Ecological Economic Zone Research Articles

Incorporating the implementation intensity of returning farmland to lakes into policymaking and ecosystem management: A case study of the Jianghuai Ecological Economic Zone, China

Implementing the policy of returning farmland to lakes (RFL) led to land use/land cover (LULC) changes and affected ecosystem service trade-offs. Consequently, the implementation intensity of RFL has become an important issue. The LULC of the Jianghuai Ecological Economic Zone (JHEEZ) has transformed significantly because of the implementation of RFL. In this study, we simulated the LULC change of the JHEEZ in 2030 and then analyzed the trade-offs and synergies of ecosystem services under four RFL intensity scenarios. Our results showed that water yield first increased and then decreased, and crop production decreased; in contrast, carbon storage, habitat quality, and water purification continuously increased. The levels of the five ecosystem services were most balanced in the mild RFL scenario. In this scenario, water yield and crop production decreased by 0.46% and 5.95%, respectively. In contrast, carbon storage, habitat quality, and water purification increased by 0.35%, 3.49% and 3.20%, respectively. Under the moderate and strong RFL scenarios, increases in regulation services were at the expense of significant reductions in supply services. In all RFL scenarios, carbon storage, habitat quality and water purification increased in synergy, except for natural RFL scenarios. These three ecosystem services were in a trade-off relationship with water yield and crop production. However, under the natural RFL scenario, water yield was synergistic with these three ecosystem services. Therefore, the implementation of RFL may enhance ecosystem service trade-offs. Our results reveal the impact of different intensities of RFL on ecosystem service trade-offs and suggest that the intensity of RFL implementation should be factored into policy making and ecosystem management. This study can provide a useful reference for decision makers to choose the optimal restoration intensity of lake and wetland.

Spatial distribution of rural population from a climate perspective: Evidence from Jiangxi Province in China.

The research on rural population distribution from a climate perspective is rare. Therefore, this study adopts this perspective and uses the ordinary least squares and spatial econometric models to explore the spatial distribution characteristics of the rural population in the Poyang Lake ecological economic zone. Results show that (1) a significant spatial autocorrelation is present in the distribution of rural population, and a spatial correlation exists between the population distribution and climatic factors, (2) the influence of climatic factors on the distribution of rural population in the Poyang Lake ecological economic zone is greater than that of economic factors, and (3) the annual average sunshine and annual average rainfall have a significant negative effect on the distribution of the regional rural population, which is contrary to the expectations., so we then analyze this negative effect on the regional rural population distribution. It is found that (1) the influence of climate factors on the distribution of rural population in lake area is far more than that of economic factors, and more consideration should be given to the influence of climate factors on the population distribution in the lake area, (2) different geographical capital and natural resource endowment, the influence of climate on micro-regional population distribution may be different from the general law, (3) the spatial measurement model which takes spatial dependence into account can reveal the influence of climate on rural population distribution more accurately.

Ecological-economic zoning as an instrument for the environmental management of hydrographic basins

This study presents a proposal of ecological-economic zoning using the hydrographic basin of the Una River, Ibiúna, São Paulo, as a study area to subsidize the application of zoning as a management tool for water resources in the context of integrated environmental analysis. The zoning comprised four stages: delimitation of morphometric, physical, biotic, and socioeconomic parameters; definition of the environmental scenario; determination of management zones; and characterization of zones and definition of objectives, conflicts, permitted uses, potential, management actions, and legislation. The results indicate that the basin has 96 km2, with an irregular and elongated shape, an average altitude of 937 meters, a maximum elevation of 1,175 meters, and a strongly undulating relief. Temporary agriculture (36.33%), dense rain forest (37.05%), and oxisol or Argisols predominate in the area. The socioenvironmental characteristics indicate that the sanitation rate of households, residents, and environment were higher in the urban area. About 86% of the population living in the basin are literate, while the percentage of access to the water and sewage system in the rural area is precarious. The EEZ comprised eight management zones, the main ones being agricultural and conservation zones, considered satisfactory and efficient for environmental management and favoring coordination and replication in similar areas.

