Land systems constitute the terrestrial component of the

Earth Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to harbor life. While large volumes of water can be found throughout the Solar System, only Earth sustains liquid surface water. About 71% of Earth's surfa ...

system and encompass all processes and activities related to the human use of land, including

socioeconomic Socioeconomics (also known as social economics) is the social science that studies how economic activity affects and is shaped by social processes. In general it analyzes how modern societies progress, stagnate, or regress because of their local ...

, technological and organizational investments and arrangements, as well as the benefits gained from land and the unintended social and ecological outcomes of societal activities. Changes in land systems have large consequences for the local environment and human well-being and are at the same time pervasive factors of

global environmental change ''Global Environmental Change'' is a scientific journal publishing peer-reviewed research on environmental change that was established in 1990. It is published by Elsevier. the editor-in-chief is Eduardo Brondizio. the journal had an impact fac ...

. Land provides vital resources to society, such as

food Food is any substance consumed by an organism for nutritional support. Food is usually of plant, animal, or fungal origin, and contains essential nutrients, such as carbohydrates, fats, proteins, vitamins, or minerals. The substance is inge ...

fuel A fuel is any material that can be made to react with other substances so that it releases energy as thermal energy or to be used for work. The concept was originally applied solely to those materials capable of releasing chemical energy but ...

fibres Fiber or fibre (from la, fibra, links=no) is a natural or artificial substance that is significantly longer than it is wide. Fibers are often used in the manufacture of other materials. The strongest engineering materials often incorporate ...

and many other

ecosystem services Ecosystem services are the many and varied benefits to humans provided by the natural environment and healthy ecosystems. Such ecosystems include, for example, agroecosystems, forest ecosystem, grassland ecosystems, and aquatic ecosystems. Th ...

that support production functions, regulate risks of natural hazards, or provide cultural and spiritual services. By using the land, society alters and modifies the quantity and quality of the provision of these services. Land system changes are the direct result of human decision making at multiple scales ranging from local land owners decisions to national scale

land use planning Land use planning is the process of regulating the use of land by a central authority. Usually, this is done to promote more desirable social and environmental outcomes as well as a more efficient use of resources. More specifically, the goals ...

and

global trade International trade is the exchange of capital, goods, and services across international borders or territories because there is a need or want of goods or services. (see: World economy) In most countries, such trade represents a significant ...

agreements. The aggregate impact of many local land system changes has far reaching consequences for the Earth System, that feedback on ecosystem services, human well-being and decision making. As a consequence, land system change is both a cause and consequence of socio-ecological processes. The Global Land Programme (GLP) of

Future Earth Future Earth is an international research program which aims to build knowledge about the environmental and human aspects of Global change, and to find solutions for sustainable development. It aims to increase the impact of scientific research on ...

is an interdisciplinary community of science and practice fostering the study of land systems and the co-design of solutions for global sustainability.

References

Geography Land management {{Geo-term-stub es: