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Imaging spectroscopy has demonstrated its interest in characterizing the biochemical, biophysical and structural properties of vegetation, natural and agricultural soils, as well as artificial surfaces. Following the Hyperion mission, new space missions have emerged (PRISMA, EnMap), or are under study (CHIME, SBG). However, one of their main limitations lies in their spatial resolution that induces a large number of mixed pixels reducing their potential for discrimination for very heterogeneous areas. The BIODIVERSITY mission aims to complement these space missions with better GSD acquisitions (typically 8-10 m) with a 5-day revisit on targeted reference sites with identified and well-located characteristics. It will thus make it possible, in particular, to answer two scientific issues that will design the instrument. The first issue concerns the spatial and temporal distribution of vegetation traits in species assemblages; these traits are associated with the resilience of terrestrial ecosystems, anthropogenic influences, and the biodiversity of ecosystems in terms of species composition and assemblages. The second issue relates to improving our knowledge of coastal areas and inland waters in terms of biodiversity, water quality and bathymetry, in order to assess the impact of human activity on their ecosytems. The scientific challenges as well as the user requirements for such a mission are presented for each application.

The Amazon floodplains represent important surfaces of highly valuable ecosystems, yet they remain neglected from protected areas. While the efficiency of the protected area network of the Amazon basin may be jeopardised by climate change, floodplains are exposed to important consequences of climate change but are omitted from species distribution models and protection gap analyses. We modelled the current and future (2070) distribution of the giant bony-tongue fish Arapaima sp. accounting for climate and habitat requirements, with consideration of dam presence (already existing and planned constructions) and hydroperiod (high- and low-water stages). We further quantified the amount of suitable environment which falls inside and outside the current network of protected areas to identify spatial conservation gaps. We predict climate change to cause the decline of environmental suitability by 16.6% during the high-water stage, and by 19.4% during the low-water stage. We found that about 70% of the suitable environments of Arapaima sp. remain currently unprotected, which is likely to increase by 5% with future climate change effects. Both current and projected dam constructions may hamper population flows between the central and the Bolivian and Peruvian parts of the basin. We highlight protection gaps mostly in the southwestern part of the basin and recommend the extension of the current network of protected areas in the floodplains of the upper Ucayali, Juru\`a and Purus Rivers and their tributaries. This study showed the importance of taking into account hydroperiods and dispersal barriers in forecasting the distribution of freshwater fish species, and stresses the urgent need to integrate floodplains to the protected area networks., Comment: 30 pages, 3 figures + Appendix

Context - Prioritising is likely to differ depending on the species considered for connectivity assessments, leading to a lack of consensual decisions for territorial planning. Objectives - The objective was to assess the relevance of identifying priority areas for connectivity for groups of species based on common dispersal abilities. We aimed to assess the impact of target groups choices on predicted priority areas. Method - The study was located at the Thau Lagoon territory to demonstrate the methodological approach. Ecological niche modelling was used to quantify species resistance and to identify suitable habitat patches. We coupled the least-cost path methodology with circuit theory to assess species connectivity. We classified connectivity from high to low levels and averaged the results by dispersal groups. Results - We found important differences in identified priority areas between groups with dissimilar dispersal abilities, with little overlap between highly connected areas. We identified a gap between the level of protection of low dispersal species and highly connected areas. We found mismatches between existing corridors and connectivity in low dispersal species, and a greater impact in areas of expected urban sprawl projects on favourably connected areas for species with high dispersal capabilities. Conclusion - We have demonstrated that a diversity of dispersal capacity ranges must be accounted for in order to identify ecological corridors in programmes that aim to restore habitat connectivity at territorial levels. Our findings are oriented to support the decisions of planning initiatives, at both local and regional scale., 18 pages, 7 figures + Appendix

The Mediterranean seagrass Posidonia oceanica, which provides highly valuable ecosystem services, is subject to increasing anthropogenic pressures, causing habitat loss or fragmentation. Whilst airborne images and acoustic data can be used for monitoring seagrass coverage at a macro-scale and over long time periods, monitoring its health in the short term requires precision mapping in order to assess current regression/progression of individual meadows. However, current fine-scale underwater techniques in the field are imprecise and time-demanding. We propose an automatic classification approach based on underwater photogrammetry for an operational, cost- and time-effective fine-scale monitoring method. The method uses a property of the sparse cloud generated during bundle adjustment—the reconstruction uncertainty—to map seagrass patches. The mean precision, recall and F1 score of the method over 21 study sites with different morphologies were 0.79, 0.91 and 0.84, respectively. However, the fragmentation level of the meadows had a significant negative effect on classification performances. The temporal monitoring of 3 sites using this method proved its operability and showed a positive evolution index of the corresponding meadows over a period of 3 yr. This method is generalizable for most encountered configurations and can be integrated in a large monitoring system, as it enables the production of numerous seagrass maps over a short period of time. Moreover, our methodology could be generalized and applied in the study of other submerged aquatic vegetation by adjusting the method’s parameters.

The prevention of biodiversity loss in agricultural landscapes to protect ecosystem stability and functions is of major importance in itself and for the maintenance of associated ecosystem services. Intense agriculture leads to a loss in species richness and homogenization of species pools as well as the fragmentation of natural habitats and groundwater pollution. Constructed wetlands stand as nature-based solutions (NBS) to buffer the degradation of water quality by intercepting the transfer of particles, nutrients and pesticides between crops and surface waters. In karstic watersheds where sinkholes short-cut surface water directly to groundwater increasing water resource vulnerability, constructed wetlands are recommended to mitigate agricultural pollutants. Constructed wetlands also have the potential to improve landscape connectivity by providing refuge and breeding sites for wildlife, especially for amphibians. We propose here a methodology to identify optimal locations for water pollution mitigation using constructed wetlands from the perspective of habitat connectivity. We use ecological niche modelling at the regional scale to model the potential of habitat suitability for nine amphibian species, and to infer how the landscape impedes species movements. We combine those results to graph theory to identify connectivity priorities at the operational scale of an agricultural catchment area. Our framework allowed us to identify optimal areas from the point of view of the species, to analyze the effect of multifunctional constructed wetlands aiming to both reduce water pollution and to improve amphibian species habitat overall connectivity. More generally, we show the potential of habitat connectivity assessment to improve multifunctionality of NBS for pollution mitigation., Comment: 26 pages, 4 figures

La planification territoriale est au coeur de l’amenagement et du developpement territorial, notamment pour la repartition territoriale des biens publics locaux qui sont au fondement de l’economie spatiale (Derycke et Gilbert, 1988), et plus recemment de la nouvelle economie geographique (Krugman, 1991). Elle s’appuie sur des documents de planification territoriale dont les Schemas de coherence territoriale (SCoT) sont emblematiques. Differents domaines sont concernes : la planification des reseaux de transports (Gauthier, 2005), la gestion des risques et des services ecosystemiques (SE) (De Groot et al., 2010) tant pour l’identification des enjeux que le suivi des evolutions ou le controle des mesures de regulation (Choy et al., 2016). Ces travaux illustrent l’interet des cartes comme ressource commune que l’on peut qualifier de capital informationnel (Akoka et al., 2019).

