http://landscaperesearch.livingreviews.org Current articles from Living Reviews in Landscape Research. Living Reviews in Landscape Research is a peer-reviewed open access journal publishing invited reviews that summarise and evaluate the state of the art as well as future needs in the interdisciplinary domains of landscape research. LRLR is published by the Leibniz-Centre for Agricultural Landscape Research (ZALF), Müncheberg, Germany. Copyright Leibniz Centre for Agricultural Landscape Research (ZALF) Sat, 05 Apr 2008 11:18:28 -0000 en ePublishingToolkit (http://dev.livingreviews.org/) cdalchow@zalf.de admin@livingreviews.org Jörg A. Priess and Rüdiger Schaldach Sat, 05 Apr 2008 10:00:00 -0000 http://www.livingreviews.org/lrlr-2008-1 lrlr-2008-1 http://landscaperesearch.livingreviews.org/Help/Article/ Land-use change has been identified as one the most important processes to understand and to model global change. It is the result of complex interactions between human and environmental driving factors. A key to capturing this complexity is the analytical framework of land systems as coupled human-environment systems, a concept that is a central component of the science plan of the Global Land Project. Based on this framework, this paper presents an overview of eight integrated models of the land system. The review concentrates on model approaches that include processes of both the human and the environment sub-system and which operate in a spatially explicit manner on a regional to global scale. Another criterion used to select models is that they take into account interplay and competition between different land-use activities, e.g. between agriculture and urban development. Each model is reviewed separately in detail with focus on the different aspects of the land system that are represented within the model and on the implemented modelling concepts. This is done by systematically addressing the following topics: model purpose and application, model concepts for the human sub-system and for the environment sub-system and linkages between the sub-systems (model integration). Based on these findings commonalities and differences between the models are discussed and further research needs are identified. Evy Mettepenningen and Valerie Vandermeulen and Guido Van Huylenbroeck and Ann Verspecht Mon, 25 Jun 2007 10:00:00 -0000 http://www.livingreviews.org/lrlr-2007-3 lrlr-2007-3 http://landscaperesearch.livingreviews.org/Help/Article/ In this contribution we try to look at the new role for agriculture in rural areas by reviewing the concept of multifunctional agriculture as well as the analytical frameworks used. Next, we review the existing evidence about the multifunctional role of farming. Although not overwhelming, the existing literature shows that agriculture contributes to the rural wealth not only through the production of commodities, but also by the delivery of non-tradable goods. This contribution can be both direct through increased values for properties or economic benefits in the tourism sector, but also indirect through conservation of rural heritage or agri-ecological systems. Next we focus on how this role of agriculture can be stimulated. It is argued that multifunctionality can be a unifying principle to bring the productive and non-productive functions into harmony. This requires the development of new institutional arrangements and a major change in policy incentives. Simon Bell and Ulrike Pröbstl and Tuija Sievänen and Murray Simpson and Liisa Tyrväinen Mon, 25 Jun 2007 10:00:00 -0000 http://www.livingreviews.org/lrlr-2007-2 lrlr-2007-2 http://landscaperesearch.livingreviews.org/Help/Article/ Recreation and nature tourism are increasingly important activities with many implications both economic and environmental. As society changes so the demands and trends for recreation and nature tourism change and develop. This poses many challenges for planners and managers of recreational areas and providers of services. This review article focuses on the situation in Europe but does not ignore some major trends and issues arising elsewhere, while much of the research can be traced back to ideas and methods developed elsewhere, such as the U.S.A. To set the scene the main social and environmental trends are presented that show how the changing nature of society feeds through in expectations and demands for recreation and nature tourism. Demographic changes, consumer behaviour and the increasingly mobile and connected lifestyles of European citizens have produced trends for outdoor recreation preferences and for broadening travel horizons. Knowing about these trends enables planners and entrepreneurs to change their recreation or tourism offer to meet these demands. However, these demands have to be seen in the context of changing pressures and sensitivities of the environments, frequently natural, in which recreation and nature tourism activities are located. Climate change is a prime example of these pressures. Many countries have developed sophisticated survey and other monitoring tools and instruments to identify demand, to monitor levels and types of activity, changing preferences and pressures on the environment. While recreation is often led by demand from people who wish to participate in certain activities there are also increasingly well recognised benefits to health and well-being from closer contact with nature. Policy makers in the health sphere are taking a keen interest in this and in the means for encouraging sedentary populations to engage with physical activity in natural environments. The evidence base for this is improving and is reviewed in this paper. Management of environments and visitors produces many conflicts which must be resolved. Recent surveys of forest recreation have enabled a European-wide pattern to be identified which will help planners and managers identify issues to be considered. The paper draws on work being undertaken as part of two EU funded Cost Actions: ``Cost E33: Forest Recreation and Nature Tourism'' and ``Cost E39: Forests, Trees and Human Health and Well-being''. These allow experts from around Europe to network and to pool research and practice. Michael Matthies and Marcus Schulz Mon, 25 Jun 2007 10:00:00 -0000 http://www.livingreviews.org/lrlr-2007-1 lrlr-2007-1 http://landscaperesearch.livingreviews.org/Help/Article/ In the absence of drainage systems, runoff is a major transport pathway of pesticides from agricultural areas to aquatic systems. We provide an overview of existing runoff models eligible to describe the transport and fate of pesticides in the terrestrial environment. We distinguish between leaching, erosion, and hydrological models. Recent developments in runoff modelling include the evolution of complex deterministic models, combinations of models and probabilistic approaches on a GIS-platform. The latter enable users to make geo-referenced predictions of diffuse pesticide emissions from small to large scales. Simulated loads mostly correlate well with measured pesticide loads and concentrations on a catchment scale, but often overestimate measured concentrations, because the edge-to-field approach applied does not consider any attenuation by degradation or sorption between the location of pesticide application and surface waters. Therefore, future developments of horizontal pesticide transport models should focus on detention and retention mechanisms during transport on highly resolved temporal and spatial scales. Additionally, for the simulation of realistic scenarios of pesticide emissions on a catchment scale, the evaluation and standardization of probabilistic approaches can be helpful.