Contribution to Local Landscape Units definition in OTALEX II

Abstract

OTALEX II is the Territorial and Environmental Observatory of Alentejo (Portugal) and Extremadura (Spain), co-financed by POCTEP, developed with the cross-border collaboration of several Portuguese and Spanish bodies. It is composed of a Spatial Data Infrastructure (SDI) created in 2007, SDI-OTALEX (www.ideotalex.eu), which is an exchange platform for geographic information and Webmapping services among project partners. The integration of environmental indicators such as landscape indicators, for the characterization and monitoring of the Alentejo Extremadura area is one of the most relevant components of the project. This paper reports the achievements in defining Local Landscape Units (LLU) for a pilot area of Central Alentejo – the Pardiela river basin. The methodological approach applied Geographic Information System tools to integrate soils, geomorphology and land cover. The land cover map applies the CORINE Land Cover Legend Level 5 to Central Alentejo at a scale of 1 : 10,000. This map contains variables related to vegetation, hydrology (streams and water bodies) and human settlements (buildings, equipment, roads). The validation of the results obtained for LLU with previously defined Landscape Units and potential vegetation mapping confirm the reliability and replicability of the present methodology for similar territories.