by establishing green infrastructure and restoring at least 15 % of degraded ecosystems. SEBI 05 Conservation status of habitats of European interest State low-moderate Art. 17 info on fragmentation as threat for habitat Available SEBI 07 Nationally designated protected areas Response low-moderate Available SEBI 09 Critical load exceedance for nitrogen Pressure moderate Available SEBI 13 Fragmentation of natural and semi-natural areas 3 sub-indicators on 1. landscape mosaic, 2. core forest fragmentation , 3. forest connectivity Pressure good-very good Further modelling on connectivity available by JRC This indicator is suggested to be updated, based on a JRC model and CLC2000-2006, towards fragmentation of natural/semi-nat areas in Europe and on forest fragmentation. SEBI 14 Fragmentation of river systems Pressure fair Not available on European scale SEBI 16 Freshwater quality Pressure moderate Available CSI14 Land take Pressure fair-good Available Relevant SEBI and CSI Indicators DPSIR classification Usability for measuring ecosystem resilience* Availability [more linked to Target 1 of the BD strategy]. SEBI 01 Abundance and distribution of selected species (birds and butterflies) State Low-moderate Available
Indicator Proxy or direct ES indicator? Indicator of service or of benefit? Indicator sensitivity Link to biodiversity Dependency on ecosystem resilience Potential GI benefits Crop / Livestock / Fish / Wild foods production from sustainable sources Direct Benefit L Yes (soils, pests, pollinators) H (soils and low ) L Groundwater recharge Direct Service? L Vegetation L M Population served by renewable water resource Direct Benefit M Vegetation L V Forest growing stock, increment and fellings Direct M Yes L M Felling to increment ratio Direct M Yes L M Atmospheric cleansing capacity Direct Service ? Yes L M / H in urban areas Total amount of carbon sequestered / stored Direct Service M Yes (soil & vegetation) V (eg H in some peatlands) M Trends in number of damaging natural disasters Proxy Benefit M V V M Probability of incident Proxy Benefit M V V M Residence time of water in rivers, reservoirs and soil Direct Service L Yes L H Floodplain water storage capacity Direct Service L No N H Flood return period Direct Benefit H Yes L H Wave attenuation potential Direct Service M Yes (vegetation) M H Surface area of coastal wetlands and dunes Proxy Service L Yes (vegetation) M H Water quality in aquatic ecosystems Direct Service V Yes M M Nitrogen retention Direct Service ? Yes M M Nitrogen removal Direct Service ? Yes M M Soil erosion rate by land use type Direct Service M Yes L H Soil quality (infiltration capacity, bulk density, etc) Proxy Service L Yes H M Abundance and species richness of wild pollinators Proxy Service M Yes M M Proximity to semi-natural habitat Proxy Service L Yes H H Presence of flowers Proxy Service M Yes M M Abundance and species richness of biological control agents Proxy Service M Yes H M Changes in disease burden as a result of Proxy Benefit M Yes M M
data sources used might also be useful for similar approaches on national or sub-national scales, combined with relevant national or regional data. The below table gives an overview on data sources for describing GI on European scale, and their possible usability (based on information available in EEA). Approaches Data sets Benefits Disadvantages Possible indicators Urban scale Green infrastructure using the Urban Atlas Urban Atlas data sets • Green infrastructure maps for European cities can be produced and statistics generated for the areas and percentage of green infrastructure. • Green urban density analysis can be used to characterise European cities in terms of the green access afforded to city residents living in built-up areas. • Linking green infrastructure classes and functions/benefits of green infrastructure. This provides a quantification of the areas by type of function/benefits. • It is based on the Urban Atlas — reliable and intercomparable urban planning data with maps. • Future editions of the Urban Atlas are planned every three to five years, so the approach should provide a good mechanism for monitoring changes and the speed of change. • The Urban Atlas is initially only available for 117 cities (with Large Urban Zones with more than 100 000 inhabitants). This is planned to increase to more than 300 cities in 2011. • The link between the Urban Atlas codes and the benefits of green infrastructure is, particularly for some benefits, relatively weak, and the relationship needs to be investigated further before quantifiable results can be drawn from it. No. of cities for which Urban Atlas is available % of green areas accessible within 300 m Green roof potential Mapping of GI functions per area Landscape scale Green infrastructure using Corine Land Cover of Natura 2000 and Corine Land Cover data sets • Maps with individual Natura 2000 areas and green infrastructure corridor layers for Europe including maps focusing on individual countries to illustrate the data at a more detailed level. • The area and percentage of green • Based on data sets that are available across Europe. • Relative easy to calculate. • Excepting the selection of Corine classes, it is a relatively objective and robust method • Results are • Potentially overestimates the green infrastructure in countries where the dominant landscape matrix is composed of natural classes. • In countries with
