•We classified EU agricultural land combining data on crops and land-use intensity.•We used spatially explicit census data covering 63 individual crops at grid level.•We used total energy input to ...measure intensity of agricultural management.•We show 10 crop systems based on crops dominance and 30 crop/management systems.•Our maps can support EU policies, notably the CAP and the Biodiversity Strategy.
With agricultural areas covering almost half of European land, proper management of agro-ecosystems is key to achieve the European Union’s environmental and climate objectives. This requires spatially explicit methods and indicators. We developed an approach for the classification of agricultural land by combining two main dimensions i) land cover, using detailed geo-spatialized census data covering 63 individual crops; ii) management intensity, measured as the anthropogenic energy required in the primary crop production. As a result we identified 10 main crop systems further classified into 30 ‘crop-management systems’ at a spatial resolution of 5 arcminutes. The resulting maps show the spatial patterns of agricultural management intensity across Europe, both in absolute terms (total energy input per hectare) and relative to the dominant crop system in the spatial unit of analysis. The use of multiple intensity dimensions provides new, more detailed insights on agricultural intensity by which areas that were previously classified as low-medium intensive - some permanent crops systems or irrigated arable land - appear now as highly intensive. An expert-based evaluation was carried out on the intensity maps and corroborated the obtained results. The generated maps can be used to support decision-making in designing more targeted, context-specific agricultural and territorial policies. In particular, findings can be relevant in the context of the Common Agricultural Policy post 2020 and the Biodiversity Strategy towards 2030, both of which will benefit from more detailed spatially explicit information to achieve their stated objectives.
Mainstreaming ecosystem services into policy and decision making is dependent on the availability of spatially explicit information on the state and trends of ecosystems and their services. In ...particular, the EU Biodiversity Strategy to 2020 addresses the need to account for ecosystem services through biophysical mapping and valuation. This paper reviews current mapping methods, identifies current knowledge gaps and provides the elements for a methodological framework for mapping and assessing ecosystems and their services at European scale. Current mapping methodologies go beyond purely land cover based assessments and include the use of primary data of ecosystem services, the use of functional traits to map ecosystem services and the development of models and ecological production functions. Additional research is needed to cover marine ecosystems and to include the resilience of ecosystems to environmental change in spatially explicit assessments. The ecosystem services cascade which connects ecosystems to human wellbeing is argued to provide a suitable, stepwise framework for mapping ecosystem services in order to support EU policies in a more effective way. We demonstrate the use of this framework for mapping using the water purification service as case.
► Mainstreaming of ecosystem services into EU policy is dependent spatial information. ► We summarize current methods of mapping ecosystem services. ► We identify knowledge gaps in mapping ecosystem services. ► We propose a stepwise framework for mapping ecosystem services. ► We demonstrate the use of the framework for mapping using water purification.
Green infrastructure (GI), a network of nature, semi-natural areas and green space, delivers essential ecosystem services which underpin human well-being and quality of life. Maintaining ecosystem ...services through the development of GI is therefore increasingly recognized by policies as a strategy to cope with potentially changing conditions in the future. This paper assessed how current trends of land-use change have an impact on the aggregated provision of eight ecosystem services at the regional scale of the European Union, measured by the Total Ecosystem Services Index (TESI8). Moreover, the paper reports how further implementation of GI across Europe can help maintain ecosystem services at baseline levels. Current demographic, economic and agricultural trends, which affect land use, were derived from the so called Reference Scenario. This scenario is established by the European Commission to assess the impact of energy and climate policy up to 2050. Under the Reference Scenario, economic growth, coupled with the total population, stimulates increasing urban and industrial expansion. TESI8 is expected to decrease across Europe between 0 and 5 % by 2020 and between 10 and 15 % by 2050 relative to the base year 2010. Based on regression analysis, we estimated that every additional percent increase of the proportion of artificial land needs to be compensated with an increase of 2.2 % of land that qualifies as green infrastructure in order to maintain ecosystem services at 2010 levels.
Agroforestry, relative to conventional agriculture, contributes significantly to carbon sequestration, increases a range of regulating ecosystem services, and enhances biodiversity. Using a ...transdisciplinary approach, we combined scientific and technical knowledge to evaluate nine environmental pressures in terms of ecosystem services in European farmland and assessed the carbon storage potential of suitable agroforestry systems, proposed by regional experts. First, regions with potential environmental pressures were identified with respect to soil health (soil erosion by water and wind, low soil organic carbon), water quality (water pollution by nitrates, salinization by irrigation), areas affected by climate change (rising temperature), and by underprovision in biodiversity (pollination and pest control pressures, loss of soil biodiversity). The maps were overlaid to identify areas where several pressures accumulate. In total, 94.4% of farmlands suffer from at least one environmental pressure, pastures being less affected than arable lands. Regional hotspots were located in north-western France, Denmark, Central Spain, north and south-western Italy, Greece, and eastern Romania. The 10% of the area with the highest number of accumulated pressures were defined as Priority Areas, where the implementation of agroforestry could be particularly effective. In a second step, European agroforestry experts were asked to propose agroforestry practices suitable for the Priority Areas they were familiar with, and identified 64 different systems covering a wide range of practices. These ranged from hedgerows on field boundaries to fast growing coppices or scattered single tree systems. Third, for each proposed system, the carbon storage potential was assessed based on data from the literature and the results were scaled-up to the Priority Areas. As expected, given the wide range of agroforestry practices identified, the carbon sequestration potentials ranged between 0.09 and 7.29 t C ha−1 a−1. Implementing agroforestry on the Priority Areas could lead to a sequestration of 2.1 to 63.9 million t C a−1 (7.78 and 234.85 million t CO2eq a−1) depending on the type of agroforestry. This corresponds to between 1.4 and 43.4% of European agricultural greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Moreover, promoting agroforestry in the Priority Areas would contribute to mitigate the environmental pressures identified there. We conclude that the strategic and spatially targeted establishment of agroforestry systems could provide an effective means of meeting EU policy objectives on GHG emissions whilst providing a range of other important benefits.
Abstract Future trajectories of agricultural productivity need to incorporate environmental targets, including the reduction of pesticides use. Landscape features supporting natural pest control ...(LF-NPC) offer a nature-based solution that can serve as a partial substitute for synthetic pesticides, thereby supporting future productivity levels. Here, we introduce a novel approach to quantify the contribution of LF-NPC to agricultural yields and its associated economic value to crop production in a broad-scale context. Using the European Union as case study, we combine granular farm-level data, a spatially explicit map of LF-NPC potential, and a regional agro-economic supply and market model. The results reveal that farms located in areas characterized by higher LF-NPC potential experience lower productivity losses in a context of reduced synthetic pesticides use. Our analysis suggests that LF-NPC reduces yield gaps on average by four percentage points, and increases income by a similar magnitude. These results highlight the significance of LF-NPC for agricultural production and income, and provide a valuable reference point for farmers and policymakers aiming to successfully invest in landscape features to achieve pesticides reduction targets.
Pollination is a key ecosystem service as many crops but in particular, fruits and vegetables are partially dependent on pollinating insects to produce food for human consumption. Here we assessed ...how pollination services are delivered at the European scale. We used this assessment to estimate the relative contribution of wild pollinators to crop production. We developed an index of relative pollination potential, which is defined as the relative potential or relative capacity of ecosystems to support crop pollination. The model for relative pollination potential is based on the assumption that different habitats, but in particular forest edges, grasslands rich in flowers and riparian areas, offer suitable sites for wild pollinator insects. Using data of the foraging range of wild bees with short flight distances, we linked relative pollination potential to regional statistics of crop production. At aggregated EU level, the absence of insect pollination would result in a reduction of between 25% and 32% of the total production of crops which are partially dependent on insect pollination, depending on the data source used for the assessment. This production deficit decreases to 2.5% if only the relative pollination potential of a single guild of pollinators is considered. A strength of our approach is the spatially-explicit link between land cover based relative pollination potential and crop yield which enables a general assessment of the benefits that are derived from pollination services in Europe while providing insight where pollination gaps in the landscape occur.
Recreation is a major ecosystem service and an important co-benefit of nature conservation. The recreational value of National Parks (NPs) can be a strong argument in favour of allocating resources ...for preserving and creating NPs worldwide. Managing NPs to optimize recreational services can therefore indirectly contribute to nature conservation and biodiversity protection. Understanding the drivers of recreational use of national parks is crucial.
In this study we use a combination of primary data on annual visitor counts for 205 European NPs, GIS and statistical regression techniques to analyse how characteristics of NPs and their surroundings influence total annual recreational visitor numbers. The statistical model can be used for land-use planning by assessing the impact of alternative conservation scenarios on recreational use in NPs. The recreational use of new NPs can be estimated ex-ante, thereby aiding the optimisation of their location and design.
We apply the model to: (1) map recreational visits to potential new NPs across Europe in order to identify best NP location; (2) map recreational visits to a proposed new NP in the west of Germany in order estimate monetary values and to show how visits are distributed across the site; and (3) predict annual visits to all NPs of 26 European countries. Total annual visits amount to more than 2 billion annually. Assuming a mean value per visit derived from 244 primary value estimates indicates that these visits result in a consumer surplus of approximately € 14.5 billion annually.
