IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jlands/v13y2024i10p1639-d1494640.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Once Common, Long in Decline: Dynamics of Traditional Orchards in a Central European Landscape

Author

Listed:
  • André Große-Stoltenberg

    (Institute for Landscape Ecology and Resources Management (ILR), Research Centre for BioSystems, Land Use and Nutrition (iFZ), Justus Liebig University Gießen, 35392 Gießen, Germany
    Centre for International Development and Environmental Research (ZEU), Justus Liebig University Gießen, 35392 Gießen, Germany)

  • Andreas Hanzl

    (Earth Observation for Ecosystem Management, School of Life Sciences, Technical University of Munich, 85354 Freising, Germany)

  • Mojdeh Safaei

    (Institute for Landscape Ecology and Resources Management (ILR), Research Centre for BioSystems, Land Use and Nutrition (iFZ), Justus Liebig University Gießen, 35392 Gießen, Germany)

  • Till Kleinebecker

    (Institute for Landscape Ecology and Resources Management (ILR), Research Centre for BioSystems, Land Use and Nutrition (iFZ), Justus Liebig University Gießen, 35392 Gießen, Germany
    Centre for International Development and Environmental Research (ZEU), Justus Liebig University Gießen, 35392 Gießen, Germany)

Abstract

Traditional orchards are distinctive features of cultural landscapes in Central Europe. Despite their high level of ecological importance, they are in decline, and comprehensive spatial data over broad extents, which could enable a trend analysis, are lacking. We analysed traditional orchard maps from 1952 to 1967 and a map from 2010, generated via aerial image interpretation, for the state of Hesse (ca. 21,115 km 2 ), which has the second largest share of traditional orchards in Germany. We aimed to (1) quantify long-term orchard dynamics, (2) compare orchard characteristics in terms of topographical, ecological, and socioeconomic factors, and (3) identify key drivers of orchard loss. We found that the number and area of orchards have clearly decreased across Hesse, with varying local and regional patterns. Further, historically old orchards tended to have a larger area, higher shape complexity, and were located closer to settlements, highways, and neighbouring orchards. In contrast, newly established orchards were often found at higher elevations and on steeper slopes. Finally, the three historical orchard hotspots also experienced the most notable losses driven by different factors, namely the expansion of Artificial Surfaces, Residential Buildings, and Agricultural Land. We highlight the importance of such multitemporal spatial data for a wide range of ecological applications, and we encourage the use of novel technologies to support geospatial analyses in the future.

