Multifunctional Landscapes Research Articles

Disentangling direct and indirect effects of landscape structure on urban bird richness and functional diversity.

As fragmented landscapes become increasingly common around the world, managing the spatial arrangement of landscape elements (i.e., landscape configuration) may help to promote the conservation of biodiversity. However, the relative effects of landscape configuration on different dimensions of biodiversity across species assemblages are largely unknown. Thus, a key challenge consists in understanding when it is necessary to focus on landscape configuration, in addition to landscape composition, to achieve multifunctional landscapes. We tested the effects of landscape composition (the percentage of tree cover and built infrastructure) and landscape configuration (degree of fragmentation) on landscape-level species richness and different metrics of functional diversity of urban birds. We collected data on different bird guilds (nectarivores/frugivores, insectivores) from Brisbane, Australia. Using structural equation models, we found that landscape structure (landscape composition and configuration) affected functional diversity via two main pathways: (1) through effects of landscape composition, mediated by landscape configuration (indirect effects), and (2) through direct ("independent") effects of landscape composition and configuration, filtering species with extreme trait values. Our results show that landscape-level species richness declined with the extent of built infrastructure, but patterns of trait diversity did not necessarily correlate with this variable. Landscape configuration had a stronger mediating effect on some metrics of the functional diversity of insectivores than on the functional diversity of frugivores/nectarivores. In addition, fragmentation increased the effects of built infrastructure for some traits (body size and dispersal capacity), but not for others (habitat plasticity and foraging behavior). These results suggest that differential approaches to managing landscape structure are needed depending on whether the focus is on protecting functional diversity or species richness and what the target guild is. Managing landscape fragmentation in areas with high levels of built infrastructure is important if the objective is to protect insectivore species with uncommon traits, even if it is not possible to preserve high levels of species richness. However, if the target is to enhance both functional diversity and species richness of multiple guilds, the focus should be on improving composition through the reduction of negative effects of built infrastructure, rather than promoting specific landscape configurations in growing cities.

Enhancing weed multifunctionality at a landscape scale: A simulation study

There is a pressing need for research guiding the design and management of multifunctional landscapes that combine the delivery of production services and that of other ecosystem services. Arable weeds are an interesting model as they can impact negatively crop production but also contribute to maintain pollination and pest control services. Here, we assessed weed multifunctionality using weed data recorded within a small landscape, in the field edge and field core of 97 fields over six consecutive years. We detected a general positive correlation between harmfulness and services provision, at the field-scale and at the landscape scale. At the field scale, the flora of field edges strongly contributed to the delivery of (dis)services; some fields delivered interesting trade-offs, and this was only weakly explained by the crop management strategy. At the landscape scale, we explored through scenarii the impact of changes in the composition (proportional cover of the different crop management strategies) and structure (field size, i.e. length of field edges) of the land-use mosaics on weed multifunctionality. Land–use mosaics offering interesting trade-offs were for the most part characterised by an even representation of the different crop management strategies. Small-grained landscapes did not offer better trade–offs than the current landscape structure, but slightly improved the inter-annual stability of services. Our results support the idea that promoting the co-existence of various cropping strategies within landscape is a good option to reconcile the positive and negative impacts of weeds.

Tradeoffs between units providing soil ecosystem services in multifunctional landscapes of the Orinoquia

Ecological assessment of soil ecosystem services was made through indicators of provision of nutrients, amount of organic matter, and cation exchange capacity; and climate regulation, carbon storage, in the Orotoy river basin. As units that provide ecosystem services, mosaics of tropical humid forest cover, oil palm crops and cattle pastures were selected, persistent for 20 years, in windows located in the upper, middle and lower areas of the basin. Soil samples (896) were collected and analyzed in the laboratory for determining physical and chemical properties. The data were processed with the SPAW and R software. Indicators, ranging from 0 to 1, and tradeoffs were represented on a 1: 25.000 scale land cover map. It was found that in the indicator of carbon storage, the low zone obtained the highest average value (0.42); and the indicator of the ecosystem service of nutrient provision obtained close average values in the middle and lower zones, 0.33 and 0.44, correspondingly. In vegetation cover, the tropical humid forest presented the highest average values for the indicator of climate regulation (0,43). The established trade-offs from the valuation are: the upper zone is fundamental for water regulation and climate regulation throughout the basin; forest cover in the entire basin regulates the climate, oil palm crops and cattle pastures via fertilization, contribute to the surrounding forests, located in areas of less slope. In the mosaics of the multifunctional landscapes it was found that although the ecosystem services are related to the forming factors of the soil and the vegetation coverage, the influence of cultural practices on the soils is also evident; these determine trade-offs. The importance of including the ecosystem services of the soil in the processes of territorial ordering and management of landscapes like the one of the basin of the Orotoy river is verified, which in the current management scenario presents trade-offs between zones and coverages.

