Changes in the spatial patterns of human appropriation of net primary production (HANPP) in Europe 1990-2006

Understanding patterns, dynamics and drivers of land use is crucial for improving our ability to cope with sustainability challenges. The Human Appropriation of Net Primary Production (HANPP) framework provides a set of integrated socioecological indicators that quantify how land use alters energy flows in ecosystems via land conversions and biomass harvest. Thus, HANPP allows to systematically and consistently assess the outcome of changes in land cover and land-use intensity – across spatio-temporal scales. Yet, fine-scale HANPP assessments are so far missing. Here, we provide such an assessment for Europe at a 1-km scale for the time period 1990 to 2006. HANPP was calculated based on a consistent landuse/ biomass flow dataset derived from statistical data, remote-sensing maps, and a dynamic global vegetation model. We find that HANPP in Europe amounted to ~43% of potential productivity, well above the global average of ~25%, with little variation since 1990. HANPP was highest in Central Europe and lower in Northern and Southern Europe. At the regional level, distinct changes in land-use intensity were observed, most importantly the decline of cropland areas and yields following the breakdown of socialism in Eastern Europe and the subsequent recovery after 2000, or strong dynamics related to storm events that resulted in massive salvage loggings. Our cross-scale assessment suggests that macro-trends in land use may be acting where local changes cancel each other out. We conclude that this finding warrants further research into the feedback mechanisms that might stabilize land systems at higher spatial scales, and presents a formidable policy challenge to deal with the heterogeneity of the nested, spatio-temporal scales of land-system change.

JRC.H.4 - Monitoring Agricultural Resources