Skip to main content
Disciplines
Automotive Business IT + Informatics Construction + Real Estate Electrical Engineering + Electronics Energy + Sustainability Insurance + Risk Finance + Banking Management + Leadership Marketing + Sales Mechanical Engineering + Materials
Events
DE
EN
Books
Journals
Topic Page
Marketing
Start single access now
Access for companies
EXTENDED SEARCH
Log in
Top
The International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment
Published in: The International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment 11/2018

28-02-2018 | LAND USE IN LCA

Developing characterisation factors for land fragmentation impacts on biodiversity in LCA: key learnings from a sugarcane case study

Authors: Pyrène Larrey-Lassalle, Eléonore Loiseau, Philippe Roux, Miguel Lopez-Ferber, Ralph K. Rosenbaum

Published in: The International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment | Issue 11/2018

Log in

Activate our intelligent search to find suitable subject content or patents.

search-config
loading …

Abstract

Purpose

Habitat change was identified by the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment as the main direct driver of biodiversity loss. However, while habitat loss is already implemented in Life Cycle Impact Assessment (LCIA) methods, the additional impact on biodiversity due to habitat fragmentation is not assessed yet. Thus, the goal of this study was to include fragmentation effects from land occupation and transformation at both midpoint and endpoint levels in LCIA.

Methods

One promising metric, combining the landscape spatial configuration with species characteristics, is the metapopulation capacity λ, which can be used to rank landscapes in terms of their capacity to support viable populations spatially structured. A methodology to derive worldwide regionalised fragmentation indexes based on λ was used and combined with the Species Fragmented-Area Relationship (SFAR), which relies on λ to assess a species loss due to fragmentation. We adapted both developments to assess fragmentation impacts due to land occupation and transformation at both midpoint and endpoint levels in LCIA. An application to sugarcane production occurring in different geographical areas, more or less sensitive to land fragmentation, was performed.

Results and discussion

The comparison to other existing LCIA indicators highlighted its great potential for complementing current assessments through fragmentation effect inclusion. Last, both models were discussed through the evaluation grid used by the UNEP-SETAC land use LCIA working group for biodiversity impact assessment models.

Conclusions

Midpoint and endpoint characterisation factors were successfully developed to include the impacts of habitat fragmentation on species in LCIA. For now, they are provided for bird species in all forest ecoregions belonging to the biodiversity hotspots. Further work is required to develop characterisation factors for all taxa and all terrestrial ecoregions.
previous article Accounting for effects of carbon flows in LCA of biomass-based products—exploration and evaluation of a selection of existing methods
next article Freshwater ecotoxicity characterization factors for aluminum

Dont have a licence yet? Then find out more about our products and how to get one now:

Springer Professional "Wirtschaft+Technik"

Online-Abonnement

Mit Springer Professional "Wirtschaft+Technik" erhalten Sie Zugriff auf:

  • über 102.000 Bücher
  • über 537 Zeitschriften

aus folgenden Fachgebieten:

  • Automobil + Motoren
  • Bauwesen + Immobilien
  • Business IT + Informatik
  • Elektrotechnik + Elektronik
  • Energie + Nachhaltigkeit
  • Finance + Banking
  • Management + Führung
  • Marketing + Vertrieb
  • Maschinenbau + Werkstoffe
  • Versicherung + Risiko

Jetzt Wissensvorsprung sichern!

inform now

Springer Professional "Technik"

Online-Abonnement

Mit Springer Professional "Technik" erhalten Sie Zugriff auf:

  • über 67.000 Bücher
  • über 390 Zeitschriften

aus folgenden Fachgebieten:

  • Automobil + Motoren
  • Bauwesen + Immobilien
  • Business IT + Informatik
  • Elektrotechnik + Elektronik
  • Energie + Nachhaltigkeit
  • Maschinenbau + Werkstoffe




 

Jetzt Wissensvorsprung sichern!

