Land Use Change and Sustainability

**3**

**Chapter 1**

**Abstract**

Soil and Land-Use Change

Great Plains of the USA

in South Dakota and Nebraska, respectively.

nutrient runoff, and changing other soil properties [3, 4].

Plain, South Dakota, Nebraska

**1. Introduction**

Sustainability in the Northern

*Deepak R. Joshi, David E. Clay, Alexander Smart,* 

*Sharon A. Clay, Tulsi P. Kharel and Umakanta Mishra*

In the Northern Great Plains (NGP), the combined impacts of land-use and climate variability have the potential to place many soils on the tipping point of sustainability. The objectives of this study were to assess if the conversion of grassland to croplands occurred on fragile landscapes in the North America Northern Great Plains. South Dakota and Nebraska were selected for this study because they are located in a climate transition zone. We visually classified 43,200 and 38,400 points in South Dakota and Nebraska, respectively, from high-resolution imagery in 2006, 2012, and 2014 into five different categories (cropland, grassland, habitat, NonAg, and water). The sustainability risk of the land-use changes was assessed based on the land capability class (LCC) scores at the selected sites. Sites with LCC scores ≤ 4 are considered sustainable for crop production if appropriate management practices are followed. Scores ≥ 6 are not considered suitable for row crop production. From 2006 to 2014, 910,000 and 360,000 ha of land were converted from grassland to cropland in South Dakota and Nebraska, respectively. Approximately 92 and 80% of the grassland conversion to croplands occurred on land suitable for crop production (land capability class, LCC ≤ 4)

**Keywords:** land-use change, sustainability, land capability class, Northern Great

The conversion of grasslands and forest to croplands is not sustainable if conversion occurs on land not suitable for crop production and if the soil loss rates exceed the rates of soil formation. In semiarid regions, soil erosion is one of the critical factors leading to soil degradation [1]. Erosion is increased when the vegetation cover is destroyed by cultivation [1, 2]. The resulting erosion can reduce the productivity by soil structural degradation as well as by reducing water holding capacity, water and

The Northern Great Plains (NGP) has undergone extensive management changes since homesteading in the 1880s. These management changes are the result of markets, technologies, and climate variation over time. Climate and market variability results in boom and bust cycles [2]. For example, during World
