| Land-use and land-cover change (LUCC) are important contributors to global environmental change. Landscape transformations lead to changes in nutrient cycling, hydrologic regulation, and climate among others at local, regional, and global scales. Presently, most landscape transformations are the result of human activities. Therefore, the study of how humans influence landscape patterns is an integral part of global environmental change research.;Agriculture is one of the human activities that influences more landscape transformations. These changes can be the result of other land covers being replaced by agricultural fields (e.g., deforestation to open new land for cultivation) or changes in the management of agricultural fields, so as to increase productivity per unit of area (e.g., agricultural intensification). The first process has received more attention in the scientific literature than the second one. This dissertation contributes to this knowledge gap by analyzing the landscape impacts of commercial intensification of coffee agriculture in Colombia between 1970 and 2002.;The results indicate there are widespread landscape transformations associated with agricultural intensification. For this case study, the total area planted in coffee decreased by more than 18% between 1970 and 2002. At the same time, total coffee production has increased about 50%. These two conditions are clear signs of agricultural intensification. The major landscape changes during the same period have been a sharp decrease in the area in pasture, and an increase in the area planted in other crops (e.g., fruit orchards, vegetables, cassava, plantains, and pineapple among others). Therefore, the landscape is becoming more agriculturally diverse. There is evidence for both simultaneous intensification, and intensification/disintensification of crops. Finally, the variables usually associated with agricultural intensification at the household level do not exhibit a strong relationship with the area in intensive coffee at the municipal level. At this level, the variables that are more closely related to the area in intensive coffee are biophysical.;In conclusion, the results of this dissertation suggest that agricultural intensification leads to widespread landscape transformation and agricultural diversification, emphasizing the importance of studying how different management practices change landscapes. |