► Biotic homogenization is observed in French agroecosystems. ► In High Nature Value farmland this phenomenon is potentially refrained. ► Farmland Bird Indicator trends remain high in recent non High ...Nature Value farmlands.
High Nature Value (HNV) farmlands are expected to support high levels of biological diversity and may have a relevant role in driving biodiversity dynamics and particularly refraining biotic homogenization. The present study tests this hypothesis by examining whether spatial and temporal variations in contemporary composition and dynamics of bird communities are related to past changes in HNV farmland within a 30-year period. Analyses of three farmland types were made in areas of (1) highly intensified agriculture, (2) relatively recent agriculture intensification and (3) low-intensity agriculture identified as HNV farmlands. French farmland in its whole is currently subjected to biotic homogenization processes. However, no homogenization was observed in HNV farmland, potentially indicating that those areas were not affected – or at least not at the same pace as elsewhere – by biotic homogenization. Farmland species population trends remain high in recent non-HNV farmlands, indicating that some non-HNV areas may still contribute in refraining farmland biodiversity decline. Future conservation focus should be given in priority in HNV farmland, but also in areas of recent agriculture intensification, to buffer further negative effects on population and community dynamics.
•We create a qualitative remote sensing based indicator for farmland heterogeneity.•A combination of spectral and textural data is improving the indicator.•Semi-quantitative data (approximate field ...size) is additionally derived.•Largest patches are found for agro-forestry, smallest for heterogeneous classes.
Mapping and assessment of ecosystem services in agricultural landscapes as required by the EU biodiversity policy need a better characterization of the given landscape typology according to its ecological and cultural values. Such need should be accommodated by a better discrimination of the landscape characteristics linked to the capacity of providing ecosystem services and socio-cultural benefits. Often, these key variables depend on the degree of farmland heterogeneity and landscape patterns. We employed segmentation and landscape metrics (edge density and image texture respectively), derived from a pan-European multi-temporal and multi-spectral remote sensing dataset, to generate a consistent European indicator of farmland heterogeneity, the Farmland Heterogeneity Indicator (FHI). We mapped five degrees of FHI on a wall-to-wall basis (250m spatial resolution) over European agricultural landscapes including natural grasslands. Image texture led to a clear improvement of the indicator compared to the pure application of Edge Density, in particular to a better detection of small patches. In addition to deriving a qualitative indicator we attributed an approximate patch size to each class, allowing an indicative assessment of European field sizes. Based on CORINE land cover, we identified pastures and heterogeneous land cover classes as classes with the highest degree of FHI, while agroforestry and olive groves appeared less heterogeneous on average. We performed a verification based on a continental and regional scale, which resulted in general good agreement with independently derived data.
1. Farmland biodiversity continues to decline mainly because of agricultural intensification and land abandonment. Agri‐environment schemes can be designed to halt this loss by favouring ...extensification of agricultural practices and through sympathetic management of field boundaries and fallow land. In Europe, High Nature Value (HNV) farmland is defined as low‐intensity farmland supporting or associated with a high rate of biodiversity, in terms of species richness or habitat diversity and therefore plays a crucial role in the maintenance of European biodiversity. However, no large‐scale analysis has explored the role of these areas in achieving conservation goals. 2. We analysed information from widely used indicators in order to describe the impact of low‐intensity agriculture on farmland biodiversity in France. We used the HNV farmland indicator, based on agricultural statistics such as the Farm Structure Survey and the grassland survey, and common bird indicators, i.e. the Farmland Bird Indicator (FBI), the Community Specialization Index (CSI) and species richness indexes, based on the French Breeding Bird Survey. 3. Temporal trends in the farmland bird indicator showed that populations of farmland birds were more likely to increase inside HNV areas compared to non‐HNV areas. Although species richness is not higher within HNV farmland, bird communities are composed by more specialist species than in non‐HNV areas. In addition, these specialist bird species are significantly more abundant in HNV areas. 4. Synthesis and applications. Further farmland biodiversity decline is potentially reversible through an appropriate management of HNV areas. Existing and future agri‐environment schemes should focus on preserving and extending HNV farmland, by favouring the maintenance of low‐intensity agriculture and landscape complexity. Priority should be given to preserving diversity at the community level, with the help of adequate indicators, such as the ones presented here. The role of HNV farmland or similar concepts in combining agriculture and biodiversity goals should be further analysed and further used as large‐scale conservation tools.
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