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Task01.02.02: Map production and aggregation

As a result of Task01.02.02 “Map production and aggregation”, 24 European land cover products were generated. Firstly, European land cover maps were compiled for the reference years 1960, 1990 and 2000. Secondly, aggregated products were derived at different spatial and thematic resolutions in order to synthesize the fragmentation and variability within coarser cells for biodiversity assessment and modelling. The official deliverable is D01.02.01 “Land cover maps for environmental modelling at multiple scales” includes the description of all digital land cover products. The interactive website enables you to view the all land cover data sets at all thematic and spatial scales. The data sets have been used already in several tasks. First of all, in task 01.02.03 to perform fragmenation analysis at differenent spatial resolutions and years. Secondly, to desaggregate the land cover information into habitat distribution maps (geo-spatial modelling), also part of Task 01.02.03. And as an input for the land use scenarios.

Task T01.02.03: Refined Classifications; desaggregation of CORINE land cover into ecological relevant classes

The major objective here was to develop a refinement of land cover information into relevant ecological classes. This task can be considered as part II of the deliverable report D01.02.02. The modeling of the spatial distribution of habitats focussed especially on the forest and grassland ecosystems, since they are the major focus of the ECOCHANGE project. Much effort was made on the establishment of the knowledge rules for the relationship between CORINE land cover classes (CEC, 1994; Bossard et al, 2000; Büttner et al, 2004) and the Annex 1 Habitats (European Commission, 2007). The knowledge rules were largly based on the ecological knowledge of Dr R.G.H. Bunce who was responsible for that specific part. Knowledge rules can be improved in the future by more in-depth exploitation of the in-situ data and use of more European expert knowledge which will definitely improved the developed spatial models, although some habitats are so locally distributed or weakly described that their spatial identification identification at the European scale is hardly possible.