF CLIMATE CHANGE
753
Ecological Applications, 7(3), 1997, pp. 753–769
q 1997 by the Ecological Society of America
THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN LAND-USE CHANGE AND
CLIMATE CHANGE
VIRGINIA H. DALE
Environmental Sciences Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennessee 37831-6038 USA
Abstract. Land-use change is related to climate change as both a causal factor and a
major way in which the effects of climate change are expressed. As a causal factor, land
use influences the flux of mass and energy, and as land-cover patterns change, these fluxes
are altered. Projected climate alterations will produce changes in land-cover patterns at a
variety of temporal and spatial scales, although human uses of the land are expected to
override many effects. A review of the literature dealing with the relationship between
land-use change and climate change clearly shows that (1) in recent centuries land-use
change has had much greater effects on ecological variables than has climate change; (2)
the vast majority of land-use changes have little to do with climate change or even climate;
and (3) humans will change land use, and especially land management, to adjust to climate
change and these adaptations will have some ecological effects. Therefore, an understanding
of the nonclimatic causes of land-use change (e.g., socioeconomics and politics) are necessary to manage ecological functions effectively on regional and global scales.
Key words: climate change, relation to land-use changes; forests, affected by climate change;
global circulation models; global models of vegetation change; greenhouse gases, sources of; humaninduced climate change; land-cover changes; land-use changes, non-climatic causes; land-use change
and climate change; modeling carbon flux.
INTRODUCTION
During the next few decades, global ecological
changes are expected to have major impacts on ecological, social, economic, and political aspects of human society. The ecological impacts include changes
to biodiversity, productivity, migration, and sustainability. Climate and land-use changes are two major
global ecological changes predicted for the future.
Heretofore, causes and consequences of human-induced climate change and land-use activities have
largely been examined independently (but see Turner
et al. 1993). However, climate change and land use
affect each other.
Land-use activity contributes to climate change, and
changes in land-cover patterns are one way in which
the effects of climate change are expressed (Fig. 1).
Land use refers to the management regime humans impose on a site (e.g., plantations or agroforestry), whereas land cover is a descriptor of the status of the vegetation at a site (e.g., forest or crop). Land-use effects
on climate change include both implications of landuse change on atmospheric flux of CO2 and its subsequent impact on climate and the alteration of climatechange impacts through land management. Effects of
climate change on land use refers to both how land use
might be altered by climate change and what land management strategies would mitigate the negative effects
of climate change.
Many resources are being expended to study causes
and effects of climate change (Houghton et al. 1990).
However, there is concern that the results of these studies may not be relevant to decision makers because the
research does not deal with major factors influencing
climate change impacts (OTA 1993: p. 111). The Sustainable Biosphere Initiative of the Ecological Society
of America therefore commissioned this paper in order
to evaluate the importance of land use in considering
climate change impacts.
The purpose of this paper is to review current practice in assessing and modeling land-use change as it
relates to climate change and to identify areas in which
research is needed to supply critical information for
such assessments and models. The emphasis is on global and regional landscapes, for these are the spatial
scales at which land-use and climate-change interactions occur. The most productive research areas for
enhancing our understanding of global ecological
changes are identified.
LAND-USE CONTRIBUTIONS
Manuscript received 12 May 1994; revised 1 March 1995;
accepted 24 November 1995; final version received 21 February 1996. For reprints of the Invited Feature, see footnote
1, p. 751.
TO
CLIMATE CHANGE
Human activities influence climate change by altering the distribution of ecosystems and their associated
fluxes of energy (e.g., latent and sensible heat and ra-
753
754
FIG. 1. Relationship between
change and climate change.
INVITED FEATURE
Ecological Applications
Vol. 7, No. 3
land-use
diative exchanges and mass (e.g., water vapor, trace
gases, and particulates). Here, we focus on how landuse change can affect those fluxes.
At the landscape scale, changes in land-cover patterns can directly impact energy and mass fluxes. For
example, when large areas of forests are cleared, reduced transpiration results in less cloud formation, less
rainfall, and increased drying. Simulations of the deforestation of Amazonia indicate that evapotranspiration and forests would be replaced by either desert or
pasture (Dickinson 1991). Although the model results
are variable, they do indicate the sensitivity of regional
climate to the type and density of vegetation.
Both field studies (Segal et al. 1988) and model simulations (Pielke et al. 1997) suggest that spatially alternating bands of transpiring vegetation with dry soil
on a scale of tens of kilometers can influence atmospheric circulation and cloud formation. Because landsurface characteristics influence surface temperatures
and latent heat flux, the contrasting characteristics of
adjacent land-cover types can induce convection that
enhances clouds and precipitation.
Increased albedo and its subsequent effects on climate also result from changes in land-surface characteristics (Dickinson 1991, Sagan et al. 1979). Changes
in land cover can alter the reflectance of the earth’s
surface and induce local warming or cooling; generally,
as albedo increases, surface temperatures decline. Desertification can occur when overgrazing of savanna
vegetation alters surface albedo and surface water budget and thus changes the regional circulation and precipitation patterns. Overgrazing can also increase the
amount of suspended dust that, in turn, causes radiative
cooling and a decline in precipitation.
Increased atmospheric concentration of greenhouse
gases that result in global climate change (Ramanathan
1988) is discussed at length below because (1) a wealth
of data is available and (2) it illustrates how changes
in particular land-cover categories can dominate the
impact. Table 1 summarizes the industrial and biotic
sources of the primary greenhouse gases: carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, and chlorofluorocarbons. At the global scale, human activities influence
the greenhouse effect by releasing greenhouse gases
into the atmosphere and by changing the patterns of
carbon storage through land-use activities. The discussion below focuses on effects of greenhouse-gas
emissions due to land use rather than those due to industrial activities.
Carbon dioxide
The anthropogenic release of CO2 has increased
greatly since the industrial age began and fossil fuels
began being intensively used as an energy source. Currently, ø61% of the anthropogenic greenhouse forcing
can be attributed to CO2 increases (Shine et al. 1990).
During the past century (1850 to 1980), fossil fuels
accounted for the release of 150–190 Pg of carbon
(PgC) (Rotty 1987), and land-use change accounted for
the release of 90–120 PgC (Houghton and Skole 1990)
with land-use changes making the greater contribution
prior to about 1910 (Fig. 2).
