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Agriculturally induced vegetation change, 1950–1975

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Abstract

Changes in worldwide grain production area are analyzed to assess the impact of major agricultural activity onglobal biomass. During the 26-year study period, nearly 1% of the earth's ice-free land surface was converted to grain production. This increase in agricultural area reduced the planetary biomass; however, it had minimal effect on net primary productivity. Geographically, the overall change caused by increased grain production has been to redistribute the planetary biomass poleward.

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Prentice, K.C., Coiner, J.C. Agriculturally induced vegetation change, 1950–1975. Hum Ecol 8, 105–116 (1980). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01531437

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