НОВЫЕПОДХОДЫВИССЛЕДОВАНИИЭЛИТНЫХ МОГИЛЬНИКОВ САКСКОЙ ЭПОХИ САРЫАРКИ

The multifunctional cultural landscape, the concentration of large burial mounds in a small area of the Ishim River were important places to research BaubekBatyr burial and used pre-excavation research methods. In 2021, a detachment of the K.A. Akishev Research Institute of Archaeology researched layout and structures of two mounds No.1 and 3. The goal of the research was to learn the principles of the arrangement of the spatial structure of the elite burial ground of the Saka era as a multi-component, unfolded in time, ensemble of funerary and memorial architecture. As a result, we were able to learn new details that the mound is not only an architectural monument, but also it is an object with complex ritual symbols.

Extending the DPSIR framework to analyse Driver-Pressure-State-Impact-Response of sand dune management in Manawatu-Whanganui (New Zealand) since the 19th century

Coastal sand dunes are multifunctional landscapes with rich biodiversity. In New Zealand, with the establishment of European settlement around 1840, dunes in the Manawatu-Whanganui region were affected due to the removal of their vegetation cover by human activities and animal grazing. As a result, sand drifted further inland affecting villages, infrastructure and agricultural areas. The main response was to introduce marram grass (Ammophila arenaria) used in Europe to stabilize dunes. This solution caused significant environmental impacts as marram grass turned invasive and native habitats of fauna and flora significantly decreased.This paper focused on the long-term analysis of aspects related to sand dune management in the region during two-time frames: 1) from the 19th to the late 20th century and 2) from then on to the early 21st century, using the innovative spiral DPSIR (Driver-Pressure-State-Impact-Response) framework. Data for this study comes from historical records, scientific literature and present management reports.The integrated spiral framework allows for establishing the connections between historical and future management initiatives for mitigating and adapting to environmental impacts due to socio-economic drivers and their pressures. The study reinforces the paradigm shift from dune stabilization before the late 20th century to the restoration of stabilized dunes to make them active for enhancing native biodiversity should be again assessed in the context of sea-level rise during this century. Coastal managers should adopt an optimized solution between these two extreme solutions adopted from the 19th century to the present, by considering long-term and interdisciplinary analysis to better understand the systems’ evolution and the full consequences of human actions.

A spatialized assessment of ecosystem service relationships in a multifunctional agroforestry landscape of Senegal

Agroforestry systems are an integral part of Sub-Saharan agricultural landscapes. Studies conducted at tree or plot scales on the supply of ecosystem services (ES) suggest that agroforestry practices are a promising way to build multifunctional agricultural landscapes. However, the current characterization and understanding of how multiple ES are associated across such heterogeneous agricultural landscapes are still limited. This study provides the first characterization of the multiple ESs supplied by a Sahelian Faidherbia albida agroforestry parkland and their relationships. Relying on field data for 11 ES indicators, recent advances in remote sensing-derived information, and blending different ES mapping approaches, we first assessed the spatial heterogeneity of the supply of each ES. We found that the majority of ES indicators remained below ES potential values over the study area by 25 % to 50 %, revealing that there is a considerable scope for increasing the ES supply in the F. albida parkland. Then, using a scoring approach, we analyzed the supply of multiple ESs. We observed a large number of hotspots and a clear effect of the proximity of F. albida trees fostering the supply of multiple ESs in their vicinity. Finally, we mapped and analyzed the dominant relationships – trade-offs, synergies or losses – between ESs from a cooccurrence spatial approach. We showed that significant trade-offs and losses (58 % of the area) between ESs can exist in the F. albida parkland. Interestingly, we also showed that synergies occurred mainly up to 10 m from the F. albida trees, suggesting that synergies need to be increased beyond this threshold. By adopting an original ES valuation framework, we provided basic insights into ESs and their relationships. The different maps and information generated can support public debates and target new policies fostering the multifunctionality of F. albida parklands as well as in various other parklands of West Africa.

