Composition and diversity of bird communities in Swedish farmland–forest mosaic landscapes

CapsuleThe amount of forest (at local and landscape scales) and occurrence of residual habitats at the local scale are shown to be the major factors influencing bird community composition in farmland–forest landscapes in central Sweden.

Aims To investigate the importance of local habitat and landscape structure for breeding birds in farmland–forest landscapes in central Sweden.

Methods Breeding birds were censused at 292 points. A detailed habitat mapping was made within 300 m of the points. Within a 300–600 m radius only two major habitats (forests and arable fields) were identified.

Results Cluster analyses of bird communities identified three site types that also differed in habitat composition: (i) partially forested sites in forested landscapes; (ii) heterogeneous sites with residual habitats in mosaic landscapes; and (iii) field-dominated farmland sites in open landscapes. A total of 19 of 25 farmland bird species (restricted to farmland or using both farmland and forest) had the highest abundance in farmland sites with mosaics of forest and farmland, while only six farmland species had the highest abundance in field-dominated sites. The bird community changed from being dominated by farmland species to being dominated by forest species (common in forest landscapes without farmland) at small proportions (10–20%) of forest at the local scale. A major difference in habitat composition between heterogeneous and field-dominated sites was the occurrence of different residual habitats (e.g. shrubby areas and seminatural grasslands). These habitats seemed to influence bird community composition more than land-use, despite covering <10% of the area. Seminatural grasslands were important for bird community composition and species-richness, but grazing seemed to be less important. Among different land-use types, cereal crops were the least preferred fields. Set-asides with tall vegetation and short rotation coppices were positively associated with species-richness of farmland birds.

Conclusion In general, the composition of the landscape was important for bird community composition, although amount and distribution of forests, occurrence of residual habitats and land-use of fields at the local scale had the strongest influence on bird community composition. The possible implications of these patterns for managing farmland–forest landscapes are discussed.     

CLUE-S模型在长白山自然保护区外围规划中的应用

受自然保护区旅游业快速发展影响,长白山自然保护区外围土地利用变化加剧。因此,对区域土地利用布局进行科学规划具有十分重要的意义。以长白山自然保护区外围30 km区域为研究对象,探讨了CLUE-S模型在小尺度土地利用规划中的应用。在分析研究区1991—2007年土地利用变化的驱动力基础上,根据区域规划预案,模拟2020土地利用布局。利用模拟结果划定空间管制区和乡镇布局,并与现有规划进行了对比。结果表明,基于CLUE-S模型的土地规划明显抑制了区域景观破碎化进程,减弱了人为活动对景观的影响,该方法可以为长白山区域土地利用规划提供有力的技术手段和科学支撑。     

Coupled ecological and social dynamics in a forested landscape: the deviation of individual decisions from the social optimum

We present a Markov chain model for land-use dynamics in a forested landscape. This model emphasizes the importance of coupling socioeconomic and ecological processes underlying landscape change. We assume that a forest is composed of many land parcels, each of which is in one of a finite list of land-use states. The land-use state of each land parcel changes stochastically. The transition probability is determined by two processes: the forest succession and the decision of landowners. The landowner tends to choose the land-use state which has a high expected discounted utility, i.e., the sum of the current and the future utilities of the land parcel. Landowners take the likelihood of future landscape changes into account when making decisions. We focus on a three-state model in which forested, agricultural, and abandoned states are considered. The land-use composition at equilibrium was analyzed and compared with the social optimum that maximizes the net benefit of all landowners in a society. We show that when landowners make a myopic choice focused on short-term benefits, their individual decisions tend to push the entire landscape toward an agricultural state even if the forested state represents the highest utility. This land-use composition at equilibrium is very different from the social optimum. A long-term management perspective and an enhanced rate of forest recovery can eliminate the discrepancy.     

