Riparian reforestation on the landscape scale: Navigating trade‐offs among agricultural production, ecosystem functioning and biodiversity

作者：Felix Witing, Marie Anne Eurie Forio, Francis J. Burdon, Brendan G. McKie, Peter Goethals, Michael Strauch, Martin Völk · 发表于：Journal of Applied Ecology · 年份：2022 · DOI：10.1111/1365-2664.14176 · 被引用次数：23 · 研究领域：Soil erosion and sediment transport、Hydrology and Sediment Transport Processes、Hydrology and Watershed Management Studies

Abstract Stream–riparian networks are subject to multiple human pressures that threaten key functions of aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems, drive habitat and diversity losses, affect riparian connectivity and cause stakeholder conflicts. Designing riparian landscapes in a way that they can simultaneously meet multiple competing demands requires a clear understanding of existing trade‐offs, and a landscape‐scale perspective on the planning of reforestation measures. This study applied a landscape optimization algorithm for allocating riparian forest management measures in the intensively used agricultural catchment of the Zwalm River (Belgium). We optimized forest allocation to improve stream ecological quality (EPT index), functional diversity (diatoms) and riparian carbon processing (cotton‐strip assay), while minimizing losses in agricultural production potential. Regression models were developed to predict the target indicators for 489 segments of the Zwalm riparian corridor, using spatial variables on three different scales. For each riparian segment, we developed spatially explicit management measures, representing different intensities of riparian reforestation. The allocation and combination of these measures in the riparian corridor were optimized to identify (a) trade‐offs among the target indicators, (b) priority regions for reforestation actions and (c) the required reforestation intensity. The results showed that all target indicators were affected by the area sh...