MODELING LAND-USE AND COVER AS PART OF GLOBAL ENVIRONMENTAL-CHANGE

Land use and cover changes are important elements of the larger proble m of global environmental change. Land use patterns result in land cov er changes that cumulatively affect the global biosphere and climate. We describe efforts to analyze the driving forces behind land transfor mations and to create land use models that can be linked to other type s of global change models. Two efforts to model land use in the U.S. a re reviewed. One projects aggregate agricultural, forest, and range la nd, and the other attempts to model forest land use change at the parc el scale in two mountain landscapes. We conclude with suggestions for new approaches that could clarify the role of land use/cover change in global change and in natural resources management.