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3. |
- Brogaard, Sara, et al.
(author)
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Scaling up social capital - A prerequisite for community based adaptation in the Lake Victoria basin?
- 2010
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Conference paper (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The capacity of communities to reduce negative impacts of climate change on their lives and livelihoods is a function of socio-economic conditions, infrastructure, government accountability and institutional responsiveness and not the least social capital. Africa’s most densely populated region, the Lake Victoria basin (LVB), home to over 30 million people, is one example of a likely future climate change hotspot where the low inherent adaptive capacity of the rural population can be traced to the combination of low asset stock of natural, physical, financial and human capitals, and institutions poor or even non-existing in responding to high climate vulnerability. This leaves social capital as one key asset to invest in. Based on empirical data from Nyanza, Kenya and Mara, Tanzania, using a multi-stakeholder approach, this paper will examine the importance and possibilities of bridging and linking social capital within and between actors in the LVB to initiate and facilitate community based adaptation.
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4. |
- Gabrielsson, Sara, et al.
(author)
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Living without buffers-illustrating climate vulnerability in the Lake Victoria basin
- 2013
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In: Sustainability Science. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1862-4057 .- 1862-4065. ; 8:2, s. 143-157
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Exposure, sensitivity and adaptive capacity are essential, albeit theoretically vague, components of climate vulnerability. This has triggered debate surrounding how these factors can be translated into, and understood in, an empirical context subject to present and future harm. In this article, which draws on extensive fieldwork in the Lake Victoria Basin of Kenya and Tanzania, we illustrate how exposure, sensitivity and adaptive capacity play out in the context of climate vulnerability and discuss how they interact in situ. Using a mixed methods approach including survey data, rainfall data and a suite of participatory methods, such as focus groups and interactive mapping of seasonal calendars, we identify how climate-induced stressors affect smallholder farmers' well-being and natural resources. Drawing on the seasonal calendar as a heuristic, and climate vulnerability terminology, we illustrate when, where and how these climate-induced stressors converge to constrain farmers' livelihoods. Our analysis indicates that farmers in the basin face a highly uncertain future with discernible, but differentiated, adaptation deficits due to recurring, and potentially worsening, patterns of hardship.
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5. |
- Gabrielsson, Sara, et al.
(author)
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Seasonal pattern of climate vulnerability and adaptation in the Lake Victoria basin – Identifying needs and opportunities using a multi-stakeholder approach. The American Association for the Advancement of Science, Annual Conference, San Diego
- 2010
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Conference paper (other academic/artistic)abstract
- Important factors behind high levels of vulnerability and low adaptive capacity to climate variability and change in the developing world are direct reliance on natural resources, poverty and limited abilities to adapt financially and institutionally. In this study, focusing on the Lake Victoria Basin, a multitude of stressors on livelihoods, including climate related factors, are faced by the rural communities. The aim of the study is to disclose the annual pattern of these combined stressors, under both typical as well as more extreme climate conditions in order to reveal periods of particular hardship as well as recovery in the studied communities in Kenya and Tanzania. Data has primarily been collected through focus group interactions around seasonal calendars during fieldwork in September 2009 and a regional stakeholder meeting planned for January 2010. Key themes of the calendars consisted of climate and health patterns, agricultural and animal husbandry activities, on- and off-farm household incomes as well expenditures. A considerable increase in adaptive capacity was found among those farmers involved in formalized village groups based on their pooling of labor and assets, agro-forestry activities, and the village savings and loans. The planned stakeholder meeting aims at exploring important local to national links that can strengthen existing adaptation and identify new cooperation possibilities.
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6. |
- Ahlberg, Erik, et al.
(author)
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"Vi klimatforskare stödjer Greta och skolungdomarna"
- 2019
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In: Dagens nyheter (DN debatt). - 1101-2447.
