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Abstract Legacy databases provide unique information on soil properties and act as a guide for the setup of monitoring processes. However, their use requires an evaluation of their drawbacks, especially when aiming to model the soil traits by depth. We set up a procedure for the integration and error correction of a soil legacy database. This database consisted of 6994 records in its original form and 6674 records after correction. These records were collected from 2886 locations in the south of Italy on a 25,711-km2 island (Sicily, Italy). Samples were taken in arable lands (5471 records), orchards, vineyards and seminatural lands (3010 records), and woodland and natural areas (1203 records). The procedure for the integration and error highlighting improved the prediction of soil organic carbon (SOC), and a general linear model with covariate selection by Least Absolute Shrinkage and Selection Operator (LASSO) tested the procedure. We focussed on exploring the amount of legacy information as georeferenced soil properties. SOC and fine earth fractions were analysed for each sample. Bulk density was provided for only 20% of the samples. These results will help to account for the legacy data available and propose an analysis to harmonize an SOC dataset; highlight missing or incorrect data; summarize data; and offer synthesis criteria for benchmarking SOC in different land uses and pedological areas. In addition, the results may stimulate funding bodies to support research in an open data frame, which can be turned into more sustainable use of resources, improved communication between governments and farmers, and the production of standard datasets that meet and facilitate the requirements for regional agro-environmental modelling. Highlights • SOC legacy database analysis, integration and correction by data clearing • The correction can drive data expansion without taking redundant data. • 4.5% uninformative records removed • Correction fosters the use of legacy soil data for Space 3D-time soil mapping [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights • Czech and Polish agroecosystems have changed profoundly over the last two decades. • Poland has a higher share of animal husbandry and it is less energy efficient. • Economic factors are the main driving forces. • Both agricultures moved from a subsistence mode to a market oriented one. • Poland is an important exporter of food while Czechia mainly exports raw materials. Abstract We explore the agroecosystem energy flows in two former communist countries, Czechia and Poland, in the two decades after the fall of the totalitarian regimes. Energetic agroecosystem productivity, i.e., the energy content of crops, livestock products per unit of area is compared to energy inputs, i.e., external inputs from society, i.e., labour, industrial inputs, and external biomass inputs and linked to land use change and demographic and economic changes. Using the social metabolism concept and the Material and Energy Flow Accounting method, our analysis looks at the system from a biophysical perspective and explores the interactions between the economic system and nature. We calculate the Energy Return On Investment (EROI) indicators and also present an easily understandable index for policy makers, the Input/Output Index. After the end of communism in both countries in 1989, they both joined the EU in 2004. Along with this, both states started the integration towards a global economy. Our main research questions are 1) to what extent does the development of the energy flows and energy efficiency depend on the political organisation and the socioeconomic conditions and 2) if it follows rather more general trends or if it depends on the socioeconomic structure of the agricultural system. In the first decade immediately after 1990, the agricultural production radically slumped in both countries together with an overall slowdown of the economic performance. The production started to grow again and stabilised in the second decade mainly due to joining the EU in 2004. The integration to the global markets raised the volume of trade by a factor of 5 in Czechia and 10 in Poland. The number of agricultural workers decreased 1/3 in both countries over the whole period. Also, the cropland has been decreasing in both countries by about 20% and production has concentrated to more fertile areas, while the abandonment of agricultural area occurred mainly in less favoured areas. Both agricultural systems underwent structural changes in respect of change of ownership, economic conditions and subsequently the structure of production. Recently, the crops of economic significance dominate and Czechia exports raw materials as e.g., cereals and oil crops, and imports mainly fruits, vegetables and processed food. Poland has become an important producer and exporter of agricultural products in Europe (fruits, meat). But this is rather an issue of scale than of gaining efficiency. Poland is less efficient in the case of its share of inputs per outputs of energy flows with 21% while Czechia is 17%. Final EROI is stable in both countries. In Czechia, it is slightly improving from 0.6 in 1993 to 1 in 2012, while in Poland, the FEROI is stagnating around 0.6. The External Final EROI has slightly improved in Czechia from 2.8 to 3.8, while in Poland, it has been continuously decreasing from 2.6 to 2.2. The Internal Final EROI shows a declining share of the biomass reused in Czechia: from 0.8 to 1.4, while keeping its volumes in Poland at the value of 0.8. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is an increasing need to assess and quantify the impact of land use/land cover changes, especially on surface runoff, due to rapid population growth. This study aims to investigate the land use/land cover (LULC) changes over time, for an intense rainfall event in Țibleș, Runc and Sălăuța watersheds, and their impacts on surface runoff for various antecedent moisture conditions (AMC). The GIS-based SCSCN method and the CORINE land cover (CLC) databases for 2000, 2006 and 2012 laid the foundation for this research. Results indicated that even small land cover changes can significantly affect runoff on the short time scale, with quantitatively different effects regarding moisture conditions. The reduction in forest cover due to agricultural intensification and the conversion from pasture to cropland (especially between 2000 and 2006) resulted in higher surface runoff volumes. These changes mostly affected the middle and downstream catchments of the main rivers which means that over the years, the soil water retaining capacity has decreased. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Land abandonment and the loss of traditional farming practices are thought to control land cover dynamics, and hence the ecosystem service supply in traditionally managed mountain landscapes. We evaluate the impact of land cover changes in Cantabrian Mountains (NW Spain), over 1990-2012, on the potential supply capacity of ecosystem services (regulating, provisioning, and cultural) at both regional and local scales. We also analyze trends in the use of ecosystem services at the local scale. Land cover changes were estimated from CORINE Land Cover database. Patterns of potential ecosystem service supply were assessed by applying an ecosystem service supply capacity matrix and trends in their actual use by using field data. Main trajectories of land cover change encompassed woody vegetation spread in semi-natural open systems and agricultural expansion in the most suitable areas. The capacity of landscape to provide ecosystem services improved during 1990-2012 at both scales. We detected trade-offs between the potential supply of ecosystem services associated to natural systems and those linked to traditional land uses, at both regional and local scales. Changes in the potential supply of ecosystem services matched trends in ecosystem service use. This study could help develop future scenarios to address upcoming challenges in ecosystem service supply. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of this paper is the assessment of the share of individual land cover categories in centric and ring-shaped evaluation polygons. In the analyses the data from the Corine Land Cover project for 2006 and 2012 were used. These data are available through the Urban Atlas. The basic spatial statistics concerning the land cover categories were determined. As a result of the analyses, information about land cover changes that took place over a period of 6 years was obtained, observed with increasing distance from the assumed reference point. An inference was also made regarding the possibility of determining the changes taking place in selected units in the period of 2006-2012. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract The aim of this work was to assess the accuracy of direct runoff depth calculated according to an original Soil Conservation Service – Curve Number (SCS-CN) method and a modified Sahu - Mishra - Eldho (SME) method based on different sources of information on land cover. Main novelty of this work is using Database of topographic objects (BDOT10k) instead of Corine Land Cover (CLC) for the assessment of land cover in a catchment. The research was performed in the Kamienica river, a right tributary of the Dunajec, Poland. The effect of land cover data on runoff depth was assessed with the original SCS-CN method, and modified SME method. The value of CN parameter was estimated using two databases on land use, CLC and BDOT10k. BDOT10k was proven to be a considerably more precise land cover database that enabled more accurate interpretation. The study demonstrated the highest accuracy of direct runoff calculation with SME-CN method, irrespective of the approach used for determination of the catchment land use. The use of SME-CN instead of the original SCS-CN method provides much more accurate prediction of direct runoff in a catchment. Highlights • BDOT10k should be used to determine a catchment land cover for smaller map scales. • Differences in CN according to BDOT10k or CLC were minor for large-scale maps. • Modified SME-CN model provided an accurate estimation of direct. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Highlights • The socio-political transformation in Hungary and Poland after 1989 have contributed significantly to the land use change. • Surface areas of individual land use types in Hungary and Poland show similar trends but the degree of change is different. • A reduction of agricultural land and increased forest and uncultivated land coverage was observed in Poland and Hungary. • The most intensive anthropogenic changes were identified near the cities (Budapest and Kraków). • The decrease in agricultural land noted in the land cover of the study area coincided with European and global trends. Abstract This study has analysed changes in land use and land cover (LUCC) in two post-socialist countries – Hungary and Poland, based upon cadastral data, statistical data, and CORINE Land Cover data. This is a new approach aimed to perform a synergy analysis carried out in accordance with the 'top-down' principle, i.e. from the level of countries (in the case of land use) to the level of provinces/counties (land cover). This approach facilitates more reliable results. The authors analysed LUCC in northern Hungary (the Pest County) and southern Poland (the Małopolska Province) using GIS and statistical methods. The main aim of the research was to identify and assess the ongoing LUCC changes and compare them in the assumed field of research. The results indicate the existence of a trend in each time series. A downward trend was revealed for agricultural land in Hungary and Poland as well as for uncultivated land in Hungary. An upward trend was found in other variables (uncultivated land in Poland and forest land in both countries). Changes in land cover in the Pest County and the Małopolska Province (in 2000 and 2012) show a decrease in agricultural areas and an increase in artificial surfaces, forest and semi-natural areas with the change in Poland being more intensive than that in Hungary. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Urban-rural difference of land cover is the key determinant of urban heat island (UHI). In order to evaluate the impact of land cover data on the simulation of UHI, a comparative study between up-to-date CORINE land cover (CLC) and Urban Atlas (UA) with fine resolution (100 and 10 m) and old US Geological Survey (USGS) data with coarse resolution (30 s) was conducted using the Weather Research and Forecasting model (WRF) coupled with bulk approach of Noah-LSM for Berlin. The comparison between old data and new data partly reveals the effect of urbanization on UHI and the historical evolution of UHI, while the comparison between different resolution data reveals the impact of resolution of land cover on the simulation of UHI. Given the high heterogeneity of urban surface and the fine-resolution land cover data, the mosaic approach was implemented in this study to calculate the sub-grid variability in land cover compositions. Results showed that the simulations using UA and CLC data perform better than that using USGS data for both air and land surface temperatures. USGS-based simulation underestimates the temperature, especially in rural areas. The longitudinal variations of both temperature and land surface temperature show good agreement with urban fraction for all the three simulations. To better study the comprehensive characteristic of UHI over Berlin, the UHI curves (UHIC) are developed for all the three simulations based on the relationship between temperature and urban fraction. CLC- and UA-based simulations show smoother UHICs than USGS-based simulation. The simulation with old USGS data obviously underestimates the extent of UHI, while the up-to-date CLC and UA data better reflect the real urbanization and simulate the spatial distribution of UHI more accurately. However, the intensity of UHI simulated by CLC and UA data is not higher than that simulated by USGS data. The simulated air temperature is not dominated by the land cover as much as the land surface temperature, as air temperature is also affected by air advection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

