Nature and culture in Amazonian landscape: a photographic experience echoing Amerindian cosmology and historical ecology

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Patrick Pardini

2012-08-01

Full Text Available As an artistic experience, the photographic research "Arborescence - plant physiognomy in Amazonian landscape" conduces the author to discover landscape as an interpenetration of Nature and Culture (man's indirect presence; being face to face with vegetable subjects; continuity, undifferentiation and equivalence between the 'natural' (heterogeneous, spontaneous, native, rural and the 'cultural' (homogeneous, cultivated, exotic, urban in the experience of landscape; arborescence as a "cosmic image" (Gaston Bachelard, where the high (sky, light, branches, sky water and the low (earth, shade, roots, land water are equivalent and reversible poles. Such experience echoes the eco-cosmology of forest societies in Amazonia. The Amerindian cosmology is a "symbolic ecology" (Philippe Descola, that is, "a complex dynamics of social intercourse and transformations between humans and non-humans, visible and invisible subjects" (Bruce Albert; the Amerindian ecology is "a cosmology put into practice" (Kaj Århem, wherein hunted animals and cultivated plants are 'relatives' to be seduced or coerced. Such model appears to be a form of "socialization of nature" (Descola, "humanization of the forest" (Evaristo Eduardo de Miranda and "indirect anthropization" of Amazonian ecosystems (Descola which produces "cultural forests" (William Balée.

Bridging the gap between landscape ecologyand natural resource management

Science.gov (United States)

Monica G. Turner; Thomas R. Crow; Jianguo Liu; Dale Rabe; Charles F. Rabeni; Patricia A. Soranno; William W. Taylor; Kristiina A. Vogt; John A. Wiens

2002-01-01

The challenges facing natural resource managers occur over entire landscapes and involve landscape components at many scales. Many resource managers are shifting their approach from managing resources such as fish, wildlife, and water separately to managing for the integrity of entire ecosystems (Christensen et al., 1996). Indeed, nearly all resource...

Affordances and Landscapes: Overcoming the Nature-Culture Dichotomy through Niche Construction Theory.

Science.gov (United States)

Heras-Escribano, Manuel; De Pinedo-García, Manuel

2017-01-01

In this paper we reject the nature-culture dichotomy by means of the idea of affordance or possibility for action, which has important implications for landscape theory. Our hypothesis is that, just as the idea of affordance can serve to overcome the subjective-objective dichotomy, the ideas of landscape and ecological niche, properly defined, would allow us to also transcend the nature-culture dichotomy. First, we introduce an overview of landscape theory, emphasizing processual landscape theory as the most suitable approach for satisfying both cultural and naturalist approaches. After that, we introduce the idea of affordance and we analyze a tension between sociocultural and transcultural affordances (affordances that depend on cultural conventions and affordances that depend on lawful information and bodily aspects of agents). This tension has various implications for landscape theory and ecological niches. Our proposal is that sociocultural and transcultural aspects of affordances could be systematically accommodated if we apply niche construction theory (the theory that explains the process by which organisms modify their selective environments) as a methodological framework for explaining the emergence of ecological niches. This approach will lead us to an integrative account of landscapes as the products of the interaction between human and environmental elements, making it a clear example of a concept that transcends the nature-culture dichotomy.

HONDA'S IDEA ABOUT THE UTILIZATION OF NATURAL SCENERY ON "THE USE OF SCENIC LANDSCAPES"

Science.gov (United States)

Ogawa, Toru; Sanada, Junko

Essentially, natural scenery area plan must include scenery conservation and utilization as well as natural conservation, actually however, it is said that natural scenery area plan leans much toward natural conservation. So this study aims to focus on Seiroku Honda who has a major thinking about "utilization of scenery" in the Japanese national park's formation stage and clarify Honda's idea about the utilization of natural scenery by analyzing his "the Use of Scenic Landscapes". As a result, following three points are clarified. 1) Honda has four ideas in the base of each plans. 2) scenic landscape as resources in Honda's own ideas. 3) there was some conflict between modification ways and landscape resources.

Superparticle phenomenology from the natural mini-landscape

Science.gov (United States)

Baer, Howard; Barger, Vernon; Savoy, Michael; Serce, Hasan; Tata, Xerxes

2017-06-01

The methodology of the heterotic mini-landscape attempts to zero in on phenomenologically viable corners of the string landscape where the effective low energy theory is the Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model with localized grand unification. The gaugino mass pattern is that of mirage-mediation. The magnitudes of various SM Yukawa couplings point to a picture where scalar soft SUSY breaking terms are related to the geography of fields in the compactified dimensions. Higgs fields and third generation scalars extend to the bulk and occur in split multiplets with TeV scale soft masses. First and second generation scalars, localized at orbifold fixed points or tori with enhanced symmetry, occur in complete GUT multiplets and have much larger masses. This picture can be matched onto the parameter space of generalized mirage mediation. Naturalness considerations, the requirement of the observed electroweak symmetry breaking pattern, and LHC bounds on m g together limit the gravitino mass to the m 3/2 ˜ 5-60 TeV range. The mirage unification scale is bounded from below with the limit depending on the ratio of squark to gravitino masses. We show that while natural SUSY in this realization may escape detection even at the high luminosity LHC, the high energy LHC with √{s}=33 TeV could unequivocally confirm or exclude this scenario. It should be possible to detect the expected light higgsinos at the ILC if these are kinematically accessible, and possibly also discriminate the expected compression of gaugino masses in the natural mini-landscape picture from the mass pattern expected in models with gaugino mass unification. The thermal WIMP signal should be accessible via direct detection searches at the multi-ton noble liquid detectors such as XENONnT or LZ.

Time, Space and the History of Agricultural Landscapes

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Svenningsen, Stig Roar; Christensen, Andreas Aagaard

history, especially as the rate of changes in cultural landscapes has increased during the last 40 years as the result of the development in the agro-industrial sector. However landscape changes rarely occur as abrupt and sudden breaks, but more as gradual process over long time periods corresponding...... with development in farming technology, modes of production and social organization. The majority of sources material to landscape history are of geographic nature, such as cartographic material, aerial imagery, photographs and paintings and opposite to the gradual nature of changes in the landscape, most sources...... to the physical structure of landscapes has a fixed temporal nature depicting the landscape at time of record, often at different spatial scales. This creates a challenge for Environmental history of European agricultural landscapes to produce a framework, which can incorporate these differences in temporal...

Environmental psychology: Human responses and relationships to natural landscapes

Science.gov (United States)

Daniel R. Williams

2004-01-01

The purpose of this chapter is to present a thorough assessment of environmental psychology as a way to understand relationships between people and natural landscapes, and to describe how this knowledge can be applied to natural resource management. Environmental psychology seeks to clarify how individuals perceive, experience and create meaning in the environment. In...

Analyzing landscape changes in the Bafa Lake Nature Park of Turkey using remote sensing and landscape structure metrics.

Science.gov (United States)

Esbah, Hayriye; Deniz, Bulent; Kara, Baris; Kesgin, Birsen

2010-06-01

Bafa Lake Nature Park is one of Turkey's most important legally protected areas. This study aimed at analyzing spatial change in the park environment by using object-based classification technique and landscape structure metrics. SPOT 2X (1994) and ASTER (2005) images are the primary research materials. Results show that artificial surfaces, low maqui, garrigue, and moderately high maqui covers have increased and coniferous forests, arable lands, permanent crop, and high maqui covers have decreased; coniferous forest, high maqui, grassland, and saline areas are in a disappearance stage of the land transformation; and the landscape pattern is more fragmented outside the park boundaries. The management actions should support ongoing vegetation regeneration, mitigate transformation of vegetation structure to less dense and discontinuous cover, control the dynamics at the agricultural-natural landscape interface, and concentrate on relatively low but steady increase of artificial surfaces.

Environmental planning and management of urban natural landscapes

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

A.R. Sadeghi

2016-07-01

Full Text Available Advantages of urbanization such as access to clean water, health, and overall easier life in cities, as well as the disadvantages or its negative effects on environment cannot be ignored. Today, there are numerous environmental problems due to the reduction in ecologically valuable places within urban areas. Bringing nature to the cities appears to be essential to enhance urban environment and to reduce environmental problems in urban communities. In fact, issues resulting from the idea of "sustainability" as a policy-making goal require an integrated environmental policy-making approach. The innovations of new environmental policy-making require policy-making mechanisms that can deal with interdependent characteristics of environmental problems. To this end, new structures have emerged known as Environmental Planning and Management and Strategic Environmental planning and management. This analytical – descriptive article aims to re-examine the origins and concepts related to environmental planning using a field and desk study. With the introduction of urban natural landscape, Environmental planning considers such spaces within the city. In this regard, Khoshk River, Shiraz, Iran, as an urban natural landscape, was analyzed. Environmental planning-based polices were proposed to improve quality of the place under discussion.

Processes of aesthetic transformation in ordinary landscapes

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Krarup, Jonna Majgaard

2004-01-01

it was distributed systematically as an almost industrially produced landscape element. Windbreaks are now regarded as a traditional element in the Danish agricultural landscape. As a landscape element it is an international phenomenon known and used in Germany, France, England etc. Originally local farming...... practices, natural conditions, techniques and national legislation in the respective countries, formed the aesthetic expression. In this respect one could speak of the impact of northern nature on the aesthetic expression of the Danish windbreaks, as well as the impact from national phenomena....... These features determined the specific aesthetic and architectural identity of ordinary Danish, i.e. Nordic, landscapes. Contemporary cultural changes such as the aesthetification of everyday life and of ordinary landscape, i.e. farming landscape, are now manifest in the way the windbreaks are motivated...

Natural sources of metals in the south of West Siberia landscapes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Roslyakov, N.A.; Kalinin, Yu.A.; Roslyakova, N.V.; Kropacheva, M.Yu.

2008-01-01

The present paper dwells on a negative effect of natural anomalous concentrations of heavy and radioactive metals on state-of-the-art landscapes, with their vertical zonality distinctly expressed and ore mineralization composition miscellaneous. In terms of ecology there are given data on element distributions depending on the vertical zonality and genetic belonging of West Siberian elementary landscapes. Natural geochemical anomalies are shown to have a long formation history. General distribution trend of Li, Be, B, P, Sc, Ti, V, Cr, Mn, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn, Ga, Ge, Sr, Y, Zr, Nb, Mo, Ag, Sn, Te, Ba, W, Au, Pb, Bi, Hg, Th, U as well as Hf, Ta, Rb, Cs, La, Ce, Nd, Sm, Eu, Gd, Tb, Yb, Lu in major types of the region rocks and levels of their anomalous concentrations have been analyzed. Against the regional background a significant effect upon ecogeochemistry of state-of-the-art landscapes of natural anomalies of heavy and radioactive metals genesis and composition of which find their reflection in the vertical zonality of the surface relief have been shown.

Relationship between tourism development and vegetated landscapes in Luya Mountain Nature Reserve, Shanxi, China.

Science.gov (United States)

Cheng, Zhan-Hong; Zhang, Jin-Tun

2005-09-01

The relationship between tourism development and vegetated landscapes is analyzed for the Luya Mountain Nature Reserve (LMNR), Shanxi, China, in this study. Indices such as Sensitive Level (SL), Landscape Importance Value (LIV), information index of biodiversity (H'), Shade-tolerant Species Proportion (SSP), and Tourism Influencing Index (TII) are used to characterize vegetated landscapes, the impact of tourism, and their relationship. Their relationship is studied by Two-Way Indicator Species Analysis (TWINSPAN) and Detrended Correspondence Analysis (DCA). TWINSPAN gives correct and rapid partition to the classification, and DCA ordination shows the changing tendency of all vegetation types based on tourism development. These results reflect the ecological relationship between tourism development and vegetated landscapes. In Luya Mountain Nature Reserve, most plant communities are in good or medium condition, which shows that these vegetated landscapes can support more tourism. However, the occurrence of the bad condition shows that there is a severe contradiction between tourism development and vegetated landscapes.

Do Humans Really Prefer Semi-open Natural Landscapes? A Cross-Cultural Reappraisal

Science.gov (United States)

Hägerhäll, Caroline M.; Ode Sang, Åsa; Englund, Jan-Eric; Ahlner, Felix; Rybka, Konrad; Huber, Juliette; Burenhult, Niclas

2018-01-01

There is an assumption in current landscape preference theory of universal consensus in human preferences for moderate to high openness in a natural landscape. This premise is largely based on empirical studies of urban Western populations. Here we examine for the first time landscape preference across a number of geographically, ecologically and culturally diverse indigenous populations. Included in the study were two urban Western samples of university students (from southern Sweden) and five non-Western, indigenous and primarily rural communities: Jahai (Malay Peninsula), Lokono (Suriname), Makalero (Timor), Makasae (Timor), and Wayuu (Colombia). Preference judgements were obtained using pairwise forced choice assessments of digital visualizations of a natural landscape varied systematically on three different levels of topography and vegetation density. The results show differences between the Western and non-Western samples, with interaction effects between topography and vegetation being present for the two Swedish student samples but not for the other five samples. The theoretical claim of human preferences for half-open landscapes was only significantly confirmed for the student sample comprising landscape architects. The five non Western indigenous groups all preferred the highest level of vegetation density. Results show there are internal similarities between the two Western samples on the one hand, and between the five non-Western samples on the other. To some extent this supports the idea of consensus in preference, not universally but within those categories respectively.

Landscape structure affects specialists but not generalists in naturally fragmented grasslands

Science.gov (United States)

Miller, Jesse E.D.; Damschen, Ellen Ingman; Harrison, Susan P.; Grace, James B.

2015-01-01

Understanding how biotic communities respond to landscape spatial structure is critically important for conservation management as natural landscapes become increasingly fragmented. However, empirical studies of the effects of spatial structure on plant species richness have found inconsistent results, suggesting that more comprehensive approaches are needed. In this study, we asked how landscape structure affects total plant species richness and the richness of a guild of specialized plants in a multivariate context. We sampled herbaceous plant communities at 56 dolomite glades (insular, fire-adapted grasslands) across the Missouri Ozarks, and used structural equation modeling (SEM) to analyze the relative importance of landscape structure, soil resource availability, and fire history for plant communities. We found that landscape spatial structure-defined as the area-weighted proximity of glade habitat surrounding study sites (proximity index)-had a significant effect on total plant species richness, but only after we controlled for environmental covariates. Richness of specialist species, but not generalists, was positively related to landscape spatial structure. Our results highlight that local environmental filters must be considered to understand the influence of landscape structure on communities, and that unique species guilds may respond differently to landscape structure than the community as a whole. These findings suggest that both local environment and landscape context should be considered when developing management strategies for species of conservation concern in fragmented habitats.

Landscape consequences of natural gas extraction in Beaver and Butler Counties, Pennsylvania, 2004-2010

Science.gov (United States)

Roig-Silva, Coral M.; Slonecker, E. Terry; Milheim, Lesley E.; Malizia, Alexander R.

2013-01-01

Increased demands for cleaner burning energy, coupled with the relatively recent technological advances in accessing unconventional hydrocarbon-rich geologic formations, have led to an intense effort to find and extract natural gas from various underground sources around the country. One of these sources, the Marcellus Shale, located in the Allegheny Plateau, is currently undergoing extensive drilling and production. The technology used to extract gas in the Marcellus Shale is known as hydraulic fracturing and has garnered much attention because of its use of large amounts of fresh water, its use of proprietary fluids for the hydraulic-fracturing process, its potential to release contaminants into the environment, and its potential effect on water resources. Nonetheless, development of natural gas extraction wells in the Marcellus Shale is only part of the overall natural gas story in this area of Pennsylvania. Conventional natural gas wells, which sometimes use the same technique, are commonly located in the same general area as the Marcellus Shale and are frequently developed in clusters across the landscape. The combined effects of these two natural gas extraction methods create potentially serious patterns of disturbance on the landscape. This document quantifies the landscape changes and consequences of natural gas extraction for Beaver County and Butler County in Pennsylvania between 2004 and 2010. Patterns of landscape disturbance related to natural gas extraction activities were collected and digitized using National Agriculture Imagery Program (NAIP) imagery for 2004, 2005/2006, 2008, and 2010. The disturbance patterns were then used to measure changes in land cover and land use using the National Land Cover Database (NLCD) of 2001. A series of landscape metrics is also used to quantify these changes and is included in this publication.

Landscape consequences of natural gas extraction in Lackawanna and Wayne Counties, Pennsylvania, 2004-2010

Science.gov (United States)

Milheim, L.E.; Slonecker, E.T.; Roig-Silva, C.M.; Malizia, A.R.

2013-01-01

Increased demands for cleaner burning energy, coupled with the relatively recent technological advances in accessing unconventional hydrocarbon-rich geologic formations, have led to an intense effort to find and extract natural gas from various underground sources around the country. One of these sources, the Marcellus Shale, located in the Allegheny Plateau, is currently undergoing extensive drilling and production. The technology used to extract gas in the Marcellus Shale is known as hydraulic fracturing and has garnered much attention because of its use of large amounts of fresh water, its use of proprietary fluids for the hydraulic-fracturing process, its potential to release contaminants into the environment, and its potential effect on water resources. Nonetheless, development of natural gas extraction wells in the Marcellus Shale is only part of the overall natural gas story in this area of Pennsylvania. Conventional natural gas wells, which sometimes use the same technique, are commonly located in the same general area as the Marcellus Shale and are frequently developed in clusters across the landscape. The combined effects of these two natural gas extraction methods create potentially serious patterns of disturbance on the landscape. This document quantifies the landscape changes and consequences of natural gas extraction for Lackawanna County and Wayne County in Pennsylvania between 2004 and 2010. Patterns of landscape disturbance related to natural gas extraction activities were collected and digitized using National Agriculture Imagery Program (NAIP) imagery for 2004, 2005/2006, 2008, and 2010. The disturbance patterns were then used to measure changes in land cover and land use using the National Land Cover Database (NLCD) of 2001. A series of landscape metrics is also used to quantify these changes and is included in this publication.

Landscape consequences of natural gas extraction in Somerset and Westmoreland Counties, Pennsylvania,2004--2010

Science.gov (United States)

Milheim, L.E.; Slonecker, E.T.; Roig-Silva, C.M.; Malizia, A.R.

2013-01-01

Increased demands for cleaner burning energy, coupled with the relatively recent technological advances in accessing unconventional hydrocarbon-rich geologic formations, have led to an intense effort to find and extract natural gas from various underground sources around the country. One of these sources, the Marcellus Shale, located in the Allegheny Plateau, is currently undergoing extensive drilling and production. The technology used to extract gas in the Marcellus Shale is known as hydraulic fracturing and has garnered much attention because of its use of large amounts of fresh water, its use of proprietary fluids for the hydraulic-fracturing process, its potential to release contaminants into the environment, and its potential effect on water resources. Nonetheless, development of natural gas extraction wells in the Marcellus Shale is only part of the overall natural gas story in this area of Pennsylvania. Conventional natural gas wells, which sometimes use the same technique, are commonly located in the same general area as the Marcellus Shale and are frequently developed in clusters across the landscape. The combined effects of these two natural gas extraction methods create potentially serious patterns of disturbance on the landscape. This document quantifies the landscape changes and consequences of natural gas extraction for Somerset County and Westmoreland County in Pennsylvania between 2004 and 2010. Patterns of landscape disturbance related to natural gas extraction activities were collected and digitized using National Agriculture Imagery Program (NAIP) imagery for 2004, 2005/2006, 2008, and 2010. The disturbance patterns were then used to measure changes in land cover and land use using the National Land Cover Database (NLCD) of 2001. A series of landscape metrics is also used to quantify these changes and is included in this publication.

Landscape consequences of natural gas extraction in Bradford and Washington Counties, Pennsylvania, 2004-2010

Science.gov (United States)

Slonecker, E.T.; Milheim, L.E.; Roig-Silva, C.M.; Malizia, A.R.; Marr, D.A.; Fisher, G.B.

2012-01-01

Increased demands for cleaner burning energy, coupled with the relatively recent technological advances in accessing unconventional hydrocarbon-rich geologic formations, led to an intense effort to find and extract natural gas from various underground sources around the country. One of these sources, the Marcellus Shale, located in the Allegheny Plateau, is undergoing extensive drilling and production. The technology used to extract gas in the Marcellus Shale is known as hydraulic fracturing and has garnered much attention because of its use of large amounts of fresh water, its use of proprietary fluids for the hydraulic-fracturing process, its potential to release contaminants into the environment, and its potential effect on water resources. Nonetheless, development of natural gas extraction wells in the Marcellus Shale is only part of the overall natural gas story in the area of Pennsylvania. Coalbed methane, which is sometimes extracted using the same technique, is often located in the same general area as the Marcellus Shale and is frequently developed in clusters across the landscape. The combined effects of these two natural gas extraction methods create potentially serious patterns of disturbance on the landscape. This document quantifies the landscape changes and consequences of natural gas extraction for Bradford County and Washington County, Pennsylvania, between 2004 and 2010. Patterns of landscape disturbance related to natural gas extraction activities were collected and digitized using National Agriculture Imagery Program (NAIP) imagery for 2004, 2005/2006, 2008, and 2010. The disturbance patterns were then used to measure changes in land cover and land use using the National Land Cover Database (NLCD) of 2001. A series of landscape metrics is used to quantify these changes and are included in this publication.

Landscape consequences of natural gas extraction in Allegheny and Susquehanna Counties, Pennsylvania, 2004--2010

Science.gov (United States)

Slonecker, E.T.; Milheim, L.E.; Roig-Silva, C.M.; Malizia, A.R.

2013-01-01

Increased demands for cleaner burning energy, coupled with the relatively recent technological advances in accessing unconventional hydrocarbon-rich geologic formations, have led to an intense effort to find and extract natural gas from various underground sources around the country. One of these sources, the Marcellus Shale, located in the Allegheny Plateau, is currently undergoing extensive drilling and production. The technology used to extract gas in the Marcellus Shale is known as hydraulic fracturing and has garnered much attention because of its use of large amounts of fresh water, its use of proprietary fluids for the hydraulic-fracturing process, its potential to release contaminants into the environment, and its potential effect on water resources. Nonetheless, development of natural gas extraction wells in the Marcellus Shale is only part of the overall natural gas story in this area of Pennsylvania. Coalbed methane, which is sometimes extracted using the same technique, is commonly located in the same general area as the Marcellus Shale and is frequently developed in clusters of wells across the landscape. The combined effects of these two natural gas extraction methods create potentially serious patterns of disturbance on the landscape. This document quantifies the landscape changes and consequences of natural gas extraction for Allegheny County and Susquehanna County in Pennsylvania between 2004 and 2010. Patterns of landscape disturbance related to natural gas extraction activities were collected and digitized using National Agriculture Imagery Program (NAIP) imagery for 2004, 2005/2006, 2008, and 2010. The disturbance patterns were then used to measure changes in land cover and land use using the National Land Cover Database (NLCD) of 2001. A series of landscape metrics is also used to quantify these changes and is included in this publication.

Landscape consequences of natural gas extraction in Greene and Tioga Counties, Pennsylvania, 2004-2010

Science.gov (United States)

Slonecker, E.T.; Milheim, L.E.; Roig-Silva, C.M.; Fisher, G.B.

2012-01-01

Increased demands for cleaner burning energy, coupled with the relatively recent technological advances in accessing unconventional hydrocarbon-rich geologic formations, have led to an intense effort to find and extract natural gas from various underground sources around the country. One of these sources, the Marcellus Shale, located in the Allegheny Plateau, is currently undergoing extensive drilling and production. The technology used to extract gas in the Marcellus shale is known as hydraulic fracturing and has garnered much attention because of its use of large amounts of fresh water, its use of proprietary fluids for the hydraulic-fracturing process, its potential to release contaminants into the environment, and its potential effect on water resources. Nonetheless, development of natural gas extraction wells in the Marcellus Shale is only part of the overall natural gas story in the area of Pennsylvania. Coalbed methane, which is sometimes extracted using the same technique, is commonly located in the same general area as the Marcellus Shale and is frequently developed in clusters across the landscape. The combined effects of these two natural gas extraction methods create potentially serious patterns of disturbance on the landscape. This document quantifies the landscape changes and consequences of natural gas extraction for Greene County and Tioga County in Pennsylvania between 2004 and 2010. Patterns of landscape disturbance related to natural gas extraction activities were collected and digitized using National Agriculture Imagery Program (NAIP) imagery for 2004, 2005/2006, 2008, and 2010. The disturbance patterns were then used to measure changes in land cover and land use using the National Land Cover Database (NLCD) of 2001. A series of landscape metrics are also used to quantify these changes and are included in this publication.

Integrating nature, culture, and society: the concept of landscape field

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Lapka, Miloslav; Cudlínová, Eva; Rikoon, S.; Maxa, Josef

2001-01-01

Roč. 20, č. 1 (2001), s. 125-138 ISSN 1335-342X Institutional research plan: CEZ:AV0Z6087904 Keywords : landscape field * nature culture integration Subject RIV: EH - Ecology, Behaviour Impact factor: 0.192, year: 2001

Landscape consequences of natural gas extraction in Armstrong and Indiana Counties, Pennsylvania, 2004–2010

Science.gov (United States)

Slonecker, Terry E.; Milheim, Lesley E.; Roig-Silva, Coral M.; Malizia, Alexander R.

2013-01-01

Increased demands for cleaner burning energy, coupled with the relatively recent technological advances in accessing unconventional hydrocarbon-rich geologic formations, have led to an intense effort to find and extract natural gas from various underground sources around the country. One of these sources, the Marcellus Shale, located in the Allegheny Plateau, is currently undergoing extensive drilling and production. The technology used to extract gas in the Marcellus Shale is known as hydraulic fracturing and has garnered much attention because of its use of large amounts of fresh water, its use of proprietary fluids for the hydraulic-fracturing process, its potential to release contaminants into the environment, and its potential effect on water resources. Nonetheless, development of natural gas extraction wells in the Marcellus Shale is only part of the overall natural gas story in this area of Pennsylvania. Conventional natural gas wells are commonly located in the same general area as the Marcellus Shale and are frequently developed in clusters across the landscape. The combined effects of these two natural gas extraction methods create potentially serious patterns of disturbance on the landscape. This document quantifies the landscape changes and consequences of natural gas extraction for Armstrong County and Indiana County in Pennsylvania between 2004 and 2010. Patterns of landscape disturbance related to natural gas extraction activities were collected and digitized using National Agriculture Imagery Program (NAIP) imagery for 2004, 2005/2006, 2008, and 2010. The disturbance patterns were then used to measure changes in land cover and land use using the National Land Cover Database (NLCD) of 2001. A series of landscape metrics is also used to quantify these changes and is included in this publication.

A pan-European model of landscape potential to support natural pest control services

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Rega, Carlo; Bartual, Agustín M.; Bocci, Gionata; Sutter, Louis; Albrecht, Matthias; Moonen, Anna Camilla; Jeanneret, Philippe; Werf, van der Wopke; Pfister, Sonja C.; Holland, John M.; Paracchini, Maria Luisa

2018-01-01

Pest control by natural enemies (natural pest control) is an important regulating ecosystem service with significant implications for the sustainability of agro-ecosystems. The presence of semi-natural habitats and landscape heterogeneity are key determinants of the delivery of this service.

Examining fire-prone forest landscapes as coupled human and natural systems

Science.gov (United States)

Thomas A. Spies; Eric M. White; Jeffrey D. Kline; A. Paige Fisher; Alan Ager; John Bailey; John Bolte; Jennifer Koch; Emily Platt; Christine S. Olsen; Derric Jacobs; Bruce Shindler; Michelle M. Steen-Adams; Roger. Hammer

2014-01-01

Fire-prone landscapes are not well studied as coupled human and natural systems (CHANS) and present many challenges for understanding and promoting adaptive behaviors and institutions. Here, we explore how heterogeneity, feedbacks, and external drivers in this type of natural hazard system can lead to complexity and can limit the development of more adaptive approaches...

Landscape consequences of natural gas extraction in Fayette and Lycoming Counties, Pennsylvania, 2004–2010

Science.gov (United States)

Slonecker, E.T.; Milheim, L.E.; Roig-Silva, C.M.; Malizia, A.R.; Gillenwater, B.H.

2013-01-01

Increased demands for cleaner burning energy, coupled with the relatively recent technological advances in accessing unconventional hydrocarbon-rich geologic formations, have led to an intense effort to find and extract natural gas from various underground sources around the country. One of these sources, the Marcellus Shale, located in the Allegheny Plateau, is currently undergoing extensive drilling and production. The technology used to extract gas in the Marcellus Shale is known as hydraulic fracturing and has garnered much attention because of its use of large amounts of fresh water, its use of proprietary fluids for the hydraulic-fracturing process, its potential to release contaminants into the environment, and its potential effect on water resources. Nonetheless, development of natural gas extraction wells in the Marcellus Shale is only part of the overall natural gas story in this area of Pennsylvania. Conventional natural gas wells, which sometimes use the same technique, are commonly located in the same general area as the Marcellus Shale and are frequently developed in clusters across the landscape. The combined effects of these two natural gas extraction methods create potentially serious patterns of disturbance on the landscape. This document quantifies the landscape changes and consequences of natural gas extraction for Fayette County and Lycoming County in Pennsylvania between 2004 and 2010. Patterns of landscape disturbance related to natural gas extraction activities were collected and digitized using National Agriculture Imagery Program (NAIP) imagery for 2004, 2005/2006, 2008, and 2010. The disturbance patterns were then used to measure changes in land cover and land use using the National Land Cover Database (NLCD) of 2001. A series of landscape metrics is also used to quantify these changes and is included in this publication.

Landscape consequences of natural gas extraction in Sullivan and Wyoming Counties, Pennsylvania, 2004–2010

Science.gov (United States)

Slonecker, Terry E.; Milheim, Lesley E.; Roig-Silva, Coral M.; Malizia, Alexander R.

2013-01-01

Increased demands for cleaner burning energy, coupled with the relatively recent technological advances in accessing unconventional hydrocarbon-rich geologic formations, have led to an intense effort to find and extract natural gas from various underground sources around the country. One of these sources, the Marcellus Shale, located in the Allegheny Plateau, is currently undergoing extensive drilling and production. The technology used to extract gas in the Marcellus Shale is known as hydraulic fracturing and has garnered much attention because of its use of large amounts of fresh water, its use of proprietary fluids for the hydraulic-fracturing process, its potential to release contaminants into the environment, and its potential effect on water resources. Nonetheless, development of natural gas extraction wells in the Marcellus Shale is only part of the overall natural gas story in this area of Pennsylvania. Conventional natural gas wells, which sometimes use the same technique, are commonly located in the same general area as the Marcellus Shale and are frequently developed in clusters across the landscape. The combined effects of these two natural gas extraction methods create potentially serious patterns of disturbance on the landscape. This document quantifies the landscape changes and consequences of natural gas extraction for Sullivan County and Wyoming County in Pennsylvania between 2004 and 2010. Patterns of landscape disturbance related to natural gas extraction activities were collected and digitized using National Agriculture Imagery Program (NAIP) imagery for 2004, 2005/2006, 2008, and 2010. The disturbance patterns were then used to measure changes in land cover and land use using the National Land Cover Database (NLCD) of 2001. A series of landscape metrics is also used to quantify these changes and is included in this publication.

Science for action at the local landscape scale

Science.gov (United States)

Paul Opddam; Joan Iverson Nassauer; Zhifang Wang; Christian Albert; Gary Bentrup; Jean-Christophe Castella; Clive McAlpine; Jianguo Liu; Stephen Sheppard; Simon Swaffield

2013-01-01

For landscape ecology to produce knowledge relevant to society, it must include considerations of human culture and behavior, extending beyond the natural sciences to synthesize with many other disciplines. Furthermore, it needs to be able to support landscape change processes which increasingly take the shape of deliberative and collaborative decision making by local...

The appreciation of nature and landscape by tourism service providers and visitors in the Ore Mountains (Germany

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Christian Stein

2015-04-01

Full Text Available The paper presents empirical studies on the appreciation of nature and landscape in the Eastern Ore Mountains (Saxony, Germany by tourism service providers (TSP and visitors. Attractive landscape and experience of nature are the most important reasons to visit this region and to spend leisure time there. Particularly mountain meadows, raised bogs and mixed forests are highly appreciated. Deforestation, industrial development and the decline of biodiversity would reduce attractiveness for visitors. We also assessed whether the tourism sector is prepared to contribute to the funding of nature conservation and landscape management. Use of general tax revenues is favoured, but other modes would also be accepted, e.g. a nature tax. Willingness to pay (WTP is ranging between €0.75 and €1.36 per guest per night by TSP, or between €1.06 and €2.73 per day by visitors. With respect to landscape preference and WTP we found in some cases significant differences among visitors, depending on region of residence, age and education level. A major part of the annual costs for nature conservation and landscape could be covered by public funds (taxes, if the results of the WTP approach were understood as a sign of societal demand and a call to action.

Land valuation and marginalization processes in cultural landscapes - a comparative study of valuation systems related to natural and semi-natural areas

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Christensen, Andreas Aagaard; Svenningsen, Stig Roar; Brandt, Jesper

2012-01-01

awareness that the behavior of rural landscape managers reflect culture, and that cultural valuation systems need to be included in research addressing such themes as sustainability and multifunctionality which is often difficult to regulate effectively and depend directly on local decision behavior. Two......, their preferences for different areas and their valuation procedures related to landscape and land cover. The maps developed with the interviewees were compared with maps delineating the 205 Natura-2000 habitat areas in the nature park which were designated by the Danish Nature Agency in 2006. Results...

Landscape perception based on personal attributes in determining the scenic beauty of in-stand natural secondary forests

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yong Chen

2016-06-01

Full Text Available The aim of this paper was to validate factors affecting the in-stand landscape quality and how important each factor was in determining scenic beauty of natural secondary forests. The study was limited to 23 stand-level cases of natural secondary forests in Shen Zhen city in southern China. Typical samples of photographs and public estimations were applied to evaluate scenic beauty inside the natural secondary forests. The major factors were then selected by multiple linear-regression analysis and a model between scenic beauty estimation (SBE values and in-stand landscape features was established. Rise in crown density, fall in plant litter, glow in color of trunk, fall in arbor richness, and rise in visible distance increased scenic beauty values of in-stand landscape. These five factors significantly explained the differences in scenic beauty, and together accounted for 45% of total variance in SBEs. Personal factors (e.g. gender, age and education did not significantly affect the ratings of landscape photos, although variations of landscape quality were affected by some personal factors. Results of this study will assist policymakers, silviculturists and planners in landscape design and management of natural secondary forests in Shenzhen city. People can improve the scenic beauty values by pruning branches and clearing plant litter, which subsequently improve the forest health and contribute to forest recreation.

Assessment of landscape diversity and determination of landscape hotspots - a case of Slovenia

Science.gov (United States)

Perko, Drago; Ciglič, Rok; Hrvatin, Mauro

2017-04-01

Areas with high landscape diversity can be regarded as landscape hotspots, and vice versa areas with low landscape diversity can be marked as landscape coldspots. The main purpose of this paper is to use quantitative geoinformatical approach and identify parts of our test area (the country of Slovenia) that can be described as very diverse according to natural landscapes and natural elements. We used different digital raster data of natural elements and landscape classifications and defined landscape diversity and landscape hotspots. We defined diversity for each raster pixel by counting the number of different unique types of landscape elements and types of landscapes in its neighborhood. Namely, the method was used separately to define diversity according to natural elements (types of relief forms, rocks, and vegetation) and diversity according to existing geographical landscape classifications of Slovenia (types of landscapes). In both cases one-tenth of Slovenia's surface with the highest landscape diversity was defined as landscape hotspots. The same applies to the coldspots. Additionally we tested the same method of counting different types of landscapes in certain radius also for the area of Europe in order to find areas that are more diverse at continental level. By doing so we were able to find areas that have similar level of diversity as Slovenia according to different European landscape classifications. Areas with landscape diversity may have an advantage in economic development, especially in tourism. Such areas are also important for biodiversity, habitat, and species diversity. On the other hand, localities where various natural influences mix can also be areas where it is hard to transfer best practices from one place to another because of the varying responses of the landscapes to human intervention. Thus it is important to know where areas with high landscape diversity are.

Cultural Landscapes as a Methodology for Understanding Natural Resource Management Impacts in the Western United States

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rebecca S. Toupal

2003-07-01

Full Text Available Multicultural demands on public lands in the United States continue to challenge federal land managers to address social and cultural concerns in their planning efforts. Specifically, they lack adequate knowledge of cultural concerns, as well as a consistent strategy for acquiring that knowledge for use in decision-making. Current federal approaches to understanding such issues as access, use, and control of resources include public participation, conservation partnerships, government-to-government consultations with American Indian tribes, cultural resource inventories, and landscape analysis. Given that cultural knowledge arises from human-nature relationships and shared perceptions of natural environments, and that landscapes are the ultimate expression of such knowledge, an exploratory methodology was developed to provide a different approach to understanding cultural concerns through landscape perceptions. Using cultural landscape theories and applications from the natural and social sciences, this study examines the landscape perceptions of four groups concerned with management planning of the Baboquivari Wilderness Area in southern Arizona: the Bureau of Land Management, the landowners of the Altar Valley, recreationists, and members of the Tohono O'odham Nation. The methodology is based on a human-nature relationship rather than cultural aspects or features. It takes a holistic approach that differs from other perception studies in that it includes: emic aspects of data collection and analysis; a spatial component (triangulation of data collection through narrative and graphic descriptions; ethnographic, on-site interviews; and cultural consensus analysis and small-sample theory. The results include: verification of four cultural groups; two levels of consensus (in the population of concern, and in each group that overlap in some aspects of landscape perception; descriptions of four cultural landscapes that illustrate similarities and

Cogent Confabulation based Expert System for Segmentation and Classification of Natural Landscape Images

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BRAOVIC, M.

