MAIN TOPICS
Symposium No 1
Global climate dynamics: challenge for conceptual work in landscape science
(P. Kovář, P. Opdam)
Changes in biosphere induced by global climatic development are apparent in many cases and hidden or latent in other cases. Ecological changes go across hierarchical levels structuring nature and landscape level integrates always several lines of phenomena manifested on lower scales. Challenges for scientific and consequently practical work are, e.g., the following: (1) re-valuation and/or re-interpretation of older studies on any complex changes based on long-term and widely spatial data sets in relation to new context of climate change, (2) search for spontaneous self-reorganizing capacity of systems in nature surrounded by human impacts as mechanisms how to sustain their vitality, (3) development of scientifically sound adaptive tools for landscapes under the press of climate change, (4) strategic decision making about aspects of land-use in the sense of sustainable development or sustainable retreat.
Symposium No 2
Economy convergence of nature and society under the induced climate pressures and landscape changes
(A. Farina)
Usually ecological and economic studies are carried out separately. In particular, landscape ecology research deals with the relationships between patterns and processes whereas ecological economics focuses its attention strictly on the relationships between functions and values produced by them. Decision making approaches tied to evaluations of the environmental impact have been proposed in the past: e.g., the ecosystem services addresses calls for the explicit incorporation of economic valuations in ecological management decisions. We need wider and deeper implementation of techniques for economic appraisal and social assessment in order to reach balanced decisions about the overall acceptability of the ecological modifications. Landscape ecology and ecological economics when combined should generate solutions to adapt ecosystems/landscapes to human needs under the climatic changes challenge.
Symposium No 3
Physical, ecological and socio-economic monitoring for input in scenarios on changing landscapes processes in human-made landscape
(R. Jongman, R. Bunce)
Climate change has started range shifts for many species, natural communities and established ecosystems. They follow their suitable climate space and further shifts are expected. Whether species or their aggregations will be able to colonize regions where climate conditions become suitable, so called „new climate space“, depends on species traits and habitat fragmentation and other natural and human-made barriers. At the same time, possible demographic change in human populations, economic phenomena such scale enlargement in agriculture, health care and natural risks will affect the European cultural landscapes. One of the key tools of obtaining the relevant data is monitoring features of changes correlated with climate change patterns. We need monitoring programmes for land use change, species shifts and developing detailed scenarios. With the help of robust datasets we are able to identify areas where the spatial cohesion of the natural or cultural ecosystem pattern is expected to be insufficient to allow colonization of the new climatic space as well as where and how we could develop new adaptation strategies.
Symposium No 4
Landscape geo-biodiversity and indicators of global ecological change
(N. Mitchell)
The ability of species to colonise new geographic space depends on climatic and landscape characteristics. However, the ability to colonise new geographic space suggest that changes in land cover may aggrevate the effects of climate change. For nature conservation, the reported and projected changes may present various problems, depending on the scale. At the biogeographical scale, there are two pivotal questions: will species be able to move across the landscape; and, whether losses in the distribution range due to unsuitable climate can be compensated in regions where climate conditions become suitable. From a local perspective, a prime question is whether disappearing species will be replaced by incoming species that will maintain functional diversity. For each species or biological community there is also a need to know the spatial configuration within the landscape. This may require the development of species-specific landscape indices (showing e.g. habitat capacity for reproduction, ecotypic variation, inherent or evoked changes in time) that will allow improved conservation outcomes.
Symposium No 5
Ecological planning, landscape management and green networks in areas of different climate zones
(T. Wrbka)
The persistence of populations of species and cores of biological communities that are restricted to the remnants of suitable habitats is depending on spatial cohesion of habitat networks. The scale of habitat networks required for species and/or their metapopulations varies interspecifically from several to hundreds of square kilometers or larger scales. At a biogeographical scale life forms usually inhabitate a patchwork of regions varying in many parameters ensuring long-term dispersal. Variability in network features determines success for colonizers to sustain permanent restoration of disturbed landscapes, overcome barriers and distances. More exact knowledge of long-term expansion abilities of species or communities affected by both climate change and habitat fragmentation into new climate space is needed. In addition, a better understanding of the interactions of between changing land-use and the addressed biodiversity issues at appropriate scales is crucial for the development of optimal planning and management procedures. The symposium will give an overview of existing knowledge, highlight gaps and draw conclusions on appropriate research agendas. Furthermore, processes of landuse planning and land management will be discussed that could participate methodologically in an adaptive strategy of landscape design for future. Promising examples for relevant research and implementation such as the „European Green Belt Initiative“ will be used to show case the transdisciplinary nature of landscape ecology.
