The aim of ECO²SCAPE is to generate the necessary system and action knowledge to maintain and enhance the value of biodiversity and ecosystem services in cultural landscapes. The research is based on the concept of multifunctionality of landscapes, in which perspectives and preferences regarding biodiversity and ecosystem services of different stakeholders are considered and integrated. In an interdisciplinary research approach, ECO²SCAPE further develops current methods from the fields of agricultural sociology, political science, ecoacoustics, machine learning, landscape ecology, environmental economics and ecological-economic optimization and links them in an innovative way. ECO²SCAPE thus develops practice-relevant approaches and policy recommendations for the conservation of biodiversity and ecosystem services (especially result-based and cooperative reward) and brings them to pilot implementation. This is done by considering ecological, economic and social frameworks and governance structures in the development of measures and policy instruments, e.g. in the context of acceptance measurement. At the same time, it is investigated in which local governance structures measures – also outside of policy instruments – can be initiated and implemented in the model region in the future.
One focus of the project is the coordinated development of measures that work together at the landscape level and thus have a greater impact on biodiversity than measures taken by individual farms. To implement such measures, farmers must cooperate and establish biotope networks. Examples of cooperative measures are contiguous green strips or the joint maintenance or creation of hedges.
In a co-design process, practical measures for the conservation of biodiversity are developed and implemented on a pilot basis together with farmers in the model region, taking into account regional biodiversity goals and guiding principles.
Existing policy instruments and governance structures will be analyzed in terms of their potential to support result-based and collaborative policies in order to derive target group-oriented policy recommendations for an innovative policy mix.
The values and role perceptions of different stakeholders will be analyzed to gain a comprehensive understanding of how biodiversity and ecosystem services are valued.
A deep learning model for automatic bird call identification is developed.
Spatial models of biodiversity and ecosystem services are used to determine the effectiveness of landscape-level interventions.
The costs of the measures, as well as “value-based” cost factors, are identified to further develop result-based and collaborative measures.
Ecological-economic models will be used to optimize the allocation of measures and to develop a software-based planning tool for the model region. Transferable optimization software for cooperative reward analysis will be developed.
Coordination and management includes the internal project structure and networking with other projects and partners.
All findings and results of the project will be communicated and consolidated beyond the model region. The transferability of the developed measures and methods will be tested in three cooperating biosphere reserves.
The model region is located in North Saxony, is part of the nature region “Sächsisch-Niederlausitzer Heideland” and belongs to the field of action “Altkreis Delitzscher Land” of the practice partner LPV. The region is characterized by intensive but also diverse land use, contains designated biologically unique protected areas and is representative for many cultural landscapes in Germany.
ECO²SCAPE will develop measures for the conservation of biodiversity and ecosystem services together with farmers and other stakeholders on the basis of regional biodiversity targets and guiding principles (co-design), pilot these measures and accompany them scientifically with an innovative and systemic research approach. Selected existing measures on arable land and grassland will be redesigned in such a way that they meet with the broadest possible acceptance among relevant stakeholders and in civil society and are efficient from an ecological and economic perspective. This includes, for example, management methods in the field of extensive cereal cultivation (reduced crop density in the field, reduced tillage, flowering catch crops and undersowing), protective strips (flower strips, fallow strips, green strips) or extensive grassland use (rest during the breeding season, extensive grazing). An important element in the development of the measures will be the design of result-based reward approaches and cooperative measures.
Here you can find and access (follow links in bold) our project results updated on a continuous basis.
Factsheet 1: Land use in the case study area (Download)
Factsheet 2: Machine Learning for Biodiversity Monitoring (Download)
Factsheet 3: Result–based schemes for nature conservation in agricultural landscapes – challenges and outlook (Download)
Factsheet 4: Co-Deisgn in ECO²SCAPE (Download)
Factsheet 5: Mapping and modeling of bird habitats (Download)
Factsheet 6: Cost comparison of audiomonitoring and ornithological surveys (Download)
Markova-Nenova, N., Engler, J. O., Cord, A. F., Wätzold, F. (2023): Will passive acoustic monitoring make result-based
payments more attractive? A cost comparison with human observation for farmland bird monitoring. Conservation Science and Practice. e13003
Schwengbeck L, Hölting L, Witing F (2023) Modeling Climate Regulation of Arable Soils in Northern Saxony under the Influence of Climate Change and Management Practices. Sustainability. 5:11128.
Hölting L, Busse M, Bülow S, Engler JO, Hagemann N, Joormann I, Kernecker ML, Larondelle N, Sturm A, Turkelboom F, Wätzold F, Cord AF (2022): Co-design: Working with farmers in Europe to halt the loss of biological diversity. Ecological Evidence and Solutions. 3:e12169.
Hölting, L., Speck, S., Rodriguez Barrera, G., Wendler, J. (2022) Assessing the importance of flowering weeds in agricultural landscapes. Conference Poster (ECCB, 2022, Prague)
Kernecker, M., Cord, A., Hagemann, N., Wendler, J., Knierim, A. (2022) Farmers’ relational values shape autonomy in biodiversity conservation practice -a case study from Saxony, Germany. Conference Poster (FEdA Conference, 2022)
Ogawa, R., Engler, J., Cord, A. Habitat selectivity of a farmland bird depending on the presence of agri environment schemes. Conference Poster (FEdA Conference, 2022)
Cord, A. et al. (2022) Co-designing ecologically and economically efficient measures for conserving biodiversity at landscape level. Conference presentation (IALE, 2022)
The transdisciplinary ECO²SCAPE consortium consists of two universities (TU Dresden, BTU Cottbus-Senftenberg), one non-university research institution (Leibniz-Centre for Agricultural Landscape Research e.V.) and two practice partners (Landschaftspflegeverband Nordwestsachsen e.V., Nationale Naturlandschaften Deutschland e.V.) and combines expertise from the fields of agricultural sociology, political science, ecoacoustics, machine learning, landscape ecology, environmental economics and ecological-economic optimization.
More information about our chair can be found on the homepage.
➝ Technische Universität Dresden (TUD):
Chair for Computational Landscape Ecology: Prof. Dr. Anna Cord, Dr. Lisanne Hölting, Dr. Nina Hagemann, Dr. Jan Engler, M.Sc. Julian Wendler
Chair for Machine Learning in Computer Vision: Prof. Dr. Björn Andres, M.Sc. David Stein
➝ Landschaftspflegeverband Nordwestsachsen e.V. (LPV): Stefanie Bülow, Andreas Vierling
➝ Brandenburgische Technische Universität Cottbus-Senftenberg (BTU): Prof. Dr. Frank Wätzold, Dr. Astrid Sturm, Dr. Charlotte Gerling, Dr. Nonka Markova-Nenova
➝ Leibniz-Centre for Agricultural Research e.V. (ZALF): Dr. Maria Kernecker
➝ Nationale Naturlandschaften e.V. (NNL): Dr. Neele Larondelle, Kerstin Emonds
➝ Prof. Dr. Andrea Knierim (Agricultural Sociology; University of Hohenheim)
➝ Dr. Stefan Schröder (Information and Coordination Center for Biological Diversity, Federal Agency for Agriculture and Food)
➝ Dr. Michael Beckmann (Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research – UFZ, Landscape Ecology)
➝ Honorary Professor Dr. Dr. Martin Drechsler (Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research – UFZ; Ecological-Economic Modelling)
➝ Thomas Klepel (Dübener Heide Nature Park)
A publication on carbon sequestration in agricultural soils has been produced as part of a master’s thesis: https://doi.org/10.3390/su151411128 (Schwengbeck et al. 2023). Lea Schwengbeck created
ECO²SCAPE offers excursions to the biosphere reserves involved in the project to allow for the exchange between farmers. Last year, we went to the Saxon
On May 9 and 10, 2023, the FEdA conference “How do we get into transformation?” took place in Frankfurt/Main. Representatives of the chair actively participated:
On 24.03.2023 the second networking meeting between farmers and scientists within the ECO²SCAPE project took place. At the beginning, the results of the field work
On November 28 2022, the workshop “Success factors for implementing outcome-based measures to promote biodiversity and ecosystem services in agriculture” brought together scientists, practitioners and
The Upper Lusatian Heath and Pond Landscape Biosphere Reserve has been working with farmers for a long time to implement innovative measures to protect biodiversity