2017-05-01

Full Text Available Ever since there has been an increase in the number of automatic wildfire monitoring and surveillance systems in the last few years, natural landscape images have been of great importance. In this paper we propose an expert system for fast segmentation and classification of regions on natural landscape images that is suitable for real-time applications. We focus primarily on Mediterranean landscape images since the Mediterranean area and areas with similar climate are the ones most associated with high wildfire risk. The proposed expert system is based on cogent confabulation theory and knowledge bases that contain information about local and global features, optimal color spaces suitable for classification of certain regions, and context of each class. The obtained results indicate that the proposed expert system significantly outperforms well-known classifiers that it was compared against in both accuracy and speed, and that it is effective and efficient for real-time applications. Additionally, we present a FESB MLID dataset on which we conducted our research and that we made publicly available.

Geomorphology applied to landscape analysis for planning and management of natural spaces. Case study: Las Batuecas-S. de Francia and Quilamas natural parks, (Salamanca, Spain).

Science.gov (United States)

Martínez-Graña, A M; Silva, P G; Goy, J L; Elez, J; Valdés, V; Zazo, C

2017-04-15

Geomorphology is fundamental to landscape analysis, as it represents the main parameter that determines the land spatial configuration and facilitates reliefs classification. The goal of this article is the elaboration of thematic maps that enable the determination of different landscape units and elaboration of quality and vulnerability synthetic maps for landscape fragility assessment prior to planning human activities. For two natural spaces, the final synthetic maps were created with direct (visual-perceptual features) and indirect (cartographic models and 3D simulations) methods from thematic maps with GIS technique. This enabled the creation of intrinsic and extrinsic landscape quality maps showing sectors needing most preservation, as well as intrinsic and extrinsic landscape fragility maps (environment response capacity or vulnerability towards human actions). The resulting map shows absorption capacity for areas of maximum and/or minimum human intervention. Sectors of high absorption capacity (minimum need for preservation) are found where the incidence of human intervention is minimum: escarpment bottoms, fitted rivers, sinuous high lands with thick vegetation coverage and valley interiors, or those areas with high landscape quality, low fragility and high absorption capacity, whose average values are found across lower hillsides of some valleys, and sectors with low absorption capacity (areas needing most preservation) found mainly in the inner parts of natural spaces: peaks and upper hillsides, synclines flanks and scattered areas. For the integral analysis of landscape, a mapping methodology has been set. It comprises a valid criterion for rational and sustainable planning, management and protection of natural spaces. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Landscape characterization and biodiversity research

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Dale, V.H. [Oak Ridge National Lab., TN (United States); Offerman, H. [Univ. of Maryland, College Park, MD (United States). Geography Dept.; Frohn, R. [Univ. of California, Santa Barbara, CA (United States); Gardner, R.H. [Appalachian Environmental Lab., Frostburg, MD (United States)

1995-03-01

Rapid deforestation often produces landscape-level changes in forest characteristics and structure, including area, distribution, and forest habitat types. Changes in landscape pattern through fragmentation or aggregation of natural habitats can alter patterns of abundance for single species and entire communities. Examples of single-species effects include increased predation along the forest edge, the decline in the number of species with poor dispersal mechanisms, and the spread of exotic species that have deleterious effects (e.g., gypsy moth). A decrease in the size and number of natural habitat patches increases the probability of local extirpation and loss of diversity of native species, whereas a decline in connectivity between habitat patches can negatively affect species persistence. Thus, there is empirical justification for managing entire landscapes, not just individual habitat types, in order to insure that native plant and animal diversity is maintained. A landscape is defined as an area composed of a mosaic of interacting ecosystems, or patches, with the heterogeneity among the patches significantly affecting biotic and abiotic processes in the landscape. Patches comprising a landscape are usually composed of discrete areas of relatively homogeneous environmental conditions and must be defined in terms of the organisms of interest. A large body of theoretical work in landscape ecology has provided a wealth of methods for quantifying spatial characteristics of landscapes. Recent advances in remote sensing and geographic information systems allow these methods to be applied over large areas. The objectives of this paper are to present a brief overview of common measures of landscape characteristics, to explore the new technology available for their calculation, to provide examples of their application, and to call attention to the need for collection of spatially-explicit field data.

The appreciation of nature and landscape by tourism service providers and visitors in the Ore Mountains (Germany)

OpenAIRE

Christian Stein; Gerd Lupp; Jan Behrens; Christina Renner; Karsten Grunewald

2015-01-01

The paper presents empirical studies on the appreciation of nature and landscape in the Eastern Ore Mountains (Saxony, Germany) by tourism service providers (TSP) and visitors. Attractive landscape and experience of nature are the most important reasons to visit this region and to spend leisure time there. Particularly mountain meadows, raised bogs and mixed forests are highly appreciated. Deforestation, industrial development and the decline of biodiversity would reduce attractiveness for vi...

Pollinator interactions with yellow starthistle (Centaurea solstitialis across urban, agricultural, and natural landscapes.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Misha Leong

Full Text Available Pollinator-plant relationships are found to be particularly vulnerable to land use change. Yet despite extensive research in agricultural and natural systems, less attention has focused on these interactions in neighboring urban areas and its impact on pollination services. We investigated pollinator-plant interactions in a peri-urban landscape on the outskirts of the San Francisco Bay Area, California, where urban, agricultural, and natural land use types interface. We made standardized observations of floral visitation and measured seed set of yellow starthistle (Centaurea solstitialis, a common grassland invasive, to test the hypotheses that increasing urbanization decreases 1 rates of bee visitation, 2 viable seed set, and 3 the efficiency of pollination (relationship between bee visitation and seed set. We unexpectedly found that bee visitation was highest in urban and agricultural land use contexts, but in contrast, seed set rates in these human-altered landscapes were lower than in natural sites. An explanation for the discrepancy between floral visitation and seed set is that higher plant diversity in urban and agricultural areas, as a result of more introduced species, decreases pollinator efficiency. If these patterns are consistent across other plant species, the novel plant communities created in these managed landscapes and the generalist bee species that are favored by human-altered environments will reduce pollination services.

Natural and artificial reforestation in the mining landscapes of the Russian Far East

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E. V. Ivakina

2016-04-01

Full Text Available The area of technogenic territories in the Russian Far East and Siberia continues to increase. The aim of this article is show the degree of reforestation processes scrutiny in mining landscapes of the Russian Far Eastern region. The results of technogenic landscapes research of the Russian Far East are represented by extensive set of knowledge, accumulated over half a century, and highly of disparate in resent time. They are not extensive as the results of studies of natural landscapes, but have important practical importance. Time of mining influence in the landscapes of the Far Eastern region is relatively small, and makes some decades in most cases. Therefore, the results of most studies belong to early, at least middle stages of ecological successions. Floral features of mining areas are thoroughly characterized. Many papers are devoted to the regularities of self-healing vegetation. Questions of recultivation are considered for each site individually. It is recommended to provide forestry, recreation, sanitation and meliorative restoration that assume different recultivation schemes. The selection of wood species is commonly recommended from the number of native species, because they are better adapted for local growing conditions. Compiled the lists of tree species, most successfully surviving on the dumps. In the presence of fairly extensive scientific literature, detailed studies of the structure and dynamics of disturbed areas are few in number. In particular, the facies structure of technogenic territories have not been studied, the recovery process of vegetation differentiated for different types of habitats were not considered and there are no detailed landscape and geobotanical maps of disturbed areas. Unfortunately, monitoring studies of natural and artificial reforestation are not developed.

Nordic Landscape

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hjortshøj, Rasmus

2017-01-01

This Box Set NORDIC LANDSCAPE presents Nordic Territories, a project by Rasmus Hjortshøj, exploring the man-made landscapes of the coastal territories and the entanglement of society and nature in times where it is no longer merely mankind subjected to nature, but where nature is equally being...... territories is not only their transient nature, but also the warm currents of the Gulf Stream making these northern shorelines habitable for human settlements....

Nature protection and socio-economic development in selected protected landscape areas

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Kušová, Drahomíra; Těšitel, Jan; Matějka, K.; Bartoš, Michael

2005-01-01

Roč. 24, č. 1 (2005), s. 109-123 ISSN 1335-342X R&D Projects: GA MŽP(CZ) SM/610/3/03 Institutional research plan: CEZ:AV0Z60870520 Keywords : protected landscape areas * nature protection * biosphere reserves * socio-economic development Subject RIV: DO - Wilderness Conservation Impact factor: 0.085, year: 2005

Landscape value of the tea (Camellia sinensis areas

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Nilgün Güneroğlu

2016-04-01

Full Text Available Agricultural fields are very effective and widespread in Turkey’s rural landscape formation. Turkey is located on transitional climatic zone on mid-latitudes which leads to diversification of agricultural plants. Accordingly, many agricultural landscape types representing diferent regions and culture were naturally formed. Agricultural lands are not only fields for harvesting crops but also areas to form natural habitats, reduce greenhouse effect and create cultural landscapes with countable value. Moreover, it is well-known that landscape value has also economic compesation as result of offered ecosystem services. Therefore this study was carried out in Rize city located on Northeastern part of Turkey and characterized by Tea (Camellia sinensis cultivation. This study was carried out in three steps. The first step is a literature search, the second one is the preparing of identity card for each survey point and the last step is based on data obtained from questionnaries and related field work to produce quantitative landscpae value map of the region by considering visual perception and tourism value of the study area. Finally, character number 2 has the highest landscape value whereas character number 4 has the lowest landscape value among previosuly determined 5 landscape characters of the study area. It is concluded that non-fragmented areas are generally more preffered as they offer integrated and perceivable landscapes to the users.

Urban Landscape Perspectives

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Frederick Steiner

2014-03-01

Full Text Available Cities present significant opportunities for new landscape perspectives that can help inform conservation and development decisions. Early in the twenty-first century, the majority of the planet’s population became urban as more people lived in city-regions for the first time in our history. As the global population increases, so does this urbanization. The environmental challenges of population and urban growth are profound. Landscapes represent a synthesis of natural and cultural processes. Cities are certainly cultural phenomena. Historically, cities provided refuge from nature. The expanding field of urban ecology, coupled with landscape ecology, can enhance how the dual natural and cultural dimensions of landscapes in cities are understood. Furthermore, concepts such as ecosystem services and green infrastructure are proving useful for urban landscape planning and design. Examples from Dayton, Ohio; Brooklyn, New York; and Austin, Texas are presented.

Geomorpho-Landscapes

Science.gov (United States)

Farabollini, Piero; Lugeri, Francesca; Amadio, Vittorio

2014-05-01

Landscape is the object of human perceptions, being the image of spatial organization of elements and structures: mankind lives the first approach with the environment, viewing and feeling the landscape. Many definitions of landscape have been given over time: in this case we refer to the Landscape defined as the result of interaction among physical, biotic and anthropic phenomena acting in a different spatial-temporal scale (Foreman & Godron) Following an Aristotelic approach in studying nature, we can assert that " Shape is synthesis": so it is possible to read the land features as the expression of the endogenous and exogenous processes that mould earth surfaces; moreover, Landscape is the result of the interaction of natural and cultural components, and conditions the spatial-temporal development of a region. The study of the Landscape offers results useful in order to promote sustainable development, ecotourism, enhancement of natural and cultural heritage, popularization of the scientific knowledge. In Italy, a very important GIS-based tool to represent the territory is the "Carta della Natura" ("Map of Nature", presently coordinated by the ISPRA) that aims at assessing the state of the whole Italian territory, analyzing Landscape. The methodology follows a holistic approach, taking into consideration all the components of a landscape and then integrating the information. Each individual landscape, studied at different scales, shows distinctive elements: structural, which depend on physical form and specific spatial organization; functional, which depend on relationships created between biotic and abiotic elements, and dynamic, which depend on the successive evolution of the structure. The identification of the landscape units, recognized at different scales of analysis, allows an evaluation of the state of the land, referring to the dual risk/resource which characterizes the Italian country. An interesting opportunity is to discover those areas of unusual

Literary Routes: Contributions to Natural/Cultural Heritage Tourism. How landscape transforms literature and tourism

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rosalinda Ruiz Scarfuto

2013-12-01

Full Text Available Literary routes inspired by landscapes is a topic where cultural and natural routes merge to form an added value of heritage that is greater than either one standing alone.  Landscape is traditionally defined as a consequence of transformations by humans, and its scope rarely takes into account how nature has inspired literature to advance the “intellectual development of humankind,” hence transforming heritage.  Literary routes paralleling transhumance routes embraced by the Sami, First Nations, or Spanish shepherds (full of landscapes, seascapes, and riverscapes, can actively transmit traditional technologies, biodiversity, and cosmic philosophy for the betterment of humankind; for example, the depth of literary heritage inspired by landscapes enhances our collective memory through a network of archives (libraries, collections.  The continuous dissemination of this literature traversing borders, language barriers, and time periods has stimulated literary routes to emerge as a function of moving the experience from an intangible heritage based on imaginary landscapes to a tangible sensory experience in situ following a plot, author’s life, or a myth. Literary routes respond to the demand of the growing target travellers, who are more literate and active today than in the past. They are excited followers of their favourite writers, and seek ways to be in contact with them. Now it is time to rekindle the collective memory, expand the literary dimension, and offer a sensorial in situ experience by adding a literary link. For instance, myths of the Ohlone Nation based near a California wetlands use the symbolic coyote as the intermediary to teach humans how to live in harmony with their ecosystem; or in Spain, Arcipreste de Hita’s novel El Libro de Buen Amor (1330 describes traditions and gastronomy as it criss-crosses the Guadarrama mountains, alongside the Poets’ Route that includes international Nobel prize winners in literature

Contemporary danish landscape research

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Vejre, H.; Brandt, J.

2004-01-01

Danish landscape research blossomed during the 1990’ies thanks to several transdisciplinary research programmes involving several institutions. The main themes of the programmes encompassed Landscape change, landscape and biological diversity, nature and landscape management, use and monitoring...

Integrating natural disturbances and management activities to examine risks and opportunities in the central Oregon landscape analysis

Science.gov (United States)

Miles A. Hemstrom; James Merzenich; Theresa Burcsu; Janet Ohmann; Ryan Singleton

2010-01-01

We used state and transition models to integrate natural disturbances and management activities for a 275 000-ha landscape in the central Oregon Cascades. The landscape consists of a diverse mix of land ownerships, land use allocations, and environments. Three different management scenarios were developed from public input: (1) no management except wildfire suppression...

A Classification of Landscape Services to Support Local Landscape Planning

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María Vallés-Planells

2014-03-01

Full Text Available The ecosystem services approach has been proven successful to measure the contributions of nature and greenery to human well-being. Ecosystems have an effect on quality of life, but landscapes also, as a broader concept, may contribute to people's well-being. The concept of landscape services, compared to ecosystem services, involves the social dimension of landscape and the spatial pattern resulting from both natural and human processes in the provision of benefits for human-well being. Our aim is to develop a classification for landscape services. The proposed typology of services is built on the Common International Classification of Ecosystem Services (CICES and on a critical review of existing literature on human well-being dimensions, existing ecosystem service classifications, and landscape perception. Three themes of landscape services are defined, each divided into several groups: provisioning, regulation and maintenance, cultural and social life fulfillment, with the latter focusing on health, enjoyment, and personal and social fulfillment. A special emphasis is made on cultural services, which are especially important when applied to landscape and which have received less attention.

Drivers for differences in dairy farmers perceptions of farm development strategies in an area with nature and landscape as protected public goods

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Methorst, R.; Roep, D.; Verhees, F.; Verstegen, Jos

2016-01-01

Nature and landscape are increasingly appreciated as public goods and community assets in need of protection. Policy schemes aiming to protect vulnerable nature and landscape assets affect options for farm development and thus the opportunities for farm income strategies. Farmers as small business

NatureLinks: Protected areas, wilderness, and landscape connectivity in South Australia, Australia

Science.gov (United States)

Adrian Stokes; Greg Leaman

2007-01-01

The South Australian Government has recognized that, despite an extensive protected area system (26 percent of the State), Statewide ecological goals will not be achieved on protected areas alone. The NatureLinks model promotes protected areas acting as “ecological cores” in landscapes managed with conservation objectives. To implement this model, partnerships with...

Industrious Landscaping

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Brichet, Nathalia Sofie; Hastrup, Frida

2018-01-01

This article has a twofold ambition. It offers a history of landscaping at Søby brown coal beds—a former mining site in western Denmark—and a methodological discussion of how to write such a study. Exploring this specific industrial landscape through a series of projects that have made different...... natural resources appear, we show that even what is recognized as resources shifts over time according to radically different and unpredictable agendas. This indicates that the Søby landscape is fundamentally volatile, as its resourcefulness has been seen interchangeably to shift between the brown coal...... business, inexpensive estates for practically savvy people, pasture for grazing, and recreational forest, among other things. We discuss these rifts in landscape history, motivated by what we refer to as industriousness, to show that, at sites such as Søby, both natural resources and historical...

Resources or landmarks: which factors drive homing success in Tetragonula carbonaria foraging in natural and disturbed landscapes?

Science.gov (United States)

Leonhardt, Sara D; Kaluza, Benjamin F; Wallace, Helen; Heard, Tim A

2016-10-01

To date, no study has investigated how landscape structural (visual) alterations affect navigation and thus homing success in stingless bees. We addressed this question in the Australian stingless bee Tetragonula carbonaria by performing marking, release and re-capture experiments in landscapes differing in habitat homogeneity (i.e., the proportion of elongated ground features typically considered prominent visual landmarks). We investigated how landscape affected the proportion of bees and nectar foragers returning to their hives as well as the earliest time bees and foragers returned. Undisturbed landscapes with few landmarks (that are conspicuous to the human eye) and large proportions of vegetation cover (natural forests) were classified visually/structurally homogeneous, and disturbed landscapes with many landmarks and fragmented or no extensive vegetation cover (gardens and plantations) visually/structurally heterogeneous. We found that proportions of successfully returning nectar foragers and earliest times first bees and foragers returned did not differ between landscapes. However, most bees returned in the visually/structurally most (forest) and least (garden) homogeneous landscape, suggesting that they use other than elongated ground features for navigation and that return speed is primarily driven by resource availability in a landscape.

Military land use and the impact on nature and landscape a study of Danish military areas 1900 - 2017

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Svenningsen, Stig Roar; Levin, Gregor; Linnet Perner, Mads

. This suggests that military activities not only conserve nature and biodiversity but also create new valuable nature. However, some results also suggest that the benefits for nature are related to specifics types of military activity, such as maneuver grounds and ranges, while the positive impact of depots...... as the content of biological diversity. Results suggest, that military activities, in general, generate landscapes with a land cover and land use composition different from the Danish landscape in general, which is dominated by agriculture and urban land use. This difference is also reflected by a relatively...... marginal lands; (4) permanent and continues forest cover; (5) change from arable land or nature to build environment and (6) development into recreational land. Interestingly, results also indicated that high nature quality and biodiversity on military sites, which originated from arable land...

Identification Of Minangkabau Landscape Characters

Science.gov (United States)

Asrina, M.; Gunawan, A.; Aris, Munandar

2017-10-01

Minangkabau is one of cultures in indonesia which occupies landscape intact. Landscape of Minangkabau have a very close relationship with the culture of the people. Uniqueness of Minangkabau culture and landscape forming an inseparable characterunity. The landscape is necessarily identified to know the inherent landscape characters. The objective of this study was to identify the character of the Minangkabau landscape characterizes its uniqueness. The study was conducted by using descriptive method comprised literature review and field observasion. Observed the landscape characters comprised two main features, they were major and minor features. Indetification of the features was conducted in two original areas (darek) of the Minangkabau traditional society. The research results showed that major features or natural features of the landscape were predominantly landform, landcover, and hidrology. All luhak (districts) of Minangkabau showed similar main features such as hill, canyon, lake, valley, and forest. The existence of natural features such as hills, canyon and valleys characterizes the nature of minangkabau landscape. Minor features formed by Minangkabau cultural society were agricultural land and settlement. Rumah gadang (big house) is one of famous minor features characterizes the Minangkabau culture. In addition, several historical artefacts of building and others structure may strengthen uniqueness of the Minangkabau landscape character, such as The royal palace, inscription, and tunnels.

Natural gas supply - a producer's perspective

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Papa, M.G.

1994-01-01

The supply of natural gas from the producers standpoint is discussed. The following factors in the marketing demand for natural gas are considered to be important: gas demand is growing, U.S. gas resource base is large, chronic gas bubble has shrunk, and North American supply is more resilient than expected

Bigger is better: Improved nature conservation and economic returns from landscape-level mitigation.

Science.gov (United States)

Kennedy, Christina M; Miteva, Daniela A; Baumgarten, Leandro; Hawthorne, Peter L; Sochi, Kei; Polasky, Stephen; Oakleaf, James R; Uhlhorn, Elizabeth M; Kiesecker, Joseph

2016-07-01

Impact mitigation is a primary mechanism on which countries rely to reduce environmental externalities and balance development with conservation. Mitigation policies are transitioning from traditional project-by-project planning to landscape-level planning. Although this larger-scale approach is expected to provide greater conservation benefits at the lowest cost, empirical justification is still scarce. Using commercial sugarcane expansion in the Brazilian Cerrado as a case study, we apply economic and biophysical steady-state models to quantify the benefits of the Brazilian Forest Code (FC) under landscape- and property-level planning. We find that FC compliance imposes small costs to business but can generate significant long-term benefits to nature: supporting 32 (±37) additional species (largely habitat specialists), storing 593,000 to 2,280,000 additional tons of carbon worth $69 million to $265 million ($ pertains to U.S. dollars), and marginally improving surface water quality. Relative to property-level compliance, we find that landscape-level compliance reduces total business costs by $19 million to $35 million per 6-year sugarcane growing cycle while often supporting more species and storing more carbon. Our results demonstrate that landscape-level mitigation provides cost-effective conservation and can be used to promote sustainable development.

Landscape consequences of natural gas extraction in Bedford, Blair, Cambria, Centre, Clearfield, Clinton, Columbia, Huntingdon, and Luzerne counties, Pennsylvania, 2004-2010

Science.gov (United States)

Slonecker, E.T.; Milheim, L.E.; Roig-Silva, C.M.; Winters, S.G.

2014-01-01

Increased demands for cleaner burning energy, coupled with the relatively recent technological advances in accessing unconventional hydrocarbon-rich geologic formations, have led to an intense effort to find and extract natural gas from various underground sources around the country. One of these sources, the Marcellus Shale, located in the Allegheny Plateau, is currently undergoing extensive drilling and production. The technology used to extract gas in the Marcellus Shale is known as hydraulic fracturing and has garnered much attention because of its use of large amounts of fresh water, its use of proprietary fluids for the hydraulic-fracturing process, its potential to release contaminants into the environment, and its potential effect on water resources. Nonetheless, development of natural gas extraction wells in the Marcellus Shale is only part of the overall natural gas story in this area of Pennsylvania. Conventional natural gas wells, which sometimes use the same technique, are commonly located in the same general area as the Marcellus Shale and are frequently developed in clusters across the landscape. The combined effects of these two natural gas extraction methods create potentially serious patterns of disturbance on the landscape. This document quantifies the landscape changes and consequences of natural gas extraction for Bedford, Blair, Cambria, Centre, Clearfield, Clinton, Columbia, Huntingdon, and Luzerne Counties in Pennsylvania between 2004 and 2010. Patterns of landscape disturbance related to natural gas extraction activities were collected and digitized using National Agriculture Imagery Program (NAIP) imagery for 2004, 2005/2006, 2008, and 2010. The disturbance patterns were then used to measure changes in land cover and land use using the National Land Cover Database (NLCD) of 2001. A series of landscape metrics is also used to quantify these changes and is included in this publication. In this region, natural gas development disturbed

Landscape anthropogenic disturbance in the Mediterranean ecosystem: is the current landscape sustainable?

Science.gov (United States)

Biondi, Guido; D'Andrea, Mirko; Fiorucci, Paolo; Franciosi, Chiara; Lima, Marco

2013-04-01

Mediterranean landscape during the last centuries has been subject to strong anthropogenic disturbances who shifted natural vegetation cover in a cultural landscape. Most of the natural forest were destroyed in order to allow cultivation and grazing activities. In the last century, fast growing conifer plantations were introduced in order to increase timber production replacing slow growing natural forests. In addition, after the Second World War most of the grazing areas were changed in unmanaged mediterranean conifer forest frequently spread by fires. In the last decades radical socio economic changes lead to a dramatic abandonment of the cultural landscape. One of the most relevant result of these human disturbances, and in particular the replacement of deciduous forests with coniferous forests, has been the increasing in the number of forest fires, mainly human caused. The presence of conifers and shrubs, more prone to fire, triggered a feedback mechanism that makes difficult to return to the stage of potential vegetation causing huge economic, social and environmental damages. The aim of this work is to investigate the sustainability of the current landscape. A future landscape scenario has been simulated considering the natural succession in absence of human intervention assuming the current fire regime will be unaltered. To this end, a new model has been defined, implementing an ecological succession model coupled with a simply Forest Fire Model. The ecological succession model simulates the vegetation dynamics using a rule-based approach discrete in space and time. In this model Plant Functional Types (PFTs) are used to describe the landscape. Wildfires are randomly ignited on the landscape, and their propagation is simulated using a stochastic cellular automata model. The results show that the success of the natural succession toward a potential vegetation cover is prevented by the frequency of fire spreading. The actual landscape is then unsustainable

Understanding coupled natural and human systems on fire prone landscapes: integrating wildfire simulation into an agent based planning system.

Science.gov (United States)

Barros, Ana; Ager, Alan; Preisler, Haiganoush; Day, Michelle; Spies, Tom; Bolte, John

2015-04-01

Agent-based models (ABM) allow users to examine the long-term effects of agent decisions in complex systems where multiple agents and processes interact. This framework has potential application to study the dynamics of coupled natural and human systems where multiple stimuli determine trajectories over both space and time. We used Envision, a landscape based ABM, to analyze long-term wildfire dynamics in a heterogeneous, multi-owner landscape in Oregon, USA. Landscape dynamics are affected by land management policies, actors decisions, and autonomous processes such as vegetation succession, wildfire, or at a broader scale, climate change. Key questions include: 1) How are landscape dynamics influenced by policies and institutions, and 2) How do land management policies and actor decisions interact to produce intended and unintended consequences with respect to wildfire on fire-prone landscapes. Applying Envision to address these questions required the development of a wildfire module that could accurately simulate wildfires on the heterogeneous landscapes within the study area in terms of replicating historical fire size distribution, spatial distribution and fire intensity. In this paper we describe the development and testing of a mechanistic fire simulation system within Envision and application of the model on a 3.2 million fire prone landscape in central Oregon USA. The core fire spread equations use the Minimum Travel Time algorithm developed by M Finney. The model operates on a daily time step and uses a fire prediction system based on the relationship between energy release component and historical fires. Specifically, daily wildfire probabilities and sizes are generated from statistical analyses of historical fires in relation to daily ERC values. The MTT was coupled with the vegetation dynamics module in Envision to allow communication between the respective subsystem and effectively model fire effects and vegetation dynamics after a wildfire. Canopy and

18 CFR 270.303 - Natural gas produced from Devonian shale.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... 18 Conservation of Power and Water Resources 1 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Natural gas produced... DETERMINATION PROCEDURES Requirements for Filings With Jurisdictional Agencies § 270.303 Natural gas produced from Devonian shale. A person seeking a determination that natural gas is produced from Devonian shale...

Cross-Border Landscape: Construction of Natural Heritage and Local Development at Bulgarian-Serbian Borderlands

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I. Markov

2015-08-01

Full Text Available Normally nature is examined as a phenomenon which is subject to natural laws; it belongs to the field of natural sciences. In constructivist perspective the environment is subsumed under the symbolism of humans’ tradition and culture. From such point of view the very notion of nature is unthinkable without taking into account its existence and understanding in a specific social, economic and cultural context of definite time, space and society. In the proposed paper I proceed from this paradigm in examination of a definite natural landscape which, however, is divided by the political border. The research attention is focused on a region of Bulgarian-Serbian borderlands – the area where the Erma River flows. The river takes its sources in Serbia and though it is not very long, it is notable for passing the Bulgarian-Serbian border twice, and for its two remarkable gorges – the Gorge of Tran in Bulgaria and the Gorge of Poganovo in Serbia. During the socialist period this border region was under strong military and police control. The crossing of the border was formally impossible; the borderlands remained peripheral industrially undeveloped areas and were putted under strong depopulation. However, the lands on either side of the border preserved its pristine nature. During the last two decades the preserved natural landscape and certain nature objects have been turned into more important landmarks and included in the value scale of local communities as symbols and heritage. In result, the above mentioned gorges have become more important part of strategic priorities in the local policies of revival of these economically undeveloped borderlands in the Western Bulgaria and Eastern Serbia. Nowadays the local efforts are uniting through different joint cross-border projects and activities in the sphere of nature preservation and eco-tourism.

Frugivorous bats maintain functional habitat connectivity in agricultural landscapes but rely strongly on natural forest fragments.

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Ripperger, Simon P; Kalko, Elisabeth K V; Rodríguez-Herrera, Bernal; Mayer, Frieder; Tschapka, Marco

2015-01-01

Anthropogenic changes in land use threaten biodiversity and ecosystem functioning by the conversion of natural habitat into agricultural mosaic landscapes, often with drastic consequences for the associated fauna. The first step in the development of efficient conservation plans is to understand movement of animals through complex habitat mosaics. Therefore, we studied ranging behavior and habitat use in Dermanura watsoni (Phyllostomidae), a frugivorous bat species that is a valuable seed disperser in degraded ecosystems. Radio-tracking of sixteen bats showed that the animals strongly rely on natural forest. Day roosts were exclusively located within mature forest fragments. Selection ratios showed that the bats foraged selectively within the available habitat and positively selected natural forest. However, larger daily ranges were associated with higher use of degraded habitats. Home range geometry and composition of focal foraging areas indicated that wider ranging bats performed directional foraging bouts from natural to degraded forest sites traversing the matrix over distances of up to three hundred meters. This behavior demonstrates the potential of frugivorous bats to functionally connect fragmented areas by providing ecosystem services between natural and degraded sites, and highlights the need for conservation of natural habitat patches within agricultural landscapes that meet the roosting requirements of bats.

Frugivorous bats maintain functional habitat connectivity in agricultural landscapes but rely strongly on natural forest fragments.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Simon P Ripperger

Full Text Available Anthropogenic changes in land use threaten biodiversity and ecosystem functioning by the conversion of natural habitat into agricultural mosaic landscapes, often with drastic consequences for the associated fauna. The first step in the development of efficient conservation plans is to understand movement of animals through complex habitat mosaics. Therefore, we studied ranging behavior and habitat use in Dermanura watsoni (Phyllostomidae, a frugivorous bat species that is a valuable seed disperser in degraded ecosystems. Radio-tracking of sixteen bats showed that the animals strongly rely on natural forest. Day roosts were exclusively located within mature forest fragments. Selection ratios showed that the bats foraged selectively within the available habitat and positively selected natural forest. However, larger daily ranges were associated with higher use of degraded habitats. Home range geometry and composition of focal foraging areas indicated that wider ranging bats performed directional foraging bouts from natural to degraded forest sites traversing the matrix over distances of up to three hundred meters. This behavior demonstrates the potential of frugivorous bats to functionally connect fragmented areas by providing ecosystem services between natural and degraded sites, and highlights the need for conservation of natural habitat patches within agricultural landscapes that meet the roosting requirements of bats.

Using Landscape metrics to analyze the landscape evolution under land abandonment

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Pelorosso, Raffaele; Della Chiesa, Stefano; Gobattoni, Federica; Leone, Antonio

2010-05-01

The human actions and the human-linked land use changes are the main responsible of the present landscapes and vegetation patterns (Antrop, 2005; Pelorosso et al., 2009). Hence, revised concept of potential natural vegetation has been developed in landscape ecology. In fact, it cannot more be considered as the optimum for a certain landscape, but only as a general indication never widely reached. In particular Ingegnoli and Pignatti (2007) introduced the concept of fittest vegetation as "the most suitable or suited vegetation for the specific climate and geomorphic conditions, in a limited period of time and in a certain defined place with a particular range of incorporable disturbances (including man's) under natural or not natural conditions". Anthropic exploitation of land and its resources to obtain goods and services (Willemen et al, 2008) can be considered therefore the main cause of landscape change as an integrant part of nature, not external. The abandon of the land by farmers or other users it is one of the more felt problems for the marginal territories of Mediterranean basin. It is therefore caused by socio-economic changes of last decades and cause several impact on biodiversity (Geri et al. 2010) and hydro-geological assessment. A mountain landscape has however the capacity to provide goods like timber and services like aesthetic pleasure or regulation of water system. The necessity of a conservation strategy and the development of sustainable socio-economic management plan play a very important role in governing land and quality of life for people and ecosystems also for marginal territory. After a land abandonment, soil conditions and several climatic and orographic characteristic plus human disturbance affect the length of time required by secondary succession, throwing the establishment of vegetation with different association, structure and composition until a (stable or meta-stable) equilibrium is reached (Ingegnoli and Pignatti, 2007). In this

Fuels planning: science synthesis and integration; social issues fact sheet 15: Landscape change and aesthetics

Science.gov (United States)

Christine Esposito

2006-01-01

Fuels management produces changes in the landscape that can impact scenic beauty. If people do not consider a forest to be scenic, they may think that the low scenic quality is a result of poor management or ecological health. This fact sheet looks at the relevency of the effects of natural and human-caused landscape changes, when planning fuels management.

Social and natural sciences differ in their research strategies, adapted to work for different knowledge landscapes.

Science.gov (United States)

Jaffe, Klaus

2014-01-01

Do different fields of knowledge require different research strategies? A numerical model exploring different virtual knowledge landscapes, revealed two diverging optimal search strategies. Trend following is maximized when the popularity of new discoveries determine the number of individuals researching it. This strategy works best when many researchers explore few large areas of knowledge. In contrast, individuals or small groups of researchers are better in discovering small bits of information in dispersed knowledge landscapes. Bibliometric data of scientific publications showed a continuous bipolar distribution of these strategies, ranging from natural sciences, with highly cited publications in journals containing a large number of articles, to the social sciences, with rarely cited publications in many journals containing a small number of articles. The natural sciences seem to adapt their research strategies to landscapes with large concentrated knowledge clusters, whereas social sciences seem to have adapted to search in landscapes with many small isolated knowledge clusters. Similar bipolar distributions were obtained when comparing levels of insularity estimated by indicators of international collaboration and levels of country-self citations: researchers in academic areas with many journals such as social sciences, arts and humanities, were the most isolated, and that was true in different regions of the world. The work shows that quantitative measures estimating differences between academic disciplines improve our understanding of different research strategies, eventually helping interdisciplinary research and may be also help improve science policies worldwide.

Landscape Character of Pongkor Mining Ecotourism Area

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Kusumoarto, A.; Gunawan, A.; Machfud; Hikmat, A.

2017-10-01

Pongkor Mining Ecotourism Area has a diverse landscape character as a potential landscape resources for the development of ecotourism destination. This area is part of the Mount of Botol Resort, Halimun Salak National Park (HSNP). This area also has a fairly high biodiversity. This study aims to identify and analysis the category of landscape character in the Pongkor Mining Ecotourism Area for the development of ecotourism destination. This study used a descriptive approach through field surveys and interviews, was carried out through two steps : 1) identify the landscape character, and 2) analysis of the landscape character. The results showed that in areas set aside for ecotourism destination in Pongkor Mining, landscape character category scattered forests, tailing ponds, river, plain, and the built environment. The Category of landscape character most dominant scattered in the area is forest, here is the river, plain, tailing ponds, the built environment, and plain. The landscape character in a natural environment most preferred for ecotourism activities. The landscape character that spread in the natural environment and the built environment is a potential that must be protected and modified such as elimination of incongruous element, accentuation of natural form, alteration of the natural form, intensification and enhanced visual quality intensively to be developed as a ecotourism destination area.

Landscape consequences of natural gas extraction in Cameron, Clarion, Elk, Forest, Jefferson, McKean, Potter, and Warren Counties, Pennsylvania, 2004-2010

Science.gov (United States)

Milheim, L. E.; Slonecker, E. T.; Roig-Silva, C. M.; Winters, S. G.; Ballew, J. R.

