GIS Guided Land Management in Europe

Overview of the paper: Mapping & indicator approaches for the assessment of habitats at different scales using remote sensing & GIS methods

Land monitoring and ecologically responsible management by humans are increasingly important to the future balance and biodiversity of life on Earth. With changes in land use due to increased human development in, activity on, and manipulation of land, ecosystems are increasingly pressured and thereby the biodiversity they represent is risked. Geographic Information Systems (GIS) are a powerful combination of software and methods which can provide a means of aggregating, assessing, and making accessible the data necessary for effective, collaborative, and widespread environmental action (Bolstad, 2019).

The  2004 paper  by Weiers, Bock, Wissen, & Rossner, on which this Story is based, discusses the potential for integrated GIS as a multi-scale tool in this goal of discovering, developing, and maintaining appropriate land management. The agricultural pressure on habitats of vulnerable European birds, the example central to this case study, illustrates the importance of approaching land management questions from multiple spatial scales.

"Natural and semi-natural habitats are exposed to growing pressure due to intensification of agricultural land use, tourism, development, etc." (Weiers, Bock, Wissen, & Rossner, 2004). Image Credit: Schneider-Jacoby, n.d.


Mapping and Indicator Approaches for the Assessment of Habitats at Different Scales Using Remote Sensing and GIS Methods


Introduction

In 2004, Weiers, Bock, Wissen, and Rossner published an innovative study analyzing the potential for integration of satellite imagery, GIS tools and datasets, and local observation data for improved land management in Germany and presented the tools and techniques that would make this model applicable for use in any region within the European Union. The goal of the study was to unify the otherwise disjointed land management techniques that exist at the local, regional, and European scales and thereby simultaneously ease and reduce costs of maintaining accurate geospatial data on the significant habitats, species, and land use at each scale. The German state of Schleswig-Holstein serves as the case study for the methods presented by Weiers et al. and deliverables specific to this area include land classifications (as tables, temporal charts, and spatial visualizations), thematic maps of species and habitats, and an example of redefined land classification for improved conservation efforts.

The primary issue addressed by Weiers et al. was that land management decisions at the different spatial scales were not always in harmony with land use and biodiversity goals, and that the cost of collecting a more cohesive dataset for those combined goals would be prohibitive. The study therefore sought to solve the questions:

The study was conducted in northern Germany

Study Area

The study spanned 3 geospatial scales...

the sketches for which have been replicated over modern-day satellite imagery in the following maps:

Regional Scale

The most northern reaches of Schleswig-Holstein, planning region No. 5 in Germany, served as the regional study area and encompassed the districts Schleswig-Flensburg and Nordfriesland.

A Core Study Region

~560 sq. km of the Eider-Treene-Sorge project area, the largest connected wetland in Schleswig-Holstein, was selected for state-level study of habitats in areas of intense agriculture.

Local Scale Sites

Site 3 on the map (center) served as a case study for using vegetation maps to assess habitat suitability for important wetland birds (click it to read more)

Natura 2000 Protection

Explore the EU protected areas for birds (red) and habitats (blue) as outlined by the European Environmental Agency. The study regions clearly are of conservation importance.

Objectives

The purpose of the study was to illustrate how local, regional, and European scale landscape analyses can be used and integrated in a GIS to improve land management and aid in the conservation of vulnerable habitats and species. Deliverables of this project were primarily methods and models which could be summarized as: how to reclassify land use and habitat at different spatial scales for use in conservation (mapping approaches), how to combine quantitative statistics from raster data with analyses of qualitative imagery and descriptions to conduct land assessment (indicator approaches), and how to use that information together to create environmentally sound land visualizations and measures to aid in land management decision making (mapping and indicator approaches). This geospatial model is relevant for any land managers within the European Union.

Data & Methods

Data were compiled from data sets focused on the European scale ( Natura2000  and  EUNIS ), the regional scale ( CORINE ), and local scales ( LANU ). The local-level data were detailed to match small scale environmental features whereas the European-level data, which were compilations of country-level land assessment reports, used broader definitions for mapping. Data types included 1990s aerial imagery, 1970s Landstat 5 satellite imagery, habitat data from the CORINE mapping initiative, and data from current (2000s) state and local government (Schleswig-Holstein, LANU) monitoring programs. These data were combined to produce maps, charts, and mathematical data translations that allow for better assessment of landscapes than applying any dataset singularly.

