Location potential of groundwater-dependent land ecosystems in Lower Saxony 1: 50 000 — Evaluation

The backdrop “Location potentials for groundwater-dependent land ecosystems” shows areas for the whole of Lower Saxony with the abiotic potential for the establishment of groundwater-dependent land ecosystems on a medium scale (1:50,000). Groundwater-dependent land ecosystems are an important place of life and retreat for rare and endangered animal and plant species. That is why groundwater-dependent land ecosystems are under special protection and must be taken into account in water law and planning procedures. The backdrop evaluates the abiotic location factors soil, groundwater, climate and land use, based on the BK50, climate data from the German Weather Service (DWD) for the period 1971-2000 and the Digital Landscape Model 1: 25,000 (DLM25). The backdrop serves as an overview and presents all areas with a location potential regardless of whether or not a groundwater-dependent biotope has established itself on the designated sites. Groundwater-dependent land ecosystems are endangered by the reduction of groundwater and changes in the climate. A method has been developed to assess the vulnerability to these hazards using soil water balance parameters. The result of the method is the assessment of the quality of the site potential gwaLÖS, which is presented in this topic under current conditions (climate and groundwater levels). BUG, J., PLINKE, A-K., AFFELT, L. & HARDERS, D. (2021): Location potentials of groundwater-dependent land ecosystems (gwaLÖS) — Explanation on the setting and assessment of vulnerability. In: Georeports 43, Hannover.