2014-01-01

Increased demands for cleaner burning energy, coupled with the relatively recent technological advances in accessing hydrocarbon-rich geologic formations, have led to an intense effort to find and extract unconventional natural gas from various underground sources around the country. One of these sources, the Marcellus Shale, located in the Allegheny Plateau, is currently undergoing extensive drilling and production. The technology used to extract gas in the Marcellus Shale is known as hydraulic fracturing and has garnered much attention because of its use of large amounts of fresh water, its use of proprietary fluids for the hydraulic-fracturing process, its potential to release contaminants into the environment, and its potential effect on water resources. Nonetheless, development of natural gas extraction wells in the Marcellus Shale is only part of the overall natural gas story in this area of Pennsylvania. Conventional natural gas wells, which sometimes use the same technique for extraction, are commonly located in the same general area as the Marcellus Shale and are frequently developed in clusters across the landscape. The combined effects of these two natural gas extraction methods create potentially serious patterns of disturbance on the landscape. This document quantifies the landscape changes and consequences of natural gas extraction for Cameron, Clarion, Elk, Forest, Jefferson, McKean, Potter, and Warren Counties in Pennsylvania between 2004 and 2010. Patterns of landscape disturbance related to natural gas extraction activities were collected and digitized using National Agriculture Imagery Program (NAIP) imagery for 2004, 2005/2006, 2008, and 2010. The disturbance patterns were then used to measure changes in land cover and land use using the National Land Cover Database (NLCD) of 2001. A series of landscape metrics is also used to quantify these changes and is included in this publication. In this region, natural gas and oil development disturbed

Remote sensing captures varying temporal patterns of vegetation between human-altered and natural landscapes.

Science.gov (United States)

Leong, Misha; Roderick, George K

2015-01-01

Global change has led to shifts in phenology, potentially disrupting species interactions such as plant-pollinator relationships. Advances in remote sensing techniques allow one to detect vegetation phenological diversity between different land use types, but it is not clear how this translates to other communities in the ecosystem. Here, we investigated the phenological diversity of the vegetation across a human-altered landscape including urban, agricultural, and natural land use types. We found that the patterns of change in the vegetation indices (EVI and NDVI) of human-altered landscapes are out of synchronization with the phenology in neighboring natural California grassland habitat. Comparing these findings to a spatio-temporal pollinator distribution dataset, EVI and NDVI were significant predictors of total bee abundance, a relationship that improved with time lags. This evidence supports the importance of differences in temporal dynamics between land use types. These findings also highlight the potential to utilize remote sensing data to make predictions for components of biodiversity that have tight vegetation associations, such as pollinators.

Characteristics of Color Produced by Awa Natural Indigo and Synthetic Indigo

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Miyoko Kawahito

2009-06-01

Full Text Available Color of cloth dyed with Awa natural indigo is quantitatively compared with color of the cloth dyed with synthetic indigo. Results showed that: 1 color produced by Awa natural indigo is bluer and brighter than color produced by synthetic indigo; 2 a single Gaussian function fits the profile of the running of color produced by Awa natural indigo and the running of color produced by synthetic indigo prepared with sodium hydrosulfite approximates a linear sum of two Gaussian functions; 3 before and after washing, color is quantitatively more uneven when produced by Awa natural indigo than when produced by synthetic indigo; 4 the diffusion coefficient of Awa natural indigo is lower than that of synthetic indigo; 5 color superiority of Awa natural indigorelates to smaller diffusion coefficient, slower reduction, poorer penetration, and higher dye aggregation.

Natural Resource Management Schemes as Entry Points for Integrated Landscape Approaches: Evidence from Ghana and Burkina Faso.

Science.gov (United States)

Foli, Samson; Ros-Tonen, Mirjam A F; Reed, James; Sunderland, Terry

2017-04-20

In recognition of the failures of sectoral approaches to overcome global challenges of biodiversity loss, climate change, food insecurity and poverty, scientific discourse on biodiversity conservation and sustainable development is shifting towards integrated landscape governance arrangements. Current landscape initiatives however very much depend on external actors and funding, raising the question of whether, and how, and under what conditions, locally embedded resource management schemes can serve as entry points for the implementation of integrated landscape approaches. This paper assesses the entry point potential for three established natural resource management schemes in West Africa that target landscape degradation with involvement of local communities: the Chantier d'Aménagement Forestier scheme encompassing forest management sites across Burkina Faso and the Modified Taungya System and community wildlife resource management initiatives in Ghana. Based on a review of the current literature, we analyze the extent to which design principles that define a landscape approach apply to these schemes. We found that the CREMA meets most of the desired criteria, but that its scale may be too limited to guarantee effective landscape governance, hence requiring upscaling. Conversely, the other two initiatives are strongly lacking in their design principles on fundamental components regarding integrated approaches, continual learning, and capacity building. Monitoring and evaluation bodies and participatory learning and negotiation platforms could enhance the schemes' alignment with integrated landscape approaches.

Landscape and landscape ecology as factors in the process of integrated spatial management

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Brandt, Jesper

2009-01-01

Congress on Landscape Ecology in Veldhoven in 1981 (Tjallingii and De Veer 1981).Natural landscapes and landscape aspects of nature conservation was certainly a theme on the conference, but the main focus was on man-made landscapes, including urban ecology and the relations between urban and rural...... were very eager to be engaged in practical landscape planning, their scientific responsibility forced them often to be more and more humble concerning the applicability, often confronted with the economic consequences of their advises. As a consequence especially many biologists moved again into pure...... told, that the local farm cooperative had got a loan from the Ministry of Agriculture to cover the expenditures. Due to the experimental character of the project the loan was very attractive: It was free of rent and payment. But one important condition was added: It had to be proved that the corridor...

Landscape metrics application in ecological and visual landscape assessment

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Gavrilović Suzana

2017-01-01

Full Text Available The development of landscape-ecological approach application in spatial planning provides exact theoretical and empirical evidence for monitoring ecological consequences of natural and/or anthropogenic factors, particularly changes in spatial structures caused by them. Landscape pattern which feature diverse landscape values is the holder of the unique landscape character at different spatial levels and represents a perceptual domain for its users. Using the landscape metrics, the parameters of landscape composition and configuration are mathematical algorithms that quantify the specific spatial characteristics used for interpretation of landscape features and processes (physical and ecological aspect, as well as forms (visual aspect and the meaning (cognitive aspect of the landscape. Landscape metrics has been applied mostly in the ecological and biodiversity assessments as well as in the determination of the level of structural change of landscape, but more and more applied in the assessment of the visual character of the landscape. Based on a review of relevant literature, the aim of this work is to show the main trends of landscape metrics within the aspect of ecological and visual assessments. The research methodology is based on the analysis, classification and systematization of the research studies published from 2000 to 2016, where the landscape metrics is applied: (1 the analysis of landscape pattern and its changes, (2 the analysis of biodiversity and habitat function and (3 a visual landscape assessment. By selecting representative metric parameters for the landscape composition and configuration, for each category is formed the basis for further landscape metrics research and application for the integrated ecological and visual assessment of the landscape values. Contemporary conceptualization of the landscape is seen holistically, and the future research should be directed towards the development of integrated landscape assessment

Time-lagged response of carabid species richness and composition to past management practices and landscape context of semi-natural field margins.

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Alignier, Audrey; Aviron, Stéphanie

2017-12-15

Field margins are key features for the maintenance of biodiversity and associated ecosystem services in agricultural landscapes. Little is known about the effects of management practices of old semi-natural field margins, and their historical dimension regarding past management practices and landscape context is rarely considered. In this paper, the relative influence of recent and past management practices and landscape context (during the last five years) were assessed on the local biodiversity (species richness and composition) of carabid assemblages of field margins in agricultural landscapes of northwestern France. The results showed that recent patterns of carabid species richness and composition were best explained by management practices and landscape context measured four or five years ago. It suggests the existence of a time lag in the response of carabid assemblages to past environmental conditions of field margins. The relative contribution of past management practices and past landscape context varied depending on the spatial scale at which landscape context was taken into account. Carabid species richness was higher in grazed or sprayed field margins probably due to increased heterogeneity in habitat conditions. Field margins surrounded by grasslands and crops harbored species associated with open habitats whilst forest species dominated field margins surrounded by woodland. Landscape effect was higher at fine spatial scale, within 50 m around field margins. The present study highlights the importance of considering time-lagged responses of biodiversity when managing environment. It also suggests that old semi-natural field margins should not be considered as undisturbed habitats but more as management units being part of farming activities in agricultural landscapes, as for arable fields. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Determinants of a traditional agricultural landscape

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Janina Borysiak

2018-03-01

Full Text Available The study aim was to define the landscape determinants as certificates of natural and cultural heritage which identify the young glacial landscape under traditional agricultural management. These studies were conducted in the upper Parsęta basin (Pomerania, Poland covered by the many annual environmental monitoring programs since 1994. The aim of this monitoring is to observe changes in geoecosystems of the temperate climate zone. The parameters of the abiotic landscape subsystem have been monitored in a wide range of terms, whereas biotic elements and cultural resources only in a very limited way. This was the reason for undertaking complementary studies. The paper presents the so-called “zero-state” for 2014, which will be a reference point from which to track the direction of landscape changes in the future. The abiotic, geobotanical, and cultural determinants of this state chosen have been characterized on the basis of field mapping data and the available literature. They were chosen based on the methodology of landscape audit to define the specificity of the traditional agricultural landscape. They were selected on the basis of assessment criteria for landscape structure: complexity (diversification of land use and cover, naturalness (syngenesis of plant communities, hydrochemical properties of surface waters, coherence of composition with natural conditions, stewardship (intensity of use, crop weeds, ecological succession, fallows, anthropogenic denudation, aesthetic and visual perception, historicity (continuity of natural landscape elements, continuation of traditional agricultural use, architectural objects, and disharmonious elements.

Traditional landscape knowledge. The case of a purépecha indigenous community, Western Mexico

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Juan Pulido Secundino

2016-03-01

Full Text Available The study of indigenous groups everywhere in the world indicates a thorough knowledge in natural resources, including soils, plants, animals, and more widely in landscape and landscape management in space and time. During centuries indigenous communities have established a strong relationship with their natural environments, and have developed knowledge systems and classificatory frameworks for both biotic and non biotic landscape components. The vision is however integrated, holistic, and society is actually perceived as embedded in nature. Studying these knowledge systems is important because despite their contribution to landscape understanding especially in tropical regions, they run the risk of being lost together with the societies that create them. In addition, in spite of substantial research efforts, these systems have been poorly documented. The purpose of this article is to document and analyze the ethnogeographic, landscape knowledge in Comachuen, a purepecha community in the State of Michoacán, and to highlight its usefulness in natural resource management. To this end, we developed a co-investigation, participatory scheme, involving a group of community members, with whom we work during several months, in the field, between 2008 and 2010. Field work consisted on geographic transects along forests and cropland, coupled to in-depth interviews, to 24 local producers, all of them native speakers of the purepecha language.

Temporal dynamics influenced by global change: bee community phenology in urban, agricultural, and natural landscapes.

Science.gov (United States)

Leong, Misha; Ponisio, Lauren C; Kremen, Claire; Thorp, Robbin W; Roderick, George K

2016-03-01

Urbanization and agricultural intensification of landscapes are important drivers of global change, which in turn have direct impacts on local ecological communities leading to shifts in species distributions and interactions. Here, we illustrate how human-altered landscapes, with novel ornamental and crop plant communities, result not only in changes to local community diversity of floral-dependent species, but also in shifts in seasonal abundance of bee pollinators. Three years of data on the spatio-temporal distributions of 91 bee species show that seasonal patterns of abundance and species richness in human-altered landscapes varied significantly less compared to natural habitats in which floral resources are relatively scarce in the dry summer months. These findings demonstrate that anthropogenic environmental changes in urban and agricultural systems, here mediated through changes in plant resources and water inputs, can alter the temporal dynamics of pollinators that depend on them. Changes in phenology of interactions can be an important, though frequently overlooked, mechanism of global change. © 2015 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Natural windbreaks sustain bird diversity in a tea-dominated landscape.

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Rachakonda Sreekar

Full Text Available Windbreaks often form networks of forest habitats that improve connectivity and thus conserve biodiversity, but little is known of such effects in the tropics. We determined bird species richness and community composition in windbreaks composed of remnant native vegetation amongst tea plantations (natural windbreaks, and compared it with the surrounding primary forests. Fifty-one, ten-minute point counts were conducted in each habitat type over three days. Despite the limited sampling period, our bird inventories in both natural windbreaks and primary forests were nearly complete, as indicated by bootstrap true richness estimator. Bird species richness and abundance between primary forests and windbreaks were similar, however a difference in bird community composition was observed. Abundances of important functional groups such as frugivores and insectivores did not vary between habitat types but nectarivores were more abundant in windbreaks, potentially as a result of the use of windbreaks as traveling routes, foraging and nesting sites. This preliminary study suggests that natural windbreaks may be important habitats for the persistence of bird species in a production landscape. However, a better understanding of the required physical and compositional characteristics for windbreaks to sustain bird communities is needed for effective conservation management.

Focal species and landscape "naturalness" corridor models offer complementary approaches for connectivity conservation planning

Science.gov (United States)

Meade Krosby; Ian Breckheimer; D. John Pierce; Peter H. Singleton; Sonia A. Hall; Karl C. Halupka; William L. Gaines; Robert A. Long; Brad H. McRae; Brian L. Cosentino; Joanne P. Schuett-Hames

2015-01-01

Context   The dual threats of habitat fragmentation and climate change have led to a proliferation of approaches for connectivity conservation planning. Corridor analyses have traditionally taken a focal species approach, but the landscape ‘‘naturalness’’ approach of modeling connectivity among areas of low human modification has gained popularity...

Decision making on fitness landscapes

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Arthur, R.; Sibani, P.

2017-04-01

We discuss fitness landscapes and how they can be modified to account for co-evolution. We are interested in using the landscape as a way to model rational decision making in a toy economic system. We develop a model very similar to the Tangled Nature Model of Christensen et al. that we call the Tangled Decision Model. This is a natural setting for our discussion of co-evolutionary fitness landscapes. We use a Monte Carlo step to simulate decision making and investigate two different decision making procedures.

Decision Making on Fitness Landscapes

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Arthur, Rudy; Sibani, Paolo

2017-01-01

We discuss fitness landscapes and how they can be modified to account for co-evolution. We are interested in using the landscape as a way to model rational decision making in a toy economic system. We develop a model very similar to the Tangled Nature Model of Christensen et. al. that we call...... the Tangled Decision Model. This is a natural setting for our discussion of co-evolutionary fitness landscapes. We use a Monte Carlo step to simulate decision making and investigate two different decision making procedures....

Comparing Nitrous Oxide Emissions from Three Residential Landscapes under Different Management Schemes Following Natural Rainfall Events

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Cultural lawn management practices that produce aesthetically appealing landscapes may also create environmental conditions that stimulate soil nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions. The purpose of this study is to investigate the effects of lawn management practices on N2O fluxes from ...

Symbolic Representation and Protection of the Marine Landscape in the Natural Park of Cabo de Gata-Níjar (Almería- Spain

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Carmen Gaona Pisonero

2017-09-01

Full Text Available This case study article centered on the Natural Park of Cabo de Gata-Níjar (Almería-España on the correspondence or mismatch between the virtual landscape representations and the socio-cultural reality of the protected natural space. Therefore, the purpose of this article is to analyze the reconstruction of the natural market of Cabo de Gata Níjar in some sectors of the Spanish public sphere. The reflection focuses on the visibility of the virtual symbolic representative plains of space. The analysis of the results detects the virtual emic representations a reframing of the Park characterized by an on-line spectacular landscape. A dreamy exaltation in the emic representations virtual which practically invisibilizan real problems attacking against the coasts and reserve marine of this area. On the contrary, the media representation reflects with greater correspondence the dialectical reality of the landscape.

Assessment of Land-Cover/Land-Use Change and Landscape Patterns in the Two National Nature Reserves of Ebinur Lake Watershed, Xinjiang, China

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Fei Zhang

2017-05-01

Full Text Available Land-cover and land-use change (LCLUC alters landscape patterns and affects regional ecosystems. The objective of this study was to examine LCLUC and landscape patterns in Ebinur Lake Wetland National Nature Reserve (ELWNNR and Ganjia Lake Haloxylon Forest National Nature Reserve (GLHFNNR, two biodiversity-rich national nature reserves in the Ebinur Lake Watershed (ELW, Xinjiang, China. Landsat satellite images from 1972, 1998, 2007 and 2013 were used to calculate the dynamics of a land-cover and land-use (LCLU transition matrix and landscape pattern index using ENVI 5.1 and FRAGSTATS 3.3. The results showed drastic land use modifications have occurred in ELWNNR during the past four decades. Between 1972 and 1998, 1998 and 2007, and 2007 and 2013, approximately 251.50 km2 (7.93%, 122.70 km2 (3.87%, and 195.40 km2 (6.16% of wetland were turned into salinized land. In GLHFNNR both low and medium density Haloxylon forest area declined while high density Haloxylon forest area increased. This contribution presents a method for characterizing LCLUC using one or more cross-tabulation matrices based on Sankey diagrams, demonstrating the depiction of flows of energy or materials through ecosystem network. The ecological landscape index displayed that a unique landscape patches have shrunk in size, scattered, and fragmented. It becomes a more diverse landscape. Human activities like farming were negatively correlated with the landscape diversity of wetlands. Furthermore, evidence of degraded wetlands caused by air temperature and annual precipitation, was also observed. We conclude that national and regional policies related to agriculture and water use have significantly contributed to the extensive changes; the ELWNNR and GLHFNNR are highly susceptible to LCLUC in the surrounding Ebinur Lake Watershed.

Landscape in a Lacquer Box

Science.gov (United States)

Savage, Martha

2010-01-01

A symbolic dry landscape garden of Eastern origin holds a special fascination for the author's middle-school students, which is why the author chose to create a project exploring this view of nature. A dry landscape garden, or "karesansui," is an arrangement of rocks, worn by nature and surrounded by a "sea" of sand, raked into patterns…

Relationship between the abundance of aphids and their natural enemies in cereal fields and landscape composition

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Hassan, D. A.; Parisey, N.; Burel, F.; Plantegenest, M.; Kindlmann, Pavel; Butet, A.

2012-01-01

Roč. 2, č. 2 (2012), s. 89-101 ISSN 1805-0174 R&D Projects: GA MŠk(CZ) ED1.1.00/02.0073 Institutional support: RVO:67179843 Keywords : agroecosystems * landscape structure * crop pests * aphids * biological control * semi-natural habitats Subject RIV: EH - Ecology, Behaviour

Introduction: Enquiries into Contemporary Ritual Landscapes

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Pirjo Kristiina Virtanen

2017-06-01

Full Text Available ‘Landscape’ and ‘ritual’ have been largely discussed in the social and human sciences, although their inter-relatedness has gained li le scholarly a ention. Drawing on earlier studies of ritual and landscape, as well as the authors’ own ethnographic works, ‘ritual landscape’ is suggested here as a useful analytical tool with which to understand how landscapes are produced, and how they, in their turn, produce certain types of being. ‘Ritual landscape’ recognises di erent modalities of agency, power-relation, knowledge, emotion, and movement. The article shows how the subjectivity of other-than-human beings such as ancestors, earth formations, land, animals, plants and, in general, materiality of ritual contexts, shape landscapes. We argue that ways of perceiving landscape includes a number of material and immaterial aspects indicated by ways of moving through landscapes and interacting with di erent human and non-human subjects that come to inhabit the world, creating relations and producing agentive ensembles and complexes.

Methods for integrated modeling of landscape change: Interior Northwest Landscape Analysis System.

Science.gov (United States)

Jane L. Hayes; Alan. A. Ager; R. James Barbour

2004-01-01

The Interior Northwest Landscape Analysis System (INLAS) links a number of resource, disturbance, and landscape simulations models to examine the interactions of vegetative succession, management, and disturbance with policy goals. The effects of natural disturbance like wildfire, herbivory, forest insects and diseases, as well as specific management actions are...

Changes in forest landscape due to agricultural activities and their influence on natural ecosystems: the eastern Galician mountains

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Diaz-Maroto I.J.

2018-03-01

Full Text Available Forest and agricultural landscapes are vital in relation to biodiversity. Protection policies in such areas should include incentives to enable the common landuse practices. Conservation cannot be addressed in the short term because these landscapes have evolved as socio-ecological systems and provide optimal conditions for biodiversity maintenance. They occur in areas where agriculture has not changed significantly as in the eastern Galician mountains. The landscape dynamics has been shaped by human involvement during centuries. We analyzed how the landscape has evolved according to environmental, socioeconomic and historical changes with the aim of proposing actions for its conservation. The study focused on the recovery of natural hardwood forests which have been intensively exploited since ancient times. Over the past few centuries, these forests have been transformed to agricultural land, felled for use in the naval, metallurgical and railway industries, expropriated from the Church, and affected by wildfire; more recently, have been replaced by fast growing species. Today, broadleaved forests cover small areas of rugged land where the topography often precludes other land uses. In conclusion, although the landscape in the study area has undergone a major transformation, now this land is a priority for biodiversity conservation.

Landscape approach to the formation of the ecological frame of Moscow

Science.gov (United States)

Nizovtsev, Vyacheslav; Natalia, Erman

2015-04-01

The territory of Moscow, in particular in its former borders, is distinct for its strong transformation of the natural properties of virtually all types of landscape complexes. The modern landscape structure is characterized by fragmentation of natural land cover. Natural and quasinatural (natural and anthropogenic) landscape complexes with preserved natural structure are represented by isolated areas and occupy small areas. During recent years landscape diversity in general and biodiversity in particular have been rapidly declining, and many of the natural landscape complexes are under ever-increasing degradation. Ecological balance is broken, and preserved natural landscapes are not able to maintain it. Effective territorial organization of Moscow and the rational use of its territory are impossible without taking into account the natural component of the city as well as the properties and potential of the landscape complexes that integrate all natural features in specific areas. The formation of the ecological framework of the city is particularly important. It should be a single system of interrelated and complementary components that make up a single environmental space: habitat-forming cores (junctions), ecological corridors and elements of environmental infrastructure. Systemic unity of the environmental framework can support the territorial ecological compensation where a break of the ecological functions of one part of the system is compensated by maintaining or restoring them in another part and contribute to the polarization of incompatible types of land use. Habitat-forming cores should include as mandatory parts all the specifically protected natural areas (SPNAs), particularly valuable landscape complexes, as well as preserved adjacent forest areas. Their most important function should be to maintain resources and area reproducing abilities of landscapes, landscape diversity and biodiversity. Ecological corridors which perform environmental and

18 CFR 270.302 - Occluded natural gas produced from coal seams.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... produced from coal seams. 270.302 Section 270.302 Conservation of Power and Water Resources FEDERAL ENERGY... produced from coal seams. A person seeking a determination that natural gas is occluded natural gas produced from coal seams must file an application with the jurisdictional agency which contains the...

Characterization of overwintering sites of the invasive brown marmorated stink bug in natural landscapes using human surveyors and detector canines.

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Doo-Hyung Lee

Full Text Available Halyomorpha halys is an invasive species from Asia causing major economic losses in agricultural production in the mid-Atlantic region of the United States. Unlike other crop pests, H. halys is also well-known for nuisance problems in urban, suburban, and rural areas, as massive numbers of adults often invade human-made structures to overwinter inside protected environments. Research efforts have focused on populations in human-made structures while overwintering ecology of H. halys in natural landscapes is virtually unknown. We explored forested landscapes in the mid-Atlantic region to locate and characterize natural overwintering structures used by H. halys. We also evaluated the use of detector canines to locate overwintering H. halys to enhance the accuracy and efficiency of surveys. From these studies, we indentified shared characteristics of overwintering sites used by H. halys in natural landscapes. Overwintering H. halys were recovered from dry crevices in dead, standing trees with thick bark, particularly oak (Quercus spp. and locust (Robinia spp.; these characteristics were shared by 11.8% of all dead trees in surveyed landscapes. For trees with favorable characteristics, we sampled ∼20% of the total above-ground tree area and recovered 5.9 adults per tree from the trees with H. halys present. Two detector canines were successfully trained to recognize and detect the odor of adult H. halys yielding >84% accuracy in laboratory and semi-field trials. Detector canines also found overwintering H. halys under field conditions. In particular, overwintering H. halys were recovered only from dead trees that yielded positive indications from the canines and shared key tree characteristics established by human surveyors. The identified characteristics of natural overwintering sites of H. halys will serve as baseline information to establish crop economic risk levels posed by overwintering populations, and accordingly develop sustainable

[Landscape planning approaches for biodiversity conservation in agriculture].

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Yun-hui; Li, Liang-tao; Yu, Zhen-rong

2008-11-01

Biodiversity conservation in agriculture not only relates to the sustainable development of agriculture, but also is an essential part of species conservation. In recent years, the landscape planning approach for biodiversity was highlighted instead of species-focused approach. In this paper, the landscape factors affecting the biodiversity in agriculture were reviewed, and the possible landscape approaches at three different scales for more efficient conservation of biodiversity in agro-landscape were suggested, including: (1) the increase of the proportion of natural or semi-natural habitats in agriculture, diversification of land use or crop pattern, and protection or construction of corridor at landscape level; (2) the establishment of non-cropping elements such as field margin at between-field level; and (3) the application of reasonable crop density, crop distribution pattern and rotation, and intercrop etc. at within-field level. It was suggested that the relevant policies for natural conservation, land use planning, and ecological compensation should be made to apply the landscape approaches for biodiversity conservation at larger scale.

Landscape requirements of a primate population in a human-dominated environment

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Hoffman Tali S

2012-01-01

Full Text Available Abstract Introduction As urban and rural land development become widespread features of the global landscape so an understanding of the landscape requirements of displaced and isolated wildlife species becomes increasingly important for conservation planning. In the Cape Peninsula, South Africa, rapid human population growth, and the associated urban and rural land transformation, threatens the sustainability of the local chacma baboon population. Here we analyse spatial data collected from nine of the 12 extant troops to determine their population-level landscape requirements. We use hurdle models to ascertain the key landscape features influencing baboon occurrence and abundance patterns on two hierarchical spatial scales. Results Both spatial scales produced similar results that were ecologically reliable and interpretable. The models indicated that baboons were more likely to occur, and be more abundant, at low altitudes, on steep slopes and in human-modified habitats. The combination of these landscape variables provides baboons with access to the best quality natural and anthropogenic food sources in close proximity to one another and suitable sleeping sites. Surface water did not emerge as an influential landscape feature presumably as the area is not water stressed. Conclusions The model results indicate that land development in the Cape Peninsula has pushed baboons into increasingly marginal natural habitat while simultaneously providing them with predictable and easily accessible food sources in human-modified habitats. The resultant spatial competition between humans and baboons explains the high levels of human-baboon conflict and further erosion of the remaining land fragments is predicted to exacerbate competition. This study demonstrates how the quantification of animal landscape requirements can provide a mechanism for identifying priority conservation areas at the human-wildlife interface.

Defining the landscape of adaptive genetic diversity.

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Eckert, Andrew J; Dyer, Rodney J

2012-06-01

Whether they are used to describe fitness, genome architecture or the spatial distribution of environmental variables, the concept of a landscape has figured prominently in our collective reasoning. The tradition of landscapes in evolutionary biology is one of fitness mapped onto axes defined by phenotypes or molecular sequence states. The characteristics of these landscapes depend on natural selection, which is structured across both genomic and environmental landscapes, and thus, the bridge among differing uses of the landscape concept (i.e. metaphorically or literally) is that of an adaptive phenotype and its distribution across geographical landscapes in relation to selective pressures. One of the ultimate goals of evolutionary biology should thus be to construct fitness landscapes in geographical space. Natural plant populations are ideal systems with which to explore the feasibility of attaining this goal, because much is known about the quantitative genetic architecture of complex traits for many different plant species. What is less known are the molecular components of this architecture. In this issue of Molecular Ecology, Parchman et al. (2012) pioneer one of the first truly genome-wide association studies in a tree that moves us closer to this form of mechanistic understanding for an adaptive phenotype in natural populations of lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta Dougl. ex Loud.). © 2012 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

Natural rubber producing plants: An overview | Venkatachalam ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

... Hevea and also other natural rubber producing species for alternative source of latex production in the near future. Keywords: Alternative rubber sources, biotechnology, breeding, Hevea brasiliensis, Parthenium argentatum, Taraxacum koksaghyz, Ficus bengalensis, Lactuca serriola. African Journal of Biotechnology Vol.

Social-Natural Landscape Reorganised: Swedish Forest-edge Farmers and Wolf Recovery

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Sjolander-Lindqvist Annelie

2009-01-01

Full Text Available The politics and the underlying reasons behind the recovery of the Scandinavian wolf population are increasingly contested. According to official policy, wolves should be guaranteed a place in the Swedish natural world. However, the conflict over whether Sweden should host a wolf population sets views on biodiversity and sustainable development against the perspective that local traditions and livelihoods are threatened by the return of wolves. These diverging environmental visions can be seen as competing interests and understandings of nature and wildlife. The desire of the state and nature conservation organisations to implement measures to provide conditions fostering wolf survival are counterbalanced by local action groups and community residents struggling to maintain conditions for conserving summer pastures, opportunities for hunting with sporting dogs, and other recreational activities such as mushroom- and berry-picking. Not only are these activities considered to have high natural and cultural value, the European Union (EU has stated that small-scale farming is important for maintaining the landscape and safeguarding the survival of values associated with ′agri-environmental′ habitats. The conflict between the interest groups is essentially about the access to and use of environmental resources. Squeezed between policies safeguarding wolf populations, preventing cruelty to animals and implementing activities required by the EU agricultural programme, farmers in areas with resident wolf populations have come to take part in processes that may reinforce rural identity.

Combining aesthetic with ecological values for landscape sustainability.

Science.gov (United States)

Yang, Dewei; Luo, Tao; Lin, Tao; Qiu, Quanyi; Luo, Yunjian

2014-01-01

Humans receive multiple benefits from various landscapes that foster ecological services and aesthetic attractiveness. In this study, a hybrid framework was proposed to evaluate ecological and aesthetic values of five landscape types in Houguanhu Region of central China. Data from the public aesthetic survey and professional ecological assessment were converted into a two-dimensional coordinate system and distribution maps of landscape values. Results showed that natural landscapes (i.e. water body and forest) contributed positively more to both aesthetic and ecological values than semi-natural and human-dominated landscapes (i.e. farmland and non-ecological land). The distribution maps of landscape values indicated that the aesthetic, ecological and integrated landscape values were significantly associated with landscape attributes and human activity intensity. To combine aesthetic preferences with ecological services, the methods (i.e. field survey, landscape value coefficients, normalized method, a two-dimensional coordinate system, and landscape value distribution maps) were employed in landscape assessment. Our results could facilitate to identify the underlying structure-function-value chain, and also improve the understanding of multiple functions in landscape planning. The situation context could also be emphasized to bring ecological and aesthetic goals into better alignment.

The Q-Sort method: use in landscape assessment research and landscape planning

Science.gov (United States)

David G. Pitt; Ervin H. Zube

1979-01-01

The assessment of visual quality inherently involves the measurement of perceptual response to landscape. The Q-Sort Method is a psychometric technique which produces reliable and valid interval measurements of people's perceptions of landscape visual quality as depicted in photographs. It is readily understood by participants across a wide range of age groups and...

Are climate warming and enhanced atmospheric deposition of sulfur and nitrogen threatening tufa landscapes in Jiuzhaigou National Nature Reserve, Sichuan, China?

Science.gov (United States)

Qiao, Xue; Du, Jie; Lugli, Stefano; Ren, Jinhai; Xiao, Weiyang; Chen, Pan; Tang, Ya

2016-08-15

Massive deposition of calcium carbonate in ambient temperature waters (tufa) can form magnificent tufa landscapes, many of which are designated as protected areas. However, tufa landscapes in many areas are threatened by both local anthropogenic activities and climate change. This study, for the first time, posed the question whether the tufa landscape degradation (characterized by tufa degradation and increased biomass of green algae) in Jiuzhaigou National Nature Reserve of China is partially caused by regional air pollution and climate warming. The results indicate that wet deposition (including rain and snow) polluted by anthropogenic SO2, NOx, and NH3 emissions dissolves exposed tufa and may considerably reduce tufa deposition rate and even cause tufa dissolution within shallow waters. These effects of wet deposition on tufa enhanced as pH of wet deposition decreased from 8.01 to 5.06. Annual Volume Weighted Mean concentration of reactive nitrogen (including NH4(+) and NO3(-)) in wet deposition (26.1μmolL(-1)) was 1.8 times of the corresponding value of runoff (14.8μmolL(-1)) and exceeded China's national standard of total nitrogen in runoff for nature reserves (14.3μmolL(-1)), indicating a direct nitrogen fertilization effect of wet deposition on green algae. As water temperature is the major limiting factor of algal growth in Jiuzhaigou and temperature in the top layer (0-5cm) of runoff (depthclimate warming in this region would favor algal growth. In sum, this study suggests that climate warming and enhanced sulfur and nitrogen deposition have contributed to the current degradation of tufa landscape in Jiuzhaigou, but in order to quantify the contributions, further studies are needed, as many other anthropogenic and natural processes also influence tufa landscape evolution. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Classic metapopulations are rare among common beetle species from a naturally fragmented landscape.

Science.gov (United States)

Driscoll, Don A; Kirkpatrick, Jamie B; McQuillan, Peter B; Bonham, Kevin J

2010-01-01

1. The general importance of metacommunity and metapopulation theories is poorly understood because few studies have examined responses of the suite of species that occupy the same fragmented landscape. In this study, we examined the importance of spatial ecological theories using a large-scale, naturally fragmented landscape. 2. We measured the occurrence and abundance of 44 common beetle species in 31 natural rainforest fragments in Tasmania, Australia. We tested for an effect on beetle distribution of geographic variables (patch area, patch isolation and amount of surrounding habitat) and of environmental variables based on plant species, after first accounting for spatial autocorrelation using principal coordinates of neighbour matrices. The environmental variables described a productivity gradient and a post-fire succession from eucalypt-dominated forest to late-successional rainforest. 3. Few species had distributions consistent with a metapopulation. However, the amount of surrounding habitat and patch isolation influenced the occurrence or abundance of 30% of beetle species, implying that dispersal into or out of patches was an important process. 4. Three species showed a distribution that could arise by interactions with dominant competitors or predators with higher occurrence in small patches. 5. Environmental effects were more commonly observed than spatial effects. Twenty-three per cent of species showed evidence of habitat-driven, deterministic metapopulations. Furthermore, almost half of the species were influenced by the plant succession or productivity gradient, including effects at the within-patch, patch and regional scales. The beetle succession involved an increase in the frequency of many species, and the addition of new species, with little evidence of species turnover. Niche-related ecological theory such as the species-sorting metacommunity theory was therefore the most broadly applicable concept. 6. We conclude that classic and source

Can uncertain landscape evolution models discriminate between landscape responses to stable and changing future climate? A millennial-scale test

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Temme, A.J.A.M.; Baartman, J.E.M.; Schoorl, J.M.

2009-01-01

In the light of increasing societal interest in the effects of climate change, geomorphologists face the task of discriminating between natural landscape changes and landscape changes that result from human-induced climate change. Landscape Evolution Models (LEMs) are available for this purpose, but

Why Landscape Beauty Matters

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Angelika Krebs

2014-11-01

Full Text Available This philosophical paper explores the aesthetic argument for landscape conservation. The main claim is that the experience of beautiful landscapes is an essential part of the good human life. Beautiful landscapes make us feel at home in the world. Their great and irreplaceable value lies therein. To establish this claim, the concepts of landscape and “Stimmung” are clarified. It is shown how “Stimmung” (in the sense of mood is infused into landscape (as atmosphere and how we respond to it aesthetically. We respond by resonating or feeling at home. The paper ends by indicating how art can help us to better appreciate landscape beauty. This is done by way of an example from contemporary nature poetry, Michael Donhauser’s Variationen in Prosa, which begins with “Und was da war, es nahm uns an” (“And what was there accepted us”.

Use of ethnographic approaches to the study of health experiences in relation to natural landscapes.

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O'Brien, Liz; Varley, Pete

2012-11-01

This paper discusses the use of ethnographic approaches to explore how engagement with natural landscapes might benefit people's health. Drawing on a selected review of empirical research we identified 30 relevant research papers that utilised qualitative methods to explore health issues and engagement with nature. Three examples of 'alternative' - i.e. non-mainstream qualitative approaches - are used to illustrate how different methods can be used to explore people's experiences of engaging with nature for health. While quantitative methods are dominant in health research, qualitative approaches are becoming more widely used. Approaches such as autoethnography can add value to nature and health studies by providing opportunities for researchers to be self-critical of their role as a researcher. Accompanied visits and visual ethnography can afford the researcher rich data about bodily movement, facial expressions and journeys, as well as dialogues associated with the meanings of nature for health. The paper concludes by suggesting that ethnographic methods can provide useful and important insights into why people engage with the natural environment and the range of health benefits they may gain from contact with nature.

Forest landscape analysis and design: a process for developing and implementing land management objectives for landscape patterns.

Science.gov (United States)

Nancy Diaz; Dean. Apostol

1992-01-01

This publication presents a Landscape Design and Analysis Process, along with some simple methods and tools for describing landscapes and their function. The information is qualitative in nature and highlights basic concepts, but does not address landscape ecology in great depth. Readers are encouraged to consult the list of selected references in Chapter 2 if they...

The distribution of selected CORINE land cover classes in different natural landscapes in Slovakia: Methodological framework and applications

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Pazúr Róbert

2015-03-01

Full Text Available The distribution of selected CORINE land cover classes in different physical conditions was subject to modelling, analysis and evaluation in this article. In three regions with different geo-relief, the occurrence of land cover classes was analysed by using determinants commonly used in land-use models. Using three different modelling frameworks, the importance of methodological design in land-cover modelling was demonstrated. High levels of explanatory power for the factors defined here were found in landscapes of high heterogeneity. Findings derived from the statistical models highlight the importance of landscape disaggregation by natural conditions in complex land-cover or land-use models.

