Land use Habitat Diversity

Information on land use is key to understanding the habitat quality of agricultural landscapes. Agricultural land use significantly determines the abundance and diversity of birds, insects, and other groups of organisms. To reliably assess biodiversity in these landscapes, a sound data basis on agricultural land use, its diversity, and its changes over time is essential. Satellite-based remote sensing offers a powerful tool for this purpose, as it provides comprehensive, regular, and objective information on land cover and land use changes. Remote sensing data is used to continuously map the status and trends of the agricultural landscape at high spatial resolution with national coverage. The maps provide the basis for deriving indicators of habitat diversity as a foundation for national trend monitoring and the evaluation of measures to conserve organism diversity in the agricultural landscape. The indicators focus on land use diversity, which reflects both spatial patterns (e.g., crop diversity) and temporal sequences of agricultural use (e.g., crop rotation). Higher land use diversity is generally associated with higher species diversity and thus represents a key indicator for monitoring the habitat quality of the agricultural landscape.