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Having it both ways? Land use change in a U.S. midwestern agricultural ecoregion

January 1, 2015

Urbanization has been directly linked to decreases in area of agricultural lands and, as such, has been considered a threat to food security. Although the area of land used to produce food has diminished, often overlooked have been changes in agricultural output. The Eastern Corn Belt Plains (ECBP) is an important agricultural region in the U.S. Midwest. It has both gained a significant amount of urban land, primarily from the conversion of agricultural land between 1973 and 2000, and at the same time continued to produce ever-increasing quantities of agricultural products. By 2002, more corn, soybeans, and hogs were produced on a smaller agricultural land base than in 1974. In the last quarter of the twentieth century, ECBP ecoregion society appeared to have “had it both ways”: more urbanization along with increased agricultural output.

Publication Year 2015
Title Having it both ways? Land use change in a U.S. midwestern agricultural ecoregion
DOI 10.1080/00330124.2014.921015
Authors Roger F. Auch, Chris R. Laingen
Publication Type Article
Publication Subtype Journal Article
Series Title Professional Geographer
Index ID 70187703
Record Source USGS Publications Warehouse
USGS Organization Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) Center
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