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Journal article (pop. science, debate, etc.)abstract
- DN DEBATT 15/3. Sedan industrialiseringens början har vi använt omkring fyra femtedelar av den mängd fossilt kol som får förbrännas för att vi ska klara Parisavtalet. Vi har bara en femtedel kvar och det är bråttom att kraftigt reducera utsläppen. Det har Greta Thunberg och de strejkande ungdomarna förstått. Därför stödjer vi deras krav, skriver 270 klimatforskare.
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9. |
- Alkan Olsson, Johanna, et al.
(author)
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Plan for Using and Dissemination of Knowledge, D0.3.1, SEAMLESS integrated project
- 2007
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Other publication (other academic/artistic)abstract
- The SEAMLESS project has high ambitions both concerning its scientific goals and its aim to create an impact assessment tool that can be useful in future policy making in the agrienvironmental area. Interaction between researchers and the society therefore is a crucial component of the project. In the last phase of the SEAMLESS project the dissemination of knowledge produced in the project becomes particularly important. The general objective of this Deliverable is to present the aim, topic, form, timing and responsible persons of different dissemination activities, aiming at assembling information from the policy community and at enhancing the use and dissemination of knowledge produced by the SEAMLESS project. The report covers the following main themes: • Interaction with the policy community where we separate between interactions with the User forum, targeted meetings with specialists, National Ministries and regional authorities, European Organisations as well as other users, such as Farmers organisations. • Interactions with the scientific community where we outline the SEAMLESS contributions to conferences, SEAMLESS related publications and the final Symposium that the project will organise at the end of the project. • Cooperation with other projects and how it can be strengthened during the last phase of the project. • Communication tools implemented by the project such as the SEAMLESS portal and website, the Newsletters as well as other means of communication.
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10. |
- Andersson, Elina, et al.
(author)
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The Political Ecology of Land Degradation
- 2011
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In: Annual Review of Environment and Resources. - : Annual Reviews. - 1545-2050 .- 1543-5938. ; 36, s. 295-319
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Research review (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Land degradation, as a threat to smallholders in the tropics, attracts less attention than other global challenges. In addition, gaps between scientific understandings of land degradation and international policy regimes are problematic. We identify the three most significant debates including their different policy implications: desertification in the Sahel, nutrient depletion in Africa, and rural reforms in China. Using a political ecology frame across disciplines, scales of inquiry, and regional experiences, we nuance the often polarized scientific debate while seeking to bridge the gap between science and policy. Three main findings emerge: State-led rural reforms in China represent an important approach to land degradation; a renewed focus on agriculture and sustainability in development discourses opens new ways for tackling nutrient depletion with combined sociotechnological reforms; and a policy void in Africa paves the way for market mechanisms, such as payment for environmental services, that are insufficiently understood and put fairness at risk.
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11. |
- Brogaard, Sara, et al.
(author)
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Agricultural performance on marginal land in Eastern Inner Mongolia, China -- Development in the pre- and post-1978 reform periods
- 2005
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In: GeoJournal. - 1572-9893. ; 64, s. 163-175
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Rapid economic development in the aftermath of the Chinese post-1978 reforms has resulted in a shrinking of grain grown area in the southern and eastern regions of the country which in turn is believed to have put the marginal northern regions under increased pressure. This paper examines key indicators of agricultural performance as well as cultivated land area development of the pre- and post-1978 reform periods focusing on the agro-pastoral Tongliao City Prefecture, eastern Inner Mongolia. The results are related to the village level development through a case study as well as to the provincial level. Average annual grain per capita production increased from about 400 kg in the late 1970s to more then 1000 kg in the late 1990s. This was achieved through a combination of intensification and reclamation of cropland, with the latter restricted to pastoral classified counties. Production variability, in particular for the low producing counties, has also increased possibly as an effect of the substitution of traditional mixed pattern of crops with HYV monocultures. Average living standards have improved but have been accompanied by widening income gaps. Poor farmers' livelihoods continue to be insecure, particularly during dry years. Concern is raised regarding the sustainability of the rapid agricultural development; an increased use of costly fertilisers constrains poorer farmer's economy and may lead to deteriorating water quality while increasing irrigation depletes water resources.
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13. |
- Brogaard, Sara, et al.