Houghton et al. (1983) estimated that the world’s
total forested area in 1700 was 6042 3 106 ha. Dixon
et al. (1994) estimated that the area in 1987–1990 was
4165 3 106 ha. Comparing these two figures leads one
to believe that .30% of the world’s forests have been
cleared since 1700 (not including areas that were
cleared and grew back to forests). This large-scale deforestation has resulted largely from agriculture expansion. World Resources Institute (1992) estimates
that 1478 3 106 ha were in cropland and 3323 3 106
ha were in permanent pasture by 1989. These areas
constitute 11% and 25% of the world’s land area, respectively, and represent increases of 2.2% and 0.1%
since 1979. During that time the area in forest decreased by 1.8%, to 4095 3 106 ha. Deforestation and
the associated agricultural expansion are particularly
important because clearing induces carbon losses from
the soil and vegetation, and forests contain ø90% of
INFERENTIAL STUDIES OF CLIMATE CHANGE
August 1997
755
TABLE 1. Annual global emissions of the primary greenhouse gases, from industrial and biotic sources.
Contribution to
greenhouse effect
(%)†
Gas
CO2
CH4
N 2O
CFCs
During
Since
Global warming
last
start of decade Atmospheric potential relaindustri- (1980–
tive to CO2
lifeal age 1990) time (yr)‡ over 500 yr†
61
15
4
12
56
11
6
24
50–200
10
150
65–130
Source
Annual emissions§
Share (%)
of total
greenhouse-gas
emissions\
1
Industrial
5800 Tg C¶
78
9
Biotic
Tropical deforestation
Industrial
600–2600 Tg C#
80 (45–100) Tg C
22
16
Biotic
Natural wetlands
Ruminant fermentation
Rice paddies
Landfills
Biomass burning
Oceans and freshwater
Animal wastes
Sewage
Termites
Industrial
Fertilizer
120 (100–200) Tg C††
80 (65–100) Tg C
50 (25–70) Tg C††
40 (20–70) Tg C
30 (20–80) Tg C††
30 (6–45) Tg C††
30 Tg C††
30 Tg C††
10 (10–100) Tg C††
0.1–0.3 Tg N
0.1–2.2 Tg N
24
16
10
8
6
6
6
6
2
3
15
Biotic
Tropical soils
Temperate soils
Biomass burning‡‡
Oceans
Unknown
Industrial
Biotic
2.2–3.7 Tg N
0.7–1.5 Tg N
0.02–0.2 Tg N
1.4–2.6 Tg N
??
1.090 Tg
0 Tg
39
15
2
27
190
510–4500
100
0
Note: The greenhouse gases considered here are only those directly released as a result of human activities. Tropospheric
ozone, which is formed as a result of other emissions, contributes another 5% to the total. The major greenhouse gas, water
vapor, is not directly under human control but will increase in response to global warming.
† Shine et al. (1990).
‡ Houghton et al. (1990).
§ Watson et al. (1990) unless indicated otherwise. Note: 1 Tg 5 1012 g.
\ Percentages are calculated using the mean or median value. Rounding may cause the sum to not be 100%.
¶ Marland (1990).
# Houghton et al. (1987), Detwiler and Hall (1988), and Hall and Uhlig (1990).
†† Neue (1993).
‡‡ Kuhlbusch et al. (1991) demonstrate that significant quantities of molecular nitrogen (5–20 Tg N/yr) are also released
by biomass burning.
FIG. 2. Historical contributions to atmospheric CO2 concentrations from greenhouse gases (Marland et al. 1989) and
land-use change (Houghton 1994). (Note: 1 Pg 5 1015 g 5
109 metric tons.)
the carbon stored in global vegetation (calculated from
the estimated biomass in forests compared to that in
all vegetation using data in Whittaker and Likens
[1973]).
Carbon releases from terrestrial ecosystems that result from land-use change are difficult to quantify accurately because of uncertainties in (1) the rates of land
clearing and abandonment, (2) the estimates of the carbon stored in the vegetation and soils of managed and
unmanaged ecosystems, and (3) the fate of carbon subsequent to land-use changes. It is clear that the location
of major land clearing and abandonment has changed
with time and that the form and magnitude of the carbon
released from terrestrial ecosystems have also varied.
Before 1930, the primary biotic contributions of CO2
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INVITED FEATURE
FIG. 3. Terrestrial release of CO2, by continent, due to
land-use change. Reprinted from Dale (1994: Fig. 2) with
permission of Springer-Verlag, New York, New York, USA.
were from the clearing of the temperate forests in the
northern hemisphere and from the losses of soil carbon
because of agriculture (Fig. 3). Some of these temperate
areas are now reforested, and today’s 112 3 106 ha of
forest plantations worldwide constitute a carbon sink
as the growing trees rapidly accumulate carbon (Dixon
et al. 1994). Currently, the most important changes in
CO2 storage are caused by tropical deforestation; ø15.4
3 106 ha are being cleared each year (Table 2). Although large regions of the tropics are set aside for
protection from forest harvesting, the degree to which
forests are protected depends on political pressures
within a government, population pressures within a
country, the availability of other resources to sustain
the lives and livelihoods of that population, economic
pressures from within and without the country, the political stability of governments, the number and ability
of law enforcement agents to uphold the laws, and the
respect the citizens have for the laws. These factors are
unpredictable in most developing countries.
Natural wetlands can also process and transfer significant amounts of CO2 (Armentano 1980) and other
greenhouse gases. The reduction of natural wetlands,
largely caused by drainage for agriculture, has resulted
in a reduction of a biotic source of CO2. A computer
model indicated that by 1990 28–38% of the temperatezone carbon source had been eliminated by agricultural
drainage (Armentano and Menges 1986).
Retrospectively estimating land clearing and wetland
conversion has been complicated by the historic use of
a large number of land-cover classification systems.
Richards and Flint (1994) found changes in the classification system to be the major difficulty in compiling
their 100-yr history of land-use changes in south and
southeast Asia. A proposed vegetation classification
logic for remote-sensing data (Running et al. 1994) and
recent computer advances with geographic information
systems (GISs) make estimation of potential vegetation
repeatable and quantifiable (Iverson et al. 1994). Remote-sensing imagery makes it possible to measure
land-cover patterns since 1972 (when LANDSAT was
first established), and current remote sensing can detect
and distinguish a diversity of land-cover types (Townshend et al. 1991).
But knowing the current and historic land cover is
not enough. The amount of carbon stored in the terrestrial system also affects carbon releases, and the
amount and form of carbon stored in vegetation and
soils varies by vegetation type, prevailing temperature
and precipitation conditions, prior disturbances, the
state of recovery, and current management. The Terrestrial Carbon Model (Houghton et al. 1983) provides
a basis for ascertaining the kind and status of data
needed to estimate the amount of and changes in vegetal and soil carbon. That model assumes that carbon
in vegetation and soils declines with disturbances, and
recovers a portion of its initial value if the disturbance
ceases and does not recur. The data required for the
model have been derived for major vegetation types
for each of the continents, and a complete description
TABLE 2. Rates of annual deforestation in the tropics. Values are from FAO (1993) unless indicated otherwise.
