Mapping and assessment of ecosystem health in the Vilnius functional zone (Lithuania)

Manob Das; Miguel Inácio; Arijit Das; Damia Barcelo; Paulo Pereira

doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.168891

Mapping and assessment of ecosystem health in the Vilnius functional zone (Lithuania)

Sci Total Environ. 2024 Feb 20:912:168891. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.168891. Epub 2023 Nov 30.

Authors

Manob Das¹, Miguel Inácio², Arijit Das³, Damia Barcelo⁴, Paulo Pereira⁵

Affiliations

¹ Environmental Management Center, Mykolas Romeris University, Ateities g. 20, LT-08303 Vilnius, Lithuania; Department of Geography, University of Gour Banga, Malda, West Bengal, India.
² Environmental Management Center, Mykolas Romeris University, Ateities g. 20, LT-08303 Vilnius, Lithuania.
³ Department of Geography, University of Gour Banga, Malda, West Bengal, India.
⁴ Water and Soil Quality Research Group, Institute of Environmental Assessment and Water Research (IDAEA), Barcelona, Spain.
⁵ Environmental Management Center, Mykolas Romeris University, Ateities g. 20, LT-08303 Vilnius, Lithuania. Electronic address: pereiraub@gmail.com.

PMID: 38042183
DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.168891

Abstract

Urban expansion is a global phenomenon that impacts biodiversity loss and climate change. Soil sealing increases land degradation and the ecosystem services supply. This degradation also negatively affects ecosystem health, essential to make cities more sustainable and liveable. This work aims to study the ecosystem health spatiotemporal evolution (1990, 2000, 2006, 2012 and 2018) in the Vilnius (Lithuania) functional zone, using the vigour, organisation and resilience (VOR) method. The results showed that ecosystem health model validation was acceptable (r = -0.761; p < 0.01). Between 1990 and 2018, an increase (18.37 %) in ecosystem vigour was observed. The values were significantly higher in 2006, 2012 and 2018 than in 1990 and 2000. We identified a decrease between 1990 and 2018 regarding ecosystem organisation (7.15 %) and resilience (9.92 %). However, no significant differences between the years were identified. Ecosystem health decreased (11.49 %) between 1990 and 2018, mainly between 2012 and 2018. Ecosystem health values in 2018 were significantly lower than those identified in the previous years. The lowest values of ecosystem vigour, organisation and resilience were identified in the Vilnius city centre, while the highest was observed in the Vilnius functional zone. From 1990 to 2018, ecosystem vigour increased in some elderships located on the fringe of the studied area due to land abandonment and forest plantations. Simultaneously, a decrease in ecosystem organisation and resilience in the elderships located in Vilnius city centre was observed due to urban sprawl and the consequent landscape fragmentation. This negatively impacted ecosystem health, overshadowing the positive trend observed in ecosystem vigour. Different processes (e.g., urban sprawl, land abandonment, forest plantations) occurred in the Vilnius functional zone. It is essential to halt urban expansion and its adverse impacts on ecosystem health, city sustainability and liveability.

Keywords: Ecosystem health; Land abandonment; Landscape fragmentation; Urban sprawl; Vilnius functional zone.

MeSH terms

China
Cities
Conservation of Natural Resources*
Ecosystem*
Forests
Lithuania