The anthroscape approach in sustainable land use

Abstract

The final outcomes of the approach of the anthroscape, seeking to develop a powerful tool for use by the local communities/administrations and relevant bodies for a bottom to top approach, as a quantified entity, means to direct the future land and water use decisions to be taken at lower levels - as farm domains etc. - leading to the development of an "Anthroscape Land Quality Class" map and the relevant "Ideal Land Use Patterns" of the Seyhan Anthroscape. These two final products of quantification are sought to be capable in revealing the magnitude and the distribution of the degradation of the selected area, as well as allocating the ideal land use types given for the percentages of the distributions of land except their specific location. In this context, the downstream part of the map will show the abundant degradation arising via the intensive cultivation practices where the class stated in the map reveals the urgent need of an integrated SLWM Programme to revert the lower class C and D ALQCs to higher ALQCs to meet the requirements of the sustainable use of the land. Whereas, the higher ALQC land in the transition or upstream zone stands for higher resilience and lower input requirements to meet the ideal use of the land. The Net Primary Production (NPP) - The remainder of photosynthesis and respiration which has significance in the global and regional carbon budgets and is a function of the standing biomass (an important component of the carbon cycle and a key indicator of ecosystem performance) was utilized via land cover and management to serve as a supplementary indicator of the Anthroscape and the Anthroscape Land Quality.