Protected areas
(106 ha)
No. of
Forested land (106 ha)
coun- Land area
6
1980
1990
tries
(10 ha) 1700
Tropical Africa
Tropical Asia and
Pacific
Tropical Latin America
and Caribbean
Total
Annual deforestation,
1981–1991
106 ha† %/yr
Forested
conservation Closed
areas forests
Plantation areas
in 1990 (106
ha)‡
Indus- Nonintrial dustrial
40
2236.1
1358§
568.6
527.6
4.1
0.7
39.3
9.3\
1.4
1.6
17
892.1
855§
349.6
310.6
3.9
1.2
42.3
17.5\
9.2
23.1
33
90
1650.1
4778.3
1445†
3658
992.2
1910.4
918.1
1756.3
7.4
15.4
0.8
2.7
125.9
207.5
14.0\
40.8
5.1
15.7
3.5
28.2
† Entries are the average per year of the total for 1981–1991.
‡ Industrial refers to commercial forests; nonindustrial refers to privately owned forests.
§ Houghton et al. (1983).
\ World Resources Institute (1992).
INFERENTIAL STUDIES OF CLIMATE CHANGE
August 1997
757
TABLE 3. Parameters used in the Terrestrial Carbon Model (Houghton et al. 1983) to define
the changes in the carbon in vegetation and soils during the transformation of a natural
ecosystem to agriculture, during cultivation, and following abandonment.
Category
Parameter
Carbon in vegetation
Undisturbed vegetation
‘‘Recovered’’ systems
Agricultural crops
Pasture
Tree crops
Degraded lands
Carbon in soils
Undisturbed systems
‘‘Recovered’’ systems
Croplands
Pasture
Cleared systems (after the initial rapid decline)
Degraded lands
Time required for an abandoned system to ‘‘recover’’
Carbon in vegetation
Soil carbon
Fraction of carbon assigned to decay
pools after clearing
Released
Released
Released
Released
Decay of wood
k values for exponential equation†
immediately
within 1 yr
over 10 yr
over 100 or more years
Carbon in agricultural soils
Minimum value
Soil carbon decay
Time required for initial, rapid change in soil
carbon following clearing
Time required for carbon in soil to
reach minimum value
Croplands
Pasture
† Where wood decay is given by the following equation: Bt 5 B0ekt where t 5 time, Bt is the
biomass of wood at time t, and k , 0.
of these parameters is provided by Houghton et al.
(1983) (Table 3). Both the remote-sensing-imagery and
the Terrestrial Carbon Model approaches suffer from
the same Achilles heel. They both rely on the determination of a single value to represent a vegetation
type within a region. However, the basic parameters
may vary from vegetation type to vegetation type more
than is currently documented.
It is possible is gain an understanding of the sort of
data needed to estimate carbon flux by reviewing the
parameters used in the Terrestrial Carbon Model (Table
3). Carbon in the vegetation has been estimated in two
ways, both of which assume that carbon constitutes
about half of vegetation biomass (Reichle et al. 1973).
Brown and Lugo (1992) point out that ecologists typically measure biomass in pristine forests, whereas foresters typically obtain biomass estimates from large
statistical samples of forests that include a variety of
stand histories. Thus, the ecologists’ measures of biomass are generally higher than the foresters’, and the
foresters’ estimates characterize average conditions of
existing forests more accurately.
In computer models of regional land-use change
(e.g., Houghton et al. 1983), carbon flux is modeled in
a simplified manner. Carbon in ‘‘recovered’’ ecosystems is generally modeled as a portion of the biomass
in the original system. In some cases, it is simply represented as 90% of the original value. However, re-
covered ecosystems may actually contain ,90% of the
original carbon, depending on how ‘‘recovery’’ is defined. In such models, carbon in crops and pastures is
almost uniformly given a value of 5 3 106 g/ha. In
reality, however, carbon content varies depending on
the species planted, soils, use of fertilizers or irrigation,
and prevailing climate. Even so, given economic constraints, agricultural lands are probably more similar
(have less variance in biomass) than forests. In addition, the models usually assume that the time required
for an abandoned system to recover is a constant regardless of vegetation type. However, based on a study
of plant succession in the eastern Amazon, Uhl et al.
(1988) suggest that the time for vegetation to recover
to initial biomass levels may vary from 100 to 500 yr,
depending on the intensity of the land use (particularly
soil compaction by cattle).
In incorporating the effects of soil into assessments
of vegetative cover, the spatial heterogeneity of soil
properties complicates obtaining representative measures of soil conditions and maps of soil taxonomy.
Yet as Schlesinger (1991) has pointed out, soil carbon
and its changes, difficult as they may be to measure,
may be key factors in accurately determining carbon
flux. To estimate carbon flux, a major research need is
information on soil characteristics (e.g., water-holding
capacity, soil depth, texture, pH, redox potential, and
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INVITED FEATURE
hydrologic regime) and the roles played by the vegetation, detritus, and other biota.
Once the carbon content of abandoned systems is
determined, the rate of change in carbon storage must
be established. It depends on the carbon initially in the
vegetation and soils, the time to ‘‘recovery,’’ and the
carbon content of soils and vegetation of a system considered to be recovered (Table 3). These factors are a
function of the nature of the surface of the soil, soil
depth, the carbon and nutritive content of the soil, prevailing weather conditions, slope of the soil surface,
suitability for revegetation, the presence of sources of
seed for regeneration of the forest, and many more
conditions.
Methane
Methane is a chemically active trace gas produced
by anaerobic processes. Since the industrial age began,
methane has grown to comprise ø17% of the anthropogenic greenhouse forcing (Shine et al. 1990; Table
1). Methane is a very powerful greenhouse gas with a
radiative effectiveness that is about 9 times that of CO 2.
Wetlands are the largest natural source and contribute
ø22% of the total release of CH4 to the atmosphere
(see review by Harris et al. [1993]). Any activity that
disturbs the soils of these wetlands (e.g., drainage for
agriculture or forestry use) can affect anaerobic processes. Rice paddies are another major source of methane, with the amount being released depending on agricultural practices (fertilization, mulching, water management, plant density, and rotations), soil characteristics, and season (Neue 1993). The 41% increase in
wetland rice production since 1951 has increased methane releases from this source (Neue 1993). Emissions
from natural wetlands and rice paddies are particularly
sensitive to temperature and soil-moisture changes and
may be affected by future climate changes. For example, modeling studies suggest that northern highlatitude wetlands are a potential source of methane under warmer and wetter conditions than presently occur
(Harris et al. 1993).