The debate around the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has raised multiple and incompletely answered questions regarding how zoonoses are transmitted from wild populations to humans, how they spread within human communities, over regions and across continents, how countries and societies can fight or counter pandemics and how landscapes will have to be effectively managed for limiting the spread of diseases keeping communities safe and healthy. info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion

International audience; Monitoring the ecological status of natural habitats is crucial to the conservation process, as it enables the implementation of efficient conservation policies. Nowadays, it is increasingly possible to automate species identification, given the availability of very large image databases and state-of-the-art computational power which makes the training of automated machine learning-based classification models an increasingly viable tool for monitoring marine habitats. Coralligenous reefs are an underwater habitat of particular importance, found in the Mediterranean. This habitat is of a similar biocomplexity to coral reefs. They have been monitored in French waters since 2010 using manually annotated photo quadrats (RECOR monitoring network). Based on the large database of annotations accumulated therein, we have trained convolutional neural networks to automatically recognise coralligenous species using the data gathered from photo quadrats. Previous studies conducted on similar habitats performed well, but were only able to consider a limited number of classes, resulting in a very coarse description of these often-complex habitats. We therefore designed a custom network based on off-theshelf architectures which is able to discriminate between 61 classes with 72.59% accuracy. Our results showed that confusion errors were for the most part taxonomically coherent, showing accuracy performances of 84.47% when the task was simplified to 15 major categories, thereby outperforming the human accuracy previously recorded in a similar study. In light of this, we built a semi-automated tool to reject unsure results and reduce error risk, for when a higher level of accuracy is required. Finally, we used our model to assess the biodiversity and ecological status of coralligenous reefs with the Coralligenous Assemblage Index (CAI) and the Shannon Index. Our results showed that whilst the prediction of the CAI was only moderately accurate (pearson correlation between observed and predicted CAI = 0.61), the prediction of Shannon Index was more accurate (pearson correlation = 0.74). In conclusion, it will be argued that the approach outlined by this study offers a cost and time-effective tool for the analysis of coralligenous assemblages which is suitable for integration into a large-scale monitoring network of this habitat.

With the unprecedented rate of biodiversity change in the world today, understanding how diversity gradients are maintained at mesoscales is a key challenge. Drawing on information provided by 3 comprehensive fishery surveys (conducted in different years but in the same season and with the same sampling design), we used boosted regression tree (BRT) models in order to relate spatial patterns of α-diversity in a demersal fish assemblage to environmental variables in the San Matias Gulf (Patagonia, Argentina). We found that, over a 4 yr period, persistent diversity gradients of species richness and probability of an interspecific encounter (PIE) were shaped by 3 main environmental gradients: bottom depth, connectivity with the open ocean, and proximity to a thermal front. The 2 main patterns we observed were: a monotonic increase in PIE with proximity to fronts, which had a stronger effect at greater depths; and an increase in PIE when closer to the open ocean (a 'bay effect' pattern). The originality of this work resides on the identification of high-resolution gradients in local, demersal assemblages driven by static and dynamic environmental gradients in a mesoscale seascape. The maintenance of environmental gradients, specifically those associated with shared resources and connectivity with an open system, may be key to understanding community stability. Fil: Svendsen, Guillermo. Centro de Investigacion Aplicada y Transferencia Tecnologica En Recursos Marinos Almirante Storni; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Universidad Nacional del Comahue. Centro Regional Universitario Bariloche; Argentina Fil: Ocampo Reinaldo, Matías. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Centro de Investigacion Aplicada y Transferencia Tecnologica En Recursos Marinos Almirante Storni; Argentina. Universidad Nacional del Comahue. Centro Regional Universitario Bariloche; Argentina Fil: Romero, Maria Alejandra. Universidad Nacional del Comahue. Centro Regional Universitario Bariloche; Argentina. Centro de Investigacion Aplicada y Transferencia Tecnologica En Recursos Marinos Almirante Storni; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina Fil: Williams, Gabriela Noemí. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Universidad Nacional del Comahue. Centro de Investigación Aplicada y Transferencia Tecnológica en Recursos Marinos "Almirante Storni". - Provincia de Río Negro. Ministerio de Agricultura, Ganadería y Pesca. Centro de Investigación Aplicada y Transferencia Tecnológica en Recursos Marinos "Almirante Storni". Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet Centro Nacional Patagónico. Centro de Investigación Aplicada y Transferencia Tecnológica en Recursos Marinos "Almirante Storni"; Argentina Fil: Magurran, Anne. University of St. Andrews; Reino Unido Fil: Luque, Sandra. University of St. Andrews; Reino Unido. UMR TETIS; Francia Fil: González, Raul Alberto Candido. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Centro de Investigacion Aplicada y Transferencia Tecnologica En Recursos Marinos Almirante Storni; Argentina. Universidad Nacional del Comahue. Centro Regional Universitario Bariloche; Argentina

The promise that ecosystem service assessments will contribute to better decision-making is not yet proven. We analyse how knowledge on ecosystem services is actually used to inform land and water management in 22 case studies covering different social-ecological systems in European and Latin American countries. None of the case studies reported instrumental use of knowledge in a sense that ecosystem service knowledge would have served as an impartial arbiter between policy options. Yet, in most cases, there was some evidence of conceptual learning as a result of close interaction between researchers, practitioners and stakeholders. We observed several factors that constrained knowledge uptake, including competing interests and political agendas, scientific disputes, professional norms and competencies, and lack of vertical and horizontal integration. Ecosystem knowledge played a small role particularly in those planning and policy-making situations where it challenged established interests and the current distribution of benefits from ecosystems. The factors that facilitated knowledge use included application of transparent participatory methods, social capital, policy champions and clear synergies between ecosystem services and human well-being. The results are aligned with previous studies which have emphasized the importance of building local capacity, ownership and trust for the long-term success of ecosystem service research. EEA Santa Cruz Fil: Saarikoski, Heli. Finnish Environment Institute; Finlandia Fil: Primmer, Eeva. Finnish Environment Institute; Finlandia Fil: Saarela, Sanna-Riikka. Finnish Environment Institute; Finlandia Fil: Antunes, Paula. Universidade Nova de Lisboa. Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia. Centre for Environmental and Sustainability Research; Portugal Fil: Baró, Francesc. Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Institute of Environmental Science and Technology; España. Hospital del Mar Medical Research Institute; España Fil: Berry, Pam. University of Oxford. Environmental Change Institute; Gran Bretaña Fil: Garcia Blanko, Gemma. Fundación Tecnalia Research & Innovation. Energy and Environment Division. Parque Tecnológico de Bizkaia; España Fil: Gómez-Baggethun, Erik. Norwegian University of Life Sciences. Department of International Environment and Development Studies; Noruega. Norwegian Institute for Nature Research (NINA); Noruega Fil: Carvalho, Lawrence. Center for Ecology and Hydrology; Gran Bretaña Fil: Dick, Jan. Center for Ecology and Hydrology; Gran Bretaña Fil: Dunford, Robert. University of Oxford. Environmental Change Institute; Gran Bretaña. Lancaster Environment Centre. Centre for Ecology and Hydrology; Gran Bretaña Fil: Hanzu, Mihail. Romanian National Institute for Research and Development in Silviculture; Rumania Fil: Harrison, Paula A. Lancaster Environment Centre. Centre for Ecology and Hydrology; Gran Bretaña Fil: Izakovicova, Zita. Slovak Academy of Science. Institute of Landscape Ecology; Eslovaquia Fil: Kertész, Miklós. Hungarian Academy of Sciences. Centre for Ecological Research. Institute of Ecology and Botany; Hungría Fil: Kopperoinen, Leena. Finnish Environment Institute; Finlandia Fil: Köhler, Berit. Norwegian Institute for Nature Research (NINA); Noruega Fil: Langemeyer, Johannes. Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Institute of Environmental Science and Technology; España. Hospital del Mar Medical Research Institute. Barcelona Lab for Urban Environmental Justice and Sustainability; España Fil: Lapola, David. Universidade Estadual de Campinas. Center for Meteorological and Climatic Studies Applied to Agriculture (CEPAGRI); Brasil Fil: Liquete, Camino. Joint Research Centre (JRC). European Commission; Italia Fil: Luque, Sandra. National Research Institute of Science and Technology for Environment and Agriculture; Francia Fil: Mederly, Peter. Constantine the Philosopher University in Nitra. Department of Ecology and Environmental Sciences; Eslovaquia Fil: Niemelä, Jari. University of Helsinki. Department of Environmental Sciences; Finlandia Fil: Palomo, Ignacio. University of the Basque Country. Basque Centre for Climate Change; España. Fil: Martínez Pastur, Guillermo José. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Austral de Investigaciones Cientificas; Argentina Fil: Peri, Pablo Luis. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Santa Cruz; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de la Patagonia Austral; Argentina. Comisión Nacional de Investigación Científica y Tecnológica; Argentina Fil: Preda, Elena. University of Bucharest. Research Center in Systems Ecology and Sustainability; Rumania Fil: Priess, Joerg A. Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research; Alemania Fil: Santos, Rui Ferreira Dos. Universidade Nova de Lisboa. Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia. Centre for Environmental and Sustainability Research; Portugal Fil: Schleyer, Christian. Alpen-Adria-University Klagenfurt. Institute of Social Ecology; Austria. University of Kassel. Section of International Agricultural Policy and Environmental Governance; Alemania Fil: Turkelboom, Francis. Research Institute for Nature and Forest; Bélgica Fil: Vadineanu, Angheluta. University of Bucharest. Research Center in Systems Ecology and Sustainability; Rumania Fil: Verheyden, Wim. Research Institute for Nature and Forest; Bélgica Fil: Vikström, Suvi. Finnish Environment Institute; Finlandia Fil: Young, Juliette. Center for Ecology and Hydrology; Gran Bretaña Fil: Aszalós, Réka. Institute of Ecology and Botany, MTA Centre for Ecological Research; Hungría