Symposium No 6
Forest- and agro-ecosystems: adaptive management approaches
(S. Luque)
Adapting landscape systems to climate change is an emerging topic in science. Focusing on biodiversity conservation as a proxy for the ecological dimensions of a sustainable forest and agro-ecosystems management; the symposium proposes a series of requirements for the conservation of habitat networks and ecological processes to be met by forest landscape and agroecosystems managers. This is particular challenging nowadays because in Europe there are strong pressures to intensify wood production and timber exploitation, agriculture intensification is gaining over forests areas. Nevertheless, there are also demands for improving the actions in favour of safeguarding biodiversity, and in a more general way improving forest and agricultural ecosystems functioning. This twofold requirement of an optimized resources production and an environmental quality improvement represents a true challenge for the years to come. A fast reorganization of the system is needed in order to find the right balance between management within an ecosystem services approach at different scales. In particular, we need to consider a valorisation of wood resources and production, thorough knowledge of their vulnerability within an intensification management scenario. In the same way, organic agriculture and its contribution to sustainability of the European biodiversity needs to be revised. Vis-a-vis of such stakes, which concepts, methodologies and tools can be validated on strong scientific grounds that can be proposed to the actors charged to implement policies and actions on the ground? Landscape ecology, proposes a comprehensive and integrative approach from the plot level to the landscape level, considering adaptive management and an analysis of ecological thresholds. The symposium opens questions regarding the needs for a comprehensive adaptive forest and agro-ecosystems management. Adaptive management seems to be the only options that will contribute to balance multiple objectives under changing environmental conditions to improve natural resources management in a wide range of territories.
Symposium No 7
Natural and restored landscapes: their functions/services as subjects of problem-oriented science
(K. Prach)
Natural landscapes provide reference to those being restored. It may concern afforestation, decrease of extensive arable land, improvement of water regime and water quality, decrease of erosion threats, ammelioration of sites havily disturbed for example by mining or industrial and building activities. Studies on ecological succession and biotic colonisation of habitats disturbed by various human activities would help to elucidate the mechanisms od spontaneous and life-supporting processes applicable in landscape restoration. Viewing from a disturbed site, character of the surrounding landscape substantially influences the natural processes in any site. Protection and restoration in a landscape-scale include suggestions on how to sustain regimes on both natural and non-natural landscape bodies, the best at a minimum financial and labour cost. Land cover and land use changes can facilitate adaptation of species and important ecosystem functions to climate change and can create a new ecological space ensuring sustainable development and multifunctionality of a landscape.
Symposium No 8
Open land for food and/or energy production: How to solve interferences with the goals of nature protection?
(O. Bastian, J. Solon)
We can observe phenomenon of increasing of energy plants cultivation promoted by decreasing of fossil resources and the danger of climatic changes. Extension of this kind of land treatment leads to conflicts with biodiversity agenda. We may identify at least three main fields of these conflicts, namely competition for space and modification of the landscape configuration, introduction and uncontrolled dispersion of alien species, modification of the local matter and energy flows. Attention to the loss of biodiversity and its importance for maintaining „healthy“ ecosystems to preserve life means a logical implication. It is not surprising that such reports have caused a growing awareness about the potential of ecological systems to respond to climate shift. Any opportunity for ameliorating landscape patterns is highly dependent on our knowledge and on many human actors and feelings of urgency among stakeholders. We should focus on the deeper recognition and modelling of the potential synergies and conflicts between the cultivation of crops and the maintenance of biodiversity in landscapes. Search for maximum synergy between landscape services, landscape functions and for balanced consequences for social, ecological and economic values should be directed into sustainable design.
Symposium No 9
Adaptations and functional water management by land use change
(Ü. Mander)
Climate change adaptation strategy is most urgent in wetland ecosystems because these are often small, isolated or linear and poorly represented in continental systems of nature protection. The effect of their fragmentation within landscapes is aggravated by climate development. Wetland sustainability and restoration may help to prevent flooding after extreme rainfall and summer drought damage in croplands. Regulated flooding areas and broader river systems desire to achieve the statutes of regions with multiple ecosystem services, mainly in hydrologically essential ranges, such as, e.g., „roof of Europe“ going across Central-European countries. The prediction ability of value loss should justify the landscape modification in the sense of reshaping landscape pattern or the land use.