Landscape functions in a changing environment.

Abstract

Landscapes provide a broad range of services to society. To date, however, only few regional to continental scale studies assess the capacity of landscapes to provide these services under changing environmental conditions. This is required if the maintenance of current landscape multifunctionality remains a long-term goal. The presented mini review highlights and promotes the concept of landscape functions, defined as the capacity or potential of landscapes to provide services. Ultimately, spatially explicit landscape-function assessments may provide baseline information for society to engage in an open discussion on future landscape development and its potential impact on landscape character. Our mini review is supported with recent literature as well as insights gained at a symposium held at the IALE 2009 conference in Salzburg, Austria as well as a workshop held in Salzau, Germany 2010 and the Global Initiative of the The Ecosystem Services Partnership (http://www.fsd.nl/esp, 30. May 2010)