Spatial planning has to deal with trade-offs between various stakeholders’ wishes and needs as part of planning and management of landscapes, natural resources and/or biodiversity. To make ecosystem services (ES) trade-off research more relevant for spatial planning, we propose an analytical framework, which puts stakeholders, their land-use/management choices, their impact on ES and responses at the centre. Based on 24 cases from around the world, we used this framing to analyse the appearance and diversity of real-world ES trade-offs. They cover a wide range of trade-offs related to ecosystem use, including: land-use change, management regimes, technical versus nature-based solutions, natural resource use, and management of species. The ES trade-offs studied featured a complexity that was far greater than what is often described in the ES literature. Influential users and context setters are at the core of the trade-off decision-making, but most of the impact is felt by non-influential users. Provisioning and cultural ES were the most targeted in the studied trade-offs, but regulating ES were the most impacted. Stakeholders’ characteristics, such as influence, impact faced, and concerns can partially explain their position and response in relation to trade-offs. Based on the research findings, we formulate recommendations for spatial planning. Fil: Turkelboom, Francis. Research Institute For Nature And Forest; Bélgica Fil: Leone, Michael. Research Institute For Nature And Forest, Brussels; Fil: Jacobs, Sander. Research Institute For Nature And Forest, Brussels; Fil: Kelemen, Eszter. Environmental Social Science Research Group; Hungría. Corvinus University of Budapest; Hungría Fil: García Llorente, Marina. Universidad Autónoma de Madrid; España Fil: Baró, Francesc. Hospital del Mar; España. Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona; España Fil: Termansen, Mette. University Aarhus; Dinamarca Fil: Barton, David N.. Norwegian Institute For Nature Research; Noruega Fil: Berry, Pam. University of Oxford; Reino Unido Fil: Stange, Erik. Norwegian Institute For Nature Research; Noruega Fil: Thoonen, Marijke. Research Institute For Nature And Forest; Bélgica Fil: Kalóczkai, Ágnes. Hungarian Academy Of Sciences. Institute Of Ecology And Botany; Hungría Fil: Vadineanu, Angheluta. Universitatea Din Bucuresti; Rumania Fil: Castro, Antonio J.. Idaho State University; Estados Unidos. Universidad de Almeria; España Fil: Czúcz, Bálint. Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle; Francia. Hungarian Academy Of Sciences. Institute Of Ecology And Botany; Hungría Fil: Röckmann, Christine. Wageningen University And Research Centre; Países Bajos Fil: Wurbs, Daniel. Geoflux; Alemania Fil: Odee, David. Kenya Forestry Research Institute; Kenia Fil: Preda, Elena. Universitatea Din Bucuresti; Rumania Fil: Gómez Baggethun, Erik. University of Oxford; Reino Unido Fil: Rusch, Graciela M.. Norwegian Institute For Nature Research; Noruega Fil: Martínez Pastur, Guillermo José. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Austral de Investigaciones Científicas; Argentina Fil: Palomo, Ignacio. Universidad Autónoma de Madrid; España Fil: Dick, Jan. Center for Ecology and Hydrology; Reino Unido Fil: Casaer, Jim. Research Institute for Nature and Forest; Bélgica Fil: van Dijk, Jiska. Norwegian Institute For Nature Research; Noruega Fil: Priess, Joerg A.. Helmholtz Zentrum Für Umweltforschung; Alemania Fil: Langemeyer, Johannes. Hospital del Mar; España. Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona; España Fil: Mustajoki, Jyri. Finnish Environment Institute; Finlandia Fil: Kopperoinen, Leena. Finnish Environment Institute; Finlandia Fil: Baptist, Martin J.. Wageningen University And Research Centre; Países Bajos Fil: Peri, Pablo Luis. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria. Centro Regional Buenos Aires; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina Fil: Mukhopadhyay, Raktima. Indian Institute Of Bio Social Research And Development; India Fil: Aszalós, Réka. Hungarian Academy Of Sciences. Institute of Ecology and Botany; Argentina Fil: Roy, S. B.. Indian Institute Of Bio Social Research And Development; India Fil: Luque, Sandra. Territoires, Environnement, Télédétection Et Information Spatiale; Francia Fil: Rusch, Verónica. Instituto Nacional de Tecnologia Agropecuaria Bariloche; Argentina

This work was partly Funded by the French Ministry of Ecology, Sustainable Development and Energy, France in support of the development of the DEB-MOCHAB project (2013–2015) (Species distribution modelling: a tool for evaluation the conservation of species’ habitats and ecological continuities). This work was also partially supported by the OpenNESS project funded from the European Union’s Seventh Programme for research, technological development and demonstration under grant agreement n° 308428. Context Bats are considered as an ecological indicator of habitat quality due to their sensitivity to human-induced ecosystem changes. Hence, we will focus the study on two indicator species of bats as a proxy to evaluate structure and composition of the landscape to analyze anthropic pressures driving changes in patterns. Objectives This study develops a spatially-explicit model to highlight key habitat nodes and corridors which are integral for maintaining functional landscape connectivity for bat movement. We focus on a complex mountain landscape and two bat species: greater (Rhinolophus ferrumequinum) and lesser (Rhinolophus hipposideros) horseshoe bats which are known to be sensitive to landscape composition and configuration. Methods Species distribution models are used to delineate high-quality foraging habitat for each species using opportunistic ultrasonic bat data. We then performed connectivity analysis combining (modelled) suitable foraging habitat and (known) roost sites. We use graph-theory and the deviation in the probability of connectivity to quantify resilience of the landscape connectivity to perturbations. Results Both species were confined to lowlands (

