Options for conserving biodiversity and water in a human-dominated landscape

Ongoing climate change and human demands put increasing amounts of pressure on land and water. This is especially true for freshwater ecosystems, such as lakes, wetlands and ponds, which are rapidly disappearing across Europe. Holistic approaches are needed that combine different viewpoints and more integrated perspectives. In the INSPIRE project we explore this challenge through the lens of the Neusiedl Lake region, a unique endorheic lake system located within Austria and Hungary. We will specifically explore where expansions of conservation and restoration actions would bring the greatest benefits under different societal demands.

Figure 1: The study region of the Neusiedl INSPIRE case study.

Why Neusiedl ?

The Neusiedl Lake region is a remarkable ecological and cultural landscape that has been used and inhabited by humans for millennia. The lake itself is the largest endorheic lake (i.e., closed-basin lake with no outflow) in Central Europe (Figure 1). It is furthermore surrounded by an extensive Phragmites reed belt that provides habitat for many bird species. Perhaps surprisingly the lake itself is not the area associated with the highest biodiversity value in the region. The core area of the national park also includes an isolated patchwork of small steppe salt ponds (or ‘sodapans’), which are of high conservation value and rare both in the region and across Europe. Further, the surrounding landscape is not only ecologically valuable, but also heavily used and socially important—it is a cultural landscape in which people live, work, manage land, and use water for irrigation and domestic uses. Many agricultural practices, such as the use of groundwater for irrigation, are not necessarily sustainable for the region and continue to add to pressures induced by climate change.

Thus, the region is both rich in biodiversity potential and rich in competing demands (land use, water use, human infrastructure), making it a compelling “real world” case study for integrated conservation and restoration planning.

Methodological Framework

In this case study we use a range of methodological approaches customized for this cross‐boundary region:

• Use of remote sensing and machine learning to map and assess habitats, land-use. Providing an overview where biodiversity features of interest might persist or not. Much of this work will be conducted at high spatial resolution and a future blog post will explore some of the outputs in depth.

• Stakeholder engagement: We hold detailed discussions with local stakeholders about the future of the region and what actions might be perceived as beneficial for the future. This will be conducted through a set of targeted interviews.

• Monitoring support: We are trying to support local authorities with the monitoring of soda pan water levels using time series from remote sensing (Figure 2). This can help with a continuous estimation of soda pan water levels.

• Process-based water modelling: Making use of results from IIASA process-based water modelling framework (https://cwatm.iiasa.ac.at/), we will assess how current and future water use across the landscape will likely change given climatic forcing.

• Spatial prioritization: The goal is to identify where and how biodiversity can be preserved, specifically through an expansion of conservation and restoration areas in space.

Figure 2: Example of a remote-sensing based estimation of water surface area (using Sentinel 1 time series). Data can be downloaded and visualized at https://martinjung.shinyapps.io/lackenmonitor/ 

Some of these materials were presented at the 2024 European Congress for Conservation Biology in Bologna. A poster can be found in the references.

Reference: 

Jung, M. , Beier, J., Beher, J., Huchler, K., & Hanger-Kopp, S. (2024). Integrated Conservation and Restoration Planning within a Central-European Cross-border Region. In: European Congress for conservation biology, 17-21 June 2024, Bologna. https://pure.iiasa.ac.at/19838