Mapping and assessment of ecosystems and their services. Urban ecosystems

Action 5 of the EU Biodiversity Strategy to 2020 requires member states to Map and Assess the state of Ecosystems and their Services (MAES). This report provides guidance for mapping and assessment of urban ecosystems. The MAES urban pilot is a collaboration between the European Commission, the European Environment Agency, volunteering Member States and cities, and stakeholders. Its ultimate goal is to deliver a knowledge base for policy and management of urban ecosystems by analysing urban green infrastructure, condition of urban ecosystems and ecosystem services. This report presents guidance for mapping urban ecosystems and includes an indicator framework to assess the condition of urban ecosystems and urban ecosystem services. The scientific framework of mapping and assessment is designed to support in particular urban planning policy and policy on green infrastructure at urban, metropolitan and regional scales. The results are based on the following different sources of information: a literature survey of 54 scientific articles, an online-survey (on urban ecosystems, related policies and planning instruments and with participation of 42 cities), ten case studies (Portugal: Cascais, Oeiras, Lisbon; Italy: Padua, Trento, Rome; The Netherlands: Utrecht; Poland: Poznań; Spain: Barcelona; Norway: Oslo), and a two-day expert workshop. The case studies constituted the core of the MAES urban pilot. They provided real examples and applications of how mapping and assessment can be organized to support policy; on top, they provided the necessary expertise to select a set of final indicators for condition and ecosystem services. Urban ecosystems or cities are defined here as socio-ecological systems which are composed of green infrastructure and built infrastructure. Urban green infrastructure (GI) is understood in this report as the multi-functional network of urban green spaces situated within the boundary of the urban ecosystem. Urban green spaces are the structural components of urban GI. This study has shown that there is a large scope for urban ecosystem assessments. Firstly, urban policies increasingly use urban green infrastructure and nature-based solutions in their planning process. Secondly, an increasing amount of data at multiple spatial scales is becoming available to support these policies, to provide a baseline, and to compare or benchmark cities with respect to the extent and management of the urban ecosystem. Concrete examples are given on how to delineate urban ecosystems, how to choose an appropriate spatial scale, and how to map urban ecosystems based on a combination of national or European datasets (including Urban Atlas) and locally collected information (e.g., location of trees). Also examples of typologies for urban green spaces are presented. This report presents an indicator framework which is composed of indicators to assess for urban ecosystem condition and for urban ecosystem services. These are the result of a rigorous selection process and ensure consistent mapping and assessment across Europe. The MAES urban pilot will continue with work on the interface between research and policy. The framework presented in this report needs to be tested and validated across Europe, e.g. on its applicability at city scale, on how far the methodology for measuring ecosystem condition and ecosystem service delivery in urban areas can be used to assess urban green infrastructure and nature-based solutions

Multidisciplinary approach to reconstructing local pastoral activities: an example from the Pyrenean Mountains (Pays Basque)

International audienceIn this study archaeology, history and palaeoecology (modern and fossil data sets of pollen and nonpollen palynomorphs) were used to reconstruct small-scale pastoral activities in the Pyrenees Mountains during the last two millennia. Modern pollen assemblages from the major vegetation units (both natural andanthropogenic) are studied on one restricted watershed area. A correlative model (RDA) of 61 modern pollen spectra and 35 external variables distinguishes two groups of taxa, providing information on the nature and spatial extent of human impact on the landscape. The first pool indicates local pastoral activities, and the second one implies regional input from outside the studied watershed, and is not characteristic of a specific land use. These pools are described as 'Local Pastoral Pollen Indicators' (LPPI) for this particular mountain region on crystalline bedrock and 'Regional Human Activities Pollen Indicators' (RHAPI). The modern data set is used to aid interpretation of the local pollen sequence of Sourzay that covers the last 2000 calendar years BP, using RDA reconstructions, and best modern analogues as a means of comparing modern and fossil spectra. The study also demonstrates agreement between the independent interpretations of two fossil proxies, LPPI and coprophilous fungi

Modern and fossil non-pollen palynomorphs from the Basque mountains (western Pyrenees, France): the use of coprophilous fungi to reconstruct pastoral activity

International audienceThis paper presents results from a modern dataset of non-pollen palynomorphs and its application to aca. 2,000 year peat record from the same area in the western Pyrenees (Basque Country, France). The modern dataset is composed of 35 surface samples (moss polsters) from a mountainous pasture-woodland landscape. Airborne fungal spores (ascospores and conidia), found dominant in the dataset, are linked to the degree of landscape openness and grazing pressure. The complete spectrum of 13 selected spore-types of dung-related Ascomycetes is positively linked with grazing pressure. However, different dung affinities between the spore-types have been identified. These are types clearly related to high grazing pressure and types with no or unclear dung indicative value. The modern dataset is used to aid interpretation of the local fossil pollen record as an independent 'proxy' to assess past pastoral dynamics. This study confirms the utility of modern nonpollen palynomorphs from terrestrial ecosystems in the reconstruction of historical local pastoral activities but also shows their limitation. It may be necessary to extend such study to wetland ecosystems and to investigate the spatial dimension of some fungal spores

