Search for Articles:
Title / Keyword
Author / Affiliation / Email
Journal
Article Type
 
 
Advanced Search
 
Section
Special Issue
Volume
Issue
Number
Page
 
7.7
3.3
Journals
Sustainability
Special Issues
Land, Water, Food, Energy (LWFE) Security NEXUS for Sustainable Ecosystems...
sustainability-logo
Submit to Sustainability Review for Sustainability Propose a Special Issue

Journal Menu

► Journal Menu

Journal Browser

► Journal Browser
share announcement

Land, Water, Food, Energy (LWFE) Security NEXUS for Sustainable Ecosystems and Natural Resource Management

A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Resources and Sustainable Utilization".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (25 July 2024) | Viewed by 8341

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Guiying Cao

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA), 2361 Laxenburg, Austria
Interests: interaction of human resources with agro-ecological changes; demographic dynamics and consumption; multidisciplinary economic and environmental policy analysis
Prof. Dr. Gang Wang

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Soil and Water Sciences, China Agricultural University (CAU), Beijing 100193, China
Interests: multi-scales interactions of microbes with environments; soil and water source quality controls; mass flow dynamics and transport; Land-Water-Food-Energy nexus
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Tatiana Ermolieva

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA), 2361 Laxenburg, Austria
Interests: spatio-temporal optimization of heterogeneous values and flows in complex dynamic and stochastic systems; analysis and modeling of complex socioeconomic, resources, financial systems with explicit treatment of uncertainties and risks of environment
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The aim of this Special Issues is to highlight the interdependencies between the land, water, food, energy (LWFE) security NEXUS and the sustainable use of natural resources. Within the limits of the biosphere and natural resources, and to rethink economic analysis and policy in the light of sustainability, the interactions between land, water, energy, and food are immense. The LWFE security NEXUS concept provides an interdisciplinary methodology for truly integrative analysis of the interdependencies, trade-offs and synergies between LWFE sectors to develop consolidated and consistent cross-sectoral solutions for maintaining sustainable ecosystems and methods for natural resource management with cost-effective allocation, preservation, and protection of the environment.

This Special Issue takes the Nexus approach to social/economic and environmental issues, with particular emphasis on cross-disciplinary models and analysis that use the interacting laws of physics and the economic–ecological principles linking LWFE sectors (land, water, soil, air) under constrains of climate changes, inherent uncertainties, and risks of various kinds at global, national, and regional scales. This nexus approach enables cross-sectoral negotiation and collaboration among stakeholders to help policy makers in achieving long-term joint economic, environmental, and social goals through evidence-based research.

The topics of the SI will cover, but will not be limitedto, the following broad topics:

  1. Methodology for the LWFE security NEXUS approach to the sustainable use and production of resources;
  2. Disciplinary and cross-disciplinary biophysical, socioeconomic, land use, and ecosystem models in the context of the LWFE NEXUS and the sustainable use of natural resources;
  3. Assessment and management of systemic risks for the sustainable use and production of resources;
  4. Land and water preservation, linkages with LWFE security and biodiversity;
  5. Efficient resource use and the circular economy;
  6. Cross-sectoral interdependencies, input–output, and material flow estimations.

Dr. Guiying Cao
Prof. Dr. Gang Wang
Dr. Tatiana Ermolieva
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Sustainability is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • land, water, food, energy (LWFE) nexus
  • land and water preservation
  • low-carbon economy
  • lowpcarbon energy
  • human–natura lsystems
  • integrated assesment and models
  • risk and uncertainty

Benefits of Publishing in a Special Issue

  • Ease of navigation: Grouping papers by topic helps scholars navigate broad scope journals more efficiently.
  • Greater discoverability: Special Issues support the reach and impact of scientific research. Articles in Special Issues are more discoverable and cited more frequently.
  • Expansion of research network: Special Issues facilitate connections among authors, fostering scientific collaborations.
  • External promotion: Articles in Special Issues are often promoted through the journal's social media, increasing their visibility.
  • Reprint: MDPI Books provides the opportunity to republish successful Special Issues in book format, both online and in print.

Further information on MDPI's Special Issue policies can be found here.

Published Papers (3 papers)

Download All Papers
Order results
Result details
Show export options expand_more Show export options expand_less
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:

Research

24 pages, 10804 KiB  
Article
Morphometric Analysis and Prioritization of Sub-Watersheds Located in Heterogeneous Geographical Units—Case Study: The Buzău River Basin
by Ioana Pastor, Danut Tanislav, Alexandru Nedelea, Daniel Dunea, Gheorghe Serban, Ali Torabi Haghighi, Daniel Sabau and Petre Bretcan
Sustainability 2024, 16(17), 7567; https://doi.org/10.3390/su16177567 - 1 Sep 2024
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 2264
Abstract
The present study evaluates selected morphometric characteristics of 39 direct tributaries of the Buzău River (area of 4112 km2) to prioritize development actions in these sub-watersheds, which are distributed in three geographical regions within the full Buzău River watershed: the Carpathian, [...] Read more.
The present study evaluates selected morphometric characteristics of 39 direct tributaries of the Buzău River (area of 4112 km2) to prioritize development actions in these sub-watersheds, which are distributed in three geographical regions within the full Buzău River watershed: the Carpathian, Subcarpathian, and plains regions. By combining a variable number of morphometric parameters, using various mathematical models, we can evaluate the state of balance or imbalance in a watershed and identify sub-watersheds vulnerable to natural processes. Prioritization was achieved using composite (Cp) values by comparing two scenarios. In the first scenario, 11 derived morphometric parameters were used, and in the second scenario, another 7 parameters were added. The obtained values were grouped into five classes (very high, high, medium, low, and very low). Due to the heterogeneity of relief units among geographical regions, there are classification differences for sub-watersheds among those regions. Watersheds classed as very high priority for intervention actions are located in the Carpathian (SW1, SW2, SW15, SW16) and Subcarpathian areas (SW24, SW30), which are characterized by high relief energy and pronounced slope instability, which leads to an increase in the risk of flooding and land degradation. For comparison, all sub-watersheds in the plains region, are classified as very low or low priority. Since the arithmetic mean is sensitive to extreme values, its use in the calculation of composite (Cp) values causes the values to be “eclipsed” and the sub-watersheds to be placed in different prioritization classes (SW18 and SW34), depending on the analyzed scenario, due to the large number of parameters and classified sub-watersheds. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Land, Water, Food, Energy (LWFE) Security NEXUS for Sustainable Ecosystems and Natural Resource Management)
►▼ Show Figures

