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Abstract

This study investigates the agricultural land abandonment and agricultural land expansion in the case of the Edmonton-Calgary Corridor, Canada. Using remote sensing data from 2000 to 2012, we include environmental and socio-economic factors to explore the drivers of land use conversions between agriculture and natural land. This research also adopts spatial techniques to allow for spatial effects from neighboring areas’ land-use activities. Key results from this study include: (1) higher land suitability for agriculture is negatively associated with agricultural land abandonment; (2) road density contributes to land use conversions between agriculture and natural land; and (3) land-use activities and decisions have strong spatial effects on neighboring regions, and the incorporation of spatial interactions can result in less biased results. In addition, an investigation of bidirectional land transitions helps in better understanding the associated gains and losses of agriculture and natural land.

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