Abstract
Landscapes differ in their capacities to provide ecosystem goods and services, which are the benefits humans obtain from nature. Structures and functions of ecosystems needed to sustain the provision of ecosystem services are altered by various human activities. In this paper, a concept for the assessment of multiple ecosystem services is proposed as a basis for discussion and further development of a respective evaluation instrument. Using quantitative and qualitative assessment data in combination with land cover and land use information originated from remote sensing and GIS, impacts of human activities can be evaluated. The results reveal typical patterns of different ecosystems' capacities to provide ecosystem services. The proposed approach thus delivers useful integrative information for environmental management and landscape planning, aiming at a sustainable use of services provided by nature. The research concept and methodological framework presented here for discussion have initially been applied in different case studies and shall be developed further to provide a useful tool for the quantification and spatial modelling of multiple ecosystem services in different landscapes. An exemplary application of the approach dealing with food provision in the Halle-Leipzig region in Germany is presented. It shows typical patterns of ecosystem service distribution around urban areas. As the approach is new and still rather general, there is great potential for improvement, especially with regard to a data-based quantification of the numerous hypotheses, which were formulated as base for the assessment. Moreover, the integration of more detailed landscape information on different scales will be needed in future in order to take the heterogeneous distribution of landscape properties and values into account. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to foster critical discussions on the methodological development presented here.
Highlights
The ecosystem services concept is strongly based on the approach of de Groot’s “Functions of Nature” (1992), which has predecessors in landscape ecology and planning
In the Western German area Marks et al published their instructions for the evaluation of landscape system performances in 1992
We present selected results from the PLUREL project‘s case study area Halle-Leipzig in central eastern Germany (Fig. 1)
Summary
The ecosystem services concept is strongly based on the approach of de Groot’s “Functions of Nature” (1992), which has predecessors in landscape ecology and planning. The contributions of Costanza et al (1997) and Daily (1997) have been milestones in ecosystem services research. Ecosystem services have become a very popular research theme and a conceptual framework for numerous research projects (e.g. the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment; MA 2003). The attractiveness of the approach most likely originates in its integrative character, which supports inter- and transdisciplinary research, linking environmental and socio-economic concepts (Müller & Burkhard 2007). From a systems analytical point of view, the concept provides a systematic listing of the most important ecosystem components and processes and the dependence of human societies on them (de Groot 2006). Most studies carried out so far provide very appealing conceptual frameworks and interdisciplinary scientific methods
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary 
Published Version (
Free)
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call