Land In-Sight: Uncovering Landscape Context as the Key to Balancing Ecosystem Services in Agricultural Areas

Abstract

Intensification of agriculture has drastically changed the landscape in the Netherlands, increasing agricultural production but reducing other valuable ecosystem services such as pollination, water quality, or recreation. To resolve this tradeoff, the influence of land use configuration must be better understood and communicated. This is demonstrated in PhD research conducted by Swantje Gebhardt at Utrecht University. The study revealed that intensive agricultural practices can undermine the benefits from natural landscape elements if their spatial arrangement does not support their function. For instance, extensive grassland can trap fertilizer runoff from surrounding farmlands, but if it is scattered in small patches and the fertilizer input is high, the risk for water pollution increases. Similarly, pesticide use and pollinator habitat configuration control the tradeoff between wild pollination and pollinator health. Here, simulations of pollinator movement showed that clustered habitats protect pollinators from pesticide exposure better than dispersed habitats, but they also reduce the access to crop fields that require pollination. To make these spatial processes and their effects on ecosystem service provision tangible to stakeholders, a participatory tool called PLACES was developed. PLACES enables users to design land use scenarios and immediately provides maps showing the impacts on multiple ecosystem services. A workshop applying the tool with participants of various backgrounds demonstrated that spatially illustrating ecosystem service tradeoffs fostered constructive discussions on societal goals for landscape management. The dialogue highlighted that recognizing the interactions between agriculture and nature improves the awareness of beneficial natural functions and the need for strategic interventions.