Land use

Land use is an umbrella term to describe what happens on a parcel of <a href="/facts/Land/sYfevlh5">land</a>. It concerns the benefits derived from using the land, and also the <a href="/facts/Land_management/RjdE2xUh">land management</a> actions that humans carry out there. The following categories are used for land use: <a href="/facts/Forest_land/Ae0sgp0Q">forest land</a>, cropland (<a href="/facts/Agricultural_land/Neh9clB1">agricultural land</a>), <a href="/facts/Grassland/T4P1kqT0">grassland</a>, <a href="/facts/Wetland/9abbP7CR">wetlands</a>, <a href="/facts/Human_settlement/kAbm83QV">settlements</a> and other lands. The way humans use land, and how land use is changing, has many <a href="/facts/Human_impact_on_the_environment/vIAWqfPB">impacts on the environment</a>. Effects of land use choices and changes by humans include, for example, <a href="/facts/Urban_sprawl/YCuJVsQG">urban sprawl</a>, <a href="/facts/Soil_erosion/gaGJXy0W">soil erosion</a>, <a href="/facts/Soil_degradation/eBMdjPI5">soil degradation</a>, <a href="/facts/Land_degradation/e6xbPpFl">land degradation</a> and <a href="/facts/Desertification/N7rdrzFy">desertification</a>. Land use and <a href="/facts/Land_management/RjdE2xUh">land management</a> practices have a major impact on <a href="/facts/Natural_resources/w9WXxMx3">natural resources</a> including <a href="/facts/Water/0lkXnJPK">water</a>, <a href="/facts/Soil/5Ddpr3QM">soil</a>, <a href="/facts/Nutrient/34bn4skK">nutrients</a>, <a href="/facts/Plant/X5BMDMvS">plants</a> and <a href="/facts/Animal/4b8J33nd">animals</a>.
Land use change is "the change from one land-use category to another". Land-use change, together with use of <a href="/facts/Fossil_fuel/BPgxAqB7">fossil fuels</a>, are the major <a href="/facts/Human_impact_on_the_environment/vIAWqfPB">anthropogenic</a> sources of carbon dioxide, a dominant <a href="/facts/Greenhouse_gas/HXaHqrT8">greenhouse gas</a>. Human activity is the most significant cause of land cover change, and humans are also directly impacted by the environmental consequences of these changes. For example, <a href="/facts/Deforestation/L1TNhN9p">deforestation</a> (the systematic and permanent conversion of previously forested land for other uses) has historically been a primary facilitator of land use and land cover change.
The <a href="/facts/Land_change_science/sGQVE0nq">study of land change</a> relies on the synthesis of a wide range of data and a diverse range of data collection methods. These include land cover monitoring and assessments, modeling risk and vulnerability, and <a href="/facts/Land_change_modeling/dbHERUsC">land change modeling</a>.

Land use open-in-new

Land use