Page 101 - EER-2-2

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

croplands and natural N-W classes. For ecosystem IOER, Dresden, Germany, with a service contract effective
accounting, accurately identifying the location and area of from June 1, 2024, according to Section 631 and the
croplands is critical, as their expansion is one of the main following sections of the German Civil Code.
threats to natural ecosystems. According to ARMSTAT
regional statistics, data are available for arable land Conflict of interest
(including all lands intended for plowing, even if not used The authors declare they have no competing interests.
annually) and annually plowed areas. The land cover data
aligns better with the first indicator, exceeding arable area Author contributions
by 18% and 23%, according to ESRI and ESA, respectively. Conceptualization: Elena Bukvareva
However, in different provinces, the discrepancies between Formal analysis: Maxim Dubinin, Eduard Kazakov, Elena
land cover data and statistics range from −62% to 70%. 41 Bukvareva
In this study, we tested the ESRI and ESA land cover Investigation: Maxim Dubinin, Eduard Kazakov, Elena
datasets, which, in the preliminary assessment, showed Bukvareva
relatively smaller discrepancies with ARMSTAT statistics Methodology: Elena Bukvareva, Maxim Dubinin, Eduard
on agricultural areas. However, discrepancies between Kazakov
41
land cover data and official statistics remain significant. Project administration: Armen Grigoryan
Writing-original draft: All authors
Open harmonized statistics on agricultural and forest Writing-review & editing: All authors
areas at smaller administrative units than provinces, as
well as within the boundaries of agricultural and forestry Ethics approval and consent to participate
enterprises can help refine land cover data across different
classes. For an adequate interpretation of the inaccuracy of Not applicable.
some classes in land cover, a graduated scale of threshold Consent for publication
reliability in the analysis of relative changes in the extent of
ecosystems may be helpful. 23 Not applicable.
5. Conclusion Availability of data

The tested approach of intersecting a map of landscape Digital maps and statistical tables are available on the BCC-
zones with land cover data to create maps of LLCCs Armenia website under the section “Ecosystem Extent”
offers a valuable tool for ecosystem accounting. It takes https://biodiversity-armenia.am/en/extent
into account the landscape and geographical specificity
of terrestrial ecosystems, tracking changes in their area if References
land cover data are updated. LLCCs serve as proxies for 1. IPBES. In: Brondizio ES, Settele J, Díaz S, Ngo HT, editors.
ecosystems, and the resulting LLCC map can be considered IGlobal Assessment Report on Biodiversity and Ecosystem
a prototype ecosystem map for ecosystem accounting. Services of the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on
Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services. IPBES Secretariat; 2019.
However, the LLCC-based approach faces a significant
challenge, particularly in evaluating rare LLCCs that may be doi: 10.5281/zenodo.3831673
classification errors, which could be due to the low accuracy 2. Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity. Global
of land cover data. Alternative mapping methods are Biodiversity Outlook 5. Montreal; 2020. Available from:
required to assess rare and unique ecosystems. Nevertheless, https://www.cbd.int/gbo5 [Last accessed on 2024 Jun 04].
the LLCC-based approach provides additional information 3. Visconti P, Elias V, Sousa Pinto I, et al. Chapter 3:
compared to landscape extent data and enables the Status, trends and future dynamics of biodiversity and
assessment of the extent and changes in relatively common ecosystems underpinning nature’s contributions to people.
ecosystem types, which are less affected by land cover errors. In: Rounsevell M, Fischer M, Torre-Marin Rando A,
Mader A, editors. The IPBES Regional Assessment Report on
Acknowledgments Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services for Europe and Central
Asia. Secretariat of the IPBES; 2018. p. 187-382. Available
None. from: https://zenodo.org/records/3237429 [Last accessed on
2024 Jun 04].
Funding
4. Arneth А, Shin YJ, Leadley P, et al. Post-2020 biodiversity
Funding allocation from the Federal Environment Agency targets need to embrace climate change. Proc Natl Acad Sci
(UBA), Germany. The principal organization is the Leibniz U S A. 2020;117(49):30882-30891.

Volume 2 Issue 2 (2025) 11 doi: 10.36922/eer.4996