Gestão territorial e zoneamento ambiental na Bacia Hidrográfica do Rio Coruripe-AL: embates territoriais e perspectivas geográficas

RESUMO: O presente artigo resulta de um recorte da dissertação de mestrado defendida em março de 2020 no Programa em Dinâmicas Territoriais e Cultura (PRODIC) da Universidade Estadual de Alagoas-Uneal, o qual tem como objeto de estudo a Bacia Hidrográfica do Rio Coruripe-AL. O Zoneamento ambiental apresenta-se em detrimento do uso e ocupação do solo, calcado na apropriação de recursos naturais numa bacia hidrográfica, enquanto fator de análise e instrumento de gestão territorial no contexto das características geoambientais de uma bacia hidrográfica possui, com vistas a sistematizar as principais atividades desenvolvidas no campo socioambiental, potencializando o desenvolvimento socioeconômico, com enfoque no planejamento e gestão territorial. Tal estudo propõe um zoneamento ecológico-econômico (ZEE), embutido na acepção do decreto 4.297/2002 à luz dos direitos humanos e ambientais, com base em instrumentos adotados na caracterização da Bacia Hidrográfica do Rio Coruripe (BHRC) em Alagoas, os quais baseam-se em percepções geográficas dos recursos naturais existentes .Para tanto, o estudo teve como parâmetro metodológico e de conceitos abordados, trabalhos realizados sobre Bacias Hidrográficas, a exemplo de: Carvalho (2006), Cunico (2007), Pereira (2010), Lopes (2013), Peres (2016), Santos (2018), Jacó (2019), entre outros. Para a identificação dos impactos socioambientais, foram utilizados inicialmente imagens obtidas via satélite em sites à confecção de mapas elaborados pelo softaware Qgis, no qual o uso e ocupação do solo é enfatizado na BHRC, trazendo áreas de destaques provenientes de antropização por parte do uso das terras. A Bacia do Rio Coruripe, por sua vez, apresenta uma variação de cultivos, distribuídos nos mais de 19 municípios por onde se estendem seus leitos e margens. Para tal análise do mau uso das terras foram analisados os elementos naturais:geolologia e geomorfologia. Essas influenciadas, consubstancialmente, pela topografia e por fatores de ordem geoclimática e antrópica. Os principais problemas de impactos socioambientais, decorrem necessariamente da emissão de: resíduos sólidos, de esgoto in natura jogados ao rio e aos afluentes, das pastagens na criação do gado e do pisoteio em áreas próximas às nascentes, culturas em uso das águas do rio, do assoreamento dos mananciais, tudo isso indicando a vulnerabilidade socioambiental da BHRC.
 PALAVRAS-CHAVE: eutrofização, vulnerabilidade socioambiental, reflorestamento.

SIMILIARIDADE AMBIENTAL DAS PROPOSTAS DE ZONEAMENTOS ECOLÓGICO-ECONÔMICOS EM BACIAS HIDROGRÁFICAS NO BRASIL: ENVIROMENTAL SIMILARITY OF ECOLOGIC-ECONOMIC ZONING PROPOSALS IN RIVER BASINS IN BRAZIL

The Ecological-Economic Zoning (EEZ) is an instrument recognized in Brazil by the National Environment Policy and Decree n. 4297/2002, which has criteria for territorial planning considering the physical, biotic and socioeconomic influences. The use of river basins as units for the application of zoning can still be considered incipient, despite its recognition as a basic unit of water resources planning. Scientific studies were developed that developed zoning proposals in river basins, where they were characterized as to the type of production, parameters used, data processing programs used, data integration methodologies and established management zones. The degree of dissimilarity was evaluated by multivariate analysis of hierarchical grouping, using the clusters analysis method. There were 22 studies in these areas between 1996 and 2017, with greater predominance in the Southeast region, high physical aspects and low importance for biotic and socioeconomic aspects. The EEZ proposals presented considerable development in the inclusion of integration parameters, techniques and methods, revealing that zoning is a strategic planning and environmental management tool that assists the conservation of water resources and must be carried out from the ecological-economic perspective of the territory.

