Methods for identifying green infrastructure
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Methods for identifying green infrastructure Erica Honeck1 · Arthur Sanguet1,2 · Martin A. Schlaepfer1,3 · Nicolas Wyler2 · Anthony Lehmann1,3 Received: 23 June 2020 / Accepted: 22 September 2020 © The Author(s) 2020 OPEN
Abstract Nature forms interdependent networks in a landscape, which is key to the survival of species and the maintenance of genetic diversity. Nature provides crucial socio-economic benefits to people, but they are typically undervalued in political decisions. This has led to the concept of Green Infrastructure (GI), which defines an interlinked network of (semi-) natural areas with high ecological values for wildlife and people, to be conserved and managed in priority to preserve biodiversity and ecosystem services. This relatively new concept has been used in different contexts, but with widely diverging interpretations. There is no apparent consensus in the scientific literature on the methodology to map and implement GI. This paper serves as an informed primer for researchers that are new to GI mapping understand the key principles and terminology for the needs of their own case-study, and as a framework for more advance researchers willing to contribute to the formalization of the concept. Through a literature review of articles on creating GI networks, we summarized and evaluated commonly used methods to identify and map GI. We provided key insights for the assessment of diversity, ecosystem services and landscape connectivity, the three ‘pillars’ on which GI identification is based according to its definition. Based on this literature review, we propose 5 theoretical levels toward a more complex, reliable and integrative approach to identify GI networks. We then discuss the applications and limits of such method and point out future challenges for GI identification and implementation. Keywords Green infrastructure · Spatial conservation prioritization · Biodiversity · Ecosystem services · Connectivity
1 Introduction 1.1 Context Climate change and biodiversity loss are two of the most urgent challenges of our time [71, 73, 74, 153]. Biodiversity at all levels is declining worldwide at an unprecedented rate, due mainly to land and sea use changes, direct exploitation of organisms, climate change, pollution and invasive alien species, and are expected to continue declining if no concrete actions are taken [73, 111, 158]. Ecosystems are losing their resilience to maintain their functions, which will ultimately jeopardize our food and water security,
deteriorate our health and threaten our social-economic well-being [39, 103, 135]. It has been estimated that 68% of the world’s growing population will live in urban areas by 2050 [154], which will inevitably increase the pressure to develop the “grey” infrastructure for housing, mobility and economic use. Along with other human activities, urbanization continues to have serious consequences for biodiversity and the provision of ecosystem benefits to people. Growing demand for new residential areas is a major policy driver in urban land us
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