Beyond Inputs and Outputs: Opening the Black-Box of Land-Use Intensity

Author(s)
Karl-Heinz Erb, Tamara Fetzel, Helmut Haberl, Thomas Kastner, Christine Kroisleitner, Christian Lauk, Maria Niedertscheider, Christoph Plutzar
Abstract

Despite their central role in land-use transitions, changes in land-use intensity are only poorly understood, and databases for systematically analyzing change in land-use intensity are largely missing. This knowledge gap is critical because, due to the anticipated changes in global population numbers and food, fiber and energy demand, the development of strategies that aim to reap the benefits of land-use intensification (e.g., the reduced land demand for a certain level of production) while simultaneously avoiding detrimental social and ecological effects will become decisive in the near future. In this chapter, we first review existing approaches to analyzing land-use intensity and discuss existing barriers to land-use intensity research. We then elaborate on what the socioecological method inventory contributes to land system research. We argue that the concepts of socioeconomic metabolism and the colonization of nature are apt to significantly contribute to improvements in the analytical capabilities related to land-use intensity research. The strengths of the socioecological method inventory are its strict application of first principles, a sound and meaningful system boundary between society and nature and its applicability to Social and Natural Science approaches. These aspects are prerequisites for guiding the type of data collation and organization that allow investigation into the feedback cycles between social and natural systems that constitute the trade-offs and synergies of the land system.

Organisation(s)
Office of the Centre for Molecular Biology, Department of Geography and Regional Research, Department of Botany and Biodiversity Research
Pages
93-124
No. of pages
32
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-33326-7_4
Publication date
2016
Peer reviewed
Yes
Austrian Fields of Science 2012
507006 Cultural landscape research
Sustainable Development Goals
SDG 15 - Life on Land
Portal url
https://ucrisportal.univie.ac.at/en/publications/f00e452f-8262-4457-82fd-ca8029de4973