The way land is used is driven by the interplay of economic, social, and environmental factors. Land management is about finding the right balance of these, often competing, factors that allows sustainable land use. Whenever land is put to use, it is subject to stresses that can be quite high, as in the case of intensive agriculture. These stresses may not only affect the biodiversity of the land, such as through the loss of hedgerows, but can also have widespread social impacts—for example, by detracting from the land’s natural beauty. Research on multifunctional land uses looks at land from a holistic perspective to understand how different patterns of use cause different stresses, what the consequences of these stresses are, and how they can be managed or corrected. For example, Amundson (2001) Ann. Rev. Earth & Planet. Scis 29 argues that the store of terrestrial carbon can be increased by proper land management practices. Pressing land management issues make sound ecological information and conservation thinking a major imperative (Foster (2002) J. Biogeog. 29). Bowman (2001) J. Biogeog. 28, 5 argues that ecologists must learn to harness the power of environmental history narratives to bolster land management practices designed to conserve biological heritage. See Eriksen (2007) Geog. J. 173, 3 on fire as a savanna land management tool, and Lin and Ho (2005) AAAG 95, 2 on the role of the Chinese socialist state in land management.

http://ec.europa.eu/research/environment/index_en.cfm EC Environment Research website.