inform now
Appendix
Available only for authorised users
Literature
Alofs KM, Gonzales AV, Fowler NL (2014) Local native plant diversity responds to habitat loss and fragmentation over different time spans and spatial scales. Plant Ecol 215:1139–1151CrossRef
Andren H (1994) Effects of habitat fragmentation on birds and mammals of suitable habitat: a review landscapes with different proportions. Oikos 71:355–366CrossRef
Baguette M, Blanchet S, Legrand D, Stevens VM, Turlure C (2013) Individual dispersal, landscape connectivity and ecological networks. Biol Rev 88:310–326CrossRef
Blonk Agri-footprint BV (2015a) Agri-footprint 2.0—part 2: description of data - Version 2.0.
Blonk Agri-footprint BV (2015b) Agri-footprint 2.0—part 1: methodology and basic principles - Version 2.0
Bontemps S, Defourny P, Van Bogaert E, Arino O, Kalogirou V, Ramos Perez J (2011) GLOBCOVER 2009 Products description and validation report. Université catholique de Louvain (UCL) & European Space Agency (esa), Vers. 2.2, 53 pp, hdl:10013/epic.39884.d016
Brandão M, Milà i Canals L (2013) Global characterisation factors to assess land use impacts on biotic production. Int J Life Cycle Assess 18(6):1243–1252CrossRef
Chaplin-Kramer R, Sharp RP, Mandle L, Sim S, Johnson J, Butnar I, Milà i Canals L, Eichelberger BA, Ramler I, Mueller C, McLachlan N, Yousefi A, King H, Kareiva PM (2015) Spatial patterns of agricultural expansion determine impacts on biodiversity and carbon storage. Proc Natl Acad Sci 112:7402–7407CrossRef
Chaudhary A, Verones F, de Baan L, Hellweg S (2015) Quantifying land use impacts on biodiversity: combining species—area models and vulnerability indicators. Environ Sci Technol 49:9987–9995CrossRef
Coelho CRV, Michelsen O (2013) Land use impacts on biodiversity from kiwifruit production in New Zealand assessed with global and national datasets. Int J Life Cycle Assess 19:285–296CrossRef
Curran M, de Baan L, De Schryver AM et al (2011) Toward meaningful end points of biodiversity in life cycle assessment. Environ Sci Technol 45:70–79CrossRef
Curran M, Hellweg S, Beck J (2014) Is there any empirical support for biodiversity offset policy? Ecol Appl 24:617–632CrossRef
Curran M, Maia de Souza D, Antón A, Teixeira RFM, Michelsen O, Vidal-Legaz B, Sala S, Milà i Canals L (2016) How well does LCA model land use impacts on biodiversity?—a comparison with approaches from ecology and conservation. Environ Sci Technol 50:2782–2795CrossRef
de Baan L, Alkemade R, Koellner T (2013a) Land use impacts on biodiversity in LCA: a global approach. Int J Life Cycle Assess 18:1216–1230CrossRef
de Baan L, Mutel CL, Curran M, Hellweg S, Koellner T (2013b) Land use in life cycle assessment: global characterization factors based on regional and global potential species extinction. Environ Sci Technol 47:9281–9290CrossRef
de Baan L, Mutel CL, Curran M, Hellweg S, Koellner T (2013c) Land use in life cycle assessment: global characterization factors based on regional and global potential species extinction—electronic supplementary material (1). Environ Sci Technol 47:9281–9290CrossRef
De Schryver AM, Goedkoop MJ, Leuven RSEW, Huijbregts MAJ (2010) Uncertainties in the application of the species area relationship for characterisation factors of land occupation in life cycle assessment. Int J Life Cycle Assess 15:682–691CrossRef
de Souza DM, Flynn DFB, DeClerck F, Rosenbaum RK, de Melo Lisboa H, Koellner T (2013) Land use impacts on biodiversity in LCA: proposal of characterization factors based on functional diversity. Int J Life Cycle Assess 18:1231–1242CrossRef
de Souza DM, Teixeira RFM, Ostermann OP (2015) Assessing biodiversity loss due to land use with Life Cycle Assessment: are we there yet? Glob Chang Biol 21:32–47CrossRef
Didham RK (2010) The ecological consequences of habitat fragmentation. Encycl Life Sci 61:1–39
Didham RK, Kapos V, Ewers RM (2012) Rethinking the conceptual foundations of habitat fragmentation research. Oikos 121:161–170CrossRef
