Detecting land use and land cover changes in Northern German agricultural landscapes to assess ecosystem service dynamics.

Abstract

Land use and land cover (LULC) and their changes in share and number of classes can be documented by remote sensing techniques. Information on LULC is needed for the assessment of ecosystem services and is used as input data for mapping and modelling. This information is important for decision-making and management of ecosystems and landscapes. In this study, LULC were analysed in two agricultural areas in Northern Germany by means of a pixel-based maximum likelihood classification approach of 11 Landsat TM 5 scenes between 1987 and 2011 followed by a post-classification refinement using the tool IRSeL. In this time period, grassland declined by about 50 % in both case study areas. This loss in grassland area can be associated with changes in provisioning ecosystem services as the supply of fodder and crops and the number of livestock declined from 1987 to 2007. Furthermore, an on-going increase in maize cultivation area, which is nowadays more and more used as biomass for biogas production, documents the addition of another provisioning service, i.e., biomass for energy. Combining remote sensing and research on ecosystem services supports the assessment and monitoring of ecosystem services on different temporal, spatial, and semantic scales.