(author)
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Biofuel policy and stakeholder perspectives in Sweden – Initial impacts of EU sustainability criteria on the biofuels sector and implications for land use
- 2014
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Conference paper (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Global demand for transportation biofuels has increased significantly stimulated by policy interventions seeking GHG emission reductions, improved security of supply and rural development opportunities. However the impact on an increasing use of biofuels on land use and cover has become a global concern. While policy interventions have led to increased use of biofuels, certification is often regarded as an institutional arrangement that can counter negative externalities. In the European Union sustainability criteria have been imposed on biofuels in order to qualify for government support and count towards national renewable energy targets set in the Renewable Energy Directive (RED). Biofuels, locally produced or imported, have to comply with criteria that as a minimum avoids the use of high biodiversity, high carbon stock land for feedstock production and reaches set levels of greenhouse gas emission reductions. Voluntary certification schemes in addition often also include social criteria such as land and resource rights, food security perspectives and labor rights.In Sweden, one of the first countries to transpose the RED sustainability criteria into national law, a majority of the economic actors have opted for the national scheme supervised and regulated by the Swedish Energy Authority. More than one year passing since the first annual reporting of sustainability data, the aim of this paper is to analyse effects of this public-private governance initiative, emphasizing on perspectives provided by economic actors active on the Swedish biofuel arena. Acknowledging the importance of interlinking science and technology for sustainability with the perspectives of key actors, research design and analysis for this paper rests on three information attributes; salience, credibility and legitimacy (Cash et al 2002). A questionnaire submitted to all economic actors required to report sustainability data in order to receive tax exemptions was used to inquire about aspects such as: a) views on existing and further development of sustainability criteria including stakeholder participation b) methods and costs of compliance c) broader range of mechanisms affecting the biofuel market d) future investment strategies in a sustainability context. Alongside providing recent experiences of sustainability criteria implementation in Sweden, we discuss potential effects of suggested amendments of the EU RED encouraging greater market penetration of advanced biofuels and on inclusions of ILUC factors for biofuels.The study aims at contributing to the important question on if and how public-private policy mechanisms embedded in the EU RED can promote sustainable biofuels and land use practices in a Swedish as well as in a global perspective.
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14. |
- Brogaard, Sara, et al.
(author)
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Climate extremes – a study of vulnerability, adaptation, and loss & damage in relation to the 2018 drought, focusing on Southern Sweden
- 2019
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Conference paper (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The extreme weather in terms of drought and heat, which prevailed in Northern Europe during the growing season 2018, had serious consequences for agriculture and farmers in Sweden. Many questions regarding farm production came to a head as drought struck directly against farmers land, economy and wellbeing. This paper argues that it is essential to deeper investigate farmer’s and other land user’s experiences and actions during the drought period and the immediately following situation, also in a high-income country context. The overall aim is therefore to increase the knowledge on multiple factor vulnerability and adaptive capacities with insights across selected rural livelihoods, focusing on Southern Sweden. We emphasize questions such as who, when and how rural land users are affected. In the study, we interpret loss and damage as “limits to adaptation” and consider both economic and non-economic dimensions for crop growers, animal keepers and horse businesses. The study is mainly based on qualitative data collection methods, such as semi-structured interviews in combination with seasonal calendars, and complemented with questionnaires.Preliminary findings indicate that impacts on crop growers are highly related to possibilities for irrigation and access to water use permits, but also to soil quality. In comparison to animal keepers their experienced impact can be considered being ‘intermediate’ in temporal terms. For animal keepers the experienced impacts are simultaneously more immediate, due to acute fodder shortage, and more long term, because of changing stock compositions, animal health, and reproduction – possibly also giving rise to higher levels of concern and worry. In the paper we further discuss if, and when, rural livelihoods are potentially given up in the wake of extreme weather events. We believe that this study can help define factors of vulnerability, loss and damage in a Global North context.
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15. |
- Brogaard, Sara, et al.
