A scalable GIS-based approach to mapping ecosystem service capacity using CORINE land cover data and Burkhard matrix: Application on the city of Niš

Abstract

Ecosystem services (ES) represent the benefits that natural and semi-natural ecosystems provide to human societies, yet their spatial distribution remains insufficiently integrated into urban and spatial planning practice in Serbia. This study presents a GIS-based assessment of ES capacity for the administrative territory of the City of Niš, combining CORINE Land Cover (CLC 2018) vector data with the Burkhard matrix scoring framework to quantify and spatially map provisioning, regulating and maintenance, and cultural ecosystem services across 22 land cover classes covering 59,622 ha. The analysis reveals a pronounced center-periphery gradient, with the urbanized core forming a persistent cold spot of Very Low to Low ES capacity, while forested uplands and heterogeneous agricultural landscapes in the periphery constitute extensive hot spot zones. Total ES capacity is High to Very High across 68.46% of the territory, with only 2.29% classified as Very Low. A key contribution of this study is the full automation of the analytical workflow through a QGIS Python script, making the approach directly transferable to any Serbian municipality without reliance on commercial software and aligned with the EU Nature Restoration Law (2024). Principal limitations include the 25-ha minimum mapping unit, which underestimates ES provision by urban green infrastructure, and the absence of a regionally validated Burkhard matrix for Balkan ecosystem types. Future research should address higher-resolution data integration, field-based score validation, and demand-side ES analysis.