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Abstract

We analyze ecological improvement potentials of agricultural landscapes in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Using an eco-efficiency approach, we model agricultural landscapes at a 20km² hexagonal grid. Ecological output is captured by indicators based on agricultural land cover data from the Integrated Administration and Control System. We derive measures for landscape configuration and composition including a Shannon crop diversity index, edge density, grassland shares, ecological focus areas, and landscape elements. We approximate economic output potential using local standard farmland values. Ecological improvement potentials are measured against a non-convex frontier estimated with the non-parametric, robust order-m estimator. We find overall high eco-efficiency of the agricultural landscapes; yet for the given economic output potential, landscapes could improve in the ecological direction. We detect spatially concentrated improvement potentials for single ecological indicators. Our results underline that eco-efficiency requires coordination at the landscape scale where directional improvement potentials can help designing locally adapted strategies.

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