Anime Landscapes as a Tool for Analyzing the Human–Environment Relationship: Hayao Miyazaki Films

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Sema Mumcu

2018-04-01

Full Text Available Common dualistic thinking in environmental design education adopts humans and the environment as separate entities, with the environment as raw material stock. This approach affects the intellectual development of landscape architects and limits their ability to create meaningful landscapes. Therefore, it is necessary to explore and highlight new ideas about the more integrated human–environment relationship. Through the films of Hayao Miyazaki, many audiences around the world have encountered a different worldview. By contrast with Western thinking, which adopts human superiority to nature, the worldview that Miyazaki reflects in his films depicts human as an inseparable part of nature. Being inspired by different communities and their relationship to nature in Miyazaki’s films, we propose using anime as a means of analyzing the human–environment relationship. We classified landscapes based on power relations between humans and nature. We explored how communities shape their physical environment based on how they socially construct nature and the resulting landscapes. Thus, through apocalyptic landscapes, the bitter results of exploiting nature were depicted. Wilderness landscapes reflect the bias humanity has about nature as wild and hostile. Responsible landscapes were introduced asway of understanding the unbreakable bond between humans and the environment. Through these animated landscape types, the ways landscape architecture should approach nature in professional practices was discussed, and the importance of creating responsible landscapes was emphasized.

Governing Forest Landscape Restoration: Cases from Indonesia

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Cora van Oosten

2014-05-01

Full Text Available Forest landscape restoration includes both the planning and implementation of measures to restore degraded forests within the perspective of the wider landscape. Governing forest landscape restoration requires fundamental considerations about the conceptualisation of forested landscapes and the types of restoration measures to be taken, and about who should be engaged in the governance process. A variety of governance approaches to forest landscape restoration exist, differing in both the nature of the object to be governed and the mode of governance. This paper analyses the nature and governance of restoration in three cases of forest landscape restoration in Indonesia. In each of these cases, both the original aim for restoration and the initiators of the process differ. The cases also differ in how deeply embedded they are in formal spatial planning mechanisms at the various political scales. Nonetheless, the cases show similar trends. All cases show a dynamic process of mobilising the landscape’s stakeholders, plus a flexible process of crafting institutional space for conflict management, negotiation and decision making at the landscape level. As a result, the landscape focus changed over time from reserved forests to forested mosaic lands. The cases illustrate that the governance of forest landscape restoration should not be based on strict design criteria, but rather on a flexible governance approach that stimulates the creation of novel public-private institutional arrangements at the landscape level.

Iceland as a Landscape Investigation Pattern

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Campanini, Manuela Silvia

2007-03-01

Full Text Available Nowadays Icelanders continue an ancient dialogue. Nature is part of their soul and they take with them bits of their terrestrial landscape when they move to the elsewhere. When they move out in the sea they often name their ships or boats after natural spots (waterfalls, mountains, etc., Moving to the town, architects build monuments inspired by wild nature like Hallgrimskirkja (inspired by Hraundrangar and the columnar basalt or Perlan (inspired by the Geysir and the geothermal water. This is the way Icelanders compensate and take care of their perennial landscape nostalgia.

Calculation of Configurational Entropy in Complex Landscapes

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Samuel A Cushman

2018-04-01

Full Text Available Entropy and the second law of thermodynamics are fundamental concepts that underlie all natural processes and patterns. Recent research has shown how the entropy of a landscape mosaic can be calculated using the Boltzmann equation, with the entropy of a lattice mosaic equal to the logarithm of the number of ways a lattice with a given dimensionality and number of classes can be arranged to produce the same total amount of edge between cells of different classes. However, that work seemed to also suggest that the feasibility of applying this method to real landscapes was limited due to intractably large numbers of possible arrangements of raster cells in large landscapes. Here I extend that work by showing that: (1 the proportion of arrangements rather than the number with a given amount of edge length provides a means to calculate unbiased relative configurational entropy, obviating the need to compute all possible configurations of a landscape lattice; (2 the edge lengths of randomized landscape mosaics are normally distributed, following the central limit theorem; and (3 given this normal distribution it is possible to fit parametric probability density functions to estimate the expected proportion of randomized configurations that have any given edge length, enabling the calculation of configurational entropy on any landscape regardless of size or number of classes. I evaluate the boundary limits (4 for this normal approximation for small landscapes with a small proportion of a minority class and show it holds under all realistic landscape conditions. I further (5 demonstrate that this relationship holds for a sample of real landscapes that vary in size, patch richness, and evenness of area in each cover type, and (6 I show that the mean and standard deviation of the normally distributed edge lengths can be predicted nearly perfectly as a function of the size, patch richness and diversity of a landscape. Finally, (7 I show that the

Fractal Landscape Algorithms for Environmental Simulations

Science.gov (United States)

Mao, H.; Moran, S.

2014-12-01

Natural science and geographical research are now able to take advantage of environmental simulations that more accurately test experimental hypotheses, resulting in deeper understanding. Experiments affected by the natural environment can benefit from 3D landscape simulations capable of simulating a variety of terrains and environmental phenomena. Such simulations can employ random terrain generation algorithms that dynamically simulate environments to test specific models against a variety of factors. Through the use of noise functions such as Perlin noise, Simplex noise, and diamond square algorithms, computers can generate simulations that model a variety of landscapes and ecosystems. This study shows how these algorithms work together to create realistic landscapes. By seeding values into the diamond square algorithm, one can control the shape of landscape. Perlin noise and Simplex noise are also used to simulate moisture and temperature. The smooth gradient created by coherent noise allows more realistic landscapes to be simulated. Terrain generation algorithms can be used in environmental studies and physics simulations. Potential studies that would benefit from simulations include the geophysical impact of flash floods or drought on a particular region and regional impacts on low lying area due to global warming and rising sea levels. Furthermore, terrain generation algorithms also serve as aesthetic tools to display landscapes (Google Earth), and simulate planetary landscapes. Hence, it can be used as a tool to assist science education. Algorithms used to generate these natural phenomena provide scientists a different approach in analyzing our world. The random algorithms used in terrain generation not only contribute to the generating the terrains themselves, but are also capable of simulating weather patterns.

[Wetland landscape pattern change based on GIS and RS: a review].

Science.gov (United States)

Kong, Fan-Ting; Xi, Min; Li, Yue; Kong, Fan-Long; Chen, Wan

2013-04-01

Wetland is an ecological landscape with most biodiversity in nature, which has unique ecological structure and function, and contains abundant natural resources to provide material guarantee for human's living and development. Wetland landscape pattern is the comprehensive result of various ecological processes, and has become a hot issue in wetland ecological study. At present, the combination of geographic information system (GIS) and remote sensing (RS) technologies is an important way to study the wetland landscape pattern change. This paper reviewed the research progress in the wetland landscape change based on GIS and RS from the aspects of the research methods of wetland landscape pattern, index of wetland landscape pattern, and driving forces of wetland landscape pattern evolution, and discussed the applications of the combination of GIS and RS in monitoring the wetland landscape pattern change, the index selection of wetland landscape pattern, and the driving mechanisms of the combined action of human and nature. Some deficiencies in the current studies were put forward, and the directions of the future-studies were prospected.

Evaluating the potential of multi-purpose nature based solutions in peri-urban landscapes - a preliminary assessment

Science.gov (United States)

Geris, Josie; Wilkinson, Mark; Stutter, Marc; Guenther, Daniel; Soulsby, Chris

2016-04-01

Many communities across the world face the increasing challenge of balancing water quantity and quality protection and improvement with accommodating new growth and urban development. Urbanisation is typically associated with detrimental changes in water quality, sediment delivery, and effects on water storage and flow pathways (e.g. increases in flooding). Current mitigation solutions are typically based on isolated design strategies used at specific small scale sites and for storm water only. More holistic catchment scale approaches are urgently required to effectively manage the amount of water flows and protect the raw water quality in peri-urban landscapes. This project aims to provide a better understanding of the connectivity between natural and managed flow pathways, storage, and biogeochemical processes in the peri-urban landscape to eventually aid a more integrated water quantity and quality control design. For an actively urbanising catchment in NE Scotland we seek to understand the spatio-temporal character of the natural flow pathways and associated water quality, and how these may be used to support the design of nature based solutions during urbanisation. We present preliminary findings from a dense and multiscale monitoring network that includes hydrometric, tracer (stable water isotopes) and water quality (turbidity (sediment), nitrate, phosphate) data during a range of contrasting hydroclimatological conditions and at different stages of the development of urban infrastructure. These demonstrate a highly variable nature, both temporally and spatially, with water quality dynamics out of sync with storm responses and depending on management practices. This highlights potential difficulties for managing water quantity and quality simultaneously at the catchment scale, and suggests that a treatment train approach may be required. Well-designed nature based solutions that tackle both water quantity and quality issues will require adaptability and a

Landscape and Heritage: trajectories and consequences

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Harvey, David

2015-01-01

supporting and often parallel endeavour of academic, policy and popular inquiry that explores the significance of landscape and heritage as meaningful categories of an emergent and processual nature. Despite such a parallel trajectory, however, the actual practices of landscape and heritage studies still...

Managing Nature–Business as Usual: Resource Extraction Companies and Their Representations of Natural Landscapes

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mark Brown

2015-11-01

Full Text Available This article contributes to knowledge of how one category of business organization, very large, British-based, natural resource extraction corporations, has begun to manage its operations for sustainability. The object of study is a large volume of texts that make representations of the managing-for-sustainability practices of these multinational corporations (MNCs. The macro-level textual analysis identifies patterns in the wording of the representations of practice. Hajer’s understanding of discourse, in which ideas are contextualized within social processes of practice, provides the theoretical approach for discourse analysis that gives an insight into how they understand and practice sustainability. Through this large-scale discourse analysis, illustrated in the article with specific textual examples, one can see that these natural resource MNCs are developing a vocabulary and a “grammar” which enables them to manage natural spaces in the same way that they are able to manage their own far-flung business operations. They make simplified representations of the much more complex natural landscapes in which their operations are sited and these models of nature can then be incorporated into the corporations’ operational management processes. Their journey towards sustainability delivers, in practice, the management of nature as business continues as usual.

Exploring Energy Landscapes

Science.gov (United States)

Wales, David J.

2018-04-01

Recent advances in the potential energy landscapes approach are highlighted, including both theoretical and computational contributions. Treating the high dimensionality of molecular and condensed matter systems of contemporary interest is important for understanding how emergent properties are encoded in the landscape and for calculating these properties while faithfully representing barriers between different morphologies. The pathways characterized in full dimensionality, which are used to construct kinetic transition networks, may prove useful in guiding such calculations. The energy landscape perspective has also produced new procedures for structure prediction and analysis of thermodynamic properties. Basin-hopping global optimization, with alternative acceptance criteria and generalizations to multiple metric spaces, has been used to treat systems ranging from biomolecules to nanoalloy clusters and condensed matter. This review also illustrates how all this methodology, developed in the context of chemical physics, can be transferred to landscapes defined by cost functions associated with machine learning.

Landscape, historic memory and national identity in the beginnings of the policy nature conservation in Spain: from Covadonga to San Juan de la Peña

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Jacobo García Álvarez

2013-08-01

Full Text Available This article reflects on the concept of “national landscape” and on the importance of identity symbolic values in the beginning of landscape and nature conservation policy in Spain. The emblematic case of the Montaña de Covadonga (the first National Park created in Spain is examined in more detail. The paper is divided into three main sections. The first one raises some theoretical and general considerations on the role of identity symbolic values within the first steps of nature conservation policies in Spain and other national contexts. Secondly, the cultural-historic processes and discourses which converted the Montaña de Covadonga landscape into a Spanish national symbol and into a site of memory, leading to its declaration as a National Park in 1918, are reviewed. The third section examines the ideological identity disputes and controversies concerning the creation of that National Park, some of which led to the declaration of the Sitio Nacional del Monte de San Juan de la Peña in 1920. The article approaches the creation of the first Spanish Natural Parks as a part of the nationalization policies inspired by the concerns of the “Regeneracionismo”. More precisely, the beginning of natural conservation policy in Spain may be considered as part of the efforts carried out by certain intellectual and political leaders in order to institutionalize new spaces of collective identity grounded in landscape and nature (and, more particularly, in some natural landscapes endowed with a strong historic symbolic meaning as regards to the “birth of the nation”. According to the research conclusions, the ideological controversies raised around the first Spanish Natural Parks can be understood as a reflection of the plurality of competing national conceptions existing in Spain, as well as of the difficulties in reaching a consensus on the country’s national symbols.

GEOMORPHOLOGY. Experimental evidence for hillslope control of landscape scale.

Science.gov (United States)

Sweeney, K E; Roering, J J; Ellis, C

2015-07-03

Landscape evolution theory suggests that climate sets the scale of landscape dissection by modulating the competition between diffusive processes that sculpt convex hillslopes and advective processes that carve concave valleys. However, the link between the relative dominance of hillslope and valley transport processes and landscape scale is difficult to demonstrate in natural landscapes due to the episodic nature of erosion. Here, we report results from laboratory experiments combining diffusive and advective processes in an eroding landscape. We demonstrate that rainsplash-driven disturbances in our experiments are a robust proxy for hillslope transport, such that increasing hillslope transport efficiency decreases drainage density. Our experimental results demonstrate how the coupling of climate-driven hillslope- and valley-forming processes, such as bioturbation and runoff, dictates the scale of eroding landscapes. Copyright © 2015, American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Thrips densities in organic leek fields in relation to the surrounding landscapes. Landscape management for functional biodiversity

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Belder, den E.; Elderson, J.; Schelling, G.C.; Brink, van den W.J.

2003-01-01

The study assessed the effects of hedgerow networks (line elements containing shrubs less than 2 m), woodlots (height > 2 m), other natural areas, and agricultural and horticultural land (polygons) in the landscapes on the abundance of a generalist thrips species in organic leek fields. Landscape

Connecting Brabant's cover sand landscapes through landscape history

Science.gov (United States)

Heskes, Erik; van den Ancker, Hanneke; Jungerius, Pieter Dirk; Harthoorn, Jaap; Maes, Bert; Leenders, Karel; de Jongh, Piet; Kluiving, Sjoerd; van den Oetelaar, Ger

2015-04-01

landscapes were formed, through prehistoric, Roman and medieval times up to the post-modern nature building projects aimed at restoring biodiversity. A brochure was developed to raise awareness and promote interest for a landscape historical concept, in which each region profits from being part of a quality history.

Organised session - Rewilding landscapes for the future - learning from the past.

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Meijles, Erik; Spek, Mattheus

2016-01-01

Natura2000 and Water Framework Directive policies aim for natural conditions in rural landscapes within the EU. As a result, many nature restoration, reconstruction or 'rewilding' projects are currently underway to (re)create natural landscapes. Such projects often strive for a multi-disciplinary

Airborne laser altimeter measurements of landscape topography

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ritchie, J.C.

1995-01-01

Measurements of topography can provide a wealth of information on landscape properties for managing hydrologic and geologic systems and conserving natural and agricultural resources. This article discusses the application of an airborne laser altimeter to measure topography and other landscape surface properties. The airborne laser altimeter makes 4000 measurements per second with a vertical recording resolution of 5 cm. Data are collected digitally with a personal computer. A video camera, borehole sighted with the laser, records an image for locating flight lines. GPS data are used to locate flight line positions on the landscape. Laser data were used to measure vegetation canopy topography, height, cover, and distribution and to measure microtopography of the land surface and gullies with depths of 15–20 cm. Macrotopography of landscape profiles for segments up to 4 km were in agreement with available topographic maps but provided more detail. Larger gullies with and without vegetation, and stream channel cross sections and their associated floodplains have also been measured and reported in other publications. Landscape segments for any length could be measured for either micro- or macrotopography. Airborne laser altimeter measurements of landscape profiles can provide detailed information on landscape properties or specific needs that will allow better decisions on the design and location of structures (i.e., roads, pipe, and power lines) and for improving the management and conservation of natural and agricultural landscapes. (author)

Testing Predictions of a Landscape Evolution Model Using the Dragon’s Back Pressure Ridge as a Natural Experiment

Science.gov (United States)

Perignon, M. C.; Tucker, G. E.; Hilley, G. E.; Arrowsmith, R.

2009-12-01

Landscape evolution models use mass transport rules to simulate the temporal development of topography over timescales too long for humans to observe. As such, these models are difficult to test using the decadal time-scale observations of topographic change that can be directly measured. In contrast, natural systems in which driving forces, boundary conditions, and timing of landscape evolution over millennial time-scales can be well constrained may be used to test the ability of mathematical models to reproduce various attributes of the observed topography. The Dragon’s Back pressure ridge, a 4km x 0.5 km x 100 m high area of elevated topography elongate parallel to the south-central San Andreas fault (SAF) in California, serves as a natural laboratory for studying how the timing and spatial distribution of uplift affects patterns of erosion and topography. Geologic mapping and geophysical studies show that, at this location, the Pacific plate is forced over a relatively stationary shallow discontinuity in the SAF, resulting in local uplift. Continued right-lateral motion along the fault results in the movement of material though the uplift zone at the SAF slip rate of 35 mm/yr. This allows for the substitution of space for time when observing topographic change, and can be used to constrain the tectonic conditions to which the surface processes responded and developed the resulting landscape. We used the CHILD model of landscape evolution to recreate the Dragon’s Back pressure ridge system in order to test the reliability of the model predictions and determine the necessary and sufficient conditions to explain the observed topography. To do this, we first ran a Monte Carlo simulation in which we varied the model inputs within a range of plausible values. We then compared the model results with LiDAR topography from the Dragon’s Back pressure ridge to determine which combinations of input parameters best reproduced the observed topography and how well it

Visual perception of landscape: sex and personality differences

Science.gov (United States)

A. Macia

1979-01-01

The present study established relationships between individual differences and subjective evaluation of different kinds of landscapes. These were the first three principle components of the five components obtained from a matrix of coincidences. The three components used were: 1) natural versus humanized landscapes; 2) pleasant versus rough landscapes; 3) straight and...

Application of geoecological concept of the alluvial landscape in the creation of nature reserve (case study from Czech Republic

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ivo Machar

2011-01-01

Full Text Available The geoecological concept of the alluvial landscape describes the variability and consecutive character of alluvial ecotopes and biocenoses, which are interrelated in terms of their homeorhetic development, in their dynamic ecological stability. This article deals with application of this landscape concept in the frame of creation of nature reserve as core zone of the Litovelské Pomoraví Protected Landscape Area (Czech Republic. Complex protection of the whole floodplain ecosystem, which comprised all components of the fluvial succession series of alluvial habitats, was proposed on the basis of determination of geomorphological type of the river system. Analyses of the floodplain forest stands status within the study area were performed using methods that are normally used in the elaboration of management plans of protected areas within forest land on the basis of data from Forest Management Plan. The area of the proposed NNR was created by the overlay of the special map layers using method gap-analysis in the frame of GIS.

Studying landscape architecture in Denmark

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Braae, Ellen Marie; Hare, Richard Andrew

2010-01-01

s demanded large numbers of landscape architects. Today landscape architecture education addresses current challenges of climate change and the need for sustainable development where an understanding of natural systems is seen as essential for future urbanisation processes in evermore innovative......Landscape architecture is a well-established profession in Denmark. From the early 20th Century the profession developed steadily. However, it was 1960 before a separate education was established. This proved timely as the immense physical development of the Danish welfare state of the 1970s and 80...

Natural self-reclamation of soils and landscapes affected by agriculture and mining

Science.gov (United States)

Alekseenko, Vladimir; Bech, Jaume; Alekseenko, Alexey; Shvydkaya, Natalya; Puzanov, Alexander; Roca, Núria

2017-04-01

Processes of possible self-restoration of technogenically disturbed soils are studied in Central and Southern European Russia. Reclamation procedures are mainly not implemented in this vast region, and the natural soil restoration is supposed. Heaps overlaying the former steppe and cropland landscapes are created in the course of rock waste stacking after preparative and cleaning mining works during the underground coal extraction. Approximately 1 500 heaps occupying over 8 000 ha were formed in the area of the Donets Coal Basin. Soils are destroyed under heaps, land subsidence occurs in coal mining areas and acid lakes are usually formed in these ground depressions. Spontaneous combustions happen often and can continue for decades. In order to prevent them, heap surfaces are in some cases levelled and filled with water, forming peculiar ponds. After 70 years of heaps existence and ca. 50 years after their ignition, soil formation is just in the early stages. Heap surface differs a lot in geochemical and mineralogical characteristics from those of surrounding steppe soils that suffered substantial changes at distances up to 1 km. Development of plant communities in areas near coal dumps and heaps is one of the indicators of landscape-geochemical changes. Formation of ruderal phytocenoses with 10-15 % of local flora, as well as invasive and introduced plants occurred under the complex impact of ecological conditions. Communities formed by them are distinguished by the structure simplicity, low species diversity, and plant growth anomalies. Quarries and dumps are formed during underground and open-cast mining of ore deposits. During the last 50 years after abandoning mines in forest areas, the 30 m deep quarries have filled with the creep material less for 0.5 m, and sediments from water streams have added 1-3 cm. Thickness of argillaceous layers does not exceed 1-2 cm at small rock chips of the dumps that measures up to 70 km in length. The dumps are partially

Combining Aesthetic with Ecological Values for Landscape Sustainability

OpenAIRE

Yang, Dewei; Luo, Tao; Lin, Tao; Qiu, Quanyi; Luo, Yunjian

2014-01-01

Humans receive multiple benefits from various landscapes that foster ecological services and aesthetic attractiveness. In this study, a hybrid framework was proposed to evaluate ecological and aesthetic values of five landscape types in Houguanhu Region of central China. Data from the public aesthetic survey and professional ecological assessment were converted into a two-dimensional coordinate system and distribution maps of landscape values. Results showed that natural landscapes (i.e. wate...

Landscape architecture between politics and science : an integrative perspective on landscape planning and design in the network society

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Jonge, de J.M.

2009-01-01

This thesis examines the typical nature of design thinking, which is compared and contrasted with scientific and political thinking. A theretical framework is formulated and applied to landscape planning and design. During the 20th century the established operational orientation in landscape

Caribbean landscapes and their biodiversity

Science.gov (United States)

A. E. Lugo; E. H. Helmer; E. Santiago Valentín

2012-01-01

Both the biodiversity and the landscapes of the Caribbean have been greatly modified as a consequence of human activity. In this essay we provide an overview of the natural landscapes and biodiversity of the Caribbean and discuss how human activity has affected both. Our Caribbean geographic focus is on the insular Caribbean and the biodiversity focus is on the flora,...

Boundaries of Mind and Nature - Human responses to changing landscapes over 2000 year during the Neolithic in Uppland, Sweden.

Science.gov (United States)

von Hackwitz, Kim; Löwenborg, Daniel

2015-04-01

waterways and access to places influencing the choice of locations and the outline of regions. The results point to historical maintenances of ancient territories that both ignore and follow natural topographies in a rapidly changing landscape. The paper is a result from a two year postdoc financed by the Swedish Research Council.

The utilization of natural resources under the conditions of intersectoral intergration

OpenAIRE

Dankevych, Ye.; Данкевич, Є. М.

2013-01-01

The paper studies and analyses the present-day state of the utilization of natural resources by agricultural commodity producers. Some changes of the natural components under the conditions of the increased anthropological load on landscape have been revealed. The author investigates the basic production factors which essentially influence the agrolandscape. It has been established that the increase in the technical level stipulates the human interference with natural complexes, land resource...

Landscape Builder: Software for the creation of initial landscapes for LANDIS from FIA data

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

William Dijak

2013-06-01

Full Text Available I developed Landscape Builder to create spatially explicit landscapes as starting conditions for LANDIS Pro 7.0 and LANDIS II landscape forest simulation models from classified satellite imagery and Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA data collected over multiple years. LANDIS Pro and LANDIS II models project future landscapes by simulating tree growth, tree species succession, disease, insects, fire, wind, and management disturbance. Landscape Builder uses inventory plot attributes from the FIA inventory database, FIA unit map, National Forest type map, National Forest size class map, land cover map, and landform map to assign FIA plot attributes to raster pixels representing a real forest landscape. In addition to creating a detailed map of current (initial forest landscape conditions, the software produces specific files required for use in LANDIS Pro 7.0 or LANDIS II format. Other tools include the ability to create a dominant species and age-class map from previously created LANDIS maps, a tool to create a dominant species and age-class map from a stand map and field plot data, and a tool to convert between Esri ascii rasters and Erdas file format types.

A landscape project for the coexistence of agriculture and nature: a proposal for the coastal area of a Natura 2000 site in Sicily (Italy

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lara Riguccio

2016-06-01

Full Text Available Many rural coastal Mediterranean areas suffer from great anthropomorphic pressure. This is due to intensive agriculture, and construction for residential, tourism and industrial uses. The present work investigates the idea of using a landscape project in the Gulf of Gela in South Sicily to recover the dunes and the area behind them. The method used is based on the literature and will evaluate and interpret the dynamics of the landscape, so as to draw up a landscape plan, which can be used to help sustain the assets of the area, in a way, which is compatible with conserving nature. This method was tested in the LIFE11-Leopoldia project, funded by the European Union. The results of the study form part of the landscape project. This project is aimed at connecting the different productive zones in the area, protecting the natural environments and the rural historical patrimony, through combining the modern road networks with the older slower, historic infrastructure. Three different levels of landscape management are proposed: total protection (the dunes, high-level protection (the area behind the dunes where traditional agriculture is practised, buffer areas and ecological connecting areas, medium levels of protection (sustainable agriculture, green connections and ecological corridors. The key aims of the project are as follows: transversality - repairing the agricultural fabric and the relationship between the land and the sea; sustainability - recovering the environmental system and traditional activities; flexibility - agriculture with only minor environmental impact.

Competing Wind Energy Discourses, Contested Landscapes

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Antje Otto

2014-10-01

Full Text Available The impairment of landscapes is a concern constantly raised against wind energy developments in Germany as in other countries. Often, landscapes or landscape types are treated in the literature as essentialist or at least as uncontested categories. We analyse two examples of local controversies about wind energy, in which “landscape” is employed by supporters and opponents alike, from a poststructuralist and discourse theoretical angle. The aim is to identify and compare landscape constructs produced in the micro discourses of wind energy objectors and proponents at local level (a within each case, (b between the two cases and (c with landscape constructs that were previously found in macro discourses. One major finding is that several different landscapes can exist at one and the same place. Furthermore there seems to be a relatively stable set of competing landscape concepts which is reproduced in specific controversies. The paper concludes by highlighting practical consequences and by identifying promising avenues of further research.

Exploring the level sets of quantum control landscapes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rothman, Adam; Ho, Tak-San; Rabitz, Herschel

2006-01-01

A quantum control landscape is defined by the value of a physical observable as a functional of the time-dependent control field E(t) for a given quantum-mechanical system. Level sets through this landscape are prescribed by a particular value of the target observable at the final dynamical time T, regardless of the intervening dynamics. We present a technique for exploring a landscape level set, where a scalar variable s is introduced to characterize trajectories along these level sets. The control fields E(s,t) accomplishing this exploration (i.e., that produce the same value of the target observable for a given system) are determined by solving a differential equation over s in conjunction with the time-dependent Schroedinger equation. There is full freedom to traverse a level set, and a particular trajectory is realized by making an a priori choice for a continuous function f(s,t) that appears in the differential equation for the control field. The continuous function f(s,t) can assume an arbitrary form, and thus a level set generally contains a family of controls, where each control takes the quantum system to the same final target value, but produces a distinct control mechanism. In addition, although the observable value remains invariant over the level set, other dynamical properties (e.g., the degree of robustness to control noise) are not specifically preserved and can vary greatly. Examples are presented to illustrate the continuous nature of level-set controls and their associated induced dynamical features, including continuously morphing mechanisms for population control in model quantum systems

Ecological networks in urban landscapes

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Cook, E.A.

2000-01-01

This research focuses on the topic of ecological networks in urban landscapes. Analysis and planning of ecological networks is a relatively new phenomenon and is a response to fragmentation and deterioration of quality of natural systems. In agricultural areas and with existing nature

Mosaic boreal landscapes with open and forested wetlands

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sjoeberg, K.; Ericson, L.

1997-01-01

We review patterns and processes important for biodiversity in the Fennoscandian boreal forest, describe man's past and present impact and outline a strategy for conservation. The boreal landscape was earlier characterized by a mosaic of open and forested wetlands and forests. Drainage and felling operation have largely changed that pattern. Several organisms depend upon the landscape mosaic. Natural ecotones between mire and forest provide food resources predictable in space and time contrasting to unpredictable edges in the silvicultured landscape. The mosaic is also a prerequisite for organisms dependent on non-substitutable resources in the landscape. The importance of swamp forests has increased as they function as refugia for earlier more widespread old-growth species. Programmes for maintaining biodiversity in the boreal landscape should include the following points. First, the natural mosaic with open and forested wetlands must be maintained. Second, swamp forests must receive a general protection as they often constitute the only old-growth patches in the landscape. Third, we need to restore earlier disturbance regimes. Present strategy plans for conservation are insufficient, as they imply that a too large proportion of boreal organisms will not be able to survive outside protected areas. Instead, we need to focus more on how to preserve organisms in the man-influenced landscape. As a first step we need to understand how organisms are distributed in landscapes at various spatial scales. We need studies in landscapes where the original mosaic has faced various degrees of fragmentation. (au) 124 refs

Editorial: Entropy in Landscape Ecology

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Samuel A. Cushman

2018-04-01

Full Text Available Entropy and the second law of thermodynamics are the central organizing principles of nature, but the ideas and implications of the second law are poorly developed in landscape ecology. The purpose of this Special Issue “Entropy in Landscape Ecology” in Entropy is to bring together current research on applications of thermodynamics in landscape ecology, to consolidate current knowledge and identify key areas for future research. The special issue contains six articles, which cover a broad range of topics including relationships between entropy and evolution, connections between fractal geometry and entropy, new approaches to calculate configurational entropy of landscapes, example analyses of computing entropy of landscapes, and using entropy in the context of optimal landscape planning. Collectively these papers provide a broad range of contributions to the nascent field of ecological thermodynamics. Formalizing the connections between entropy and ecology are in a very early stage, and that this special issue contains papers that address several centrally important ideas, and provides seminal work that will be a foundation for the future development of ecological and evolutionary thermodynamics.

Longwave infrared observation of urban landscapes

Science.gov (United States)

Goward, S. N.

1981-01-01

An investigation is conducted regarding the feasibility to develop improved methods for the identification and analysis of urban landscapes on the basis of a utilization of longwave infrared observations. Attention is given to landscape thermal behavior, urban thermal properties, modeled thermal behavior of pavements and buildings, and observed urban landscape thermal emissions. The differential thermal behavior of buildings, pavements, and natural areas within urban landscapes is found to suggest that integrated multispectral solar radiant reflectance and terrestrial radiant emissions data will significantly increase potentials for analyzing urban landscapes. In particular, daytime satellite observations of the considered type should permit better identification of urban areas and an analysis of the density of buildings and pavements within urban areas. This capability should enhance the utility of satellite remote sensor data in urban applications.

Objective computerized approaches for centralized geophysical and geochemical landscape project planning.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Danilyan Eugene Andreevich

2013-10-01

Full Text Available At present landscape design does not represent a scientific subject in strict sense, being a superposition of decorative and applied landscape art and the methods of graphic architectural planning. Serving interests of customers, it does not harmonize with the individual needs of the ground based on landscape geochemistry and ecology. Hence, it results in great number of grounds not consistent with each other according to geochemical criteria. In many cases total soil changing, isolation of natural hydrodynamic drainage, introduction of exotic plants interacting with their environment (including abiotic relations take place, it results in disequilibrium in the ground. Ecological system efficiency needs to be constantly artificially maintained, and that does not support its stability. In other words, without maintaining sufficient conditions, it will be influenced by succession with the course of time, as a particular case of potential gradient equalization. Hence, at present there is an acute problem to develop such a concept of landscape design, that, covering ecological requirements of customers, would be mass one, not producing gradient isolation effect and ecologically self-sustaining in given environment at the same time. It is evident, that to meet these requirements, this concept should not be the product of subjective vision of the author, but direct consequence of geophysical and geochemical landscape condition with theoretical development allowing calculation testing at any scale of geographical zoning.

The landscapes of tourism space

OpenAIRE

Włodarczyk, Bogdan

2009-01-01

The author attempts to define the term ‘tourism landscape’. It is treated as an important attribute of tourism space therefore, apart from its definition, the author presents its characteristic features and various types of such spaces with differing tourism landscapes. The landscapes of tourism space are treated not only as tourism assets or attractions, but also as the consequences of tourism activity on the natural and cultural environment.

Power Lines: The Rhetoric of Maps as Social Change in the Post-Cold War Landscape

Science.gov (United States)

Barney, Timothy

2009-01-01

After the fall of the Berlin Wall and the collapse of state socialism in Eastern and Central Europe, cartographers were faced with choices on how the new post-Cold War political landscape would be mapped. One such group called the Pluto Project had been producing atlases since 1981 with a progressive point of view about the nature of state power…

Planetary Landscape Geography

Science.gov (United States)

Hargitai, H.

INTRODUCTION Landscape is one of the most often used category in physical ge- ography. The term "landshap" was introduced by Dutch painters in the 15-16th cen- tury. [1] The elements that build up a landscape (or environment) on Earth consists of natural (biogenic and abiogenic - lithologic, atmospheric, hydrologic) and artificial (antropogenic) factors. Landscape is a complex system of these different elements. The same lithology makes different landscapes under different climatic conditions. If the same conditions are present, the same landscape type will appear. Landscapes build up a hierarchic system and cover the whole surface. On Earth, landscapes can be classified and qualified according to their characteristics: relief forms (morphology), and its potential economic value. Aesthetic and subjective parameters can also be considered. Using the data from landers and data from orbiters we can now classify planetary landscapes (these can be used as geologic mapping units as well). By looking at a unknown landscape, we can determine the processes that created it and its development history. This was the case in the Pathfinder/Sojourner panoramas. [2]. DISCUSSION Planetary landscape evolution. We can draw a raw landscape develop- ment history by adding the different landscape building elements to each other. This has a strong connection with the planet's thermal evolution (age of the planet or the present surface materials) and with orbital parameters (distance from the central star, orbit excentricity etc). This way we can build a complex system in which we use differ- ent evolutional stages of lithologic, atmospheric, hydrologic and biogenic conditions which determine the given - Solar System or exoplanetary - landscape. Landscape elements. "Simple" landscapes can be found on asteroids: no linear horizon is present (not differentiated body, only impact structures), no atmosphere (therefore no atmospheric scattering - black sky as part of the landscape) and no

Landscape epidemiology of emerging infectious diseases in natural and human-altered ecosystems

Science.gov (United States)

Ross K. Meentemeyer; Sarah Haas; Tomáš Václavík

2013-01-01

A central challenge to studying emerging infectious diseases (EIDs) is a landscape dilemma: our best empirical understanding of disease dynamics occurs at local scales while pathogen invasions and management occur over broad spatial extents. The burgeoning field of landscape epidemiology integrates concepts and approaches from disease ecology with the macro-scale lens...

“Hindi Bayani/Not a Hero”: The Linguistic Landscape of Protest in Manila

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jennifer Monje

2017-12-01

Full Text Available This article examines the linguistic landscape of Manila during a protest march in November 2016 in response to the burial of deposed president Ferdinand Marcos at the Libingan ng mga Bayani (Heroes’ Cemetery. This article is situated among linguistic landscape of protest research (Kasanga, 2014; Seals, 2011; Shiri, 2015 where data is composed of mobile posters, placards, banners, and other ‘unfixed’ signs, including texts on bodies, t-shirts, umbrellas, and rocks. Following Sebba (2010, this article argues that both ‘fixed’ linguistic landscape and ‘mobile’ public texts are indices of the linguistic composition of cities, linguistic diversity, and ethnolinguistic vitality (Landry & Bourhis, 1997. Through a qualitative analysis of selected pictures produced during the protest march and uploaded onto social media, the multilingual nature of Manila is rendered salient and visible, albeit temporarily, and strategies of dissent are reflective of the language of the millennials who populated the protests.

LANDSCAPE CHANGES IN A LOWLAND IN BENIN: ECOLOGICAL IMPACT ON PESTS AND NATURAL ENEMIES.