Multi-scale sampling and statistical linear estimators to assess land use status and change

Question: Multi-temporal analysis of remotely sensed imagery has proven to be a powerful tool for assessment and monitoring of landscape diversity. Here the feasibility of assessing land-use diversity and land-use change was tested at multiple scales and over time by means of statistical linear estimators based on a probabilistic sampling design. Location: The study area (the district of Asciano, Tuscany, Italy) is characterized by erosional forms typical of Pliocene claystone (i.e. calanchi and biancane) that have been subject to the phenomenon of biancane reworking over the past 50 years, mainly owing to the expansion of intensive agriculture. Methods: Cells at two different scales (50 m × 50 m and 10 m × 10 m) were classified by two operators according to a multilevel legend, using 1954 and 2000 aerial photographs. Inter-operator agreement and accuracy were tested by Cohen's K coefficient. Total land cover estimation for each class was carried out using a multistage estimator, while the variance was estimated by means of the Wolter estimator. Field-based information on plant species composition was recorded in order to test for a relationship between land use and plant community composition by anova and indicator species analysis. Results: Agreement between photointerpreters and accuracy were significantly higher than those expected by chance, proving that the approach proposed is reproducible, as long as proper quality assurance methods are used. Our data show that, at the two scales considered (50 m × 50 m and 10 m × 10 m), crops have increased against woodlands and semi-natural areas, the latter showing the highest and significantly different mean species richness. Meanwhile, an increase in the coverage of trees and shrubs was found within the semi-natural areas, probably as a result of secondary succession occurring on typical landscape elements such as biancane. Conclusions: Inferential statistics made it possible to acquire quantitative information on the abundance of land cover classes, allowing formal multi-temporal and multi-scale analysis. Sampling design-based statistical linear estimators were found to be a powerful tool for assessing landscape trends considering both time expenditure and other costs. They make it possible to maintain the same scale of analysis over time series data and to detect both coarse- and fine-grained changes in spatial patterns.     

基于土地利用变化的细河流域景观生态风险评估

以辽宁省细河流域为研究对象,利用1985、1995年和2005年3个时期的Landsat TM及2015年Landsat OLI遥感数据,进行了细河流域土地利用解译,定量分析了流域近30年来土地利用动态变化特征;根据景观生态学理论引入景观生态风险评价模型,将研究区划分为340个生态风险评价单元,基于地统计学和空间自相关方法,对1985—2015年细河流域景观生态风险时空分布特征及空间关联格局进行了评价。结果表明:(1)自1985年以来,研究区的6种土地利用类型皆发生了变化,其中建设用地由于林地和耕地的大量转入增加最明显。(2)1985—2015年流域高、较高和中生态风险区面积增加,且向流域南部转移;低、较低生态风险区面积减少,且向流域北部集聚;流域整体生态风险呈增高趋势。(3)研究区各时期景观生态风险呈现正的空间相关性,在空间上趋于集聚。人类活动干扰导致景观破碎,是影响该区域景观生态风险最重要的原因。     

Modelling pink-footed goose (Anser brachyrhynchus) wintering distributions for the year 2050: potential effects of land-use change in Europe

Feeding on farmland by overwintering populations of pink-footed geese ( Anser brachyrhynchus ) conflicts with agricultural interests in Northern Europe. In order to forecast the potential future of this conflict, we used generalized linear models to relate the presence and absence of pink-footed geese to variables describing the contemporary landscape, and predicted their future distributions in relation to two land-use scenarios for the year 2050. One future scenario represented a global, economically orientated world (A1) and the other represented a regional, environmentally concerned world (B2). The probability of goose occurrence increased within cropland and grassland, and could be explained by their proximity to coast, elevation, and the degree of habitat closure. Predictions to future scenarios revealed noticeable shifts in the suitability of goose habitat evident at the local and regional scale in response to future shifts in land use. In particular, as grasslands and croplands give way to unsuitable land-use types (e.g. woody biofuel crops, increased urbanization, and forest) under both future scenarios, our models predicted a decrease in habitat suitability for geese. If coupled with continued goose population expansion, we expect that the agricultural conflict will intensify under the A1 and particularly the B2 scenarios.     

Assessing the response of open-habitat bird species to landscape changes in Mediterranean mosaics

In Mediterranean landscapes, wildfires and land abandonment lead to major landscape modifications primarily by favouring the presence of open, shrub-like habitats. At present, we know very little of how these changes affect patterns of species occurrence at the landscape scale. In this work, we analyse the impact of these landscape changes on the occurrence patterns of eight open-habitat species by using presence/absence data collected in the Catalan Breeding Bird Atlas (NE Spain). We compared the species occurrence patterns along habitat gradients for three different landscape settings: a semi-permanent farmland–forest landscape (i.e. with variable proportions of farmland and forests) and two landscape settings which mimic those favoured by land abandonment and fire: farmland–shrubland landscapes and mosaic landscapes (i.e. variable proportions of farmland and forest coexisting with a shrubby matrix). In the forest–farmland landscape, we found a dominant negative effect of adjacent forest on species occurrence rates. This overall effect mostly disappeared in farmland–shrubland landscapes composed by two habitats with more similar vegetation structure. In mosaic landscapes, the general negative effect of forest habitats also appeared to be partially compensated by the presence of a shrubby matrix. Our results suggest that landscape gradients induced by fire and to some degree also land abandonment, mainly favouring availability of shrublands may potentially enhance the resilience of threatened open-habitat species at the landscape scale by increasing the range of potential habitats used. The analysis of species-occurrence patterns along predefined habitat gradients appears as a useful tool to predict potential species responses to land use change.     

