Sustainable Agriculture Reviews 30: Environmental Impact of Land Use Change in Agricultural Systems

249 Pages·2018·8.06 MB·English

by  Olivier Réchauchère

Sustainable Agriculture Reviews 30
Olivier Réchauchère · Antonio Bispo 
Benoît Gabrielle · David Makowski
Editors
Sustainable
Agriculture
Reviews 30
Environmental Impact of Land Use
Change in Agricultural Systems
Sustainable Agriculture Reviews
Volume 30
Series editor
Eric Lichtfouse
CEREGE, Aix Marseille Univ, CNRS, IRD, INRA, Coll France
Aix-en-Provence, France
Sustainable agriculture is a rapidly growing field aiming at producing food and
energy in a sustainable way for humans and their children. Sustainable agriculture
is a discipline that addresses current issues such as climate change, increasing food
and fuel prices, poor-nation starvation, rich-nation obesity, water pollution, soil
erosion, fertility loss, pest control, and biodiversity depletion.
Novel, environmentally-friendly solutions are proposed based on integrated
knowledge from sciences as diverse as agronomy, soil science, molecular biology,
chemistry, toxicology, ecology, economy, and social sciences. Indeed, sustainable
agriculture decipher mechanisms of processes that occur from the molecular level
to the farming system to the global level at time scales ranging from seconds to
centuries. For that, scientists use the system approach that involves studying
components and interactions of a whole system to address scientific, economic and
social issues. In that respect, sustainable agriculture is not a classical, narrow
science. Instead of solving problems using the classical painkiller approach that
treats only negative impacts, sustainable agriculture treats problem sources.
Because most actual society issues are now intertwined, global, and fast-devel-
oping, sustainable agriculture will bring solutions to build a safer world. This book
series gathers review articles that analyze current agricultural issues and knowledge,
then propose alternative solutions. It will therefore help all scientists, decision-mak-
ers, professors, farmers and politicians who wish to build a safe agriculture, energy
and food system for future generations.
More information about this series at http://www.springer.com/series/8380
Olivier Réchauchère • Antonio Bispo
Benoît Gabrielle • David Makowski
Editors
Sustainable Agriculture
Reviews 30
Environmental Impact of Land Use Change
in Agricultural Systems
Editors
Olivier Réchauchère Antonio Bispo
DEPE (Unit for Collective Scientific Agriculture and Forest
Expertise, Foresight and Advanced Studies) ADEME (French Agency for Environment
INRA and Energy Management)
Paris, France Angers cedex 01, France
Benoît Gabrielle David Makowski
EcoSys Agronomie
AgroParisTech – INRA INRA
Thiverval-Grignon, France Thiverval-Grignon, France
ISSN 2210-4410 ISSN 2210-4429 (electronic)
Sustainable Agriculture Reviews
ISBN 978-3-319-96288-7 ISBN 978-3-319-96289-4 (eBook)
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-96289-4
Library of Congress Control Number: 2018938773
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General Introduction for the Special
Volume of SAR
Overall Research Question
A variety of studies undertaken by both international and French research groups (in
France, notably those conducted by ADEME in collaboration with INRA, e.g., De
Cara et al. 2012) have demonstrated the importance of considering land-use change
(LUC) within environmental impact assessments (van Vliet et al. 2016; Hellweg
and Milà i Canals 2015; Liu et al. 2015). Indeed, accounting for the environmental
impacts of LUC subsequent to the reorganization of an agricultural system can sig-
nificantly alter the overall environmental impact assessment for that reorganization.
This is the case, for example, in greenhouse gas accounting for the bioenergy sector
(Searchinger et al. 2008; Lapola et al. 2010).
Publications addressing the issue of land-use change (both direct and indirect)
are now abundant, particularly with respect to agricultural production. Changes in
agricultural practices, whether these involve alterations in existing techniques, a
shift from one technique to another, or a more significant reorganization of an over-
all cropping or livestock system, can result in land-use changes at multiple scales,
with attendant environmental impacts. Numerous studies focused on first-g eneration
biofuels have emphasized their environmental impact compared to fossil fuel pro-
duction and use, primarily with respect to greenhouse gas emissions. More recent
studies have examined the environmental impacts of second-generation biofuels
(Davis et al. 2012), of increased livestock production (Nguyen et al. 2013), and of
urbanization (Toth 2012). These more recent studies seek to calculate the environ-
mental impacts associated with different types of land-use change, generally using
similar methodologies as those used in the environmental impact assessments for
first-generation biofuels (i.e., biophysical and economic modeling, life-cycle analy-
sis (LCA)).
