Exploring synergies – management of multifunctional agricultural landscapes

A sustainable multifunctional agricultural landscape has, beyond its role of providing us with food and fiber, other functions. This can be for example preventing eutrophication and regulating water flows, conservation of biodiversity, suitable habitats for pollinators and natural enemies as well as socio-economic viability for rural areas. These functions and processes, that direct or in direct are beneficial for humans, are what we call ecosystem services.

In this project (partly funded by Region Skåne), we will investigate how different groups of stakeholders perceive and value different ecosystem services produced in agricultural landscapes. Further we will together with stakeholders identify management options and by empirical studies evaluate their impact on multiple ecosystem services. In collaboration with stakeholders we will develop scenarios for future land use and illustrate the link between land use and services with spatially explicit models. The results of this project will be used to develop and propose cost-effective environmental and management practices that favor sustainable agriculture.