Integrating land management and land-cover classes to assess impacts of land use change on ecosystem services

Abstract

The paper presents a case study in which land use strategies to mitigate Climate Change effects are developed for a model in Saxony, Germany. In this region, the degree of freedom to respond to Climate Change with land-cover changes is very small. Based on a participatory process, an approach was developed to extend land-cover classes (e.g. forest, agriculture) by land management classes. In this paper, the focus is on the forest management classification. In the discussion with regional actors, four recommendations were identified that must be fulfilled to make land management classes regionally applicable and relevant. They should (1) reflect the effectiveness of management practices to mitigate Climate Change impacts, (2) express different management objectives, (3) show the compatibility with future trends (new crops, new public demands) and (4) provide a link to land-cover data. Finally, 22 mixed land-cover and management classes in forestry and around 30 classes in agriculture could be derived. For a test case on afforestation of agricultural sites the paper demonstrates that a more differentiated look at land management practices instead of land-cover classes helps to improve the understanding of (a) regional potentials to adapt to Climate Change and to mitigate its effects and (b) the impact of sectoral management strategies at landscape level on the provision of ecosystem services. © 2011 Copyright Taylor and Francis Group, LLC.