A comprehensive spatially-explicit analysis of agricultural landscape multifunctionality using a New Zealand hill country farm case study

CONTEXTMultifunctionality can refer to the capacity of a landscape to provide a wide range of ecosystem services (ES). Maintaining or restoring multifunctionality in agricultural landscapes is considered an efficient solution to achieve sustainable agricultural production because multiple ES provided by a landscape can support both environmental protection and socio-economic benefits. Quantifying the provision of ES provides fundamental information to measure landscape multifunctionality and inform sustainable land management strategies. Although a large number of studies have been carried out to measure landscape multifunctionality and associated ES, comprehensive spatially explicit assessments at the farm scale are limited. OBJECTIVEThis research applies a wide range of spatial models, tools, and methods to spatially quantify the provision of multiple ES as well as the pattern of landscape multifunctionality in farmed landscapes. METHODSTo quantify the provision of multiple ES provided by the landscape, the bio-physical models provided by InVEST (e.g., Nutrient Delivery Ratio and Sediment Delivery Ratio models) and land use land cover-based assessments using spatial analysis tools in ArcGIS were employed. The Analytic Hierarchy Process was applied to calculate the landscape multifunctionality index which is an integration of multiple ES supply. Hot spot analysis using Getis Ord Gi* statistics was utilised to examine the spatial distribution of multiple ecosystem services. A hill country farm in New Zealand is chosen as a case study because it is a good example of a diverse landscape that is facing significant environmental issues due to intensive agricultural production. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONSOur study reveals that the provision of ES and the pattern of landscape multifunctionality is highly variable across the farm. Both positive and negative relationships among ES are found and the interactions between them are mainly reflected in three ES bundles: the agricultural land, the indigenous forest and wetlands, and the mixed land uses. Furthermore, our study demonstrates that the quality of landscape is significantly dependent on the landscape management goals and preferences of the farmer so involving them into the process of ES and landscape multifunctionality assessment at a farm scale is essential step to obtain more comprehensive results. SIGNIFICANCEResults from this study enable important questions to be answered regarding the spatial variation of ES provision and how land use and land management goals relate to the value and quality of landscape multifunctionality. This can provide valuable information to design future multifunctional landscapes and inform decision making in relation to sustainable land use management.

Multifunctional landscapes for dedicated bioenergy crops lead to low-carbon market-competitive biofuels

Switchgrass is a promising feedstock for cellulosic biorefineries, due to its ability to maintain comparatively high biomass yields across a wide range of soil and climatic conditions. However, there is an incomplete understanding of the economic and environmental tradeoffs associated with cultivating switchgrass on low-productivity land for conversion to biofuels. This study surveys prior literature and demonstrates a new integrated assessment framework, including agroecosystem, ecosystem services valuation, technoeconomic, and life-cycle assessment models, to quantify and contextualize the economic and environmental impacts of switchgrass cultivation on marginal land with downstream conversion to biofuels. Monetizing and incorporating the value of ecosystem services, such as improved water quality benefits from nitrate and sediment reductions, climate change mitigation benefits from CO2 emission reduction, and recreational and pollination benefits from increased biodiversity, the modeled multifunctional landscape reduces the ethanol production cost by 33.3–58.9 cents/l-gasoline-equivalent ($1.3–2.2/gge). Planting switchgrass in low productivity land improves soil health, resulting in the carbon footprint reduction credit of 12.8–20.2 gCO2e/MJ. For an improved switchgrass-to-ethanol conversion pathway with the maximum benefits from ecosystem services, the minimum ethanol selling price and carbon footprint of ethanol, respectively, could reach to 31 cents/l-gasoline-equivalent (47% reduction relative to average gasoline price) and 3 gCO2e/MJ (97% reduction relative to gasoline). This low carbon renewable ethanol leads to substantial State and/or Federal policy incentives (∼$1/l-gasoline-equivalent) providing a large benefit to biorefinery operators, farmers, and the public as a whole.