(author)
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Does Gender matter in energy (justice) research? : A review on energy justice dimensions of the low carbon transition
- 2018
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Conference paper (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The expanding energy justice scholarship increasingly discusses the importance of equity concerns in the context of global decarbonization. How to equitably distribute the benefits and burdens of energy systems and ensure an inclusive and socially acceptable change, constitutes vital prerequisites for the transition to a low-carbon society. Energy, in a Northern context, is seen as gender-neutral; women and men are regarded as equal in their uses of and views about energy, and policies accurately reflect the needs and wishes of the population. In fact the research has shown that energy issues can be heavily gendered. There are also gender differences in environmental concerns and the ways in which men and women’s everyday lives are impacted by energy conservation.The aim of this research is to produce a gender - conscious database of research on renewable energy transitions in OECD countries. The geographical focus is responding to the limited analysis available on gender on renewable energy in the high income country context. Based on a selection of critical cases and a “narrative review procedure” the paper then aims to identify patterns in the existing research.
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16. |
- Brogaard, Sara, et al.
(author)
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Food systems and farmers’ behavior during an extreme event: : an analysis of actions and governance following the 2018 drought in Sweden
- 2020
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Conference paper (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The extreme weather in terms of drought and heat, which prevailed in Northern Europe during the growing season 2018, had serious consequences for food production and farmers in southern Sweden. Many questions regarding farm production came to a head as drought struck directly against farmers land, economy and wellbeing and hence created vulnerability. This paper analyzes how farmers experienced the turbulent time of a climate extreme and focuses on how they related to the societal institutions that generally govern the agricultural sector. The course of events showed how the existing agricultural institutions were struggling with the situation and partly lacked the capacity to handle a crisis of this kind. By studying more closely how farmers in this situation solved the problems, among other things through increased collaboration, measures to improve adaptability can be identified. In the paper we relate to the distinction in climate literature between autonomous and planned adaptation. Autonomous adaptation is understood as more improvised adaptation measures taken by individual actors (e.g. farmers) to deal with changing demands and conditions, while planned adaptation refers to the deliberate creation and implementation of policies to deal with the impacts of climate change. Our empirical material consists of in-depth interviews with farmers in southern Sweden and a larger survey material collected during 2019.From these concepts and by studying these challenges from the land users' perspective, we gain an expanded understanding of needed governance interventions for increasing the resilience in modern agriculture.
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17. |
- Brogaard, Sara, et al.
(author)
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Governance of biofuel production in the transport sector through the renewable energy directive
- 2012
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Conference paper (other academic/artistic)abstract
- In the search for viable pathways for transforming governance and institutions in the Rio+20 agenda, strengthening of public-private governance networks has been emphasized. Important initiatives are found in the expanding bioenergy sector where several certification schemes have been launched for ensuring that bioenergy feedstock meet environmental and social requirements. These initiatives are encouraged by the EU Renewable Energy Directive (RED). RED states that biofuels should replace 10% of Europe's fossil fuel in transport by 2020. However, the production of bioliquids raises serious environmental and social sustainability concerns in producer countries. In order to contribute to the EU targets, economic operators most comply with a set of sustainability criteria through one of three reporting schemes. This study, emphasizing the Swedish case as one of the first countries to transpose RED into national law, focuses on which reporting system is chosen by economic operators and on what grounds. Are social concerns such as labor rights, land and resource rights considered important factors? Preliminary studies show that the national scheme is stressing environmental sustainability, showing fewer concerns of social aspects, while the EU recently accredited voluntary systems, driven by a range of actors, are more transformational concerning the inclusion of social concerns in producer countries. The study contributes to the important question on how to promote north-south justice and fairness aspects in governing a sustainable biofuel production by learning from the implementation of this potentially influential regulatory innovation.
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18. |
- Brogaard, Sara, et al.