Assessing ecological sensitivity and economic potentials and regulation zoning of the riverfront development along the Yangtze River, China

The waterfront along great rivers, located in water-land and human-nature interaction zone, is a type of rare resource, which is critical for urban and industrial development and eco-environmental protection. The development and protection of riverfronts is one of the key components of sustainable watershed development. Waterfront development control, followed by regulation zoning that is based on different socio-economic and iconological functions, is regarded as one of the most important governance instruments for sustainable riverfront management. Based on the natural and socioeconomic attributes, we constructed a theoretical framework and integrated index system to evaluate the ecological sensitivity, development potential, and current development patterns of riverfront resources. The evaluation is further used as evidence for riverfront use zoning and future development governance through a case study in the Yangtze riverfront in China. The results show that more than 40% of the riverfront along the Yangtze River has high ecological sensitivity to economic development. The lengths of the development-prohibited, development-restricted, and development-optimized riverfront accounted for 70.0%, 6.5%, and 23.5% of the total evaluated Yangtze riverfront, respectively. Based on the assessment and field research, several problems were observed, such as the misuse of deep-water riverfront, conflicts between drinking water sources and heavy industrial development, and waterfront development in nature preservation areas. The riverfront zoning results can be used to support future riverfront development regulation and use optimization. Finally, we inferred some policy suggestions for future riverfront governance.

A natureza e a região na Amazônia: zoneamento ecológico-econômico e políticas de desenvolvimento regional

O objetivo é compreender a natureza e a região na Amazônia, discutindo as possibilidades e limites do zoneamento ecológico-econômico e das políticas de desenvolvimento regional. A partir de uma interpretação das relações espaço-tempo na Amazônia, desenvolvendo narrativas e representações da época e debatendo análises científicas mais recentes, busca-se pensar as alternativas e implicações colocadas tanto na perspectiva da problemática ambiental quanto no sentido da questão regional, que permitam minimamente mitigar as desigualdades sociais, econômicas e culturais que persistem e marcam profundamente o trópico úmido.

Technological Hazard Vulnerability: A GIS-Based Approach for Supporting Environmental Zoning.

Technological hazard assessments are extremely rare in Brazil, despite their importance for planning. Aquatic systems are of particular concern, since they are the endpoint of every process occurring in the watershed, including technological disasters. Thus, our goal is to map the technological hazard vulnerability in lagoon systems though a geographic information systems (GIS) model. The technological hazard vulnerability model consists of the spatial overlapping of technological pressure and fragility, having environmental systems as spatial units. The methodology was applied to the lagoon systems of the Rio Grande do Sul State, Southern Brazil, as a case study. The very high vulnerability of the Northern Guaíba Lake is due to the high concentration of technological infrastructures combined with high fragilities of wetland systems. In the Patos Lagoon Estuary, highly vulnerable systems consist mostly in shallow waters. The Mirim Lagoon was less vulnerable compared to other systems, due to a much smaller occurrence of elements of technological pressure. The proposed methodology allowed for the identification of environmental systems particularly vulnerable to technological hazards, where management efforts must be more intense. The results were used for the Ecological-Economic Zoning of the Rio Grande do Sul, as well as to revise the water quality framework of the Patos Lagoon estuary, currently underway. Integr Environ Assess Manag 2021;17:445-454. © 2020 SETAC.