At present, the protection of nature and landscape in the high mountains of the Western Carpathians, protected as national parks, is becoming increasingly at the forefront of society’s interests in connection with the development of their economic use and the development of mass tourism. Our research was focused on analyzing the extent and character of land cover changes in the Low Tatras National Park in Slovakia over the last 30 years (1990–2018) using CORINE land cover (CLC) data. The period captures almost the entire existence of the Slovak Republic. Therefore, it was possible to evaluate the landscape changes in the protected area and to identify barriers and possibilities of its long-term sustainable development. Based on computer modeling, the main areas of the land cover changes were identified, and on the basis of historical-geographical and field research, land cover flows were determined and justified in the studied landscape of the national park. Changes were monitored using three methods: by comparing CLC maps over the years, by analyzing land cover flows, and by comparing landscape metrics obtained through the PatchAnalyst. Land cover changes occurred on up to 20% of the national park area in the given period. The most significant change was observed in the CLC class coniferous forests, with almost a 12% decrease. Conversely, there was an increase of more than 11% in the CLC class transitional woodland-shrub.

As soil erosion is still a global threat to soil resources, the estimation of soil loss, particularly at a spatiotemporal setting, is still an existing challenge. The primary aim of our study is the assessment of changes in soil erosion potential in Hungary from 1990 to 2018, induced by the changes in land use and land cover based on CORINE Land Cover data. The modeling scheme included the application and cross-valuation of two internationally applied methods, the Universal Soil Loss Equation (USLE) and the Pan-European Soil Erosion Risk Assessment (PESERA) models. Results indicate that the changes in land cover resulted in a general reduction in predicted erosion rates, by up to 0.28 t/ha/year on average. Analysis has also revealed that the combined application of the two models has reduced the occurrence of extreme predictions, thus, increasing the robustness of the method. Random Forest regression analysis has revealed that the differences between the two models are mainly driven by their sensitivity to slope and land cover, followed by soil parameters. The resulting spatial predictions can be readily applied for qualitative spatial analysis. However, the question of extreme predictions still indicates that quantitative use of the output results should only be carried out with sufficient care.

Up-to-date information about the Earth’s surface provided by land cover maps is essential for numerous environmental and land management applications. There is, therefore, a clear need for the continuous and reliable monitoring of land cover and land cover changes. The growing availability of high resolution, regularly collected remote sensing data can support the increasing number of applications that require high spatial resolution products that are frequently updated (e.g., annually). However, large-scale operational mapping requires a highly-automated data processing workflow, which is currently lacking. To address this issue, we developed a methodology for the automated classification of multi-temporal Sentinel-2 imagery. The method uses a random forest classifier and existing land cover/use databases as the source of training samples. In order to demonstrate its operability, the method was implemented on a large part of the European continent, with CORINE Land Cover and High-Resolution Layers as training datasets. A land cover/use map for the year 2017 was produced, composed of 13 classes. An accuracy assessment, based on nearly 52,000 samples, revealed high thematic overall accuracy (86.1%) on a continental scale, and average overall accuracy of 86.5% at country level. Only low-frequency classes obtained lower accuracies and we recommend that their mapping should be improved in the future. Additional modifications to the classification legend, notably the fusion of thematically and spectrally similar vegetation classes, increased overall accuracy to 89.0%, and resulted in ten, general classes. A crucial aspect of the presented approach is that it embraces all of the most important elements of Earth observation data processing, enabling accurate and detailed (10 m spatial resolution) mapping with no manual user involvement. The presented methodology demonstrates possibility for frequent and repetitive operational production of large-scale land cover maps.

It is commonly believed that changes in the use of the catchment area have a direct impact on the quality of the water environment. Rivers with dams and reservoirs are characterized by a disturbed outflow of sediments and nutrients from the catchment area. The research was based on indicating the variation in time and space of loads of selected parameters of the water quality of the Brda River (Northern Poland) against the land cover changes based on the CORINE Land Cover (CLC) data for the 1990–2018 period. In the lower part of the Brda catchment area, there are three hydropower dams with reservoirs in the form of a cascade, whose work clearly affects the hydrological regime of the river. The analysis of the dependence of the dynamics of water quality changes on the usage of CLC was based on indicators such as sediments (suspended sediment load) and nutrients (total phosphorus load and total nitrogen load). The use of hydrological data on the Brda discharge above and below the reservoirs made it possible to calculate sediment and nutrient trapping efficiency. Linking the CLC data with the indices responsible for the mechanical denudation of the catchment area made it possible to show the strength of changes taking place in the catchment area. The results of the research do not indicate any direct correlation between land cover changes and the dynamics of the denudation process and matter transport in the Brda catchment area. As our research shows, the strong influence on the hydrological regime of the catchment points out the necessity to search for still other research methods supporting the decision-making cycle in the field of water management in the face of climate change.

