C-Scape. Accounting for carbon and GHG emissions: balancing multiple landscape functions on farmland. – C-Scape. Accounting for carbon and GHG enissions: balancing multiple landscape functions on farmland.

Accounting for carbon and GHG emissions: balancing multiple landscape functions on farmland This project will use complementary methodological approaches to assess how landscape changes may affect the carbon storage capacity, GHG emissions and multifunctionality of agricultural landscapes. This project will improve our understanding of how combinations of land use, farming practices and soil types influence the carbon balance in different agricultural systems, and how changes in land use may affect both carbon footprints and the other functions of agricultural landscapes. Although scientifically based knowledge can play an important role in natural resource management, it is important to recognize that land use decisions are made by farmers and landowners and many factors influence their decisions. Using a questionnaire survey and interviews with farmers, we will examine farmers’ perceptions of and adaptations to climate change and the issues incorporated in the multifunctionality concept. We will ask how agri-environmental subsidies, public information and other factors influence farmers and may motivate them to change their land use practices in ways that improve the sustainability of their farming. In addition to increased scientific understanding, the project will provide recommendations for policy makers and management authorities on how to achieve a more sustainable balance between the multiple landscape functions on farmland.