ОЦЕНКА ЦЕЛЕСООБРАЗНОСТИ ВКЛЮЧЕНИЯ МАЛКИНСКОГО ЖЕЛЕЗОРУДНОГО МЕСТОРОЖДЕНИЯ В КОНСТРУКЦИЮ ЭКОНОМИЧЕСКОГО КАРКАСА

An adaptive economic framework is being designed within the framework of an ecological-economic zone with specified properties in the mountains of the Kabardino-Balkarian Republic (KBR), designed by the authors. Among the tasks in this direction is the search and assessment of functionally unencumbered natural conditions and resources of the region. Among the reserves not involved in economic activity, an important place is occupied by the Malkinskoe deposit of naturally alloyed iron ores. The purpose of the study is to probe the relevance of the issue for management structures and business, a preliminary assessment of the possibility of embedding the considered field in the constructed economic framework of the republic. In accordance with the designated goal, the following tasks have been set: - study of archival materials from Giprozem on the iron ore deposit for the purpose of realizing its technical and economic potential in relation to the conditions of modern market realities; - conducting field geophysical studies to test the author's hypothesis about a larger area of distribution of the serpentinite massif; - clarification of the mineralogical form of nickel in the ore and the identification of regularities in the distribution of alloying impurities in the open part of the ore strata; - assessment of the current intensity of contact of exposed ore layers with mountain streams.

Amazon forest on the edge of collapse in the Maranhão State, Brazil

The year 2019 in Brazil was marked by environmental setbacks, which catalyzed the increase of illegal deforestation and fire rates in the Brazilian Amazon. In the Amazon region of Maranhão state, original forest cover diminished from 25 % (24,700 km2) in 2016 to 24 % (23,967 km2) in 2019, and 6,038 km2 of remaining forests were degraded by fires and/or illegal logging – processes related to high levels of violence against indigenous and rural communities. Almost half of all deforested areas in the region (36,060 km2) are considered a global restoration hotspot, however secondary vegetation remains unprotected and 8,294 km2 were cleared between 2014 and 2018. Due to uncontrolled deforestation and fragmentation, Maranhão has no more forest core areas (outside protected areas) with the minimum size to ensure sustainable forest management practices for timber production. New policies at the state level must promote old-growth and secondary forest conservation and restoration. However, the trends point to the opposite direction: the Ecological-Economic Zoning (ZEE) allows the reduction of forest protection and the State Forest Policy reinforces federal legislation setbacks. The Amazon region of Maranhão state has forest aptitude, and forest and agroforestry product chains would bring social and environmental benefits, making them the best opportunity for sustainable economic development in the region. Therefore, the forest must be re-planted for the benefit of people and nature.

Refining Urban Built-Up Area via Multi-Source Data Fusion for the Analysis of Dongting Lake Eco-Economic Zone Spatiotemporal Expansion

Rapid urbanization has given rise to serious urban problems. It is crucial to understand the urbanization process to accurately and quickly identify boundary changes in urban built-up areas and implement planning schemes and adjustments in scientific and effective ways. This study proposes a new method to automate and refine the extraction of urban built-up areas by using Landsat and nighttime light (NTL) imagery. The urban agglomeration of Dongting Lake Ecological Economic Zone (UADLEEZ) Landsat data are mapped to NTL data using resampling, superpixel segmentation, and assigning the blank part with the Euclidean distance method. We then compared our findings with those produced via traditional threshold extraction methods. In total, 33 built-up areas of UADLEEZ boundary maps were produced between 1992 and 2018. Thus, we reached the following conclusions: (1) the urban built-up areas obtained via our proposed method are finer than those obtained via other threshold extraction methods; (2) we applied the extraction method to UADLEEZ, and analyzed the expansion of the urban agglomeration based on expansion scale, gravity center offset, and landscape pattern index, the analysis of expansion process is consistent with the actual situation; (3) the proposed method can be used to draw long-term dynamic maps of urban extents in units of years, and the results can be used to update the existing products. This study can serve as a reference for future urban planning, and provide both adjustment programs for relevant departments, and an objective basis for governmental decision-making.

