Pan-European Assessment of Riparian Zones Analysis of spatial changes in biodiversity and green infrastructure

Why Riparian Zones? Riparian Zones as a continuum along water streams comprising Riparian Areas - RA, which are natural environments, and Streamside Managed Zones – SMZs, which are non natural areas (cultivated, built...), both providing a range of ecological and social services: Maintaining biodiversity by providing productive natural habitats Increasing landscape connectivity: highly permeable matrix within the ‘green network’ Providing buffering of nutrients and contaminants Stabilizing banks and controlling stream flows

Objective: Creation of a database using Remote Sensing and GIS to map and assess the Riparian Zones for continental Europe Environmental assessment (based on mapping activities) Characterization of Riparian Areas and Streamside Management Zones. Statistics on LandCover, habitat class, PAs, RAs productivity parameters (MODIS), vegetation type Trend (change) dynamics: analysis 2000-2006 Connectivity of Riparian Areas in the context of the Green Network Ecosystem services: e.g. RA and SMZ buffering capacity, biodiversity services

Challenges to face using a Remote Sensing approach Mapping RAs does not mean to map one ecosystem type. RAs are Ecotones (transitional environments) -> high spectral variations from local to regional scale RAs in Europe are generally of small extension -> Need of a trade-off between high resolution data and the continental extension (Europe) RAs boundaries are often unclear also on the ground: need of additional criteria to delineate RAs and SMZs when boundaries are not identifiable (e.g. buffering distance from scientific literature) Herbaceous dominated, Boreal Shrub dominated, Mediterranean Coniferous dominated, Alpine

Generation of the Riparian Zones dataset (Europe) Methodology should be: (1) cost effective, (2) use well consolidated and validated GIS and RS data, (3) easily improvable in the future Water boundary definition: Development of algorithms for the integration of different vector and raster water datasets (CCM2 , TM-derived 25 m water layer, CLC and EHG DB) RAs and SMZs definition: Multiranking system to discriminate RAs and SMZs Ranking within informative layers: Spectral Ruled Classification of I2000 Mosaic (25 m, JRC) JRC Forest Mask (25 m): Forest/Non forest CLC (25 ha mmu): Natural / Non natural Land Cover types Path Distance Index & Slope: geomorphological breaks (mountain areas: valleys) areas, calibrated on hi-res images (GoogleEarth, QB) Use of buffer distances when information is not available Double Stratification Based on Mountain/Plain Areas Based on Land cover whith a Forested/non Forested potential climax

Results example (Ticino river, Italy) RAs probability distribution patterns The model considers a RA an area: Contiguous to a surface water stream Natural environment With presence of vegetation Forested, if potential climax is forest Within a geomorphological break, if the area is not plain SMZs are the areas inside the buffer AND not RAs Final aggregation model considers the multiranking evaluation Validation: - High resolution Images (QB/Ikonos, GoogleEarth), - Validation limited to clear RAs boundaries Results example (Ticino river, Italy)