• Natural cover regenerates as otherland transitions to grassland and grassland to tree-covered area. • Main trend is cultivated land loss to artificial surfaces during both observation periods. • Proposed method of annual land cover mapping has potential to fill gaps in Swiss Corine and Arealstatistik data for Land Degradation Neutrality (LDN). • Adapt land cover change criteria to Swiss context for consistent interpretation of land degradation processes. Land degradation impacts most terrestrial biomes across all world regions. To address global change challenges emanating from degrading natural resources, many countries voluntarily set themselves the goal of achieving Land Degradation Neutrality (LDN). Baseline conditions are to be established over a reference period (2000 – 2015). With seven more years to monitor this Sustainable Development Goal 15 indicator — SDG15.3.1 until the year 2030, the scientific basis for operationalizing LDN is still evolving. The non-availability of annual land use-land cover maps of sufficient resolution in various countries, among them Switzerland, is a major factor hampering the assessment at national and local levels. Land cover change is assessed for seven land categories (that is, Tree-covered area, Grassland, Cropland, Wetland, Artificial Surfaces, Otherland, and Waterbody). Land cover change is a major LDN sub-indicator required to assess the proportion of degraded land to total land area (SDG15.3.1). Annual land cover datasets from 2015 to 2020 were produced at 10 m from Sentinel-1 and Sentinel-2 images using a Remote Sensing and Geographic Information System-based workflow. An evaluation of degradation in land cover is presented in support of the operationalization of LDN in Switzerland. Drawing upon the understanding that changes made to land use-land cover may act as precursors to land degradation processes, transitions relating to the loss of natural cover were identified based on the land cover change criteria during the reference and the monitored periods. The criteria were developed for relating land cover transitions to degrading and non-degrading processes. Such transitions were grasslands to tree-covered areas and croplands to artificial surfaces due to settlement development. For example, the amount of cropland converted to artificial surface areas was greater in absolute terms during the monitored period than during the reference period. Also, the regeneration of natural cover involving transitions from otherland to grassland and from grasslands to tree-covered areas was found. Overall trends between 2000 and 2020 in Switzerland are the increasing settlement areas in the Central Plateau, the Alpine valleys of Valais and Ticino, largely at the expense of croplands and the bush encroachment of pastures such as in the Jura. This study's contributions include an enhanced workflow for annual land cover mapping for the entire Switzerland and the adaptation of the land cover change criteria to fit the Swiss context. The proposed mapping method has the potential to fill the gap between the production cycles of the Swiss Corine and Arealstatistik land use data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Czech landscapes have been shaped by many driving forces such as sub/urbanisation, construction of transport and logistics infrastructure, afforestation or agriculture extensification. The outskirts of Prague belong to some of the most affected regions despite two protected landscape areas (PLA ) spread out here, protecting unique nature in the national context. The key question is whether and how the land cover changes, their direction and magnitude, differ inside and outside of these two protected landscape areas and thus, whether legislative landscape and nature protection fulfils its role, preventing negative changes e.g. caused by urban sprawl. Therefore two groups of study sites were defined – inside and outside the PLAs – in order to test whether undergoing land cover changes differ. The CORINE land cover layers were used to quantify landscape structure and its change using landscape metrics and land cover changes during the time period of 1990–2006. Obtained data were analysed using methods of direct ordinations (redundancy analysis). The results showed that two groups of study sites differed in landscape structure and landscape composition in the year 1990, but trajectories and intensities of land cover changes since then have been very similar, however landscape structure unlike landscape composition have still remained different. It seems that socio-economic development influenced both groups in comparable ways and though, legislative landscape and nature protection doesn’t restrict land cover changes even those caused by urban sprawl; however, further analyses are necessary. Srovnání změn v krajině uvnitř a vně chráněných území v zázemí Prahy mezi lety 1990 a 2006 V České republice dochází v posledních dvou dekádách v důsledku hlubokých společenských a politických změn k významným změnám krajinného pokryvu a jeho struktury (Romportl et al. 2010). Na většině území Evropy dochází k homogenizaci krajiny a zániku regionálních krajinných typů (Jongman 2002). Specifické formy využívání krajiny a krajinný ráz přitom patří mezi základní kulturní hodnoty, které si zaslouží legislativní ochranu. V České republice jsou k tomuto účelu zřízeny kategorie přírodních parků a chráněných krajinných oblastí. Otázkou ovšem zůstává, zda statut těchto chráněných území zajišťuje dostatečnou ochranu specifické skladby krajinného pokryvu a jeho struktury. Mezi potenciálně nejohroženější oblasti patří bezesporu území v zázemí velkých měst atraktivních pro rezidenční i komerční výstavbu. Tento efekt ještě více zvyšuje existence dálnic a dalších důležitých dopravních tras. V předložené studii jsme se proto zaměřili na srovnání změn krajinného pokryvu a jeho struktury ve vybraných 25 obcích v zázemí Prahy v zóně obdobné časové dostupnosti a vzdálenosti k dálnici D5. Třináct z těchto obcí leží na území CHKO Český kras, resp. CHKO Křivoklátsko, zbylých dvanáct pak mimo chráněná území. Cílem analýzy bylo ověření hypotézy, že v chráněných území by nemělo docházet k významným změnám krajinného pokryvu a jeho struktury, které by vedly ke snížení hodnot krajinného rázu. Výsledky však ukázaly, že v obou typech modelových lokalit dochází ke krajinným změnám podobné intenzity. Ačkoli se výchozí charakter krajinného pokryvu a jeho struktury v obou typech krajiny liší, dochází postupně ke konvergentnímu vývoji, jinými slovy ke smazávání rozdílů mezi krajinou na území CHKO a krajinou nechráněnou. Z toho vyplývá, že status chráněných krajinných oblastí pravděpodobně nepředstavuje dostatečnou úroveň ochrany krajiny v exponovaných územích České republiky.

