Assessment of the relationships between agroecosystem condition and the ecosystem service soil erosion regulation in Northern Germany

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Rendon, P.; Steinhoff-Knopp, B.; Saggau, P.; Burkhard, B.: Assessment of the relationships between agroecosystem condition and the ecosystem service soil erosion regulation in Northern Germany. In: PLoS ONE 15 (2020), Nr. 12, e0234288. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0234288

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To cite the version in the repository, please use this identifier: https://doi.org/10.15488/11067

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Sum total of downloads: 105




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Abstract: 
Ecosystems provide multiple services that are necessary to maintain human life. Agroecosystems are very productive suppliers of biomass-related provisioning ecosystem services, e.g. food, fibre, and energy. At the same time, they are highly dependent on good ecosystem condition and regulating ecosystem services such as soil fertility, water supply or soil erosion regulation. Assessments of this interplay of ecosystem condition and services are needed to understand the relationships in highly managed systems. Therefore, the aim of this study is twofold: First, to test the concept and indicators proposed by the European Union Working Group on Mapping and Assessment of Ecosystems and their Services (MAES) for assessing agroecosystem condition at a regional level. Second, to identify the relationships between ecosystem condition and the delivery of ecosystem services. For this purpose, we applied an operational framework for integrated mapping and assessment of ecosystems and their services. We used the proposed indicators to assess the condition of agroecosystems in Northern Germany and regulating ecosystem service control of erosion rates. We used existing data from official databases to calculate the different indicators and created maps of environmental pressures, ecosystem condition and ecosystem service indicators for the Federal State of Lower Saxony. Furthermore, we identified areas within the state where pressures are high, conditions are unfavourable, and more sustainable management practices are needed. Despite the limitations of the indicators and data availability, our results show positive, negative, and no significant correlations between the different pressures and condition indicators, and the control of erosion rates. The idea behind the MAES framework is to indicate the general condition of an ecosystem. However, we observed that not all proposed indicators can explain to what extent ecosystems can provide specific ecosystem services. Further research on other ecosystem services provided by agroecosystems would help to identify synergies and trade-offs. Moreover, the definition of a reference condition, although complicated for anthropogenically highly modified agroecosystems, would provide a benchmark to compare information on the condition of the ecosystems, leading to better land use policy and management decisions.
License of this version: CC BY 4.0 Unported
Document Type: Article
Publishing status: publishedVersion
Issue Date: 2020
Appears in Collections:Naturwissenschaftliche Fakultät

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downloads by country:

pos. country downloads
total perc.
1 image of flag of Germany Germany 59 56.19%
2 image of flag of United States United States 26 24.76%
3 image of flag of China China 4 3.81%
4 image of flag of Indonesia Indonesia 3 2.86%
5 image of flag of Vietnam Vietnam 2 1.90%
6 image of flag of Russian Federation Russian Federation 2 1.90%
7 image of flag of Ukraine Ukraine 1 0.95%
8 image of flag of Taiwan Taiwan 1 0.95%
9 image of flag of Sweden Sweden 1 0.95%
10 image of flag of India India 1 0.95%
    other countries 5 4.76%

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