Abstract
When cropland expansion encroaches on ecological land (e.g., forest, grassland, wetland), it seriously affects carbon storage which plays an important role in global climate change. Taking Hubei as the study area, this study explored the effects of cropland expansion on carbon storage in both 2000–2010 and 2010–2030 in different scenarios by using the Integrated Valuation of Ecosystem Services and Trade-offs (InVEST) model and the LAND System Cellular Automata model for Potential Effects (LANDSCAPE). The results showed that cropland expansion led to a massive loss of carbon storage (1.76 Tg C) during 2000–2010, which is expected to continue during 2010–2030 in different scenarios. The loss is predicted to be 3.70 Tg C in the Business-As-Usual scenario and be 0.88 Tg C in the Requisition–Compensation Balance of Cropland Policy scenario. Noticeably, the loss of carbon storage due to cropland expansion was 1.12 times more than that due to urban expansion during 2000–2010. For the period of 2010–2030, the loss of carbon storage caused by cropland expansion is predicted to be 3.89 times more than that caused by urban expansion in the Business-As-Usual scenario, while the losses caused by cropland expansion and urban expansion are predicted to be almost equal in the Requisition–Compensation Balance of Cropland Policy scenario. The main cause of carbon storage loss due to cropland expansion is that it leads to the considerable loss of forest and wetland. This study highlights the importance of considering the loss of carbon storage caused by cropland expansion when conducting cropland protection policies and land use planning.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Article number | 110515 |
| Pages (from-to) | 1-12 |
| Number of pages | 12 |
| Journal | Journal of Environmental Management |
| Volume | 265 |
| Early online date | 10 Apr 2020 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 1 Jul 2020 |
Funding
This work is supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China [grant numbers 41971240 , 41371113 ], the Chinese National Funding of Social Sciences [grant number 13CGL092 ], Post-finance Project for National Social Sciences [grant number 19FGLB071 ], Post-finance Project for Philosophy and Social Sciences of the Ministry of Education [grant number 18JHQ081 ], and Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities [grant number 2662017PY063 ]. The authors appreciate Professor Chongfa Cai's contribution regarding his knowledge on soil and vegetation. The authors thank the experts from the 4th Global Land Progamme Open Science Meeting for their advice. The authors thank the Proof-Reading-Service ( https://www.proof-reading-service.com ) for its linguistic assistance for this manuscript. The authors thank the Chaessay ( http://www.chaessay.com ) for its service to check the duplication rate of this manuscript.
| Funders | Funder number |
|---|---|
| National Natural Science Foundation of China | 41371113, 41971240 |
| Ministry of Education of the People's Republic of China | 18JHQ081 |
| Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities | 2662017PY063 |
| National Social Science Fund of China | 13CGL092, 19FGLB071 |
Keywords
- Carbon storage
- Cropland expansion
- Cropland protection policies
- Ecosystem services
- Land use model