Actual land cover maps are a very good source of information on present human activities. It increases value of actual spatial databases and it is a key element for decision makers. Therefore, it is important to develop fast and cheap algorithms and procedures of spatial data updating. Every day, satellite remote sensing deliver vast amount of new data, which can be semi-automatically classified.

Detecting land cover changes requires timely and accurate information, which can be assured by using remotely sensed data and Geographic Information System(GIS). This paper examines spatiotemporal trends in land cover changes in the Polish Baltic coastal zone, especially the urbanisation, loss of agricultural land, afforestation, and deforestation. The dynamics of land cover change and its impact were discussed as the major findings. The analysis revealed that land cover changes on the Polish Baltic coast have been consistent throughout the 1990–2018 period, and in the consecutive inventories of land cover, they have changed faster. As shown in the research, the area of agricultural land was subject to significant change, i.e., about 40% of the initial 8% of the land area in heterogeneous agriculture was either developed or abandoned at about equal rates. Next, the steady growth of the forest and semi-natural area also changed the land cover. The enlargement of the artificial surface was the third observed trend of land cover changes. However, the pace of land cover changes on the Baltic coast is slightly slower than in the rest of Poland and the European average. The region is very diverse both in terms of land cover, types of land transformation, and the pace of change. Hence, the Polish national authorities classified the Baltic coast as an area of strategic intervention requiring additional action to achieve territorial cohesion and the goals of sustainable development.

The Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model is commonly associated with meteorological data, but its algorithms may also use geographical data. The objective of this paper is to evaluate the impact of the high resolution CORINE Land Cover (CLC) data and the SRTM topography on the estimation accuracy of the weather model parameters in the WRF microscale simulations (200 × 200 m) for Warsaw. In the presented studies, the authors propose their own method of attaching the CLC data to the WRF microscale modeling for the CLC border areas, where first calculational domains reach beyond areas of CLC coverage. As a part of the research, the adaptation of the proposed method was examined by the assessment of the WRF microscale modeling simulations for Warsaw. The modified IGBP MODIS land use/land cover (LULC) and USGS GMTED2010 terrain elevation geographical data (30 arc seconds) was applied for the WRF simulations as default. As higher resolution geographical data (100 m), the LULC from CORINE Land Cover (CLC) 2018 data, and the SRTM topography were adopted. In this study the forecasts of air temperature and relative humidity at 2 m, and wind (speed and direction) at 10 m above ground level obtained using the WRF model for particular simulations were evaluated against measurements made at the Warsaw airports: Chopin (EPWA) and Babice (EPBC). The research has indicated that for microscale calculation fields there are noticeable changes in the meteorological parameter values when the CLC and the SRTM data are integrated into the WRF model, which in most cases yielded more accurate values of temperature and relative humidity at 2 m. This has also proved the correctness of the proposed methodology of the CLC data adoption. The improvement in the forecasted meteorological parameters is different for the particular locations and depends on the degree of the LULC and topography data change after higher resolution data adoption.

The present paper aims to evaluate if the Natura 2000 sites in Romania are placed over dynamic areas from a land cover changes perspective, or if they are placed in areas with low human interest and what the impact of these changes are. The effectiveness of conservation measures was addressed by analyzing the number of land cover changes and their areas in Natura 2000 sites, before and after declaring them as protected areas. Corine Land Cover (CLC) data were used as a tool to identify threats and pressures from each Natura 2000 site, and also assess whether land cover changes are more frequent in sites with a high biodiversity index, compared to those with low diversity, in order to estimate the conservation status. Changes in the land cover during 1990–2018 are characterized by three types of events, from 1990 to 2000 with most changes recorded, followed by a relative period of stability from 2000 to 2012; the most dynamic period is from 2012 to 2018. The main changes are due to deforestation. Only 29.7% ROSCI (Romanian Sites of Community Importance) and 36.5% ROSPA (Romanian Special Protected Areas) sites are characterized by a good degree of conservation without or with low modifications regarding the land cover. The most frequent threats and pressures that were found through CLC changes in the ROSCIs in Romania are related to forestry, grazing, the extent of the urbanized environment and those related to agriculture. The correspondence between Corine Land Cover and Natura 2000 specific threats and pressures emphasizes new guidelines for the Corine Land Cover program; therefore, this correspondence can be a potential tool to get more information for Natura 2000 sites.