European Commission, Joint Research Centre, Institute for Environment and Sustainability (2010) International reference life cycle data system (ILCD) Handbook - Framework and requirements for life cycle impact assessment Models and indicators. 1st edn. Publications Office of the European Union, Luxembourg
Fahrig L (2013) Rethinking patch size and isolation effects: the habitat amount hypothesis. J Biogeogr 40:1649–1663CrossRef
Fahrig L (2003) Effects of habitat fragmentation on biodiversity. Annu Rev Ecol Evol Syst 34:487–515CrossRef
Fattorini S, Borges PAV (2012) Species-area relationships underestimate extinction rates. Acta Oecol 40:27–30CrossRef
Flather CH, Bevers M (2002) Patchy reaction-diffusion and population abundance: the relative importance of habitat amount and arrangement. Am Nat 159:40–56
Goedkoop M, Heijungs R, Huijbregts M, De Schryver A, Struijs J, van Zelm R (2013) ReCiPe 2008 A life cycle impact assessment method which comprises harmonised category indicators at the midpoint and the endpoint level—first edition (revised)—report I: characterisation
Haddad NM, Gonzalez A, Brudvig LA et al (2017) Experimental evidence does not support the habitat amount hypothesis. Ecography (Cop) 125:336–342
Hanski I (2015) Habitat fragmentation and species richness. J Biogeogr 42:989–993CrossRef
Hanski I, Ovaskainen O (2000) The metapopulation capacity of a fragmented landscape. Nature 404:755–758CrossRef
Hanski I, Zurita GA, Bellocq MI, Rybicki J (2013) Species-fragmented area relationship. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 110:12715–12720CrossRef
Hauschild MZ, Goedkoop M, Guinée J, Heijungs R, Huijbregts M, Jolliet O, Margni M, de Schryver A, Humbert S, Laurent A, Sala S, Pant R (2013) Identifying best existing practice for characterization modeling in Life Cycle Impact Assessment. Int J Life Cycle Assess 18:683–697CrossRef
Henle K, Davies KF, Kleyer M, Margules C, Settele J (2004) Predictors of species sensitivity to fragmentation. Biodivers Conserv 13:207–251CrossRef
Koellner T, de Baan L, Beck T, Brandão M, Civit B, Margni M, Milà i Canals L, Saad R, de Souza DM, Müller-Wenk R (2013) UNEP-SETAC guideline on global land use impact assessment on biodiversity and ecosystem services in LCA. Int J Life Cycle Assess 18:1188–1202CrossRef
Koh LP, Ghazoul J (2010) A matrix-calibrated species-area model for predicting biodiversity losses due to land-use change. Conserv Biol 24:994–1001CrossRef
Krauss J, Bommarco R, Guardiola M, Heikkinen RK, Helm A, Kuussaari M, Lindborg R, Öckinger E, Pärtel M, Pino J, Pöyry J, Raatikainen KM, Sang A, Stefanescu C, Teder T, Zobel M, Steffan-Dewenter I (2010) Habitat fragmentation causes immediate and time-delayed biodiversity loss at different trophic levels. Ecol Lett 13:597–605CrossRef
Kuussaari M, Bommarco R, Heikkinen RK et al (2009) Extinction debt: a challenge for biodiversity conservation. Trends Ecol Evol 24:564–571CrossRef
Marin FR, Martha GB, Cassman KG, Grassini P (2016) Prospects for increasing sugarcane and bioethanol production on existing crop area in Brazil. Bioscience 66:307–316CrossRef
Matthews TJ, Cottee-Jones HE, Whittaker RJ (2014) Habitat fragmentation and the species-area relationship: a focus on total species richness obscures the impact of habitat loss on habitat specialists. Divers Distrib 20:1136–1146CrossRef
Michelsen O (2008) Assessment of land use impact on biodiversity proposal of a new methodology exemplified with forestry operations in Norway. Int J Life Cycle Assess 13:22–31
Mihoub J-B, Henle K, Titeux N, Brotons L, Brummitt NA, Schmeller DS (2017) Setting temporal baselines for biodiversity: the limits of available monitoring data for capturing the full impact of anthropogenic pressures. Sci Rep 7. https://​doi.​org/​10.​1038/​srep41591
Milà i Canals L, Bauer C, Depestele J et al (2007) Key elements in a framework for land use impact assessment within LCA land use in LCA. Int J Life Cycle Assess 12:5–15CrossRef
Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (2005) Ecosystems and human well-being—biodiversity synthesis. World Resources Institute, Washington, DC