International audience; This is an introduction to the issue: Special feature: improving biodiversity monitoring using satellite remote sensing. The preservation of biodiversity has become a major challenge for sustainable development at national, European (Natura 2000 and Habitats Directive) and international levels (Convention on Biological Diversity, 2011-2020). To address the current conservation needs, there is a need to operationalise methods to assess the distribution of natural resources while integrating information on habitat condition; inform conservation planning and support the assessment of ecosystem services. Increased access to satellite imagery and new developments in data analyses can support progress towards biodiversity conservation targets by stepping up monitoring processes at various spatial and temporal scales. Satellite remote sensing is however no panacea, and little can be achieved without a robust understanding of the socio‐ecological system considered. We aim to demonstrate how the coupling of satellite remote sensing data with ground observations and adequate modelling can provide tangible operational solutions towards a better understanding and management of natural systems.

GIS-based Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis is a well-known decision support tool that can be used in a wide variety of contexts. It is particularly useful for territorial planning in situations where several actors with different, and sometimes contradictory, point of views have to take a decision regarding land use development. While the impact of the weights used to represent the relative importance of criteria has been widely studied in the recent literature, the impact of the order weights used to combine the criteria have rarely been investigated. This paper presents a spatial sensitivity analysis to assess the impact of order weights determination in GIS-based Multi-Criteria Analysis by Ordered Weighted Averaging. We propose a methodology based on an efficient exploration of the decision-strategy space defined by the level of risk and trade-off in the decision process. We illustrate our approach with a land use planning process in the South of France. The objective is to find suitable areas for urban development while preserving green areas and their associated ecosystem services. The ecosystem service approach has indeed the potential to widen the scope of traditional landscape-ecological planning by including ecosystem-based benefits, including social and economic benefits, green infrastructures and biophysical parameters in urban and territorial planning. We show that in this particular case the decision-strategy space can be divided into four clusters. Each of them is associated with a map summarizing the average spatial suitability distribution used to identify potential areas for urban development. We also demonstrate the pertinence of a spatial variance within-cluster analysis to disentangle the relationship between risk and trade-off values. At the end, we perform a site suitability ranking analysis to assess the relationship between the four detected clusters., 12 pages, 7 figures + Appendix

The quantitative characterization of landscape structure is critical to assess conservation, and monitor and manage biodiversity. The Mediterranean Basin is a biodiversity hotspot that illustrates the strong relationship between biodiversity and the complexity of the landscape mosaic. Our objective was to test the relevance of two textural indices and one radiometric index (the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI)) to characterize vegetation structure. These indices could be used as indicators of vegetation composition and organization of four vertical strata when derived from airborne and Pl&eacute, iades space-borne VHSR imagery. More specifically, we analyzed the influence of the spatial resolution and the radiometric information on the characterization of the landscape structure. Our results indicated that NDVI information at 0.5 m spatial resolution was necessary to be able to incorporate the heterogeneity of vegetation structure. Indices derived from lower resolution NDVI images or different radiometric information than airborne images also proved to be sensitive to vegetation fragmentation and composition. NDVI images brought out details on ligneous/herbs patterns while panchromatic image brought out more details on herbs/bare soil patterns. Combined textural and NDVI indices show strong potential for vegetation structure understanding, allowing detailed mapping. NDVI information shows good potential for applications related to landscape closure dynamics, related habitat degradation indicators caused by shrub encroachment. Panchromatic derived information, on the other hand, provides information relevant in applications focusing grazing management.

The delimitation of bioregions helps to understand historical and ecological drivers of species distribution. In this work, we performed a network analysis of the spatial distribution patterns of plants in south of France (Languedoc-Roussillon and Provence-Alpes-C\^ote d'Azur) to analyze the biogeographical structure of the French Mediterranean flora at different scales. We used a network approach to identify and characterize biogeographical regions, based on a large database containing 2.5 million of geolocalized plant records corresponding to more than 3500 plant species. This methodology is performed following five steps, from the biogeographical bipartite network construction, to the identification of biogeographical regions under the form of spatial network communities, the analysis of their interactions and the identification of clusters of plant species based on the species contribution to the biogeographical regions. First, we identified two sub-networks that distinguish Mediterranean and temperate biota. Then, we separated eight statistically significant bioregions that present a complex spatial structure. Some of them are spatially well delimited, and match with particular geological entities. On the other hand fuzzy transitions arise between adjacent bioregions that share a common geological setting, but are spread along a climatic gradient. The proposed network approach illustrates the biogeographical structure of the flora in southern France, and provides precise insights into the relationships between bioregions. This approach sheds light on ecological drivers shaping the distribution of Mediterranean biota: the interplay between a climatic gradient and geological substrate shapes biodiversity patterns. Finally this work exemplifies why fragmented distributions are common in the Mediterranean region, isolating groups of species that share a similar eco-evolutionary history., Comment: 16 pages, 7 figures + Appendix

The key findings and key messages from the regional assessment for Europe and Central Asia of the interlinkages between health and biodiversity are given in this background paper, as an overview of the main conclusions in this field. In addition, this paper highlights the links between biodiversity and health at various spatial and temporal scales, further elabo-rated upon in a diversity of cases. These cases, ranging from issues around microbiota, Asian bush mosquitos, forest and marine ecosystems, and biodiversity and health issues at a national scale, emphasise not only the diverse range of ways by which biodiversity can have an impact on health and social well-being, but also the importance of integrating the issue of biodiversity and health into our efforts to meet the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030. The first case on microbial biodiversity is directly linked to human health issues, and is also expected to have implications for the next generation. The current invasion of the Asian bush mosquito in Europe impairs physical health as the mosquito is a vector of vari-ous pathogens. Both forest and marine biodiversity are shown to affect a combination of physical and mental health, as well as social wellbeing and the ‘OneHealth/EcoHealth’ ap-proach is described in the national case from as a transdisciplinary effort to implement ac-tions that promote adaptive health management across human, animal and ecosystem inter-faces. Nøkkelfunnene og -informasjonen fra den regionale vurderingen for Europa og Sentral-Asia av sammenhenger mellom helse og biologisk mangfold er gjengitt i denne bakgrunnsrapporten som en oversikt over nåværende kunnskapsstatus på dette forskningsfeltet. Rapporten gir også de viktigste funnene om sammenhengen mellom biodi-versitet og helse i ulike romlige og tidsmessige skalaer, eksemplifisert i ulike studier. Studi-ene, som spenner fra problemstillinger tilknyttet mikrobiota, asiatiske buskmygg, skogs- og marine økosystemer og biologisk mangfold og helseproblemer på en nasjonal skala, legger ikke bare vekt på den mangfoldige måten som biologisk mangfold kan påvirke helse og so-sial velvære på, men også viktigheten av å integrere problemstillingen i vårt arbeid for å mø-te bærekrafts-målene innen 2030. Studien om mangfoldet av mikrober er direkte tilknyttet helseproblematikk som også vil påvirke senere generasjoner. Den nåværende invasjonen av den asiatiske myggen Aedes japonicus i Europa forringer fysisk helse fordi myggen er en vektor for ulike patogener. Både skogs- og marinbiologisk mangfold påvirker en kombina-sjon av fysisk og psykisk helse, så vel som sosial velvære, og OneHealth/EcoHealth-tilnærmingen er adressert i den nasjonale studien fra Belgia.

