A procedure of landscape services assessment based on mosaics of patches and boundaries. (15th September 2016)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Martín de Agar, Pilar; Ortega, Marta; de Pablo, Carlos L.
• Is Part Of: Journal of environmental management. Volume 180(2016)
• Page Start: 214
• Page End: 227
• Publication Date: 2016-09-15
• Subjects: Environmental assessment -- Goods and services -- Landscape planning -- Land use change -- Spatial pattern; Environmental policy -- Periodicals; Environmental management -- Periodicals; Environment -- Periodicals; Ecology -- Periodicals; 363.705
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2016.05.020
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0301-4797

Abstract

Abstract: We develop a procedure for assessing the environmental value of landscape mosaics that simultaneously considers the values of land use patches and the values of the boundaries between them. These boundaries indicate the ecological interactions between the patches. A landscape mosaic is defined as a set of patches and the boundaries between them and corresponds to a spatial pattern of ecological interactions. The procedure is performed in two steps: ( i ) an environmental assessment of land use patches by means of a function that integrates values based on the goods and services the patches provide, and ( ii ) an environmental valuation of mosaics using a function that integrates the environmental values of their patches and the types and frequencies of the boundaries between them. This procedure allows us to measure how changes in land uses or in their spatial arrangement cause variations in the environmental value of landscape mosaics and therefore in that of the whole landscape. The procedure was tested in the Sierra Norte of Madrid (central Spain). The results show that the environmental values of the landscape depend not only on the land use patches but also on the values associated with the pattern of the boundaries within the mosaics. The results also highlight the importance of the boundaries between land use patches as determinants of the goods and services provided by the landscape. Highlights: A procedure of landscape assessment considering patches and boundaries is proposed. The procedure is based on the mosaics of patches and boundaries. Landscape values depend on the pattern of relationships among patches and boundaries. Landscape assessment based on mosaics highlights the importance of boundaries. Goods and services of land uses depend on the spatial arrangement of their patches.