Assessment of Offshore Wind Power Potential along the Brazilian Coast

Brazilian offshore potential exploration is still in its early stages, with no single offshore park in operation or being implemented. Unlike the already identified onshore wind potential—with over 14 GW installed in the form of onshore wind turbines—offshore wind potential research is absent and restricted to limited areas. In this context, this study aims to identify offshore wind potential throughout the Brazilian coast for electricity generation. The research method took into account the average annual wind velocity records as 100 m/s, as well as bathymetry and the distance from the coast baseline, to classify areas displaying the greatest potential, applying an analytic hierarchy process (AHP) to the geographic information system for the identification of potential offshore wind energy exploration sites. Environmental conservation units were considered exclusion areas. The installable capacity using aerogenerators was estimated at 3 TW, while an annual average power production of 14,800 TWh was calculated for the sum of the viable areas. These results demonstrate that the wind potential identified throughout the Brazilian coast provides the conditions for significant energy sector development. To this end, it is necessary to establish an ecological economic zoning of the areas displaying the greatest potential identified herein for the beginning of offshore exploration in Brazil.

Spatial-Temporal Characteristics of Cultivated Land Use Efficiency in Major Function-Oriented Zones: A Case Study of Zhejiang Province, China

Promoting cultivated land use efficiency (CLUE) coordinated development in various major function-oriented zones is a measure to deal with unbalanced development of territorial space in China. Taking the optimized development, key development, agricultural production, ecological function, and ecological economic zones of Zhejiang province as research objects, this study incorporated agricultural carbon emission into the measurement framework of CLUE and analyzed the regional disparity and the convergence of CLUE from 2008 to 2017, using slack-based measure model (SBM), the Theil index, and convergence theory. The main results are as follows: (1) The CLUE value that considered agricultural carbon emissions was lower than the CLUE value that did not consider agricultural carbon emissions; thus, agricultural carbon emissions had a negative effect on CLUE. (2) The CLUE value of the five major function-oriented zones showed an increasing trend; after ranking the CLUE value, the CLUE of the optimized development zones was the highest, followed by the ecological function, ecological economic, and key development zones, and that of the agricultural production zones was the lowest, indicating significant regional disparity. (3) The overall disparity of CLUE presented an upward trend, and the within-regional disparity is the main source of the overall disparity. (4) Neither σ convergence nor absolute β convergence occurred in the CLUE of the five major function-oriented zones, but conditional β convergence occurred among the optimized development and ecological economic zones. Although the planning of major function-oriented zones reflects the regional disparity and convergence of CLUE to some extent, the CLUE under the control of major function-oriented zones is not consistent with the function positioning.

Construction and Application of Groundwater Environmental Health Assessment Model Based on Entropy Weight and Fuzzy Matter Element

Groundwater overdraft has become a major challenge, most serious in northwestern and northern China. A series of environmental geological problems caused by groundwater overdraft will be more extreme, which restrict the development of society. In this study, matter-element theory is introduced. Moreover, a matter-element evaluation model is established, and a matter-element evaluation algorithm based on fuzzy entropy weight is proposed. The algorithm takes nature, environment, economy and society as the characteristic indexes of the evaluation category. Four kinds of typical regions were chosen including Core Economic Zone (A), Bearing Industry and Trade Economic Zone (B), Agricultural Machinery and Trade Economic Zone (C) and Ecological Agricultural Economic Zone (D) as the study region. The risk assessment of groundwater is evaluated using the groundwater environmental health assessment model in this study. The results showed that the constructed model can be used for the assessment of environment health of groundwater successfully. The simulation results showed that the groundwater was in a medium health state in Linqing City. The results showed that groundwater environment of ‘healthy’ state of nearness concentrated between 0.2 and 0.4. The descending order for typical regions groundwater environment ‘healthy’ state of nearness from high to low are B, D, A, and C.