Climate- and fire-smart landscape scenarios call for redesigning protection regimes to achieve multiple management goals

Integrated management of biodiversity and ecosystem services (ES) in heterogeneous landscapes requires considering the potential trade-offs between conflicting objectives. The UNESCO's Biosphere Reserve zoning scheme is a suitable context to address these trade-offs by considering multiple management zones that aim to minimise conflicts between management objectives. Moreover, in Mediterranean ecosystems, management and planning also needs to consider drivers of landscape dynamics such as wildfires and traditional farming and forestry practices that have historically shaped landscapes and the biodiversity they host. In this study, we applied a conservation planning approach to prioritise the allocation of management zones under future landscape and climate scenarios. We tested different landscape management scenarios reflecting the outcomes of climate-smart and fire-smart policies. We projected the expected landscape dynamics and associated changes on the distribution of 207 vertebrate species, 4 ES and fire hazard under each scenario. We used Marxan with Zones to allocate three management zones, replicating the Biosphere Reserves zoning scheme (“Core area”, “Buffer zone” and “Transition area”) to address the various management objectives within the Biosphere Reserve. Our results show that to promote ES supply and biodiversity conservation, while also minimising fire hazard, the reserve will need to: i) Redefine its zoning, especially regarding Core Areas, which need a considerable expansion to help mitigate changes in biodiversity and accommodate ES supply under expected changes in climate and species distribution. ii) Revisit current management policies that will result in encroached landscapes prone to high intensity, uncontrollable wildfires with the potential to heavily damage ecosystems and compromise the supply of ES. Our results support that both climate- and fire-smart policies in the Meseta Ibérica can help develop multifunctional landscapes that help mitigate and adapt to climate change and ensure the best possible maintenance of biodiversity and ES supply under uncertain future climate conditions.

The influence of sugarcane pre‐harvest fire on hantavirus prevalence in Neotropical small mammals

AbstractThe use of pre‐harvest fire in sugarcane fields surprisingly results in an increase in the abundance of Neotropical Sigmodontinae rodents, which might carry hantavirus. By contrast, fire suspension induces a decline in rodents in the first 5 years. The present study aimed to evaluate the effect of sugarcane harvest regimes on hantavirus prevalence in wild rodents. Field collections were carried out on a sugarcane production area in Northeast São Paulo, which is responsible for 30% of the ethanol production in Brazil. A few years after pre‐harvest fire suspension, a high prevalence of hantavirus was found in small rodents at lower population density, but apparently higher population growth rate. Differences in life cycle between the rodents and their predators may explain such density patterns, as small rodents can breed twice or even three times each year, whereas their predators usually breed only once a year. Similarly, the temporal dynamics of the predator–prey relationship suggests that hantavirus prevalence is related to small rodent's population growth and not density. OnlyAkodon montensis,Calomys tener, andNecromys lasiuruscontained immunoglobulin G antibodies against the recombinant nucleoprotein ofAraraquara orthohantavirus, a genotype ofAndes orthohantavirus, with no interspecific variation in seroprevalence among these species. However, males presented higher prevalence rate than females, possibly due to a male‐biased dispersal pattern and a higher frequency of antagonistic interactions. Governance measures to mitigate the role of small wild rodents on the emergence of hantavirus in agricultural landscapes dominated by sugarcane plantations should include the use of wildlife‐friendly management techniques (e.g., to mitigate the mortality of the predators of small rodents), human capacity building concerning wildlife‐related conflicts, and multifunctionality of agricultural landscapes. Future studies should prioritize the possible relationship between microhabitat structure and hantavirus prevalence in small rodents in agricultural landscapes dominated by sugarcane fields.