土地利用变化对三峡库区重庆段植被净初级生产力的影响

研究土地利用变化对区域植被净初级生产力(Net Primary Productivity,NPP)的影响对于明确区域植被固碳能力与土地利用变化的关系,以及维持生态系统结构稳定具有重要意义。以三峡库区重庆段为例,基于2000—2015年MOD17A3数据和土地利用数据,分析研究区NPP时空分布特征并从景观生态学的角度探讨土地利用变化对区域植被NPP的影响。研究表明:(1)NPP年均值16年间波动不大,空间分布上从东到西逐渐减少;(2)研究期内林地面积增加,耕地和草地面积减小,而NPP总量从25.6 TgC增加到了28.5 TgC,其中耕地NPP约占总量的44%,林地次之(40%),草地最少(14%),2000—2005年、2005—2010年、2010—2015年土地利用变化对NPP变化的贡献率分别为26.49%、59.76%、17.27%;(3)区域生态景观指数中的香农多样性指数SHDI、斑块密度PD与NPP呈正相关,而聚合度AI与NPP呈负相关,景观格局类型和景观格局变化均影响区域植被NPP的增长。要提高区域植被NPP,需优化土地利用格局,增加景观异质性和斑块密度,重视培育幼龄林,并控制成熟林的数量。     

Applying a continua landscape approach to evaluate plant response to fragmentation: Primula vulgaris in the Cantabrian mountains

Question: Continua landscape approaches conceptualize the effects of habitat fragmentation on the biota by considering fragmented landscapes as continuous gradients, departing from the view of habitat as either suitable (fragment) or unsuitable (matrix). They also consider the ecological gradients or the ‘Umwelt’ (species‐specific perception of the landscape) to represent the processes that ultimately limit organisms' ability to colonize and persist within habitat remnants. Are these approaches suitable for evaluating the response of plant species to fragmentation? Location: Fragmented mid‐elevation temperate forests, Cantabrian range, Spain. Methods: The presence, abundance and demographic structure of populations of the perennial herb Primula vulgaris were sampled across a continuous extent of 100 ha, subdivided into 400 50 m × 50 m sampling units. These variables were related to forest availability, forest subdivision and edge density, topography and the spatial clumpiness of populations (a measure of plant dispersal constraints and, hence, a major surrogate of plant Umwelt). Results: Fragmentation processes, especially habitat loss, negatively affect P. vulgaris, with a stronger effect on presence than on abundance and demography. Despite the importance of habitat availability, P. vulgaris does not occupy all potentially suitable forest habitat, mostly owing to dispersal constraints. A positive effect of slope on plant presence also suggests some effect of habitat quality in determining establishment and occupancy of forest landscape. Conclusions: Within‐habitat dispersal constraints are as important as forest fragmentation in determining the landscape‐scale distribution of P. vulgaris. By assessing the relative role of the diverse fragmentation processes, and of the species' landscape perception, a continua landscape approach proves to be a valuable tool for predicting plant response to landscape change.     

基于景观镶嵌度指数的森林破碎化模式动态——以美国俄勒冈州为例

有效的景观模式特征评价及其变动预测是合理调控和管理森林景观、维持景观安全格局的基本前提.利用3期美国国家土地覆盖数据库(1992、2001和2006年),采用景观镶嵌度指数与马尔科夫模型相结合的方法,分析了美国俄勒冈州的森林破碎化模式及森林与其他土地利用类型空间交互特征的变化.结果表明: 景观镶嵌度模型中,开发主导的景观镶嵌类型(D)转变为单一的开发类型(DD)的概率最大,为0.319,说明城市化是推动区域景观格局变化的主要动力;森林安全度模型中,主要为农业和开发景观镶嵌类型(ad)的森林损失率最高,表明在城市与农业占主导的景观上森林被吞噬的可能性最大;稳态分布表明,森林破碎化趋势日益加剧,到稳定状态时森林占总区域的面积比例不到50%,空间分布趋向于混合型的景观格局.景观镶嵌度模型2006年模拟值与实际值Kappa系数达到0.82,模型精度较高;森林安全度模型Kappa系数为0.21,模型精度较差.     

