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abstract: The science community has made efforts for over a half century to address sustainable development, which gave birth to sustainability science at the turn of the twenty-first century. Along with the development of sustainability science during the past two decades, a landscape sustainability science (LSS) perspective has been emerging. As interests in LSS continue to grow rapidly, scholars are wondering what LSS is about and how LSS fits into sustainability science, while practitioners are asking how LSS actually contributes to sustainability in the real world. To help address these questions, this dissertation research aims to explore the currently underused problem-driven, diagnostic approach to enhancing landscape sustainability through an empirical example of urbanization-associated farmland loss (UAFL). Based mainly on multimethod analysis of bibliographic information, the dissertation explores conceptual issues such as how sustainability science differs from conventional sustainable development research, and how the past, present, and future research needs of LSS evolve. It also includes two empirical studies diagnosing the issue of urban expansion and the related food security concern in the context of China, and proposes a different problem framing for farmland preservation such that stakeholders can be more effectively mobilized. The most important findings are: (1) Sustainability science is not “old wine in a new bottle,” and in particular, is featured by its complex human-environment systems perspective and value-laden transdisciplinary perspective. (2) LSS has become a vibrant emerging field since 2004-2006 with over three-decade’s intellectual accumulation deeply rooted in landscape ecology, yet LSS has to further embrace the two featured perspectives of sustainability science and to conduct more problem-driven, diagnostic studies of concrete landscape-relevant sustainability concerns. (3) Farmland preservationists’ existing problem framing of UAFL is inappropriate for its invalid causal attribution (i.e., urban expansion is responsible for farmland loss; farmland loss is responsible for decreasing grain production; and decreasing grain production instead of increasing grain demand is responsible for grain self-insufficiency); the real problem with UAFL is social injustice due to collective action dilemma in preserving farmland for regional and global food sufficiency. The present research provides broad implications for landscape scientists, the sustainability research community, and UAFL stakeholders. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Sustainability 2020

Land-use legacies can affect landscapes for decades to millennia. A long history of shrub management exists in the sagebrush steppe of the Intermountain West where shrub-removal treatments, a type of managed disturbance, have been implemented for over 50 years to reduce sagebrush cover. The assumption behind managed disturbances is that they will increase forage for domestic livestock and improve wildlife habitat. However, the long-term effects of managed disturbance on plant community composition and diversity are not well understood. We investigated the legacy effects of three common types of managed disturbance (chemical, fire, and mechanical treatments) on plant community diversity and composition. We also examined sagebrush steppe resilience to managed disturbance. Based on management assumptions and resilience theory, we expected within-state phase shifts characterized by an initial reduction in biodiversity followed by a return to prior state conditions. We also expected changes in species proportions, characteristic of within-state shifts in state-and-transition models. We also expected an increase in non-native contribution to overall diversity. We found that plant communities experienced a fundamental shift in composition following disturbance, and responded in a flat linear fashion, giving no indication of return to prior community composition or diversity. As expected, we found post-disturbance increases in the number of non-native grass species present. However, native forb species made the largest contribution to altered diversity. Disturbance modified functional group composition, so contrary to our expectations, within-state changes did not occur as a result of disturbance. Our results indicated that sagebrush steppe plant communities are not resilient to chemical, fire, and mechanical treatments, and subsequent to managed disturbance, community composition tips over a threshold into an alternate stable state.

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This thesis examines the relationship between the forestry industry and indigenous Sámi peoplein northern Sweden, focusing on institutional mechanisms for resolving land-use conflictsregarding forest logging on reindeer herding lands. Sámi reindeer herding communities andforestry companies have overlapping usage rights, making Swedish forests a common poolresource. Clear-cut forestry is damaging the reindeers’ access to lichen and the long-termsurvival of traditional reindeer herding, creating a need for effective Sámi influence in localforest decision-making. This study analyzes the recently reformed institutional framework forparticipatory planning and consultations, as well as participants’ experiences of Sámi influence.Interviews were conducted with three Sámi RHCs, two Sveaskog employees and one ForestAgency official. The theoretical framework draws from literature on co-management, commonpool resources and free, prior and informed consent to analyze Sámi space for influence. Resultsshow that the changes in regulations and practices have enabled RHCs space to withdrawconsent to specific logging plans under specific conditions, but influence is still limited. TheForest Agency has not consulted RHCs despite the new law, indicating continued difficultiesfor Sámi people to influence logging decisions on a local level. The main contribution of thisstudy is showcasing remaining barriers and positive developments based on original empiricalinterview material.