This article analyzes the applicability of spatial data for evaluating and monitoring changes in land use and their impact on the local landscape. The Coordination of Information on the Environment (CORINE) Land Cover database was used to develop a procedure and an indicator for analyzing changes in land cover, and the continuity of different land use types. Changes in land use types were evaluated based on land cover data. The results were analyzed over time to track changes in the evaluated region. The studied area was the Region of Warmia and Mazury in Poland. The preservation of homogeneous land cover plays a particularly important role in areas characterized by high natural value and an abundance of forests and water bodies. The study revealed considerable changes in land cover and landscape fragmentation in the analyzed region.

During the last 30 years, the Romanian economy has faced different challenges due to structural readjustments, overcoming crisis and globalization. The share of primary and secondary sectors in the gross domestic product have strongly decreased, while the services have taken off. The main objective for this study is to observe how these economic readjustments can be assessed and measured using the Corine Land Cover datasets from 1990, 2000, 2006, 2012 and 2018 (with special observation on the range 2006 and 2018, after Romania was included in European Union). Despite some of the methodological limitations (like the minimum surface change), the Corine Land Cover turned out to be a powerful tool and it allowed us to detect an intense correlation between the socioeconomic and the structural trends in land use, in specific spatial contexts. The artificial surfaces are constantly increasing and this trend is rather visible as a distance function to the major Romanian cities. The most interesting changes occurred in the case of the agricultural polygons. The main trend emphasized by our analysis regards the redeployment of large farms in areas of agronomic and environmental territorial optimum. Such is the case for vineyards (after a decline during 2000–2006) and for annual cultures. All these changes in land-use patterns are too complex to be encompassed by a single methodology, which is why we used different tools, ranging from spatial analysis to geo-economic modeling, in order to detect how the Corine Land Cover datasets might be used for a better understanding of the Romanian economic readjustments.

This article presents methodology of land use change assessment in the context of sustainable development and the results of its application based on the transformations that occurred in individual areas of Europe in the years 2012−2018. This method is based on data from the CORINE (CO-oRdination of INformation on Environment) Land Cover program) and local government units presenting the degree of urbanization (DEGURBA). The transformations taking place in space were evaluated and reduced to economic, social, and environmental dimensions. We then analyzed the results in terms of space (covering almost all of Europe) and in terms of division (large cities, small towns, suburbs, and rural areas). Results indicate that development of the economic dimension most often takes place at the expense of natural resources. It was also determined that the higher the population density, the greater the sustainable development differentiation level in the analyzed dimensions, of which the social dimension was characterized by the lowest differentiation and the economic dimension was highest. The development of rural areas was found to be less sustainable than large urban centers. Interpretation of the results also leads to the conclusion that areas of Europe are very diverse in terms of sustainable development. However, the method itself, despite the imperfections observed by the authors, may be used in further or similar studies.

Cost-effective sampling methods for the estimation of variables of interest that are time-consuming are a major concern. Ranked set sampling (RSS) is a sampling method that assumes that a set of sampling units drawn from the population can be ranked by other means without the actual measurement of the variable of interest. We used data on vegetation dynamics from satellite remote sensing as a means in which to rapidly rank sampling units across various land covers and to estimate their residual agroforestry biomass contribution for a small cogeneration facility located in the center of a study area in central Italy. A remote sensing map used as an auxiliary variable in RSS enabled us to cut down the photo-interpretation of the residual biomass present in sampling units from 745 to 139, increase the relative precision of the estimate over common simple random sampling, and avoid individual subjective bias being introduced. The photo-interpretation of the sampling units resulted in a 1.12 Mg ha−1 year−1 mean annual density of residual biomass supply, although unevenly distributed among land cover classes; this led to an estimate of a yearly supply of 132 Gg over the whole 2276 km2 wide study area. Further applications of this study might include the spatial quantification of biomass supply-related ecosystem services.

A normalized difference vegetation index provides local forest managers with much essential annual information about the forest inventory. This article evaluates the possible use of NDVI and CORINE Land Cover databases for better forest management in the municipalities of Kursumlija and Topola in Serbia. The forest areas obtained using CLC were up to 11.5% larger than the official forest area estimates, whereas NDVI gave more precise results. This is of a crucial importance for preventing illegal logging, which is very prevalent in southern Serbian municipalities, which have substantial forested territory. NDVI is very promising for Serbia and also for countries that rarely carry out national forest inventories. This method can also easily be applied to other Balkan countries with a similar situation regarding local forest management.