International audience; The Mediterranean forests have been used for millennia and are organized according to a heterogeneous and complex landscape particularly beneficial to biological diversity. The forests have been degraded by overgrazing and exploitation for firewood, but also as a result of fires. Such forest areas may become open, secondary forests with several understories, but if not properly managed they may turn into varied types of high or low matorral (dry shrubland) or in some areas to heathlands that could be degraded into sparsely vegetated areas. As a result, there is an urgent need for monitoring tools to inform changes in this valuable ecosystem to support public policies to protect a sustainable management of these biodiversity hotspots. In the framework of the Essential Biodiversity Variables (EBV) developed by the GEO-BON, six classes of variables have been defined to cover different key indicators, including ecosystem structure, which is intimately linked to the fauna and flora richness. Remotely-sensed earth observation (RS) has become essential to provide a rapid, repeated and synoptic access of these EBVs (i.e., RS-enabled EBVs): the increasing availability of open access satellite data provides enhanced possibilities to monitor this natural landscape under increasing anthropic pressures. Mediterranean ecosystem could be monitor with various types of sensors, providing information on key indicators like structure, function and composition at frequent revisit times and high to very high spatial resolution. The support of innovative descriptors involving tools such as light sensors embedded on drones, spectro-radiometers or terrestrial Lidar are also needed.

International audience; Landscape heterogeneity is a key factor for understanding ecosystems function and is often associated to high biodiversity. Yet, its characterization for biodiversity monitoring still remains challenging, especially for very heterogeneous landscapes mosaics. In this work, we study the potential of Fourier-based Textural Ordination (FOTO) applied on high resolution airborne optical images to provide synthetic information about landscape fragmentation of Mediterranean heterogeneous landscapes. The ability of texture indices resulting from FOTO combined with vegetation indices to predict landscape metrics was also tested using non linear SVM regression. Our research showed that FOTO methods had great potential to finely characterize different vegetation strata organization at large scale with only few synthetic indices. Best regression results were obtained for ligneous and ground strata fragmentation with coefficient of determination greater than 0.7.

Made available in DSpace on 2018-12-11T16:50:30Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2018-02-01 The Ecosystem Services (ES) concept highlights the varied contributions the environment provides to humans and there are a wide range of methods/tools available to assess ES. However, in real-world decision contexts a single tool is rarely sufficient and methods must be combined to meet practitioner needs. Here, results from the OpenNESS project are presented to illustrate the methods selected to meet the needs of 24 real-world case studies and better understand why and how methods are combined to meet practical needs. Results showed that within the cases methods were combined to: i) address a range of ES; ii) assess both supply and demand of ES; iii) assess a range of value types; iv) reach different stakeholder groups v) cover weaknesses in other methods used and vi) to meet specific decision context needs. Methods were linked in a variety of ways: i) as input–output chains of methods; ii) through learning; iii) through method development and iv) through comparison/triangulation of results. The paper synthesises these case study-based experiences to provide insight to others working in practical contexts as to where, and in what contexts, different methods can be combined and how this can add value to case study analyses. Environmental Change Institute, Dyson Perrins Building, South Parks Road Centre for Ecology & Hydrology Maclean Building, Benson Lane, Crowmarsh Gifford Centre for Ecology and Hydrology Lancaster Environment Centre, Library Avenue, Bailrigg Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, Bush Estate Norwegian Institute for Nature Research (NINA), Gaustadalléen 21 Leuphana University of Lüneburg Faculty of Sustainability Institute of Ethics and Transdisciplinary Sustainability Research, Scharnhorststraβe 1 Environmental Social Science Research Group (ESSRG Ltd.), Rómer Flóris u. 38. Department of Decision Sciences Corvinus University of Budapest, Fővám tér 8. Research Institute for Nature and Forest (INBO), Kliniekstraat 25 Finnish Environment Institute, P.O. Box 140 Helmholtz-Centre for Environmental Research – UFZ, Permoserstraße 15 CoKnow Consulting – Coproducing Knowledge for Sustainability CENSE – Centre for Environmental and Sustainability Research Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia Universidade Nova de Lisboa Institute of Ecology and Botany Centre for Ecological Research Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Alkotmány u. 2-4 National Institute for Research and Development in Forestry “Marin Dracea”, Eroilor Blvd 128 Institute of Environmental Science and Technology (ICTA) Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB) Edifici Z (ICTA-ICP), Carrer de les Columnes s/n, Campus de la UAB European Topic Centre on Biological Diversity Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle, 57 rue Cuvier, Paris Cedex 05 Urban Environment and Territorial Sustainability Area Energy and Environment Dividision Parque Tecnológico de Bizkaia C/Geldo, Edificio 700 University of Bucharest – Research Center in Systems Ecology and Sustainability, Splaiul Independentei 91-95 Department of International Environment and Development Studies (Noragric) Norwegian University of Life Sciences (NMBU), P.O. Box 5003 European Commission – Joint Research Centre (JRC), Via E. Fermi 2749 Institute of Landscape Ecology Slovak Academy of Sciences, Štefánikova 3 IRSTEA National Research Institute of Science and Technology for Environment and Agriculture UMR TETIS, 500 rue JF Breton UNESP – Universidade Estadual Paulista Ecology Department – LabTerra, Av.24-A, 1515 CEP Centro Austral de Investigaciones Científicas (CADIC CONICET), Houssay 200, Ushuaia (9140) IBRAD (Indian Institute of Bio Social Research and Development), VIP Road, Kestopur, Prafulla Kanan Department of Environmental Sciences, P.O. Box 65, FI-00014 University of Helsinki Kenya Forestry Research Institute (KEFRI), P.O.Box 20412-0200 Basque Centre for Climate Change, Alameda de Urquijo 4 INCLINE – Interdisciplinary Climate Change Research Group Instituto de Astronomia e Geofísica USP – Universidade de São Paulo, R. do Matão, 1226 – Butantã Wageningen University & Research – Marine (WUR), P.O.Box 57 IRIDRA, Via La Marmora Hospital del Mar Medical Research Institute (IMIM) PRBB, Carrer Doctor Aiguader 88 UNESP – Universidade Estadual Paulista Ecology Department – LabTerra, Av.24-A, 1515 CEP