Two types of land-use change are generally distinguished: direct LUC and indi-
rect LUC (Fig. 1). Direct LUC (dLUC) refers to situations where the expansion of
a crop modifies the land-use category, which may previously have been forest or
permanent grassland. This thus involves a direct change in land-use category (as
v
vi General Introduction for the Special Volume of SAR
a b
Cropland iLUC
Grassland Grassland Grassland Grassland
Forest Forest Forest Forest
Bioenergy dLUC
Bioenergy
Cropland Cropland Cropland Cropland
Simplified illustration of a direct LUC situation Simplified illustration of an indirect LUC situation
c
Grassland
Forest
Grassland
Forest
Cropland iLUC
LUC
dLUC
Bioenergy Bioenergy
Cropland Cropland
Simplified illustration of a system reorganization
involving both dLUC and iLUC (based on De Cara,
2012)
Fig. 1 Schematic representation of how agricultural reorganization can lead to direct LUC (a),
indirect LUC (b), or a combination of direct and indirect LUC (c)
defined by the IPCC (2006). Indirect land-use change (iLUC) refers to the effects of
changes in agricultural practices or in the end use of agricultural products in an area
already devoted to agriculture (e.g., a shift from a food crop to an energy crop)
prompting an indirect land-use change in another geographic area (e.g., the replace-
ment of a grassland or a forest by a food crop to compensate for a loss in food pro-
duction elsewhere).
Indirect LUC can involve reductions or expansions of cultivated land area. Thus,
for example, an increase in yields at the local level could allow for the same volume
of production from a smaller land area, potentially freeing up land for other uses
(Brunelle et al. 2014). Conversely, a decision to redirect a portion of food crop out-
put toward nonfood uses can lead to a shifting of food production to other land
areas, potentially resulting in a LUC in a previously uncultivated zone (Lapola et al.
2010; Plevin et al. 2010).
The overall environmental impact of the reorganization of an agricultural system
can thus be understood as the sum of (a) impacts resulting directly from implemen-
General Introduction for the Special Volume of SAR vii

Fig. 2 Conceptual diagram of factors influencing land-use change
tation of that reorganization plus (b) impacts linked to land-use changes, both direct
and indirect, triggered by that reorganization.
Incorporating LUC impacts into environmental assessments is a complex undertak-
ing. LUC is determined by multiple factors including prices, yields, the nature of
the agro/ecosystems involved, dietary habits, policy measures and incentives, etc.
(Fig. 1). Moreover, although dLUC may be monitored and quantified (e.g., transfor-
mation of a natural area into a cultivated system), iLUC cannot, since by definition
these are assessed by way of a calculation or a modeling exercise, not through direct
observation. Estimating the magnitude of iLUC thus involves making hypotheses as
to the consequences of an agricultural reorganization (e.g., via a consequential LCA
or a descriptive causal methodology) or simulating different scenarios using models
integrating highly diverse types of information (political, economic, biophysical,
etc.) (Ben Aoun et al. 2013).
Figure 2 diagrams the principal drivers and interactions giving rise to land-use
change. Within the agricultural realm, changes in demand for different food prod-
ucts (including both animal and plant products), changes in energy use, and changes
in the use of other biologically sourced materials determine the total productive land
area required. Changes in nonagricultural forms of land use can also impact the
pressure on cultivated land (e.g., need for housing, other infrastructure). The com-
bined effect of changes in demand for agricultural products, forestry products, and
other uses will determine the reorganization of agricultural systems, including land-
use changes, the magnitude of which will likewise depend on changes in agricul-
tural practices, notably since these will impact agricultural yields. The sum total of
viii General Introduction for the Special Volume of SAR
these interacting changes (land-use changes and changes in agricultural practices)
will have environmental impacts. It is this portion of Figure 1, shown in green –
“Reorganization of agricultural and forestry systems and spatial planning ➔ land-
use change ➔ environmental impacts” – which constitutes the principal focus of the
present study.
Several studies published at the end of the 2000s (Searchinger et al. 2008;
Fargione et al. 2009; Wise et al. 2009) demonstrated that LUC could have a strong
influence on environmental impact accounting. These early studies focused on a
specific type of agricultural reorganization giving rise to LUC, the production of
first-generation biofuels, and on a specific type of environmental impact, green-
house gas emissions. Research since 2010 has examined a broader range of agricul-
tural reorganization trends, LUC types, and environmental impacts. Agricultural
reorganization trends considered by these more recent studies include changes in
crop rotations, the intensification or extensification of cropping and/or livestock
systems, new types of crops such as those used for second-generation biofuels
(made from lignocellulosic biomass), the expansion of biologically based energies
and materials, the expansion and contraction of livestock production, loss of agri-
cultural land to urban development, and changes in dietary habits (see El Akkari
et al., Chap. 2, in this volume for a complete analysis). All of these shifts can give
rise to dLUC and/or iLUC. Some recent studies (van Vliet et al. 2016) consider not
only the impacts on GHG emissions but also the impacts on soil, water quality,
water availability, air quality, biodiversity, etc.
