An Assessment of the Ecological Landscape Quality (ELQ) of Nature-Based Solutions (NBS) Based on Existing Elements of Green and Blue Infrastructure (GBI)

Nature-based solutions (NBS) positively impact ecological landscape quality (ELQ) by providing multiple benefits, including enhancing natural capital, promoting biodiversity, mitigating water runoff, increasing water retention, and contributing to climate change adaptations and carbon sequestration....

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Sustainability 2021-11, Vol.13 (21), p.11674
Main Authors: Sowińska-Świerkosz, Barbara, Wójcik-Madej, Julia, Michalik-Śnieżek, Malwina
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adaptation
Anthropogenic factors
Biodiversity
Climate adaptation
Climate change
Ecosystems
Environmental economics
Human influences
Indicators
Infrastructure
Intervention
Landscape
Nature
River networks
Spatial data
Sustainability
Sustainable development
Wetlands
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Summary:Nature-based solutions (NBS) positively impact ecological landscape quality (ELQ) by providing multiple benefits, including enhancing natural capital, promoting biodiversity, mitigating water runoff, increasing water retention, and contributing to climate change adaptations and carbon sequestration. To analyze the specific contribution of different NBS types, this study assessed 14 ELQ indicators based on the application of spatial data. Five NBS based on existing elements of green and blue infrastructure (GBI) were analyzed at the city level (Lublin, Poland), including parks (UPs), forests (UFs), water bodies (UWs), allotment gardens (AGs), and woods (Ws). The analysis revealed that different NBS contribute in contrasting ways to the improvement of various dimensions of ELQ. UFs made the biggest contribution to the maintenance of ecological processes and stability, as well as to aesthetic values. Ws together with AGs were crucial to maintaining a high level of diversity at the landscape scale and also contributed to preserving the ecological structure. UWs and UPs had no outstanding impact on ELQ, mainly due to their high level of anthropogenic transformation. The application of spatial indicators proved useful in providing approximate information on the ecological values of different types of NBS when other data types were either unavailable or were only available at a high cost and with considerable time and effort.
ISSN:2071-1050
2071-1050
DOI:10.3390/su132111674