Changes in anthropogenic biomes found in rangelands globally between 1700 and 2000

Anthropogenic biomes, also known as "anthromes" or "human biomes", describe the terrestrial biosphere in its contemporary, human-altered form using global ecosystem units defined by patterns of sustained direct human interaction. Ellis and Ramankutty (2008) delineate 21 anthropogenic biomes based on population density, land use and vegetation cover. The anthropogenic biomes are grouped into six major categories -- dense settlements, villages, croplands, rangeland, forested and wildlands. Between 1700 and 2000, the terrestrial biosphere made the critical transition from mostly wild to mostly anthropogenic, passing the 50% mark early in the 20th century.

For rangelands, three biomes were mapped – residential rangelands, populated rangelands and remote rangelands. Data sets are available for c. 1700, c. 1800, c. 1900, c. 2000. In the map opposite we compare the c. 1700 maps and the c. 2000 maps revealing dramatic changes in the biomes with increased concentration and population growth.

Key facts

1. Between 1700 and 2000, pastoral villages globally grew from 1,566 km² to 365,064 km², populated croplands grew from 287,308 km² to 4,010,017 km², populated rangelands grew from 1,101,217 km² to 11,209,691 km² and populated woodlands reduced from 7,217,694 km² to 1,899,952 km² highlighting increasing population growth and consolidation in rangelands.

2. Between 1700 and 2000 populated woodlands reduced from 7,217,694 km² to 1,899,952 km², remote woodlands from 4,874,260 km² to 586,791 km² and residential woodlands remained approximately the same. This highlights the infiltration and conversion of woodlands to other land uses.

3. Between 1700 and 2000 wild lands in rangelands reduced by more than half, with wild treeless and barren lands reducing from 30,586,608 km² to 14,458,293 km² and wild woodlands from 9,523,934 to 3,036,857 km² highlighting the loss of wild lands.

4. Between 1700 and 2000, irrigated villages increased from 10,054 km² to 695,705 km² and residential irrigated villages increased from 12,633 km² to 675,168 km² highlighting the increase in use of irrigation.

5. Between 1700 and 2000, remote croplands increased from 8,311 to 1,991,376 km², residential irrigated croplands increased from 12,633 km² to 675,168 km², residential rainfed croplands from 873,040 to 4,274,271 km² and rice villages from 16,365 to 146,736 km² highlighting the infiltration of crops into rangelands and pastoral areas – a total of 7,087,551 km².

Anthropogenic biomes found in rangelands globally (Year 1700)

Statistics

No	Anthropogenic biomes	Area km²
1	Inhabited treeless and barren lands	18,391,576.68
2	Irrigated villages	10,054.37
3	Mixed settlements	12,326.47
4	Others	4,807,005.29
5	Pastoral villages	1,566.05
6	Populated croplands	287,308.44
7	Populated rangelands	1,101,217.15
8	Populated woodlands	7,217,694.16
9	Rainfed villages	47,264.27
10	Remote croplands	8,310.72
11	Remote rangelands	504,295.35
12	Remote woodlands	4,874,360.31
13	Residential irrigated croplands	12,633.85
14	Residential rainfed croplands	873,039.79
15	Residential rangelands	92,594.82
16	Residential woodlands	1,140,578.24
17	Rice villages	16,365.48
18	Urban	687.03
19	Wild treeless and barren lands	30,586,607.79
20	Wild woodlands	9,523,934.35
	Total	79,509,420.61

Sources

Source1: Terrestrial ecoregions of the world. Downloaded in 2021 from: https://globil-panda.opendata.arcgis.com/datasets/wwf-priority-35-ecoregions?geometry=-172.266%2C-86.819%2C172.266%2C89.233. Original source: Olson, D. M., Dinerstein, E., Wikramanayake, E. D., Burgess, N. D., Powell, G. V. N., Underwood, E. C., D'Amico, J. A., Itoua, I., Strand, H. E., Morrison, J. C., Loucks, C. J., Allnutt, T. F., Ricketts, T. H., Kura, Y., Lamoreux, J. F., Wettengel, W. W., Hedao, P., Kassem, K. R. 2001. Terrestrial ecoregions of the world: a new map of life on Earth. Bioscience 51(11):933-938

