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Towardsbiophysicalmappingofecosystems–08.02.2013 1

Towardsbiophysicalmappingofmajorecosystems Draft proposal supporting the analytical framework for Mapping and Assessment of Ecosystems and their Services (MAES) Contributing authors (EEA): Branislav Olah, Andrus Meiner, Markus Erhard, Eva Royo Gelabert, Johnny Reker Key objective

Developing a European approach for spatial representation of main biophysical complexes providing quantitative aspect of ‘state of ecosystems’.

Specific objectives Providing response to policy requirement ‘mapping ecosystems’ (i.e. EU

Biodiversity Strategy to 2020). Taking stock of existing EEA reporting on ecosystems (e.g. Baseline 2010),

available European data sets (e.g. Corine Land Cover) and European habitat lists (e.g Habitats Directive Annex I, EUNIS).

Creating links to ecosystem assessment, mapping of ecosystem services and ecosystem capital accounting approaches, as they evolve in other work areas.

Outcome Overall EEA proposal for implementing ‘ecosystem mapping’ at European level. Note: This paper presents a pragmatic approach to the spatial delineation of Europe’s ecosystems by applying accepted ecosystem classification systems (EUNIS) and existing spatial datasets with European coverage (CLC). It is a living document providing an overview of existing assessment methods and datasets and reflecting upon recent developments and discussions within the MAES working group. It is being used in on-going EEA’s activities on ecosystem mapping and assessment (ETC-SIA) and in the Assessment of ecosystems and their services - An analytical framework for ecosystem assessments under Action 5 of the EU Biodiversity Strategy to 2020 discussion paper.


1. What is ‘ecosystem’ and what is ‘mapping’?

1.1 Definition of ecosystem

Ecological science defines ecosystem as a complex of living organisms with their environment and their mutual relations. Although, this definition applies to all hierarchical levels (from a single microorganism’s ecosystem to Earth’s biomes), for practical reasons local (habitat, biotope) or landscape level ecosystems are mapped and assessed (Box 1). BOX 1. Theoretical (generic) model of ecosystem presenting ecosystem components’ (subsystems) relations Relationships of biotic and other ecosystem components. Subsystem Providing to biota Receiving from biota Climate Heat (energy) and water Impact to micro and local climate Soil Substrate, nutrients, water supply Soil erosion protection, source of

soil carbon Hydrology Water based processes Surface run-off regulation Relief Aspect, water and gravitation

processes Regulation of water-gravitation processes (floods…)

Bedrock Underpinning relief and soil, aquifers

Biotic weathering processes

Definition of an ecosystem adopted by the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD)1: “ecosystem is a dynamic complex of plant, animal and micro-organism

1 https://www.cbd.int/convention/text/

Bedrock

Relief

Biota

Soil

HydrologySediments/soil

substrate

Climate


communities and their non-living environment interacting as a functional unit” (United Nations 1992:Article 2). Definition by Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (MEA)2: A practical approach to the ‘spatial delimitation of an ecosystem’ is to build up a series of overlays of significant factors, mapping the location of discontinuities, such as in the distribution of organisms, the biophysical environment (soil types, drainage basins, depth in a water body), and spatial interactions (home ranges, migration patterns, fluxes of matter). A useful ecosystem boundary is the place where a number of these relative discontinuities coincide. Ecosystems within each category share a suite of biological, climatic, and social factors that tend to differ across categories. More specifically, there generally is greater similarity within than between each category in:

climatic conditions; geophysical conditions; dominant use by humans; surface cover (based on type of vegetative cover in terrestrial ecosystems or on

fresh water, brackish water, or salt water in aquatic ecosystems); species composition; resource management systems and institutions.

The EU Habitats Directive3does not define ecosystems but natural habitats: natural habitats mean terrestrial or aquatic areas distinguished by geographic, abiotic and biotic features, whether entirely natural or semi-natural. 1.2 Mapping of ecosystems Ecosystem mapping is spatial delineation of ecosystems following agreed ecosystem classification (ecosystem types). Ecosystem classification strongly depends on mapping purpose and scale. Mapping in broader sense may also include mapping of status or health as the result of monitoring of ecosystems’ quality. Global approaches to ecosystem classification and mapping (or reporting) apply two basic principles: typological and regional (or their combination) (ANNEX 1). Typological approach divides nature into ecosystem types – classes that can occur at more geographical locations (i.e., temperate broadleaf and mixed forests). Regional approach describes ecosystems from a regional (spatially unique) perspective (i.e., Dinaric mixed forests). In the context of policy e.g. EU Biodiversity 2020 Strategy, ecosystem mapping also aims to satisfy management perspective and is largely determined by data availability. In the absence of agreed and regularly updated European ecosystem map, the task of mapping could be interpreted as aggregation of some proxy spatial information that describes as good as possible the biophysical complex on the ground surface and adequate representation in the seas. Such mapping should aim at providing quantitative aspects of ‘state of ecosystems’.

2 http://millenniumassessment.org/documents/document.300.aspx.pdf 3 http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=CONSLEG:1992L0043:20070101:EN:PDF


For practical purpose and strong links to the emerging GMES Land monitoring services, the proposed method of ecosystem mapping is based on the EU Biodiversity 2010 Baseline approach. This implies that CORINE land cover classes as used in GMES are aggregated in most meaningful way to represent broad-scale ecosystem areas. This aggregation is based on detailed expert analysis of relations between land cover classes and habitat classification systems (i.e. EUNIS) to ensure consistency between these approaches. The resulting cross-walk schema is used as look-up table for spatial re-aggregation of land cover units in to broad-scale ecosystems suitable for European ecosystems assessment (ANNEX 3). Ecosystem mapping approach also has to be practical for setting up ecosystem accounting. For that reason, constructed broad-scale ecosystem zones are converted in to reference grid of 1 km2 cells (based on respective INSPIRE specifications). Records of ecosystems presence and where possible, key qualitative properties, in each cell across Europe provides direct input layer for accounting systems and enables assessment of ecosystems and their services (Fig 1). Figure 1. Concept for ecosystem mapping at European scale

In its Target 2, Action 5 the EU biodiversity strategy to 2020 clearly identifies a need to map ecosystems and to assess their state.


