Analysis of neighbourhood relations for the monitoring of genetically modified organisms: Steps from local scale to the regional scale

摘要

For the specification of genetically modified organism (GMO) monitoring measures it is of central relevance to know about the frequencies of agricultural neighbourhood relations on larger scales. While local, empirical information is relevant to specify probable local interaction pattern, an assessment of the regional scale allows to quantify, how often particular neighbourhood conditions are to be expected. To demonstrate the analytical possibilities on the regional scale, we used remote sensing images of Northern Germany, identified oilseed rape fields and evaluated the number of neighbouring fields in a certain distance. More than 60.000 fields were assessed and the number of neighbours in 0.5, 1, 2, and 5 km was quantified. The same approach can be taken also for other crops to assess the heterogeneity of regional conditions and identify critical regions.