Science.gov (United States)

Boucher, A; Silvie, P; Menozzi, P; Adda, C; Auzoux, S; Jean, J; Huat, J

2015-01-01

Habitat management involving conservative biological control could be a good crop pest management option in poor African countries. A survey was conducted from August 2013 to July 2014 in a rainfed lowland region near Pélébina, northern Benin, in order to characterize spatiotemporal landscape changes and investigate their influence on the main crop pests and their associated natural enemies. The area was mapped mainly regarding crop fields and fallows. Visual observations were recorded and a database was compiled. Major landscape composition changes were noted between rainy and dry seasons, which affected the presence of both pests and natural enemies. Cereals (rice, maize and sorghum) and cotton were grown in the humid season, and then okra (Abelmoschus esculentus) was the dominant vegetable crop in dry season. These modifications impacted fallow abundance throughout the lowland. Different cotton (e.g. Helicoverpa armigera, Dysdercus sp., Zonocerus variegatus) or rice (e.g. Diopsis longicornis, D. apicalis) pests were observed during dry season in okra crops. Dry season surveys of Poaceae in two types of fallows ('humid', 'dry') revealed the presence of very few stem borers: only 0.04% of stems sampled were infested by stem borers, with a mean of 1.13 larvae per stem. Known cereal stem borer species such as Busseola fusco, Coniesta ignefusalis, Sesamia calamistis were not clearly identified among these larvae because of their diapausing stage and white color. Unexpected pollinators (Hymenoptera Apidae, genus Braunsapis, Ceratina and Xylocopa) and predators (Crabronidae, genus Dasyproctus) were found in the stems. Sweep-net collection of insects in humid fallows allowed us to describe for the first time in Benin seven Diopsidae species (23% of adults bearing Laboulbeniomycetes ectoparasitic fungi). Some of these species were captured in rice fields during rainy season. Parasitoids (adult Chalcidoidae and Ichneumonoidae) were observed during both seasons but their

A landscape character assessment of three terraced areas in Campania region, Italy

Science.gov (United States)

Gravagnuolo, Antonia; Ronza, Maria; Di Martino, Ferdinando; De Rosa, Fortuna

2017-04-01

Agricultural terraces represent the territorial structure of many cultural landscapes in the Campania region, Italy. Historic urban/rural settlements and hydraulic-agrarian systems have been developed on mountains and hills, producing diverse cultural landscapes depending on the specific geological, pedological and geomorphological characteristics, which influenced the character and functions of terraces. These unique landscapes are multi-functional and provide many ecosystem services: provisioning (food, water retention, building materials); regulating and maintenance (hydrogeological stability, soil fertility, protection from soil erosion, maintenance of genetic diversity, habitat); cultural services (heritage and traditional knowledge conservation, tourism and recreation, spiritual experience, education, aesthetic quality). Three terraced landscapes in Campania are analysed, which present a rich diversity in the geological structure and formal/functional characteristics: the Roccamonfina vulcanic area, a highly fertile and lapillous soil; the Monte di Bulgheria, a clay-rich area; and finally the well-known UNESCO World Heritage site of the Amalfi Coast, a calcareous, steep rock faced area. A landscape character assessment of the three sites is processed, identifying the biophysical structure of the sites, natural systems and land use, and cultural and anthropic elements. Terraced landscapes in Campania can be regenerated, taking again an active social and economic role for the society, enhancing their multifunctionality as a key source of wellbeing. Ecosystem services are mapped and evaluated to assess benefits and costs in a multidimensional framework. Spatial analysis in GIS environment supports this process, providing a decision-support tool for mapping and assessment of terraced landscapes, to convert their actual and potential value into a resource of economic sustainable development.

Relative importance of habitat area and isolation for bird occurrence patterns in a naturally patchy landscape

Science.gov (United States)

Wilson, T.L.; Johnson, E.J.; Bissonette, J.A.

2009-01-01

There is debate among ecologists about whether total habitat area or patch arrangement contributes most to population and/or community responses to fragmented or patchy landscapes. We tested the relative effects of patch area and isolation for predicting bird occurrence in a naturally patchy landscape in the Bear River Mountains of Northern Utah, USA. We selected focal patches (mountain meadows) ranging in elevation from 1,920 to 2,860 m and in size from 0.6 to 182 ha. Breeding birds were sampled in each focal meadow during the summers of 2003 and 2004 using variable-distance point transects. Logistic regression and likelihood-based model selection were used to determine the relationship between likelihood of occurrence of three bird species (Brewer's sparrow, vesper sparrow, and white-crowned sparrow) and area, isolation, and proximity metrics. We used model weights and model-averaged confidence intervals to assess the importance of each predictor variable. Plots of area versus isolation were used to evaluate complex relationships between the variables. We found that meadow area was the most important variable for explaining occurrence for two species, and that isolation was the most important for the other. We also found that the absolute distance was more appropriate for evaluating isolation responses than was the species-specific proximity metric. Our findings add clarity to the debate between ecologists regarding the relative importance of area and isolation in species responses to patchy landscapes.

[Developmental instability of the organism as a result of pessimization of environment under anthropogenic transformation of natural landscapes].

Science.gov (United States)

Shadrina, E G; Vol'pert, Ia L

2014-01-01

The value of fluctuating asymmetry is considered to be an indicator of the developmental instability of the organism. The consequences of activities of the mining industry plants, which are characterized by alienation and transformation of large areas of natural landscapes, are analyzed as an anthropogenic factor. The objects of study were small mammals (northern red-backed (Clethrionomys rutilus) and gray red-backed (Clethrionomys rufocanus) voles, tundra vole (Microtus oeconomus), Laxmann's (Sorex caecutiens) and tundra (S. tundrensis) shrews) and trees (Japanese white birch (Betula platyphylla), Betula divaricate, Betula exilis, Duschekiafruticosa, and common osier (Salix viminalis)). In total, 3500 skulls and approximately 30000 leaves collected in the taiga zone of Yakutia were studied. The index offluctuating asymmetry, as well as population parameters and composition of small mammal communities, were analyzed. The data on the value of the fluctuating asymmetry in the studied species in natural habitats are given. It is shown that, in natural conditions, this parameter can rise with deterioration in living conditions, particularly at the ecological periphery of the range. Anthropogenic transformation of natural landscapes creates an "anthropogenic periphery" and causes changes similar to the adaptive responses at the northern limit of the distribution of species. It was found that, through pollution and disruption of ecosystems, the mining industry affects all levels of organization of the living matter, but the population and cenotic parameters give an unambiguous response only at macroanthropogenic transformations. Increase in the level of fluctuating asymmetry is the most sensitive indicator of anthropogenic impact and it should also be taken into account that disruptions in the developmental stability of an organism reflect the destructive processes occurring in the population and community.

Therapeutic landscapes and longevity: Wellness tourism in Bama.

Science.gov (United States)

Huang, Liyuan; Xu, Honggang

2018-01-01

Due to the rising demand for healthcare products and concern over environmental pollution, wellness tourism has been booming in China in recent years. The therapeutic landscape theory provides a multi-scale interpretation of wellness tourism to explore how wellness tourists achieve health in healing places. By presenting the results of 83 interviews conducted in Bama, China, this study reveals that the "longevity village" Bama, endorsed by centenarians, provides a retreat that combines natural beauty and a harmonious neighbourhood for wellness tourists. This article argues that although three themes-natural environment, social interaction and symbolic landscape-work together in the healing process of tourists, the symbolic landscape, which is significantly shaped by the longevity culture, plays a dominant role. Longevity in Chinese culture symbolizes the alignment of a strong body, graceful mind, and pleasant habitat. Furthermore, tourism reinforces the importance of symbols and imagination (of a place), the perception of longevity demonstrates the symbolic landscape and thus increases tourists' attachment to the place, and the unusual environment leads to a different therapeutic landscape from that of daily life. Finally, since to date there has been very few works on therapeutic landscapes in China, it is expected that this study will fill the knowledge gap and broaden the scope of application as well as conceptualization of the therapeutic landscape. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The Impacts of Spatiotemporal Landscape Changes on Water Quality in Shenzhen, China.

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Liu, Zhenhuan; Yang, Haiyan

2018-05-22

The urban landscape in China has changed rapidly over the past four decades, which has led to various environmental consequences, such as water quality degradation at the regional scale. To improve water restoration strategies and policies, this study assessed the relationship between water quality and landscape change in Shenzhen, China, using panel regression analysis. The results show that decreases in natural and semi-natural landscape compositions have had significant negative effects on water quality. Landscape composition and configuration changes accounted for 39⁻58% of the variation in regional water quality degradation. Additionally, landscape fragmentation indices, such as patch density (PD) and the number of patches (NP), are important indicators of the drivers of water quality degradation. PD accounted for 2.03⁻5.44% of the variability in water quality, while NP accounted for -1.63% to -4.98% of the variability. These results indicate that reducing landscape fragmentation and enhancing natural landscape composition at the watershed scale are vital to improving regional water quality. The study findings suggest that urban landscape optimization is a promising strategy for mitigating urban water quality degradation, and the results can be used in policy making for the sustainable development of the hydrological environment in rapidly urbanizing areas.

Sustainable landscape approach: Evaluation of xeriscape landscape design in KTU Kanuni Campus

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Elif Bayramoğlu

2016-10-01

Full Text Available Plant elements in landscape as well as all living beings have been affected from the global warming and drought in the last decade. With consideration the sustainable landscaping approach in order to reduce the negative effects of drought in planning and landscape, xeriscape approach has brought in issues of water use management. This study was conducted to determine the sustainability of grass and refuge plant for xeriscape around the road axis in the campus of Karadeniz Technical University and has led to some noticeably proposals solutions. According to the results achieved, 10 plant species from 53 species were determined with low water request, 13 of them dedicated a middle amount of water demand, and finally 4 of them requested high amount of water. Although water request of plants found in the area is low, natural species which are more effective for the xeriscape approach were not used in the site. In spite of some factors such as type of grass mixture used, capacity of water saving, and being strong to drought as well as dense surface which are important in xeriscape planning approaches , this study emphasizes that it is more appropriate to use natural ground cover in the xeriscape approaches.

The farming system component of European agricultural landscapes

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Andersen, Erling

2017-01-01

Agricultural landscapes are the outcome of combined natural and human factors over time. This paper explores the scope of perceiving the agricultural landscapes of the European Union (EU) as distinct patterns of farming systems and landscape elements in homogeneous biophysical and administrative...... landscapes evolve from the praxis of the farmers and takes into account the scale, intensity and specialisation of the agricultural production. From farming system design point of view, the approach can be used to integrate the landscape in the design process. From a policy point of view, the approach offers...... endowments. The focus is on the farming systems component of the agricultural landscapes by applying a typology to the sample farms of the Farm Accountancy Data Network and scaling up the results to the landscape level for the territory of the EU. The farming system approach emphasises that agricultural...

The Influence of Stratigraphic History on Landscape Evolution

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Forte, A. M.; Yanites, B.; Whipple, K. X.

2016-12-01

Variation in rock erodibility can play a significant role in landscape evolution. Using a version of the CHILD landscape evolution model that allows for variations in rock erodibility, we found surprisingly complex landscape evolution in simulations with simple, two unit stratigraphies with contrasting erodibility. This work indicated that the stratigraphic order of units in terms of erodibility, the orientation of the contact with respect to the main drainage direction, and the contact dip angle all have pronounced effects on landscape evolution. Here we expand that work to explore the implications of more complicated stratigraphies on landscape evolution. Introducing multiple units adds additional controls on landscape evolution, namely the thicknesses and relative erodibility of rock layers. In models with a sequence of five alternating hard and soft units embedded within arbitrarily thick over- and underlying units, the number of individual layers that noticeably influence landscape morphology decreases as the thickness of individual layers reduces. Contacts with soft rocks over hard produce the most noticeable effect in model output such as erosion rate and channel steepness. For large contrasts in erodibility of 25 m thick layers, only one soft over hard contact is clearly manifest in the landscape. Between 50 and 75 m, two such contacts are manifest, and by 100 m thickness, all three of these contacts are manifest. However, for a given thickness of layers, more units are manifest in the landscape as the erodibility contrast between units decreases. This is true even though the magnitude of landscape effects away from steady-state erosion rates or channel steepness also decrease with decreasing erodibility contrast. Finally, we explore suites of models with alternating layers reflecting either `hardening-' or `softening-upwards' stratigraphies and find that the two scenarios result in decidedly different landscape forms. Hardening-upwards sections produce a

Experimental Study on the Health Benefits of Garden Landscape.

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Juyoung

2017-07-24

To mitigate the negative effects of modern cities on health, scientists are focusing on the diverse benefits of natural environments; a conceptual approach to use gardens for promoting human health is being attempted. In this study, the effects of the visual landscape of a traditional garden on psychological and physiological activities were investigated. Eighteen male and female adults participated in this indoor experiment (mean age, 26.7 years). Twelve different landscape images for city and garden were presented continuously for 90 s. In the time series changes of oxygenated hemoglobin (O₂Hb), different patterns of changes were observed between the city and garden. The mean O₂Hb values increased for the city landscapes, whereas they decreased for the garden landscapes both in the left and right prefrontal cortices. Significant differences in the negative psychological states of tension, fatigue, confusion, and anxiety were observed between the city and garden landscapes. Important differences in the physiological and psychological responses to the two different landscapes were also detected between male and female participants, providing valuable clues to individual differences in the health benefits of natural landscapes. To validate the use of gardens as a resource for promoting health in urban dwellers, further scientific evidence, active communication, and collaboration among experts in the relevant field are necessary.

EnviSAT ASAR Monitoring Of The Natural And Archaeological Landscape Of Nasca, Peru

Science.gov (United States)

Cigna, Francesca; Tapete, Deodato; Lasaponara, Rosa; Masini, Nicola

2013-12-01

We exploit the 4year-long archive of ENVISAT ASAR IS2 C-band imagery available through ESA Cat-1 project id.11073 over Nasca (Southern Peru), to reconstruct the temporal evolution of the Rio Grande drainage basin and its impacts on the natural and cultural heritage preserved within this region, well- known for the evidences of the ancient Paracas and Nasca Civilizations who flourished between the 4th century BC and the 6th century AD. Inferences about the recent changes of the cultural landscapes and the main landforms in 2003-2007 were retrieved based on SAR backscattering (σ0) time series. Ancient aqueduct systems (the so-called puquios) and the famous geoglyphs ('Nasca Lines') were detected, even at a medium-resolution scale provided by ENVISAT images.

An integrative analysis of the dynamics of landscape- and local-scale colonization of Mediterranean woodlands by Pinus halepensis.

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Efrat Sheffer

Full Text Available Afforestation efforts have resulted in extensive plantations of either native or non-native conifers, which in many regions has led to the spread of those conifers into surrounding natural vegetation. This process of species colonization can trigger profound changes in both community dynamics and ecosystem processes. Our study disentangled the complexity of a process of colonization in a heterogeneous landscape into a simple set of rules. We analyzed the factors that control the colonization of natural woodland ecosystems by Pinus halepensis dispersing from plantations in the Mediterranean region of Israel. We developed maximum-likelihood models to explain the densities of P. halepensis colonizing natural woodlands. Our models unravel how P. halepensis colonization is controlled by factors that determine colonization pressure by dispersing seeds and by factors that control resistance to colonization of the natural ecosystems. Our models show that the combination of different seed arrival processes from local, landscape, and regional scales determine pine establishment potential, but the relative importance of each component varied according to seed source distribution. Habitat resistance, determined by abiotic and biotic conditions, was as important as propagule input in determining the density of pine colonization. Thus, despite the fact that pine propagules disperse throughout the landscape, habitat heterogeneity within the natural ecosystems generates significant variation in the actual densities of colonized pine. Our approach provides quantitative measures of how processes at different spatial scales affect the distribution and densities of colonizing species, and a basis for projection of expected distributions. Variation in colonization rates, due to landscape-scale heterogeneity in both colonization pressure and resistance to colonization, can be expected to produce a diversity of new ecosystems. This work provides a template for

System and method for producing substitute natural gas from coal

Science.gov (United States)

Hobbs, Raymond [Avondale, AZ

2012-08-07

The present invention provides a system and method for producing substitute natural gas and electricity, while mitigating production of any greenhouse gasses. The system includes a hydrogasification reactor, to form a gas stream including natural gas and a char stream, and an oxygen burner to combust the char material to form carbon oxides. The system also includes an algae farm to convert the carbon oxides to hydrocarbon material and oxygen.

A methodology for creating greenways through multidisciplinary sustainable landscape planning.

Science.gov (United States)

Pena, Selma Beatriz; Abreu, Maria Manuela; Teles, Rui; Espírito-Santo, Maria Dalila

2010-01-01

This research proposes a methodology for defining greenways via sustainable planning. This approach includes the analysis and discussion of culture and natural processes that occur in the landscape. The proposed methodology is structured in three phases: eco-cultural analysis; synthesis and diagnosis; and proposal. An interdisciplinary approach provides an assessment of the relationships between landscape structure and landscape dynamics, which are essential to any landscape management or land use. The landscape eco-cultural analysis provides a biophysical, dynamic (geomorphologic rate), vegetation (habitats from directive 92/43/EEC) and cultural characterisation. The knowledge obtained by this analysis then supports the definition of priority actions to stabilise the landscape and the management measures for the habitats. After the analysis and diagnosis phases, a proposal for the development of sustainable greenways can be achieved. This methodology was applied to a study area of the Azambuja Municipality in the Lisbon Metropolitan Area (Portugal). The application of the proposed methodology to the study area shows that landscape stability is crucial for greenway users in order to appreciate the landscape and its natural and cultural elements in a sustainable and healthy way, both by cycling or by foot. A balanced landscape will increase the value of greenways and in return, they can develop socio-economic activities with benefits for rural communities. Copyright 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Fort Collins Science Center Ecosystem Dynamics branch--interdisciplinary research for addressing complex natural resource issues across landscapes and time

Science.gov (United States)

Bowen, Zachary H.; Melcher, Cynthia P.; Wilson, Juliette T.

2013-01-01

The Ecosystem Dynamics Branch of the Fort Collins Science Center offers an interdisciplinary team of talented and creative scientists with expertise in biology, botany, ecology, geology, biogeochemistry, physical sciences, geographic information systems, and remote-sensing, for tackling complex questions about natural resources. As demand for natural resources increases, the issues facing natural resource managers, planners, policy makers, industry, and private landowners are increasing in spatial and temporal scope, often involving entire regions, multiple jurisdictions, and long timeframes. Needs for addressing these issues include (1) a better understanding of biotic and abiotic ecosystem components and their complex interactions; (2) the ability to easily monitor, assess, and visualize the spatially complex movements of animals, plants, water, and elements across highly variable landscapes; and (3) the techniques for accurately predicting both immediate and long-term responses of system components to natural and human-caused change. The overall objectives of our research are to provide the knowledge, tools, and techniques needed by the U.S. Department of the Interior, state agencies, and other stakeholders in their endeavors to meet the demand for natural resources while conserving biodiversity and ecosystem services. Ecosystem Dynamics scientists use field and laboratory research, data assimilation, and ecological modeling to understand ecosystem patterns, trends, and mechanistic processes. This information is used to predict the outcomes of changes imposed on species, habitats, landscapes, and climate across spatiotemporal scales. The products we develop include conceptual models to illustrate system structure and processes; regional baseline and integrated assessments; predictive spatial and mathematical models; literature syntheses; and frameworks or protocols for improved ecosystem monitoring, adaptive management, and program evaluation. The descriptions

The performance of landscape concepts in spatial planning : branding, bonding and bringing about

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Hagens, J.E.

2010-01-01

Spatial planners are expressive people. They often use landscape concepts, being metaphors that refer to landscape ideas and planning principles. Examples are Green Heart, Nature Pearls and the Camelisation of landscapes. Such landscape concepts seem ‘innocent’ but are ‘guilty’ of powerful effects.

Landscape and biodiversity as new resources for agro-ecology? Insights from farmers' perspectives

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Nicolas Salliou

2017-06-01

Full Text Available Pesticide reduction is a key current challenge. Scientific findings in landscape ecology suggest that complex landscapes favor insect pest biological control by conservation of natural enemy habitats. A potential agro-ecological innovation is to conserve or engineer such complex landscapes to reduce pesticide use. However, whereas the relevant resources are often well known in most natural resource management situations, potential resources involved in this innovation (natural enemies and the landscape are not necessarily considered as resources in the eyes of their potential users. From the perspective that resources are socially constructed, our objective was to investigate whether and how these resources are considered by their potential users. To do so, we conducted research in an area specializing in tree-fruit (apple production in southwestern France. This site was selected for its high pest incidence and high use of insecticides on orchards and, consequently, high stakes involved for any alternative. We conducted 30 comprehensive interviews with stakeholders (farmers and crop advisors about their pest control strategies to explore their representation of their landscape and natural enemies. Our results show that natural enemies are considered by local stakeholders as public good resources, especially in the context of interventions by public institutions for their conservation, acclimation, and management. Farmers sometimes consider natural enemies as private goods when they can isolate the crop, enclosing it with nets or some other type of boundary. We also show that the landscape was not considered as a resource for biological pest control by conservation, but rather as a source of pests. We advocate for more research on the effects of landscapes on natural enemies, including participatory research based on dialogue among farmers, crop advisors, and scientists.

Landscape and Health: Connecting Psychology, Aesthetics, and Philosophy through the Concept of Affordance.

Science.gov (United States)

Menatti, Laura; Casado da Rocha, Antonio

2016-01-01

In this paper we address a frontier topic in the humanities, namely how the cultural and natural construction that we call landscape affects well-being and health. Following an updated review of evidence-based literature in the fields of medicine, psychology, and architecture, we propose a new theoretical framework called "processual landscape," which is able to explain both the health-landscape and the medical agency-structure binomial pairs. We provide a twofold analysis of landscape, from both the cultural and naturalist points of view: in order to take into account its relationship with health, the definition of landscape as a cultural product needs to be broadened through naturalization, grounding it in the scientific domain. Landscape cannot be distinguished from the ecological environment. For this reason, we naturalize the idea of landscape through the notion of affordance and Gibson's ecological psychology. In doing so, we stress the role of agency in the theory of perception and the health-landscape relationship. Since it is the result of continuous and co-creational interaction between the cultural agent, the biological agent and the affordances offered to the landscape perceiver, the processual landscape is, in our opinion, the most comprehensive framework for explaining the health-landscape relationship. The consequences of our framework are not only theoretical, but ethical also: insofar as health is greatly affected by landscape, this construction represents something more than just part of our heritage or a place to be preserved for the aesthetic pleasure it provides. Rather, we can talk about the right to landscape as something intrinsically linked to the well-being of present and future generations.

Landscape and Health: Connecting Psychology, Aesthetics, and Philosophy through the Concept of Affordance

Science.gov (United States)

Menatti, Laura; Casado da Rocha, Antonio

2016-01-01

In this paper we address a frontier topic in the humanities, namely how the cultural and natural construction that we call landscape affects well-being and health. Following an updated review of evidence-based literature in the fields of medicine, psychology, and architecture, we propose a new theoretical framework called “processual landscape,” which is able to explain both the health-landscape and the medical agency-structure binomial pairs. We provide a twofold analysis of landscape, from both the cultural and naturalist points of view: in order to take into account its relationship with health, the definition of landscape as a cultural product needs to be broadened through naturalization, grounding it in the scientific domain. Landscape cannot be distinguished from the ecological environment. For this reason, we naturalize the idea of landscape through the notion of affordance and Gibson’s ecological psychology. In doing so, we stress the role of agency in the theory of perception and the health-landscape relationship. Since it is the result of continuous and co-creational interaction between the cultural agent, the biological agent and the affordances offered to the landscape perceiver, the processual landscape is, in our opinion, the most comprehensive framework for explaining the health-landscape relationship. The consequences of our framework are not only theoretical, but ethical also: insofar as health is greatly affected by landscape, this construction represents something more than just part of our heritage or a place to be preserved for the aesthetic pleasure it provides. Rather, we can talk about the right to landscape as something intrinsically linked to the well-being of present and future generations. PMID:27199808

Energy landscapes shape animal movement ecology.

Science.gov (United States)

Shepard, Emily L C; Wilson, Rory P; Rees, W Gareth; Grundy, Edward; Lambertucci, Sergio A; Vosper, Simon B

2013-09-01

The metabolic costs of animal movement have been studied extensively under laboratory conditions, although frequently these are a poor approximation of the costs of operating in the natural, heterogeneous environment. Construction of "energy landscapes," which relate animal locality to the cost of transport, can clarify whether, to what extent, and how movement properties are attributable to environmental heterogeneity. Although behavioral responses to aspects of the energy landscape are well documented in some fields (notably, the selection of tailwinds by aerial migrants) and scales (typically large), the principles of the energy landscape extend across habitat types and spatial scales. We provide a brief synthesis of the mechanisms by which environmentally driven changes in the cost of transport can modulate the behavioral ecology of animal movement in different media, develop example cost functions for movement in heterogeneous environments, present methods for visualizing these energy landscapes, and derive specific predictions of expected outcomes from individual- to population- and species-level processes. Animals modulate a suite of movement parameters (e.g., route, speed, timing of movement, and tortuosity) in relation to the energy landscape, with the nature of their response being related to the energy savings available. Overall, variation in movement costs influences the quality of habitat patches and causes nonrandom movement of individuals between them. This can provide spatial and/or temporal structure to a range of population- and species-level processes, ultimately including gene flow. Advances in animal-attached technology and geographic information systems are opening up new avenues for measuring and mapping energy landscapes that are likely to provide new insight into their influence in animal ecology.

Comparing organic farming and land sparing: optimizing yield and butterfly populations at a landscape scale.

Science.gov (United States)

Hodgson, Jenny A; Kunin, William E; Thomas, Chris D; Benton, Tim G; Gabriel, Doreen

2010-11-01

Organic farming aims to be wildlife-friendly, but it may not benefit wildlife overall if much greater areas are needed to produce a given quantity of food. We measured the density and species richness of butterflies on organic farms, conventional farms and grassland nature reserves in 16 landscapes. Organic farms supported a higher density of butterflies than conventional farms, but a lower density than reserves. Using our data, we predict the optimal land-use strategy to maintain yield whilst maximizing butterfly abundance under different scenarios. Farming conventionally and sparing land as nature reserves is better for butterflies when the organic yield per hectare falls below 87% of conventional yield. However, if the spared land is simply extra field margins, organic farming is optimal whenever organic yields are over 35% of conventional yields. The optimal balance of land sparing and wildlife-friendly farming to maintain production and biodiversity will differ between landscapes. © 2010 Blackwell Publishing Ltd/CNRS.

Evaluation of the changes of landscape types of Slovakia

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Zita IZAKOVIČOVÁ

2013-07-01

environment for nature development In the second stage typing  rare and unique landscape types of Slovakia have been marked.Following, all RLTS were evaluated from the point of view nature protection and recent degradation and threats. In the meantime main changes of RLES were identified, taken into account also key driving forces of landscape changes and consequent pressures on the landscape. The final step included preparation of management proposal with aim to maintain all representative landscape types and to secure their sustainable development and protection.

Comparative Analysis of Methodologies for Landscape Ecological Aesthetics in Urban Planning

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Maija Jankevica

2012-05-01

Full Text Available Areas with high level of urbanisation provoke frequent conflicts between nature and people. There is a lack of cooperation between planners and nature scientists in urban studies and planning process. Landscapes usually are studied using the ecological and aesthetical approaches separately. However, the future of urban planning depends on integration of these two approaches. This research study looks into different methods of landscape ecological aesthetics and presents a combined method for urban areas. The methods of landscape visual aesthetical assessment, biotope structure analysis, landscape ecology evaluation and multi-disciplinary expert level are compared in the article. A comparison of obtained values is summarized by making a comparative matrix. As a result, a multi-stage model for landscape ecological aesthetics evaluation in urban territories is presented. This ecological aesthetics model can be successfully used for development of urban territories.

Landscape Sustainability in a Sonoran Desert City

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Chris A. Martin

2008-01-01

Full Text Available The objective of this paper is to discuss concepts of landscape sustainability in the Phoenix metropolitan area. Phoenix is situated in the greater Salt River Valley of the lower Sonoran Desert in the southwest United States. In this paper I use the ecological frameworks of ecosystem services and resiliency as a metric for understanding landscape sustainability. An assessment of landscape sustainability performance benchmarks were made by surveying research findings of scientists affiliated with the Central Arizona Phoenix Long Term Ecological Research Project (CAP LTER. In Phoenix, present day emphases on cultural, aesthetic, and habitat formation ecosystem services within an arid ecoregion of low natural resilience coupled to a complex matrix of socioeconomic stratification, excessive landscape water use and pruning practices has had the undesired effect of degrading landscape sustainability. This has been measured as mixed patterns of plant diversity and human-altered patterns of carbon regulation, microclimate control, and trophic dynamics. In the future, sustainable residential landscaping in desert cities such as Phoenix may be fostered through use of water-conserving irrigation technologies, oasis-style landscape design motifs, recycling of landscape green waste, and conservative plant pruning strategies.

Roads Belong in the Urban Landscape

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Clemmensen, Thomas Juel

2013-01-01

Roads are often associated with a fragmentation or splintering of landscapes and their natural connectivity; particularly in relation to ‘green infrastructure’ they are often considered problematic elements that rupture and barricade. Conversely, as part of larger networks, roads can be considered...... important elements in the creation of new, ‘green infrastructures’ that can qualify urban landscapes in terms of improving their overall porosity and connectivity. This argument will be unfolded and substantiated in this article through theoretical reflections which conceptually re-locate road networks...... in the urban landscape, supported by relevant reference projects that illustrate the potential of road networks as a platform for ‘green infrastructure’....

Producing Gorongosa: Space and the Environmental Politics of Degradation in Mozambique

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Michael Madison Walker

2015-01-01

Full Text Available This article examines the spatial production of the greater Gorongosa ecosystem, linking the production of space with scientific discourses on environmental degradation. Ecological research conducted in Gorongosa National Park (GNP in the 1960s established the spatial contours and produced the greater Gorongosa ecosystem that is continually under threat from Mozambican cultivators. This discursive production and its material effects obscure a long history of human occupancy and transformation of the landscape that is now categorised as a national park. The use of aerial surveys and satellite imagery by conservationists to chart biophysical changes in the landscape is central to the spatial production of the greater Gorongosa ecosystem. The knowledge produced through these ways of seeing the landscape is used to justify various socio-technical and legal interventions to protect the environment. Through analysing the discourse on human-induced environmental degradation in GNP between 2005 and 2010, I suggest that when nature and space are taken as self evident by conservation practitioners, there is a danger of reproducing narratives of environmental degradation that simplify historically dynamic interactions between people, institutions, and their biophysical surroundings, and serve as further justification for intervening in the lives and livelihoods of adjacent residents.

Sustainable pest regulation in agricultural landscapes: a review on landscape composition, biodiversity and natural pest control

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Bianchi, F.J.J.A.; Booij, C.J.H.; Tscharntke, T.

2006-01-01

Agricultural intensification has resulted in a simplification of agricultural landscapes by the expansion of agricultural land, enlargement of field size and removal of non-crop habitat. These changes are considered to be an important cause of the rapid decline in farmland biodiversity, with the

Untangling natural seascape variation from marine reserve effects using a landscape approach.

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Brittany E Huntington

Full Text Available Distinguishing management effects from the inherent variability in a system is a key consideration in assessing reserve efficacy. Here, we demonstrate how seascape heterogeneity, defined as the spatial configuration and composition of coral reef habitats, can mask our ability to discern reserve effects. We then test the application of a landscape approach, utilizing advances in benthic habitat mapping and GIS techniques, to quantify this heterogeneity and alleviate the confounding influence during reserve assessment. Seascape metrics were quantified at multiple spatial scales using a combination of spatial image analysis and in situ surveys at 87 patch reef sites in Glover's Reef Lagoon, Belize, within and outside a marine reserve enforced since 1998. Patch reef sites were then clustered into classes sharing similar seascape attributes using metrics that correlated significantly to observed variations in both fish and coral communities. When the efficacy of the marine reserve was assessed without including landscape attributes, no reserve effects were detected in the diversity and abundance of fish and coral communities, despite 10 years of management protection. However, grouping sites based on landscape attributes revealed significant reserve effects between site classes. Fish had higher total biomass (1.5x and commercially important biomass (1.75x inside the reserve and coral cover was 1.8 times greater inside the reserve, though direction and degree of response varied by seascape class. Our findings show that the application of a landscape classification approach vastly improves our ability to evaluate the efficacy of marine reserves by controlling for confounding effects of seascape heterogeneity and suggests that landscape heterogeneity should be considered in future reserve design.

Lifestyle and Landscapes: The Element of Culture in Geography

Science.gov (United States)

Ballas, Donald J.

1978-01-01

Addressing the study of man/land relationships, this article discusses the following: cultural geography, environmental determinism (a la Friedrich Ratzel), "possibilism" (a la Paul Vidal de la Balche), cultural landscapes (a distinction is made between cultural and natural landscapes), and environmental perception. (JC)

Landscape Features of Evciler Neighborhood as a Rural Settlement

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Yekta Köse

2017-12-01

Full Text Available Preserved rural settlements provide information about the historical rural life. In this line of thought, this study aims to keep an account of a rural settlement before it is altered by urbanization, which is located near Ankara and in which merchandise of agricultural products in the historic markets of the city is its primary pursuit. In accordance with this purpose, a matrix was used. With this matrix, landscape identity features are assessed and elements constituting landscape features are designed in terms of their efficiency. Evciler neighborhood is chosen for study area because of its close location to the city and therefore the high risk of conversion and loss of identity under the pressure of urbanization, with respect to the change of its administrative status from village to neighborhood in correspondance with the 5216 Law on Metropolitan Municipalities. Decisions on developing and protecting distinctive features of landscape of rural settlements should include an objective considering features and identity of settlements from local to regional scale. In order to reach this objective, all dimensions of settlements’ landscape features should be understood. In conclusion, this study argues that rural settlements have been formed due to by the natural landscape and the oppurtunities offered by the natural structure whereby,this natural structure has determined various aspects of rural life from construction materials to the means of earning a living.

LANDSCAPE-ECOLOGICAL PLANNING OF THE COASTAL ZONE OF SOUTH-WEST CRIMEA

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V. N. Danekina

2017-01-01

Full Text Available The article is devoted to the application of methods of landscape planning in order to maintain the sustainable state of the coastal south-western part of the Crimean peninsula. There are many protected landscapes in this territory, including reserves and other specially protected landscapes. However, the network of such specially protected natural resources can not fully satisfy the resources they consume and simultaneously maintain a favorable ecological situation in the region. The results of studies of the prospects and prerequisites for the formation and preservation of the landscape-ecological framework of the South-Western Crimea have been presented. Various groups of factors that negatively affect the ecological state of the region are analyzed, among them construction in coastal protective bands, recreational digression of soils and vegetation, pollution with industrial wastewater, illegal sand sampling, etc. Assessment of nature use structures has shown that the existing system needs landscape-ecological justification and planning. The structure of the landscape-ecological framework of the South-Western Crimea has been developed. Its elements have been identified, which contain natural “cores” subject to special protection, ecological corridors and buffer zones. In the course of the study, a mapping of the landscapeecological planning organization of the coastal territory of the Crimean coast has been carried out. The map-scheme shows the elements of the landscape-ecological framework, landscape zones and belts and types of anthropogenic landscapes. In the conditions of limited economic development of the territory, the landscape-ecological framework must include transformed anthropogenic landscapes. Landscape planning should be carried out taking into account regional features of the Black Sea coast, for this purpose the article gives a brief description of the landscape diversity and stability of landscape geosystems. The most

Anthropogenic halo disturbances alter landscape and plant richness: a ripple effect.

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Bingliang; Su, Jinbao; Chen, Jianwei; Cui, Guofa; Ma, Jianzhang

2013-01-01

Although anthropogenic landscape fragmentation is often considered as the primary threat to biodiversity, other factors such as immediate human disturbances may also simultaneously threaten species persistence in various ways. In this paper, we introduce a conceptual framework applied to recreation landscapes (RLs), with an aim to provide insight into the composite influences of landscape alteration accompanying immediate human disturbances on plant richness dynamics. These impacts largely occur at patch-edges. They can not only alter patch-edge structure and environment, but also permeate into surrounding natural matrices/patches affecting species persistence-here we term these "Halo disturbance effects" (HDEs). We categorized species into groups based on seed or pollen dispersal mode (animal- vs. wind-dispersed) as they can be associated with species richness dynamics. We evaluated the richness of the two groups and total species in our experimental landscapes by considering the distance from patch-edge, the size of RLs and the intensity of human use over a six-year period. Our results show that animal-dispersed species decreased considerably, whereas wind-dispersed species increased while their richness presented diverse dynamics at different distances from patch-edges. Our findings clearly demonstrate that anthropogenic HDEs produce ripple effects on plant, providing an experimental interpretation for the diverse responses of species to anthropogenic disturbances. This study highlights the importance of incorporating these composite threats into conservation and management strategies.

Anthropogenic halo disturbances alter landscape and plant richness: a ripple effect.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bingliang Liu

Full Text Available Although anthropogenic landscape fragmentation is often considered as the primary threat to biodiversity, other factors such as immediate human disturbances may also simultaneously threaten species persistence in various ways. In this paper, we introduce a conceptual framework applied to recreation landscapes (RLs, with an aim to provide insight into the composite influences of landscape alteration accompanying immediate human disturbances on plant richness dynamics. These impacts largely occur at patch-edges. They can not only alter patch-edge structure and environment, but also permeate into surrounding natural matrices/patches affecting species persistence-here we term these "Halo disturbance effects" (HDEs. We categorized species into groups based on seed or pollen dispersal mode (animal- vs. wind-dispersed as they can be associated with species richness dynamics. We evaluated the richness of the two groups and total species in our experimental landscapes by considering the distance from patch-edge, the size of RLs and the intensity of human use over a six-year period. Our results show that animal-dispersed species decreased considerably, whereas wind-dispersed species increased while their richness presented diverse dynamics at different distances from patch-edges. Our findings clearly demonstrate that anthropogenic HDEs produce ripple effects on plant, providing an experimental interpretation for the diverse responses of species to anthropogenic disturbances. This study highlights the importance of incorporating these composite threats into conservation and management strategies.