Figure 1

22 pages, 8797 KiB  
Article
Evaluation and Prediction of the Coordination Degree of Coupling Water-Energy-Food-Land Systems in Typical Arid Areas
by Dongfeng Ren, Zeyu Hu and Aihua Cao
Sustainability 2024, 16(16), 6996; https://doi.org/10.3390/su16166996 - 15 Aug 2024
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 1493
Abstract
As a typical arid region in China, the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region is severely constrained by the resource and environmental conditions it faces. In order to promote the balance between regional resource supply and demand and environmental sustainability, this study uses the drive-pressure-state-impact-response [...] Read more.
As a typical arid region in China, the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region is severely constrained by the resource and environmental conditions it faces. In order to promote the balance between regional resource supply and demand and environmental sustainability, this study uses the drive-pressure-state-impact-response (DPSIR) model to establish its water-energy-food-land (WEFL) evaluation indicator system. The coupling coordination relationship of WEFL is analyzed quantitatively using the coupling coordination degree (CCD) model. Comparative analysis is carried out on the impact of land on the coupled coordination of water-energy-food (WEF) systems from the perspective of coupled and coordinated time-series development as well as land-use changes. Finally, the future coupling coordination of the composite system is predicted using a PSO-BP (Particle Swarm Optimization–Back propagation) model. The results show the following: (1) From 2000 to 2020, the composite evaluation index (CEI) of the WEFL system has been increasing, the coupling levels are all high-quality coupling, and the coupling coordination grades goes through three stages: low coordination, moderate coordination and well coordination. (2) The inclusion of the land subsystem is good for improving the coupling coordination of the whole WEF system. (3) An increase in the areas of cropland, forest land and built-up land improves the dysfunctional decline of the WEF system. An increase in the area of grassland has a negative effect on the development of the WEF system coupling coordination. (4) Forecasts indicate that the Xinjiang WEFL system coupling coordination will maintain a well level of coordinated development in 2021–2025. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Land, Water, Food, Energy (LWFE) Security NEXUS for Sustainable Ecosystems and Natural Resource Management)
►▼ Show Figures

Figure 1

23 pages, 77497 KiB  
Article
Tracking the Dynamics and Uncertainties of Soil Organic Carbon in Agricultural Soils Based on a Novel Robust Meta-Model Framework Using Multisource Data
by Tatiana Ermolieva, Petr Havlik, Andrey Lessa-Derci-Augustynczik, Stefan Frank, Juraj Balkovic, Rastislav Skalsky, Andre Deppermann, Mahdi (Andrè) Nakhavali, Nadejda Komendantova, Taher Kahil, Gang Wang, Christian Folberth and Pavel S. Knopov
Sustainability 2024, 16(16), 6849; https://doi.org/10.3390/su16166849 - 9 Aug 2024
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 3669
Abstract
Monitoring and estimating spatially resolved changes in soil organic carbon (SOC) stocks are necessary for supporting national and international policies aimed at assisting land degradation neutrality and climate change mitigation, improving soil fertility and food production, maintaining water quality, and enhancing renewable energy [...] Read more.
Monitoring and estimating spatially resolved changes in soil organic carbon (SOC) stocks are necessary for supporting national and international policies aimed at assisting land degradation neutrality and climate change mitigation, improving soil fertility and food production, maintaining water quality, and enhancing renewable energy and ecosystem services. In this work, we report on the development and application of a data-driven, quantile regression machine learning model to estimate and predict annual SOC stocks at plow depth under the variability of climate. The model enables the analysis of SOC content levels and respective probabilities of their occurrence as a function of exogenous parameters such as monthly temperature and precipitation and endogenous, decision-dependent parameters, which can be altered by land use practices. The estimated quantiles and their trends indicate the uncertainty ranges and the respective likelihoods of plausible SOC content. The model can be used as a reduced-form scenario generator of stochastic SOC scenarios. It can be integrated as a submodel in Integrated Assessment models with detailed land use sectors such as GLOBIOM to analyze costs and find optimal land management practices to sequester SOC and fulfill food–water–energy–-environmental NEXUS security goals. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Land, Water, Food, Energy (LWFE) Security NEXUS for Sustainable Ecosystems and Natural Resource Management)
►▼ Show Figures

Figure 1

Show export options expand_more Show export options expand_less
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:
 
Displaying articles 1-3
Back to TopTop