Simulating feedbacks in land use and land cover change models

In spite of the many advances in land use and land cover change modelling over the past decade many challenges remain. One of these challenges relates to the explicit treatment of feedback mechanisms in descriptive models of the land use system. This paper argues for model-based analysis to explore the role of feedback mechanisms as determinants of land use dynamics and system evolution. Different types of feedbacks in the land use system are discussed addressing interactions over scales of analysis, feedbacks between impacts and driving forces of land use change and feedbacks between agents and land units. The inclusion of feedbacks in land use models will require new methods for model parameterization and calibration, but will ultimately increase our understanding of land use system dynamics.