Agricultural Land Abandonment as a Global Land-Use Change Phenomenon

Reviews, Overviews, Reports and Conceptual Papers on Farmland Abandonment

 

A set of peer-review overview articles on farmland abandonment indexed in Clarivate Web of Science.

 

Quintas-Soriano, Cristina, Andreas Buerkert, and Tobias Plieninger. “Effects of Land Abandonment on Nature Contributions to People and Good Quality of Life Components in the Mediterranean Region: A Review.” Land Use Policy 116 (May 2022): 106053. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landusepol.2022.106053.

• A systematic review of research literature on the drivers of farmland abandonment in the Mediterranean region of Europe, the Middle East and northern Africa. The study generally highlights dual implications to the environment and contribution to societal well-being, but also an overall existing research gap on the socio-ecological component and social implications of farmland abandonment. In the Mediterranean rim, the study points to almost the absence of studies in Morocco, Tunis and Turkey, at least in international peer-review literature.

 

Holl, Karen D., Mark S. Ashton, Jacob J. Bukoski, Katherine A. Culbertson, Sara R. Curran, Thomas B. Harris, Matthew D. Potts, Yesenia L. Valverde, and Jeffrey R. Vincent. “Redefining ‘Abandoned’ Agricultural Land in the Context of Reforestation.” Frontiers in Forests and Global Change 5 (August 22, 2022): 933887. https://doi.org/10.3389/ffgc.2022.933887.

• A conceptual study stresses the importance of incorporating land tenure information in defining farmland suitable for reforestation.

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Subedi, Yuba Raj, Paul Kristiansen, and Oscar Cacho. “Drivers and Consequences of Agricultural Land Abandonment and Its Reutilisation Pathways: A Systematic Review.” Environmental Development, November 2021, 100681. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envdev.2021.100681.

• A systematic review of the drivers of farmland abandonment, also both positive and negative implications of farmland abandonment. Attention is paid to revisiting the reuse of abandoned farmlands.

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Fayet, Catherine M.J., Kate H. Reilly, Chantal Van Ham, and Peter H. Verburg. “What Is the Future of Abandoned Agricultural Lands? A Systematic Review of Alternative Trajectories in Europe.” 112 (January 2022): 105833. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landusepol.2021.105833.

• A systematic review with a focus on the evolving land-cover types, predominantly seminatural with transition vegetation landscapes. Based on literature review and expert interviews other than agriculture land uses on post-abandoned lands are presented, also in the connection to Green Deal strategy in Europe.

 

Dax, Thomas, Karin Schroll, Ingrid Machold, Martyna Derszniak-Noirjean, Bernd Schuh, and Mailin Gaupp-Berghausen. “Land Abandonment in Mountain Areas of the EU: An Inevitable Side Effect of Farming Modernization and Neglected Threat to Sustainable Land Use.” Land 10, no. 6 (June 3, 2021): 591. https://doi.org/10.3390/land10060591.

• A review on farmland abandonment in relationship to land-use policies in mountain areas of Europe.

 

Prishchepov, Alexander V. “Agricultural Land Abandonment.” In Environmental Science, by Alexander V. Prishchepov. Oxford University Press, 2020. https://doi.org/10.1093/obo/9780199363445-0129

• Encyclopedia-like article on agricultural land abandonment with suggested readings.

 

Prishchepov, Alexander V., Florian Schierhorn, and Fabian Löw. “Unraveling the Diversity of Trajectories and Drivers of Global Agricultural Land Abandonment.” Land 10, no. 2 (January 22, 2021): 97. https://doi.org/10.3390/land10020097

• A non-explicit summary of the Special Issue on farmland abandonment https://www.mdpi.com/journal/land/special_issues/land_abandonment , highlighting that farmland abandonment is a global land-use change process, also common in the Global South.

 

Mantero, Giulia, Donato Morresi, Raffaella Marzano, Renzo Motta, David J. Mladenoff, and Matteo Garbarino. “The Influence of Land Abandonment on Forest Disturbance Regimes: A Global Review.” Landscape Ecology 35, no. 12 (December 2020): 2723–44. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10980-020-01147-w

• The study evaluates the implications of farmland abandonment toward forest disturbance regimes globally, including landslides, fires, insect outbreaks, etc. The study concludes on overall forest recovery following abandonment, with a strong focus on wildfires in Mediterranean Europe, and site-specific disturbances, such as avalanches and landslides.

 

Grădinaru, Simona R., Cristian I. Iojă, Gabriel Ovidiu Vânău, and Diana Andreea Onose. “Multi-Dimensionality of Land Transformations: From Definition to Perspectives on Land Abandonment.” Carpathian Journal of Earth and Environmental Sciences 15, no. 1 (February 2020): 167–77. https://doi.org/10.26471/cjees/2020/015/119

• A paper specifically looks at the complexity of farmland abandonment definition from semantics, legislative, botany and remote sensing perspectives.