GIS Basics Raster data is land information stored in the form of digital pixels, organized in a grid with colors or gradients distinguishing changes over a spatial extent. Raster layers (the information as shown on a map) are great for mapping continuous data over a landscape, and often appear angular, or like small squares, when zoomed in on.

Figure 5 from Weiers et al., 2004. Raster data show areas of high (dark grey), medium (light grey), and low (white) conservation priority areas around Hohner lake.

Raster data were a substantial source of information for this study. Satellite data from Landstat collected during ecological projects in Europe (such as the CORINE dataset) were used along with color-infrared (CIR) and false color-infrared (FCIR) aerial photography to map where different types of vegetation were concentrated with what conditions of soil, nutrients or pollutants, water, and other environmental features to aid in habitat definition updates as well as to simplify the estimation of species’ habitat preferences in relation to land use changes and needs. This comparative narrative approach was developed to improve management techniques, allowing creation of maps like Figure 5 where areas are categorized by conservation priority.

Figure 3 from Weiers et al., 2004. Two vulnerable European birds were the example species of importance for the case study. Due to their special habitat needs., these birds are considered indicator species for fragile habitats like wetlands. Combining local species presence data with regional, national, and international habitat protection data informs better land management practices and helps protect the right areas.

GIS Basics Vector data is information in the form of familiar shapes that GIScientists refer to as points, lines, and polygons, and often have smooth or indistinct margins when zoomed in on, at least compared to more structured raster data. If a map's features could be replicated by hand, it probably has some vector points, lines, or polygons (shapes). Vector layers on a map can communicate a diversity of features depending on the interests of the study, and often are used in combination with other data types to accentuate certain features.

Vector layers were used to emphasize areas of importance within the raster-based data areas. An example of how raster data and vector data are more informative when combined was provided in Figure 3, where raster data marking habitat of endangered European birds (curlews and white storks) were overlain with vector data marking the boundaries of protected lands (Weiers, Bock, Wissen, & Rossner, 2004).

Visual data sources and corresponding definitions of classification were summarized in Table 2 and 3, respectively.

Data Tables 2 & 3 from Weiers, Bock, Wissen, & Rossner, 2004.

GIS Basics The Earth is a huge, sphere-like shape and a computer screen or piece of paper is a comparably tiny, flat rectangle, and this presents challenges when trying to replicate Earth's features accurately. To create maps of 3-Dimensional objects on a 2-Dimensional surface, the image of the Earth must be stretched, bent, compressed, or torn in some way. GIS map scales and projections allow map makers to decide how and where distortions occur so that they do not interfere with the area of interest nor with the type of information being shown. (Bolstad, 2019)

Projections that became popular for GIS mapping have been given names (usually based on their structure or creator) and their characteristics (available from ESRI  here ) are predictable, which allows otherwise unrelated data to be compatible for GIS project analyses.

The scale used for displaying data in the study by Weiers et al. varied at each scale of landscape interpretation (local, regional, European) as summarized in Table 1. The data projection used for regional and local mapping was Universal Trans Mercator ( UTM ); zone 32, a roughly rectangular area (in northern and southern hemisphere extremes, UTM zones can get a bit messy) that reaches snugly over the study sites in the state of Schleswig-Holstein and covers much of Germany, which allowed for reasonably accurate map-to-Earth details at those scales.

Table 1 (Weiers, Bock, Wissen, & Rossner, 2004) describes what data were gathered, how they were organized and utilized, and the scale (row 1, the headings for columns) of each levels' maps. This is arguably the most valuable product of the study, as it outlines the conceptual model and geospatial tools that would enable use of this conservation-minded management approach across the European Union at any of the three levels of interpretation: the datasets and types of data that were used, how those data were mapped, how data were interpreted and patterns utilized in the indicator approach, and the ways those insights translate to conservation work at each level.

Table 1 from Weiers, Bock, Wissen, & Rossner, 2004. Conceptual model of mapping and indicator approaches across spatial scales using GIS and imagery..

Analysis & Results

The visual products of this study were static thematic maps using raster and vector data (Fig. 2, Fig. 3, Fig. 5), a mathematical depiction of landscape change relationships via principle component comparison of raster data (pixels from aerial and satellite imagery) in two images (Fig. 4) which showed the potential for historical assessment data as a surrogate for up-to-date data, charts of land classification (Fig. 6), and charts of temporal and spatial land use change (Fig. 7). The methods of the study were the real products of this study, however, because the concepts behind the mapping, particularly how to structure local and regional and European wide GIS analyses to work in harmony at different scales toward conservation and management goals, are what Weiers et al. sought to bring to GIS teams in Europe.

