Ecological complexity and integrity of landscape and ecosystem services

Sabo, Peter, 1954-

Ecological complexity and integrity of landscape and ecosystem services / Peter Sabo ... [et al.]. -- Building on the concepts of non-equilibrium thermodynamics and ecological complexity theory we provide a tool for assessment of ecological complexity of ecosystems and landscape. We demonstrate a new methodology to calculate a vertical-functional pillar of the landscape ecological complexity (LEC), based on indexes of ecosystems and landscape capacity to dissipate solar energy (and partially also of their vascular plants diversity). From the LEC index we derive a landscape ecological integrity (LEI) index as a sum of landscape ecosystems ecological distance to their referential native ecosystems. Consequently we combine LEI index and the default capacity of the undisturbed natural, seminatural or anthropogenic ecosystem to provide ecosystem services. In this way we obtain an assessment of the capacity of landscape to provide ecosystems services (LES) to human society

In Global land project 2nd open science meeting : proceedings, Berlin, March 19-21, 2014. -- Berlin : Global land project, 2014. -- S. 312-312