Mapping the extent of abandoned farmland in Central and Eastern Europe using MODIS time series satellite data

Camilo Alcantara; Tobias Kuemmerle; Matthias Baumann; Eugenia V. Bragina; Patrick Griffiths; Patrick Hostert; Jan Knorn; Daniel Müller; Alexander Prishchepov; Florian Schierhorn; Anika Sieber; Volker C. Radeloff

doi:10.1088/1748-9326/8/3/035035

Mapping the extent of abandoned farmland in Central and Eastern Europe using MODIS time series satellite data

Camilo Alcantara, Tobias Kuemmerle, Matthias Baumann, Eugenia V. Bragina, Patrick Griffiths, Patrick Hostert, Jan Knorn, Daniel Müller, Alexander Prishchepov, Florian Schierhorn, Anika Sieber, Volker C. Radeloff

145 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

The demand for agricultural products continues to grow rapidly, but further agricultural expansion entails substantial environmental costs, making recultivating currently unused farmland an interesting alternative. The collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 led to widespread abandonment of agricultural lands, but the extent and spatial patterns of abandonment are unclear. We quantified the extent of abandoned farmland, both croplands and pastures, across the region using MODIS NDVI satellite image time series from 2004 to 2006 and support vector machine classifications. Abandoned farmland was widespread, totaling 52.5 Mha, particularly in temperate European Russia (32 Mha), northern and western Ukraine, and Belarus. Differences in abandonment rates among countries were striking, suggesting that institutional and socio-economic factors were more important in determining the amount of abandonment than biophysical conditions. Indeed, much abandoned farmland occurred in areas without major constraints for agriculture. Our map provides a basis for assessing the potential of Central and Eastern Europe's abandoned agricultural lands to contribute to food or bioenergy production, or carbon storage, as well as the environmental trade-offs and social constraints of recultivation.

Original language	English
Article number	035035
Journal	Environmental Research Letters
Volume	8
Issue number	3
ISSN	1748-9326
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/8/3/035035
Publication status	Published - 2013
Externally published	Yes

Keywords

agricultural abandonment
Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union
fallow land
land use change
recultivation
remote sensing

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

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10.1088/1748-9326/8/3/035035

Cite this

Alcantara, C., Kuemmerle, T., Baumann, M., Bragina, E. V., Griffiths, P., Hostert, P., Knorn, J., Müller, D., Prishchepov, A., Schierhorn, F., Sieber, A., & Radeloff, V. C. (2013). Mapping the extent of abandoned farmland in Central and Eastern Europe using MODIS time series satellite data. Environmental Research Letters, 8(3), Article 035035. https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/8/3/035035

Alcantara, C, Kuemmerle, T, Baumann, M, Bragina, EV, Griffiths, P, Hostert, P, Knorn, J, Müller, D, Prishchepov, A, Schierhorn, F, Sieber, A & Radeloff, VC 2013, 'Mapping the extent of abandoned farmland in Central and Eastern Europe using MODIS time series satellite data', Environmental Research Letters, vol. 8, no. 3, 035035. https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/8/3/035035

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abstract = "The demand for agricultural products continues to grow rapidly, but further agricultural expansion entails substantial environmental costs, making recultivating currently unused farmland an interesting alternative. The collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 led to widespread abandonment of agricultural lands, but the extent and spatial patterns of abandonment are unclear. We quantified the extent of abandoned farmland, both croplands and pastures, across the region using MODIS NDVI satellite image time series from 2004 to 2006 and support vector machine classifications. Abandoned farmland was widespread, totaling 52.5 Mha, particularly in temperate European Russia (32 Mha), northern and western Ukraine, and Belarus. Differences in abandonment rates among countries were striking, suggesting that institutional and socio-economic factors were more important in determining the amount of abandonment than biophysical conditions. Indeed, much abandoned farmland occurred in areas without major constraints for agriculture. Our map provides a basis for assessing the potential of Central and Eastern Europe's abandoned agricultural lands to contribute to food or bioenergy production, or carbon storage, as well as the environmental trade-offs and social constraints of recultivation.",

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AU - Alcantara, Camilo

AU - Kuemmerle, Tobias

AU - Baumann, Matthias

AU - Bragina, Eugenia V.

AU - Griffiths, Patrick

AU - Hostert, Patrick

AU - Knorn, Jan

AU - Müller, Daniel

AU - Prishchepov, Alexander

AU - Schierhorn, Florian

AU - Sieber, Anika

AU - Radeloff, Volker C.

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N2 - The demand for agricultural products continues to grow rapidly, but further agricultural expansion entails substantial environmental costs, making recultivating currently unused farmland an interesting alternative. The collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 led to widespread abandonment of agricultural lands, but the extent and spatial patterns of abandonment are unclear. We quantified the extent of abandoned farmland, both croplands and pastures, across the region using MODIS NDVI satellite image time series from 2004 to 2006 and support vector machine classifications. Abandoned farmland was widespread, totaling 52.5 Mha, particularly in temperate European Russia (32 Mha), northern and western Ukraine, and Belarus. Differences in abandonment rates among countries were striking, suggesting that institutional and socio-economic factors were more important in determining the amount of abandonment than biophysical conditions. Indeed, much abandoned farmland occurred in areas without major constraints for agriculture. Our map provides a basis for assessing the potential of Central and Eastern Europe's abandoned agricultural lands to contribute to food or bioenergy production, or carbon storage, as well as the environmental trade-offs and social constraints of recultivation.

AB - The demand for agricultural products continues to grow rapidly, but further agricultural expansion entails substantial environmental costs, making recultivating currently unused farmland an interesting alternative. The collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 led to widespread abandonment of agricultural lands, but the extent and spatial patterns of abandonment are unclear. We quantified the extent of abandoned farmland, both croplands and pastures, across the region using MODIS NDVI satellite image time series from 2004 to 2006 and support vector machine classifications. Abandoned farmland was widespread, totaling 52.5 Mha, particularly in temperate European Russia (32 Mha), northern and western Ukraine, and Belarus. Differences in abandonment rates among countries were striking, suggesting that institutional and socio-economic factors were more important in determining the amount of abandonment than biophysical conditions. Indeed, much abandoned farmland occurred in areas without major constraints for agriculture. Our map provides a basis for assessing the potential of Central and Eastern Europe's abandoned agricultural lands to contribute to food or bioenergy production, or carbon storage, as well as the environmental trade-offs and social constraints of recultivation.

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KW - Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union

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Mapping the extent of abandoned farmland in Central and Eastern Europe using MODIS time series satellite data

Abstract

Keywords

UN SDGs

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