TY - JOUR
T1 - Using embodied HANPP to analyze teleconnections in the global land system
T2 - Conceptual considerations
AU - Haberl, Helmut
AU - Erb, Karl Heinz
AU - Krausmann, Fridolin
AU - Berecz, Stefan
AU - Ludwiczek, Nikolaus
AU - Martínez-Alier, Joan
AU - Musel, Annabella
AU - Schaffartzik, Anke
PY - 2009
Y1 - 2009
N2 - In our rapidly globalizing world economy activities in one region have increasingly important effects on ecological, economic or social processes elsewhere, an effect which we here denote as 'teleconnections' between different regions. Biomass trade, one of the causes behind such teleconnections, is currently growing exponentially. Integrated analyses of changes in the global land system are high on the agenda of sustainability science, but a methodological framework for a consistent allocation of environmental burdens related to the consumption and production of biomass between regions has not been put forth to date. The concept of the 'embodied human appropriation of net primary production' (abbreviated 'embodied HANPP' or 'eHANPP') allows for the assessment of the 'upstream' effects on ecosystem energetics associated with a particular level of biomass consumption or with a given biomass-based product. This concept is based on HANPP and its two components: (1) productivity changes resulting from land conversion (ΔNPPLC), and (2) harvest of biomass in ecosystems (NPPh). HANPP, defined as the sum of ΔNPPLC and NPPh in any given territory, is indicative of the intensity with which humans use the land for their purposes. eHANPP is defined as the NPP appropriated in the course of biomass production, encompassing losses along the production chain as well as productivity changes induced through land conversion or harvest. By making the pressure exerted on ecosystems associated with imports and exports visible, eHANPP allows for the analysis of teleconnections between producing and consuming regions. This article puts forward the eHANPP concept, illustrates its utility for integrated socioecological landchange research based on top-down data on global HANPP and biomass consumption, and discusses the possibilities and challenges related to its quantification in bottom-up approaches.
AB - In our rapidly globalizing world economy activities in one region have increasingly important effects on ecological, economic or social processes elsewhere, an effect which we here denote as 'teleconnections' between different regions. Biomass trade, one of the causes behind such teleconnections, is currently growing exponentially. Integrated analyses of changes in the global land system are high on the agenda of sustainability science, but a methodological framework for a consistent allocation of environmental burdens related to the consumption and production of biomass between regions has not been put forth to date. The concept of the 'embodied human appropriation of net primary production' (abbreviated 'embodied HANPP' or 'eHANPP') allows for the assessment of the 'upstream' effects on ecosystem energetics associated with a particular level of biomass consumption or with a given biomass-based product. This concept is based on HANPP and its two components: (1) productivity changes resulting from land conversion (ΔNPPLC), and (2) harvest of biomass in ecosystems (NPPh). HANPP, defined as the sum of ΔNPPLC and NPPh in any given territory, is indicative of the intensity with which humans use the land for their purposes. eHANPP is defined as the NPP appropriated in the course of biomass production, encompassing losses along the production chain as well as productivity changes induced through land conversion or harvest. By making the pressure exerted on ecosystems associated with imports and exports visible, eHANPP allows for the analysis of teleconnections between producing and consuming regions. This article puts forward the eHANPP concept, illustrates its utility for integrated socioecological landchange research based on top-down data on global HANPP and biomass consumption, and discusses the possibilities and challenges related to its quantification in bottom-up approaches.
KW - Biomass flows
KW - Embodied HANPP
KW - Human appropriation of net primary production
KW - Land system change.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=78449250273&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1080/00167223.2009.10649602
DO - 10.1080/00167223.2009.10649602
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:78449250273
SN - 0016-7223
VL - 109
SP - 119
EP - 130
JO - Geografisk Tidsskrift
JF - Geografisk Tidsskrift
IS - 2
ER -