(author)
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Ground-truths or Ground-lies? : environmental sampling for remote sensing application exemplified by vegetation cover data
- 1997
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Reports (other academic/artistic)abstract
- During time of fast development of computer and sensor technology, ground data sampling strategies have achieved diminished attention in many remote sensing studies. This paper discusses the importance of designing an appropriate sampling scheme of ground data collection for remote sensing applications. The difficulties of achieving a balance between the size and the error of the samples are identified. Different techniques of vegetation cover estimations are evaluated to illustrate parts of the proposed sampling design. The study indicates that traditional methods of ground data collection for remote sensing applications do not have to result in "ground lies". Determination of a reliable and appropriate sampling scheme for the ground data collection should be given a more attention when assuring accurate results in remote sensing studies.
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19. |
- Brogaard, Sara, et al.
(author)
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Innovation Region Sweden
- 2020
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In: Deliverable 4.2 : Set of reports on CINA workshop findings in case study regions, compiled for ongoing co-design and knowledge exchange - Set of reports on CINA workshop findings in case study regions, compiled for ongoing co-design and knowledge exchange. ; , s. 296-331
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Book chapter (other academic/artistic)abstract
- Älska Skog educational competition (Gothenburg, Sweden)Gothenburg-based educational institute Universeum is running annual design competitions on forest topics for primary school pupils, starting in 2016. Based on various activities in which pupils gain knowledge about forest-related challenges and opportunities as well as forestry, they would design plans to deal with those problems. After a first setup which ended in 2018, an evaluation and potential redesign of the competition was desired. This is where the InnoForESt approach came in to structure and guide the innovation process of this educational programme. The aim of the innovation process was to update the competition programme to contemporary complexities and explore new actor and contributor constellations.At the time of writing, the Innovation Team has organized four workshops of different kinds, differing in distribution and number of stakeholders participating. A first workshop discussed a wide variety of scenarios which took up current topics of sustainability/climate and using forests as a means of integration. This meant a potential broadening of the previous range of topics which revolved specifically around forest management topics. However, this potential broadening was not without risk. Private forestry actors were strongly tied into the previous institutional arrangement of the educational competition and a critical view on climate activities in forests could result in their withdrawal from cooperation. Hence, any scenario that would involve climate change would need to be formulated very carefully.Nevertheless, during a second workshop the Team focused more on climate as a topic and presented the participants with three further developed scenarios fleshing out the contents of climate-focused educational competitions. The choice to intensify work on climate as a topic for the educational programme was reaffirmed by an increased awareness for climate change following the 2018 extreme drought and heatwave, which in turn spurred Greta Thunberg, the Swedish high school student turned global climate champion. Interest of high school students in the problematic surged along with Greta’s impact on global environmental policy and media. Afterwards, the Team planned to present the new direction to the private forestry actors. This was not yet successful, partly because they could not participate in subsequent workshops. In lieu of developments on that front, the Team picked up the further didactical development of the programme and met up with the Universeum in-house pedagogues. They discussed how the eventually chosen climate scenario could be implemented from a didactical perspective.In what has been the last workshop for now the Team convened teachers to discuss the current scenario and hear their opinions on different possibilities regarding the didactical setup of the programme now targeting the older age group of high school students. In InnoForESt terms, the Team has reached far into the prototype development process and is already on the verge of mapping the road ahead. It seems that the governance innovation is heading towards a new content and a new target group.
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21. |
- Brogaard, Sara, et al.