Made available in DSpace on 2018-12-11T17:17:07Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2018-02-01 The operational challenges of integrated ecosystem service (ES) appraisals are determined by study purpose, system complexity and uncertainty, decision-makers’ requirements for reliability and accuracy of methods, and approaches to stakeholder–science interaction in different decision contexts. To explore these factors we defined an information gap hypothesis, based on a theory of cumulative uncertainty in ES appraisals. When decision context requirements for accuracy and reliability increase, and the expected uncertainty of the ES appraisal methods also increases, the likelihood of methods being used is expected to drop, creating a potential information gap in governance. In order to test this information gap hypothesis, we evaluate 26 case studies and 80 ecosystem services appraisals in a large integrated EU research project. We find some support for a decreasing likelihood of ES appraisal methods coinciding with increasing accuracy and reliability requirements of the decision-support context, and with increasing uncertainty. We do not find that information costs are the explanation for this information gap, but rather that the research project interacted mostly with stakeholders outside the most decision-relevant contexts. The paper discusses how alternative definitions of integrated valuation can lead to different interpretations of decision-support information, and different governance approaches to dealing with uncertainty. Institute for Nature Research (NINA), Gaustadalléen 21 Environmental Social Science Research Group (ESSRG Ltd.), Rómer Flóris u.38 Department of Decision Sciences Corvinus University of Budapest, Fővám tér 8 Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, Bush Estate, Penicuik Leuphana University of Lüneburg Faculty of Sustainability Institute of Ethics and Transdisciplinary Sustainability Research, Scharnhorststraβe 1 Department of International Environment and Development Studies (Noragric) Norwegian University of Life Sciences (NMBU), P.O. Box 5003, N-1432 Ås Research Group Nature and Society Research Institute for Nature and Forest (INBO), Kliniekstraat 25 Wageningen University and Research Environmental Research (Alterra), P.O. Box 47 ENVS Aarhus University Department of Applied Research and Agricultural Extension Madrid Institute for Rural Agricultural and Food Research and Development (IMIDRA) Ctra. Madrid-Barcelona (N-II), KM. 38.200, 28802 Alcalá de Henares Finnish Environment Institute, P.O. Box 140 Environmental Change Institute, Dyson Perrins Building, South Parks Road Centre for Ecology & Hydrology Maclean Building, Benson Lane, Crowmarsh Gifford Norwegian Institute for Nature Research (NINA), Postboks 5685 Torgarden Basque Centre for Climate Change (BC3) Scientific Campus of the University of the Basque Country, Sede Building 1, 1st Floor Department of Environmental Sciences, P.O. Box 65, FI-00014 University of Helsinki Institute of Environmental Science and Technology (ICTA) Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB) Edifici Z (ICTA-ICP), Carrer de les Columnes s/n, Campus de la UAB, 08193 Cerdanyola del Vallès Wageningen University and Research Marine Research (IMARES), P.O. Box 57, 1780 AB, Den Helder, Wageningen Department of Ecology and Environmental Sciences Constantine the Philosopher University in Nitra, Tr. A. Hlinku 1 Helmholtz-Centre for Environmental Research – UFZ, Permoserstraße 15 National Research Institute of Science and Technology for Environment and Agriculture IRSTEA UMR TETIS, 500 rue JF BRETON CENSE – Centre for Environmental and Sustainability Research Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia Universidade Nova de Lisboa Kenya Forestry Research Institute (KEFRI), P.O. Box 20412-0200 Centro Austral de Investigaciones Científicas (CADIC CONICET), Houssay 200, Ushuaia (9140) Tierra del Fuego Fundación Tecnalia Research & Innovation Energy and Environment Division Parque Tecnológico de Bizkaia C/Geldo, Edificio 700 National Institute for Research and Development in Forestry “Marin Dracea”, Eroilor Blvd 128 Institute of Ecology and Botany MTA Centre for Ecological Research, Alkotmány u. 2-4. IRIDRA Srl, Via La Marmora, 51 University of Bucharest – Research Center in Systems Ecology and Sustainability, Splaiul Independentei 91-95 IBRAD (Indian Institute of Bio Social Research and Development), VIP Road, Kestopur, Prafulla Kanan UNESP – Universidade Estadual Paulista Ecology Department – LabTerra, Av.24-A, 1515 CEP, 13506-900 UNESP – Universidade Estadual Paulista Ecology Department – LabTerra, Av.24-A, 1515 CEP, 13506-900

Made available in DSpace on 2018-12-11T17:15:22Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2018-02-01 The ecosystem service (ES) concept is becoming mainstream in policy and planning, but operational influence on practice is seldom reported. Here, we report the practitioners’ perspectives on the practical implementation of the ES concept in 27 case studies. A standardised anonymous survey (n = 246), was used, focusing on the science-practice interaction process, perceived impact and expected use of the case study assessments. Operationalisation of the concept was shown to achieve a gradual change in practices: 13% of the case studies reported a change in action (e.g. management or policy change), and a further 40% anticipated that a change would result from the work. To a large extent the impact was attributed to a well conducted science-practice interaction process (>70%). The main reported advantages of the concept included: increased concept awareness and communication; enhanced participation and collaboration; production of comprehensive science-based knowledge; and production of spatially referenced knowledge for input to planning (91% indicated they had acquired new knowledge). The limitations were mostly case-specific and centred on methodology, data, and challenges with result implementation. The survey highlighted the crucial role of communication, participation and collaboration across different stakeholders, to implement the ES concept and enhance the democratisation of nature and landscape planning. Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, Bush Estate Research Institute for Nature and Forest (INBO), Kliniekstraat 25 Social-ecological Systems Lab Department of Ecology Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Calle Darwin no. 2, Campus de Cantoblanco Finnish Environment Institute, P.O. Box 140 Institute of Landscape Ecology Slovak Academy of Sciences, Akademická 2 Department of Ecology and Environmental Sciences Constantine the Philosopher University, Trieda A. Hlinku 1 Environmental Social Science Research Group (ESSRG Ltd.), Rómer Flóris u. 38. Department of Decision Sciences Corvinus University of Budapest, Fővám tér 8. Helmholtz-Centre for Environmental Research – UFZ, Permoserstraße 15 CoKnow Consulting – Coproducing Knowledge for Sustainability, Jesewitz CENSE – Centre for Environmental and Sustainability Research Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia Universidade Nova de Lisboa, 2829-516 Caparica Institute of Ecology and Botany MTA Centre for Ecological Research, Alkotmány u. 2-4. Institute of Environmental Science and Technology (ICTA) Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB) Edifici Z (ICTA-ICP), Carrer de les Columnes s/n, Campus de la UAB Norwegian Institute for Nature Research (NINA), Gaustadalléen 21 Environmental Change Institute, Dyson Perrins Building, South Parks Road Wageningen University and Research Environmental Research (Alterra), P.O. Box 47 European Topic Centre on Biological Diversity Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle, 57 rue Cuvier, FR-75231 Paris Centre for Ecology & Hydrology, Maclean Building, Benson Lane, Crowmarsh Gifford Urban Environment and Territorial Sustainability Area Energy and Environment Dividision Parque Tecnológico de Bizkaia C/Geldo, Edificio 700 University of Bucharest - Research Center in Systems Ecology and Sustainability, Splaiul Independentei 91-95 European Commission – Joint Research Centre (JRC), Via E. Fermi 2749 Institute of Landscape Ecology Slovak Academy of Sciences, Štefánikova 3 UNESP – Universidade Estadual Paulista Ecology Department – LabTerra, Av. 24-A, 1515 CEP: 13506-900, Rio Claro IRSTEA National Research Institute of Science and Technology for Environment and Agriculture UMR TETIS, 500 rue JF BRETON Centro Austral de Investigaciones Científicas (CADIC CONICET), Houssay 200 Leuphana University of Lüneburg Faculty of Sustainability Institute of Ethics and Transdisciplinary Sustainability Research, Scharnhorststraβe 1 IBRAD (Indian Institute of Bio Social Research and Development), VIP Road, Kestopur, Prafulla Kanan Department of Environmental Sciences, P.O. Box 65, FI-00014 University of Helsinki Kenya Forestry Research Institute (KEFRI), P.O. Box 20412-0200 Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA), CC 332 (9400), Río Gallegos Universidad Nacional de la Patagonia Austral (UNPA) Río Gallegos Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET) INCLINE – Interdisciplinary Climate Change Research Group Instituto de Astronomia e Geofísica USP – Universidade de São Paulo, R. do Matão, 1226 - Butantã Wageningen University & Research – Marine (WUR), P.O. Box 57 National Institute for Research and Development in Forestry “Marin Dracea”, Eroilor Blvd 128 Institute of Nature Conservation and Landscape Management Szent István University, Páter Károly u. 1. Norwegian University of Life Science (NMBU), Universitetstunet 3 Department of Applied Research and Agricultural Extension Madrid Institute for Rural Agricultural and Food Research and Development (IMIDRA), Ctra. Madrid-Barcelona (N-II), KM. 38.200, 28802 Alcalá De Henares Department of International Environment and Development Studies (Noragric) Norwegian University of Life Sciences (NMBU), P.O. Box 5003 Norwegian Institute for Nature Research (NINA), Fakkelgården VISTA Analyse A/S, Meltzers gate 4 University of Girona, Plaça de Sant Domènec, 3 Basque Centre for Climate Change, Alameda de Urquijo 4 Norwegian Institute for Nature Research (NINA), Postboks 5685 Sluppen De Økonomiske Råd, Amaliegade 44 UNESP – Universidade Estadual Paulista Ecology Department – LabTerra, Av. 24-A, 1515 CEP: 13506-900, Rio Claro