Source 2: Anthropogenic Biomes of the World, Version 2: 2000. Downloaded in 2021 from: https://sedac.ciesin.columbia.edu/data/set/anthromes-anthropogenic-biomes-world-v2-2000/data-download Ellis, E.C., K.K. Goldewijk, S. Siebert, D. Lightman, and N. Ramankutty. 2014. Palisades, NY: NASA Socioeconomic Data and Applications Center (SEDAC).https://doi.org/10.7927/H4D798B9

Anthropogenic biomes found in rangeland globally (Year 2000)

Statistics

No	Anthropogenic biomes	Area km²
1	Inhabited treeless and barren lands	4,989,309.00
2	Irrigated villages	695,704.59
3	Mixed settlements	208,770.88
4	Others	4,844,954.46
5	Pastoral villages	365,064.49
6	Populated croplands	4,010,016.71
7	Populated rangelands	11,209,681.39
8	Populated woodlands	1,899,952.31
9	Rainfed villages	1,081,253.29
10	Remote croplands	1,991,376.41
11	Remote rangelands	18,372,805.74
12	Remote woodlands	566,791.09
13	Residential irrigated croplands	675,168.47
14	Residential rainfed croplands	4,274,270.78
15	Residential rangelands	5,303,138.37
16	Residential woodlands	1,183,882.30
17	Rice villages	146,735.84
18	Urban	195,394.07
19	Wild treeless and barren lands	14,458,293.43
20	Wild woodlands	3,036,857.03
	Total	79,509,420.65

Sources

Tanzania

Resolving conflicts over land use in rangelands through joint village land use planning

Marco Buemi (ILRI)

Tanzania has a total land area of about 885,800 million km², of which over 74% are rangelands, mainly semi-arid with highly variable rainfall falling in one or two seasons separated by a long dry season. Pastoralism and agro-pastoralism are the predominate livelihood activities and produce the majority of Tanzania’s approximately 21 million cattle, 15 million goats and 6 million sheep.

Throughout the centuries, Tanzania has seen significant change across its rangelands including in terms of population distribution. The government villagisation scheme, which started in the 1970s, served as a mechanism for forced consolidation of settlements and the establishment of a structured administrative government-dominated system from national to village levels. Today, there are more than 12,000 villages in Tanzania, the majority of which are found in rangelands.

Under land policy and legislation, each of these villages are expected to produce and implement a village land use plan defining key land use categories. However, strengthening administrative boundaries and categorising land use can limit mobility by creating visible and invisible boundaries along village borders, and can reduce available land for grazing particularly if the planning processes are not inclusive. In order to overcome these challenges, a process of “joint” village land use planning has been supported by the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), IFAD, International Land Coalition (ILC) the government and other partners in four clusters of villages in Kiteto District, Manyara region. This process brought different village groups together, for discussion and negotiation on land use, and eventually agreement. As a result, around 2,000 km² of grazing land has been protected and written into the villages’ land use plans.

In addition, livestock keepers’ associations have been established for those owning livestock from the villages with the shared grazing lands. Certificates of Customary Rights of Occupancy (CCROs) have been issued to these associations by the relevant Village Council, overseen by the district government. The livestock keepers are now developing participatory rangeland management (PRM) plans to guide local investments in rangelands restoration and improve rangeland productivity. Water access in these drylands still remains a major challenge.

For more information, please see: Improving the Implementation of Land Policy Legislation in Pastoral Areas https://cgspace.cgiar.org/handle/10568/79796

For more information on the map see: https://sedac.ciesin.columbia.edu/data/collection/anthromes