Modelling the European Farmland Bird Indicator in response to forecast land-use change in Europe

The European Farmland Bird Indicator (EFBI) has been adopted as a Structural and Sustainable Development Indicator by the European Union. It is an aggregated index integrating the population trends of 33 common bird species associated with farmland habitats across 21 countries. We describe a modelling method for predicting this indicator from land-use characteristics. Using yearly historical land-use data of crop areas derived from the FAO databases (1990–2007) and published population data of farmland birds at the national level for the same period, we developed a series of multiple regression models to predict the trend of the EU state specific indicator, and the EFBI. These models incorporated up to 4 parameters and were selected based upon the significance (p < 0.05) of the model inputs with respect to the predictive variable. 17 separate models were developed in total for each of 14 EU countries plus Norway and Switzerland, and a separate model for the EU level indicator. The selected models were then implemented to predict the EFBI in the year 2025, using scenarios of land-use change generated by the CAPRI agricultural model. The uncertainty of using the regression models is discussed with respect to predicting the likely impacts of land-use change on bird populations. This work lays the framework for future modelling of farmland birds at the international scale.     

基于修正的转移概率方法进行城市景观动态研究——以南昌市区为例

利用南昌市1988～2000年期间5个时段的TM卫星影像数据编制了景观组分类型图,并通过叠图分析统计了全部组分类型在4个比较时段的转移概率矩阵。在此基础上构建了组分转入、转出贡献率和特定转移过程贡献率等3个动态分析参数,对南昌市的景观动态变化特征和驱动机制进行了研究。结果显示,城市化引发的建设用地规模急剧膨胀是工作区内景观结构在研究时段内急剧调整的主要原因;农业经营的稳定性需要作为一种重要驱动因素,在农业用地大量流失的同时,使其它景观组分向农田转移成为优势性转移过程类型;地形和水文变化对于林地和水体等组分变化具有次要约束性影响,但对于一些特定优势转移过程的出现则具有决定性作用。研究结果还证实了所提出的3种基于组分转移概率矩阵的量化参数在景观动态变化特征和驱动机制研究中的合理性和有效性。     

Predicting Ecosystem Resilience to Fire from Tree Ring Analysis in Black Spruce Forests

Climate change has increased the occurrence, severity, and impact of disturbances on forested ecosystems worldwide, resulting in a need to identify factors that contribute to an ecosystem’s resilience or capacity to recover from disturbance. Forest resilience to disturbance may decline with climate change if mature trees are able to persist under stressful environmental conditions that do not permit successful recruitment and survival after a disturbance. In this study, we used the change in proportional representation of black spruce pre- to post-fire as a surrogate for resilience. We explored links between patterns of resilience and tree ring signals of drought stress across topographic moisture gradients within the boreal forest. We sampled 72 recently (2004) burned stands of black spruce in interior Alaska (USA); the relative dominance of black spruce after fire ranged from almost no change (high resilience) to a 90% decrease (low resilience). Variance partitioning analysis indicated that resilience was related to site environmental characteristics and climate–growth responses, with no unique contribution of pre-fire stand composition. The largest shifts in post-fire species composition occurred in sites that experienced the compounding effects of pre-fire drought stress and shallow post-fire organic layer thickness. These sites were generally located at warmer and drier landscape positions, suggesting they are less resilient to disturbance than sites in cool and moist locations. Climate–growth responses can provide an estimate of stand environmental stress to climate change and as such are a valuable tool for predicting landscape variations in forest ecosystem resilience.     