Watershed fragility Assessment: a Methodological Approach of Siltation and Pollution Vulnerability on a Rural Watershed in Ibiúna (Southeastern Brazilian Region)

Background: The São Paulo State area has been facing a water crisis that caused water shortage in many cities, and a series of socioeconomic problems as an outcome. Water supply massive land-use alteration throughout São Paulo State river basins, coupled with climate change effects might produce severe damage to the region if preventive actions are not enforced in time. Objective: This study aims to apply an adapted methodology of fragility analysis to a tributary of the Itupararanga reservoir (Brazil) using a hydrological modeling tool. Based on the determination of the flow and drainage system direction and object-based image analysis, a final map of the fragility will be constructed. Methods: This paper presents a fragility assessment methodology on a local scale using a rural watershed of the study area. This approach uses object-based classification of topography data from Shuttle Radar Topography Mission to extract the most fragile territorial units of the watershed area, in terms of pollution and siltation contribution risk, combined with land cover classification. Results: The study area exhibits very high and medium fragility areas related to water contamination and siltation risk that can be seen as priority areas for land cover management and monitoring, although most of the basin area was classified as very low fragility. Conclusion: The methodology applications have great potential uses in territorial planning, protected areas and restoration priorities delimitation, ecological-economic zoning, hazard evaluation and mitigation, erosional processes and water protection and management at both local and regional scale studies.

Three Types of Spatial Function Zoning in Key Ecological Function Areas Based on Ecological and Economic Coordinated Development: A Case Study of Tacheng Basin, China

Three types of spatial function zoning is an effective measure for regional environmental protection and orderly development. For ecological and economic coordinated development, spatial function zones should be divided scientifically to clear its direction of development and protection. Therefore, based on ecological constraints, a beneficial discussion would be about the key ecological function areas adopting the concept of ecological protection restriction and supporting socioeconomic development for spatial function zoning. In this paper, the researchers, taking Tacheng Basin, Xinjiang of China as an example, choose township as basic research unit and set up an evaluation index system from three aspects, namely, ecological protection suitability, agricultural production suitability, and urban development suitability, which are analyzed by using spatial analysis functions and exclusive matrix method. The results showed that: 1) This paper formed a set of multilevel evaluation index systems for three types of spatial function zoning of the key ecological function areas based on a novel perspective by scientifically dividing Tacheng Basin into ecological space, agricultural space, and urban space, which realized the integration and scientific orientation for spatial function at the township scale. 2) Under the guidance of three types of spatial pattern, the functional orientation and suggestions of development and protection was clearly defined for ecological protection zones, ecological economic zones, agricultural production zones, and urban development zones. 3) A new idea of space governance is provided to promote the coordinated and sustainable development between ecology and economy, which can break the traditional mode of thinking about regional economic development, and offers a scientific basis and reference for macro decision-making.

Evolution of the Pattern of Spatial Expansion of Urban Land Use in the Poyang Lake Ecological Economic Zone.

To grasp the evolutionary characteristics and regularity of urban land expansion patterns in the Poyang Lake Ecological Economic Zone, this study, based on nighttime lighting data, uses the Landsat series satellite simultaneous data and cluster analysis to correct the Defense Meteorological Satellite Program–Operational Linescan System (DMSP-OLS) nighttime lighting data and then uses the auxiliary data-based comparison method to determine the threshold for extracting the urban built-up area. Based on this threshold, a total of eight typical landscape pattern indicators, including landscape total area, total patches number, patches density, maximum patches index, and agglomeration index, etc., are selected. Next, the landscape spatial pattern analysis method and standard deviation ellipse method are used. The results show the following: (1) In 1992–2013, urbanization in the Poyang Lake Ecological Economic Zone expanded rapidly. The urban built-up area increased by 8.13 times, the number of plaques increased by 1.5 times, and the shape complexity of landscape plaques gradually increased. There is a large correlation between the changes in the total boundary length, and the average boundary density, the average annual growth rate of the two is 21.33% and 17.45%. (2) The two indicators of maximum plaque index and aggregation index show a downward trend year by year. However, there are some fluctuations and irregularities in the evolution of the total landscape area, total plaque number and plaque density. (3) The long axis and the short axis of the standard deviation ellipse of the Poyang Lake Ecological Economic Zone show small variation during the inspection period and generally have an elliptical shape. The movement of the center of gravity is mainly from the southwest to the northeast, but the migration of the center of gravity is relatively small. Based on this, this paper proposes three countermeasures and suggestions as a guide to promote the optimization and development of the spatial expansion pattern of the Poyang Lake eco-economic zone.

