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CORINE-based landscape indices weakly correlate with plant species richness in a northern European landscape transect

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Abstract

We present the results of one of the few available tests of how CORINE (CLC2000) is likely to perform as a basis for the calculation of landscape indices, for environmental monitoring over large areas. This paper investigates to what extent landscape structural indices based on this widely used European land cover database can be used to predict plant species richness in a 2,000 km2 transect in the northeast of Scotland. We investigate both statistical and map resolution issues by comparing the performance of CORINE-based common landscape indices with the same indices derived from a much more detailed geographic data set. In our case study, only shape-related indices show correlation with species richness, but effect size, important for monitoring, is small. The results highlight the area-specific and map specific nature of the performance of landscape indices for protecting plant diversity.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Macaulay Institute, Craigiebuckler, Aberdeen, AB15 8QH, UK

    Alessandro Gimona & Pernette Messager

  2. Dipartimento di Produzione Vegetale, Università Degli Studi di Milano, Via Celoria 2, 20133, Milan, Italy

    Martino Occhi

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  1. Alessandro Gimona
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  2. Pernette Messager
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  3. Martino Occhi
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Correspondence to Alessandro Gimona.

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Gimona, A., Messager, P. & Occhi, M. CORINE-based landscape indices weakly correlate with plant species richness in a northern European landscape transect. Landscape Ecol 24, 53–64 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10980-008-9279-7

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