Consideration of biotic nature conservation targets in agricultural land use--a case study from the Biosphere Reserve Schorfheide-Chorin

The practices of land use should take into account the demands of nature conservation since several typical species of the agricultural landscape are close to extinction. But there is a lack of indicators which quantify the compatibleness of agricultural land use practices with nature conservation targets as a prerequisite for the economic–ecologic optimization of land use. This paper presents the development and application of indices for cropping practices which assign the contribution of the cropping practices for two biotic nature conservation targets: "preservation of amphibian populations in the agricultural landscape" and "preservation of partridge populations (Perdix perdix) in the agricultural landscape". The development of the indices is based on expert knowledge and shows the conformity of cropping practices with the requirements of specific animal species living in the agricultural landscape. The application of the indices on the evaluation of land use of 20 farms within the Biosphere Reserve Schorfheide-Chorin shows that conformity of cropping practices varies substantially between farms. Hence, there seems to be a potential to consider the requirements of the considered species in land use. Model calculations illustrate the economic effects of the integration of nature conservation targets in land use.