ANÁLISE DE INSTRUMENTOS DO PLANEJAMENTO AMBIENTAL - MICROBACIA DO CÓRREGO DA CASCATA E/OU TABUINHA NO MUNICIPIO DE PRESIDENTE PRUDENTE - SP

The Master Plan and the Economic Ecological Zoning (EEZ) are important instruments of environmental planning in a municipality, their implementation contributes to balanced urban development. The present work seeks to carry out an analysis of the master plan and the ZEE law of the municipality of Presidente Prudente - SP, applying these instruments of environmental planning in the Cascata and / or Tabuinha Stream Hydrographic Microbasin located in the same municipality. This study is justified because, nowadays, the microbasin is impacted by a leather tanning venture installed on the site, such an enterprise is framed in a special zone of use that is uncomfortable, harmful or dangerous, and therefore should not be used in the area of the watershed. There is a need for greater engagement in the search for improvements in the environmental planning of watersheds.

Mapping land use capability in tropical conditions adapting criteria to different levels of agricultural management

ABSTRACT Land use capability is one of the most widespread technical-interpretative classification systems, however, regional adaptations may be necessary because different attributes may affect it. For these adaptations, the Minas Gerais soil map was used as the starting point for this study. The criteria to define the land use capability were adapted to management levels with small (level A) and medium (level B) application of capital and modern technology (level C). The aim of the present study was to map land use capability for Minas Gerais state, Brazil, following the criteria adapted to different levels of management and measure the accuracy of the resulting maps. The system of land use capability is widely used by INCRA in evaluations of rural properties. Erosion criterion was replaced by erodibility. The information was handled in a geographic information system. For validation, soil profiles from regional pedological surveys were sampled, classified, and its land use capability was compared to the land use capability shown on the map according to the different management levels. In spite of the small scale of the soil map, the maps of land use capability exhibited adequate accuracy: 73% (management level A), 71% (B), and 50% (C). Therefore, it can be applied in initial phases of regional planning studies, in which the level of details required is reduced (for example, in ecological-economic zoning). More detailed analyses still depend on detailed field surveys, as advocated by the system of land use capability.

How is biodiversity protection influencing the potential for bioenergy feedstock production on grasslands?

AbstractSustainable feedstock supply is a critical issue for the bioenergy sector. One concern is that feedstock production will impact biodiversity. We analyze how this concern is addressed in assessments of biomass supply potentials and in selected governance systems in the EU and Brazil, including the EU Renewable Energy Directive (RED), the EU Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), and the Brazilian Forest Act. The analysis focuses on grasslands and includes estimates of the amount of grassland area (and corresponding biomass production volume) that would be excluded from cultivation in specific biodiversity protection scenarios. The reviewed assessments used a variety of approaches to identify and exclude biodiverse grasslands as unavailable for bioenergy. Because exclusion was integrated with other nature protection considerations, quantification of excluded grassland areas was often not possible. The RED complements and strengthens the CAP in terms of biodiversity protection. Following the RED, an estimated 39%–48% (about 9–11 Mha) and 15%–54% (about 10–38 Mha) of natural and non‐natural grassland, respectively, may be considered highly biodiverse in EU‐28. The estimated biomass production potential on these areas corresponds to some 1–3 and 1.5–10 EJ/year for natural and non‐natural grassland, respectively (depending on area availability and management intensity). However, the RED lacks clear definitions and guidance, creating uncertainty about its influence on grassland availability for bioenergy feedstock production. For Brazil, an estimated 16%–77% (about 16–76 Mha) and 1%–32% (about 7–24 Mha) of natural and non‐natural grassland, respectively, may be considered highly biodiverse. In Brazil, ecological–economic zoning was found potentially important for grassland protection. Further clarification of grassland definitions and delineation in regulations will facilitate a better understanding of the prospects for bioenergy feedstock production on grasslands, and the impacts of bioenergy deployment on biodiversity.