Pilot optical alignment

PILOT (Polarized Instrument for Long wavelength Observations of the Tenuous interstellar medium) is a balloonborne astronomy experiment designed to study the polarization of dust emission in the diffuse interstellar medium in our Galaxy. The PILOT instrument allows observations at wavelengths 240 μm (1.2THz) with an angular resolution about two arc-minutes. The observations performed during the first flight in September 2015 at Timmins, Ontario Canada, have demonstrated the optical performances of the instrument

Communicated by J.N. Haas.

Modern and fossil non-pollen palynomorphs from the Basque mountains (western Pyrenees, France): the use of coprophilous fungi to reconstruct pastoral activit

Communicated by J.N. Haas.

Modern and fossil non-pollen palynomorphs from the Basque mountains (western Pyrenees, France): the use of coprophilous fungi to reconstruct pastoral activit

Les principaux événements sur diverses platesformes eocrétacées des bordures mésogéenne et atlantique de la Péninsule Ibérique

[FR] Sant évoqués les événements géodynamiques majeurs qui se sant produits sur diverses plates-formes occupant, au Crétacé inférieur, les façades mésogéenne (Pyrénées Est, Ibérides sud-orientales, Prébétique sud occidental, Avant-pays rifain oriental au Maroc) et atlantique (Pyrénées Ouest, Algarve et Estremadura au Portugal) de la plaque ibérique en voie d’individualisation. L’étude comparative des séries connues sur ces différentes platesformes révéle l’existence, durant la période considérée, de trois domames principaux: les domaines atlantique (Estremadura, Algarve), mésogéen (Ibérides sud orientales, Avant-Pays rifain) et «intermédiaire » (Pyrériées, Prébétique sud occidental). Le premier présente une évolution géodynamique (discontinuité du Valanginien basal saulignée par des épandages détritiques; discantinuités du Valanginien terminal et du Bédaulien inférieur suivies de brusques transgressions marines (taujours sur plate-forme); accélération de la subsidence et du taux de sédimentation á partir de l’Aptien) traduisant une liaison étroite et directe avec l’ouverture de l’Atlantique. Le cachet «mésogéen» du secand est affirmé: a) par la saudaine apparition des bassins bédouliens (mames A Ammonites); b) par le développement des décharges terrigénes du Wealdien et de l’Utrillas, liées au soulévement de la marge nord-arientale de la plaque ibérique. La polarité soit atlantique, soit mésogéenne, soit dauble, confére leur originalité respective aux différentes séries du domaine pyrénéen et prébétique intermédiaire.[ES] En este trabaja se analizan las acontecimientos mayores acaecidos en el Cretácico inferior, sobre las diferentes plataformas de las vertientes mediterránea (Pirineos orientales, Ibérica suroriental, Prebético suroccidental, antepais rifeña oriental en Marruecos) y atlántica (Pirineos occidentales, Algarve y Estremadura en Portugal) de la placa ibérica en curso de individualización. El estudio comparativo de las series conocidas en estas diferentes plataformas revela la existencia, durante el período considerada, de tres dominios principales: el atlántico (Estremadura, Algarve), meditert< áneo (Ibérica suroriental, antepais rifeño) y un tercero de características intermedias (Pirineos, Prebético suroccidental). El primero presenta una evolución geodinámica (discontinuidad del Valanginiense basal con aportes detríticos; discontinuidades del Valanginiense terminal y del Bedauliense inferior, seguidas de bruscas transgresiones marmas, siempre sobre la plataforma; aceleración de la subsidencia y de la velocidad de sedimentación a partir del Aptense), todo ello en una estrecha relación con la apertura del Atlántico. El segunda presenta características típicas de la Mesogea, lo que parece confirmada por: a) la rápida aparición de las cuencas bedulienses (margas con Ammanites); b) el desarrollo de las descargas terrígenas del Weald y del Utrillas, ligadas al levantamiento de la margen continental de la plataforma ibérica. La polaridad, ya atlántica, ya mediterránea, ya doble, confiere su originalidad a las diferentes series del dominio pirenaico y prebético con características intermedias.Peer reviewe

Pollen Productivity Estimates of Mediterranean taxa – an ongoing project in southern France.

International audienc

New PPEs for key Mediterranean taxa.

International audienc