EU biodiversity strategy to 2020 Target 2 - By 2020, ecosystems and their services are maintained and enhanced by establishing green infrastructure and restoring at least 15 % of degraded ecosystems) Action 5 - Improve knowledge of ecosystems and their services in the EU. Member States, with the assistance of the Commission, will map and assess the state of ecosystems and their services in their national territory by 2014, assess the economic value of such services, and promote the integration of these values into accounting and reporting systems at EU and national level by 2020. In order to integrate national assessments at pan-European scale, the ecosystem mapping shall apply an ecosystem classification that is thematically applicable for the whole EU territory and with a respective spatial resolution. It shall be typological - without regional and zonal classes. Production of regional or zonal aggregation of ecosystem types as well as scaling upwards to useful reporting units will be, however, possible applying spatial tools (GIS or OLAP cube). 2. Existing EEA approach for spatial representation of terrestrial, freshwater

and marine ecosystems for environmental assessments Since the inception of the European Environment Agency there has been a continuous work programme to develop a comprehensive framework for classification of European habitats and to provide descriptions of European habitat types. The habitat classification forms an integral part of the European Nature Information System (EUNIS), developed and managed by the European Topic Centre for Nature Protection and Biodiversity (ETC/NPB). In order to assess ecosystems’ stock and its changes in Europe (EU Biodiversity baseline4 and SEBI 004 Ecosystem coverage indicator5) a spatial representation of European ecosystems was produced by a combination of EUNIS (level 1) classification6 and spatial data from Corine Land Cover (Table 1). CLC classes were aggregated into either 8 (EU Biodiversity baseline7) or 13 ecosystem types (SEBI 004 Ecosystem coverage indicator8). Table 1. Comparison of EEA ecosystem classifications of EU Biodiversity baseline and SEBI 004 Ecosystem coverage indicator with EUNIS level 1 EUNIS level1 Baseline 2010 SEBI004 indicator A Marine habitats Marine Marine

B Coastal habitats Coastal Coastal

4 EU 2010 biodiversity baseline (p.118-119) http://www.eea.europa.eu/publications/eu-2010-

biodiversity-baseline 5 http://www.eea.europa.eu/publications/technical_report_2007_11 (p. 63-69) 6 http://eunis.eea.europa.eu/upload/EUNIS_2004_report.pdf 7 EU 2010 biodiversity baseline (p.118-119) http://www.eea.europa.eu/publications/eu-2010-

biodiversity-baseline 8 http://www.eea.europa.eu/publications/technical_report_2007_11 (p. 63-69)


C Inland surface waters Lakes and rivers Inland surface waters

D Mires, bogs and fens Wetlands Mire, bog, fen

E Grasslands and land dominated by forbs, mosses or lichens

Grasslands Grassland and tall forb

F Heathland, scrub and tundra Heath and scrub Heathland, scrub and tundra

G Woodland, forest and other wooded land

Forests Woodland and forest

Transitional woodland H Inland unvegetated or sparsely vegetated habitats

(missing) Inland unvegetated or sparsely vegetated

Glaciers and permanent snow

I Regularly or recently cultivated agricultural, horticultural and domestic habitats

Agro-ecosystems Regularly or recently cultivated agricultural

Agricultural mosaics J Constructed, industrial and other artificial habitats

(not classified as ecosystem but present in the assessment)

Constructed, industrial and other artificial

X Habitat complexes (missing) (missing) Both approaches closely follow the EUNIS level 1 classification. The Baseline 2010 does not recognise unvegetated areas and artificial areas (artificial ecosystem as such is not amongst reported ecosystem types in Baseline) as this approach focused on existing EU policy or policy sectors. Habitat complexes are missing in both Baseline and SEBI approach as they are not directly represented in the CLC classification. Additional ecosystem types (compared to Baseline) in SEBI are merely using less aggregated CLC classes which can be easily re-aggregated to EUNIS like types. Coastal habitats in EUNIS include only genuine coastal habitats affected by spraying salt water whilst in Baseline and SEBI more traditional coastal CLC classes are included (beaches, coastal wetlands and coastal waters without class sea and ocean). 3. Update of ecosystem classification Based on analysis of existing approaches EEA has worked on an update of ecosystem classification. The proposal for level 1 and 2 (Table 2, for detailed description see ANNEX 2) corresponds directly with EUNIS habitat classification and SEBI 004 indicator on ecosystem coverage. It is relevant for EU policies and it is compatible with global ecosystem classifications. It is typological (enabling comparison between different parts of the Europe’s territory), keeps pan-European scale and takes into consideration regular mapping aspect (applying CLC data for spatial delineation).


