Terms used in the Tool

Agricultural land-use type where “cultivated grassland” is monoculture or mixed culture grassland sawn in arable lands, fertilized, ploughed at least once in five years; “permanent grassland” have not been ploughed at least 5 years and species composition include natural species; “semi-natural grassland” is species rich permanent grassland with biotope code; “arable” is non grassland agricultural land use used as reference for land-use change.

The Bio Energy potential is calculated based in the calorific value of total biomass and the dry weight of different functional groups in semi-natural grassland types. The Bio Energy potential of grasslands is then understood as the potential for energy production through combustion. Each semi-natural grassland type is assigned a unique value of average bioenergy potential. More information on the methodology and data can be found in Melts (2014).

Reference: Indrek Melts, Doctor's Degree, 2014, (sup) Tiiu Kull; Katrin Heinsoo, Biomass from semi-natural grasslands for bioenergy, Estonian University of Life Sciences: https://dspace.emu.ee/xmlui/bitstream/handle/10492/1864/Indrek_Melts_DO2014.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y

Biomass potential is understood as the yield of herbaceous biomass measured as dry weight. Each semi-natural grassland type is assigned a unique value of average biomass potential after sampling several grasslands throughout Estonia. Samples were collected from June to August, mostly in the first half of July. More information on the methodology and data can be found in Melts (2014).

Reference:
Indrek Melts, Doctor's Degree, 2014, (sup) Tiiu Kull; Katrin Heinsoo, Biomass from semi-natural grasslands for bioenergy, Estonian University of Life Sciences: https://dspace.emu.ee/xmlui/bitstream/handle/10492/1864/Indrek_Melts_DO2014.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y

Bundles of ecosystem services are defined as a set of associated ecosystem services that are linked to a given ecosystem and usually appear together repeatedly in time and/or space. The increase of one service in the bundle usually means also increase of other services belonging to the bundle. "LIFE Viva Grass" analysis revealed 3 bundles of ecosystem services for grasslands:
- “Production” bundle represent fields, where such services as “reared animals and their output”, “fodder”, “biomass based energy sources” and “weathering process” are having supply potential values above average (from 3 to 5);
- “Habitats” bundle represent fields where such services as “herbs for medicine”, “maintaining habitats”, “global climate control” and “pollination and seed dispersal” are having supply potential values above average (values from 3 to 5);
- “Soil” bundle represent fields where such services as “control of erosion rates”, “chemical conditions of freshwaters”, “bio-remediation” and “filtration/storage/accumulation by ecosystems” are having supply potential values above average (values from 3 to 5).

Interactions between ecosystem services occur as interactions between bundles. Tradeoff is the situation when values of ecosystem services in one bundle negatively impact values of ecosystem services in other bundle. “Tradeoff in benefit of production” represent the fields where high values in “Production” bundle occur simultaneously with low values in “Habitats” bundle. “Tradeoff in benefit of habitats” represent the fields where high values in “Habitats” bundle occur simultaneously with low values in “Production” bundle. A clear example in the context of grasslands is the tradeoff between biomass production and biodiversity & habitats: increasing productivity of a grassland usually requires a certain degree of intensification through fertilization, ploughing and reseeding with a mix of selected species. These intensification practices in turn simplify grasslands’ structure and decrease the number of grassland species, leading to a loss of habitats for birds and arthropods.

The energy demands layer is aggregated in a 1sq km grid. Energy demands are understood as the demand for energy used in district heating. The energy demands layer is calculated based on the number of flats using district heating and the average district heat demands per flat.

The current location of existing district heating plants. District heating plants are central boiler plants that distribute heat among households within a certain district. An exceptional case is the Lihula boiler plant in Estonia, which is able to use hay left from mowing semi-natural meadows in Matsalu National Park to produce heat.

Ecosystem services are all benefits that an ecosystem provides to humans. They include provisional (goods that can directly be used by human), regulating (benefits gained from processes in nature) and cultural (non-material) services. The legend shows supply potential of a selected ecosystem service expressed in a relative scale from 1 (very low) to 5 (very high), where 0 stands for no service provided. The services were evaluated by expert based ranking approach.

“Hot-spots” are fields with great variety of ecosystem services provided at values above average (from 3 to 5), possible synergies between “Habitats” and “Production” bundles occur. “Cold-spots” are fields with low or very low (below 3) values at majority of ecosystem services provided and designate degrading/inappropriate management of agricultural land.

Location: information on the location of the selected land use block is provided here;

Land use type: information about the type of the selected land use block is provided here;

NATURA 2000 habitat code: information about the EU Habitats Directive Annex I habitats is provided here if one is present. The habitats classification can be found here: http://eunis.eea.europa.eu/habitats-annex1-browser.jsp

Short overall information of suggestions for management options which highlighting important ecosystem services based on their values and bundle information. The recommendations give overall environmental understanding and characterize benefits of land blocks.

Grazing pressure depends on the characteristics of the meadow, soil fertility, humidity and may vary from one year to another. Adequate or recommended grazing pressure increases a meadow’s natural value as well as the feed value of plants. The recommended grazing pressures are given as unique values per semi-natural grassland type. It must be kept in mind however, that these are only orientative values, as the characteristics within a meadow type vary geographically and from year to year. This recommended grazing pressure values have been compiled from several sources, mainly habitat management recommendations and management plans of protected areas.