A land use scenario of SSP1-Low emissions scenario for Scotland

This dataset contains a land use change scenario (2050) for Scotland within the scope of a SSP1 - Low emissions scenario (Shared Socio-Economic Pathways). For achieving a low-emissions scenario, simulated land use change targeted woodland expansion (including silvo-arable and silvo-pastoral) and decreased grazing intensity, both land use changes also aimed at benefitting four aspects of ecosystem services: carbon storage through tree planting, emission reduction through deintensification, biodiversity enhancement through tree planting, and pollination to support food production. The 2019 baseline land use map at 100m resolution, was created by combining the Land Cover Map 2019 (Morton et al, 2020), estimations of stocking rates from IACS (Wardell-Johnson, 2022), and grazing conservation thresholds (Chapman, 2007; FAS, 2021). The land use scenario map was created using the SLM-OptionsTool, a land use change tool for Ecosystem Services based on the LandSFACTS model (Castellazzi et al, 2010). The attached land use scenario map for 2050 is not an optimised result, but it is only one possibility among others that meets all the constraints stipulated for the scenario.

For a detailed description of the scenario refer to the following web storymap : https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/c3d3feff85f14460b6c973127089d6f9

This analysis was conducted as part of the Land use Transformations (https://landusetransformations.hutton.ac.uk/) project (JHI-C3-1) in the Scottish Government funded Strategic Research Programme 2022-27.

The exact licence for this dataset is currently being finalised. When ready, the dataset will be uploaded as a new version.