Land use policies, land use land cover change, and climate: a review with examples from the United States

Government policies affect land use and land cover change (LULCC) which can eventually impact the regional climate. The purpose of this review is to establish the link from policy to LULCC, and from LULCC to climate. To fulfill this overall goal, this research summarizes the impacts of the historical and recent agricultural, environmental, and energy policies on land use decisions in the United States. We reviewed the literature on four groups of agricultural policies in the U. S. that resulted in LULCC. In addition, a discussion on LULCC impacts on climate is also provided. The review and assessment demonstrate that research on the complete linkage among policy- > LULCC- > climatic impacts is absent. As a result, we proceed by offering several recommendations on establishing the policy- > LULCC- > climatic impacts link so that the potential impacts of LULCC and climate are known before implementing a policy. Specifically, we recommend that future research linking specific policies to specific LULCC including estimation of spatial extent of these changes. Furthermore, it would be valuable if this type of research connects driving causes/forces behind policy changes to the resulting policy and subsequent LULCC and climatic impacts. Also, needed is the establishment of new observations/monitoring as LULCC occurs due to policy changes to ensure sustained assessment of climatic impacts of LULCC. This will allow for the development of mitigation strategies to address climatic consequences of implementing these policies.