International audience; Nine Bayesian Belief Networks (BBNs) were developed within the OpenNESS project specifically for modelling ecosystem services for case study applications. The novelty of the method, its ability to explore problems, to address uncertainty, and to facilitate stakeholder interaction in the process were all reasons for choosing BBNs. Most case studies had some local expertise on BBNs to assist them, and all used expert opinion as well as data to help develop the dependences in the BBNs. In terms of the decision scope of the work, all case studies were moving from explorative and informative uses towards decisive, but none were yet being used for decision-making. Three applications incorporated BBNs with GIS where the spatial component of the management was critical, but several concerns about estimating uncertainty with spatial modelling approaches are discussed. The tool proved to be very flexible and, particularly with its web interface, was an asset when working with stakeholders to facilitate exploration of outcomes, knowledge elicitation and social learning. BBNs were rated as very useful and widely applicable by the case studies that used them, but further improvements in software and more training were also deemed necessary.

International audience; 1. Biodiversity includes multiscalar and multitemporal structures and processes, with different levels of functional organization, from genetic to ecosystemic levels. One of the mostly used methods to infer biodiversity is based on taxonomic approaches and community ecology theories. However, gathering extensive data in the field is difficult due to logistic problems, especially when aiming at modelling biodiversity changes in space and time, which assumes statistically sound sampling schemes. In this context, airborne or satellite remote sensing allows information to be gathered over wide areas in a reasonable time. 2. Most of the biodiversity maps obtained from remote sensing have been based on the inference of species richness by regression analysis. On the contrary, estimating compositional turnover (beta‐diversity) might add crucial information related to relative abundance of different species instead of just richness. Presently, few studies have addressed the measurement of species compositional turnover from space. 3. Extending on previous work, in this manuscript, we propose novel techniques to measure beta‐diversity from airborne or satellite remote sensing, mainly based on: (1) multivariate statistical analysis, (2) the spectral species concept, (3) self‐organizing feature maps, (4) multidimensional distance matrices, and the (5) Rao's Q diversity. Each of these measures addresses one or several issues related to turnover measurement. This manuscript is the first methodological example encompassing (and enhancing) most of the available methods for estimating beta‐diversity from remotely sensed imagery and potentially relating them to species diversity in the field.

While landscape ecology is distinct from sustainability science, landscape ecologists have expressed their ambitions to help society advance sustainability of landscapes. In this context Wu (2013) coined the concept of landscape sustainability science. In August of 2017 we joined the 5th forum of landscape sustainability science in Beijing (see http://leml.asu.edu/chess/FLSS/05/index.html). To inspire landscape ecologists in developing research for a more sustainable future, we highlight some of the key points raised there. We emphasize challenges that have been identified in sustainability science that we consider particularly relevant for landscape sustainability. Then we describe how landscape ecology could enrich sustainability science. Finally, we propose five topics for landscape ecology research to advance landscape sustainability science.

International audience; In environmental valuation, although it is well recognised that the choice of method heavily affects the outcome, little is known on how existing valuation methods actually elicit the different values. Through the assessment of real-life applications of valuation of nature, this study tracks down the suitability of 21 valuation methods for 11 value types and assesses the methodological requirements for their operationalization. We found that different valuation methods have different suitabilities to elicit diverse value-types. Some methods are more specialized than others, but every method has blind spots, which implies risks of biased decision-making. We summarized different value-types according to three value dimensions: non-anthropocentric, relational and instrumental. No single valuation method is able to capture this full spectrum of values of nature. Covering all value dimensions requires careful selection of complementary valuation methods. This study also demonstrates that performing such an integrated valuation does not necessarily entail more resources, as for every value dimension, methods with low to medium operational requirements are available. With this study, we aim to provide guidance for selecting a complementary set of valuation methods in order to develop integrated valuation in practice that includes values of all stakeholders into environmental decision-making. In special issue synthesizing OpenNESS.

International audience; This special issue (SI) is primarily composed of 12 papers generated from a selection of contributions from two main events. The first event was the biannual conference organized by the International Union of Forest Research Organizations (IUFRO) Working Party (Division 8): Forest Landscape Ecology, held in Tartu (Estonia) in 2015, under the theme 'Sustaining Ecosystem Services in Forested Landscapes'. The second event was a symposium organized during the Ecosummit in Montpellier (France) in 2016 under the theme Ecological Sustainability: Engineering Change. The symposium was a joint effort from the EU-funded OpenNESS project, IALE and IUFRO communities, under the theme 'Scenarios and models of key indirect and direct drivers in relation to nature's benefits to people'. These two events have a common ground addressing the use of ecosystem services (ES) in planning and policymaking at different scales. Although the focus of the events, and of this SI, is multi-sectoral, emphasis is given on integrative multifunctional landscape management approaches, with examples mainly from forested landscapes. Besides, this common effort integrates important inputs from the forest cluster of the EU-OpenNESS project (Operationalization of natural capital and ecosystem services) that also participated in the symposia and exchange of ideas and approaches.

International audience; The ecosystem service (ES) concept is acknowledged for its potential to support decision-making on various scales. Still, it lacks in practical implementation, particularly concerning spatial planning and land management - key aspects that lead to criticism in its applicability. ES in planning and decision-making can contribute to improve the quality of land use and management by integrating synergies, trade-offs and conflicts among economy, environment and societal goals. This opinion paper suggests a nexus approach that shows how ES can contribute to characterize the interactions between humans and nature on different temporal and spatial scales while integrating cross-scale effects in trade-off analyses. We discuss how our nexus approach can be implemented and contribute to revealing the interdependencies between policy sectors, spatial and land-use planning. We argue that thinking in terms of a nexus adds to an improved coherence across different policy sectors relevant for spatial planning. We conclude that only a strategic and concise use of ES throughout all decision levels will help to create maximum benefits for harmonizing policy, planning and management instruments supported by intervention measures for the sake of sustainable development. In Special Issue on Ecosystem Services Nexus Thinking.