Table 2. Proposed ecosystem classification level 1 and 2 Major ecosystem category (level 1)

Ecosystem type for mapping and assessment (level 2)

Terrestrial Urban Cropland Grassland Woodland and forest Heathland and shrub Sparsely vegetated land Wetlands

Freshwater Rivers and lakes Marine Marine inlets and transitional waters

Coastal Shelf Open ocean

Following paragraphs provide a brief description of proposed ecosystems types: Urban Urban ecosystems are areas where most of the human population lives and it is also a class significantly affecting other ecosystem types. Urban areas represent mainly human habitats but they usually include significant areas for synanthropic species. This class includes urban, industrial, commercial and transport areas, urban green areas, mines, dump and construction sites. Cropland Main food production area both intensively managed ecosystems and multifunctional area supporting many semi- and natural species along with food production (lower intensity management). It includes regularly or recently cultivated agricultural, horticultural and domestic habitats and agro-ecosystems with significant coverage of natural vegetation (agricultural mosaics). Grassland Area dominated by grassy vegetation (including tall forbs, mosses and lichens) of two kinds – managed pastures and natural (extensively managed) grasslands Woodland and forest Area dominated by woody vegetation. Climax ecosystem type on most of the area supporting many ecosystem services, Transitional woodland is included. Heathland and shrub Area with vegetation dominated by shrubs or dwarf shrubs. Mostly secondary ecosystems with unfavourable natural conditions. It includes moors, heathland and sclerophyllous vegetation. Sparsely vegetated land Inland unvegetated or sparsely vegetated habitats (naturally unvegetated areas). Ecosystems with extreme natural conditions that might support valuable species. It includes bare rocks, glaciers, dunes, beaches and sand plain.


Wetlands Marshes and peatbogs with specific plant and animal communities supporting water regulation and peat-related processes. This class includes mires, bogs and fens. Rivers and lakes Permanent freshwater inland surface waters. This class includes water courses and bodies. Marine inlets and transitional waters Marine inlets and transitional waters are ecosystems on the land-water interface under the influence of tides and with salinity higher than 0.5 ‰. They include coastal wetlands, lagoons, estuaries and other transitional waters, fjords and sea lochs as well as embayments.

Coast

The coastal areas refer to coastal, shallow, marine systems that experience significant land-based influences. These systems undergo diurnal fluctuations in temperature, salinity and turbidity, and are subject to wave disturbance. Depth is between 50 and 70 m.

Shelf

The shelf refers to marine systems away from coastal influence, down to the shelf break. They experience more stable temperature and salinity regimes than coastal systems, and their seabed is below wave disturbance. They are usually about 200 m deep.

Open ocean The open ocean refers to marine systems beyond the shelf break with very stable temperature and salinity regimes, in particular in the deep seabed. Depth is beyond 200 m. 4. Review of relevant European spatial data sets Table 3 presents key European datasets available at EEA that may be applied for ecosystems spatial delineation (addressing stock) and for ecosystems quality.


Table 3. Key European datasets related to biodiversity and land mapping. Key data sets Brief description of

the content Spatial coverage e.g. countries

Spatial resolution e.g. MMU, meters

Update frequency, latest year available

Presen-ting quantity (stock) aspect of eco-systems

Presenting quality (health) aspect of ecosystems

Biodiversity (Data centre http://www.eea.europa.eu//themes/biodiversity/dc)

NATURA 2000

The European network of protected sites(Special Protected Areas, Sites of Community Importance and Special Areas of Conservation)

EU27 vector (1:100 000)

2011 indirectly(being designated N2000 site as proxy for better natural quality)

CDDA The European inventory of nationally designated areas holds information about protected sites and about the national legislative instruments, which directly or indirectly create protected areas

EEA39 vector 2011 indirectly(being designated site as proxy for better natural quality)

Conservation status of habitat types and species

All Member States are requested by the Habitats Directive (1992 Article 17) to monitor habitat types and species considered to be of Community interest.

EU25 10km grid (1:10M)

2009 (temporal coverage 2000-2006)

directly

Biogeogra-phical regions, Europe

The bio-geographic regions dataset contains the official delineations used in the Habitats Directive (92/43/EEC) and for the EMERALD Network set up under the Convention on the Conservation of European Wildlife and Natural Habitats (Bern Convention)

EEA39 + ENPI East countries and European part of Russian Federation

varying/a (1:1M to 1:10M)

2012 ancillary

Land use (Data centre http://www.eea.europa.eu//themes/landuse/dc)

Corine Land Cover

Vector land cover map with 44 classes derived from satellite image at scale 1:100 000

EEA39 (38)

25ha (5ha changes)

1990, 2000, 2006

directly

Impervious-ness

Raster map on degree of soil sealing 0-100% derived from satellite image

EEA39 100m raster

2006, 2009 indirectly

Landscape fragmentation

Fragmentation of landscape by urban areas and transport infrastructure calculated as mesh size on unfragmented land

EEA29 1km grid (EEA)

2009 indirectly

Urban Atlas Vector land cover map of cities with their surroundings at scale 1:10 000

EU27, ca. 300 large urban zones

0.25ha 2006 directly

UMZ Urban morphological zones – derived from CLC

EEA39 vector 1990, 2000, 2006

indirectly

EU-DEM EU digital elevation model

EU27? 30m raster 2012 ancillary


Water (Data centre http://www.eea.europa.eu//themes/water/dc)

WFD Waterbase

Rivers and lakes quality, ecological status

EU27+ (EEA37)

