| Autor: |
Scherer L; Institute of Environmental Sciences (CML), Leiden University, 2333 CC Leiden, The Netherlands., Rosa F; Institute of Environmental Engineering, ETH Zurich, 8093 Zurich, Switzerland., Sun Z; College of Land Science and Technology, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100083, China., Michelsen O; Department of Industrial Economics and Technology Management, Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), 7491 Trondheim, Norway., De Laurentiis V; European Commission-Joint Research Centre, 21027 Ispra, Italy., Marques A; PBL Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency, 2500 GH The Hague, The Netherlands., Pfister S; Institute of Environmental Engineering, ETH Zurich, 8093 Zurich, Switzerland., Verones F; Industrial Ecology Programme, Department for Energy and Process Engineering, Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), 7491 Trondheim, Norway., Kuipers KJJ; Department of Environmental Science, Radboud Institute for Biological and Environmental Sciences (RIBES), Radboud University, 6525AJ Nijmegen, The Netherlands. |
| Abstrakt: |
Land use is a major threat to terrestrial biodiversity. Life cycle assessment is a tool that can assess such threats and thereby support environmental decision-making. Within the Global Guidance for Life Cycle Impact Assessment (GLAM) project, the Life Cycle Initiative hosted by UN Environment aims to create a life cycle impact assessment method across multiple impact categories, including land use impacts on ecosystem quality represented by regional and global species richness. A working group of the GLAM project focused on such land use impacts and developed new characterization factors to combine the strengths of two separate recent advancements in the field: the consideration of land use intensities and land fragmentation. The data sets to parametrize the underlying model are also updated from previous models. The new characterization factors cover five species groups (plants, amphibians, birds, mammals, and reptiles) and five broad land use types (cropland, pasture, plantations, managed forests, and urban land) at three intensity levels (minimal, light, and intense). They are available at the level of terrestrial ecoregions and countries. This paper documents the development of the characterization factors, provides practical guidance for their use, and critically assesses the strengths and remaining shortcomings. |
