Excerpt

This volume focuses on research in which land use or land cover change is a key mediator of human-environment interactions, in which demographic variables figure prominently among the driving forces investigated, and in which efforts are made to investigate the causal mechanisms by which human population changes affect land use and environmental outcomes. It takes stock of the progress that has been made in such research to see what has been learned, to identify gaps and problems that remain, and to develop a set of recommendations about future research directions.

Contents

• The National Academies
• Panel on New Research on Population and the Environment
• Committee on the Human Dimensions of Global Change
• Preface
• I. Panel Report
  • Executive Summary
  • 1 The State of Knowledge
  • 2 Recommended Research Directions
  • References
• II. Papers
  • 3. Global and Case-Based Modeling of Population and Land Use Change
    • INTRODUCTION
    • GLOBAL MODELING OF LAND USE
    • THE IIASA-LUC MODEL OF CHINA
    • CONCLUDING REMARKS
    • ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
    • REFERENCES
  • 4. Population and Environment in the U.S. Great Plains
    • INTRODUCTION
    • CONCEPTUALIZING THE CONNECTIONS AND THINKING ABOUT THE DATA
    • DATA, DESIGN, AND STATISTICAL TECHNIQUES
    • MAJOR FINDINGS
    • HOW POPULATION CHANGED THE GREAT PLAINS
    • THE PARADOX OF POPULATION AND ENVIRONMENT
    • REFINING OUR UNDERSTANDING OF ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS
    • CONCLUSIONS
    • ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
    • REFERENCES
  • 5. Population and Environment in Amazônia: Landscape and Household Dynamics
    • INTRODUCTION
    • THE FIRST STAGE OF THE PROJECT (1972-1984): ADAPTATION IN A TROPICAL FRONTIER
    • THE SECOND STAGE OF THE PROJECT (1991-1996): SECONDARY SUCCESSION AND LAND COVER CHANGE DYNAMICS
    • THE THIRD STAGE OF THE PROJECT (1997-PRESENT): POPULATION AND ENVIRONMENT IN AMAZÔNIA
    • REALITY AND THE FUTURE OF RESEARCH ON POPULATION AND ENVIRONMENT
    • ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
    • REFERENCES
  • 6. Population Change and Landscape Dynamics: The Nang Rong, Thailand, Studies
    • INTRODUCTION
    • QUESTIONS IN CONTEXT
    • THEORETICAL APPROACHES AND PERSPECTIVES
    • MULTIPLE UNITS, SCALES, THEMES, AND PERSPECTIVES
    • MULTIPLE ANALYTIC APPROACHES
    • INTEGRATING CHALLENGES
    • CONCLUSION
    • ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
    • REFERENCES
  • 7. The Urban Ecology of Metropolitan Phoenix: A Laboratory for Interdisciplinary Study
    • CENTRAL ARIZONA–PHOENIX LONG-TERM ECOLOGICAL RESEARCH
    • LAND USE AND LAND COVER CHANGE
    • 200-POINT SURVEY
    • URBAN MODELS AND SOCIAL PROCESSES
    • REGIONAL DEMOGRAPHY
    • AGRARIAN LANDSCAPES IN TRANSITION
    • NETWORKING URBAN ECOLOGICAL MODELS AND ENGAGING PUBLIC AGENCIES
    • GOING FORWARD WITH ACADEMIC AND APPLIED OBJECTIVES
    • ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
    • REFERENCES
  • 8. Economies, Societies, and Landscapes in Transition: Examples from the Pearl River Delta, China, and the Red River Delta, Vietnam
    • A TALE OF TWO DELTAS
    • Red River Delta, Vietnam
    • CONCEPTS, DATA, AND METHODS
    • LESSONS LEARNED AND CHALLENGES AHEAD
    • ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
    • REFERENCES
  • 9. Beyond Population Size: Examining Intricate Interactions Among Population Structure, Land Use, and Environment in Wolong Nature Reserve, China
    • INTRODUCTION
    • STUDY AREA
    • CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK
    • APPROACHES
    • FINDINGS
    • CONCLUDING REMARKS
    • ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
    • REFERENCES
  • 10. People, Land Use, and Environment in the Yaqui Valley, Sonora, Mexico
    • THE YAQUI VALLEY
    • CONCEPTUAL THEMES AND RESEARCH FRAMEWORKS
    • LESSONS LEARNED: CHALLENGES FOR INTEGRATING NATURAL AND SOCIAL SCIENCES
    • ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
    • REFERENCES
  • 11. Patterns of Urban Land Use as Assessed by Satellite Imagery: An Application to Cairo, Egypt
    • INTRODUCTION
    • URBAN PLACE METRICS DERIVED FROM IMAGERY
    • APPLYING THE URBAN INDEX
    • DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION
    • ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
    • REFERENCES
  • 12. A Review of 10 Years of Work on Economic Growth and Population Change in Rural India
    • INTRODUCTION
    • THEORY
    • DATA
    • RESULTS
    • SCALE
    • FUTURE WORK
    • CONCLUSION
    • REFERENCES
• Appendix About the Contributors

This study was supported by Contract/Grant No. N01-OD-4-2139, TO #91 between the National Academy of Sciences and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and Contract/Grant No. 2001-7477 between the National Academy of Sciences and the Hewlett Foundation. Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the organizations or agencies that provided support for the project.

Suggested citation:

National Research Council. (2005). Population, Land Use, and Environment: Research Directions. Panel on New Research on Population and the Environment. Barbara Entwisle and Paul C. Stern, editors. Committee on the Human Dimensions of Global Change, Division of Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.

NOTICE: The project that is the subject of this report was approved by the Governing Board of the National Research Council, whose members are drawn from the councils of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine. The members of the committee responsible for the report were chosen for their special competences and with regard for appropriate balance.