A global model of the response of tropical and sub-tropical forest biodiversity to anthropogenic pressures

Habitat loss and degradation, driven largely by agricultural expansion and intensification, present the greatest immediate threat to biodiversity. Tropical forests harbour among the highest levels of terrestrial species diversity and are likely to experience rapid land-use change in the coming decades. Synthetic analyses of observed responses of species are useful for quantifying how land use affects biodiversity and for predicting outcomes under land-use scenarios. Previous applications of this approach have typically focused on individual taxonomic groups, analysing the average response of the whole community to changes in land use. Here, we incorporate quantitative remotely sensed data about habitats in, to our knowledge, the first worldwide synthetic analysis of how individual species in four major taxonomic groups—invertebrates, ‘herptiles’ (reptiles and amphibians), mammals and birds—respond to multiple human pressures in tropical and sub-tropical forests. We show significant independent impacts of land use, human vegetation offtake, forest cover and human population density on both occurrence and abundance of species, highlighting the value of analysing multiple explanatory variables simultaneously. Responses differ among the four groups considered, and—within birds and mammals—between habitat specialists and habitat generalists and between narrow-ranged and wide-ranged species.     

The future of South East Asian rainforests in a changing landscape and climate

With a focus on the Danum Valley area of Sabah, Malaysian Borneo, this special issue has as its theme the future of tropical rainforests in a changing landscape and climate. The global environmental context to the issue is briefly given before the contents and rationale of the issue are summarized. Most of the papers are based on research carried out as part of the Royal Society South East Asia Rainforest Research Programme. The issue is divided into five sections: (i) the historical land-use and land management context; (ii) implications of land-use change for atmospheric chemistry and climate change; (iii) impacts of logging, forest fragmentation (particularly within an oil palm plantation landscape) and forest restoration on ecosystems and their functioning; (iv) the response and resilience of rainforest systems to climatic and land-use change; and (v) the scientific messages and policy implications arising from the research findings presented in the issue.     

Insect occurrence in agricultural land-uses depends on realized niche and geographic range properties

Geographic range size predicts species’ responses to land-use change and intensification, but the reason why is not well established because many correlates of larger geographic ranges, such as realized niche breadth, may mediate species’ responses to environmental change. Agricultural land uses (hereafter ‘agroecosystems’) have warm, dry and more variable microclimates than do cooler and wetter mature forests, so are predicted to filter for species that have warmer, drier and broader fundamental and realized niches. To test these predictions, we estimated species’ realized niches, for temperature and precipitation, and geographic range sizes of 764 insect species by matching GBIF occurrence records to global climate layers, and modelled how species presence/absence in mature forest and nearby agroecosystems depend on species’ realized niches or geographic ranges. The predicted species niche effects consistently matched the expected direction of microclimatic transition from mature forest to agroecosystems. We found a clear signal that species with preference for warmer and drier climates were more likely to be present in agroecosystems. In addition, the probability that species occurred in different land-use types was predicted better by species’ realized niche than their geographic range size. However, niche effects are often context-dependent and varied amongst studies, taxonomic groups and regions used in this analysis: predicting which particular aspects of species’ realized niche cause sensitivity to land-use change, and the underpinning mechanisms, remains a major challenge for future research and multiple components of species’ realized niches may be important to consider. Using realized niches derived from open-source occurrence records can be a simple and widely applicable tool to help identify when biodiversity responds to the microclimate component of land-use change.     

环巢湖地区多水塘景观时空格局演变特征及其驱动因素

快速城市化背景下,小型水体(人工、自然、半自然)景观正在大量消失,以环巢湖地区多水塘景观(水塘面积小于10 hm2)为例,基于遥感影像数据,综合运用RS/GIS技术和Fragstats 3.3软件对1989年、2000年和2016年3个年份环巢湖地区多水塘景观格局时空动态进行分析,运用地理探测器深入探讨多水塘景观面积变化驱动要素,对帮助理解多水塘景观演变带来的景观格局——过程关系及多水塘景观保护、利用和恢复等具有重要的现实意义。研究结果表明:(1) 1989—2016年间,农田景观面积比例呈下降趋势,表现的更加破碎,建设用地景观面积比例大幅度增加,森林绿地景观持续破碎化,水体景观面积比例下降,多水塘景观斑块数量、面积、斑块形状指数、最大斑块指数均呈下降趋势;(2)基于3 km×3 km网格单元多水塘景观时空演变特征分析表明,巢湖北岸多水塘景观集中在烔炀镇、黄麓镇,巢湖南岸多集中在白山镇、盛桥镇和槐林镇,这些地区也是多水塘景观格局变化最剧烈的地方;(3)基于地理探测器,揭示环巢湖地区多水塘景观用地变化的主要影响因子。因子探测结果表明,自然环境条件中的坡度因子q值最大,为0.545,其次为建设用地变化量、农田变化量、人口密度变化量和林地变化量等,交互探测结果表明,多水塘景观面积变化各因子交互作用后,对多水塘景观面积变化的影响显著增强,由此表现出多水塘景观变化影响要素的多样性和复杂性。     