The relationship between values and knowledge in visioning for landscape management: relevance for a collaborative approach

ABSTRACT Respecting connections between the diversity of values and forms of knowledge is essential to support a decision-making that fosters relationships between ecosystems and people. However, little theory has been developed for clarifying interactions between values and knowledge, and their relevance for environmental policy. We surfaced the overlooked relationship between values and knowledge by studying individual cognitive and emotional processes during a guided visioning exercise in the context of the multifunctional landscapes of Östergötland, Sweden. We investigated these cognitive processes using 30 semi-structured interviews and questionnaires organized around three types of relationships: vision ⇔ values, vision ⇔ knowledge, and especially values ⇔ knowledge. The analysis of the relationship between vision and values reveals that all types of values including core human values, relational, and intrinsic values are important in shaping the decision-making context in which landscape management visions arise. The relationship between vision and knowledge uncovers the mix of experiential and theoretical knowledge that informs the decision-making context. Interviews unfold three modalities in terms of how values and knowledge relate: i) linked and not necessarily connected (e.g. when individuals perceive a high conflict between their knowledge and their values leading to one construct silencing the other); ii) mutually reinforcing (e.g. when values and knowledge are seen as feeding into one another); and iii) intertwined (e.g. when individuals perceive that values and knowledge can co-exist). We discuss our findings in the context of their relevance for a collaborative decision-making process for balancing consensus and dissensus in multifunctional landscapes.

How to feed the cities? Co-creating inclusive, healthy and sustainable city region food systems

People drive transitions. Current urban living conditions, specifically food systems, challenge the health, wellbeing and coherence of individuals and whole societies, and for effective change toward resilient communities, people need to reinvent the way they produce, distribute and consume food. Consequently, in their communities' people are creating foodscapes and governing the transition toward sustainable local food systems. Here, we introduce a conceptual framework to develop this transformation through empowering the urban multi-stakeholder society as the agent of this process. To do so, we reviewed scientific evidence and experiences from seven selected City Regions (Albacete, Baku, Dresden, Izmir, Ljubljana, Megara, and Valparaiso) as case studies and conducted a SWOT analysis to explore the capacity of food systems to enhance multi-functionality of urban landscapes, with special focus on social cohesion and quality of life. We grasp existing policies; hone them and leverage policies and strategies toward human-centered actions for future proofing food systems.

Kānuka Trees Facilitate Pasture Production Increases in New Zealand Hill Country

‘Tree-pasture’ silvopastoral systems have the potential to become transformative multifunctional landscapes that add both environmental and economic value to pastoral farms. Nevertheless, no published study has found increased pasture production under mature silvopastoral trees in New Zealand hill country. This study takes a novel approach to silvopastoral research in New Zealand, and investigates a genus that has similar bio-physical attributes to other global silvopastoral trees that have been shown to increase pasture production under their canopies, with the aim of finding a silvopastoral genera that can increase pasture production under tree canopies compared to open pasture in New Zealand. This study measures pasture and soil variables in two pasture positions: under individually spaced native kānuka (Kunzea spp.) trees (kānuka pasture) and paired open pasture positions at least 15 m from tree trunks (open pasture) at two sites over two years. There was 107.9% more pasture production in kānuka pasture positions. The soil variables that were significantly greater in kānuka pasture were Olsen-P (+115.7%, p < 0.001), K (+100%, p < 0.001), Mg (+33.33%, p < 0.01), Na (+200%, p < 0.001) and porosity (+8.8%, p < 0.05), and Olsen-P, porosity and K best explained the variation between kānuka pasture and open pasture positions. Volumetric soil moisture was statistically similar in kānuka pasture and open pasture positions. These results are evidence of nutrient transfer by livestock to the tree-pasture environment. Furthermore, as there was a significantly greater porosity and 48.6% more organic matter under the trees, there were likely other processes also contributing to the difference between tree and open pasture environments, such as litterfall. These results show that kānuka has potential to increase pasture production in New Zealand hill country farms and create multifunctional landscapes enhancing both production and environmental outcomes in pastoral farms.