vector 2011 directly

Marine

MSFD and WISE-Marine

Reporting from MS e.g. Initial assessments, marine boundaries

EU27

Various scales, marine boundaries scale, vector

2012

Marine regions and sub-regions

TBD from MS reporting

EMODnet

Compilation of key marine thematic data layers

EU27

Various formats

2009-2011

Regional seas, subdivisions

6-7 thematic layers with key marine environment variables

Note: Air quality and climate change data sets are not listed. 5. Main implementation steps of the proposed ecosystem mapping approach Data model Ecosystem mapping of terrestrial ecosystems, lakes and transitional water parts of marine will follow existing CLC data model – all datasets assimilated to raster (100m) and reported in 1km grid. Sharing CLC spatial data model makes it fully compatible with the biophysical part of the ecosystem accounting and enables its combination with ecosystem services. Delineation of marine ecosystems will be based on existing marine datasets (i.e. EUSeaMap) and additional modelling of ecosystem presence based on ancillary data. Ecosystems of linear nature as watercourses will be mapped by using existing delineation from WFD reporting and they will be kept separate as linear data. Their integration with area data will be provided by ECRINS data model that defines relation of each linear element to its areal surroundings. Ecosystem stock mapping Generic approach for European ecosystems’ stock mapping will apply CLC classes for spatial delineation of level 1 and 2 ecosystem types (ANNEX 3). In order to assess how ecosystems support ecosystem services (in the ecosystem – ecosystem service matrix approach) more detailed hierarchical level 3 of ecosystem types may be needed. Following the classification criteria of EUNIS will require application of various ancillary datasets beyond CLC (such as biogeographical regions, elevation or proximity to sea) (ANNEX 4). Ecosystem quality mapping Ecosystem quality (health) is crucial for ecosystem functions and services. Quality may be addressed either by direct monitoring or by using ancillary data or assessments as proxies. As identified in Table 3 there are currently only two European datasets providing information about quality of ecosystems the Habitats Directive Art. 17 for habitats conservation status and the WFD ecological status reporting for water courses and bodies.


Even if their original purpose and design (spatial resolution and monitored parameters) may vary from the proposed ecosystem typology, they are being used as indicators for ecosystem quality in ecosystem accounting. The reporting may be re-designed or broadened in future to better respond to the EU biodiversity strategy to 2020. EEA currently explores options for using pan-European phyto-sociological survey results (releves) as ecosystem quality indicators. Change mapping Mapping of ecosystem change shall reflect both stock and quality of ecosystems. In order to assess changes, quantitative and qualitative information have to be reported separately or combined as in the currently developed ecosystem capital accounting approach. Implementation example of proposed approach as applies for 2000-2006 is presented in ANNEX 5.


ANNEX 1 Examples of ecosystem classifications

A. Typological classification applied by the Convention on Biological Diversity To make a global assessment of the losses of biomes, ecosystems and habitats, it is important to obtain complete coverage of all major types of biomes/ecosystems, even if data quality varies. Data sources include global remote-sensing data and national land-cover maps and statistics. For some biome/ecosystem types, the identified datasets will yield sufficient data points to give trend information relevant to the 2010 target assessment. For others, appropriate global datasets are yet to be identified or need to be acquired (CBD). Based on current and short-term future availability of trend information, the following major ecosystem types are considered ready for immediate indicator implementation (CBD): (a) Forests (including different forest types, notably mangroves); (b) Peatlands (as a component of inland waters or forests); (c) Coral reefs (as a component of marine and coastal ecosystems); (d) Croplands (as a component of agricultural systems); (e) Grasslands/savannahs (as a component of dry and sub-humid lands); (f) Polar/ice. In the future efforts need to be made to apply the indicator to the following ecosystem types to ensure coverage of all thematic areas recognized by the Convention: (a) Inland wetlands (other than those already covered as peatlands); (b) Tidal flats/estuaries (as an additional component of coastal ecosystems); (c) Seagrass beds (as an additional component of coastal ecosystems); (d) Dry and sub-humid lands (other than grasslands/savannahs); (e) Urban areas. Ecological taxonomy by WWF (typological and regional) Biosphere (List of ecoregions) Ecozones or realms (8) Terrestrial biomes (major habitat types, 14) Ecoregions (867) vbn, Ecosystems (biotopes) Freshwater biomes (major habitat types, 12) Ecoregions (426) Ecosystems (biotopes) Marine ecozones or realms (13) Continental Shelf biomes (major habitat types, 5) (Marine provinces) (62) Ecoregions (232) Ecosystems (biotopes) Open & Deep Sea Biomes (major habitat types) Endolithic biome Example: Biosphere Ecozone: Palearctic ecozone Terrestrial biome: temperate broadleaf and mixed forests


Ecoregion: Dinaric Mountains mixed forests (PA0418) Ecosystem: Orjen, vegetation belt between 1,100- 1,450 m, Oromediterranean zone, nemoral zone (temperate zone) Biotope: Oreoherzogio-Abietetum illyricae Fuk. (Plant list) Plant: Silver fir (Abies alba)

B. Ecological taxonomy by WWF (typological and regional)

Biosphere (List of ecoregions) o Ecozones or realms (8)

Terrestrial biomes (major habitat types, 14) Ecoregions (867) vbn,

Ecosystems (biotopes) Freshwater biomes (major habitat types, 12)

Ecoregions (426) Ecosystems (biotopes)

o Marine ecozones or realms (13) Continental Shelf biomes (major habitat types, 5)

(Marine provinces) (62) Ecoregions (232)

Ecosystems (biotopes) Open & Deep Sea Biomes (major habitat types)

o Endolithic biome

Example:

Biosphere o Ecozone: Palearctic ecozone

Terrestrial biome: temperate broadleaf and mixed forests Ecoregion: Dinaric Mountains mixed forests (PA0418)

Ecosystem: Orjen, vegetation belt between 1,100- 1,450 m, Oromediterranean zone, nemoral zone (temperate zone)

Biotope: Oreoherzogio-Abietetum illyricae Fuk. (Plant list)

Plant: Silver fir (Abies alba)

C. Reporting Categories used in the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment For reporting the global Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (MEA) findings, a practical, tractable, sufficiently rich classification based on 10 classes or systems has been developed. Thus, for example, the MEA will report on “forest systems,” defined to be areas with at least 40 percent canopy (tree) cover. Using this approach, a forest system will contain a variety of different types of ecosystems, such as freshwater ecosystems, agroecosystems, and so forth. But all areas within the boundaries of the forest system as defined here will tend to share a suite of biological, climatic, and social factors, so the system categories provide a useful framework for analysing the


consequences of ecosystem change for human well-being. Because the boundaries of these reporting categories overlap, any place on Earth may fall into more than one category. Thus a wetland ecosystem in a coastal region, for instance, may be examined both in the MEA analysis of “coastal systems” as well as in the analysis of “inland water systems.” Millennium Ecosystem Assessment Reporting Categories (Limits for Mapping) Category Central Concept Marine Ocean, with fishing typically a major driver of change Coastal Interface between ocean and land, extending seawards to about the

middle of the continental shelf and inland to include all areas strongly influenced by the proximity to the ocean

Inland water

Permanent water bodies inland from the coastal zone, and areas whose ecology and use are dominated by the permanent, seasonal, or intermittent occurrence of flooded conditions

Forest Lands dominated by trees; often used for timber, fuelwood, and non-timber forest products

Dryland Lands where plant production is limited by water availability; the dominant uses are large mammal herbivory, including livestock grazing, and cultivation

Island Lands isolated by surrounding water, with a high proportion of coast to hinterland

Mountain Steep and high lands Polar High-latitude systems frozen for most of the year Cultivated Lands dominated by domesticated plant species, used for and

substantially changed by crop, agroforestry, or aquaculture production

Urban Built environments with a high human density The MEA’s classification system is typological but it introduces also regional or zonal types – coastal, island and mountains.

Towardsbiophysicalmappingofecosystems–08.02.201315

ANNEX 2. Proposal for ‘ecosystem mapping’ at European level Major eco-system category (level 1)

Ecosystem type for mapping and assessment (level 2)

Representation of habitats (functional dimension by EUNIS)

Representation of land cover (spatial dimension)

Benefits of mapping Problems of mapping

Listed as ecosystems, major habitat types or reporting categories in

Spatial data availability

Terrestrial Urban Constructed, industrial and other artificial habitats

Urban, industrial, commercial and transport areas, urban green areas, mines, dump and construction sites

Urban areas represent mainly human habitats but they usually include significant areas for synanthropic species

CLC’s coarse resolution that needs to be complemented e.g. by Urban atlas (ca 300 cities) and HRL Imperviousness

EUNIS (SEBI) UNEP/CBC* MA**

CLC Urban Atlas HRL Imperviousness

Cropland

Regularly or recently cultivated agricultural, horticultural and domestic habitats

Annual and permanent crops

Main food production areas, intensively managed ecosystems

Habitat classification (e.g. EUNIS) includes permanent crops into Heathland and scrub

EUNIS (SEBI, Baseline) UNEP/CBC* MA**

CLC

Grassland Grasslands and land dominated by forbs, mosses or lichens

Pastures and natural grasslands

Areas dominated by grassy vegetation of two kinds – managed pastures and natural (extensively managed) grasslands

Distinction between intensively used and more natural grasslands requires additional datasets (Art. 17)

EUNIS (SEBI, Baseline) UNEP/CBC* WWF MA**

CLC HRL grasslands

Woodland and forest

Woodland, forest and other wooded land

Forests Climax ecosystem type on most of the area supporting many ecosystem services

Missing information on quality and management requires additional datasets (Art. 17, HRL forest)

EUNIS (SEBI, Baseline) UNEP/CBD* WWF MA**

CLC HRL forests

Heathland and shrub

Heathland, scrub and tundra (vegetation dominated by shrubs or dwarf

Moors, heathland and sclerophyllous vegetation

Mostly secondary ecosystems with unfavourable natural conditions

Mapping the condition of these areas requires combination with Art.17

EUNIS (SEBI, Baseline) WWF MA**

CLC


shrubs) Sparsely vegetated land

Unvegetated or sparsely vegetated habitats (naturally unvegetated areas)

Open spaces with little or no vegetation (bare rocks, glaciers and beaches, dunes and sand plains included)

Ecosystems with extreme natural conditions that might support valuable species Includes ecosystems on marine/terrestrial boundary (beaches, dunes) affected by marine environment

Becomes a conglomerate of distinctive rarely occurring ecosystems, often defined by different geographical location

EUNIS (SEBI, Baseline) UNEP/CBD* MA**

CLC

Wetlands

Mires, bogs and fens

Inland wetlands (marshes and peatbogs)

Specific plant and animal communities, water regulation, peat-related processes

Separation from grasslands (temporary inundation) and forests (tree canopy), HRL wetlands

EUNIS (SEBI, Baseline) UNEP/CBD* MA**

CLC HRL wetlands

Fresh water Rivers and lakes

Inland surface waters (freshwater ecosystems)

Water courses and bodies incl. coastal lakes (without permanent connection to the sea)

All permanent freshwater surface waters

Underestimation of water courses and small water bodies needs application of external datasets (ECRINS, (HRL Small lakes)

EUNIS (SEBI, Baseline) WWF MA**

CLC HRL small water bodies ECRINS

Marine**** Marine inlets and transitional waters

Pelagic habitats: Low/reduced salinity water (of lagoons) Variable salinity water (of coastal wetlands, estuaries and other transitional waters) Marine salinity water (of other

Coastal wetlands: Saltmarshes, salines and intertidal flats Lagoons: Highly restricted connection to open sea, reduced, often relatively stable, salinity regime Estuaries and other transitional waters: Link rivers to open sea, variable, highly dynamic salinity regime. All WFD

Spatial representation of the land-sea interface, and of the relative proportion of habitats and related services. Interface limited by the WFD landward boundaries of transitional and coastal waters

Use of relevant CLC classes would lead to mapping geographically distinct entities rather than benthic habitats EUSeaMap provides broad-scale seabed habitat maps, which are based on predictive modelling with partial

EUNIS (SEBI, Baseline) UNEP/CBC WWF MA WFD transitional water bodies MSFD water column predominant habitat types:

CLC (allows mapping of lagoons, saltmarshes, salines, intertidal flats and estuaries) GIS layer of WFD lake water bodies and transitional water bodies EUSeaMap is now only available for the Baltic, North,


inlets) Benthic habitats: Littoral rock and biogenic reef Littoral sediment Shallow sublittoral rock and biogenic reef Shallow sublittoral sediment

transitional waters included Fjords/sea lochs: Glacially derived, typically elongated and deep; marine salinity regime Embayments: Non-glacial origin, typically shallow, marine salinity system Pelagic habitats in this type include the photic zone, benthic habitats can include it or not

validation. But these cannot be used for all ecosystems in this class

Variable salinity (estuarine), Reduced salinity and Marine salinity MSFD’s seabed predominant habitats

Celtic and western Mediterranean seas. Remaining seas to be covered by new projects (over 2013-2014) Marine water column habitats are not mapped by EUSeaMap

Coastal Pelagic habitats: Coastal waters Benthic habitats: Littoral rock and biogenic reef Littoral sediment Shallow sublittoral rock and biogenic reef Shallow sublittoral sediment

Coastal, shallow-depth marine systems that experience significant land-based influences. These systems undergo diurnal fluctuations in temperature, salinity and turbidity, and are subject to wave disturbance. Depth is up to 50-70 meters. Pelagic habitats in this type include the photic zone, benthic habitats can include it or not

Spatial representation of the marine coastal zone and of the relative proportion of habitats and related services

No European common scheme exists for mapping of pelagic habitats nor for combined pelagic/benthic systems EUSeaMap broad-scale seabed habitat maps are based on predictive modelling with partial validation

WFD coastal water bodies MSFD’s water column predominant habitats with marine salinity MSFD’s seabed predominant habitats

GIS layer of WFD coastal water bodies EUSeaMap is now only available for the Baltic, North, Celtic and western Mediterranean seas. Remaining seas to be covered by new projects (over 2013-2014) Marine water column habitats are not mapped by EUSeaMap

Shelf Pelagic habitats: Shelf waters Benthic habitats: Shelf sublittoral rock and biogenic reef Shelf sublittoral

Marine systems away from coastal influence, down to the shelf slope. They experience more stable temperature and salinity regimes than coastal systems, and their seabed

Spatial representation of the marine shelf zone and of the relative proportion of habitats and related services

No European common scheme exists for mapping of pelagic habitats nor for combined pelagic/benthic systems

MSFD’s water column predominant habitats with marine salinity MSFD’s seabed predominant

EUSeaMap is now only available for the Baltic, North, Celtic and western Mediterranean seas. Remaining seas to be covered by new


sediment is below wave disturbance. Depth is up to 200 meters. Pelagic habitats in this type include the photic zone, benthic habitats are beyond the photic limit (aphotic)

EUSeaMap broad-scale seabed habitat maps are based on predictive modelling with partial validation

habitats projects (over 2013-2014) Marine water column habitats are not mapped by EUSeaMap

Open ocean Pelagic habitats: Oceanic waters Benthic habitats: Bathyal (upper, lower) rock and biogenic reef Bathyal (upper, lower) sediment Abyssal rock and biogenic reef Abyssal sediment

Marine systems beyond the shelf slope with very stable temperature and salinity regimes, in particular in the deep seabed. Depth is beyond 200 meters. Pelagic habitats in this type are, in proportion, mostly aphotic, benthic habitats are aphotic

Spatial representation of the marine open ocean zone and of the relative proportion of habitats and related services

No European common scheme exists for mapping of pelagic habitats nor for combined pelagic/benthic systems EUSeaMap broad-scale seabed habitat maps are based on predictive modelling with partial validation

MSFD’s water column predominant habitats with marine salinity MSFD’s seabed predominant habitats

EUSeaMap is now only available for the Baltic, North, Celtic and western Mediterranean seas. Remaining seas to be covered by new projects (over 2013-2014) Marine water column habitats are not mapped by EUSeaMap

* CLC class 3.3.1. Beaches, dunes, and sand plains divided to coastal or inland coastal or inland on the basis of their location ** UNEP/CBC only partially covering/mentioning (http://www.cbd.int/doc/meetings/sbstta/sbstta-10/information/sbstta-10-inf-10-en.pdf ) *** MEA’s type may differ to our description (http://millenniumassessment.org/documents/document.300.aspx.pdf ) WWF – Global Ecoregions (http://wwf.panda.org/about_our_earth/ecoregions/about/ ) **** Under development until mid-spring 2013


ANNEX 3. CLC vs. SEBI04 ecosystem types level crosswalk table (as of June 2012)

CLC Level 1 CLC Level 2 CLC Level 3 Ecosystem types

SEBI04

1. Artificial surfaces

1.1. Urban fabric 1.1.1. Continuous urban fabric

Urban

1.1.2. Discontinuous urban fabric

1.2. Industrial, commercial and transport units

1.2.1. Industrial or commercial units

1.2.2. Road and rail networks and associated land

1.2.3. Port areas

1.2.4. Airports

1.3. Mine, dump and construction sites

1.3.1. Mineral extraction sites

1.3.2. Dump sites

1.3.3. Construction sites

1.4. Artificial non-agricultural vegetated areas

1.4.1. Green urban areas

1.4.2. Sport and leisure facilities

2. Agricultural areas

2.1.Arable land

2.1.1. Non-irrigated arable land

Cropland

2.1.2. Permanently irrigated land

2.1.3. Rice fields

2.2. Permanent crops

2.2.1. Vineyards

2.2.2. Fruit trees and berry plantations

2.2.3. Olive groves

2.3. Pastures 2.3.1. Pastures Grassland

2.4. Heterogeneous agricultural areas

2.4.1. Annual crops associated with permanent crops

Cropland

2.4.2. Complex cultivation patterns

2.4.3. Land principally occupied by agriculture, with significant areas of natural vegetation


2.4.4. Agro-forestry areas

3. Forests and semi-natural areas

3.1. Forests

3.1.1. Broad-leaved forest

Woodland and forest 3.1.2. Coniferous forest

3.1.3. Mixed forest

3.2. Shrub and/or herbaceous vegetation association

3.2.1. Natural grassland Grassland

3.2.2. Moors and heathland Heathland and shrub 3.2.3. Sclerophyllous vegetation

3.2.4. Transitional woodland shrub Transitional woodland

3.3. Open spaces with little or no vegetation

3.3.1. Beaches, dunes, and sand plains Coastal

3.3.2. Bare rock

Sparsely or unvegetated land

3.3.3. Sparsely vegetated areas

3.3.4. Burnt areas

3.3.5. Glaciers and perpetual snow

4. Wetlands

4.1. Inland wetlands 4.1.1. Inland marshes

Inland wetlands 4.1.2. Peatbogs

4.2. Coastal wetlands

4.2.1. Salt marshes

Coastal 4.2.2. Salines

4.2.3. Intertidal flats

5. Water bodies

5.1 Inland waters 5.1.1 Water courses

Rivers and lakes 5.1.2 Water bodies

5.2 Marine waters

5.2.1 Coastal lagoons Coastal

5.2.2 Estuaries

5.2.3 Sea and ocean Marine


ANNEX 4. Spatial delineation of EUNIS level 2 ecosystem types by applying ancillary datasets (draft table for ETS SIA 2013 implementation plan) EUNIS was designed as a theoretical hierarchical classification of habitats following defined criteria without intention for their biophysical mapping. However, for practical reasons a EUNIS-CLC crosswalk9 was proposed. Appointing CLC classes to respective EUNIS classes, in some cases, result in one-to-many or many-to-many relations (CLC classes belonging to more than one habitat type). A feasible option how to spatially delineate EUNIS habitats (level 1 and 2) using CLC as base information would be to apply ancillary datasets (following EUNIS breakdown criteria10) that will appoint a concrete CLC polygon to respective ecosystem type by its location (according to ancillary datasets). Level 1 types L1 explained by Level 2 classes Datasets for mapping*

Issues

A Marine habitats

A1 Littoral rock and other hard substrate 1) CLC 332, 421, 423 2) EUSeaMap

Supralittoral is included in B3 A2 Littoral sediment A3 Infralittoral rock and other hard substrate

N/A

A4 Circalittoral rock and other hard substrate A5 Sub-littoral sediment A6 Deep sea-bed A7 Pelagic water column A8 Ice-associated marine habitats

B Coastal habitats

B1 Coastal dunes and sandy shores 1) CLC 231, 311, 312, 322, 323, 331 2) Elevation: low 3) Proximity to sea: Coastal zone 4) Biogeographical regions

Sharing of CLC 521, 522 between B and C B2 Coastal shingle

B3 Rock, cliffs, ledges and shores, inl. supralittoral

C Inland C1 Surface standing waters 1) CLC 212, 331, 332, 411, 511, 512, - Sharing of CLC 521, 522 between

9 http://eunis.eea.europa.eu/upload/EUNIS-CLC.pdf 10 http://eunis.eea.europa.eu/upload/EUNIS_2004_report.pdf


surface waters C2 Surface running waters 522 2) ECRINS Rivers, Lakes 3) HRL Small water bodies 4) optional – elevation zones

B and C; C3 Littoral zone of inland surface

waterbodies

D Mires, bogs and fens

D1 Raised and blanked bogs 1) CLC 411, 412 2) HRL Wetlands 3) Biogeographical regions 4) Any RAMSAR data source (TBD)

Separation from grasslands Wetlands with tree canopy D3 Aapa, palsa and polygon mires

D2 Valley mires, poor fens and transition mires D6 Inland saline and brackish marshes and reedbeds D5 Sedge and reedbeds, normally without free-standing water D4 Base-rich fens and calcareolus spring mires

E Grasslands and land dominated by forbs, mosses or lichens

E7 sparsely wooded grasslands 1) CLC 141, 142, 231, 244, 321, 322, 323, 324, 331, 333 2) HRL Agriculture (grassland) 3) Elevation zones 3) Biogeographical regions

Separation from wetlands (E3) Separation from pastures (I1)

E6 Inland salt steppes E5 Woodland fringes, clearings and tall forbs stands E4 alpine and subalpine grasslands E3 Seasonally wet and wet grasslands E2 Mesic grasslands E1 Dry grasslands

F Heathland, scrub and tundra

FA Hedgerows 1) 221, 222, 231, 322, 323, 331, 333 2) HRL Forest (grassland) 3) ESA Small Linear Features 4) Elevation zones 5) Biogeographical regions

FB Shrub plantations F1 Tundra F9 Riverine and fen shrubs F8 Thermo-Atlantic xerophytic scrub F7 Spiny Mediterranean heaths


F6 Garrigue F5 Maquis, arborescent matorral and thermo-Mediterranean brushes F4 Temperate shrub heathland F3 Temperate and mediteraneo-montane scrub F2 Arctic, alpine and subalpine scrub

G Woodland, forest and other wooded land

G5 Lines of trees, small woodlands, recently felled woodlands, early stage woodland, coppice

1) CLC 222, 223, 311, 312, 313, 322, 323, 324 2) HRL Forest 3) Elevation zones 4) Biogeographical regions

G4 Mixed woodland G3 Coniferous woodland G2 Broadleaved evergreen woodland G1 Broadleaved deciduous woodland

H Inland unvegetated or sparsely vegetated habitats

H1 Terrestrial underground caves… 1) CLC 112, 131, 331, 332, 333, 334, 335 2) Elevation zones 4) Biogeographical regions

Note! Not addressed by current matrix approach. H is relevant to 3 types of services: -Nutrition (water storage) -Energy (hydro) -Cultural (tourism)

H4 Snow or ice-dominated habitats H6 Recent volcanic features H3 Inland cliffs, rock pavement and outcrops H2 Screes H5 Miscellaneous inland habitats with very sparse on no vegetation

I Regularly or recently cultivated agricultural, horticultural and domestic

I1 Arable land and market gardens CLC 141, 211, 212, 242, 243 Separation from grasslands (entire E) Note! EUNIS system does not distinguish between arable (CLC 2.1, 2.2) and rural mosaic/ pasture (2.3, 2.4).