Our Common Landscapes For The Future

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Brandt, Jesper

2017-01-01

Foreword for Marc Antrop and Veerle van Eetvelde: Landscape Perspectives – The Holistic Nature of Landscapes Our common landscapes for the future by Jesper Brandt The solution of the ecological crisis through a transformation towards sustainable development is the most urgent challenge in our time....... It is not just a question of CO2 and conversion toward renewable energy. The reestablishment and conscious development of our common landscapes at all spatial scales for the combined benefits of biodiversity, our cultural heritage and the preservation and development of ecosystem services will probably...... be the most comprehensive and necessary social task in the future, if a conversion towards a sustainable development shall succeed in due time. This is so because it will be necessary to ensure that the potential material wealth of modern society will be transformed into a good, fruitful and healthy life...

Methods of refining natural oils, and methods of producing fuel compositions

Science.gov (United States)

Firth, Bruce E.; Kirk, Sharon E.

2015-10-27

A method of refining a natural oil includes: (a) providing a feedstock that includes a natural oil; (b) reacting the feedstock in the presence of a metathesis catalyst to form a metathesized product that includes olefins and esters; (c) passivating residual metathesis catalyst with an agent that comprises nitric acid; (d) separating the olefins in the metathesized product from the esters in the metathesized product; and (e) transesterifying the esters in the presence of an alcohol to form a transesterified product and/or hydrogenating the olefins to form a fully or partially saturated hydrogenated product. Methods for suppressing isomerization of olefin metathesis products produced in a metathesis reaction, and methods of producing fuel compositions are described.

Effective Management of Trans boundary Landscapes - Geospatial Applications

Science.gov (United States)

Kotru, R.; Rawal, R. S.; Mathur, P. K.; Chettri, N.; Chaudhari, S. A.; Uddin, K.; Murthy, M. S. R.; Singh, S.

2014-11-01

The Convention on Biological Diversity advocates the use of landscape and ecosystem approaches for managing biodiversity, in recognition of the need for increased regional cooperation. In this context, ICIMOD and regional partners have evolved Transboundary Landscape concept to address the issues of conservation and sustainable use of natural resources and systems (e.g., biodiversity, rangelands, farming systems, forests, wetlands, and watersheds, etc.). This concept defines the landscapes by ecosystems rather than political/administrative boundaries. The Hindu Kush Himalayan (HKH) region is extremely heterogeneous, with complex inter linkages of biomes and habitats as well as strong upstream-downstream linkages related to the provisioning of ecosystem services. Seven such transboundary landscapes, identified across west to east extent of HKH, have been considered for programmatic cooperation, include: Wakhan, Karakoram-Pamir, Kailash, Everest, Kangchenjunga, Brahmaputra-Salween, and Cherrapunjee- Chittagong. The approach is people centered and considers the cultural conservation as an essential first step towards resource conservation efforts in the region. Considering the multi-scale requirements of study, the geospatial technology has been effectively adopted towards: (i) understanding temporal changes in landscapes, (ii) long term ecological and social monitoring, (ii) identifying potential bio corridors, (iii) assessing landscape level vulnerability due to climatic and non-climatic drivers, and (iv) developing local plans on extractions of high value economic species supporting livelihoods, agroforestry system and ecotourism, etc. We present here our recent experiences across different landscapes on assessment of three decadal changes, vegetation type mapping, assessment of socio-ecological drivers, corridor assessment, ecosystem services assessment, models for optimal natural resource use systems and long term socio-ecological monitoring.

Agroparks - The European Landscape Convention and a European way to regional sustainable landscape development through land use integration

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Christensen, Andreas Aagaard; Svennningsen, Stig R.; Brandt, Jesper

2011-01-01

areas of Europe, in which environmental management increasingly conforms to the principles of liberal economy. Based on a national study of privately owned largeholder manorial estates in Denmark including a detailed case study conducted in one of the survey areas, we conclude that transition...... to landscape sustainability is held back by two main inhibitors, which currently makes it a necessity for rural agency to act unsustainably: (1) The global liberalized legal system which supports individual private ownership to land and thus restrains large scale decision making at a spatial scale to match...... of production activities. These landscapes integrate nature protection, agriculture, settlement and recreation in complex structures of management. They could serve as an example for future sustainable landscape planning at a larger scale, supported by regional regulation. The European Landscape Convention (ELC...

The driving forces of landscape change in Europe

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Plieninger, Tobias; Draux, Hélène; Fagerholm, Nora

2016-01-01

, we find that distinct combinations of mainly political/institutional, cultural, and natural/spatial underlying drivers are determining landscape change, rather than single key drivers. Our systematic review indicates knowledge gaps that can be filled by: (a) expanding the scope of studies to include...... because landscape research is spread across many domains and disciplines. We here provide a systematic synthesis of 144 studies that identify the proximate and underlying drivers of landscape change across Europe. First, we categorize how driving forces have been addressed and find that most studies......; low Gross Domestic Product; boreal, steppic, and arctic landscapes; as well as forestland systems are underrepresented in the literature. Third, our review shows that land abandonment/extensification is the most prominent (62% of cases) among multiple proximate drivers of landscape change. Fourthly...

Landscape Visualisation on the Internet

Science.gov (United States)

Imhof, M. P.; Cox, M. T.; Harvey, D. W.; Heemskerk, G. E.; Pettit, C. J.

2012-07-01

The Victorian Resources Online (VRO) website (http://www.dpi.vic.gov.au/vro) is the principal means for accessing landscapebased information in Victoria. In this paper we introduce a range of online landscape visualisations that have been developed to enhance existing static web content around the nature and distribution of Victoria's landforms and soils as well as associated processes. Flash is used to develop online visualisations that include interactive landscape panoramas, animations of soil and landscape processes and videos of experts explaining features in the field as well as landscape "flyovers". The use of interactive visualisations adds rich information multimedia content to otherwise static pages and offers the potential to improve user's appreciation and understanding of soil and landscapes. Visualisation is becoming a key component of knowledge management activities associated with VRO - proving useful for both "knowledge capture" (from subject matter specialists) and "knowledge transfer" to a diverse user base. A range of useful visualisation products have been made available online, with varying degrees of interactivity and suited to a variety of users. The use of video files, animation and interactive visualisations is adding rich information content to otherwise static web pages. These information products offer new possibilities to enhance learning of landscapes and the effectiveness of these will be tested as the next phase of development.

The Importance of Edible Landscape in the Cities

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Filiz Çelik

2017-02-01

Full Text Available The 21st century sustainable city requires the merging of urbanism with sustainable food systems. The challenges industrial food system separates people from their food sources. The design strategies for edible landscape are about re-inviting food back into the city and re-connecting people with their local/regional food system to promote a healthier lifestyle. Edible landscapes are a movement in transition and sprouting up as a response to the slow food movement and living a greener lifestyle. These urban agricultural landscapes are fast becoming iconic media darlings and are demonstrating that they are far more than growing vegetables and fruits on abandoned lots. Edible landscaping is the use of food plants as design features in a landscape. These plants are used both for aesthetic value as well as consumption. Edible landscapes encompass a variety of garden types and scales but do not include food items produced for sale. Edible landscaping is the practical integration of food plants within an ornamental or decorative setting. Using edibles in landscape design can enhance a garden by providing a unique ornamental component with additional health, aesthetic, and economic benefits. In this study; emergence of edible landscape, edible landscape design and maintenance, samples of edible landscape, productive plants, importance of edible landscaping for urban environments have been explained.

Simple landscape modifications for pollinator and arthropod natural enemy enhancement

Science.gov (United States)

Beneficial arthropods which play an important role in providing ecosystem services (pollination and pest control) have come under threat as a result of intensive agricultural practices and simplification of habitats. Ecological intensification in agricultural landscapes by diversifying the habitat r...

Spatial modelling and monitoring of natural landscapes with cases in the Amsterdam Waterworks Dunes

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Droesen, W.

1999-01-01

The utilisation of geographic information systems and digital image processing techniques for the construction of digital landscape models necessitate for a reconsideration of the classical concepts for landscape ecological mapping. In this thesis, some methods are presented for the spatial

Landscape changes and natural hazards affecting the Pincio hill (Rome, Italy) in historical times

Science.gov (United States)

Guarino, Paolo Maria; Lucarini, Mauro; Spizzichino, Daniele

2016-04-01

This work focuses on preliminary results achieved by means of a research project carried out by ISPRA in collaboration with Soprintendenza Capitolina (the Cultural Heritage Capitoline Superintendence), aimed at defining an interpretative model of natural and anthropic evolution of the Pincio Hill (Rome, Italy) during the last 2,500 years. The study area is located in the NE sector of the city of Rome and includes the Pincio hill Cultural Heritage site and the surrounding area of the Tiber River flood plain. The Pincio Hill is a very interesting case of interplay among: i) natural landscape setting; ii) historical urban transformations; iii) human activity and recurrence of natural hazard events impacting heavily on the territory since ancient times. During the last decades, designs of new areas to be allocated for underground parking jointly with new archaeological excavations surveys have allowed the acquisition of a large amount of new data. The study has been carried out through a new reinterpretation of recently drilled boreholes stratigraphic logs and the conspicuous related archaeological literature. The main outcome of the research activities are summarized as below. Concerning the top of the hill, latest archaeological excavations brought to the light traces of ancient structures and settlements dating from the Archaic period until the fourth century AD, highlighting the facto the character of strong agricultural and landscape appeal that have involved the western sector of the Pincio hill since the ancient times, without evidence of relevant alterations of the original landscape. In the slope sector, the information coming from geotechnical survey allowed the reconstruction of isochronous surfaces inside of landfills, divided according to their age. The profile of the slope below the landfill from the Roman period seems very steep and irregular, in strong contrast to the medieval one and the current one, characterized by multiple succession of terraces. In

Semiotics in landscape design

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Karsten Jorgensen

1997-03-01

Full Text Available This paper claims that concepts of language can help us create better and more relevant landscape design. It is based on research undertaken by Karsten Jørgensen (1989, and subsequent studies carried out at the department of Land Use and Landscape Planning at the Agricultural University in Norway. The 'signs' that constitute the design language are categorised using the analytical vocabulary of landscape design; for example, elements, materials, effects and shapes. Studies of these signs are based on elements of semiotics and cognitive science, especially the Umwelt-theories developed by Jakob von Uexküll (Hoffmeyer 1994. We are constantly exposed to numerous signs of different kinds. Everywhere in society we see signs around us; for example, traffic signs, advertising signs and logos. It is therefore relevant to introduce the term 'semiosphere' in order to focus on the significance of semiosis at all levels of activity in the world, from cellular activities, to complex systems of development such as those found in a population. This study focuses on the semantic aspects of landscape architecture. In explaining the meaning of a statement, it is useful to have a set of rules or 'codes' to correlate a specific expression with a specific interpretation. These codes may be based on conventions, or on similarity between or stylisation of objects, such as natural or cultural landscapes. In any case, they are based on the interpreter's language and 'mind-structure'. At a general level, it is only possible to study sign content. To analyse meaning in landscape design you have to look at the context; for example, the overall composition of a garden or park and the situation, which includes the interpreter's cultural background, their experiences and so on. In other words, you have to analyse a specific case to be able to speak reasonably about meaning in landscape (designs.

LANDSCAPE PATTERN VERSUS FARMING DEVELOPMENT. THE CASE OF THE POST-MARL HOLLOWS (PMH LANDSCAPE IN POLAND

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Iwona MARKUSZEWSKA

2017-04-01

Full Text Available This article discusses the presence of unique landscape elements (post-marl hollows in an intensively operated farming region. The selected case study (the environs of Krotoszyn in the Wielkopolska region, Poland represents an example of a human-designed landscape in which post-marl hollows (PMH were created as a consequence of the soil-marling process. PMH are vital ecological habitats which have an influence on the high quality of the rural landscape. Currently, as PMH are undergoing the vanishing process, it seems essential to find a solution to maintain these unique landscape elements. The main aim of this paper is to analyse human-nature relationships during the current changes taking place in the agricultural landscape in order to get the answer to the question: how is this affecting the PMH? The study evaluates farmers’ pro-environmental behaviour and defines their identity with the local landscape that has been beneficial in predicting the forthcoming shaping of the landscape. The data describing the PMH were collected in the years 1998-2016, while conducting cartographic analysis, a literature review and repetitive field research. Additionally, remote sensing and geoportal database were used to analyse the PMH changes. Also, interviews and discussions with farmers and representatives of the local administrative body were conducted. Results indicated that local rural communities are little concerned about the environment, particularly when it pertains to the issue of conservation of the local landscape heritage (i.e. PMH. In addition, the lack of support from the administrative body makes more difficult the opportunity to maintain a unique landscape pattern, as described in this paper.

The concept of landscape education at school level with respect to the directions of the science of landscape

Science.gov (United States)

Szczęsna, Joanna

2010-01-01

School education is both a starting point for the development of various scientific disciplines (school educates future researchers) and the result of science. The landscape research is conducted within many scientific disciplines and has a long tradition. Lanscape education, which is the result of a scientific dimension, is implemented in primary school under the nature subject. Primary school education is the only level at which the geographical contents are carried out on landscape. The landscape is of interest to many disciplines: geography, architecture, social sciences and the arts. In recent years, there were many studies which contained an overview of the main strands of the science of landscape, presented the differences in the meaning of the concept and objectives of individual research disciplines. These studies have become the ground for the characterization of the concept of landscape education implemented in Polish school and its evaluation in terms of scientific achievements. A review of educational purposes, the basic content of education and achievements of students, demonstrate the influence of multiple scientific disciplines in school landscape education. The most significant share of the course content are achievements of geography disciplines, particularly: physical geography, environmental protection and landscape ecology. Other scientific fields: literature, art, psychology, sociology, and architecture do not have any impact on the school landscape education or their impact remains marginal.

Population growth, demographic change, and cultural landscapes.

Science.gov (United States)

Woodgate, G; Sage, C

1994-01-01

The inclusion of both ecological and socioeconomic components within landscapes makes possible the perception of the hierarchical character of landscape organization. A research approach is needed to conceptualize cultural landscapes as the product of interaction between society and nature. Richard Norgaard's 1984 paper on coevolutionary agricultural development attempts to meet this challenge. Coevolution is the interactive synthesis of natural and social mechanisms of change that characterize the relationship between social systems and ecosystems. The relationship between population, consumption, and environmental changes is complex. Currently industrialized countries present the biggest threat to global environmental resources. The issue of carrying capacity is the corollary of population and the environment. It is primarily the technological factor rather than population that needs to be controlled. The relationship between rich and poor countries is determined by superior economic power. An analysis of landscape change is made, tracing the coevolution of society and environment from the end of the feudal era and making comparisons with continental Europe. Over the years since 1945 the need to realize potential economies of scale has resulted in a wholesale loss of woodlands, hedgerows, and small ponds in the UK. In a global context the likely impacts of population growth and demographic change on landscapes will be influenced by such socioeconomic factors as technology and affluence; policies that ignore cause and effect; and the traditional tendency to treat the environment as a waste repository and a supply depot.

The landscape context of cereal aphid–parasitoid interactions

Science.gov (United States)

Thies, Carsten; Roschewitz, Indra; Tscharntke, Teja

2005-01-01

Analyses at multiple spatial scales may show how important ecosystem services such as biological control are determined by processes acting on the landscape scale. We examined cereal aphid–parasitoid interactions in wheat fields in agricultural landscapes differing in structural complexity (32–100% arable land). Complex landscapes were associated with increased aphid mortality resulting from parasitism, but also with higher aphid colonization, thereby counterbalancing possible biological control by parasitoids and lastly resulting in similar aphid densities across landscapes. Thus, undisturbed perennial habitats appeared to enhance both pests and natural enemies. Analyses at multiple spatial scales (landscape sectors of 0.5–6 km diameter) showed that correlations between parasitism and percentage of arable land were significant at scales of 0.5–2 km, whereas aphid densities responded to percentage of arable land at scales of 1–6 km diameter. Hence, the higher trophic level populations appeared to be determined by smaller landscape sectors owing to dispersal limitation, showing the ‘functional spatial scale’ for species-specific landscape management. PMID:15695212

Influence of landscape structure on the functional groups of an aphidophagous guild: Active-searching predators, furtive predators and parasitoids

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Julie-Éléonore Maisonhaute

2011-12-01

Full Text Available A lot of studies focusing on the effect of agricultural landscapes demonstrate that many arthropod species are influenced by landscape structure. In particular, non–crop areas and landscape diversity are often associated with a higher abundance and diversity of natural enemies in fields. Numerous studies focused on the influence of landscape structure on ground beetles, spiders and ladybeetles but few on other natural enemies or different functional groups. Thus, the objective of the present study was to determine the influence of landscape structure on the functional groups, i.e., active-searching predators, furtive predators and parasitoids of aphidophagous guilds. Natural enemies were sampled on milkweed infested with aphids, growing along the borders of ditches adjacent to cornfields. The sampling occurred weekly from June to September in 2006 and 2007, in the region of Lanaudičre (Quebec, Canada. The landscapes within a radius 200 and 500 m around each site were analyzed. The abundance, richness and species composition (based on functional groups of natural enemies were related to landscape structure. The results indicated that landscape structure explained up to 21.6% of the variation in natural enemy assemblage and confirm the positive effects of non-crop areas and landscape diversity. A lower influence of landscape structure on species composition was observed (6.4 to 8.8% and varied greatly among the functional groups. Coccinellidae and furtive predators were the group most influenced by landscape structure. In conclusion, the influence of landscape varied greatly among the different species of the same functional group.

THE ROMANIAN RURAL SPACE AND ITS LANDSCAPES: ATTRACTION AND MOTIVATION FOR RELOCATING TOWNSPEOPLE

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IULIAN DINCĂ

2015-05-01

Full Text Available The Romanian Rural Space And Its Landscapes: Attraction And Motivation For Relocating Townspeople. It is an easily noticed fact that a new generation of residents has been establishing new habitation structures all over Romania. This also applies to the south-eastern Oradea Suburban Area, in north-western Romania. The analysed suburban landscapes bring out open attitudes in former city dwellers, strongly biased pro-landscape (78.52% of all interviewees. The landscape criterion ranks second in reasons for relocation, indicating that local nature meets the expectations of the new residents. Indubitable spiritual benefits are also involved, the new residents’ perception of local landscapes being dominated by responses like beauty, repose, naturalness. However, the new residents do not have a narrowed-down, specialised definition in their minds when expressing opinions on local landscape physiognomy in detail, and on outstanding features that render local landscapes attractive. Even the landscape management interventions of new residents and of local authorities revolve around land estate categories and tailored urbanistic requisitions. Consequently, the configuration of neo-landscapes with a distinct suburban identity emerges. The major directions of this case study may serve as groundwork for further studies on the issue of landscape as subject matter in attracting city dwellers to suburban locations.

Project D.I.R.T.: A landscape architect's excavation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bargmann, J.

1994-01-01

To a landscape architect interested in the creative manipulation of the land, mineral extraction presents a massive load for design exploration. The primary goal of Project D.I.R.T., Design Investigations Reclaiming Terrain, was to unearth the possibilities for renewing the perception of mining as creatively integral with the cultural and natural evolution of the landscape. The potential collaboration and planning inherent in the multidisciplinary task of reclamation became evident on a journey to document selected mining sites around the country. Various coal, gold, copper, and taconite operations visited represent a diversity of regional landscapes with specific mining and reclamation practices. Both active and abandoned mined sites serve as case studies presented from a landscape architect's perspective. Examining the legal, social, and economic factors uncovered the frustrations with the legislation governing reclamation and the financial and ethical dilemmas of future land use for dependent communities. Reviewing the technical and ecological aspects revealed the innovations and progress of reclamation technology, but also limited application of ecological principles. These current practices of mining and reclamation illustrate a need to revise the legislation and coordinate an interdisciplinary effort to form truly productive and sustainable landscapes. Moreover, from this landscape architect's point of view, a synthetic approach guided by a broader vision of mining must lead to the creation of meaningful places that objectively reveal and celebrate the industrial heritage of the landscape. Mined lands can be an expression of a reciprocal connection between communities and individuals with the land one cultivates and all nurture. These monumental landscapes may come to represent a dynamic relationship between culture and nature for the next century

Wildlife habitat management on the northern prairie landscape

Science.gov (United States)

Johnson, Douglas H.; Haseltine, Susan D.; Cowardin, Lewis M.

1994-01-01

The northern prairie landscape has changed dramatically within the past century as a result of settlement by Europeans. Natural ecosystems have been disrupted and wildlife populations greatly altered. Natural resource agencies control only limited areas within the landscape, which they cannot manage independently of privately owned lands. Wildlife managers need first to set quantifiable objectives, based on the survival, reproduction, and distribution of wildlife. Second, they need to build public support and partnerships for meeting those objectives. Finally, they need to evaluate progress not only with respect to attitudes of the public and partners but, more importantly, of the wildlife response. This paper describes some useful tools for managing information at all phases of this process. We follow by discussing management options at a landscape level. Examples are given that involve agency lands as well as private lands, managed for biological resources and diversity as well as economic sustainability.

Exploring the fitness landscape of poliovirus

Science.gov (United States)

Bianco, Simone; Acevedo, Ashely; Andino, Raul; Tang, Chao

2012-02-01

RNA viruses are known to display extraordinary adaptation capabilities to different environments, due to high mutation rates. Their very dynamical evolution is captured by the quasispecies concept, according to which the viral population forms a swarm of genetic variants linked through mutation, which cooperatively interact at a functional level and collectively contribute to the characteristics of the population. The description of the viral fitness landscape becomes paramount towards a more thorough understanding of the virus evolution and spread. The high mutation rate, together with the cooperative nature of the quasispecies, makes it particularly challenging to explore its fitness landscape. I will present an investigation of the dynamical properties of poliovirus fitness landscape, through both the adoption of new experimental techniques and theoretical models.

Landscape evaluation of heterogeneous areas using fuzzy sets

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Ralf-Uwe Syrbe

1998-02-01

Full Text Available Landscape evaluation is an interesting field for fuzzy approaches, because it happens on the transition line between natural and social systems. Both are very complex. Therefore, transformation of scientific results to politically significant statements on environmental problems demands intelligent support. Particularly landscape planners need methods to gather natural facts of an area and assess them in consideration of its meaning to society as a whole. Since each land unit is heterogeneous, a special methodology is necessary. Such an evaluation technique was developed within a Geographical Information System (ARC/INFO. The methodology combines several known methods with fuzzy approaches to catch the intrinsic fuzziness of ecological systems as well as the heterogeneity of landscape. Additionally, a way will be discussed to vary the fuzzy inference in order to consider spatial relations of various landscape elements. Fuzzy logic is used to process the data uncertainty, to simulate the vagueness of knowledge about ecological functionality, and to model the spatial structure of landscape. Fuzzy sets describe the attributes of thematically defined land units and their assessment results. In this way, the available information will be preserved in their full diversity. The fuzzy operations are executed by AML-programs (ARC/INFO Macro Language. With such a tight coupling, it is possible to use the geographical functions (neighbourhoods, distances, etc. of GIS within the fuzzy system directly.

Trait-specific responses of wild bee communities to landscape composition, configuration and local factors.

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Sebastian Hopfenmüller

Full Text Available Land-use intensification and loss of semi-natural habitats have induced a severe decline of bee diversity in agricultural landscapes. Semi-natural habitats like calcareous grasslands are among the most important bee habitats in central Europe, but they are threatened by decreasing habitat area and quality, and by homogenization of the surrounding landscape affecting both landscape composition and configuration. In this study we tested the importance of habitat area, quality and connectivity as well as landscape composition and configuration on wild bees in calcareous grasslands. We made detailed trait-specific analyses as bees with different traits might differ in their response to the tested factors. Species richness and abundance of wild bees were surveyed on 23 calcareous grassland patches in Southern Germany with independent gradients in local and landscape factors. Total wild bee richness was positively affected by complex landscape configuration, large habitat area and high habitat quality (i.e. steep slopes. Cuckoo bee richness was positively affected by complex landscape configuration and large habitat area whereas habitat specialists were only affected by the local factors habitat area and habitat quality. Small social generalists were positively influenced by habitat area whereas large social generalists (bumblebees were positively affected by landscape composition (high percentage of semi-natural habitats. Our results emphasize a strong dependence of habitat specialists on local habitat characteristics, whereas cuckoo bees and bumblebees are more likely affected by the surrounding landscape. We conclude that a combination of large high-quality patches and heterogeneous landscapes maintains high bee species richness and communities with diverse trait composition. Such diverse communities might stabilize pollination services provided to crops and wild plants on local and landscape scales.

Trait-specific responses of wild bee communities to landscape composition, configuration and local factors.

Science.gov (United States)

Hopfenmüller, Sebastian; Steffan-Dewenter, Ingolf; Holzschuh, Andrea

2014-01-01

Land-use intensification and loss of semi-natural habitats have induced a severe decline of bee diversity in agricultural landscapes. Semi-natural habitats like calcareous grasslands are among the most important bee habitats in central Europe, but they are threatened by decreasing habitat area and quality, and by homogenization of the surrounding landscape affecting both landscape composition and configuration. In this study we tested the importance of habitat area, quality and connectivity as well as landscape composition and configuration on wild bees in calcareous grasslands. We made detailed trait-specific analyses as bees with different traits might differ in their response to the tested factors. Species richness and abundance of wild bees were surveyed on 23 calcareous grassland patches in Southern Germany with independent gradients in local and landscape factors. Total wild bee richness was positively affected by complex landscape configuration, large habitat area and high habitat quality (i.e. steep slopes). Cuckoo bee richness was positively affected by complex landscape configuration and large habitat area whereas habitat specialists were only affected by the local factors habitat area and habitat quality. Small social generalists were positively influenced by habitat area whereas large social generalists (bumblebees) were positively affected by landscape composition (high percentage of semi-natural habitats). Our results emphasize a strong dependence of habitat specialists on local habitat characteristics, whereas cuckoo bees and bumblebees are more likely affected by the surrounding landscape. We conclude that a combination of large high-quality patches and heterogeneous landscapes maintains high bee species richness and communities with diverse trait composition. Such diverse communities might stabilize pollination services provided to crops and wild plants on local and landscape scales.

A Trivalent Approach to the Quality of the “Khoshk” River Landscape in Shiraz

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Mehdi Khakzand

2015-03-01

Full Text Available By considering certain factors like those mentioned by Ian Thompson (2005 in his definition of landscape, i.e. ecology, community and delight, in designing landscapes, one can find the vocation more applicable and useful. City rivers can play a very important role with regard to such values. In fact, the presence of nature and wildlife could not only be the lifeline of a city, but also a factor for community activities. Environmental quality improvement case study (aesthetically among today‟s building constructions is the result of approaching landscape from such a perspective. In the present paper, a river in Shiraz called the „Khoshk River‟–the river that keeps people safe during the rainy seasons by providing a passage for the excess water–is studied based on the factors of designing landscapes. In this regard, the ecological effect of the river as a natural corridor in a warm and dry climate is obvious; however, the two other effects of community and delight are ignored in relation to the landscape of this natural axis. Thus, apart from considering its ecological role, bringing the spirit of society and delight back into the seasonal lifeline is one of the purposes of this study. The river was a recreation area for the people in the past. However, it is now surrounded by different residential, commercial, and administrative buildings, and the society factor (with minimum attention to its ecological and landscape values is active outside this natural axis. In attention towards the river‟s landscape, using the river to resolve traffic problems (building overpasses and underpasses, and a subway nearby, have created an undesirable image of this natural phenomenon.

Whose landscape? - An anthropological perspective on landscape perception in reindeer tending (In Swedish with Summary in English

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Anna Järpe

2005-04-01

Full Text Available When we talk publicly about landscape and land use, both in legal and in popular contexts, the evaluation of our natural environment is usually based on an industrial concept of land and landscape. "Nature" is seen as a resource to be used or managed in different ways. My research originates in a questioning of this assumption: can we take for granted that the same perceptions and evaluations are shared by all concerned parties? In this article, I will use an ecologic anthropological perspective to consider the livelihood of reindeer tending and suggest an alternative to what can be called a scientific understanding of the world. I maintain that the relations that people have with their environment, and the values that they ascribe to it, are perceptions that are shaped and affected in our interactions with the surrounding world, and that these perceptions vary between different groups of people. Land use, land rights, access to fishing waters, and who gets to hunt what; these are not only questions about how we should manage the landscape, but also about whose landscape we are managing. Arguing that the reindeer tenders' landscape is a shifting mosaic of varying conditions that they must relate to rather than an object to be used and controlled by human interests, I want to show how anthropological research can provide an insight into the different perspectives and modes of understanding that we need to consider in the formulation of future policies and laws. At least if we want to resolve land use conflicts in contested areas fairly and on a sustainable long-term basis.

Integrating social, economic, and ecological values across large landscapes

Science.gov (United States)

Jessica E. Halofsky; Megan K. Creutzburg; Miles A. Hemstrom

2014-01-01

The Integrated Landscape Assessment Project (ILAP) was a multiyear effort to produce information, maps, and models to help land managers, policymakers, and others conduct mid- to broad-scale (e.g., watersheds to states and larger areas) prioritization of land management actions, perform landscape assessments, and estimate cumulative effects of management actions for...

Flowscapes : Infrastructure as landscape, landscape as infrastructure. Graduation Lab Landscape Architecture 2012/2013

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Nijhuis, S.; Jauslin, D.; De Vries, C.

2012-01-01

Flowscapes explores infrastructure as a type of landscape and landscape as a type of infrastructure, and is focused on landscape architectonic design of transportation-, green- and water infrastructures. These landscape infrastructures are considered armatures for urban and rural development. With

The sustainable management of the landscape

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jean-David Gerber

2009-03-01

Full Text Available Le paysage est de plus en plus perçu comme une ressource. À ce titre, il est nécessaire de trouver des instruments juridiques, politiques ou économiques susceptibles de gérer cette « ressource-paysage » sur le long terme. Le gouvernement suisse a introduit récemment l’instrument des parcs naturels régionaux, organisés selon le modèle français, dans sa législation de protection de la nature et du paysage. Une mise en regard des nouveaux parcs avec des structures de gestion beaucoup plus anciennes, les bourgeoisies et les corporations, permet de mettre en évidence les forces et les faiblesses de chacun de ces instruments dans leur contribution à résoudre les rivalités d’usage entre acteurs utilisant ou influençant la ressource paysage. Cette comparaison permet de formuler des recommandations pratiques concernant la gestion de cette ressource.The landscape is increasingly perceived as a resource. For this reason, it is necessary to find legal, political and economic instruments that will succeed in managing this "resource landscape" in the long term. The Swiss government recently introduced the instrument of regional nature parks into the legislation governing nature and landscape preservation; the proposed parks are organized on the basis of the French model. The examination of the new parks from the perspective of much older management structures, i.e. the civic municipalities (bourgeoisies and corporations, makes it possible to demonstrate the strengths and weaknesses of each of these instruments in their contribution to the resolution of use rivalries between actors who use or influence the resource landscape. This comparison also enables the formulation of practical recommendations regarding the management of this resource.

LAPSUS: soil erosion - landscape evolution model

Science.gov (United States)

van Gorp, Wouter; Temme, Arnaud; Schoorl, Jeroen

2015-04-01

LAPSUS is a soil erosion - landscape evolution model which is capable of simulating landscape evolution of a gridded DEM by using multiple water, mass movement and human driven processes on multiple temporal and spatial scales. It is able to deal with a variety of human landscape interventions such as landuse management and tillage and it can model their interactions with natural processes. The complex spatially explicit feedbacks the model simulates demonstrate the importance of spatial interaction of human activity and erosion deposition patterns. In addition LAPSUS can model shallow landsliding, slope collapse, creep, solifluction, biological and frost weathering, fluvial behaviour. Furthermore, an algorithm to deal with natural depressions has been added and event-based modelling with an improved infiltration description and dust deposition has been pursued. LAPSUS has been used for case studies in many parts of the world and is continuously developing and expanding. it is now available for third-party and educational use. It has a comprehensive user interface and it is accompanied by a manual and exercises. The LAPSUS model is highly suitable to quantify and understand catchment-scale erosion processes. More information and a download link is available on www.lapsusmodel.nl.

Hierarchic levels of a system classification of radiation-contaminated landscapes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dolyin, V.V.; Sushchik, Yu.Ya.; Bondarenko, G.M.; Shramenko, Yi.F.; Dudar, T.V.

2001-01-01

Five hierarchic levels of the systematic organization of natural landscapes are determined: substantial-phase, soil-profile, biogeocenotic, landscape, and geosystematic. Systems and subsystems of compounds of chemical elements and natural and man-caused factors that characterized properties and mechanisms of ecological self-organization of biogeocenoses are brought into accordance with each level. A scheme of hierarchic subordination of systems, subsystems, and processes is worked out. Leading links of transformation and migration of radionuclides that define the contamination of tropic chains are determined

Experimental quantum control landscapes: Inherent monotonicity and artificial structure

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Roslund, Jonathan; Rabitz, Herschel

2009-01-01

Unconstrained searches over quantum control landscapes are theoretically predicted to generally exhibit trap-free monotonic behavior. This paper makes an explicit experimental demonstration of this intrinsic monotonicity for two controlled quantum systems: frequency unfiltered and filtered second-harmonic generation (SHG). For unfiltered SHG, the landscape is randomly sampled and interpolation of the data is found to be devoid of landscape traps up to the level of data noise. In the case of narrow-band-filtered SHG, trajectories are taken on the landscape to reveal a lack of traps. Although the filtered SHG landscape is trap free, it exhibits a rich local structure. A perturbation analysis around the top of these landscapes provides a basis to understand their topology. Despite the inherent trap-free nature of the landscapes, practical constraints placed on the controls can lead to the appearance of artificial structure arising from the resultant forced sampling of the landscape. This circumstance and the likely lack of knowledge about the detailed local landscape structure in most quantum control applications suggests that the a priori identification of globally successful (un)constrained curvilinear control variables may be a challenging task.

Broad-scale assessments of ecological landscapes: developing methods and applications

Science.gov (United States)

Carr, Natasha B.; Wood, David J. A.; Bowen, Zachary H.; Haby, Travis S.

2015-01-01

The U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is developing a Landscape Approach for managing multiple uses of public lands by incorporating multiscale information to quantify the effects of natural and human influences on natural resource conditions and trends. A primary goal of the approach is to identify opportunities for resource conservation, restoration, and development. The BLM Landscape Approach is developing assessment methods that promote consistency in management decisions, identify ecological characteristics that promote ecosystem resilience under rapidly changing environmental conditions, and foster collaboration among land management agencies. The BLM Landscape Approach is closely aligned with the DOI’s “A Strategy for Improving the Mitigation Policies and Practices of The Department of the Interior.”

Riparian landscapes: Linking geodiversity with habitat and biodiversity

Science.gov (United States)

Chmieleski, Jana; Danzeisen, Laura

2017-04-01

Keywords: Oder valley, biodiversity, geodiversity River landscapes of all scales originally showed a high diversity of structures and habitats at a small spatial entity, such as the stream beds, terrasses, sand and gravel banks. This variety, with a lot of different elements, patches and patterns, represents not only a variety of geoelements or geomorhological features but also a large biodiversity, both of habitats and species. Riparian landscapes are both, a natural as well as a geoheritage, often even a cultural heritage (sustainabe land use practices). Embankments, utilization for agriculture, constructions for navigation, management measures lead to a strong loss of these structures. This impacts the value of the landscape as well ecosystem functions, not only the biodiversity and the geodiversity but also the recreation function or the aesthetic values. A case study from the National Park Lower Oder Valley in the Northeastern part of Germany, wich is also part of a Geopark („Eiszeitland am Oderrand") presents the connections of the diversity of geomorphological features with biodiversity and shows the loss of features (loss of values) due to intensive utilisation by using GIS-analysis and landscape-metrics. The Northern part of the Oder valley (National Park, transnational protection area of Germany and Poland) have been modified by man since centuries but even so remained in near-natural state that allows semi-(natural) stream dynamics. While the Oder's reparian zone is marked by the stream itself, by its bayous, reed beds, periodically flooded wet meadows and by its natural riparian forest the mineral morainic plateaus are marked by semi-natural forests and dry grasslands. Two areas of different degradation states, a) near-natural and wilderness area and b) grassland area will be compared in order to identify: quantity and extent of features, relation of measure and coverage, connectivity with other features, quantity and types of habitats (with

Urban thermal landscape characterization and analysis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Xue, Y; Fung, T; Tsou, J

2014-01-01

Urban warming is sensitive to the nature (thermal properties, including albedo, water content, heat capacity and thermal conductivity) and the placement (surface geometry or urban topography) of urban surface. In this research, the pattern and variation of urban surface temperature is regarded as one kind of landscape, urban thermal landscape, which is assumed as the presentation of local surface heating process upon urban landscape. The goal of this research is to develop a research framework incorporating geospatial statistics, thermal infrared remote sensing and landscape ecology to study the urban effect on local surface thermal landscape regarding both the pattern and process. This research chose Hong Kong as the case study. Within the study area, urban and rural area coexists upon a hilly topography. In order to probe the possibility of local surface warming mechanism discrepancy between urban and rural area, the sample points are grouped into urban and rural categories in according with the land use map taken into a linear regression model separately to examine the possible difference in local warming mechanism. Global regression analysis confirmed the relationship between environmental factors and surface temperature and the urban-rural distinctive mechanism of dominating diurnal surface warming is uncovered

IRIS: A SIGNIFICANT ELEMENT OF THE MEDITERRANEAN LANDSCAPE

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

A. UBRIZSY SAVOIA

2000-01-01

Full Text Available The Southern European species of Iris growing in dry, rocky places, stony ground, terra rossa, sandy, basalt and/or calcareous hills, maquis and coastal rocky slopes, are a neglected bioplasm resource of the Mediterranean landscape. These species have traditional uses and cultural significance and have inspired artists. Both natural and naturalised ornamental Iris species may help to improve and maintain the Mediterranean landscape by avoiding land erosion, fixing dunes and preserving coastal zones. These Iris species are a significant component of Mediterranean floristic diversity. Their conservation and use in traditional Mediterranean landscape gardening are emphasised.

