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Assessing land use and flood management impacts on ecosystem services in a river landscape (Upper Danube, Germany)
Author(s) -
Stammel Barbara,
Fischer Christine,
Cyffka Bernd,
Albert Christian,
Damm Christian,
Dehnhardt Alexandra,
Fischer Helmut,
Foeckler Francis,
Gerstner Lars,
Hoffmann Tim G.,
Iwanowski Janette,
Kasperidus Hans D.,
Linnemann Kathrin,
Mehl Dietmar,
Podschun Simone A.,
Rayanov Marin,
Ritz Stephanie,
Rumm Andrea,
Scholz Mathias,
SchulzZunkel Christiane,
Thiele Julia,
Venohr Markus,
Haaren Christina,
Pusch Martin T.,
Gelhaus Marion
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
river research and applications
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.679
H-Index - 94
eISSN - 1535-1467
pISSN - 1535-1459
DOI - 10.1002/rra.3669
Subject(s) - floodplain , ecosystem services , environmental resource management , water framework directive , flood myth , land use , recreation , hydropower , environmental science , flood control , water resource management , ecosystem , geography , ecology , cartography , archaeology , water quality , biology
Abstract Rivers and floodplains provide many regulating, provisioning and cultural ecosystem services (ES) such as flood risk regulation, crop production or recreation. Intensive use of resources such as hydropower production, construction of detention basins and intensive agriculture substantially change ecosystems and may affect their capacity to provide ES. Legal frameworks such as the European Water Framework Directive, Bird and Habitats Directive and Floods Directive already address various uses and interests. However, management is still sectoral and often potential synergies or trade‐offs between sectors are not considered. The ES concept could support a joint and holistic evaluation of impacts and proactively suggest advantageous options. The river ecosystem service index (RESI) method evaluates the capacity of floodplains to provide ES by using a standardized five‐point scale for 1 km‐floodplain segments based on available spatial data. This scaling allows consistent scoring of all ES and their integration into a single index. The aim of this article is to assess ES impacts of different flood prevention scenarios on a 75 km section of the Danube river corridor in Germany. The RESI method was applied to evaluate scenario effects on 13 ES with the standardized five‐point scale. Synergies and trade‐offs were identified as well as ES bundles and dependencies on land use and connectivity. The ratio of actual and former floodplain has the strongest influence on the total ES provision: the higher the percentage and area of an active floodplain, the higher the sum of ES. The RESI method proved useful to support decision‐making in regional planning.