Beckmann, M, Didenko, G, Bullock, JM et al. (4 more authors) (2022) Archetypes of agri-environmental potential: a multi-scale typology for spatial stratification and upscaling in Europe. Environmental Research Letters, 17 (11). 115008. ISSN 1748-9326
Abstract
Developing spatially-targeted policies for farmland in the European Union (EU) requires synthesized, spatially-explicit knowledge of agricultural systems and their environmental conditions. Such synthesis needs to be flexible and scalable in a way that allows the generalization of European landscapes and their agricultural potential into spatial units that are informative at any given resolution and extent. In recent years, typologies of agricultural lands have been substantially improved, however, agriculturally relevant aspects have yet to be included. We here provide a spatial classification approach for identifying archetypal patterns of agri-environmental potential in Europe based on machine-learning clustering of 17 variables on bioclimatic conditions, soil characteristics and topographical parameters. We improve existing typologies by (a) including more recent biophysical data (e.g. agriculturally-important soil parameters), (b) employing a fully data-driven approach that reduces subjectivity in identifying archetypal patterns, and (c) providing a scalable approach suitable both for the entire European continent as well as smaller geographical extents. We demonstrate the utility and scalability of our typology by comparing the archetypes with independent data on cropland cover and field size at the European scale and in three regional case studies in Germany, Czechia and Spain. The resulting archetypes can be used to support spatial stratification, upscaling and designation of more spatially-targeted agricultural policies, such as those in the context of the EU's Common Agricultural Policy post-2020.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2022 The Author(s). Published by IOP Publishing Ltd. Original content from this work may be used under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. Any further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the title of the work, journal citation and DOI. |
Keywords: | archetypes; multi-scale; typology; land systems; self-organizing maps |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Leeds |
Academic Units: | The University of Leeds > Faculty of Environment (Leeds) > School of Geography (Leeds) > Ecology & Global Change (Leeds) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Publications |
Date Deposited: | 23 Feb 2023 11:18 |
Last Modified: | 24 Feb 2023 15:11 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | IOP Publishing |
Identification Number: | 10.1088/1748-9326/ac9cf5 |
Related URLs: | |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:196706 |
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