TY - JOUR A1 - Langhammer, Maria A1 - Grimm, Volker T1 - Mitigating bioenergy-driven biodiversity decline BT - a modelling approach with the European brown hare JF - Ecological modelling : international journal on ecological modelling and engineering and systems ecolog N2 - The cultivation of energy crops leads to direct and indirect land use changes that impair the biodiversity of the agricultural landscape. In our study, we analyse the effects of mitigation measures on the European brown hare (Lepus europaeus), which is directly affected by ongoing land use change and has experienced widespread decline throughout Europe since the 1960s. Therefore, we developed a spatially explicit and individual-based ecological model to study the effects of different landscape configurations and compositions on hare population development. As an input, we used two 4 x 4 km large model landscapes, which were generated by a landscape generator based on real field sizes and crop proportions and differed in average field size and crop composition. The crops grown annually are evaluated in terms of forage suitability, breeding suitability and crop richness for the hare. In six mitigation scenarios, we investigated the effects of a 10 % increase in the following measures: (1) mixed silphie, (2) miscanthus, (3) grass-clover ley, (4) alfalfa, (5) set-aside, and (6) general crop richness. All mitigation measures had significant effects on hare population development. Compared to the base scenario, the relative change in hare abundance ranged from a factor of 0.56 in the grass-clover ley scenario to-0.16 in the miscanthus scenario. The mitigation measures of mixed silphie, grass-clover ley and increased crop richness led to distinct increases in hare abundance in both landscapes ( > 0.3). The results show that both landscape configuration and composition have a significant effect on hare population development, which responds particularly strongly to compositional changes. The increase in crop diversity, e.g., through the cultivation of alternative energy crops such as mixed silphie and grass-clover ley, proves to be beneficial for the brown hare. KW - agent-based modelling KW - mitigation measures KW - agriculture KW - European brown KW - hare KW - land-use change KW - Lepus europaeus Y1 - 2020 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolmodel.2019.108914 SN - 0304-3800 SN - 1872-7026 VL - 416 PB - Elsevier CY - Amsterdam ER - TY - THES A1 - Langhammer, Maria T1 - Simulating biodiversity responses to land use mosaics in agricultural landscapes BT - an overview of the possibilities and potential Y1 - 2019 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Langhammer, Maria A1 - Thober, Jule A1 - Lange, Martin A1 - Frank, Karin A1 - Grimm, Volker T1 - Agricultural landscape generators for simulation models BT - a review of existing solutions and an outline of future directions JF - Ecological modelling : international journal on ecological modelling and engineering and systems ecolog N2 - There is an increasing need for an assessment of the impacts of land use and land use change (LUCC). In this context, simulation models are valuable tools for investigating the impacts of stakeholder actions or policy decisions. Agricultural landscape generators (ALGs), which systematically and automatically generate realistic but simplified representations of land cover in agricultural landscapes, can provide the input for LUCC models. We reviewed existing ALGs in terms of their objectives, design and scope. We found eight ALGs that met our definition. They were based either on generic mathematical algorithms (pattern-based) or on representations of ecological or land use processes (process-based). Most ALGs integrate only a few landscape metrics, which limits the design of the landscape pattern and thus the range of applications. For example, only a few specific farming systems have been implemented. We conclude that existing ALGs contain useful approaches that can be used for specific purposes, but ideally generic modular ALGs are developed that can be used for a wide range of scenarios, regions and model types. We have compiled features of such generic ALGs and propose a possible software architecture. Considerable joint efforts are required to develop such generic ALGs, but the benefits in terms of a better understanding and development of more efficient agricultural policies would be high. KW - Agricultural landscape KW - Field pattern KW - Agricultural landscape generator KW - Landscape simulator KW - Neutral landscape model KW - Process-based model Y1 - 2019 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolmodel.2018.12.010 SN - 0304-3800 SN - 1872-7026 VL - 393 SP - 135 EP - 151 PB - Elsevier CY - Amsterdam ER -