The State of the World’s Arable Land
(2023) In Annual Review of Environment and Resources 48. p.451-475- Abstract
For millennia, agriculture has been shaping landscapes on Earth. Technological change has increased agricultural productivity dramatically, especially in the past six decades, but also resulted in trade-offs such as land and soil degradation, emission of greenhouse gases (GHGs), and spreading of toxic substances. In this article we review the impacts of agriculture on the world’s arable land. We start by synthesizing information on the extent of arable land and associated agricultural practices, followed by a review of the state of the art of soil health and soil carbon. We review processes of land degradation, emission of GHGs, and threats to biodiversity. To conclude, we review key social and economic aspects of arable land and... (More)
For millennia, agriculture has been shaping landscapes on Earth. Technological change has increased agricultural productivity dramatically, especially in the past six decades, but also resulted in trade-offs such as land and soil degradation, emission of greenhouse gases (GHGs), and spreading of toxic substances. In this article we review the impacts of agriculture on the world’s arable land. We start by synthesizing information on the extent of arable land and associated agricultural practices, followed by a review of the state of the art of soil health and soil carbon. We review processes of land degradation, emission of GHGs, and threats to biodiversity. To conclude, we review key social and economic aspects of arable land and identify some important concerns for the future. The article ends on a positive note describing a potential new pathway for agriculture—to gradually adopt polycultures of novel perennial grain crops.
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- author
- Olsson, Lennart LU ; Cotrufo, Francesca ; Crews, Timothy ; Franklin, Janet ; King, Alison ; Mirzabaev, Alisher ; Scown, Murray LU ; Tengberg, Anna LU ; Villarino, Sebastian and Wang, Yafei LU
- organization
- publishing date
- 2023-11
- type
- Contribution to journal
- publication status
- published
- subject
- keywords
- biodiversity, greenhouse gases, land degradation, land use, rural economies, soil carbon
- in
- Annual Review of Environment and Resources
- volume
- 48
- pages
- 25 pages
- publisher
- Annual Reviews
- external identifiers
-
- scopus:85179433689
- ISSN
- 1543-5938
- DOI
- 10.1146/annurev-environ-112320-113741
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- id
- 5b998650-180d-4bfc-8534-860770a9d31c
- date added to LUP
- 2024-01-08 14:25:19
- date last changed
- 2024-01-08 14:25:56
@article{5b998650-180d-4bfc-8534-860770a9d31c, abstract = {{<p>For millennia, agriculture has been shaping landscapes on Earth. Technological change has increased agricultural productivity dramatically, especially in the past six decades, but also resulted in trade-offs such as land and soil degradation, emission of greenhouse gases (GHGs), and spreading of toxic substances. In this article we review the impacts of agriculture on the world’s arable land. We start by synthesizing information on the extent of arable land and associated agricultural practices, followed by a review of the state of the art of soil health and soil carbon. We review processes of land degradation, emission of GHGs, and threats to biodiversity. To conclude, we review key social and economic aspects of arable land and identify some important concerns for the future. The article ends on a positive note describing a potential new pathway for agriculture—to gradually adopt polycultures of novel perennial grain crops.</p>}}, author = {{Olsson, Lennart and Cotrufo, Francesca and Crews, Timothy and Franklin, Janet and King, Alison and Mirzabaev, Alisher and Scown, Murray and Tengberg, Anna and Villarino, Sebastian and Wang, Yafei}}, issn = {{1543-5938}}, keywords = {{biodiversity; greenhouse gases; land degradation; land use; rural economies; soil carbon}}, language = {{eng}}, pages = {{451--475}}, publisher = {{Annual Reviews}}, series = {{Annual Review of Environment and Resources}}, title = {{The State of the World’s Arable Land}}, url = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1146/annurev-environ-112320-113741}}, doi = {{10.1146/annurev-environ-112320-113741}}, volume = {{48}}, year = {{2023}}, }