Applied spatial approach of modelling field size changes based on a consideration of farm and landscape interrelations

Amanda E. Eigner and Ernst-August Nuppenau

Agricultural Systems, 2019, vol. 176, issue C

Abstract: Field sizes in agricultural production determine landscape characteristics and thus habitats. Yet, field sizes are not adequately considered in many theoretical landscape-oriented modelling approaches explaining habitats as well as biodiversity (BD). Our objective is to transfer theoretical model thinking into a practical approach with the focus on field and farm size changes. In our novel approach we model the impact of land consolidation driven by structural change, exchange of land between neighboring farmers and the participation in agri-environmental scemes. We work with a spatial representation of farming decisions and apply our model to a regional case study characterized as an intensively used agricultural area in Germany. Results are graphically translated via a geographical information system (GIS) and indicate that structural change leads to landscape homogeneity in our study region, and diversity of farming shrinks under the Common Agricultural Policy Reform 2009. Our model gives an idea of spatial variation in crop heterogeneity over time by conceptualizing spatial and temporal scales. In our stylized landscape visualization we prove the capabilities of a bio-economic modelling approach capturing economic resource allocation patterns and spatial representation of farming decisions in a perspective of sustainability analysis.

Keywords: Landscape homogeneity; Structural change; Spatially explicit; Optimization model; Economy of scale; Germany (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:agisys:v:176:y:2019:i:c:s0308521x18308059

DOI: 10.1016/j.agsy.2019.102648

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