Biological diversity in areas of land use (called ‘agrodiversity’ in the People, Land Management and Environmental Change – PLEC project) is not simply a function of the diversity of species and varieties of biota. Naturally, it does concern standard ecological biodiversity aspects (often termed ‘agro-biodiversity’ or ‘agricultural biodiversity’). Usually it is used to tell the tale of how mode...

1. Agriculture is the predominant user (75-80%) of the available freshwater resource in many parts of the world. At present most of the water used to grow crops is derived from rainfed soil moisture, with non-irrigated agriculture accounting for some 60% of production in developing countries. Although irrigation provides only 10% of agricultural water use and covers just around 20% of the cropl...

The ASTER sensor onboard NASA’s Earth observing satellite Terra is an optical remote sensor comprised of 14 spectral bands ranging from the visible to thermal infrared region. With its multispectral bands the sensor bears the potential to provide data for both a detailed land use classification of heterogeneously vegetated areas. This study evaluates the potential of ASTER data for land use cla...

This paper aims to examine the dynamics of land transactions, machine investments, and the demand for machine services using farm panel data from China. Recently, China's agriculture has experienced a large expansion of machine rentals and machine services provided by specialized agents, which has contributed to mechanization of agricultural production. On the other hand, the empirical results ...

Agricultural-induced increase of nitrate (NO3) loading in groundwater is a worldwide problem. This study investigates the impacts of agricultural activities on groundwater NO3 pollution in a Yellow River irrigated region. The agricultural land use patterns are dependent on the land and water conditions. Besides wheat–maize rotation, the most popular cultivation pattern, other patterns with high...

This study investigates how property taxes a¤ect development timing. A theoretical framework motivates an empirical model that explores how land use change decisions are made over time. A survival model using plot level data is estimated to show how di¤erent factors in‡uence the timing of development of individual parcels. The results suggest that higher taxes slow development, as expected. Wit...

In order to improve biological control of agricultural pests, it is fundamental to understand which factors influence the composition of natural enemies in agricultural landscapes. In this study, we aimed to understand how agricultural land use affects a number of different traits in ground beetle communities to better predict potential consequences of land-use change for ecosystem functioning....

Agricultural drain tile systems are a significant influence on the condition of wetlands and waterways. The influence of these systems is often difficult to determine since installation records are incomplete or were never kept. Using a modified decision class tree and raster analysis in ArcGIS, a model for predicting the location of land drained by subsurface systems was evaluated. The three-c...

Qingyu Feng. M.S.A.B.E., Purdue University, December 2013. Biomass Production and Hydrological/Water Quality Impacts of Perennial Crop Production on Marginal Land. Major Professor: Indrajeet Chaubey. Marginal land has been proposed to be a viable choice for biomass production to meet the biofuel development goal set by Energy Independence and Security Act (EISA). However, very little informatio...

The environmental impact of agriculture cannot be ignored. In many countries, as much as 70 per cent of the land area is in agricultural use. Over a third of the global agricultural land area is in high-intensity, continuous cropping systems that use high levels of agrochemicals and reshape land and waterways. The rest is under such a farming system that uses far fewer inputs, but requires rela...