Over time, given a context of increased land requirements to meet global demand
for food, energy, housing, and other infrastructure (UNEP 2014), environmental
impact assessments of spatial planning should seek to account for the effects of
land-use change in a more systematic way. The issue is gaining prominence within
the articulation of public policy. Thus, recent proposals (European Commission
2016) for a revision of the Renewable Energy Directive (European Commission
2009) tend to emphasize and encourage the development of second-generation bio-
fuels, which are considered to have a better environmental balance sheet because of
their reduced impact on land use (Harris et al. 2015).
Published studies on LUC are extensive and diverse and at times yield contradic-
tory findings. Thus, in De Cara et al. (2012), the range of variation of the GHG
budget is wide, including both negative and positive values. To clarify public debate
on the environmental impacts of LUC (both direct and indirect), as well as to con-
tribute to the identification of relevant research questions, there is a need to synthe-
size the results of studies analyzing the effects of LUC on a broad range of
environmental impacts. The specific goal is to be able to assign environmental
impacts to agricultural reorganizations giving rise to LUC from the perspective of
the causal chain described above. An analysis of the current literature on the subject
shows, indeed, that the steps in this chain are typically viewed in isolation (van Vliet
et al. 2016), impeding our ability to make connections between systemic reorgani-
zations and environmental impacts.
General Introduction for the Special Volume of SAR ix
Organization and Objectives of This Special Volume
The goal of the study on which this special volume is based is thus to produce a
systematic analysis of the international bibliography on the effects of different types
of systemic reorganization (e.g., within agriculture, forestry, spatial planning) on
land-use change and associated environmental impacts. It seeks to provide a “state
of the research” on the topic in order to better characterize the magnitude of the
phenomena involved and to identify emerging research questions. Our focus is on
research published in scientific journals describing the totality of the causal chain
“reorganization of agricultural and forestry systems or spatial planning ➔ land-use
change ➔ environmental impacts.”
The first article in this volume describes the overall methodology employed,
including how the boundaries for the systematic literature review were defined
(Réchauchère et al., Chap. 1, this volume). Our review resulted in the identification
of 5730 references, using a search equation combining keywords from the field of
LUC and the field of environmental impact assessment. A textual analysis of this
corpus was then conducted (El Akkari et al., Chap. 2, this volume), leading to the
identification of major themes, emerging topics, and principal scientific methodolo-
gies employed.
A more in-depth analysis was then applied to a subgroup of the corpus made up
of references examining shifts toward the production of nonfood biomass. The anal-
ysis was based on a systematic dissection of these references’ content using an
analytical grid breaking down types of environmental impacts. Impacts on soil
(Bessou, Chap. 4, this volume), water (Bispo, Chap. 5, this volume), climate
(Bamière and Bellassen, Chap. 6, this volume), air quality and human health
(Gabrielle, Chap. 7, this volume), biodiversity (Gaba, Chap. 8, this volume), and
nonrenewable resources (Dumas, Chap. 9, this volume) are examined in the subse-
quent six articles. A further article (Gabrielle, Barbottin, and Wohlfahrt, Chap.
3, this volume) offers a transversal analysis of the links between systemic reorgani-
zation, land-use change, and environmental impacts and associated research
methodologies.
The volume concludes with an article (Makowski, Chap. 10, this volume) using
an “evidence mapping” methodology to represent in a summary and graphic form
the major conclusions drawn from our analysis of the sub-corpus on “nonfood bio-
mass.” This approach also assists in highlighting knowledge gaps and thus in iden-
tifying future research needs.
This study was funded by the Agency for Energy and the Environment (ADEME)
and the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry (contract no. 12-60-C0004). It was
made possible by the work of Sophie Le Perchec (INRA Rennes), who completed
the documentary research, as well as by the following researchers, who contributed
to the detailed analysis of the articles: Laure Bamière (INRA Grignon), Aude
Barbottin (INRA Grignon), Valentin Bellassen (INRA Dijon), Martial Bernoux
(IRD Montpellier), Cécile Bessou (CIRAD Montpellier), Antonio Bispo (ADEME
Angers), François Chiron (AgroParisTech, Orsay), Stéphane De Cara (INRA