Spatial patterns of agricultural expansion determine impacts on biodiversity and carbon storage.

ABSTRACT: The agricultural expansion and intensification required to meet growing food and agri-based product demand present important challenges to future levels and management of biodiversity and ecosystem services. Influential actors such as corporations, governments, and multilateral organizations have made commitments to meeting future agricultural demand sustainably and preserving critical ecosystems. Current approaches to predicting the impacts of agricultural expansion involve calculation of total land conversion and assessment of the impacts on biodiversity or ecosystem services on a per-area basis, generally assuming a linear relationship between impact and land area. However, the impacts of continuing land development are often not linear and can vary considerably with spatial configurati

SUBMITTER: Chaplin-Kramer R 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4475955 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature