Impacts of land-use history on the recovery of ecosystems after agricultural abandonment
Land-use changes have been shown to have large effects on climate and biogeochemical cycles, but so far most studies have focused on the effects of conversion of natural vegetation to croplands and pastures. By contrast, relatively little is known about the long-term influence of past agriculture on...
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Copernicus Publications
2016-09-01
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| Series: | Earth System Dynamics |
| Online Access: | http://www.earth-syst-dynam.net/7/745/2016/esd-7-745-2016.pdf |
| Summary: | Land-use changes have been shown to have large effects on climate and
biogeochemical cycles, but so far most studies have focused on the effects of
conversion of natural vegetation to croplands and pastures. By contrast, relatively little is known about the long-term influence of past agriculture on vegetation regrowth and carbon sequestration following land abandonment. We used the LPJ-GUESS dynamic vegetation model to study the legacy effects of different land-use histories (in terms of type and duration) across a range of ecosystems. To this end, we performed six idealized simulations for Europe and Africa in which we made a transition from natural vegetation to either pasture or cropland, followed by a transition back to natural vegetation after 20, 60 or 100 years. The simulations identified substantial differences in recovery trajectories of four key variables (vegetation composition, vegetation carbon, soil carbon, net biome productivity) after agricultural cessation. Vegetation carbon and composition typically recovered faster than soil carbon in subtropical, temperate and boreal regions, and vice versa in the tropics. While the effects of different land-use histories on recovery periods of soil carbon
stocks often differed by centuries across our simulations, differences in
recovery times across simulations were typically small for net biome
productivity (a few decades) and modest for vegetation carbon and composition
(several decades). Spatially, we found the greatest sensitivity of recovery
times to prior land use in boreal forests and subtropical grasslands, where
post-agricultural productivity was strongly affected by prior land
management. Our results suggest that land-use history is a relevant factor
affecting ecosystems long after agricultural cessation, and it should be
considered not only when assessing historical or future changes in
simulations of the terrestrial carbon cycle but also when establishing
long-term monitoring networks and interpreting data derived therefrom,
including analysis of a broad range of ecosystem properties or local climate
effects related to land cover changes. |
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| ISSN: | 2190-4979 2190-4987 |