Impact of land-take on the land resource base for crop production in the European Union

Spatial analyses of cropland productivity levels and land use data from 2000 and 2006 were performed to assess the loss of cropland resources for biomass production of the European Union due to land take. Productivity loss in administrative regions was calculated on the basis of the extent and quality of agricultural land resources converted to artificial surfaces. Data show that while all EU member states experience constant decrease of their production capacity, there are also considerable differences among countries and regions. Based on the analysis of 24 member states, the EU lost 0.27% of its cropland and 0.26% of its crop productive potential in the period between 2000 and 2006 due to land take. The loss of agricultural land during the study period was the highest in the Netherlands, which lost 1.57% of its crop production potential within six years. The figures are quite alarming for Cyprus (0.84%), Ireland (0.77%) and Spain (0.49%) as well. In metropolitan areas of Barcelona, Berlin, Bratislava, Bucharest, Copenhagen, Hamburg, Milan, and Vienna infrastructural investment occurred on the higher quality cropland while Budapest, Paris, and Warsaw spread their urban growth to areas of less productive cropland. Denmark had to face the largest loss of its food production capacity for each citizen, exceeding the equivalent of 4 kg capita− 1 year− 1 of wheat, followed by Ireland with more than the equivalent of 3 kg wheat and Spain, Netherlands, Hungary, Cyprus and France all above 2 kg loss per capita, annually. The EU lost an amount of cropland production potential equal to approximately 700,000 t of wheat grain, annually, in the study period. Results highlight the following general trends: (i) land conversion from different land cover types to artificial surfaces follows the historic trends in Europe with continuing consumption of more productive areas from its land resources; (ii) the conversion rate of croplands to artificial surfaces is growing with increased population growth; (iii) with the growing rate of population increase, increasingly higher quality croplands are converted to artificial surfaces, while with faster rates of population decline increasingly poorer quality croplands are converted; (iv) countries with more developed economies generally convert cropland at a higher speed; and (v) there is a negative correlation between annual economic growth and the rate of cropland conversion.

► 0.26% of the productive potential of the EU was lost between 2000 and 2006.
► Most of the metropolitan areas of Europe expanded on prime land of their regions.
► Countries with more advanced economies convert cropland at higher speed.
► A negative correlation between GDP growth and cropland conversion was found.
► Per capita annual crop productivity loss is expressed for each member state.