Mapping landscape services: a case study in a multifunctional rural landscape in the Netherlands

The wide variety of landscape services, e.g. food production, water quality, and recreation, necessitates the use of a wide range of data sources for their identification. Subsequently, an array of approaches is required to analyse and map differ different landscape services, which we have explored in this study. Approaches to identify and map four landscape services are illustrated for the municipalities Deurne and Asten in province Noord-Brabant, The Netherlands: wetland habitat, forest recreation, land-based animal husbandry, and recreation for hikers. The landscape services were identified through ground observations at 389 locations. Spatial indicators were used to identify and map the landscape services. Based on the ground observations, correlations between the landscape services and spatial characteristics (e.g. elevation, soil, road-type) were calculated within a neighbourhood with a radius of 0 m, 50 m, and 100 m. These correlations identified several site-specific indicators to map the landscape services. The accuracy of the landscape service maps created was assessed. The indicators proved to be adequately reliable for forest recreation and reasonably reliable for land-based animal husbandry and recreation for hikers. Only landscape service map forest recreation was shown to be highly accurate. The four landscape services rarely coincide, but within a 1 km radius it is apparent that some occur closer together. The approach that we have used is applicable for a wide range of different services and establishes a fundamental basis for determining their spatial variation. As such, it should provide vital information for policy makers and spatial planners. © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.