Diversity of land cover classes Landscape composition

The diversity of land cover influences the quality and quantity of food resources and habitats. This concerns not only the heterogeneity of the agricultural landscape itself, but also the surrounding landscape matrix, which provides food resources and habitats for species occurring in the agricultural landscape. The indicator depicts the area shares of the main land cover classes (see Annex I). The spatially explicit representation at high resolution (i.e., 100 ha hexagons) enables the identification and assessment of spatial patterns of land cover as well as medium- to long-term changes (trends). The calculation of the indicator is based on the mean of a time series (currently 2017–2025) with national spatial coverage.

Last updated: 2026 Based on Indicator Sheet v2025_1

Landscape diversity (based on the mean Shannon Hill number) between 2017 and 2025, based on the Digital Basic Landscape Model (Basis-DLM) and using the classification of soil-climate regions.

The map shows the values for landscape diversity in Germany, derived from the Digital Basic Landscape Model (Basis-DLM) using the Shannon index. In the presentation, the indicator values, which are calculated for 100 ha hexagons, are aggregated at the level of soil climate regions and shown as an average value for the entire data collection period from 2017 to 2025.

The low indicator values are clearly visible in the intensively farmed Börde landscapes of central Germany and in the intensive forage-farming regions of north-western Germany. High indicator values (great landscape diversity) can be found, for example, in the Rhenish Uplands or the Franconian Alb, or more generally in the small-scale and structurally rich landscapes of central and southern Germany.

Diversity of land cover classes Landscape composition

Status of the indicator

Medium- and long-term trend of the indicator

Basis of the Survey