Maps and Tables created by Weiers, Bock, Wissen, & Rossner, 2004.

Figure 2 Weiers et al., 2004

Figure 2 from Weiers et al., 2004. Using GIS technology and techniques to update biotope definitions and redefine land classifications could help identify locations for conservation action and protect vulnerable habitats, like this ombrogenous bog in the Eider-Treene-Sorge lowlands.

Conclusion

GIS mapping and imagery indicator methods could aid conservation efforts by improving land assessment at multiple geospatial scales:

  •  Could local data, regional data, and European-wide data be combined in a GIS?
  • Could methods of data integration and temporal analysis create effective tools for use in assessment of land at different spatial scales? 
  • Are individual GIS data and aggregated indicator summaries compatible enough to serve as models for planning conservation action at regional and local scales?

YES. By matching scale definitions for local, regional, and European level mapping to create large area maps by aggregating and generalizing smaller area maps in predictable, measurable, and objective ways; and by utilizing both mapping and indicator approaches to conservation with current or historic datasets and imagery; and by maintaining clear definitions of landscape features (using Environmental Objects to classify important land features instead of the menagerie of diverse definitions that were being used at different scales across Europe)-- GIS mapping and modeling techniques can be used to improve habitat protections for sensitive areas and species of concern amid the pressures of changing land use.

GIS based decision support tools may contribute to an objective and ecologically sound planning procedure for the designation of protection zones. (Weiers, Bock, Wissen, & Rossner, 2004, p. 44)

Indeed, in the years since Weiers, Bock, Wissen, and Rossen conducted their study, the NATURA 2000 data has been redefined many times and bringing those ideas of integrated mapping methods to more audiences thanks to their interactive ArcGIS Web Application Natura 2000 Network Viewer.

Example of smaller-scale mapping within the modern Natura 2000 database of Europe. The Eider-Treene-Sorge lowlands (Niederung = depression, a dip in the Earth's surface) is outlined in yellow.

Explore the layers of data that are now available! Try adding a basemap with imagery to see landscape features you'll recognize from the other maps in this Story (like Hohner lake in the Eider-Treene-Sorge wetland or the capital city of Schleswig-Holstein, Kiel), add a data overlay of your favorite European species to see its habitat preferences (maybe look for Ciconia ciconia, the white stork), or take a closer look at a smaller-scale protected area (like the Eider-Treene-Sorge-Niederung).

The power of GIS is at your fingertips. Go play, go learn!

ArcGIS Web Application


Meet the Mapper

Photograph of the StoryMap creator (Tabitha Day) amid vegetation

When not creating StoryMaps, Tabitha loves exploring nature and monitoring local plants

This StoryMap was created in 2021 by Tabitha Day to fulfill the final project requirements for the course GISC101: Introduction to Geospatial Technologies.

Tabitha studies Biology and Botany from an environmental perspective at Unity College. Her ecologically-mindful work focuses on understanding and supporting plants, people, and planet.

Read Tabitha's personal story  here  or see what she's working on now via  LinkedIn 

"Natural and semi-natural habitats are exposed to growing pressure due to intensification of agricultural land use, tourism, development, etc." (Weiers, Bock, Wissen, & Rossner, 2004). Image Credit: Schneider-Jacoby, n.d.

Figure 5 from Weiers et al., 2004. Raster data show areas of high (dark grey), medium (light grey), and low (white) conservation priority areas around Hohner lake.

Figure 3 from Weiers et al., 2004. Two vulnerable European birds were the example species of importance for the case study. Due to their special habitat needs., these birds are considered indicator species for fragile habitats like wetlands. Combining local species presence data with regional, national, and international habitat protection data informs better land management practices and helps protect the right areas.

Table 1 from Weiers, Bock, Wissen, & Rossner, 2004. Conceptual model of mapping and indicator approaches across spatial scales using GIS and imagery..

Figure 2 from Weiers et al., 2004. Using GIS technology and techniques to update biotope definitions and redefine land classifications could help identify locations for conservation action and protect vulnerable habitats, like this ombrogenous bog in the Eider-Treene-Sorge lowlands.

Example of smaller-scale mapping within the modern Natura 2000 database of Europe. The Eider-Treene-Sorge lowlands (Niederung = depression, a dip in the Earth's surface) is outlined in yellow.

When not creating StoryMaps, Tabitha loves exploring nature and monitoring local plants