Land use change and ecosystem service tradeoffs on California agricultural land
Year: 2024
Type: article
Abstract: The need to transition to sustainable agricultural practices while maintaining high food yield and strengthening resilience to climate change cannot be overstated. California farmers have received incentive funding from federal and state agencies to use land management practices that are less impactful to the land and in line with California’s sustainability goals. However, there are no regional monitoring measures to determine whether farming is becoming more sustainable. In this study, we used land cover change analysis and ecosystem services (ES) modeling to understand how farming practices influence environmental benefits on California farmland from 2010 to 2020. We analyzed the tradeoffs between soil erosion control, soil carbon storage, and production of California’s top agricultural commodities, and we compared these changes to changes in land cover in five agricultural regions statewide. We found that the trade-offs in ESs and food production differ depending on the regional context, and that major expansion in almond production and land use changes have had different impacts throughout California. Statewide, soil organic carbon storage increased, soil erosion control increased slightly, and food production boomed for most commodities. Incentive programs that influence farming practices may need to operate at a regional level rather than a statewide level to achieve sustainable outcomes specific to each region.
Authors: Julia Lenhardt, B N Egoh
Institution: University of California, Irvine
Language: English
Subfield: Global and Planetary Change
Field: Environmental Science
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $2,395
Funder: Hellman Foundation
OpenAlex ID: W4402631848