The Human Ecosystem Spatial Networks of Amman City Center: A New Methodological Approach towards Resiliency

The human ecosystems embrace complex human-dominated systems, which often result in disparaging multifaceted social and ecological outcomes in various localities of the world. Green infrastructure (GI) with a well-planned and managed spatial organization and network of multifunctional landscapes does not only help improve the quality of life, but also promotes the multifunctional use of natural capital and enhances the resiliency of urban systems by enabling “disaster risk reduction”, or “DRR”, in real practice. To achieve more socially and ecologically resilient cities, the engagement of GI into the spatial network of the human ecosystem is inevitable. Moving on from this argument, the research utilizes several quantitative analysis tools, including space syntax methodology, graph theory, depth map analysis, linkage mapper analysis, and Arc-GIS to model the complex spatial patterns of the human ecosystem in the city center of Amman. To conclude, the study provides both theoretical evidence and practical assessment tools for the implementation of urban GI towards the sustenance of the social and ecological resiliency and NDRR within complex inner-city human ecosystems. The theoretical framework of this study embraces a novel contribution toward how resiliency and DRR theories can be merged into real practice through the utilization of a new methodological approach wherein the analysis, measurement, and visualization of human ecosystem spatial networks can be realized.

WITHDRAWN: Sown wildflower areas for biodiversity conservation and multifunctional agricultural landscapes

WITHDRAWN: Sown wildflower areas for biodiversity conservation and multifunctional agricultural landscapes

Environmental drivers for riparian restoration success and ecosystem services supply in Mediterranean agricultural landscapes

Riparian forests nestled in agricultural landscapes represent a small proportion in crop-intensive areas, while contributing remarkably to their biodiversity. This biodiversity supports several ecological processes crucially involved in the supply of ecosystem services (ES) complementary to that provided by agricultural lands and also relevant for designing biodiverse and multifunctional landscapes. Riparian forest is one of the most threatened ecosystems due to land-use intensification and associated water extraction, especially in Mediterranean semi-arid areas, and proper evaluation of the success of riparian restoration projects is usually lacking. Furthermore, there is little empirical evidence of the effects of riparian restoration on ES supply. In this study, we first investigated the effect of hydrological and soil features on survival and growth of saplings planted in degraded riparian areas in two Mediterranean watersheds. Then, we evaluated how riparian restoration affected the supply of ES, comparing nine regulating and supporting ES on these restored areas with other riparian areas spanning a gradient of conservation status, and with other natural and agricultural land-uses in the same watershed.We found that restoration success mainly depended on water table depth, soil salinity and soil nutrients (namely Mg+2 and Olsen P). Moreover, we detected an antagonistic interaction between the latter two, and a synergetic interaction between water table depth and soil salinity. Forest patches provided meaningful regulating and supporting ES in agricultural landscapes. In particular, riparian restoration zones increased the supply of regulating and supporting ES (water purification, habitat provision, microclimate regulation and soil C storage) in comparison with degraded natural land-uses and crops. Nevertheless, they were still far from the magnitude and range of ES provided by mature riparian forests. These results highlight the importance of focusing management practices on conserving riparian forest patches and restoring the degraded ones to reconcile agricultural production with the maintenance or enhancement of ES in agricultural Mediterranean landscapes.

Multifunctional landscapes for enhanced ecosystem benefits and productive agriculture in the southeastern US

Multifunctional landscapes for enhanced ecosystem benefits and productive agriculture in the southeastern US

Habitat connectivity for conserving cervids in a multifunctional landscape

Habitat fragmentation is a considerable threat to biodiversity worldwide. To minimize the effects of fragmentation, it is important to identify and conserve the existing habitat connections that facilitate dispersal and gene flow among populations. Connected populations are more resilient to the changing environment that affects local populations due to greater demographic stability and higher genetic diversity. Our study is the first attempt to identify the crucial habitats facilitating the dispersal of two key sympatric cervids - spotted deer Axis axis and sambar Rusa unicolor in central India. We use species distribution models followed by landscape pattern analyses and connectivity analyses to delineate the essential habitats. Thereafter, we estimated the relative contribution of habitats outside protected areas in maintaining the ecological network, using graph-based metrics. We then locate and predict the areas that have a high risk of human-influenced cervid mortality using a Bayesian regression model that accounts for spatial structure in the data. The results show that about 55% of the core habitats, integrated across both species, lie outside the protected areas and are important in maintaining the ecological network for these cervids. Some peripheral habitats have an increased risk of anthropogenic cervid mortality, which poses high demographic risk. There is an urgent need to regulate the nature and intensity of human activities in areas of human-wildlife coexistence to maintain habitat connectivity and ensure the survival of wildlife populations. Our results on cervids complement analyses on connectivity for large carnivores and thus enables one to account for important trophic interactions among wildlife species in land use planning.