Context: The Natura 2000 aims to promote the persistence of biodiversity and traditional uses. European landscapes have, however, undergone large transformations in the past decades, mainly associated with the abandonment of less productive lands concentration of intensive agriculture. These changes could pose management challenges and new opportunities to the achievement of the network´s goals.Objective: Evaluate changes in land cover within Natura 2000 in the last two decades.Methods: We use different Corine Land Cover datasets to construct transition matrices of land uses for measuring changes for each Natura 2000 site. We also explore the role of different drivers in observed changes and assess the impacts of these changes in the structure of landscape.Results: Landscape has been highly dynamic within Natura 2000 in the last two decades with more than 20% undergoing land cover changes. The most systematic transitions involved both, succession processes towards naturalisation in older and more abrupt protected areas (PAs) and anthropization in less steep and more recently designated PAs. Changes across land cover categories had also significant effects on the landscape configuration towards a higher homogenisation.Conclusions: Two different strategies would be needed to enhance the role of Natura 2000, (i) tighter control to ensure anthropization, mainly intensive agriculture, does not compromise conservation goals within PAs and (ii) tackle more effectively the ecological and socio-economic effects of abandonment in less productive areas to halt loss of key habitats. On the other hand, changes in composition and structure of landscape open new conservation opportunities derived from enhanced connectivity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of this work was to qualitatively and quantitatively analyse the urbanisation process that took place in Spain's urban agglomerations between 1987 and 2011. To do this, we used Corine Land Cover (1987, 2000, 2005 and 2011) as our main data source and obtained more detailed information from Sistema de Información sobre Ocupación del Suelo de España (SIOSE, in its 2011 version). In quantitative terms, it was possible to note a major expansion in the artificial surface area in all of the agglomerations studied, an 84% increase between 1987 and 2011; this tendency was particularly intense during the period corresponding to the property boom. Qualitatively, it is important to highlight several of the results obtained. Firstly, there was the increase in low-density residential spaces, which grew in importance in comparison to more compact residential uses. Even so, it was the non-residential uses that increased most, with them passing from 27% of the artificial surfaces in 1987 to 42% in 2011. Secondly, it should be noted that, in general, the medium-sized agglomerations grew relatively more than the largest ones, while the peripheral municipalities located within the agglomerations were the main protagonists in processes involving land artificialisation. This confirmed a change in model of urbanisation towards a more extensive and dispersed form of urban development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article evaluates the possible use of normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) and CORINE Land Cover (CLC) databases for better forest management in the municipalities of Kuršumlija and Topola in Serbia. The forest areas obtained using CLC were up to 11.5% larger than the official forest area estimates, whereas NDVI gave more precise results. Hence, NDVI can efficiently provide local forest managers with essential annual information about the forest inventory.This is of a crucial importance for preventing illegal logging, which is very prevalent in southern Serbian municipalities, which have substantial forested territory. NDVI thus very promising for Serbia and also for countries that rarely carry out national forest inventories. This method can also easily be applied to other Balkan countries with a similar situation regarding local forest management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent decades, an increase in flood damage has been observed; therefore, the assessment of potential damage is becoming more important. Estimation of potential flood damage can be achieved with various existing models. However, their transferability is questionable and the actual availability of input data is often limited. To overcome these shortcomings, a new model has been developed to effectively estimate flood damage in Croatia. The proposed model uses only publicly available data such as the CORINE data set and information from censuses. The model was developed in an open source Geographic Information System programme. Validation of the model's performance was performed using data from the extreme May 2014 flood that occurred in the Balkan Peninsula. Furthermore, the model has already been used in practice and has proven to be user‐friendly due to the minimum input required from open source data, allowing for insights to be gained from data updates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Several international initiatives, including the European Biodiversity Strategy to 2020, promote the identification and mapping of ecosystems as basic tools for the conservation of biodiversity and related services. On coarse scales, the spatial representation of ecosystems is usually based on broad land cover categories that largely overlook important ecological and biogeographic features of the biotic communities they are meant to exemplify. This paper presents a nationwide ecosystem mapping approach that promotes a degree of thematic detail, which is more suited than that found in the continental maps to meeting biodiversity conservation targets in Italy. The approach is based on the rationale that current and potential vegetation cover are valuable proxies for outlining ecosystems. The resulting Ecosystem Map of Italy includes 43 types of forest ecosystems instead of the 5 woodland, forest and other wooded land types recognized at the European level. We outline the expected advantages of this enhanced thematic detail for a number of conservation purposes and highlight how the resulting maps may help to meet biodiversity conservation targets at the national level. In particular, we refer to the assessment of conservation status, the definition of restoration priorities, the planning of green infrastructure and the identification of collapse risks for the ecosystems identified. Comprehensively, the definition, characterization and assessment of ecosystem types represent the carrying structure of the recently launched national system of natural capital accounting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Metropolitan areas represent large urban centers, made up of a metropolis and adjacent areas of influence. In general, one or several cities are polarizing centers which inspire a name to the metropolitan area as the most important component of the city. The human pressure may be analyzed using anthropic pressure indices. They are calculated according to the relation between the surfaces with different types of occupation and the number of population overlapping such occupied areas. The data used in calculations may be found in official statistics and in international environmental monitoring programs. Such program is Copernicus which provides the Corine Land Cover data relating to use of land in Europe. To calculate and analyze anthropic pressure indices one may use GIS applications which process the Corine Land Cover data and create maps that expose changes occurred at visual level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The diversity in composition of moth communities living forest habitats is strongly related to habitat characteristics, depending mainly on dominant forest type. The species in a community have different behaviors and are more or less influenced by the surrounding landscape diversity. The effects of landscape diversity on moth communities are significant when the appropriate spatial scale is considered, which depends on the ecological needs and dispersion abilities of species. In this study we assessed the relationships between landscape diversity at different spatial scales in four different forest Calabrian scenarios, identified by using the CORINE Land Cover, and moth diversity. Nocturnal Lepidoptera were sampled in beech, chestnut, Calabrian black pine and fir forests by using LED light traps. In each forest type 9 traps were posi - tioned, in a total of 36 sample plots selected by the maturity of forest. The diversity of Lepidoptera communities was related to landscape diversity, considering each sample plots as the center of the surrounding landscape analyzed with different buffers (500m, 1000m, 2000m, 3000m, and 5000m). Diversity moth-landscape correlations were performed for: (i) all 36 sample plots; (ii) only broadleaves forest sites; (iii) only coni - fers forest sites; (iv) only forested plots; (v) only non-forested plots. Our results suggest that landscape composition in forest ecosystems, both at small and medium spatial scale, have a driving role in determining moth communities diversity, pointing out that the landscape structure is a parameter to taking in account for the sustainable management of forests. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate change is expected to alter vegetation and carbon cycle processes, with implications for ecosystems. Notably, understanding the sensitivity of vegetation to the anomalies of precipitation and temperature over different land cover classes and the corresponding temporal response is essential for improved climate prediction. In this paper, we analyze vegetation response to hydroclimatic forcings using the Fraction of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (FAPAR) derived from SeaWiFS (Sea-viewing Wide Field-of-view Sensor) (1998–2002) and (Medium Resolution Imaging Spectrometer) (2003–2011) satellite sensors at ∼1-km resolution. Based on land cover and pixel-wise analysis, we quantify the extent of the dependence of the FAPAR and, ultimately, the phenology on the anomalies of precipitation and temperature over Europe. Statistical tests are performed to establish where this correlation may be regarded as statistically significant. Furthermore, we assess a statistical link between the climate variables and a set of phenological metrics defined from FAPAR measurement. Variation in the phenological response to the unusual values of precipitation and temperature can be interpreted as the result of the balanced opposite effects of water and temperature on vegetation processes. Results suggest very different responses for different land cover classes and seasons. Correlation analysis also indicates that European phenology may be quite sensitive to perturbations in precipitation and temperature regimes, such as those induced by climate change.

