Impacts of Land-Uses and Land-Cover Changes (LULCC) on the functioning of the Earth System
Impacts of Land-Uses and Land-Cover Changes (LULCC) on the functioning of the Earth System
Editor(s): N. de Noblet, M. Rounsevell, L. Ganzeveld, I. Harman, and G. Hurtt

Land-use and land-cover change (LULCC) is a central topic in global change research. It is a high priority to improve the fundamental understanding of LULCC interactions with human, biogeochemical, and biogeophysical dynamics, and of LULCC impacts on the regional and planetary climate system, as well as on the functioning of our socioeconomic system. This special issue aims to synthesize existing research, new findings, and to provide a roadmap for future research.

The following are examples of questions that can be addressed in submitted papers:

  • What are the relationships between land-use activities and land-cover changes, past, present, and expected for the future?
  • How do rates of land-use change depend on land cover and climate?
  • What has been the rate, magnitude, and type of LULCC over the past thousand years?
  • How well do climate models simulate the impact of LULCC on trace gas and energy exchanges between the biosphere and atmosphere?
  • How well do land-surface models capture the different sensitivities of land-use system to climate forcing?
  • Is there evidence of LULCC being an important forcing agent of the climate in the past?
  • Which types of LULCC feedbacks within the climate and socioeconomic system are important?
  • What are the plausible options to manage the future LULCC to mitigate and adapt to climate variability (including extremes) and longer-term change?
  • What is the role of LUCLCC in air quality and atmospheric chemistry, e.g., through affecting boundary layer exchanges of reactive compounds and aerosols?
  • How can we better represent the land system including LULCC in Earth system models?
  • How can we improve models of the global land system by representing human behavioural and decisional processes

Download citations of all papers

30 Sep 2014
Global and regional effects of land-use change on climate in 21st century simulations with interactive carbon cycle
L. R. Boysen, V. Brovkin, V. K. Arora, P. Cadule, N. de Noblet-Ducoudré, E. Kato, J. Pongratz, and V. Gayler
Earth Syst. Dynam., 5, 309–319, https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-5-309-2014,https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-5-309-2014, 2014
18 Nov 2013
Can bioenergy cropping compensate high carbon emissions from large-scale deforestation of high latitudes?
P. Dass, C. Müller, V. Brovkin, and W. Cramer
Earth Syst. Dynam., 4, 409–424, https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-4-409-2013,https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-4-409-2013, 2013
01 Nov 2013
Implications of accounting for land use in simulations of ecosystem carbon cycling in Africa
M. Lindeskog, A. Arneth, A. Bondeau, K. Waha, J. Seaquist, S. Olin, and B. Smith
Earth Syst. Dynam., 4, 385–407, https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-4-385-2013,https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-4-385-2013, 2013
27 Nov 2012
The influence of vegetation dynamics on anthropogenic climate change
U. Port, V. Brovkin, and M. Claussen
Earth Syst. Dynam., 3, 233–243, https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-3-233-2012,https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-3-233-2012, 2012
26 Nov 2012
Effects of land cover change on temperature and rainfall extremes in multi-model ensemble simulations
A. J. Pitman, N. de Noblet-Ducoudré, F. B. Avila, L. V. Alexander, J.-P. Boisier, V. Brovkin, C. Delire, F. Cruz, M. G. Donat, V. Gayler, B. van den Hurk, C. Reick, and A. Voldoire
Earth Syst. Dynam., 3, 213–231, https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-3-213-2012,https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-3-213-2012, 2012
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