Meso-scale landscape analysis based on landscape balance investigations: problems and hierarchical approaches for their resolution

Varied utilization demands of society to the landscape are leading to an overlay of interests and thus to land use conflicts. Thereby, essential landscape functions like the regulation function (i.e. run-off regulation, groundwater recharge, groundwater protection, buffer functions of the soil, etc.) may be affected, and result in stresses to our natural resources like soil and water. The land use conflicts become especially obvious in a regional context. The diminution of such land use conflicts in terms of a regional management of environment and natural resources requires the knowledge of the response of the landscape balance to land use changes. The results of integrated landscape analysis enable the calculation of scenarios that allow the derivation of site-suitable land use variants with positive effects (decrease) to material out-wash from landscape parts and material inputs into surface water and groundwater. Numerous and complex methodological problems arise with such analysis, as well as with the investigation and assessment of the landscape water balance and water-bound material fluxes on the mesoscale.As a contribution for the resolution of these problems, the authors present a hierarchical nested approach that interlinks scale-specific methods. Due to the complexity and difficult implementation from purely system-oriented approaches in both applied landscape research and planning, the connection to more pragmatic approaches is herewith striked. Thus, information about the impact of land use changes on the landscape balance, as well as the assessment of landscape functions for both watersheds and administrative units should be enabled. Beside the check of the scale-specific applicability of models (i.e. E2D/3D, ABIMO, ASGi, SWAT, modifications of the USLE), the transferability of parameter- and indicator systems for the assessment of the landscape balance on the concerned scale levels is also investigated. An important objective is thereby the optimization of the validity of landscape information for the spatio-temporal levels of the mesoscale.