The aim of the present paper is to illustrate the basic data and the methodological approach proposed for the implementation of Action 5 of the European Biodiversity Strategy in Italy. In particular, it focuses on a model for ecosystem mapping and characterisation at the country level that has been built with the interdisciplinary involvement of geobotanists, functional ecologists, forest scientists and zoologists. The first operational steps of the model are based on the cartographic integration between potential natural vegetation, biogeographic regions, and land cover maps. The final step entails characterising the mapped ecosystems in terms of Habitats Directive, local occurrence of threatened plant species and faunal components. The model is going to be tested in Italy, but should also be applied elsewhere in Mediterranean Europe, especially in those countries that have a comparable ecological complexity.

The objective of this paper is to manifest the intellectual and cognitive structure of CORINE Land Cover (CLC) research applications. Data from the Web of Science (WoS) was used to delimit publication on CLC during the period from 1985 until 2019 (29th April), retrieving a total of 873 documents. Through author citations, the origins and the most influential papers were identified. The main lines of research were identified from word co-occurrences extracted from the titles, keywords, and abstracts of the papers. In the view of both structures, it can be concluded that CORINE land cover constitutes a relatively young set of scientific data, with a constant expansion and a strongly interdisciplinary structure. The development of this application is dependent on the knowledge of such research areas as geography, remote sensing, ecology, forestry, agriculture, engineering, optics, and/or computer science. We believe that this information could be very useful for CLC users, as it reflects a large-scale analysis of the research lines of CLC and illuminates how research has changed over time in diverse areas of applications. Moreover, this study is intended to offer a useful tool for the CLC scientific community, showcasing the main research lines and the most noteworthy papers. Finally, the methodology used in this study can be replicated in many other fields of science to explore its intellectual and cognitive structure.

A common feature of most theories of invasion ecology is that the extent and intensity of invasions is driven by a combination of drivers, which can be grouped into three main factors: propagule pressure (P), abiotic drivers (A) and biotic interactions (B). However, teasing apart the relative contribution of P, A and B on Invasive Alien Species (IAS) distributions is typically hampered by a lack of data. We focused on Mediterranean coastal dunes as a model system to test the ability of a combination of multi-source Remote Sensing (RS) data to characterize the distribution of five IAS. Using generalized linear models, we explored and ranked correlates of P, A and B derived from high-resolution optical imagery and three-dimensional (3D) topographic models obtained from LiDAR, along two coastal systems in Central Italy (Lazio and Molise Regions). Predictors from all three factors contributed significantly to explaining the presence of IAS, but their relative importance varied among the two Regions, supporting previous studies suggesting that invasion is a context-dependent process. The use of RS data allowed us to characterize the distribution of IAS across broad, regional scales and to identify coastal sectors that are most likely to be invaded in the future.