IRIS: A SIGNIFICANT ELEMENT OF THE MEDITERRANEAN LANDSCAPE

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

S. PIGNATTI

2000-04-01

Full Text Available The Southern European species of Iris growing in dry, rocky places, stony ground, terra rossa, sandy, basalt and/or calcareous hills, maquis and coastal rocky slopes, are a neglected bioplasm resource of the Mediterranean landscape. These species have traditional uses and cultural significance and have inspired artists. Both natural and naturalised ornamental Iris species may help to improve and maintain the Mediterranean landscape by avoiding land erosion, fixing dunes and preserving coastal zones. These Iris species are a significant component of Mediterranean floristic diversity. Their conservation and use in traditional Mediterranean landscape gardening are emphasised.

Participatory mapping of landscape values in a Pan-European perspective

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

García-Martín, María; Fagerholm, Nora; Bieling, Claudia

2017-01-01

Context: Human–nature interactions are reflected in the values people assign to landscapes. These values shape our understanding and actions as landscape co-creators, and need to be taken into account to achieve an integrated management of the landscape that involves civil society. Objectives......: The aim of this research was to increase the current knowledge on the most and least common landscape values perceived by local stakeholders, the patterns in the spatial distribution of values, and their connection to different socio-economic backgrounds and landscape characteristics across Europe....... Methods: The research consisted of a cross-site comparison study on how landscape values are perceived in six areas of Europe using Public Participation GIS surveys. Answers were analysed combining contingency tables, spatial autocorrelation and bivariate correlation methods, kernel densities, land cover...

What can a numerical landscape evolution model tell us about the evolution of a real landscape? Two examples of modeling a real landscape without recreating it

Science.gov (United States)

Gasparini, N. M.; Whipple, K. X.; Willenbring, J.; Crosby, B. T.; Brocard, G. Y.

2013-12-01

downstream increasing erosion rate. Similarly, the proportion of the landscape that has adjusted to the tectonic perturbation increases from upstream to downstream. We use the CHILD LEM to explore whether the relationship between erosion rates and proportion of adjusted landscape is unique to the tectonic history of the SFER and if this relationship can be used as a fingerprint to identify the nature of tectonic perturbations in other locations. In both study sites, we do not try to recreate the exact morphology of the real landscape. Rather, we identify patterns in erosion rates and the morphology of the numerical landscape that can be used to interpret the tectonic history, climatic history, or both in these and other real landscapes.

Reduced risk insecticides to control scale insects and protect natural enemies in the production and maintenance of urban landscape plants.

Science.gov (United States)

Frank, Steven D

2012-04-01

Armored scale insects are among the most difficult to manage and economically important arthropod pests in the production and maintenance of urban landscape plants. This is because of morphological traits that protect them from contact insecticides. I compared initial and season-long control of euonymus scale, Unaspis euonymi Comstock (Hemiptera: Diaspidae), by reduced-risk insecticides (insect growth regulators [IGRs], neonicotinoids, spirotetramat) to determine if they controlled scale as well as more toxic insecticides such as the organophosphate, acephate, and pyrethroid, bifenthrin. I also evaluated how these insecticides affected natural enemy abundance on experimental plants and survival when exposed to insecticide residue. All insecticides tested reduced first generation euonymus scale abundance. In 2009, reinfestation by second generation euonymus scale was highest on plants treated with acetamiprid and granular dinotefuran. In 2010, systemic neonicotinoids and spirotetramat prevented cottony cushion scale infestation 133 d after treatment whereas scale readily infested plants treated with bifenthrin and horticultural oil. Encarsia spp. and Cybocephalus spp. abundance was related to scale abundance. These natural enemies were generally less abundant than predicted by scale abundance on granular dinotefuran treated plants and more abundant on granular thiamethoxam treated plants. Bifenthrin residue killed 90-100% of O. insidiosus and E. citrina within 24 h. My results indicate that reduced risk insecticides can provide season-long scale control with less impact on natural enemies than conventional insecticides. This could have economic and environmental benefits by reducing the number of applications necessary to protect nursery and landscape plants from scale.

Nature Connectedness and Landscape Preferences of Turkish Preservice Preschool Teachers

Science.gov (United States)

Yilmaz, Simge; Olgan, Refika; Yilmaztekin, Elif Öztürk

2016-01-01

The current paper had two aims, first to investigate Turkish pre-service preschool teachers' perceptions of different kinds of landscapes that can be used to achieve their educational goals, their ideas about the characteristics of these settings, and the contribution to children's education, the resource needs, motivations, and barriers they…

Connecting scales: achieving in-field pest control from areawide and landscape ecology studies.

Science.gov (United States)

Schellhorn, Nancy A; Parry, Hazel R; Macfadyen, Sarina; Wang, Yongmo; Zalucki, Myron P

2015-02-01

Areawide management has a long history of achieving solutions that target pests, however, there has been little focus on the areawide management of arthropod natural enemies. Landscape ecology studies that show a positive relationship between natural enemy abundance and habitat diversity demonstrate landscape-dependent pest suppression, but have not yet clearly linked their findings to pest management or to the suite of pests associated with crops that require control. Instead the focus has often been on model systems of single pest species and their natural enemies. We suggest that management actions to capture pest control from natural enemies may be forth coming if: (i) the suite of response and predictor variables focus on pest complexes and specific management actions; (ii) the contribution of "the landscape" is identified by assessing the timing and numbers of natural enemies immigrating and emigrating to and from the target crop, as well as pests; and (iii) pest control thresholds aligned with crop development stages are the benchmark to measure impact of natural enemies on pests, in turn allowing for comparison between study regions, and generalizations. To achieve pest control we will need to incorporate what has been learned from an ecological understanding of model pest and natural enemy systems and integrate areawide landscape management with in-field pest management. © 2014 Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences.

5. The Basic Principles of The Working Process From Nature and the Role of Composition in Creating Landscape in Terms of Plein-Air

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Savițkaia-Baraghin Iarîna

2017-03-01

Full Text Available Principles of possession of the landscape painting, applied by masters of the past, as well as theoretical elaborations of scientists in the field of chromatics, psychology and pedagogy of arts, become important components in improving training methods of artists in plein-air in contemporary conditions. The skills and knowledge gained in the process of pleinair studies form professional skills and improve the properties of painting and composition within the workshop. This studying outlines the stringency of training and development methods of creative individuality, especially in plein-air, where the principal teacher is the nature. The plein-air enriches color perception of the real world, located in the air, and mutual relationship of landscape with architecture and space determines knowledge of the issues of proportionality and subordination in compositions, educates sense of proportion and artistic taste. Improving visual mastery into the natural environment contributes to the formation to painters of the necessity to create outside the workshop, which is a necessary condition for the development of individuality and professional skills of the painter.

The Art in Visualizing Natural Landscapes from Space

Science.gov (United States)

Webley, P. W.; Shipman, J. S.; Adams, T.

2017-12-01

Satellite remote sensing data can capture the changing Earth at cm resolution, across hundreds of spectral channels, and multiple times per hour. There is an art in combining these datasets together to fully capture the beauty of our planet. The resulting artistic piece can be further transformed by building in an accompanying musical score, allowing for a deeper emotional connection with the public. We make use of visible, near, middle and long wave infrared and radar data as well as different remote sensing techniques to uniquely capture our changing landscape in the spaceborne data. We will generate visually compelling imagery and videos that represent hazardous events from dust storms to landslides and from volcanic eruptions to forest fires. We will demonstrate how specific features of the Earth's landscape can be emphasized through the use of different datasets and color combinations and how, by adding a musical score, we can directly connect with the viewer and heighten their experience. We will also discuss our process to integrate the different aspects of our project together and how it could be developed to capture the beauty of other planets across the solar system using spaceborne imagery and data. Bringing together experts in art installations, composing musical scores, and remote sensing image visualization can lead to new and exciting artistic representations of geoscience data. The resulting product demonstrates there is an art to visualizing remote sensing data to capture the beauty of our planet and that incorporating a musical score can take us all to new places and emotions to enhance our experience.

Missing Linkages in California's Landscape [ds420

Data.gov (United States)

California Natural Resource Agency — The critical need for conserving landscape linkages first came to the forefront of conservation thinking in California in November 2000, when a statewide interagency...

Landscape and land use history of Eurajoki between 1840 and 2007: Analysis of geographical data and landscape transformation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Koistinen, T.; Kaeyhkoe, N.

2011-11-01

Posiva and the University of Turku Laboratory of Computer Cartography (UTU-LCC) agreed in 2010-2011 to conduct a joint research project about the development of the landscape of Eurajoki municipal. The project included transformation of digital historical cadastral maps into spatial data that can be analyzed and visualized with desktop GIS (Geographic Information Systems). Posiva is going to use the historical spatial data created in this project in their next Biosphere Description -report. Titta Koistinen (BSc) from the department of Geography and Geology produced and analyzed the data and docent Niina Kaeyhkoe (University of Turku), Jani Helin (MSc) and Ari Ikonen (MSc) supervised the work. The used methods and fundamental results of the project are represented in this report. The research about the transformation of the rural landscape of Eurajoki is going to continue in the Master's Thesis of Titta Koistinen. When studing scenarios and possible future landscapes of an area, the past landscape has an integral role. In addition historical maps have a key role in landscape transformation studies because they offer spatial data, information about the landscape features and land use of man, from the earlier decades and centuries. In Finland cadastral maps span as far as to the 17th century. Unfortunately this time scale covers only part of the country. Transforming of historical cartographic data into digital spatial data includes many concerns and requires caution. However when the process is conducted well, historical spatial data can provide new possibilities in analyzing, modelling and visualizing of the landscape change and dynamics. In addition transformation to digital spatial data is the only way historical landscape information can be used together with modern spatial data products. In this report the whole transformation process of the digital cadastral maps into vectorized spatial data is depicted. This includes interpritation of the used maps

Spatial assessment of landscape ecological connectivity in different urban gradient.

Science.gov (United States)

Park, Sohyun

2015-07-01

Urbanization has resulted in remnant natural patches within cities that often have no connectivity among themselves and to natural reserves outside the urban area. Protecting ecological connectivity in fragmented urban areas is becoming crucial in maintaining urban biodiversity and securing critical habitat levels and configurations under continual development pressures. Nevertheless, few studies have been undertaken for urban landscapes. This study aims to assess ecological connectivity for a group of species that represent the urban desert landscape in the Phoenix metropolitan area and to compare the connectivity values along the different urban gradient. A GIS-based landscape connectivity model which relies upon ecological connectivity index (ECI) was developed and applied to this region. A GIS-based concentric buffering technique was employed to delineate conceptual boundaries for urban, suburban, and rural zones. The research findings demonstrated that urban habitats and potential habitat patches would be significantly influenced by future urban development. Particularly, the largest loss of higher connectivity would likely to be anticipated in the "in-between areas" where urban, suburban, and rural zones overlap one another. The connectivity maps would be useful to provide spatial identification regarding connectivity patterns and vulnerability for urban and suburban activities in this area. This study provides planners and landscape architects with a spatial guidance to minimize ecological fragmentation, which ultimately leads to urban landscape sustainability. This study suggests that conventional planning practices which disregard the ecological processes in urban landscapes need to integrate landscape ecology into planning and design strategies.

Can We Model the Scenic Beauty of an Alpine Landscape?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Erich Tasser

2013-03-01

Full Text Available During the last decade, agriculture has lost its importance in many European mountain regions and tourism, which benefits from attractive landscapes, has become a major source of income. Changes in landscape patterns and elements might affect scenic beauty and therefore the socio-economic welfare of a region. Our study aimed at modeling scenic beauty by quantifying the influence of landscape elements and patterns in relationship to distance. Focusing on Alpine landscapes in South and North Tyrol, we used a photographic questionnaire showing different landscape compositions. As mountain landscapes offer long vistas, we related scenic beauty to different distance zones. Our results indicate that the near zone contributes by 64% to the valuation of scenic beauty, the middle zone by 22%, and the far zone by 14%. In contrast to artificial elements, naturalness and diversity increased scenic beauty. Significant differences between different social groups (origin, age, gender, cultural background occurred only between the local population and tourists regarding great landscape changes. Changes towards more homogenous landscapes were perceived negatively, thus political decision makers should support the conservation of the cultural landscape.

Nature and nature values in organic agriculture

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hansen, Lene; Noe, Egon; Højring, Katrine

2006-01-01

The relationship between agriculture and nature is a centra issue in the current agricultural debate. Organic farming has ambitions and a special potential in relation to nature. Consideration for nature is part of the guiding principals of organic farming and many organic farmers are committed...... to protecting natural qualities. However, the issue of nature, landscape, and land use is not straightforward. Nature is an ambiguous concept that involves multiple interests and actors reaching far beyond farmers. The Danish research project ......

Landscape spatial configuration is a key driver of wild bee demographics.

Science.gov (United States)

Neokosmidis, Lazaros; Tscheulin, Thomas; Devalez, Jelle; Petanidou, Theodora

2018-02-01

The majority of studies investigating the effects of landscape composition and configuration on bee populations have been conducted in regions of intensive agricultural production, ignoring regions which are dominated by seminatural habitats, such as the islands of the Aegean Archipelago. In addition, research so far has focused on the landscape impacts on bees sampled in cropped fields while the landscape effects on bees inhabiting seminatural habitats are understudied. Here, we investigate the impact of the landscape on wild bee assemblages in 66 phryganic (low scrubland) communities on 8 Aegean islands. We computed landscape metrics (total area and total perimeter-area ratio) in 4 concentric circles (250, 500, 750, and 1000 m) around the center of each bee sampling site including 3 habitat groups (namely phrygana, cultivated land, and natural forests). We further measured the local flower cover in 25 quadrats distributed randomly at the center of each sampling site. We found that the landscape scale is more important than the local scale in shaping abundance and species richness of bees. Furthermore, habitat configuration was more important than the total area of habitats, probably because it affects bees' movement across the landscape. Phrygana and natural forests had a positive effect on bee demographics, while cultivated land had a negative effect. This demonstrates that phryganic specialists drive bee assemblages in these seminatural landscapes. This finding, together with the shown importance of landscape scale, should be considered for the management of wild bees with special emphasis placed on the spatial configuration of seminatural habitats. © 2016 Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences.

The Science of Middle Nature

Science.gov (United States)

Pataki, D. E.; Pincetl, S.

2012-12-01

In the field of biogeochemistry, urbanization is often considered as an "alteration" or "disturbance" to the earth's surface and its natural processes. This view is an outcome of the view of nature inherent in earth system science and ecology, in which nature is defined as separate from humans and society. However, other disciplines are based in alternative views of nature in which humans are more integral components of the landscape. Urban planning, landscape architecture, agriculture, and horticulture, for example, more fully integrate the role of landscape design and management in the functioning of human-dominated ecosystems. We suggest that the field of urban biogeochemistry has been somewhat limited by the predominant, disturbance-based view of the role of nature in cities, and that more deeply evaluating and broadening the concept of nature inherent in studies of urban processes can enhance our understanding of the role of urbanization in the earth system. A particularly useful concept is the "middle nature" proposed by Cosgrove (1993), which serves a purpose of "actively transforming nature into culture." It is this view of urban landscapes as middle nature, or transformation of urban space into human-dominated nature with a purpose, that is lacking from the current scientific discourse about the role of biogeochemistry in urban ecosystem services. A scientific evaluation of middle nature implies studying the performance of urban designs to meet intended cultural and environmental goals, including beauty, social equity, governance, and social capital as well as environmental quality. We describe our work in evaluating the transformed urban landscapes of Los Angeles from multiple perspectives that focus on urban livability, equity, and beauty as well as the physical impacts of plants and soils on the environment. The outcomes of this process do not necessary meet the traditional demands of biophysical ecology such as utilizing native species, maximizing

Detectability of landscape effects on recolonization increases with regional population density.

Science.gov (United States)

Liman, Anna-Sara; Dalin, Peter; Björkman, Christer

2015-07-01

Variation in population size over time can influence our ability to identify landscape-moderated differences in community assembly. To date, however, most studies at the landscape scale only cover snapshots in time, thereby overlooking the temporal dynamics of populations and communities. In this paper, we present data that illustrate how temporal variation in population density at a regional scale can influence landscape-moderated variation in recolonization and population buildup in disturbed habitat patches. Four common insect species, two omnivores and two herbivores, were monitored over 8 years in 10 willow short-rotation coppice bio-energy stands with a four-year disturbance regime (coppice cycle). The population densities in these regularly disturbed stands were compared to densities in 17 undisturbed natural Salix cinerea (grey willow) stands in the same region. A time series approach was used, utilizing the natural variation between years to statistically model recolonization as a function of landscape composition under two different levels of regional density. Landscape composition, i.e. relative amount of forest vs. open agricultural habitats, largely determined the density of re-colonizing populations following willow coppicing in three of the four species. However, the impact of landscape composition was not detectable in years with low regional density. Our results illustrate that landscape-moderated recolonization can change over time and that considering the temporal dynamics of populations may be crucial when designing and evaluating studies at landscape level.

Scale-Free Relationships between Social and Landscape Factors in Urban Systems

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Chunzhu Wei

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Urban planners and ecologists have long debated the relationship between the structure of urban landscapes and social activities. There have, however, been very few discussions as to whether any such relationships might depend on the scales of observation. This work applies a hierarchical zoning technique to data from the city of Quito, Ecuador, to examine how relationships between typical spatial landscape metrics and social indicators depend on zoning scales. Our results showed that the estimates of both landscape heterogeneity features and social indicators significantly depend on the zoning scale. The mean values of the typical landscape metrics and the social indicators all exhibited predictable responses to a changing zoning scale, suggesting a consistent and significant scaling relationship within the multiple zoning scales. Yet relationships between these pairs of variables remain notably invariant to scale. This quantitative demonstration of the scale-free nature of the relationship between landscape characteristics and social indicators furthers our understanding of the relationships between landscape structures and social aspects of urban spaces, including deprivation and public service accessibility. The relationships between social indicators and one typical landscape aggregation metric (represented as the percentage of like adjacencies were nevertheless significantly dependent on scale, suggesting the importance of zoning scale decisions for analyzing the relationships between the social indicators and the landscape characteristics related with landscape adjacency. Aside from this typical landscape aggregation metric, the general invariance to the zoning scale of relationships between landscape structures and socioeconomic indicators in Quito suggests the importance of applying these scale-free relationships in understanding complex socio-ecological systems in other cities, which are shaped by the conflated influences of both

Richard Murphy: Autobiography and the Connemara landscape

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Elsa Meihuizen

2015-08-01

Full Text Available It could be argued that an important feature of Richard Murphy’s work, and of his identity as a poet is the relationship between the creative self and a particular place, where ‘place’ should be understood as referring not just to physical qualities of the natural environment, but in a broader sense to denote an environment in which everything is interrelated and connected, and in which there is no sharp division between the natural and the human. The landscape providing inspiration for Murphy’s poetic imagination is the landscapes and seascapes of Connemara in north-west Ireland. In 1959 he settled in this environment which was to be his base for the next 20 years and from this period and this location emanated the bulk of his poetic oeuvre. For Murphy committing to a life of writing poetry necessarily means being in the Connemara landscape. Returning to this environment in adulthood represents a quest for recovering childhood feelings, of belonging and love, as connected to particular places. Murphy’s Connemara poems could be read as an account of this process of re-placement, as a type of autobiographical text in which the artist creates a ‘double portrait’: in writing about the landscape he also writes about himself, creating a place-portrait which is, at the same time, a self-portrait.

The farmer as a landscape steward

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Raymond, Christopher M.; Bieling, Claudia; Fagerholm, Nora

2016-01-01

production assets; (3) a holistic frame focusing on farmers’ role as a conservationist, primary producer, and manager of a range of landscape values, and; (4) an instrumental frame focusing on the financial benefits associated with compliance with agri-environmental schemes. We compare the landscape values......-holders (>100 acres) in South-West Devon, UK. Thematic analysis revealed four types of stewardship understandings: (1) an environmental frame which emphasized the farmers’ role in conserving or restoring wildlife; (2) a primary production frame which emphasized the farmers’ role in taking care of primary...

[THE EPIZOOTIC AND EPIDEMIC ACTIVITY OF NATURAL TULAREMIA FOCI OF DIFFERENT LANDSCAPE EPIDEMIOLOGICAL TYPES IN 2009-2014].

Science.gov (United States)

Meshcheryakova, I S; Mikhailova, T V; Demidova, T N; Kormilitsyna, M I

2016-01-01

to assess the present state of the natural tularemia foci of different landscape epidemiological types, by using individual focal areas as an example. Epizootological monitoring and epidemiological analysis were conducted in the areas of natural tularemia foci of tundra (Wrangel Island), meadow-field (Central Federal District of the Russian Federation), flood-swamp (Arkhangelsk Region, Khanty-Mansi Autonomous District), and steppe (Mongolii) types. Small mammals (organs, blood), tularemia patients' sera, and environniental objects were examined. Molecular genetic and immune serological diagnostic assays were used. The incidence of tularemia in the past decade was analyzed using the maps for the epidemiological examinations of tularemia cases and medical reports. The natural foci of tularemia were established to continue to actively operate. There were 2913 cases of tularemia in the Russian Federation in 2001 to 2014. The flood-swamp natural foci, in which there were summer transmissive tularemia outbreaks, the largest of high occurred in Khanti-Mansiysk in 2013 when a total of 1005 people fell ill, are a special epidemic hazard. Analysis of the tularemia outbreaks suggests that there is a need for continuous epizootological monitoring of the areas of natural tularemia foci for the timely prediction and prevention of epidemic complications. It is noted that there is an unfounded reduction in the scope of preventive measures, and immunoprevention in particular, and a weaker control of the antitularemia immune status in the population residing in the area of active natural foci of tularemia.

Integrating landscape analysis and planning: a multi-scale approach for oriented management of tourist recreation.

Science.gov (United States)

de Aranzabal, Itziar; Schmitz, María F; Pineda, Francisco D

2009-11-01

Tourism and landscape are interdependent concepts. Nature- and culture-based tourism are now quite well developed activities and can constitute an excellent way of exploiting the natural resources of certain areas, and should therefore be considered as key objectives in landscape planning and management in a growing number of countries. All of this calls for careful evaluation of the effects of tourism on the territory. This article focuses on an integrated spatial method for landscape analysis aimed at quantifying the relationship between preferences of visitors and landscape features. The spatial expression of the model relating types of leisure and recreational preferences to the potential capacity of the landscape to meet them involves a set of maps showing degrees of potential visitor satisfaction. The method constitutes a useful tool for the design of tourism planning and management strategies, with landscape conservation as a reference.

Integrating Landscape Analysis and Planning: A Multi-Scale Approach for Oriented Management of Tourist Recreation

Science.gov (United States)

de Aranzabal, Itziar; Schmitz, María F.; Pineda, Francisco D.

2009-11-01

Tourism and landscape are interdependent concepts. Nature- and culture-based tourism are now quite well developed activities and can constitute an excellent way of exploiting the natural resources of certain areas, and should therefore be considered as key objectives in landscape planning and management in a growing number of countries. All of this calls for careful evaluation of the effects of tourism on the territory. This article focuses on an integrated spatial method for landscape analysis aimed at quantifying the relationship between preferences of visitors and landscape features. The spatial expression of the model relating types of leisure and recreational preferences to the potential capacity of the landscape to meet them involves a set of maps showing degrees of potential visitor satisfaction. The method constitutes a useful tool for the design of tourism planning and management strategies, with landscape conservation as a reference.

Landscape by Moonlight: Peter Paul Rubens and Astronomy

Science.gov (United States)

Mendillo, M.

2016-01-01

In the last years of his life, Rubens (1577-1640) lived happily with his wife and children on his Het Steen estate. During this period he worked and reworked a painting that had special meaning to him—Landscape by Moonlight (1635-40), now at the Courtauld Gallery in London. After a highly successful career painting religious and secular portraits, allegories, and occasional landscapes, Rubens put an extraordinary amount of effort into this final landscape. He was well known as a person who would commit to memory ideas and themes that he would use in future works. This paper reviews Rubens' attention to the visualization of nature, his personal connections to Elsheimer, Galileo, and Peiresc, and explores his possible depiction of constellations recalled from memory and placed within the cloudy skies in his Landscape by Moonlight.

The heritage and landscapes: new concepts for old ideas?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Vanessa Gayego Bello Figueiredo

2013-12-01

Full Text Available This article investigates the relationship between landscape and heritage and brings a brief critical analysis of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO practice since the institutionalization of cultural landscape category, created on the World Heritage list in 1992, until 2012. The text is structured in three parts. The first presents a brief historical approach about the concept of Western landscape. The second presents recent formulations on the cultural landscape based on international conventions, such as the Council of Europe (1995 and the Landscape European Convention (2000. The third part focuses on the analysis of the World Heritage Committee work, comprising the main characteristics and values of cultural landscapes listed. Finally, the study reveals how the employment of this new concept is still reflecting old conceptions of landscape and preservation, although points towards perspective in the heritage policies, especially as regards the own expansion of the heritage concept and the approximation between the natural and cultural, material and immaterial dimensions.

Advanced Value Chain Collaboration in Ghana's Cocoa Sector: An Entry Point for Integrated Landscape Approaches?

Science.gov (United States)

Deans, Howard; Ros-Tonen, Mirjam A F; Derkyi, Mercy

2017-04-15

Value chain analyses have focused mainly on collaboration between chain actors, often neglecting collaboration "beyond the chain" with non-chain actors to tackle food security, poverty and sustainability issues in the landscapes in which these value chains are embedded. Comparing conventional and advanced value chain collaborations involving small-scale cocoa farmers in Ghana, this paper analyzes the merits of a more integrated approach toward value chain collaboration. It particularly asks whether advanced value chain collaboration targeting cocoa-producing areas potentially offers an entry point for implementing a landscape approach. The findings detail current chain actors and institutions and show how advanced value chain collaboration has a greater positive impact than conventional value chain collaboration on farmers' social, human and natural capital. The paper concludes that the integrated approach, focus on learning, and stable relationships with small-scale farmers inherent in advanced value chain collaboration makes it both more sustainable and effective at the local level than conventional approaches. However, its scope and the actors' jurisdictional powers and self-organization are too limited to be the sole tool in negotiating land use and trade-offs at the landscape level. To evolve as such would require certification beyond the farm level, partnering with other landscape stakeholders, and brokering by bridging organizations.

Landscape & Imagination: riflettere insieme

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mariella Zoppi

2015-10-01

Full Text Available In Paris, at La Villette University, was four-days of debate on 2-4 Mai 2013, in which faculty members of all the world discussed on methods and experiences in teaching landscape. The conference was organized in multiple sessions: history, theories, representation, process, science and governance. All the fields discussed were related to the main problem of the identity of territories in the landscape project -from the theories to the practices- and applied in a very large range of different situations: from the rural world between conservation and transformations to the coastal areas under the pressure of tourism, from the ecology in the city life renovation to the land use control and project by community and the emergency management in natural catastrophes.

Recent advances in the theory and application of fitness landscapes

CERN Document Server

Engelbrecht, Andries

2014-01-01

This book is concerned with recent advances in fitness landscapes. The concept of fitness landscapes originates from theoretical biology and refers to a framework for analysing and visualizing the relationships between genotypes, phenotypes and fitness. These relationships lay at the centre of attempts to mathematically describe evolutionary processes and evolutionary dynamics.     The book addresses recent advances in the understanding of fitness landscapes in evolutionary biology and evolutionary computation. In the volume, experts in the field of fitness landscapes present these findings in an integrated way to make it accessible to a number of audiences: senior undergraduate and graduate students in computer science, theoretical biology, physics, applied mathematics and engineering, but also researcher looking for a reference or/and entry point into using fitness landscapes for analysing algorithms. Also practitioners wanting to employ fitness landscape techniques for evaluating bio- and nature-inspired...

A research into evolution attitudes affecting urban landscape design principles in 20. century and beyond

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Faryadi, Sh.

2001-01-01

Man's interference with environment has generally followed two main and distinct attitudes, which has led to creation of different urban landscapes. The first attitude is called m an compatible with the nature w hich has generally shaped landscapes till industrial age. The second is m an dominant over the nature a ffecting landscapes since industrial age. After revealing of environmental crises - which are the impacts of the latter - a new way of thinking is being formed, which includes some aspects of both past attitudes. The main idea of this new way is to go along with the nature's powers instead of confronting them and to respect the soul and laws of the nature. This way of thinking insists on the creation of small sizes of settlements. In this new approach in addition to the acceptance of the role of science, emphasis has been put on the ecological characteristics, individual consciousness, art and creativity in landscape design

Environmental research programme. Ecological research. Annual report 1995. Urban-industrial landscapes, forests, agricultural landscapes, river and lake landscapes, terrestrial ecosystem research, environmental pollution and health

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1996-01-01

In promoting ecology research, the federal ministry of science and technology (BMBF) pursues the aim to enhance understanding of the natural resources indispensable to the life of man, animals and plant societies and their interrelations, and to point out existing scope for action to preserve or replenish them. Consequently, ecology research makes an essential contribution towards effective nature conservancy and environmental protection. The interactions between climate and ecosystems also form an important part of this. With regard to topical environmental issues concerning agricultural landscapes, rivers and lakes, forests and urban-industrial agglomerations, system interrelations in representative ecosystems are investigated. The results are to be embodied in directives for the protection or appropriate use of these ecosystems in order to contribute towards a sustainable development of these types of landscapes. The book also evaluates and assesses which types of nuisances, interventions and modes of use represent hazards for the respective systems. (orig./VHE) [de

The Ancient Maya Landscape: Facing the Challenges and Embracing the Promise of Integrating Archaeology, Remote Sensing, Soil Science and Hydrologic Modeling for Coupled Natural and Human Systems.

Science.gov (United States)

Murtha, T., Jr.; Duffy, C.; Cook, B. D.; Schroder, W.; Webster, D.; French, K. D.; Alcover, O.; Golden, C.; Balzotti, C.; Shaffer, D.

2016-12-01

Relying on a niche inheritance perspective, this paper discusses the long-term spatial and temporal dynamics of land-use management, agricultural decision making and patterns of resource availability in the tropical lowlands of Central America. We introduce and describe ongoing research that addresses a series of long standing questions about coupled natural and human history dynamics in the Central Maya lowlands, emphasizing the role of landscape and region to address these questions. First, we summarize the results of a CNH pilot study focused on the evolution of the regional landscape of Tikal, Guatemala. Particular attention is centered on how we integrated landscape survey, traditional archaeology and soil studies to understand the spatial and temporal dynamics of agricultural land use and intensification over a two thousand period. Additionally, we discuss how these results were integrated into remote sensing, hydrological and erosion models to better understand how past changes in available water and productive land compare to what we know about settlement patterns in the Tikal Region over that same time period. We not only describe how the Maya transformed this landscape, but also how the region influenced changing patterns of settlement and land use. We finish this section with a discussion of some of the unique challenges integrating archaeological information to study CNH dynamics during this pilot study. Second, we introduce a new project designed to `scale up' the pilot study for a macro-regional analysis of the lowland Maya landscape. The new project leverages a uniquely sampled LIDAR data set designed to refine measurements of above ground carbon storage. Our new project quantitatively examines these data for evidence for past human activity. Preliminary results offer a promising path for tightly integrating archaeology, natural science, remote sensing and modeling for studying CNH dynamics in the deep and recent past.

Landscape function analysis as a base of rural development strategies

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Filepné Kovács Krisztina

2017-11-01

Full Text Available Research on ecosystem services and landscape functions are highly important in landscape ecology, landscape planning and open space design. The terms of ecosystem service and landscape function have been evolved parallel to each other in the scientific literature but have different focus. The term of landscape functions evolved from the scientific field of landscape ecology; it reflects the goods and services provided by regions, landscapes where the cultural, economic factors are important as well. As a framework assessment method with additional economic assessment, a landscape function analysis could be an additional tool of rural development, as it gives a complex analysis of multiple aspects, thus it is highly appropriate to explore, analyze the potentials, resources and limits of landscapes and land use systems. In the current research a landscape function analysis was compared with the rural development strategies in Hungarian micro-regions. We focused on the level of landscape functions and the objectives of the rural development strategies of the study areas. The local development strategies do not focus on territorial differences nor potentials evolving from natural, cultural resources or local constrains. The only exception is tourism development, where in some cases there is a holistic spatial approach which intends to develop the region as a whole.

Landscape Studio

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hansen, Peter Lundsgaard

2017-01-01

Landscape studio documents is the biography of the method 'design conversation' and contributes to the way we work with landscapes. The blog communicates renewed landscape didactics and leads to the innovation of design practices.......Landscape studio documents is the biography of the method 'design conversation' and contributes to the way we work with landscapes. The blog communicates renewed landscape didactics and leads to the innovation of design practices....

Natural forest regeneration and ecological restoration in human-modified tropical landscapes

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Martínez-Ramos, Miguel; Pingarroni, Aline; Rodríguez-Velázquez, Jorge; Toledo-Chelala, Lilibeth; Zermeño-Hernández, Isela; Bongers, Frans

2016-01-01

In human-modified tropical landscapes (HMLs) the conservation of biodiversity, functions and services of forest ecosystems depends on persistence of old growth forest remnants, forest regeneration in abandoned agricultural fields, and restoration of degraded lands. Understanding the impacts of

Monarto’s Contested Landscape

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Paul Walker

2015-11-01

Full Text Available The proposal to develop a new city at Monarto in South Australia during the 1970s was an important project of the reforming government of Don Dunstan. Dunstan’s view was that Monarto would be a city environmentally suited to the tough conditions of its site, and to an ‘Australian way of life’. As planning and preliminary design proceeded from 1972 to 1975, the landscape potential of the city’s selected site became central to its conception. This paper draws on new research comprising interviews with key participants and archival material to examine four issues: the adoption of an environmental orientation in Australian urban planning and discourse in the 1970s; strategies in the design proposals that seemingly gave Monarto validity even as the demographic and political drivers for it dissolved away; the investigations that supported Monarto’s landscape strategies; and attitudes to social and cultural history that the Monarto project adopted. While ultimately the plan for Monarto was abandoned, the projected city’s landscape can be seen as a theatre for competing values in relation to natural and cultural heritage and design ambitions. The paper situates Monarto within national and international urban discourse that is more complex than has been previously acknowledged, indicative of competing values and ideologies in the planning, landscape and design discourses of the period.

Cuban Landscapes

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Scarpaci, Joseph L.; Portela, Armando

This accessible book offers a vivid geographic portrait of Cuba, exploring the island’s streetscapes, sugar cane fields, beaches, and rural settlements; its billboards, government buildings, and national landmarks. The authors illuminate how natural and built landscapes have shaped Cuban identity...... (cubanidad), and vice versa. They provide a unique perspective on Cuba’s distinct historical periods and political economies, from the colonial period through republicanism and today’s socialist era. Compelling topics include the legacies of slavery and the sugar industry, the past and future of urban...

Pedo-environmental evolution and agricultural landscape transformation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gilmo Vianello

Full Text Available Landscapes represent the stage setting of the ecosystem, the great theatre where the evolution of the environment, the changing of things and plant and animal life are played out; the diversity of landscapes derives from the combination, over time, of different environmental factors having perceptibly different roles, as in the case of climate, vegetation and human activity. Less perceptible and scarcely known is the role of soil, which has the ability not only to diversify the ecosystem’s landscapes but also to differentiate its level of productivity and liveability. The role of soil as part of the landscape is not always so evident, especially when it is covered by vegetation that precludes observation. At times, however, soils show themselves conspicuously, at least on the surface, when the colours of the epipedons invade the landscape and – in the ploughing season – dominate it. While it may be reassuring to see neatly cultivated fields and crops growing luxuriantly and homogeneously, the increasingly marked and evident signs of soil degradation or erosion are a cause for concern. In the recent past, the relationship between man and soil resources was strongly influenced by natural factors inside and outside the soil itself, socio-economic conditions and above all the labour force, i.e. the people employed in the primary sector; consequently, it was based on such factors that crop-growing choices were adapted to the different ecosystems, resulting in a diversification of rural landscapes. Starting from the second half of the twentieth century, the introduction of chemicals, mechanisation and exploitation of various forms of energy drastically transformed land use in the space of just a few years, with a logic aimed at improving the production capacity of farmland and forest land in both qualitative and quantitative terms. As a consequence, farming choices that were formerly adapted to the natural and socio-economic conditions of

Pedo-environmental evolution and agricultural landscape transformation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gilmo Vianello

2009-10-01

Full Text Available Landscapes represent the stage setting of the ecosystem, the great theatre where the evolution of the environment, the changing of things and plant and animal life are played out; the diversity of landscapes derives from the combination, over time, of different environmental factors having perceptibly different roles, as in the case of climate, vegetation and human activity. Less perceptible and scarcely known is the role of soil, which has the ability not only to diversify the ecosystem’s landscapes but also to differentiate its level of productivity and liveability. The role of soil as part of the landscape is not always so evident, especially when it is covered by vegetation that precludes observation. At times, however, soils show themselves conspicuously, at least on the surface, when the colours of the epipedons invade the landscape and – in the ploughing season – dominate it. While it may be reassuring to see neatly cultivated fields and crops growing luxuriantly and homogeneously, the increasingly marked and evident signs of soil degradation or erosion are a cause for concern. In the recent past, the relationship between man and soil resources was strongly influenced by natural factors inside and outside the soil itself, socio-economic conditions and above all the labour force, i.e. the people employed in the primary sector; consequently, it was based on such factors that crop-growing choices were adapted to the different ecosystems, resulting in a diversification of rural landscapes. Starting from the second half of the twentieth century, the introduction of chemicals, mechanisation and exploitation of various forms of energy drastically transformed land use in the space of just a few years, with a logic aimed at improving the production capacity of farmland and forest land in both qualitative and quantitative terms. As a consequence, farming choices that were formerly adapted to the natural and socio-economic conditions of

Landscape moderation of biodiversity patterns and processes - eight hypotheses.