International audience; Context: Human and natural systems interact at multiple scales which are context specific in relation to ecosystem service supply. Scenic beauty is recognised as a cultural ecosystem service whose aesthetic value is perceived at a holistic landscape level. Objectives: In this study we provide methodological advancements for assessing the relationship between landscape visual character and scenic beauty based on crowdsourced geographic information. The final aim is to demonstrate, through a case study application, an empirical method for mapping the scenic beauty of complex mountain landscapes from the perspective of observers which are realistically exposed to the environment being evaluated. Methods: We propose a viewshed based approach which relies on visual indicators and the location of visitors retrieved by public image storage analysis. A cluster analysis was used to integrate visual characters of the landscape and visiting users' preferences. Results: Four different typologies of landscapes were finally characterized by distinct values of visual indicators. The spatial distribution of the landscape typologies presented a clustered pattern, allowing a regionalization of the landscape characters. The analysis of the visiting users' provenance revealed that visual scale, naturalness and ephemera attract mainly foreign users, while imageability, complexity and historicity attract mostly domestic and local users. Conclusions: The combination of crowdsourced images with visual indicators allows a systematic analysis of landscape scenic beauty properties. In all, by understanding how specific landscape characters contributes to aesthetic service provision we provide a tool for facilitating the visualization and interpretation of complex landscape characters.

The concept of ecosystem services from landscapes is rapidly gaining momentum as a language to communicate values and benefits to scientists and lay alike. Landscape ecology has an enormous contribution to make to this field, and one could argue, uniquely so. Tools developed or adapted for landscape ecology are being increasingly used to assist with the quantification, modelling, mapping, and valuing of ecosystem services. Several of these tools and methods encased therein are described among the eleven papers presented in this special issue, and their application has the potential to facilitate the management and promotion of services within ecosystems. Papers are associated with each of the four key categories of services that ecosystems provide to humans: supporting, provisioning, regulating, and cultural. The papers represent work conducted in eleven different countries, especially from South America. Each carries a unique approach to address a particular question pertaining to a particular set of ecosystem services. These studies are designed to inform and improve the economic, environmental and social values of the ecosystem services. This knowledge should help to develop new management alternatives for sustaining and planning ecosystems and the services they provide at different scales in space and time. We believe that these papers will create interest and inform management of some potential methods to evaluate ecosystem services at the landscape level with an integrative approach, offering new tools for management and conservation.

The application of the ecosystem services (ES) concept in land use planning has great potential to enhance the awareness of planning actors on their interactions. At the same time it can contribute to improve the linkage between the role of land use patterns and the understanding of land system functioning and its contribution to human well-being. The concept should be developed in a way that can be applicable in socio-ecological systems where nature and society are capable of enhancing their roles mutually. The objective of this paper is to suggest a standardized scheme and generalizable criteria to assess how successful the application of the ES concept contributed to facilitate participatory planning. We consider three potential advantages and three critical aspects for how to improve the applicability and relevance of the ES concept in planning. Hereon based, we present a balanced score card tool for which we broke down to advantages and risks into concrete questions. We illustrate the application of this approach with two case studies, representatives of two major governance schemes in relation to land use planning. We demonstrate that the balanced score card approach helps to reveal potential imbalances regarding the consideration of different ES groups. It supports testing the potential of the ES concept to enhance or not interactions of local and regional actors. We conclude that the framework should be reconsidered after a set of case studies to be developed into a monitoring tool for supporting planning practices.

Mountains play a key role in the provision of nature s contributions to people (NCP) worldwide that support societies quality of life. Simultaneously, mountains are threatened by multiple drivers of change. Due to the complex interlinkages between biodiversity, quality of life and drivers of change, research on NCP in mountains requires interdisciplinary approaches. In this study, we used the conceptual framework of the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) and the notion of NCP to determine to what extent previous research on ecosystem services in mountains has explored the different components of the IPBES conceptual framework. We conducted a systematic review of articles on ecosystem services in mountains published up to 2016 using the Web of Science and Scopus databases. Descriptive statistical and network analyses were conducted to explore the level of research on the components of the IPBES framework and their interactions. Our results show that research has gradually become more interdisciplinary by studying higher number of NCP, dimensions of quality of life, and indirect drivers of change. Yet, research focusing on biodiversity, regulating NCP and direct drivers has decreased over time. Furthermore, despite the fact that research on NCP in mountains becoming more policy-oriented over time, mainly in relation to payments for ecosystem services, institutional responses remained underexplored in the reviewed studies. Finally, we discuss the relevant knowledge gaps that should be addressed in future research in order to contribute to IPBES. © 2019 Martín-López et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

This study was partially supported by the OpenNESS project funded from the European Union's Seventh Programme for research; technological development and demonstration under grant agreement n° 308428. Integrating cultural dimensions into the ecosystem service framework is essential for appraising non-material benefits stemming from different human-environment interactions. This study investigates how the actual provision of cultural services is distributed across the landscape according to spatially varying relationships. The final aim was to analyse how landscape settings are associated to people’s preferences and perceptions related to cultural ecosystem services in mountain landscapes. We demonstrated a spatially explicit method based on geo-tagged images from popular social media to assess revealed preferences. A spatially weighted regression showed that specific variables correspond to prominent drivers of cultural ecosystem services at the local scale. The results of this explanatory approach can be used to integrate the cultural service dimension into land planning by taking into account specific benefiting areas and by setting priorities on the ecosystems and landscape characteristics which affect the service supply. We finally concluded that the use of crowdsourced data allows identifying spatial patterns of cultural ecosystem service preferences and their association with landscape settings. Postprint

International audience; An integrated methodology, based on linking Bayesian belief networks (BBN) with GIS, is proposed for combining available evidence to help forest managers evaluate implications and trade-offs between forest production and conservation measures to preserve biodiversity in forested habitats. A Bayesian belief network is a probabilistic graphical model that represents variables and their dependencies through specifying probabilistic relationships. In spatially explicit decision problems where it is difficult to choose appropriate combinations of interventions, the proposed integration of a BBN with GIS helped to facilitate shared understanding of the human-landscape relationships, while fostering collective management that can be incorporated into landscape planning processes. Trades-offs become more and more relevant in these landscape contexts where the participation of many and varied stakeholder groups is indispensable. With these challenges in mind, our integrated approach incorporates GIS-based data with expert knowledge to consider two different land use interests - biodiversity value for conservation and timber production potential - with the focus on a complex mountain landscape in the French Alps. The spatial models produced provided different alternatives of suitable sites that can be used by policy makers in order to support conservation priorities while addressing management options. The approach provided provide a common reasoning language among different experts from different backgrounds while helped to identify spatially explicit conflictive areas.

International audience; Remote sensing tools (RS) can contribute to a better understanding of the diversity of natural and semi-naturals habitats, their spatial distribution, and their conservation status. RS can also provide a generic set of derived indicators to support local to regional habitat monitoring. Here we propose a set of synthetic continuous textural indices computed from high spatial resolution airborne images for the characterization of vegetation structure in very heterogeneous landscape mosaics. These indices are based on Fourier-based textural ordination (FOTO) of very-high-resolution images. We investigate the relationship between textural indices and a set of common landscape metrics derived from vegetation maps, identifying four strata of interest: bare soil, herbs, low ligneous, and high ligneous. We identify two continuous textural indices, the first one being related to vegetation strata fragmentation and the second being related to the dominance of high ligneous. The combination of these two textural indices with the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) provides a synoptic and accurate overview of the spatial organization of the different vegetation strata. The methodological approach presented herein has a generic value in response to national conservation targets in the context of mapping relevant habitat indicators.This article belongs to the Section Remote Sensing in Agriculture and Vegetation.