Land use and land cover (LULC) is a core integrative topic in environmental and geographic research that distinguishes between the biophysical state of the Earth’s surface (land cover) and the human purposes or activities applied to that surface (land use). Scientifically, LULC analysis relies heavily on remote sensing, GIS, and classification schemes (e.g., distinguishing forest, cropland, urban, wetlands) to quantify spatial patterns and temporal dynamics. It is central to studying ecosystem processes, carbon and water cycles, biodiversity, and anthropogenic impacts, and underpins models of climate change, land degradation, habitat fragmentation, and sustainable spatial planning.
Wildfires pose a significant threat across the southwestern United States, due to the region's unique topography and weather conditions. Accurately identifying locations at the highest risk of a severe wildfire is critical ...
Earth Sciences
Dec 9, 2025
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20
Cover crops improve soil health and water quality, prevent nutrient loss, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions, but they're only grown on about 5% of U.S. agricultural lands. That's despite billions in annual federal investments, ...
Agriculture
Dec 4, 2025
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12
The Xwulqw'selu Sta'lo' (Koksilah River) is a culturally important river to the Cowichan Tribes, located on traditional Quw'utsun land on Vancouver Island, British Columbia. The land, which was never ceded to Canada, is part ...
Environment
Dec 4, 2025
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12
With the GlobalBuildingAtlas, a research team at the Technical University of Munich (TUM) has created the first high-resolution 3D map of all buildings worldwide. The open data provides a crucial basis for climate research ...
Environment
Dec 2, 2025
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116
A massive, multi-year scientific expedition led by researchers from the University of California, Santa Barbara and collaborating institutions, including the University of Hawai'i (UH) at Mānoa, determined that land use on ...
Ecology
Nov 26, 2025
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13
A research team from the Aerospace Information Research Institute of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (AIRCAS), in collaboration with Argentina's Center for Advanced Studies in Earth Sciences and Biodiversity (CADIC-CONICET), ...
Plants & Animals
Nov 14, 2025
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30
More than two decades ago, Joan Iverson Nassauer, professor of landscape architecture at the University of Michigan School for Environment and Sustainability, helped envision a new future for Corn Belt agriculture. And not ...
Agriculture
Nov 13, 2025
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22
A team led by LMU researchers shows why CO₂ fluxes from land use are so difficult to quantify—and how they can be estimated more accurately in the future.
Earth Sciences
Nov 7, 2025
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30
A new study led by Prof. Li Xiaosong from the Aerospace Information Research Institute of the Chinese Academy of Sciences has evaluated land productivity dynamics (LPD) across the African Great Green Wall (GGW) between 2013 ...
Environment
Nov 5, 2025
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31
Land use is at the heart of the many emergencies facing our world today: climate change, biodiversity loss, social injustice and food insecurity. These—exacerbated by unsustainable practices such as industrial agriculture—combine ...
Ecology
Oct 31, 2025
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