infrastructure by Environmental Zones (EnZ) and country are presented. relatively easy to communicate. fragmented landscapes, green infrastructure is potentially important ecological stepping stones are not included as part of what is identified as green infrastructure. Green Background Landscape Index (GBLI) map and green infrastructure of Corine Land Cover data sets and smoothen CORILIS layers • It expresses the 'greenness' or naturality on a scale, which can be used to infer the 'ecological potential' of landscapes. • It is based on the spatial distribution of pasture, agriculture mosaics, forests and other semi-natural or natural land favourable to nature. • It is an asset in itself as well as an important component of the connectivity between areas of high ecological interest. • The GBLI map can show changes from 1990 to 2006 in Europe. The map shows clearly increasing or decreasing index values for various parts of Europe. • Lessons from the GBLI map, for example in terms of smoothing the Corine data, could be considered as part of reviewing the landscape scale green infrastructure mapping approach. Landscape fragmentation models and green infrastructure data sets • Can be used for monitoring the state of the landscape and changes over time. • Increased fragmentation of landscapes provides less connectivity for ecological networks, influencing the sustainability of green infrastructure. • Data on the degree of landscape fragmentation needed for •Fragmentation maps provide an accurate measurement of landscape fragmentation for most of the European countries which support policymakers in monitoring green infrastructure. • Can be used in developing indicators in support of green infrastructure planning and • Measures for controlling landscape fragmentation can only be implemented effectively if there is an awareness of the problem and if feasible solutions are proposed. Mesh size of areas per unit (region)
comparing different regions in a green infrastructure and territorial cohesion context. performance reviews. Net Landscape Ecological Potential (NLEP) and green infrastructure Corine Land Cover data sets and effective mesh size • It is a status indicator which at European/ national scales helps frame the potential and provides quick monitoring of the state and its usefulness for assessing progress towards biodiversity targets and various scales, for example. • Provides information on the overall state of the green infrastructure and its changes. • It presents a measurement that can express ecosystems' integrity, and allows a good reading across Europe because of its robust calculation method, which can be aggregated to various reporting units. • The indicator is not built around ecological data that would exactly demonstrate which are the desired adaptive biological communities, their species composition, diversity and functional organisation comparable to that of a natural habitat in the region under discussion. • The indicator cannot show in which way the ecosystem integrity can be restored, nor does it have a solely ecological meaning. Mapping of ecological corridors and green infrastructure Corine Land Cover data sets and smoothen CORILIS data • Focus on the interruption of ecological corridors due to traffic infrastructure. Maps ecological corridors for migrating species, and in general to improve the coherence of the ecological network and hence green infrastructure. • It considers potential connectivity, and fragmentation between areas, and analyses the Natura 2000 network in relation to potential connectivity. • Takes into consideration the species requirements. • The method reveals a measure for landscape permeability from a species point of view and integrates both spatial and functional connectivities. • Is regarded as a pilot study, as the focus was led on forest-bound species. • This approach has to be combined with other ecological profiles leading to a multifunctional tool on various levels of scale. • The method was developed between 2004 and 2007, without finalising the complete multilevel and
multiscale approach in the following years. Corine ecotones and green infrastructure Corine Land Cover and Natura 2000 data sets • It considers transition areas between two different ecosystems, which can support high levels of biodiversity by providing flora and fauna with diverse environments on which to interact. • The ecotone not only contains species common to the communities on both sides; it may also include a number of species only able to colonise such transitional areas. • The provisioning of multiple habitats for species interaction makes ecotone zones of high biological interest. • Corine ecotones can add value to land cover analyses in the context of green infrastructure used to make landscape analyses in several different contexts, from analysing landscape diversity to assessing habitat fragmentation. • The creation aspect of the data sets was only completed in 2011, and so many exploratory analyses have yet to be performed to gauge the product's full potential. Quickscan green infrastructure System (GIS) tools • It is a flexible and modular modelling environment currently being developed in the European Environment Agency (EEA). It allows the users to explore the different implications and trade-offs which occur when developing and implementing policy options for Europe. • Green infrastructure can be explored either as a purely structural theme, by looking at different land cover types and administrative declarations, or it can be explored with a more functional approach, which seeks to identify areas and networks that might not be measured using purely mechanical means. • The method adapted in the Quickscan tool is purely exploratory and not designed as an exact method for measuring green infrastructure, but rather as a valuable way to explore the data sets in a green infrastructure context. Regional environmental characterisation System (GIS) tools • Aims to provide a scientifically relevant and politically operational description of the environmental characteristics of European territories • The approach on identification of common assets can potentially be used to contribute to the assessment of the spatial impact of • The approach on identification of common assets does not explicitly incorporate limits and carrying capacity.