I2 Cultivated areas of gardens and parks


habitats J Constructed, industrial and other artificial habitats

J5 Highly artificial man-made waters and associated structures

1) CLC 111, 112, 121, 122, 123, 124, 131, 132, 133, 422, 511, 512 2) HRL Imperviousness 3) Urban Morphological Zones

Separation from green urban areas (I2) Separation of J5 water bodies from C

J6 Waste deposits J4 Transport networks and other constructed hard-surface areas J3 Extractive industrial sites J2 Low density buildings J1 Buildings of cities, towns and villages


ANNEX 5. SEBI04 ecosystem coverage in 2006 and its changes 2000-2006 In order to test the proposed classification system we applied 13 SEBI04 ecosystem types on Corine Land Cover 2006 (v.16). The map and the pie chart show the ecosystem stock in 2006. Changes between 2000 and 2006 are presented in the ‘Ecosystem coverage summary balance table 2000-2006’ and the bar diagram below. An even distribution of 9 terrestrial classes justifies the applied CLC grouping (especially valid for sparsely vegetated land comprising bare rocks, sparsely vegetated, burnt and glaciers ecosystems that separately would have only minimal coverage). Marine ecosystem (level 1) is currently represented only by CORINE Land cover class 5.2.3 ‘Sea and ocean’ that is representing the zone seaward of the lowest tide limit and extends to the limit of 12 nautical miles in the sea. This class appears only in change assessment. Transitional woodlands represent significant ecosystem coverage (6%) but more importantly it is the most dynamic ecosystem type between 2000-2006 with a total turnover of 16.2% and a net increase of 7.6%. Mapping this type separately provides important information on ecological processes in forested (management) and agricultural (land abandonment) areas. CLC based assessment of ecosystems coverage and its changes if fully compatible with land accounting methodology that enables to analyse both ecosystems stock and changes. Note: The current results present classes Agricultural mosaics, Transitional woodland and Coastal ecosystems separately as they were prepared following the SEBI04 methodology. In the proposed ecosystem classification (table 2) Agricultural mosaics are merged with Cropland, Transitional woodland are part of Woodland and forest and Coastal ecosystems are mainly within Marine ecosystems (Beaches belong to Sparsely vegetated land).


SEBI 004 Ecosystem coverage 2006

Note: Marine ecosystems presented in ecosystem coverage summary table (below) are not shown


Terrestrial and freshwater ecosystem stocks in 2006

Woodland and forest28%

Cropland25%

Agricultural mosaics11%

Grassland 11%

Sparsely or unvegetated land

6%

Transitional woodland

6%

Heathland and shrub4%

Urban4%

Rivers and lakes2%

Inland wetlands2%

Coastal1%

Others 9%

Terrestrial and freshwater ecosystem stocks in 2006


Ecosystem coverage summary balance table 2000-2006

(ha) Urban

Crop

land

Agric

ultural

mosaics

Woo

dlan

d an

d forest

Grassland

Heathland

and

shrub

Tran

sitio

nal

woo

dlan

d

Sparsely or

unvegetated

land

Inland

wetland

s

Coastal

Rivers and

lakes

Marine*

Ecosystem 2000 20,848,150 142,603,341 62,417,659 165,517,350 60,603,248 25,095,852 31,479,904 34,819,887 11,930,146 3,263,563 13,941,404 125,013,731 Consumption of initial ES ‐63,162 ‐555,496 ‐246,661 ‐3,528,860 ‐346,553 ‐167,999 ‐1,364,657 ‐189,392 ‐62,126 ‐22,239 ‐28,956 ‐4,917 Formation of new ES 709,885 258,855 115,313 1,260,401 156,720 71,389 3,742,235 125,768 14,097 30,589 94,627 1,139 Net Formation of ES 646,723 ‐296,641 ‐131,348 ‐2,268,459 ‐189,833 ‐96,610 2,377,578 ‐63,624 ‐48,029 8,350 65,671 ‐3,778 Net formation as % of initial year 3.1 ‐0.2 ‐0.2 ‐1.4 ‐0.3 ‐0.4 7.6 ‐0.2 ‐0.4 0.3 0.5 0.0 Total turnover of ES 773,047 814,351 361,974 4,789,261 503,273 239,388 5,106,892 315,160 76,223 52,828 123,583 6,056 Total turnover as % of initial year 3.7 0.6 0.6 2.9 0.8 1.0 16.2 0.9 0.6 1.6 0.9 0.0 Ecosystem 2006 21,494,873 142,306,700 62,286,311 163,248,891 60,413,415 24,999,242 33,857,482 34,756,263 11,882,117 3,271,913 14,007,075 125,009,953

*Marine ecosystem (level 1) is currently represented only by CORINE Land cover class 5.2.3 ‘Sea and ocean’ that is representing zone seaward of the lowest tide limit and extends to the limit of 12 nautic miles in the sea. It does not include coastal lagoons and estuaries.


Relative changes in ecosystem coverage 2000-2006

‐2% ‐1% 0% 1% 2% 3% 4% 5% 6% 7% 8%

Woodland and forest (‐2.268.459ha)

Inland wetlands (‐48.029ha)

Heathland, shrub and tundra (‐96.610ha)

Grassland and tall forb (‐189.833ha)

Agricultural mosaics (‐131.348ha)

Cropland (‐296.641ha)

Sparsely or unvegetated land (‐63.624ha)

Marine (‐3.778ha)

Coastal (8.350ha)

Rivers and lakes (65.671ha)

Urban (646.723ha)

Transitional woodland (2.377.578ha)

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