Biomass burning also releases methane, and thus the
increase in rates of forest cutting (much of which is
subsequently burned) correlates with the increase in
methane release (Crutzen and Andreae 1990). Emissions of methane from ruminants depend on the density
of animals as well as the type of food consumed. Increases in populations of cows and sheep have occurred
as elephant and bison herds have decreased, which
make it difficult to calculate the changes in methane
emissions. It is unclear how much termites contribute
to the methane flux because of uncertainties in the global termite population and the consumption of biomass
by termites. If the termite population declines, methane
from that source will correspondingly decrease. The
anaerobic activity of landfills is another major source
of methane to the atmosphere that increases with the
growth in human population.
Nitrous oxide
Nitrous oxide is produced from a diversity of biological sources in soils and water. Nitrous oxides comprise ø4% of the anthropogenic greenhouse forcing
over the past five centuries, but their contribution has
increased with the spread of human activity (Shine et
al. 1990). Nitrous oxide is ø190 times more effective
radiatively than CO2. The major background source of
nitrous oxide (prior to human activities) was tropical
forest soils (Matson and Vitousek 1987, 1990). Oceanic
release of N2O occurs through both nitrification in nearsurface waters and denitrification in oxygen-deficient
deep waters (e.g., Joye and Paerl 1993).
Within the biotic sphere, human activities and particularly agriculture have had a major influence on the
flux of nitrous oxides. The release of nitrous oxides to
the atmosphere has increased with human activities as
a result of tropical land clearing and replacement by
agriculture (Luizao et al. 1989), biomass burning
(Crutzen and Andreae 1990, Cofer et al. 1991), and
degassing of irrigation water (Ronan 1988). Emission
of nitrous oxide has been increased by the use of fertilizers (EPA 1990) and by the expansion of the area
in nitrogen-fixing leguminous plants in agriculture (Eichner 1990). However, our understanding of the global
budget for nonindustrial and nontransport-related nitrous oxide is not complete because of uncertainties in
the fluxes and a paucity of information on some of the
processes (Vitousek and Matson 1993).
ECOLOGICAL EFFECTS
OF
CLIMATE CHANGE
Climate change affects terrestrial ecological systems
at a variety of temporal and spatial scales (Graham et
al. 1990; see Table 4). To predict particular effects of
climate change, the expected precipitation and temperature patterns for particular regions and times need
to be known. However, there is a high degree of variability in projections of temperature and precipitation
from general circulation models (GCMs) for any particular area (Mitchell 1989, J. T. Houghton et al. 1990).
Therefore, it is not currently possible to provide a prediction of expected changes for particular biomes or
landscapes. However, the ecological processes that
would likely be susceptible to climate change are readily identified. At this time there is no direct evidence
of any effects of human-induced climate change on
ecosystems. Therefore, analysis of anticipated effects
relies on models or historical and paleoecological evidence.
Global responses to climate change involve alterations in energy, carbon, or water fluxes of vegetation,
which, in turn, depend on the spatial distribution of the
different vegetation types. The Holdridge life-zone
classification (Holdridge 1967) has been used to ex-
INFERENTIAL STUDIES OF CLIMATE CHANGE
August 1997
759
TABLE 4. Four biotic levels of organization that participate in the terrestrial response to climate and CO2 change (modified
from Graham et al. 1990: Table 1.)
Level of
organization
Biosphere
Biome
Landscape
Tree
Spatial scale
Temporal
scale
Global
Years to
millennia
Subcontinental Years to
millennia
10–104 ha
Years to
centuries
1022–103 m2
Minutes to
decades
Major processes
Relevant human
activities
Energy, carbon, and water fluxes
Deforestation; fossil-fuel burning
Evolution/extinction; migration; disturbance
Disturbance; nutrient cycling; production; water use; succession;
competition
Phenology; reproduction; physiological processes
Plant breeding; land management;
conservation
Pollution; exotic pests; fire suppression; flood control; forest management; soil management
Fertilizing; watering; weeding;
breeding
amine potential global shifts in major ecosystems with
climate change (Emanuel et al. 1985, Lashof 1987,
Prentice and Fung 1990, Smith et al. 1992). The Holdridge classification scheme relates the distribution of
major ecosystem complexes to mean annual biotemperature, mean annual precipitation, and the ratio of
potential evapotranspiration to precipitation. Smith et
al. (1992) compare potential impacts on vegetation distribution of the climate changes projected by four
GCMs. All four climate-change scenarios suggest a
decrease in the area of tundra and desert and an increase
in grassland area. The model projections also show
forest areas increasing toward the poles, an increase in
the extent of tropical forests into areas now occupied
by subtropical or warm temperate forests, and a shift
of the boreal forest zone into areas now occupied by
tundra. All scenarios suggest an increase in terrestrial
carbon storage ranging from 8.5 3 1012 kg to 180.5 3
1012 kg. Using the Holdridge classification approach to
estimate effects of climate change on vegetation assumes that vegetation complexes move as a fixed unit
in time and space, that vegetation distribution is solely
correlated to climate (e.g., soils are not considered),
and that equilibrium solutions exist (Smith et al. 1992).
This view is a great simplification of the real situation: at the biome level, species respond to climate
change through migration, extinction, or adaptation to
new disturbance regimes (Table 4). The potential for
plants to evolve in response to climate change depends
on genetic variation. The response to climate change
has generally been via migration rather than evolution,
and the potential for extinction is enhanced by (1) barriers to migration and (2) low genetic diversity.
Disturbance intensity, frequency, and duration are
likely to change with climate (Overpeck et al. 1990).
A number of examples of such environmental disturbances caused by climate change can be given. With a
doubling of CO2, the frequency of Caribbean hurricanes
may double (Wendland 1977), and the destructive potential of hurricanes may increase by 40–60% (Emanuel 1987). Natural fire frequency, duration, and intensity are closely tied to storm occurrences and therefore
to precipitation regimes. Insect outbreaks are a function
of the prevailing moisture and temperature conditions,
insects’ physiological responses to extremes, and plant
stress. In addition to direct mortality, these disturbances are important, for it is through disturbances that
species replacement occurs more rapidly (Franklin et
al. 1992). Climate change may have little direct effect
on existing mature forests whose trees live hundreds
of years; however, the ability of long-lived trees to
reproduce and grow under new climate regimes may
be best observed in areas that have been disturbed.
Landscape responses to climate changes may take
years to centuries to express themselves and may occur
in terms of nutrient cycling, water use, production, succession, competition, and response to changes in disturbance regimes (Table 4). Climate change affects nutrient cycling by changing litter decomposition rates,
plant nutrient uptake, and/or internal cycling. Species
shifts associated with climate change may also change
patterns of nutrient cycling (Pastor and Post 1988).