(author)
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Primary production of Inner Mongolia, China, between 1982 and 1999 estimated by a satellite data-driven light use efficiency model
- 2005
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In: Global and Planetary Change. - : Elsevier BV. - 1872-6364 .- 0921-8181. ; 45:4, s. 313-332
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Declining biological production as a part of an ongoing land degradation process is considered a severe environmental problem in the dry northern and northwestern regions of China. The aim of this study is to develop and adapt a satellite data-driven gross primary production model called Lund University light use efficiency model (LULUE) to temperate conditions in order to map gross primary production (GPP) for the Grasslands of Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region (IMAR), China, from 1982 to 1999. The water stress factor included in the original model has been complemented with two temperature stress factors. In addition, algorithms that allocate the proportions of C3/C4 photosynthetic pathways used by plants and that compute temperature-based C3 maximum efficiency values have been incorporated in the model. The applied light use efficiency (LUE) model is using time series of the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), CLouds from AVHRR (CLAVR) from the 8-km resolution NOAA Pathfinder Land Data Set (PAL). Quasi-daily rainfall and monthly minimum and maximum temperatures, together with soil texture information, are used to compute water limitations to plant growth. The model treats bare soil evaporation and actual transpiration separately, a refinement that is more biophysically realistic, and leads to enhanced precision in our water stress term, especially across vegetation gradients. Based on ground measurements of net primary production (NPP) at one site, the LULUE reproduces the variability of primary production better than CENTURY or NDVI alone. Mean annual GPP between 1982 and 1999 range from about 100 g/m(2) in desert regions in the west to about 4000 g/m(2) in the northeast of IMAR, and the coefficient of variation for GPP is highest near the margins of the deserts in the west where rainfall is erratic. Linear trends fitted through the 18-year time series reveal that the western regions have encountered no change, while a large area in the center of the IMAR shows marked increases in GPP. In the northeast, negative trends in GPP are noted and coincide with rainfall trends. Though the high inter-annual variability in primary production undermines the identification of significant trends, we could not isolate any general decline in grassland primary production.
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23. |
- Brogaard, Sara
(author)
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Recent changes in land use and productivity in agro-pastoral Inner Mongolia, China
- 2003
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Doctoral thesis (other academic/artistic)abstract
- This study challenges the prevailing assumption that the expansion of cultivated land areas and increasing number of livestock in the agro-pastoral regions of northern China have aggravated the process of land degradation since the start of the rural reforms in 1978. Land-use and productivity trends in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region (IMAR), with special attention to the Keerqin steppe region, have been analysed. A combination of methods including household surveys, analysis of agro-statistics and satellite-based productivity modelling has been applied on different spatial scales. Increase in grain yields was found, though considerable interannual variability persists, rendering livelihood insecure for farmers. Although statistics for cultivated land area are inferior the area of cultivated land seems to be increasing mainly in the pastoral counties. Farmers acknowledge the importance of the 30-year contract on cultivated land introduced in 1997 with respect to their investment in long-term management, but ranked the availability of chemical fertilizers and the economic means to buy them as more critical for crop production than soil erosion. This indicates the increase in use of and dependence on agro-chemicals, a trend confirmed by regional statistics, and concern is raised regarding the sustainability of the rapid agricultural development. The spatio-temporal dynamics of primary production for the IMAR was analysed by means of a regionally adapted light use efficiency model. The model, driven by a combination of NOAA AVHRR data and climatic data, has been used to map monthly Gross Primary Production (GPP) for the period 1982-1999. Though the high inter-annual variability in primary production undermines the identification of significant trends, it is indicated that in the western regions there has been no change in biological production, whereas a large area in central IMAR shows a marked increases for the period 1982-99. A combination of increasing crop yields, an increase in precipitation, as well as afforestation projects are probable factors explaining the pattern of regional increase in primary production.
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25. |
- Brogaard, Sara, et al.
(author)
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Rural reforms and changes in land management and attitudes: A case study from Inner Mongolia, China
- 2002
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In: Ambio: a Journal of Human Environment. - 0044-7447. ; 31:3, s. 219-225
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The international science community stresses the importance of the local perspective in the context of dryland degradation. This paper explores changes in management and attitudes in a mixed farming system in northern China, since the introduction of the economic reforms in the early 1980s, and the following changes in land-use rights. The area encompasses a dune landscape scattered with crop-land, as well as the Daqinggou Nature Reserve, an area of natural vegetation. According to farmers new varieties of maize in combination with increased use of fertilizers have improved yields, though high yield variability persists due to erratic rainfall. Farmers acknowledge the importance of the 30-year contract on cultivated land in 1997 for their investment in long-term management, but emphasize the importance of chemical fertilizers for short-term economic survival. The farmers stressed the negative impact of grazing and cultivation on soil erosion and stated that differences in vegetation composition and cover in the nature reserve are due to anthropogenic factors.
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