Suggested Citation

  • André Große-Stoltenberg & Andreas Hanzl & Mojdeh Safaei & Till Kleinebecker, 2024. "Once Common, Long in Decline: Dynamics of Traditional Orchards in a Central European Landscape," Land, MDPI, vol. 13(10), pages 1-22, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jlands:v:13:y:2024:i:10:p:1639-:d:1494640
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/13/10/1639/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/13/10/1639/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Tobias Plieninger, 2011. "Capitalizing on the Carbon Sequestration Potential of Agroforestry in Germany's Agricultural Landscapes: Realigning the Climate Change Mitigation and Landscape Conservation Agendas," Landscape Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 36(4), pages 435-454.
    2. Birch, Colin P.D. & Oom, Sander P. & Beecham, Jonathan A., 2007. "Rectangular and hexagonal grids used for observation, experiment and simulation in ecology," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 206(3), pages 347-359.
    3. Claudia Bieling & Tobias Plieninger, 2013. "Recording Manifestations of Cultural Ecosystem Services in the Landscape," Landscape Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 38(5), pages 649-667, October.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Sungsoo Yoon & Youngjoo Moon & Jinah Jeong & Chan-Ryul Park & Wanmo Kang, 2021. "A Network-Based Approach for Reducing Pedestrian Exposure to PM 2.5 Induced by Road Traffic in Seoul," Land, MDPI, vol. 10(10), pages 1-14, October.
    2. Cooper, Nigel & Brady, Emily & Steen, Helen & Bryce, Rosalind, 2016. "Aesthetic and spiritual values of ecosystems: Recognising the ontological and axiological plurality of cultural ecosystem ‘services’," Ecosystem Services, Elsevier, vol. 21(PB), pages 218-229.
    3. Christopher T. Emrich & Yao Zhou & Sanam K. Aksha & Herbert E. Longenecker, 2022. "Creating a Nationwide Composite Hazard Index Using Empirically Based Threat Assessment Approaches Applied to Open Geospatial Data," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(5), pages 1-25, February.
    4. Boura, Georgia & Ferguson, Neil S., 2024. "Incorporating geographic interdependencies into the resilience assessment of multimodal public transport networks," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 118(C).
    5. Maria Fabrizia Clemente, 2022. "The Future Impacts of ESL Events in Euro-Mediterranean Coastal Cities: The Coast-RiskBySea Model to Assess the Potential Economic Damages in Naples, Marseille and Barcelona," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(16), pages 1-22, August.
    6. Ryzhkov, Alexander & Sarzhan, Yuliya, 2020. "Market initiative and central planning: A study of the Moscow bus network," Research in Transportation Economics, Elsevier, vol. 83(C).
    7. Marchetti, Yuliya & Nguyen, Hai & Braverman, Amy & Cressie, Noel, 2018. "Spatial data compression via adaptive dispersion clustering," Computational Statistics & Data Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 117(C), pages 138-153.
    8. Qiyao Han & Greg Keeffe, 2019. "Mapping the Flow of Forest Migration through the City under Climate Change," Urban Planning, Cogitatio Press, vol. 4(1), pages 139-151.
    9. İ. Esra Büyüktahtakın & Robert G. Haight, 2018. "A review of operations research models in invasive species management: state of the art, challenges, and future directions," Annals of Operations Research, Springer, vol. 271(2), pages 357-403, December.
    10. Nogueira Terra, Talita & Ferreira dos Santos, Rozely, 2012. "Measuring cumulative effects in a fragmented landscape," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 228(C), pages 89-95.
    11. Vassiliki Vlami & Stamatis Zogaris & Hakan Djuma & Ioannis P. Kokkoris & George Kehayias & Panayotis Dimopoulos, 2019. "A Field Method for Landscape Conservation Surveying: The Landscape Assessment Protocol (LAP)," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(7), pages 1-20, April.
    12. Enrico Pomatto & Paola Gullino & Silvia Novelli & Marco Devecchi & Federica Larcher, 2023. "Landscape Strategies for Terraced Landscapes in the European Alpine Region Using a Mixed-Method Analysis Tool," Land, MDPI, vol. 12(6), pages 1-21, June.
    13. Burdziej Jan, 2019. "Using hexagonal grids and network analysis for spatial accessibility assessment in urban environments – a case study of public amenities in Toruń," Miscellanea Geographica. Regional Studies on Development, Sciendo, vol. 23(2), pages 99-110, June.
    14. Lina Marcinkevičiūtė & Rasa Pranskūnienė, 2020. "Cultural Ecosystem Services: The Case of Coastal-Rural Area (Nemunas Delta and Curonian Lagoon, Lithuania)," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(1), pages 1-20, December.
    15. Pasquale De Toro & Enrico Formato & Nicola Fierro, 2023. "Sustainability Assessments of Peri-Urban Areas: An Evaluation Model for the Territorialization of the Sustainable Development Goals," Land, MDPI, vol. 12(7), pages 1-32, July.
    16. Kıbış, Eyyüb Y. & Büyüktahtakın, İ. Esra, 2017. "Optimizing invasive species management: A mixed-integer linear programming approach," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 259(1), pages 308-321.
    17. Pereira, Rafael H.M., 2019. "Future accessibility impacts of transport policy scenarios: Equity and sensitivity to travel time thresholds for Bus Rapid Transit expansion in Rio de Janeiro," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 74(C), pages 321-332.
    18. Xiao, Lan & Haiping, Tang & Haoguang, Liang, 2017. "A theoretical framework for researching cultural ecosystem service flows in urban agglomerations," Ecosystem Services, Elsevier, vol. 28(PA), pages 95-104.
    19. Kunegel-Lion, Mélodie & Neilson, Eric W. & Mansuy, Nicolas & Goodsman, Devin W., 2022. "Habitat quality does not predict animal population abundance on frequently disturbed landscapes," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 469(C).
    20. Wallentin, Gudrun, 2017. "Spatial simulation: A spatial perspective on individual-based ecology—a review," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 350(C), pages 30-41.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jlands:v:13:y:2024:i:10:p:1639-:d:1494640. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.