 

Chaudhary, Suresh, Yukuan Wang, Amod Mani Dixit, Narendra Raj Khanal, Pei Xu, Bin Fu, Kun Yan, Qin Liu, Yafeng Lu, and Ming Li. “A Synopsis of Farmland Abandonment and Its Driving Factors in Nepal.” Land 9, no. 3 (March 16, 2020): 84. https://doi.org/10.3390/land9030084

• An example of synopsis, which summarizes the diversity of drivers may operate at different levels in the context of farmland abandonment in Nepal.

 

Goga, Tomáš, Ján Feranec, Tomáš Bucha, Miloš Rusnák, Ivan Sačkov, Ivan Barka, Monika Kopecká, et al. “A Review of the Application of Remote Sensing Data for Abandoned Agricultural Land Identification with Focus on Central and Eastern Europe.” Remote Sensing 11, no. 23 (January 2019): 2759. https://doi.org/10.3390/rs11232759

• A review of Earth Observation methods and remote sensing data sets utilized to study farmland abandonment in Europe.

 

Ustaoglu, Eda, and Marcus J. Collier. “Farmland Abandonment in Europe: An Overview of Drivers, Consequences, and Assessment of the Sustainability Implications.” Environmental Reviews 26, no. 4 (December 2018): 396–416. https://doi.org/10.1139/er-2018-0001

• An updated look at the drivers and environmental consequences of farmland abandonment in Europe with more focus on policies and sustainability.

 

Li, Shengfa, and Xiubin Li. “Global Understanding of Farmland Abandonment: A Review and Prospects.” Journal of Geographical Sciences 27, no. 9 (September 2017): 1123–50. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11442-017-1426-0

• A study that highlights farmland abandonment as a global land change process.

 

Plieninger, Tobias, Hélène Draux, Nora Fagerholm, Claudia Bieling, Matthias Bürgi, Thanasis Kizos, Tobias Kuemmerle, Jørgen Primdahl, and Peter H. Verburg. “The Driving Forces of Landscape Change in Europe: A Systematic Review of the Evidence.” Land Use Policy 57 (November 2016): 204–14 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landusepol.2016.04.040.

• Another systematic literature review follows the concept of underlying and proximate causes of agricultural expansion, intensification, de-intensification, and farmland abandonment in Europe, but more with a look at the European landscapes and biomes. The study makes several valuable conclusions on the importance of causal inference, understudied landscapes, the importance of controlled site analysis.

 

Vliet, Jasper van, Henri L.F. de Groot, Piet Rietveld, and Peter H. Verburg. “Manifestations and Underlying Drivers of Agricultural Land Use Change in Europe.” Landscape and Urban Planning 133 (January 2015): 24–36. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landurbplan.2014.09.001

• A systematic literature review follows the concept of underlying and proximate causes of agricultural expansion, intensification, de-intensification, and farmland abandonment in Europe.

 

Queiroz, Cibele, Ruth Beilin, Carl Folke, and Regina Lindborg. “Farmland Abandonment: Threat or Opportunity for Biodiversity Conservation? A Global Review.” 12, no. 5 (June 2014): 288–96. https://doi.org/10.1890/120348.

• A global overview of farmland abandonment looks at the biodiversity part of this process.

 

Munroe, Darla K, Derek B van Berkel, Peter H Verburg, and Jeffrey L Olson. “Alternative Trajectories of Land Abandonment: Causes, Consequences and Research Challenges.” Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability 5, no. 5 (October 2013): 471–76. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cosust.2013.06.010

• Conceptual paper on farmland abandonment as a land transition process, thus, new reuses may evolve over time.

 

Benayas, J. M. R., A. Martins, J. M. Nicolau, and J. J. Schulz. “Abandonment of Agricultural Land: An Overview of Drivers and Consequences.” 2, no. 057 (2007): 14. https://doi.org/10.1079/PAVSNNR20072057

• A non-explicit overview of farmland abandonment across the globe, drivers and negative and positive implications of farmland abandonment on environment and biodiversity.

 

MacDonald, D., J. R. Crabtree, G. Wiesinger, T. Dax, N. Stamou, P. Fleury, J. G. Lazpita, and A. Gibon. “Agricultural Abandonment in Mountain Areas of Europe: Environmental Consequences and Policy Response.” Journal of Environmental Management 59, no. 1 (May 2000): 47–69. https://doi.org/10.1006/jema.1999.0335

• One of the first reviews on the farmland abandonment process with a focus on the Mountain landscapes of Europe and evaluation of policies that may strive but also counterbalance farmland abandonment. The study provides the study sites on farmland abandonment in the mountain landscapes of Europe. Thus, it is possible to follow where abandonment has been studied before 2000.