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Landscape fragmentation
Pattern-related impacts
Surface-related impacts
Land use pattern
Journal of Land Use Science 79
Loss/degradation of
prime farmland
Surface
characteristics
Negative impacts on
aquatic systems
Higher development costs
(infrastructure)
Contribution to urban
heat island
Less cost-efficient public
transit
Higher travel distances
Automobile dependence
Urban density
Impacts/outcomes
(examples)
Density-related impacts
Figure 1. Impact phenomena caused by changes of land cover (surface), land use pattern and density.
Naess 2003). In addition, pattern sprawl is one crucial contributor to landscape fragmentation
characterised by a process of perforation, dissection and isolation of habitat areas and
natural or semi-natural ecosystems (Jaeger 2000). Many scholars regard fragmentation as a
major cause of the alarming loss of species all over the world (Theobald et al. 1997;
Cieslewicz 2002).
Furthermore, sprawl can be characterised by its change of land use composition. We
address this as the ‘surface dimension’ of sprawl. Urban sprawl describes a large scale
conversion process of agricultural, natural or semi-natural surfaces to built-up areas with a
high share of artificial, impervious surfaces and complex effects on ecological systems
(Schueler 1994; Arnold and Gibbons 1996; Moglen and Kim 2007). ‘Surface sprawl’ usually
affects the core areas of metropolitan areas and their near surroundings. Next to the amount of
urbanised land or impervious surfaces, the quality of land that became urbanised within a
specific period of time has to be taken into account (e.g., soil quality, habitat quality). Of
particular concern is the loss of prime agricultural land due to its importance for the long-term
competitiveness and sustainability of agriculture (Hasse and Lathrop 2003).
For all three dimensions, we propose specific indicators presented in the subsequent section.
3.2. Methodology
Table 3 gives a brief overview over the selected indicators. ‘Indicator description worksheets’,
summarised in Annex 1, provide detailed information on the actual implementation (calculation,
data sources, base years). The main intention in this selection is a comprehensive and