Pereira HM, Daily GC (2006) Modeling biodiversity dynamics in countryside landscapes. Ecology 87:1877–1885CrossRef
Ricketts TH (2001) The matrix matters: effective isolation in fragmented landscapes. Am Nat 158:87–99CrossRef
Rosenzweig ML (1995) Species diversity in space and time. Cambridge University Press, CambridgeCrossRef
Rybicki J, Hanski I (2013) Species-area relationships and extinctions caused by habitat loss and fragmentation. Ecol Lett 16:27–38CrossRef
Schneider MF (2001) Habitat loss, fragmentation and predator impact: spatial implications for prey conservation. J Appl Ecol 38:720–735CrossRef
Schnell JK, Harris GM, Pimm SL, Russell GJ (2013) Estimating extinction risk with metapopulation models of large-scale fragmentation. Conserv Biol 27:520–530CrossRef
Simberloff DS, Abele LG (1976) Island biogeography and conservation practice. Science 191(80):285–286CrossRef
Soga M, Koike S (2013) Patch isolation only matters for specialist butterflies but patch area affects both specialist and generalist species. J For Res 18:270–278CrossRef
Souza DM, Teixeira RFM, Ostermann OP (2015) Assessing biodiversity loss due to land use with Life Cycle Assessment: are we there yet? Glob Chanage Biol 21:32–47CrossRef
Teixeira RFM (2014) Which species count? Reflections on the concept of species richness for biodiversity endpoints in LCA. Chem Eng Trans 42:133–138
Teixeira RFM, Souza De DM, Curran MP et al (2016) Towards consensus on land use impacts on biodiversity in LCA: UNEP/SETAC Life Cycle Initiative preliminary recommendations based on expert contributions. J Clean Prod 112d:4283–4287CrossRef
Frischknecht R, Jolliet O (2016) Global Guidance for Life Cycle Impact Assessment Indicators Volume 1. UNEP SETAC Life Cycle Initiative. United Nations Environment Programme
Villard M-A, Metzger JP (2014) Beyond the fragmentation debate: a conceptual model to predict when habitat configuration really matters. J Appl Ecol 51:309–318CrossRef
Whitmore TC, Sayer JA (1992) Tropical deforestation and species extinction. Chapman & Hall, London, p 147 
Wilcove DS, McLellan CH, Dobson AP (1986) Habitat fragmentation in the temperate zone. In: Soulé ME (ed) Conservation biology—the science of scarcity and diversity. School of Sinauer Associates, Inc., pp 237–256
WWF (2005) Sugar and the environment—encouraging better management practices in sugar production. Report available for download at wwf.panda.org/?22255/. Accessed 14 Feb 2017
Metadata
Title
Developing characterisation factors for land fragmentation impacts on biodiversity in LCA: key learnings from a sugarcane case study
Authors
Pyrène Larrey-Lassalle
Eléonore Loiseau
Philippe Roux
Miguel Lopez-Ferber
Ralph K. Rosenbaum
Publication date
28-02-2018
Publisher
Springer Berlin Heidelberg
Published in
The International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment / Issue 11/2018
Print ISSN: 0948-3349
Electronic ISSN: 1614-7502
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/s11367-018-1449-5

Other articles of this Issue 11/2018

The International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment 11/2018 Go to the issue

UNCERTAINTIES IN LCA

Uncertainty analysis in LCA using precalculated aggregated datasets

LCA FOR ENERGY SYSTEMS AND FOOD PRODUCTS

Comparative life cycle assessment of current and future electricity generation systems in the Czech Republic and Poland

LCIA OF IMPACTS ON HUMAN HEALTH AND ECOSYSTEMS

Global guidance on environmental life cycle impact assessment indicators: impacts of climate change, fine particulate matter formation, water consumption and land use

LAND USE IN LCA

Accounting for effects of carbon flows in LCA of biomass-based products—exploration and evaluation of a selection of existing methods

LCIA OF IMPACTS ON HUMAN HEALTH AND ECOSYSTEMS

The potential to use QSAR to populate ecotoxicity characterisation factors for simplified LCIA and chemical prioritisation

LCA FOR AGRICULTURE

Customised life cycle assessment tool for sugarcane (CaneLCA)—a development in the evaluation of alternative agricultural practices