Linking pattern and process in cultural landscapes. An empirical study based on spatially explicit indicators

Abstract

Landscapes can be seen as the contingent and historically variable outcome of an interplay between socio-economic and biophysical forces. Landscape ecologists use a wealth of indicators based on landscape patterns to evaluate landscape diversity (LD), landscape structure, the naturalness of landscapes, and land-use intensity. Indicators such as the human appropriation of net primary production (HANPP) are increasingly used to evaluate the changes in ecosystem processes induced by land use. Based on a study region in the central part of Lower Austria ( Niederösterreich), this paper explores interrelations between patterns and processes in landscapes by empirically analysing: (1) whether landform affects spatial patterns of HANPP, (2) whether HANPP is correlated with indicators of landscape naturalness, and (3) whether HANPP is correlated with LD and landscape patterns. According to our results, landform influences patterns of HANPP but cannot explain them entirely. We found strong monotonous correlations between HANPP and urbanity, an indicator for the prevalence of human-dominated land-cover classes, as well as between HANPP and the hemerobiotic state, an indicator for landscape naturalness. We found significant unimodal (hump-shaped) correlations between HANPP and the LD. Landscape pattern indicators showed weak but significant relations to HANPP.