Page 100 - EER-2-2

Explora: Environment
and Resource Assessing ecosystems by land cover and landscapes

ecosystem map expands this to seven categories. At more classification errors or anthropogenic areas from the list
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detailed levels, the classification encompasses hundreds of of natural ecosystems. The verified LLCC map should be
ecosystem types, taking into account natural conditions further refined with floristic and geobotanical data for
and geographical features of biodiversity. 26,27,48,49 In Armenia. 33-35,37 The prototype of the ecosystem map can also
European ecosystem extent accounts, a three-tier approach be produced using available maps of potential vegetation.
is used to track the changes in ecosystem areas. The Tier I A key step in accounting for rare ecosystems is mapping
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account calculates the area of broad land cover classes, and biodiversity hotspots and rare and endangered plant
the Tier II and III accounts subdivide the broad land cover formations that are not reflected in the land cover data or
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classes into 23 and 30 ecosystem types, respectively. 23-25 In the maps of landscapes and vegetation zones of Armenia.
general, Level 1 and Tier 1 correspond to the general land At this stage of the research, LLCC-based analysis
cover classes, and more detailed levels reflect the biological cannot be used to evaluate the rarest LLCCs, as they could
and geographic specificity of ecosystems. potentially be classification errors. Nevertheless, it is
Tracking changes in the total area of land cover classes suitable for assessing the extent and changes of relatively
at Tier I is not very informative for ecosystem accounting common ecosystem types, which are less affected by
in Armenia, given its complex terrain and high diversity land cover errors. LLCC mapping provides additional
of landscapes. The same land cover class in different information compared to the data on landscape extent
landscape zones reflects completely different ecosystems, (Section 3.4, Figure 8).
such as grasslands in the semi-desert and alpine zones.
Changes in the area of land cover classes throughout the 4.2. Land cover data accuracy
country reveal only the most general processes, such as The key issue for ecosystem extent accounting is the
urbanization or big unidirectional changes in national accuracy of the land cover data used. The goal of the CLC
agriculture or forestry. The total area of a particular land 2000 product was to achieve at least 85% thematic accuracy,
cover class can remain stable while significant changes in with a total reliability of 87% and significant variation
ecosystems occur. For example, in Europe, from 2000 to between classes. We lacked reliable reference sites or in situ
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2018, although the total forest area was stable, a significant observations to accurately estimate the quality of the land
structural change occurred within forest ecosystems, cover datasets. The only available source for assessing land
including a reduction in coniferous forests compensated cover quality was the ARMSTAT statistical data on forest
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by an increase in the area of transitional forests and and agricultural areas. By comparing these areas with those
woodland/shrubs. 23,24 This was a significant change in in the land cover datasets, we obtained a general similarity
the structure of forest ecosystems that was not noticed by rate. While this rate cannot be directly interpreted as a
ecosystem accounting at Tier I. measure of land cover accuracy, it still serves as a useful
metric for understanding the overall pattern.
Therefore, tracking changes at more detailed levels is
likely more useful for ecosystem accounting in Armenia. Regarding the tree cover, we estimated the discrepancy
In the tested approach, the land cover data correspond to between land cover data and state statistics at 19% for ESRI
Level 1 and Tier 1, providing an update to the ecosystem 2023 data and 6% for ESA 2021 data. In 2021, according
map, while the landscape zones reflect the geographic and to ARMSTAT, 289,200 ha of Forest Fund (FF) land was
landscape specificity of natural ecosystems. covered with forest. According to ESA 2021 land cover
data, the total tree cover outside settlements was 407,807
Maps obtained by intersecting land cover data with ha, whereas the ESRI 2023 data reported 311,700 ha.
landscape zones enable the accounting of natural landscapes However, a significant part of the tree cover lies outside
and LLCCs, which serve as proxies for terrestrial ecosystems. FF land, and this area is not included in the open statistics,
These maps are applicable within different ecosystem making it difficult to compare land cover data and
accounting areas (EAAs), such as the whole of Armenia, statistics. In 2014, the ECOserve project estimated that
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administrative provinces, and landscape zones. The same the difference between the total tree cover area and the FF
analysis can be performed for protected areas and other EAAs. tree cover area was 33% of the FF tree cover area. If this
The LLCC map makes it possible to identify rare proportion remained the same in 2021 and 2023, then the
LLCCs and assess two IUCN RLE criteria: (i) declining total tree cover area should be 384,636 ha, which is 19%
distribution and (ii) restricted distribution of ecosystems. larger than the indicated ESRI data and 6% less than the
The LLCC maps represent only the initial step and indicated ESA data.
require further verification and refinement. Rare LLCCs A significant challenge in defining N-W land cover
with a very small area must be carefully validated to exclude classes arises from the difficulty of distinguishing between

Volume 2 Issue 2 (2025) 10 doi: 10.36922/eer.4996