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Also available: PDF Version of entire document (6.7 Mb)
For details see the Land-Use/Land-Cover Change
chapter of the Strategic Plan for the Climate Change Science Program
(2003)
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CCSP Research Element:
Land Use/Land Cover Change
Land cover refers to everything covering the land
surface, including vegetation, bare soil, buildings and infrastructure, inland
bodies of water, and wetlands. Land use refers to societal arrangements and
activities that affect land cover. Land cover and use influence climate and
weather at local to global scales; they can have direct impacts on climate by
affecting the composition of the atmosphere and the exchange of energy between
continents and the atmosphere. Because of this, land-cover characteristics are
key inputs to climate models. Land cover and use also affect water runoff, the
carbon and nitrogen cycles, and the distribution of plants and animals in
ecosystems.
CCSP-supported research on land-use/land-cover change focuses on processes
that determine changes in land cover and land use at local, regional, and global
scales; and on how land cover and use will change over timescales of 10-50
years. Research will quantify the human influences on the land; improve
monitoring, measuring, and mapping; and develop projections of changes in land
cover and land use based on assumptions about climate, demographic, economic,
and technological trends.
Benefits from this research include:
Identifying areas of rapid land-use and land-cover change and the extent
and impact of major disturbances such as fire, insects, drought, and
flooding on land use and land cover
Identifying past and projected trends in land cover or land use that are
attributable to changes in climate (e.g., changes in forest types, forest
margins, agriculture, and desert margins), and identifying U.S. regions
where climate change may have the greatest implications for land management
Identifying the effects of land use and land cover on carbon dynamics and
the mitigation and management of greenhouse gases.
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Deforestation near Rio Branco, Brazil. Systematic cutting of the forest
vegetation starts along roads and then fans out to create the "fishbone" pattern
evident in this image. A plume of smoke also is visible. The photo, taken on 28
July 2000 by the satellite-based Multi-angle Imaging SpectroRadiometer's (MISR)
vertical-viewing (nadir) camera, covers an area of 336 x 333 kilometers (207 x
209 miles). Source: NASA. |
For details see the Land-Use/Land-Cover Change
chapter of the Strategic Plan for the Climate Change Science Program
(2003)
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