TY - JOUR

T1 - Application of biotic indicators for evaluation of sustainable land use

T2 - current procedures and future developments

AU - Osinski, Elisabeth

AU - Meier, Uwe

AU - Büchs, Wolfgang

AU - Weickel, Joerg

AU - Matzdorf, Bettina

N1 - Funding Information: There has been a strong demand for changes in the area of conservation of landscapes. Database surveys, that would allow a documentation of these changes on a national or European level, are even less available than for the area of bio-diversity. Proposals are available for respective indicators that would include natural coherence, diversity, and features as well as cultural identity, diversity and features ( Wascher, 2000 ). As a prerequisite for successful monitoring, a documentation of European landscapes is needed first (see EEA, 1995 ). There have also been efforts on the German national level to categorise landscapes in order to better document their development. A research project financed by the national office for nature protection (BfN) is targeted at characterising and standardising of high valued landscape types. Additionally, impacts are to be documented and suggestions for protection are to be made.

PY - 2003/9

Y1 - 2003/9

N2 - Indicators in the field of bio-diversity and landscape are applied on various levels, including the continental field as well as the individual agricultural enterprise. Apart from the ecological evaluation of agricultural enterprises and agrarian policy measures, indicators are also used in environmental reporting and evaluation as well as in planning or simulation models in administrative and scientific fields. Already for longer period of time, indicators have been used as assessment criteria in landscape planning to support decisions regarding land use. Due to the standards the EU commission requires from the member states in this regard, the application of indicators to assess the effects of agri-environment programs have gained prominence. The EU requires proof of the achievement of the promotion aims such as soil (erosion, nutrients, plant-protective agents), water, bio-diversity and landscape (EU/VO 12004/00). This commitment can be met by means of a functioning environmental reporting. However, only an insufficient number of suitable indicators exist in the fields of bio-diversity and landscape. In a bottom-up approach, control systems to assess ecological farming achieved on an operational level for a future development were recently developed. Here, a future development is seen in the alignment referring to results or goals, respectively, and in the regionalisation. The article gives an overview of the indicator application on different spatial levels and for different purposes.

AB - Indicators in the field of bio-diversity and landscape are applied on various levels, including the continental field as well as the individual agricultural enterprise. Apart from the ecological evaluation of agricultural enterprises and agrarian policy measures, indicators are also used in environmental reporting and evaluation as well as in planning or simulation models in administrative and scientific fields. Already for longer period of time, indicators have been used as assessment criteria in landscape planning to support decisions regarding land use. Due to the standards the EU commission requires from the member states in this regard, the application of indicators to assess the effects of agri-environment programs have gained prominence. The EU requires proof of the achievement of the promotion aims such as soil (erosion, nutrients, plant-protective agents), water, bio-diversity and landscape (EU/VO 12004/00). This commitment can be met by means of a functioning environmental reporting. However, only an insufficient number of suitable indicators exist in the fields of bio-diversity and landscape. In a bottom-up approach, control systems to assess ecological farming achieved on an operational level for a future development were recently developed. Here, a future development is seen in the alignment referring to results or goals, respectively, and in the regionalisation. The article gives an overview of the indicator application on different spatial levels and for different purposes.

KW - Agri-environment program

KW - Application of indicators

KW - Farm assessment

KW - Landscape planning

KW - Monitoring

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=0141838845&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1016/S0167-8809(03)00100-2

DO - 10.1016/S0167-8809(03)00100-2

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:0141838845

VL - 98

SP - 407

EP - 421

JO - Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment

JF - Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment

SN - 0167-8809

IS - 1-3

ER -