Europes ecological backbone.pdf

Land cover and uses
Table 7.4 Contribution of each land‐cover flow to the total amount of change between 2000
and 2006 per massif (in %)
Massif LCF1 LCF2 LCF3 LCF4 LCF5 LCF6 LCF7 LCF8 LCF9
Alps 0.46 3.59 10.52 0.18 0.49 0.25 58.70 0.06 25.77
Apennines 0.79 2.67 5.58 3.10 3.54 1.50 77.08 1.23 4.51
Atlantic islands 2.39 32.09 18.93 5.80 1.68 0.00 14.18 0.00 24.93
Balkans/South-east Europe 0.46 4.62 5.67 6.80 2.73 3.13 71.34 1.46 3.78
British Isles 0.04 0.74 0.58 0.58 0.08 5.36 92.62 0.00 0.00
Carpathians 0.25 0.83 1.94 8.17 0.50 3.15 85.12 0.05 0.00
Central European middle
mountains 1 * 2.96 6.54 5.78 1.90 1.00 0.19 81.52 0.04 0.06
Central European middle
mountains 2 ** 1.12 0.99 4.99 40.25 2.57 2.39 46.60 0.88 0.22
Eastern Mediterranean
islands 0.51 18.99 7.05 0.04 11.68 0.00 60.64 0.00 1.10
French/Swiss middle
mountains 2.10 6.69 8.17 0.53 0.85 0.19 78.06 0.19 3.22
Iberian mountains 0.91 0.61 5.16 7.27 6.12 1.07 65.10 0.16 13.60
Nordic mountains 0.02 0.25 2.26 0.02 0.08 0.01 90.02 0.26 7.07
Pyrenees 1.22 1.26 5.26 7.97 0.69 0.18 38.91 1.01 43.51
Turkey 2.24 1.02 9.78 5.14 5.34 0.73 66.64 5.22 3.89
Western Mediterranean
islands 0.32 1.52 1.91 0.20 2.69 1.30 39.43 2.78 49.85
All massifs 0.86 1.59 5.23 6.28 3.53 1.26 70.45 0.97 9.83
Note:
* = Belgium and Germany; ** = the Czech Republic, Austria and Germany.
Source: Based on EEA datasets (CLC2000–2006). www.eea.europa.eu/data-and-maps/data/corine-land-cover-2000-2006.
Overall, 'forest creation and management' (LCF7)
was the dominant land‐cover flow during both time
periods (Figure 7.7) and was more pronounced in
2000–2006. For the massifs for which a comparison
is possible, the rates were considerably higher in
1990–2000 in the Pyrenees and slightly higher in
the Alps and French–Swiss middle mountains,
while the converse was true for 2000–2006
particularly in the Apennines, Carpathians and
central European middle mountains and less so in
the Iberian mountains. However, in the relatively
little-forested mountains of the Atlantic islands,
'urban residential sprawl' (LCF2) was the dominant
change in both periods, which is probably related
to the impact of the tourism sector. In addition, a
significant 'conversion from forested and natural
land to agriculture' (LCF5) was observed in
1990–2000, which could be a consequence of more
human activity. In the mountains of the western
Mediterranean islands 'withdrawal of farming'
(LCF6) was the major change in 1990–2000, but not
in 2000–2006. A further massif where LCF7 was
not the dominant change in 1990–2006 was the
central European middle mountains 2: 'agricultural
internal conversion' (LCF4) was the dominant
change, and second in importance in 2000–2006,
as discussed in Section 7.3.1 with regard to the
Czech Republic. This flow was also important in
central European middle mountains 1 in 1990–2000.
The same analysis was performed at country level
(Table 7.6), although in this case the changes were
calculated on an annual basis in order to avoid the
effect of time difference in data delivery.
Europe's ecological backbone: recognising the true value of our mountains
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