Author(s)

A. Lausch

Abstract

Assessment of landscape pattern and landscape functions by application of GIS and remote sensing Angela Lausch Department of Applied Landscape Ecology UFZ- Centre for Environmental Research Leipzig-Halle, Germany Abstract Open-cast mines, one of mankind's most radical interventions in landscapes, are now serving as the basis of new biotopes and land-use structures. In the region south of Leipzig (western Saxony), lignite surface mining has scarred several hundred square kilometres. Mining began in the mid-19th century and reached its peak in the 1980s. Its sharpest impact on the landscape was the almost complete destruction of river wetlands. Nowadays, many of the landscape functions destroyed in Leipzig's southern region are undergoing regeneration. This still 'unstable' landscape offers a unique opportunity to test the suitability of landscape structural indicators for landscape functions. One important function in the region south of Leipzig is the capacity of the landscape to f

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