Vegetation’s water use is a complex interaction of water-use efficiency, soil characteristics, and climate.
Therefore, it is difficult to predict a general response
of how water use will be affected by climate change.
Productivity will likely decrease in some places and
increase in others, depending on the spatial distribution
of temperature and precipitation changes. Succession
patterns and competitive interactions are likely to be
altered with climate change, but it is difficult to make
specific predictions because of the complex nature of
these interactions. Pastor and Post (1988) show that the
landscape response to climatic warming depends on the
spatial pattern of soils and the nutrient-cycling properties of the vegetation. As at the biome level, disturbance frequency and intensity will modify the responses of vegetation to climate change. Wetlands are
particularly susceptible to changes in disturbance regimes (OTA 1993, Michener et al. 1997). Sea-level rise
would alter the distribution and condition of wetlands
by altering the area they currently cover and changing
the species they support. In the short term (5–20 yr),
extreme weather events (such as storms, floods,
droughts, and fires) may disrupt vegetation growth.
These effects may be particularly severe in wetlands
previously disturbed by human activities.
Climate changes can directly affect land use in a
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TABLE 5. Human causes and consequences of land-cover change.
Consequences
Typical land-cover
changes
Causes†
Population growth
Affluence
Technology
Forest harvesting
Agricultural expansion
Urbanization
Political economy
Political structure
Attitudes and values
Second home development
Flooding
Typical activities that
modify land cover
Ecological characteristics
affected
Irrigation
Fertilization
Forest degradation (thinning,
coppicing, gathering wood)
Introduction of exotics
Landscape fragmentation
Biodiversity
Habitat
Soil quality
Productivity
Extractable resources
Water quality
Regional and global climate
† From Turner et al. (1993).
number of ways. Climate-change effects on agriculture
are probably the best known. Direct climate effects
include changes in crop yield and spatial shifts of agricultural potential (Parry 1990, Easterling et al. 1993).
Decreasing rainfall can lead to the need for irrigation.
Changing temperature or rainfall patterns can change
which crops are most suitable for an area; however,
land managers can frequently identify replacement varieties or crops that perform equally well under new
climate conditions. Indirect effects include altered farm
profitability, regional productivity costs, regional and
national food production, and the number of people at
risk of hunger (Parry 1990, Rosenzweig and Parry
1994). For example, climate-change-induced alterations in agricultural productivity in one region can affect productivity in another region (e.g., loss of productivity in the Northern Hemisphere may lead to
greater demand from the Southern Hemisphere). Also,
climate-induced changes in disturbance regimes can
indirectly affect land-use practices (e.g., the frequency
of fire, wind, or insect outbreaks may affect the potential for forest harvesting).
The predicted rise in sea level from global warming
will have major impacts on coastal zones and estuaries.
As some areas are lost and replaced by higher-elevation
sites, humans will build new commercial and industrial
facilities. Currently, the human population is concentrated in coastal zones. For example, 53% of the United
States population lives in counties within 80 km of the
coast (NOAA 1990). Therefore, modifications of coastal zones will have significant impacts on social and
economic systems.
CAUSES
OF
LAND-USE CHANGE
The major drivers of land-use changes are human
population, affluence, technology, political economics,
political structure, attitudes, and values (Turner et al.
1993; see Table 5). The importance of these factors
varies with the situation and the spatial scale of analysis. Human population growth can be considered an
ultimate cause for most land-use changes; however, local demographics as well as consumption per capita
and its variability can modify the effects of population.
Economic incentives set by government policies are a
key cause of deforestation. Quantifying the effects of
land-use change from a long-term economic perspective that includes environmental feedbacks is useful,
for it emphasizes the opportunity for government policy on sustainability to modify negative effects of deforestation.
The question of how climate changes affect the major
drivers of land-use change can be answered by postulating many scenarios of the effects of local or regional temperature and precipitation changes on landuse practices. Existing policies, economics, and attitudes may no longer be applicable in a changing world;
new technologies may be developed to deal with the
problems; and people’s attitudes and values may
change. It is not useful here to go through some of
those scenarios, for only a small set could be thoroughly discussed. Rather, it is important to note that
climate change can affect these land-use drivers and
that the directions of the impacts must be considered
to understand the effects of climate change.
Typical land-cover changes include forest harvesting, agricultural expansion, slash-and-burn agriculture,
urbanization, and flooding (e.g., for rice cultivation).
A number of common themes relate the drivers to particular land-cover patterns. For example, local population increase leads to urbanization and a decline in
the natural land-cover types of the region. Elucidating
these themes (and exceptions to them) would help us
understand better the causes of specific land-use patterns. Turner et al. (1993) emphasize that theories relating human causes of land-use change to changes in
land cover are not fully developed. Correlations among
these phenomena at the global level do not always hold
for local or regional scales. For example, global or
regional population growth may not always be the
prime cause of agriculture expansion. Therefore, case
studies of the relation between human drivers and landcover changes for specific regions are useful.
However, determining the primary causes of landuse changes is difficult. For example, Rondônia, Brazil,
is a region that has undergone rapid deforestation since
1968 because of colonization projects along a road system that was paved in 1984, largely accomplished
through funding from the World Bank. Between 1970
INFERENTIAL STUDIES OF CLIMATE CHANGE
August 1997
761
TABLE 6. Ecological effects of land-cover changes.
Land-cover changes
Intensity of use
Total area deforested
Size of clearing
Size of forest patches
Extent of forest edge
Spatial array of clearings
Examples of effects
Loss of soil fertility; eutrophication; toxification
Carbon release; desertification
Soil erosion; forest recovery time; loss of mycorhizal
associations
Decline in species diversity
Wildfire damage
Restrictions on animal movements; spread of disturbances
and 1988, 37 500 km2 (18% of the area in Rondônia)
were cleared (Stone et al. 1991) as a direct result of
the road and colonization projects. It is difficult to discern the ultimate causes of the colonization in Rondônia. Forestra (1991) proposes three reasons: social,
political, and economic. The social reason for the colonization program was to relieve the pressures of population growth along the coastal zones of Brazil. However, 73% of the colonists’ families moved from farm
regions of south and southwest Brazil (Pedlowski and
Dale 1992). The political reason for settling Rondônia
was to encourage Brazilians to settle in the frontier
community that was once a part of Peru. The economic
reason was that the president of Brazil offered colonization of Rondônia as a solution to the famine resulting from a recent drought. Individual farmers have
specific reasons for migrating to Rondônia, but many
of them moved because of the opportunity to work on
their own land (Pedlowski and Dale 1992, Jones et al.
