Incentive schemes are increasingly used to motivate the supply of ecosystem services from agro-ecosystems through changes in land use and management. Here, I synthesize the complex effects of incentives on ecosystem services through their influence on land use and management. Linkages between incentives and land use change, and between land use change and ecosystem services can be one-to-many, many-to-one, and many-to-many. Change in land use and management can affect multiple ecosystem services, with both co-benefits and trade-offs.

Environmental targets are often used in planning for sustainable agricultural landscapes but their impacts are rarely known. In this paper we introduce landscape futures analysis as a method which combines linear programming optimisation with scenario analysis in quantifying the environmental, economic, and social impacts associated with achieving environmental targets, on a landscape scale. We applied the technique in the Lower Murray in southern Australia.

High nutrient loads are a widespread problem for many rivers and river catchments and cause damage to various ecological assets. Negative effects can be mitigated by changes in land management such as land use changes and/or implementation of intervention measures such as – amongst others – the construction of artificial wetlands and water treatment plants.

This study was applied in Edirne province Havsa district. For determination of land use efficiency of Havsa, satellite image and GIS were used. For this purpose the data of General Directorate of Rural Services which belongs to 1993 year, ASTER satellite images which belongs to 2008 year and topographic maps were used. For performing calculations in ERDAS software unclassified classification applied and 15 classes were formed. For performing supervised classification field work applied.

Dutch peatlands have been subsiding due to peat decomposition, shrinkage and compression, since their reclamation in the 11th century. Currently, subsidence amounts to 1–2 cm/year. Water management in these areas is complex and costly, greenhouse gases are being emitted, and surface water quality is relatively poor. Regional and local authorities and landowners responsible for peatland management have recognized these problems. In addition, the Netherlands Royal Meteorological Institute predicts higher temperatures and drier summers, which both are expected to enhance peat decomposition.

Land use practices and vegetation cover distribution are considered to be the most important dynamic factors that influence the land degradation or the soil erosion of a region. In this study, a Soil Protection Index (SPI) is defined as a function of land use practices and intensity of vegetation cover. This index is used to map the relative degree of protection of topsoil from being eroded by external effects such as rainfall and overland flow. A fuzzy rule‐based model integrated within ArcGIS® has been set‐up and tested with the aim to develop SPI maps.

Collaborative planning processes have been criticized for inefficiency, but attempts to improve them in planning of urban nature have been limited by lack of usable evaluation methodologies. This paper presents a framework for evaluating and designing collaborative processes in strategic planning of land use and nature areas. A framework with four key perspectives and their success criteria was developed with the help of literature and data from interviews and focus groups in two case areas in the Helsinki metropolitan area, Finland.

Greenhouses are a typical example of peri-urban land-use, a phenomenon that many planning systems find difficult to address as it mixes agricultural identity with urban appearance. Despite its urban appearance, greenhouse development often manages to evade urban containment policies. But a ban on greenhouse development might well result in under-utilisation of the economic value of the sector and its potential for sustainability. Specific knowledge of the urban and rural character of greenhouses is essential for the implementation of planning strategies.

Studies to assess the relationship between agriculture production and biodiversity conservation usually focus on one gradient ranging from a natural reference land cover type (typically forest) to an intensive productive land use. However, many semi-arid ecoregions such as the dry Chaco are characterized by a mosaic of different land covers, including natural grasslands and woody vegetation with different degrees of transformation, frequently aimed at meat production.

Soil conservation practices on the Fort Cobb Reservoir watershed in West-Central Oklahoma were limited before the 1950s. However, extensive soil conservation measures were implemented in the second half of the 20th century to protect agriculturally fertile but erosion-prone soils. Fortuitously, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) collected instantaneous suspended-sediment and discharge measurements on major tributaries within the watershed in 1943 –1948 and again in 2004 – 2007, called pre- and post-conservation periods respectively.

Changes of agricultural land use often induce changes in hydrological behavior of watersheds. Hence, effective information regarding runoff responses to future land use scenarios provides useful support for decision-making in land use planning and management. The objective of this study is to develop a methodology to assess land use change scenario impacts on runoff at the watershed scale. This objective implies translating qualitative information from scenarios into quantitative input parameters for biophysical models.