CLUMondo simulates changes in land systems in response to an exogenous demand, land system characteristics, and a series of biophysical and socioeconomic variables. Land systems are defined in terms of their land cover composition as well as land use intensity. As a consequence, land systems can multifunctional and thus provide multiple different goods or services. Moreover, an increase in demand for, say, crop produce, can lead to cropland expansion, cropland intensification, or both. Here we explain the model algorithm, and illustrate the advantage of the land system approach over traditional land use models at the national and the global scale. CLUMondo is available as a free and open source model.
Keywords
- Land use change
- Land use intensity
- Land systems
- Land use model
- Ecosystem services