1980-2030年石羊河流域生态系统碳储存服务对土地利用变化的响应

陆地生态系统碳储量是表征碳储存服务的重要指标,其变化与土地利用变化存在着密不可分的关系。预测未来土地利用变化对认识区域生态系统服务及其变化具有重要的意义。利用石羊河流域1980-2020年土地利用数据,运用InVEST模型和FLUS模型,探究了石羊河流域在过去40年间和未来自然变化、生态保护、耕地保护3种情景下的土地利用变化对碳储量的影响。结果表明：石羊河流域在1980-2020年间耕地、草地、建设用地呈增加趋势,林地、水域、未利用地呈减少的趋势。40年间石羊河流域碳储量增加了7.98×10⁶t,增幅为1.44%。石羊河流域碳储量呈现明显的空间分异,碳储量较高的地区主要分布在上游祁连山区和中下游绿洲地区,这种分布格局与流域内土地利用类型的空间分布密切相关。至2030年,自然变化、生态保护、耕地保护情景下石羊河流域碳储量分别为563×10⁶t、563.43×10⁶t、564.98×10⁶t,较2020年分别增加了0.45%、0.53%和0.80%,其中生态保护情景与其他两种情景相比既保护了生态环境还保障了生产,对未来土地利用规划有一定指导意义。     

基于移动窗口法的肃州绿洲化与景观破碎化时空变化

以甘肃省酒泉市肃州绿洲为例,以1990、1999和2010年3期Landsat TM/ETM同月相数据为数据源,基于Arc GIS与Fragstats软件,采用移动窗口法、转移矩阵和景观指数等开展绿洲化与景观破碎化的时空变化研究。结果表明:(1)肃州绿洲化过程主要表现为绿洲面积变化和内部土地利用类型之间的转化。绿洲面积变化以耕地、草地和城市建设用地等的增加为主;绿洲土地利用类型转换主要表现为耕地内部变化、草地与未利用地,城市建设用地与未利用地之间的转换等。(2)景观破碎化程度整体上呈减缓趋势,其剧变区多集中于绿洲边缘的银达镇、三墩镇、黄泥堡乡和下河清乡等,景观破碎化在空间上表现为由绿洲内部向边缘区转移。(3)以草地为主的绿洲荒漠过渡带是绿洲扩张和景观破碎化的多发区,更是维持绿洲稳定和可持续发展的关键子区。研究可为绿洲景观管理和可持续发展提供科学依据。     

Development of a spatially explicit approach for mapping ecosystem services in the Brazilian Savanna – MapES

The objective of the presented study is the development of a spatially explicit approach for mapping ecosystem services (MapES) by using specific knowledge about the Cerrado biome (Brazilian Savanna). This biome covers an area of about 2 million km², i.e. nearly 24% of the total area of Brazil, and has come under substantial pressure during the last 50 years caused by strong land-use/land-cover change, mostly due to agricultural expansion and urbanization. Because of its fast transformation rate, there is an enormous demand for knowledge, and its application, about the effects of land-use/land-cover on the capacity of providing or maintaining ecosystem services. The MapES approach was developed using a vast existing knowledge base. After analyzing and structuring this knowledge the relationships between land-use/land-cover and the potential to provide or maintain eight ecosystem services (Erosion Control, Runoff Control, Water Supply, Water Quality Maintenance, Soil Quality Maintenance, Biodiversity Maintenance, Food Production and Energy Production) were parametrized. In addition, the approach was developed as spatially explicit by including landscape properties (soil, slope and distance to river network) in the cell based system. A reference map of potential natural vegetation and a land use map for 2013 for a meso-scale experimental catchment (32.7 km²) were produced. The catchment was used as an example to apply the approach, i.e. assessing and visualizing changes from before human interference to the current land use situation. Finally, a procedure for assessing the potential impacts of land-use/land-cover on ecosystem services considering the methodological limitations of the respective monitoring. The presented approach is easy to understand, to modify and to adapt to other situations and might be therefore used in other context of decision support. It might also help to fill the gap between land use planning and numeric modeling using very complex tools.