1995). Thus, Rondônia was colonized and deforested
for a variety of reasons.
Modification of land-cover types should also be considered in development of land-use theories. Typical
land-cover modifications include irrigation, fertilization, introduction of exotic species, forest degradation,
and landscape fragmentation. Forest degradation occurs when the forest type is retained yet structural features of the forest are changed. For example, removal
of limbs and small trees for firewood reduces the forest
biomass. Species introduction (e.g., the introduction of
the European boar into the southern Appalachians) may
reduce the diversity of the natural land-cover type. And
fragmentation occurs when a land-cover type is segmented by roads, transmission lines, or a managed land
cover (e.g., agriculture).
ECOLOGICAL EFFECTS
OF
LAND-USE CHANGE
Ecological effects of land-use conversion include
changes in biodiversity, habitat availability, soil erosion and degradation, productivity, extractable resources, and water quality (Table 5). These changes
largely occur as a direct result of changes in the landcover pattern (Table 6). Over a period of decades, these
well-documented effects of land-use change exceed the
effects anticipated from human-induced climate change
(Burke et al. 1991). Biodiversity reductions occur when
a natural land cover is replaced by a new cover type
that does not support some of the former species. On
a local scale, diversity is lost when a forest is replaced
by agriculture. The reduction in diversity can also be
indirect through habitat modification. Currently, tropical deforestation is one of the major threats to biodiversity because of habitat alteration and loss (Wilson
1988).
Habitats are changed by almost all land-use modifications. Fragmentation can reduce species diversity
(Fahrig and Paloheimo 1988) through changes in natural processes (e.g., disruption of seed dispersal) or the
addition of new processes (e.g., competition with exotic species). Landscape fragmentation can cause declines in habitat and reduce or eliminate some animal
or plant species. For example, as the preferred habitat
for a species becomes less connected, the species may
not have sufficient breeding habitat to survive (Dale et
al. 1994a). Such effects largely depend upon the habitat
size requirements for the species and the ability of the
species to move across areas outside its preferred habitat. In addition, increases in the amount of edge habitat
may compromise some species. For example, populations of neotropical migrant birds are being reduced by
increases in cowbirds that parasitize nests of other bird
species more frequently along forest edges, which are
close to abundant food resources of agricultural areas
and grasslands (Brittingham and Temple 1983). Predation can also increase along habitat edges (Yahner
and Scott 1988).
Land-use activities can also increase the area of some
habitats, such as in Northern Wisconsin where logging
has increased the area and connectedness of early successional forests (Mladenoff et al. 1993). The larger
area of successional forest has resulted in the abundance of species associated with those forests (such as
white-tailed deer and grouse) and a decline in species
sensitive to patchiness or roads (Thiel 1985).
Soil-quantity and soil-quality changes occur when
land-management practices cause erosion or export soil
nutrients as agricultural or forest products. Currently,
topsoil is being lost from the agricultural lands in the
world at the rate of ø25 3 1012 kg [25 3 109 metric
tons]/yr (National Research Council 1992). The concept of sustainability is important to introduce in conjunction with soil quality, for frequently land-manage-
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ment practices are considered to be sustainable without
considering the long-term implications on soil-quality
degradation.
Both the natural and the managed productivity of a
system can be altered by land-management practices.
Use of fertilizers and irrigation are known to increase
productivity. On the other hand, export of products
from the land can reduce natural productivity.
Loss of extractable resources (e.g., fruit, rubber) is
another consequence of land-use changes. For example,
indigenous people generally manage the use of natural
extractable resources in a responsible manner when
their populations are stable (Anderson 1990). However,
developed countries promote landscape uses that typically do not take advantage of extractable resources.
Thus, many species having potential for food, fiber, or
pharmaceutical drugs are being eliminated (Wilson
1988).
Water resources are compromised by increased demand, reduced capacity of the land to filter water, and
increased pollution. These pressures are particularly
apparent in arid regions, such as the southwestern United States. In their review of global change effects on
freshwater ecosystems, Carpenter et al. (1992) find that
freshwaters are tightly linked to climate and land use.
In particular, watershed modifications and use and modifications of aquatic resources by humans stress freshwater ecosystems and must be considered in concert
with climate-change effects.
Certain land-use activities can modify the effects of
climate change on ecological systems at the biome and
landscape levels (Table 4) through their effects on energy fluxes. These land-use activities include land management and conservation at the biome scale and fire
suppression, flood control, forest management, and soil
management at the landscape scale.
At the biome scale, impacts of a particular climate
change may be exacerbated by human activities. For
example, forest cutting, road development, and urban
expansion create land-cover patterns that may impede
the natural processes of seed dispersal and plant establishment that might otherwise compensate for
changes occurring in the forest. On the other hand,
some human activities may mitigate effects of climate
change on forests. For example, some tree species may
not be able to migrate to the regions where climate
change produces appropriate habitats, but seedlings of
those species could be intentionally planted.
At the landscape scale, agricultural management using fertilizers, crop rotation, irrigation, selection, or
genetic engineering may reduce changes in crop yields
or productivity that might otherwise occur with climate
change. Predicting how agriculture systems respond to
climate change requires information on how and when
climate will change, information that is not now available nor is likely to be available soon. However, some
possible adaptations are known (Rosenberg 1992): (1)
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Changes in length of the growing season can be countered with the use of cultivars that require either longer
or shorter growing seasons. (2) Photoperiod limitations
can be overcome by traditional plant-breeding procedures. (3) Greater warming or desiccation can be dealt
with by using drought- and heat-resistant strains of crop
species. (4) Moisture-conserving tillage methods can
be adopted. (5) Dryland agriculture may no longer be
economic in some areas, and demand for irrigation water may decrease; however, demand for irrigation may
increase elsewhere (although greater demand for water
may limit the potential for irrigation). (6) Improvements in irrigation efficiency can compensate somewhat for increased water demands. In agriculture, capital investments are relatively small (compared to those
for forestry) and can be modified in a short time period
with changing environmental conditions.
METHODS FOR STUDYING INTERACTIONS BETWEEN
LAND-USE AND CLIMATE CHANGES
Historical and paleoecology studies
Historical and paleoecological evidence shows that
the effects on forests of climate change have been significant. Because species’ responses to climate change
have been complex (Davis 1989), it is difficult to predict patterns of responses. For example, with climate
warming, intact forest ecosystems have not moved
northward as a unit; instead, species have responded
individually. Different combinations of tree species occur today than in the past. Also, the order of species
entry into an ecosystem has been unique or has occurred with time lags (Campbell and McAndrews
1993). Thus, understanding the functional response of
species and ecosystems to climate change is required.
