We are a network of research teams who collectively develop LandSyMM: the Land System Modular Model. LandSyMM is a sub-national to global scale model of the land system that couples modules of land use decision making, macro-economics & global trade, ecosystem processes, biodiversity and the climate system. LandSyMM integrates across the human, ecological and biophysical processes of environmental change to further understanding of Earth system dynamics.
LandSyMM is unique in coupling a range of spatially-explicit, process-based models to explore land system changes across scales from the landscape (1km resolution) to the globe (0.5° resolution). These models include a socio-economic, land-use model (PLUMv2), a dynamic global vegetation model (LPJ-GUESS), a general ecosystem model of trophic levels (Madingley), a climate system emulator (IMOGEN), and a sub-national behavioural model of land user decision-making (CRAFTY).
LandSyMM can be applied to address key research questions, such as:
- What are the combined impacts on land systems of socio-economic and climate change and how do these changes affect ecosystem functioning and the provision of ecosystem services?
- How can the land system support climate change mitigation through, for example, afforestation, reforestation, ecosystem restoration and bioenergy production?
- How do land use change decisions impact on biodiversity, environmental quality and human well-being
- What are the trade-offs, and co-benefits, of alternative land use strategies both today and in the future under different scenario assumptions?
- How can the land system contribute to policy visions such as the Sustainable Development Goals, the post-2020 biodiversity targets of the Convention on Biological Diversity, and the Paris Agreement?