Heck.in

Under the project acronym Heck.in, a scientifically sound and ready-to-use evaluation system was developed that allows the fulfillment of ecosystem services by hedges or windbreaks in rural landscapes to be quantified.

Brief description

Living structural elements in agricultural landscapes, such as hedges and windbreaks, provide a range of ecosystem services. How well they can provide these services is determined by their dimensions and other structural characteristics as well as their arrangement in the landscape.

The relationships between various measurable indicators of the structure and arrangement of hedges and the provision of ecosystem services have been described here on the basis of results from scientific studies from all over the world and brought together in a user-friendly evaluation scheme. With this scheme, a hedge can be easily assessed by interested laypersons, and the result is a classification of 13 different ecosystem services in graphical and quantitative form. On this basis, particularly pronounced services or weak points of individual hedges can be made visible, the effect of maintenance measures on functionality can be estimated and comparisons can be made. The system can be used in scientific studies, planning procedures or as part of training campaigns with all age and interest groups. The next stage of development will also make the assessment scheme available in the form of a smartphone app, which can be used to quickly and easily assess the performance of hedges anywhere.

The latest version of the application-oriented file package can be downloaded here.

Included are:

  • Manual and project description - long version
  • Short version / mapping instructions
  • Form for hedge assessment
  • Input and calculation file with assessment model