Although historical and paleoecological studies of
effects of climate change on forests provide much information about responses in the past, their results cannot be directly applied to future conditions for two
reasons. First, the current size, age, and species composition of temperate forests are unique and have been
strongly affected by human activities. Second, global
temperatures are predicted to increase at an unprecedented rate.
Field and greenhouse studies
Field and greenhouse studies of the interactions of
climate change and land-use change are hampered by
the logistical difficulties of implementing changes at
the scale of entire ecosystems. Elucidating effects of
one of these changes is difficult to do with sufficient
size and replication of plots. Therefore, many field and
greenhouse studies focus on one or a few aspects of
predicted climate change or land-use change. For example, the effects of soil degradation or reduced precipitation can be experimentally documented. The challenge of field and greenhouse studies of changes at the
scale and complexity of a forest is to design studies
INFERENTIAL STUDIES OF CLIMATE CHANGE
August 1997
that deal with specific interactions or that provide information that can be extrapolated to larger scales.
An example of the type and scale of experiment required to investigate impacts of climate change is the
throughfall displacement experiment (TDE) being performed in an upland forest of the Walker Branch Watershed in East Tennessee (Turner et al. 1992). The TDE
is a stand-level manipulation experiment that provides
the appropriate environment for mechanistic studies of
ecosystem response to changing climatic conditions.
Approximately 25% of the throughfall on the ‘‘dry’’
plot is being collected in polyethylene troughs and
transported by gravity though pipes to the ‘‘wet’’ plot.
The experimental system is able to produce statistically
significant differences in soil water content for years
having both extremely dry and extremely wet conditions. Biological and chemical characteristics of two
treatment plots and a control plot (each covering 0.6
ha) are being monitored for 5 yr. These characteristics
include: forest growth and the physiological responses
of major tree and understory species, leaf-area index,
herbivore activity, litterfall, understory competition,
litter composition, soil organic matter and microbial
populations, nutrient availability, soil and soil solution
chemistry, and biogeochemical cycling processes.
Models
Understanding how current land cover will respond
to transient patterns of global temperature, precipitation, solar radiation, etc. requires reliance on computer
models that can deal with some of the complexities of
the vegetation and climate systems. Because human
activities are an important determinant of many landcover types, the influence of humans must be included
in some of the modeling studies. Human use of the land
is largely influenced by available resources and social
and economic conditions, so socioeconomic models
must be paired with ecological models to understand
the complex responses of modern ecosystems.
This discussion of models that relate land-use change
and climate change builds upon recent reviews of landuse models (Dale et al. 1993a) and models used to
understand ecological impacts of climate (Smith et al.
1992, Pacala and Hurtt 1993, Dale and Rauscher 1994).
The challenge here is to consider how modeling approaches can be used to examine land-use and climatechange interactions. Of the 14 categories of climatechange models that Dale and Rauscher (1994) reviewed, they found that only three types considered
land-use change.
Global models.—Global models of vegetation
change have been used to project vegetation patterns
under changing climate. Climate-change scenarios
have been provided for these models in three ways.
One approach uses mesoscale climate models to predict
regional climate processes, such as the location of the
arctic frontal zone, which is a good predictor of the
763
boundaries of the boreal forest biome (Michaels and
Hayden 1987). A second approach is to scale up a
community demographic model by using functional
plant groups instead of species, because the number of
species that would need to be simulated on a global
scale is overwhelming (Prentice et al. 1989). Functional plant types are groups of species that germinate
and grow under similar sets of environmental conditions (e.g., dry-deciduous sclerophyll). The third approach correlates projected empirical models of climate
and vegetation in a spatial context by using the Holdridge life-zone classification system (Emanuel et al.
1985).
Global models can be used to examine the relative
influence of land-use change, biomass estimates, and
the fate of carbon after land management on terrestrial
carbon flux (including CO2 fertilization and carbon sequestration). In such models, the problem of modeling
interactions between climate change and land use is
one of scale. Because of the large area involved, global
models must rely on pixel sizes of about 1 km or larger;
however, land management frequently occurs on a
much smaller spatial scale. At such scales, it is difficult
to model interactions among land-use drivers, topography, transportation networks, and climate change.
Regional models.—The region or landscape is the
scale at which land-use changes frequently occur and at
which estimates of climate change can be made. Currently, regional climate-change models’ predictions do
not agree on projected temperatures or precipitation for
any area. However, regional models can be used to examine scenarios of land management and climate change
to determine sensitive variables and features of the region. Regional vegetation and land-use models focus
explicitly on how changes in the regional pattern of
vegetation affect the carbon budget or other properties,
a process in which the cause of land-use change plays
a key role. As a result, these models may have complex
socioeconomic components. All of these models are spatially explicit in the sense that they refer to actual land
patterns, although some patterns may be hypothetical.
Regional-vegetation and land-use models are exemplified by the studies of Rotmans and Swart (1991), Kurz
et al. (1992), Southworth et al. (1991), Dale et al.
(1993b), Bogdonoff et al. (1985), and Grainger (1990).
An example of a regional model illustrates the approach. Southworth et al. (1991) and Dale et al. (1993 b,
1994b) have developed spatially explicit simulations
of land-use changes in central Rondônia, Brazil. The
Dynamic Ecological–Land Tenure Analysis (DELTA)
model operates at the individual-farm level (using digitized maps of farms that average 101 ha in size). The
model simulates changes in the impacts and spatial
arrangement of farm practices and carbon release over
40 yr. The typical land-use scenario simulates farmers
clearing an increasing amount of forest up to year 3
and stopping most of the clearing by year 7, at which
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time about half of the lot is cleared. This model’s projections under this scenario compare to activities of
farmers in central Rondônia (Dale et al. 1994b).
Global climate-change effects on the central Amazon
may result from economic pressures rather than temperature or precipitation alterations. The DELTA model
is used to explore the implications of increased demand
for agricultural productivity that may result from reduced productivity in the temperate zones with climate
warming. This simulation can be done in a variety of
ways in the model: decreasing the likelihood that farmers leave the farms, increasing the value of production,
and increasing the importance of the link to the market
via primary and secondary roads. In all cases, the model outputs were similar to the typical case discussed in
the previous paragraph and by year is resulted in .80%
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deforestation (Fig. 4). The reason for this similarity is
probably that without technology changes, the farmers
cannot clear land at a faster rate and cannot increase
their productivity.
