Choosing Indicators for a "Climate-Friendly" Landscape – System Resilience
Criterion P3: The production system is resilient to disturbances caused by climate change. The system maintains the natural capital that sustains production over time and makes it resilient to disturbances (drough, flood, mudslides and diseases) caused by climate change.
Ecosystem resilience describes the capacity of an ecosystem to cope with disturbances caused by climate change. A resilient ecosystem has the capacity to withstand shocks and, if damaged, to rebuild itself. Without resilience, landscapes become vulnerable to effects of disturbance. In a agricultural landscapes, human and ecological systems interact. Managing agricultural landscapes for resilience enhances the sustainable development of rural communities in a changing environment.
Identifying the components of the system that needed for renewal and reorganization is critical to build its resilience. In order to select indicators that can tell us about the landscape resilience, there have been selected eight functions of the systems that that increase its resilience and contribute to sustain production, and the indicators to track their performance in the landscape.
Click on the Indicators to see the means of measure.
Biodiversity
Biodiversity plays a critical role in increasing ecosystem resilience. Ecosystems seem to be particularly resilient it there are many species performing the same function (such as photosyntesis and decomposition) and if species withing such “funtional groups” respond in different ways to disturbances and compensate for each others. In forests, retain plant diversity can stabilize the ecosystem, making it less vulnerable to extreme weather events and pest damage.
| Indicator | Measurement Unit | Means of Measure |
| Species Richness | Number of different species in a given area (S) | Measuring Biodiversity Indicators |
| Species Eveness | Relative abundance or proportion of individuals among the species present in an ecosystem | Measuring Biodiversity Indicators |
| Functional Attribute Diversity | Number of functional groups (providing important ecosystem services) within the lanscape and their importance. | Assesing the Functional Structure of the Landscape |
System Conectivity and Habitat Diversity
| Indicator | Measurement Unit | Means of Measure |
| Degree of connectivity and habitat fragmentation | Patch Number/Density (PN/PD)
Patch atribbutes (Area, shape,…) |
Measuring Landscape Structure |
| Availability and distribution of buffer areas | Area of buffer zones and attributes (shape, connectivity, conservation status…) | Measuring Landscape Structure |
Nutrient Cycling and Soil Fertilization (Soil Health)
The use of climate-friendly management techniques can increase the ecosystem resilience by stabilizing soil structure, reducing erosión and increasing soil organic matter. This increases fertility and moisture holding capacity of the soil. In turn, this decreases vulnerability to high-intensity rainfall, floods and droughts.
| Indicator | Measurement Unit | Means of Measure |
| Soil Organic Matter (SOM)
Other biological, chemical and physical indicators of Soil Health |
Percentage of Carbon in the Soil | Soil Organic Matter (SOM) |
Waste Decomposition and Detoxification
- Nitrogen mineralization
- Microbial biomass
- Soil respiration (CO2 generated by biological activity of the soil)
- Litter decomposition rate (integrated indicator)
- Dilution potential of acuatic systems
Water Supply
- Water quality.
- Watershed health.
Erosion Control
- Land use pattern.
- Vegetation cover and root density in critical areas.
- Soil infiltration.
- Sediment analisys.
Pollination
- Abundance and distribution of native crop pollinators.
- Availability of natural habitats for pollinators.
Pest Control and Crop Resistance
- Abundance of natural parasitoids and predators.
- Crop variability and distribution.
- Frecuency and distribution of pests outbreakes.
Livestock Disease Protection
- Prevalence of disease.
- Disease risk asociated with type of production.
- Disease risk reduction measures taken (traceability, veterenary tests, emergency protocols).
Continue to Indicators for a climate-friendly landscape: Criterion L5
Go back to Unit 4 for more information about how to select indicators.
Continue to Unit 5 Establishing a Baseline