Water Regulation Ecosystem Services of Multifunctional Landscape Dominated by Monoculture Plantations

Meeting the growing demand for agricultural production while preserving water regulation ecosystem services (WRES) is a challenge. One way to preserve WRES is by adopting multifunctional landscape approach. Hence, the main objective was to evaluate the role of forest patches (FP) in preserving WRES in tropical landscapes dominated by oil palm plantations. The SWAT model was used to evaluate the essential WRES, such as water yield (WYLD), soil water (SW), surface runoff (SURQ), groundwater recharge (GWR), and evapotranspiration (AET). Due to a compaction, soils in monoculture plantation have higher bulk density and lower porosity and water retention, which decrease WRES. Conserving FP among oil palms evidently improves WRES, such as decreasing SURQ and rain season WYLD and increasing GWR, SW, AET, and dry season WLYD. FP has sponge-like properties by storing water to increase water availability, and pump-like properties by evaporating water to stabilize the microclimate. Mature oil palm also has pump-like properties to maintain productivity. However, it does not have sponge-like properties that make water use more significant than the stored water. Consequently, a multifunctional landscape could enhance WRES of forest patches and synergize it with provisioning ecosystem services of oil palm plantations.

Simulating land use and land cover change under contrasting levels of policy enforcement and its spatially-explicit impact on tropical forest landscapes in Ecuador

This study simulates the future impact of land use and land cover (LULC) change and the enforcement of policy bundles on the multi-functionality of tropical forest landscapes. It focusses on the Northern Ecuadorian Amazonas (NEA) which is characterised by high biodiversity and endemism but at the same time is threatened by deforestation and unsustainable land use practices. Scenario simulations mimic LULC change during 2016–2030 at canton-level (area: 2,146 km²) combining explorative with policy-screening components. Scenarios NATIONAL(+)POLICY, NATIONAL(-)POLICY, REGIONAL(+)POLICY, and REGIONAL(-)POLICY are contrasted by varying deforestation trends (high regional demand for agricultural products vs. national-level structural transformations) and the enforcement/ non-enforcement of policy bundles on forest protection, reforestation and restoration. An indicator-based impact assessment analysed in a spatially-explicit fashion for each scenario in 2030 (i) the evolution of agricultural and forestry-related LULC change trajectories, (ii) future hotspots of deforestation, (iii) remaining forest core zones (FCZ) as key element of habitat integrity, and (iv) the provisioning of long-term carbon sinks. Key findings reveal that only NATIONAL(+)POLICY, as the combination of enforced policy bundles and simulated national LULC change trend extrapolating the long-term reference period 1990–2016, lead to an expansion of forest areas and a 2% carbon stock gain in 2030 compared to 2016. When assuming a linear continuation of this trend, it requires 96 years to reach a similar carbon stock level compared to the reference year 1990. Farm area expansion will continue to affect protected forests in case of scenarios NATIONAL(-)POLICY and REGIONAL(-)POLICY but will be avoided in NATIONAL(+)POLICY and REGIONAL(+)POLICY. The simulated persistence of many farming areas reveals that the likelihood to reforest existing agricultural patches will be rather low. Against expectations, scenario NATIONAL(+)POLICY which assumes net zero deforestation by 2030 led to a high level of FCZ fragmentation contrasting its carbon sink potential (27,971 Mio. Mg ha−1) which performed best among all scenarios. Our study depicts a mismatch of future LULC change realities compared to the anticipated future achievements of the Ecuadorian land use policy framework. The simulated variability of forest change patterns (deforestation, reforestation) and farming trajectories (diversification, intensification, rotation) further suggests to foster more cross-sectoral policy approaches that acknowledges the hybrid role of local stakeholders who can be farmers and forest users at the same time. Our study shows that focusing on preserving carbon stocks and their long-term climate mitigation potential only while neglecting other important ecosystem functions or biodiversity can be a short-sighted policy goal if not accompanied by rural development programmes. We further conclude that scenario-based assessments should become an integral part of multi-stakeholder interactions across relevant levels of decision-making. This can support long-term sustainable land use management which is not only relevant for the case of the Northern Ecuadorian Amazons region but for many other landscapes in transition.