Thus, the model suggests that the increase in demand
of agricultural products from the tropics would have
to be accompanied by technological advances for there
to be an impact on the carbon released and rate of
fragmentation of areas that are already subjected to
farming. New areas may still come under pressure to
clear forests for agriculture expansion. The exercise
shows that the model needs to consider technology development as a driver to fully explore this case. Such
modeling experiments illustrate the limitation of existing models and the direction for new developments.
Landscape-transition models.—Landscape-transition
FIG. 4. Example of spatially explicit simulation of land-use changes in central Rondônia, Brazil, using DELTA, a regionalscale vegetation and land-use model that operates at the individual-farm level. Top: Simulated mean forested area cleared
and carbon released over 40 yr for 296 plots. The model is described by Southworth et al. (1991) and Dale et al. (1993a,
b). Bottom: Spatial patterns of the forested areas in the first 20 yr.
August 1997
INFERENTIAL STUDIES OF CLIMATE CHANGE
765
models use a cellular-automata approach to explore effects of changes in the location, size, shape, and composition of vegetation boundaries. The cellular-automata approach tracks interactions within and between
each location in the spatial model. Landscape-transition
models that can incorporate land-use and climate
changes are exemplified by Turner et al. 1991, Schwartz
1992, and Gardner et al. 1994.
Gardner et al. (1994) developed a cellular-automata
model that explores the spatial distribution of two competing species (a generalist and a specialist) with a
severe perturbation in the abundance of the species,
such as might be caused by a severe drought. The simulation was run for 100 generations, with and without
a land-use modification (e.g., forest harvesting) that
causes habitat destruction in either a blocked or fragmented fashion (Fig. 5). Simulated land-use changes
altered the habitat types by preventing the specialists
from being able to germinate. Survival of the specialists was greatest with no harvesting and no drought
(Fig. 5). With larger areas of the forest being harvested,
survival and abundance of the specialist species declined.
Summary.—In summary, global, regional, and landscape models can address issues relevant to the interaction between land use and climate change. However,
the models have typically been used only to consider
one type of change. The interaction between climate
and land-use changes is clearly amenable to modeling
studies.
FUTURE STEPS IN ELUCIDATING THE INTERACTIONS
BETWEEN LAND-USE CHANGE AND
CLIMATE CHANGE
Ecological research
Approaches for study and modeling.—
1) Interdisciplinary studies of land-use and climatechange effects are necessary. For example, economic,
political, and social changes must consider ecological
responses, and vice versa. Also, biologists need to work
with climatologists to develop climate models at spatial
scales that are useful in assessing the state of the biotic
system. Scientists need to be aware that many problems
are not solvable based on a single-discipline approach.
2) Spatially explicit models at local and regional
scales are necessary to relate land-use changes to climate change. Many management questions are at the
landscape or regional scale, and land management
tends to occur at these scales. If these models have
biologically relevant and socioeconomically meaningful interfaces and outputs, then these models can meet
many of the management needs.
Topics and questions to be addressed.—
1) Relation between causes of land-use and actual
land-cover changes—How can the causes and effects
of these relations be clarified?
2) Paleoecology—How have species and ecosys-
FIG. 5. Example of output from cellular-automata model
(Gardner et al. 1994) used to explore the spatial distribution
of two competing species (a generalist and a specialist) facing
severe perturbation in abundance (e.g., caused by severe
drought). The simulations were run for 100 generations and
replicated 10 times. (A) Land-use modification (e.g., forest
harvesting) causing habitat destruction was done in a blocked
(a) or fragmented (b) manner. The black areas were subject
to the land-use change. These harvesting schemes were used
in the landscape-transition model to arrive at (B) the number
of extinctions and (C) the fraction of the landscape occupied
by specialists at the end of the simulation.
tems responded to climate changes in the past? Note
that predicted changes are different from past climate
alterations.
3) Agriculture—What are best land-use practices on
tropical and temperate soils? Can use of native species
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offset climate-change effects on agriculture? Can use
of species from warmer environments offset effects of
temperature increases?
Monitoring.—Information needs to be collected on
how climate change (as compared to other confounding
factors, e.g., land-cover change) will affect
1) the spatial distribution of natural vegetation (particularly rare species or those at the edges of their ranges), human population, land-use practices, and landcover types;
2) the distribution of natural and human-induced
species movements (including movements of humans);
3) the distribution and frequency of disturbances
(e.g., hurricanes, tornadoes, fires, and insects) and the
responses of organisms to disturbance; and
4) changes in patterns of economic growth and the
resulting need for land-use change (e.g., for agricultural
expansion).
Education
Scientists need to assist policy makers, stakeholders,
and the general public by:
1) providing information linking climate change and
land use;
2) defining what climate change would mean (in an
ecological, social, health, political, and economic
sense); and
3) relating people’s lifestyles and energy choices to
environmental consequences (e.g., demonstrating the
effects of automobile and other energy use on climate
change, pointing out the repercussions of local and regional land-use activities on the global environment,
and identifying the per capita impact of human population and consumption).
CONCLUSIONS
There are two aspects to considering impacts of land
use: effects of land use on climate change and the effects of human-induced climate change on land use
(Fig. 1). The direct ecological effects of the land-use
and climate change are dominated by the land-use
change effects, at least over the period of a few decades.
Because climate-change effects are largely determined
by land-cover patterns, land-use practices set the stage
on which climate alterations can act.
Determining the effects of climate change on land
use involves resolving direct biophysical effects as well
as management responses to climate impacts. Climate
change might constrain or mandate particular landmanagement strategies (e.g., irrigation); however, these
options will be different for each case.
In summary, land-use changes are having major ecological repercussions at a variety of biological scales.
Being able to project effects of particular land-management strategies requires an understanding of the socioeconomic and biological aspects of land-use decisions. Such research will involve interdisciplinary ef-
Ecological Applications
Vol. 7, No. 3
forts and will provide a better understanding of potential impacts of global change.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The study was funded by the Ecological Society of America’s Sustainable Biosphere Initiative via a contract with the
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. I appreciate discussions and careful review of an earlier draft of the paper by
Peter Groffman, Carol Johnson, Tony King, Jagdish Krishnaswamy, Jim MacMahon, Linda Mann, Mac Post, and Carol
Wessman. Comments on the oral presentation of the paper
were made by Elizabeth Blood, Michael Coughenour, Bert
Drake, Pat Halpin, Sam McNaughton, Richard Moss, Paul
Ringold, Steve Running, John Sigmon, Bob Waide, and Ian
Woodward. Fred O’Hara performed a meticulous editing of
the paper. This is publication number 4386, Environmental
Sciences Division of the Oak Ridge National Laboratory,
which is managed by Lockheed Martin Energy Research, Inc.,
for the U.S. Department of Energy, under contract DE-AC0596OR22464.
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