Publication Details

Category Text Publication
Reference Category Journals
DOI 10.1088/1748-9326/ac9cf5
Licence creative commons licence
Title (Primary) Archetypes of agri-environmental potential: a multi-scale typology for spatial stratification and upscaling in Europe
Author Beckmann, M. ORCID logo ; Didenko, G.; Bullock, J.M.; Cord, A.F.; Paulus, A. ORCID logo ; Ziv, G.; Václavík, T.
Source Titel Environmental Research Letters
Year 2022
Department CLE
Volume 17
Issue 11
Page From art. 115008
Language englisch
Topic T5 Future Landscapes
Abstract Developing spatially-targeted policies for farmland in the European Union (EU) requires synthesized, spatially-explicit knowledge of agricultural systems and their environmental conditions. Such synthesis needs to be flexible and scalable in a way that allows the generalization of European landscapes and their agricultural potential into spatial units that are informative at any given resolution and extent. In recent years, typologies of agricultural lands have been substantially improved, however, agriculturally relevant aspects have yet to be included. We here provide a spatial classification approach for identifying archetypal patterns of agri-environmental potential in Europe based on machine-learning clustering of 17 variables on bioclimatic conditions, soil characteristics and topographical parameters. We improve existing typologies by (a) including more recent biophysical data (e.g. agriculturally-important soil parameters), (b) employing a fully data-driven approach that reduces subjectivity in identifying archetypal patterns, and (c) providing a scalable approach suitable both for the entire European continent as well as smaller geographical extents. We demonstrate the utility and scalability of our typology by comparing the archetypes with independent data on cropland cover and field size at the European scale and in three regional case studies in Germany, Czechia and Spain. The resulting archetypes can be used to support spatial stratification, upscaling and designation of more spatially-targeted agricultural policies, such as those in the context of the EU's Common Agricultural Policy post-2020.
Persistent UFZ Identifier https://www.ufz.de/index.php?en=20939&ufzPublicationIdentifier=26842
Beckmann, M., Didenko, G., Bullock, J.M., Cord, A.F., Paulus, A., Ziv, G., Václavík, T. (2022):
Archetypes of agri-environmental potential: a multi-scale typology for spatial stratification and upscaling in Europe
Environ. Res. Lett. 17 (11), art. 115008 10.1088/1748-9326/ac9cf5