Science.gov (United States)

Tscharntke, Teja; Tylianakis, Jason M; Rand, Tatyana A; Didham, Raphael K; Fahrig, Lenore; Batáry, Péter; Bengtsson, Janne; Clough, Yann; Crist, Thomas O; Dormann, Carsten F; Ewers, Robert M; Fründ, Jochen; Holt, Robert D; Holzschuh, Andrea; Klein, Alexandra M; Kleijn, David; Kremen, Claire; Landis, Doug A; Laurance, William; Lindenmayer, David; Scherber, Christoph; Sodhi, Navjot; Steffan-Dewenter, Ingolf; Thies, Carsten; van der Putten, Wim H; Westphal, Catrin

2012-08-01

Understanding how landscape characteristics affect biodiversity patterns and ecological processes at local and landscape scales is critical for mitigating effects of global environmental change. In this review, we use knowledge gained from human-modified landscapes to suggest eight hypotheses, which we hope will encourage more systematic research on the role of landscape composition and configuration in determining the structure of ecological communities, ecosystem functioning and services. We organize the eight hypotheses under four overarching themes. Section A: 'landscape moderation of biodiversity patterns' includes (1) the landscape species pool hypothesis-the size of the landscape-wide species pool moderates local (alpha) biodiversity, and (2) the dominance of beta diversity hypothesis-landscape-moderated dissimilarity of local communities determines landscape-wide biodiversity and overrides negative local effects of habitat fragmentation on biodiversity. Section B: 'landscape moderation of population dynamics' includes (3) the cross-habitat spillover hypothesis-landscape-moderated spillover of energy, resources and organisms across habitats, including between managed and natural ecosystems, influences landscape-wide community structure and associated processes and (4) the landscape-moderated concentration and dilution hypothesis-spatial and temporal changes in landscape composition can cause transient concentration or dilution of populations with functional consequences. Section C: 'landscape moderation of functional trait selection' includes (5) the landscape-moderated functional trait selection hypothesis-landscape moderation of species trait selection shapes the functional role and trajectory of community assembly, and (6) the landscape-moderated insurance hypothesis-landscape complexity provides spatial and temporal insurance, i.e. high resilience and stability of ecological processes in changing environments. Section D: 'landscape constraints on

Suburban landscape assessment applied to urban planning. Case study in Barcelona Metropolitan Region

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

David Serrano Giné

2015-12-01

Full Text Available Urban fringes set complex landscapes, in transition from rural to natural and urban, with fuzzy boundaries in mutual interdependence. The European Landscape Convention gives notorious importance to everyday landscapes, including those of suburban character. Few landscape evaluation researches are done in suburban areas, which is surprising considering its importance and abundance. This paper shows a methodology, yield on geographical information systems (GIS, for landscape assessment of suburban areas, useful in urban planning. Its main interest lies in a double assessment, which considers both landscape quality and landscape fragility, applied systematically. The procedure is applied in Muntanyes d’Ordal in the metropolitan area of Barcelona (Spain, an area with pronounced regional strengths and contrasted landscape values. Results are of important applicability and indicate a predominance of mean values, both for landscape quality and landscape fragility.

Local and landscape drivers of predation services in urban gardens.

Science.gov (United States)

Philpott, Stacy M; Bichier, Peter

2017-04-01

In agroecosystems, local and landscape features, as well as natural enemy abundance and richness, are significant predictors of predation services that may result in biological control of pests. Despite the increasing importance of urban gardening for provisioning of food to urban populations, most urban gardeners suffer from high pest problems, and have little knowledge about how to manage their plots to increase biological control services. We examined the influence of local, garden scale (i.e., herbaceous and arboreal vegetation abundance and diversity, ground cover) and landscape (i.e., landscape diversity and surrounding land use types) characteristics on predation services provided by naturally occurring predators in 19 urban gardens in the California central coast. We introduced sentinel pests (moth eggs and larvae and pea aphids) onto greenhouse-raised plants taken to gardens and assigned to open or bagged (predator exclosure) treatments. We found high predation rates with between 40% and 90% of prey items removed in open treatments. Predation services varied with local and landscape factors, but significant predictors differed by prey species. Predation of eggs and aphids increased with vegetation complexity in gardens, but larvae predation declined with vegetation complexity. Smaller gardens experienced higher predation services, likely due to increases in predator abundance in smaller gardens. Several ground cover features influenced predation services. In contrast to patterns in rural agricultural landscapes, predation on aphids declined with increases in landscape diversity. In sum, we report the relationships between several local management factors, as well as landscape surroundings, and implications for garden management. © 2017 by the Ecological Society of America.

IRIS: A SIGNIFICANT ELEMENT OF THE MEDITERRANEAN LANDSCAPE

OpenAIRE

A. UBRIZSY SAVOIA; S. PIGNATTI; S. VAROLI PIAZZA

2000-01-01

The Southern European species of Iris growing in dry, rocky places, stony ground, terra rossa, sandy, basalt and/or calcareous hills, maquis and coastal rocky slopes, are a neglected bioplasm resource of the Mediterranean landscape. These species have traditional uses and cultural significance and have inspired artists. Both natural and naturalised ornamental Iris species may help to improve and maintain the Mediterranean landscape by avoiding land erosion, fixing dunes and preserving coastal...

Bioenergy production and forest landscape change in the southeastern United States

Science.gov (United States)

Costanza, Jennifer K.; Abt, Robert C.; McKerrow, Alexa; Collazo, Jaime A.

2016-01-01

Production of woody biomass for bioenergy, whether wood pellets or liquid biofuels, has the potential to cause substantial landscape change and concomitant effects on forest ecosystems, but the landscape effects of alternative production scenarios have not been fully assessed. We simulated landscape change from 2010 to 2050 under five scenarios of woody biomass production for wood pellets and liquid biofuels in North Carolina, in the southeastern United States, a region that is a substantial producer of wood biomass for bioenergy and contains high biodiversity. Modeled scenarios varied biomass feedstocks, incorporating harvest of ‘conventional’ forests, which include naturally regenerating as well as planted forests that exist on the landscape even without bioenergy production, as well as purpose-grown woody crops grown on marginal lands. Results reveal trade-offs among scenarios in terms of overall forest area and the characteristics of the remaining forest in 2050. Meeting demand for biomass from conventional forests resulted in more total forest land compared with a baseline, business-as-usual scenario. However, the remaining forest was composed of more intensively managed forest and less of the bottomland hardwood and longleaf pine habitats that support biodiversity. Converting marginal forest to purpose-grown crops reduced forest area, but the remaining forest contained more of the critical habitats for biodiversity. Conversion of marginal agricultural lands to purpose-grown crops resulted in smaller differences from the baseline scenario in terms of forest area and the characteristics of remaining forest habitats. Each scenario affected the dominant type of land-use change in some regions, especially in the coastal plain that harbors high levels of biodiversity. Our results demonstrate the complex landscape effects of alternative bioenergy scenarios, highlight that the regions most likely to be affected by bioenergy production are also critical for

Ecology, recreation and landscape

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Satchell, J E

1983-01-01

The article is dedicated to the problems of combining mass tourism in certain countries of Western Europe and environmental protection (OOS) requirements. The ecological damage from recreation is examined and the throughput of the medium is evaluated. The author proposes development of regulable, managable and controllable recreation use of natural resources and landscapes using selective advertising of the recreation sites.

The behaviour of hoverfly larvae (Diptera, Syrphidae) lessens the effects of floral subsidy in agricultural landscapes

OpenAIRE

Laubertie, Elsa; Wratten, Steve; Magro, Alexandra; Hemptinne, Jean

2016-01-01

Modern agricultural landscapes favour crop pests: herbivores benefit from resource concentration and/or the absence of natural enemies in large areas of intensively farmed fields interspersed by small fragments of natural or non-crop habitats. Conservation biological control (CBC) aims at increasing the functional diversity of agricultural landscapes to make them more hospitable to natural enemies, and less to herbivores. Although natural enemies readily respond to this management, very few s...

Genetics: A New Landscape for Medical Geography

Science.gov (United States)

Carrel, Margaret; Emch, Michael

2014-01-01

The emergence and re-emergence of human pathogens resistant to medical treatment will present a challenge to the international public health community in the coming decades. Geography is uniquely positioned to examine the progressive evolution of pathogens across space and through time, and to link molecular change to interactions between population and environmental drivers. Landscape as an organizing principle for the integration of natural and cultural forces has a long history in geography, and, more specifically, in medical geography. Here, we explore the role of landscape in medical geography, the emergent field of landscape genetics, and the great potential that exists in the combination of these two disciplines. We argue that landscape genetics can enhance medical geographic studies of local-level disease environments with quantitative tests of how human-environment interactions influence pathogenic characteristics. In turn, such analyses can expand theories of disease diffusion to the molecular scale and distinguish the important factors in ecologies of disease that drive genetic change of pathogens. PMID:24558292

Key processes at the stand to landscape scale

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Perry, D.A.

1991-01-01

The smooth transition from one mature community type to another during climate change depends on the rate of climate change, the speed of migration, and the stability of extant communities as they become increasingly maladapted to local climates. The expected increase in natural disturbances will probably be the most important factor influencing forests over the next century, and has the potential to convert many forests to early successional, perhaps weedy vegetation. Protecting key structures and processes at both the stand and landscape scale will be critically important to easing the transition from one mature forest type to another and preventing site capture by weeds. Two general steps are necessary at the landscape scale: maintain migration corridors, and promote landscape patterns that dampen, rather than magnify, the spread of disturbances. At the stand level, it will be important to protect photosynthetic capacity and soil fertility. Steps to accomplish these goals include: protection of habitats required by natural enemies of forest pests; maintenance or restoration of natural biological diversity; maintenance or restoration of individual tree vigor through practices such as aggressive thinning; and moving from clearcutting to shelterwoods and/or group selections, thereby keeping some cover of mature green trees on sites at all times. 28 refs

Habitat eradication and cropland intensification may reduce parasitoid diversity and natural pest control services in annual crop fields

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Deborah K. Letourneau

2015-10-01

Full Text Available Abstract California’s central coast differs from many agricultural areas in the U.S., which feature large tracts of monoculture production fields and relatively simple landscapes. Known as the nations salad bowl, and producing up to 90% of U.S. production of lettuces, broccoli and Brussels sprouts, this region is a mosaic of fresh vegetable fields, coastal meadow, chaparral shrubs, riparian and woodland habitat. We tested for relationships between the percent cover of crops, riparian and other natural landscape vegetation and the species richness of parasitic wasps and flies foraging in crops, such as broccoli, kale and cauliflower, and interpreted our results with respect to the decrease in natural habitat and increase in cropland cover prompted by a local microbial contamination event in 2006. Our key results are that: (1 as cropland cover in the landscape increased, fewer species of parasitoids were captured in the crop field, (2 parasitoid richness overall was positively associated with the amount of riparian and other natural vegetation in the surrounding 500m, (3 different groups of parasitoids were associated with unique types of natural vegetation, and (4 parasitism rates of sentinel cabbage aphid and cabbage looper pests were correlated with landscape vegetation features according to which parasitoids caused the mortality. Although individual species of parasitoids may thrive in landscapes that are predominantly short season crops, the robust associations found in this study across specialist and generalist parasitoids and different taxa (tachinid flies, ichneumon wasps, braconid wasps shows that recent food safety practices targeting removal of natural vegetation around vegetable fields in an attempt to eliminate wildlife may harm natural enemy communities and reduce ecosystem services. We argue that enhancing biological diversity is a key goal for transforming agroecosystems for future productivity, sustainability and public health.

Examining Vegetation of Built Landscapes and Their Relationship to Existing Ecosystems

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Margaret Livingston

2004-06-01

Full Text Available An understanding of the various influences of urbanisation on plant communities is critical for planning a sustainable future for the planet. For example, landscape practices and sense of place driven by aesthetic influences often dominate in the design of built landscapes, resulting in strikingly different vegetation communities from that of the surrounding communities. Furthermore, these built landscapes in metropolitan areas often markedly influence an inhabitant's impressions of a region's biotic foundation and sense of place. Inhabitants may not consider or understand the ecological impacts of practices that are typically dominated by contemporary cultural aesthetics. Do these cultural aesthetic drivers result in relatively similar landscapes in terms of appearance, regardless of region? The purpose of this study was to document general trends in landscape structure and composition from two distinct, different regions. Specifically, we addressed the questions: how do these built landscapes deviate from their surrounding natural communities and are these built landscapes from the two regions similar in structure and composition? This paper characterised landscape vegetation patterns of typical residential areas in two cities with relatively diverse climatic regions, Tucson, Arizona and Atlanta, Georgia. Comparisons were done on data for plant diversity, density, life form (tree, shrub, groundcover, and vines and species origin (native versus non-native from sites within typical residential subdivisions throughout the two cities. Results were compared with the composition of local typology in order to determine what differences and similarities existed in relation to native biotic communities. In both cities, residential landscapes converged on savannah-type landscapes, emphasising scattered overstory and minimal understory that were more compositionally diverse than the native biotic communities because of the introduction of non

Social networks and landscape of tourist destination: photos online in city image building

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Luciana Noronha Pereira

2017-12-01

Full Text Available Tourist activity has the landscapes among its main attractions. Photographic records as fragments of reality are products of a look to aspects of the landscape and mediate the process of signification. New ways to record and share the tourist experience through produced digital photos and shared on-line has meant the expansion of this effect, and moreover has enabled new types of appropriation, interaction and so new forms of creation the space. This study aims to investigate possible influences of your online photos at image of tourist destinations, as from Balneário Camboriú (SC. The methodology includes a quantitative stage – quantity and location of the photos – and a qualitative – photos and comments submitted to the semiotic approach of content analysis. The concentration of on-line photos in seashore areas and the predominance of natural elements as central arguments, associated with positive emotions, stand out among the results.

Testing evolutionary hypotheses for phenotypic divergence using landscape genetics.

Science.gov (United States)

Funk, W Chris; Murphy, Melanie A

2010-02-01

Understanding the evolutionary causes of phenotypic variation among populations has long been a central theme in evolutionary biology. Several factors can influence phenotypic divergence, including geographic isolation, genetic drift, divergent natural or sexual selection, and phenotypic plasticity. But the relative importance of these factors in generating phenotypic divergence in nature is still a tantalizing and unresolved problem in evolutionary biology. The origin and maintenance of phenotypic divergence is also at the root of many ongoing debates in evolutionary biology, such as the extent to which gene flow constrains adaptive divergence (Garant et al. 2007) and the relative importance of genetic drift, natural selection, and sexual selection in initiating reproductive isolation and speciation (Coyne & Orr 2004). In this issue, Wang & Summers (2010) test the causes of one of the most fantastic examples of phenotypic divergence in nature: colour pattern divergence among populations of the strawberry poison frog (Dendrobates pumilio) in Panama and Costa Rica (Fig. 1). This study provides a beautiful example of the use of the emerging field of landscape genetics to differentiate among hypotheses for phenotypic divergence. Using landscape genetic analyses, Wang & Summers were able to reject the hypotheses that colour pattern divergence is due to isolation-by-distance (IBD) or landscape resistance. Instead, the hypothesis left standing is that colour divergence is due to divergent selection, in turn driving reproductive isolation among populations with different colour morphs. More generally, this study provides a wonderful example of how the emerging field of landscape genetics, which has primarily been applied to questions in conservation and ecology, now plays an essential role in evolutionary research.

Combinatorial vector fields and the valley structure of fitness landscapes.

Science.gov (United States)

Stadler, Bärbel M R; Stadler, Peter F

2010-12-01

Adaptive (downhill) walks are a computationally convenient way of analyzing the geometric structure of fitness landscapes. Their inherently stochastic nature has limited their mathematical analysis, however. Here we develop a framework that interprets adaptive walks as deterministic trajectories in combinatorial vector fields and in return associate these combinatorial vector fields with weights that measure their steepness across the landscape. We show that the combinatorial vector fields and their weights have a product structure that is governed by the neutrality of the landscape. This product structure makes practical computations feasible. The framework presented here also provides an alternative, and mathematically more convenient, way of defining notions of valleys, saddle points, and barriers in landscape. As an application, we propose a refined approximation for transition rates between macrostates that are associated with the valleys of the landscape.

Sustainable landscaping practices for enhancing vegetation establishment.

Science.gov (United States)

2016-02-01

Soil compaction can severely limit the success of vegetation establishment. Current grading and landscaping : practices commonly produce compacted soils of varied textures and profiles within SHA medians and roadsides, : resulting in limited capacity...

Application of carbon isotopes to detect seepage out of coalbed natural gas produced water impoundments

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sharma, Shikha; Baggett, Joshua K.

2011-01-01

Highlights: → Coalbed natural gas extraction results in large amount of produced water. → Risk of deterioration of ambient water quality. → Carbon isotope natural tracer for detecting seepage from produced water impoundments. - Abstract: Coalbed natural gas (CBNG) production from coal bed aquifers requires large volumes of produced water to be pumped from the subsurface. The produced water ranges from high quality that meets state and federal drinking water standards to low quality due to increased salinity and/or sodicity. The Powder River Basin of northeastern Wyoming is a major coalbed natural gas producing region, where water quality generally decreases moving from the southeastern portion of the basin towards the center. Most produced water in Wyoming is disposed into impoundments and other surface drainages, where it may infiltrate into shallow groundwater. Groundwater degradation caused by infiltration of CBNG produced water holding impoundments into arid, soluble salt-rich soils is an issue of immense importance because groundwater is a major source for stock water, irrigation, and drinking water for many small communities in these areas. This study examines the potential of using stable C isotope signatures of dissolved inorganic C (δ 13 C DIC ) to track the fate of CBNG produced water after it is discharged into the impoundments. Other geochemical proxies like the major cations and major anions were used in conjunction with field water quality measurements to understand the geochemical differences between CBNG produced waters and ambient waters in the study area. Samples were collected from the CBNG discharge outfalls, produced water holding impoundments, and monitoring wells from different parts of the Powder River Basin and analyzed for δ 13 C DIC . The CBNG produced waters from outfalls and impoundments have positive δ 13 C DIC values that fall within the range of +12 per mille to +22 per mille, distinct from the ambient regional surface and

Risk and cooperation: managing hazardous fuel in mixed ownership landscapes

Science.gov (United States)

A. Paige Fischer; Susan. Charnley

2012-01-01

Managing natural processes at the landscape scale to promote forest health is important, especially in the case of wildfire, where the ability of a landowner to protect his or her individual parcel is constrained by conditions on neighboring ownerships. However, management at a landscape scale is also challenging because it requires cooperation on plans and actions...

[Spatial evaluation on ecological and aesthetic quality of Beijing agricultural landscape].

Science.gov (United States)

Pan, Ying; Xiao, He; Yu, Zhen-Rong

2009-10-01

A total of ten single indices mainly reflecting the ecological and aesthetic quality of agricultural landscape, including ecosystem function, naturalness, openness and diversity, contamination probability, and orderliness were selected, their different weights were given based on field survey and expert system, and an integrated evaluation index system of agricultural landscape quality was constructed. In the meantime, the land use data provided by GIS and the remote sensing data of vegetation index were used to evaluate the Beijing agricultural landscape quality and its spatial variation. There was a great spatial variation in the agricultural landscape quality of Beijing, being worse at the edges of urban area and towns, but better in suburbs. The agricultural landscape quality was mainly related to topography and human activity. To construct a large-scale integrated index system based on remote sensing data and landscape indices would have significance in evaluating the spatial variation of agricultural landscape quality.

Impact of CO2 emissions on the geoecological state of landscapes of the British Isles: carbon footprint versus the assimilation potential

Science.gov (United States)

Romanova, Emma; Bulokhov, Anton; Arshinova, Marina

2017-04-01

The geoecological state of landscapes is determined by the type and intensity of anthropogenic impacts, the ability of geosystems to sustain them and the number of population living within a particular landscape unit. The main sources of CO2 emissions are thermal power plants, industrial facilities, transport and waste utilization. In Great Britain 163 enterprises produce 254.7 MMT CO2Eq. and 20 enterprises in Ireland - 17.8 MMT CO2Eq. Total transport emissions are 122 MMT CO2Eq. Utilization of solid wastes collected on the British Isles produces about 4.2 MMT CO2Eq. The spatial pattern of CO2 sources within the landscapes is particularly mosaic. Among the indicators which characterize the capacity of landscapes to neutralize wastes the assimilation potential (AP) is particularly important. The neutralization is based on the process of sequestration of gaseous substances, i.e. their accumulation in leaves, branches and stocks during respiration and growth of trees and in water bodies by aquatic organisms. Thus the AP is calculated basing on the area of forests and wetlands which perform the regulating services in landscapes. Total absorbing capacity of forests of the British Isles is 6.805 MMT CO2Eq. Inland waters cover 0.01% of the territory and their assimilating role is minor. The evaluation procedure includes several analytical steps: 1) inventory of the volumes of CO2 emissions by all anthropogenic sources within the borders of natural geosystems; 2) calculation of the area of CO2 assimilation in landscapes and the maximum possible volumes of CO2 sequestration; 3) comparison of the volumes of emissions and the assimilation potential of each landscape, classification of landscapes into debtors (with the deficit of AP) and creditors (with surplus AP); 4) calculation of population in each landscape; 5) risk assessment for the inhabitants living within landscapes-debtors; 6) classification and mapping of landscapes according to their geoecological state. The

Topological and statistical properties of quantum control transition landscapes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hsieh, Michael; Wu Rebing; Rabitz, Herschel; Rosenthal, Carey

2008-01-01

A puzzle arising in the control of quantum dynamics is to explain the relative ease with which high-quality control solutions can be found in the laboratory and in simulations. The emerging explanation appears to lie in the nature of the quantum control landscape, which is an observable as a function of the control variables. This work considers the common case of the observable being the transition probability between an initial and a target state. For any controllable quantum system, this landscape contains only global maxima and minima, and no local extrema traps. The probability distribution function for the landscape value is used to calculate the relative volume of the region of the landscape corresponding to good control solutions. The topology of the global optima of the landscape is analysed and the optima are shown to have inherent robustness to variations in the controls. Although the relative landscape volume of good control solutions is found to shrink rapidly as the system Hilbert space dimension increases, the highly favourable landscape topology at and away from the global optima provides a rationale for understanding the relative ease of finding high-quality, stable quantum optimal control solutions

Perceptions of Post-Wildfire Landscape Change and Recovery

Science.gov (United States)

Kooistra, C. M.; Hall, T. E.; Paveglio, T.; Carroll, M.; Smith, A. M.

2013-12-01

Considering the dynamic nature of the earth and climate systems and the increasing potential for widespread forest disturbances, it is important to understand the implications of landscape changes, and perceptions of changes, on people's responses to forest disturbances. Understanding how people perceive landscape change over time following forest disturbances helps researchers, land managers, and community leaders identify important biophysical and social characteristics that influence the vulnerability of people who experience forest disturbances, as well as their responses to those disturbances. This poster describes people's perceptions of landscape change following a significant wildfire. The lightning ignited Dahl fire burned 12 miles southeast of Roundup, MT mostly on private land in the summer of June 2012. The fire burned approximately 22,000 acres and destroyed 73 residences. We conducted interviews in the summer of 2013 with more than 40 residents, land managers, emergency personnel, and other stakeholders. While interviews covered several topics, this poster focuses on responses to questions regarding perceptions of short- and long-term landscape change after the fire, including both social and biophysical perspectives. Interviews revealed that people's understanding of the role of wildfires as a natural ecosystem process, as well as their connections with the landscape (i.e., sense of place), were important factors that influenced their perceptions of landscape change after the fire. Many respondents discussed the landscape ';recovering' to pre-fire conditions in longer-term timeframes, such as ';multiple generations.' They often referenced previous wildfires, the Hawk Creek fire (1984) and the Majeras fire (2006), by explaining how parts of the landscape affected by the Dahl fire might compare to certain areas of the previous fires. Variations in recovery expectations were often based on perceptions of the severity of the fire (especially temperature

The Science of Middle Nature (Invited)

Science.gov (United States)

Pataki, D. E.; Pincetl, S.; Hinners, S.

2013-12-01

In the field of biogeochemistry, urbanization is often considered as an 'alteration' or 'disturbance' to the earth's surface and its natural processes. This view is an outcome of the view of nature inherent in earth system science and ecology, in which nature is defined as separate from humans and society. However, other disciplines are based in alternative views of nature in which humans are more integral components of the landscape. Urban planning, landscape architecture, agriculture, and horticulture, for example, more fully integrate the role of landscape design and management in the functioning of human-dominated ecosystems. We suggest that the field of urban biogeochemistry has been somewhat limited by the predominant, disturbance-based view of the role of nature in cities, and that more deeply evaluating and broadening the concept of nature inherent in studies of urban processes can enhance our understanding of the role of urbanization in the earth system. A particularly useful concept is the 'middle nature' proposed by Cosgrove (1993), which serves a purpose of 'actively transforming nature into culture.' It is this view of urban landscapes as middle nature, or transformation of urban space into human-dominated nature with a purpose, that is lacking from the current scientific discourse about the role of biogeochemistry in urban ecosystem services. A scientific evaluation of middle nature implies studying the performance of urban designs to meet intended cultural and environmental goals, including beauty, social equity, governance, and social capital as well as environmental quality. We describe our work in evaluating the transformed urban landscapes of Los Angeles and Salt Lake City from multiple perspectives that focus on urban livability, equity, and beauty as well as the physical impacts of plants and soils on the environment. The outcomes of this process do not necessary meet the traditional demands of biophysical ecology such as utilizing native

High trees increase sunflower seed predation by birds in an agricultural landscape of Israel

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jessica eSchäckermann

2014-07-01

Full Text Available Natural habitats in agricultural landscapes promote agro-ecosystem services but little is known about negative effects (dis-services derived by natural habitats such as crop seed predation. Birds are important seed predators and use high landscape structures to perch and hide. High trees in agricultural landscapes may therefore drive seed predation. We examined if the presence, the distance and the percentages of high trees (tree height >5 m and the percentages of natural habitat surrounding sunflower fields, increased seed predation by birds in Israel. At the field scale, we assessed seed predation across a sample grid of an entire field. At the landscape scale, we assessed seed predation at the field margins and interiors of 20 sunflower fields. Seed predation was estimated as the percentage of removed seeds from sunflower heads. Distances of sample points to the closest high tree and percentage of natural habitat and of high trees in a 1km radius surrounding the fields were measured.We found that seed predation increased with decreasing distance to the closest high tree at the field and landscape scale. At the landscape scale, the percentage of high trees and natural habitat did not increase seed predation. Seed predation in the fields increased by 37 %, with a maximum seed predation of 92 %, when a high tree was available within zero to 50 m to the sunflower fields. If the closest high tree was further away, seed predation was less than 5 %. Sunflower seed predation by birds can be reduced, when avoiding sowing sunflowers within a radius of 50 m to high trees. Farmers should plan to grow crops, not sensitive to bird seed predation, closer to trees to eventually benefit from ecosystem services provided by birds, such as predation of pest insects, while avoiding these locations for growing crops sensitive to bird seed predation. Such management recommendations are directing towards sustainable agricultural landscapes.

Effects of Hydrocarbon Extraction on Landscapes of the Appalachian Basin

Science.gov (United States)

Slonecker, Terry E.; Milheim, Lesley E.; Roig-Silva, Coral M.; Kalaly, Siddiq S.

2015-09-30

An important and sometimes overlooked aspect of contemporary natural gas exploration, development, and delivery activities is the geographic profile and spatial footprint that these activities have on the land surface. The function of many ecosystems and the goods and services they provide, in large part, are the result of their natural spatial arrangement on the landscape. Shale-gas development can create alterations to the pattern of land use and land cover, and represents a specific form of land use and land cover change that can substantially impact critical aspects of the spatial pattern, form, and function of landscape interactions, including many biological responses.

Testing the Validity of Local Flux Laws in an Experimental Eroding Landscape

Science.gov (United States)

Sweeney, K. E.; Roering, J. J.; Ellis, C.

2015-12-01

Linking sediment transport to landscape evolution is fundamental to interpreting climate and tectonic signals from topography and sedimentary deposits. Most geomorphic process laws consist of simple continuum relationships between sediment flux and local topography. However, recent work has shown that nonlocal formulations, whereby sediment flux depends on upslope conditions, are more accurate descriptions of sediment motion, particularly in steep topography. Discriminating between local and nonlocal processes in natural landscapes is complicated by the scarcity of high-resolution topographic data and by the difficulty of measuring sediment flux. To test the validity of local formulations of sediment transport, we use an experimental erosive landscape that combines disturbance-driven, diffusive sediment transport and surface runoff. We conducted our experiments in the eXperimental Landscape Model at St. Anthony Falls Laboratory a 0.5 x 0.5 m test flume filled with crystalline silica (D50 = 30μ) mixed with water to increase cohesion and preclude surface infiltration. Topography is measured with a sheet laser scanner; total sediment flux is tracked with a series of load cells. We simulate uplift (relative baselevel fall) by dropping two parallel weirs at the edges of the experiment. Diffusive sediment transport in our experiments is driven by rainsplash from a constant head drip tank fitted with 625 blunt needles of fixed diameter; sediment is mobilized both through drop impact and the subsequent runoff of the drops. To drive advective transport, we produce surface runoff via a ring of misters that produce droplets that are too small to disturb the sediment surface on impact. Using the results from five experiments that systematically vary the time of drip box rainfall relative to misting rainfall, we calculate local erosion in our experiments by differencing successive time-slices of topography and test whether these patterns are related to local topographic

Landscape Ecology

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Christensen, Andreas Aagaard; Brandt, Jesper; Svenningsen, Stig Roar

2017-01-01

Landscape ecology is an interdisciplinary field of research and practice that deals with the mutual association between the spatial configuration and ecological functioning of landscapes, exploring and describing processes involved in the differentiation of spaces within landscapes......, and the ecological significance of the patterns which are generated by such processes. In landscape ecology, perspectives drawn from existing academic disciplines are integrated based on a common, spatially explicit mode of analysis developed from classical holistic geography, emphasizing spatial and landscape...... pattern analysis and ecological interaction of land units. The landscape is seen as a holon: an assemblage of interrelated phenomena, both cultural and biophysical, that together form a complex whole. Enduring challenges to landscape ecology include the need to develop a systematic approach able...

European landscape architecture and territorial strategies for water landscapes

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Diedrich, Lisa Babette

2010-01-01

This article sums up the author’s lecture at the 2009 Sydney Resilient Water Landscapes Symposium and presents a series of realized or planned European landscape architectural and urbanistic projects on water landscapes taken from the recently published book On Site/ Landscape Architecture Europe...... and accompanying reflections. The hypothesis is that further scientific research can help defining weaknesses and strengths of the existing water landscape designs in terms of resilience, extract principles and tools, improve the weak ones and communicate the strong ones and develop general quality criteria...... and tools for future resilient water landscapes....

Predicting the natural flow regime: Models for assessing hydrological alteration in streams

Science.gov (United States)

Carlisle, D.M.; Falcone, J.; Wolock, D.M.; Meador, M.R.; Norris, R.H.

2009-01-01

Understanding the extent to which natural streamflow characteristics have been altered is an important consideration for ecological assessments of streams. Assessing hydrologic condition requires that we quantify the attributes of the flow regime that would be expected in the absence of anthropogenic modifications. The objective of this study was to evaluate whether selected streamflow characteristics could be predicted at regional and national scales using geospatial data. Long-term, gaged river basins distributed throughout the contiguous US that had streamflow characteristics representing least disturbed or near pristine conditions were identified. Thirteen metrics of the magnitude, frequency, duration, timing and rate of change of streamflow were calculated using a 20-50 year period of record for each site. We used random forests (RF), a robust statistical modelling approach, to develop models that predicted the value for each streamflow metric using natural watershed characteristics. We compared the performance (i.e. bias and precision) of national- and regional-scale predictive models to that of models based on landscape classifications, including major river basins, ecoregions and hydrologic landscape regions (HLR). For all hydrologic metrics, landscape stratification models produced estimates that were less biased and more precise than a null model that accounted for no natural variability. Predictive models at the national and regional scale performed equally well, and substantially improved predictions of all hydrologic metrics relative to landscape stratification models. Prediction error rates ranged from 15 to 40%, but were 25% for most metrics. We selected three gaged, non-reference sites to illustrate how predictive models could be used to assess hydrologic condition. These examples show how the models accurately estimate predisturbance conditions and are sensitive to changes in streamflow variability associated with long-term land-use change. We also

How Could Companies Engage in Sustainable Landscape Management? An Exploratory Perspective

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Paul Opdam

2018-01-01

Full Text Available Current concepts that aim to align economic development with sustainability, such as the circular and green economy, often consider natural systems as externalities. We extend the green economy concept by including the landscape as the provider of social, economic and environmental values. Our aim is to explore how companies could engage in creating landscape-inclusive solutions for sustainable landscapes. We propose a conceptual model of the relationship between companies and landscape services based on a demand for landscape benefits by companies, implications for wider society. We present a short overview of how scientists addressed the role of companies in landscape-inclusive solutions. We also give some examples taken from the World Wide Web to illustrate the variety of ways in which companies already invest in landscape services. Our findings suggest that the relationship between companies and landscapes is not yet strongly recognized in sustainability science. However, examples from practice show that some companies do recognize the added values of landscape services, to the extent that they invest in landscape management. We conclude that future research should provide information on the added value of landscape-inclusive solutions to companies, and increase their capacity to engage in regional social–ecological networks.

Operationalizing ecological resilience at a landscape scale: A framework and case study from Silicon Valley

Science.gov (United States)

Beller, E.; Robinson, A.; Grossinger, R.; Grenier, L.; Davenport, A.

2015-12-01

Adaptation to climate change requires redesigning our landscapes and watersheds to maximize ecological resilience at large scales and integrated across urban areas, wildlands, and a diversity of ecosystem types. However, it can be difficult for environmental managers and designers to access, interpret, and apply resilience concepts at meaningful scales and across a range of settings. To address this gap, we produced a Landscape Resilience Framework that synthesizes the latest science on the qualitative mechanisms that drive resilience of ecological functions to climate change and other large-scale stressors. The framework is designed to help translate resilience science into actionable ecosystem conservation and restoration recommendations and adaptation strategies by providing a concise but comprehensive list of considerations that will help integrate resilience concepts into urban design, conservation planning, and natural resource management. The framework is composed of seven principles that represent core attributes which determine the resilience of ecological functions within a landscape. These principles are: setting, process, connectivity, redundancy, diversity/complexity, scale, and people. For each principle we identify several key operationalizable components that help illuminate specific recommendations and actions that are likely to contribute to landscape resilience for locally appropriate species, habitats, and biological processes. We are currently using the framework to develop landscape-scale recommendations for ecological resilience in the heavily urbanized Silicon Valley, California, in collaboration with local agencies, companies, and regional experts. The resilience framework is being applied across the valley, including urban, suburban, and wildland areas and terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. Ultimately, the framework will underpin the development of strategies that can be implemented to bolster ecological resilience from a site to

Effect of woodlots on thrips density in leek fields: a landscape analysis

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Belder, den E.; Elderson, J.; Brink, van den W.J.; Schelling, G.C.

2002-01-01

The effect of woodlots, natural areas and agricultural land in the landscape on a generalist herbivore insect species in cropland was investigated. The abundance of onion thrips (Thrips tabaci) was compared in leek (Allium porrum) fields in 43 agricultural landscape plots of different sizes in The

Emerging Perspectives on the Natural Microbiome of Fresh Produce Vegetables

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Colin R. Jackson

2015-04-01

Full Text Available Plants harbor a diverse microbiome existing as bacterial populations on the leaf surface (the phyllosphere and within plant tissues (endophytes. The composition of this microbiome has been largely unexplored in fresh produce vegetables, where studies have tended to focus on pathogen detection and survival. However, the application of next-generation 16S rRNA gene sequencing approaches is beginning to reveal the diversity of this produce-associated bacterial community. In this article we review what is known about the composition of the microbiome of fresh produce vegetables, placing it in the context of general phyllosphere research. We also demonstrate how next-generation sequencing can be used to assess the bacterial assemblages present on fresh produce, using fresh herbs as an example. That data shows how the use of such culture-independent approaches can detect groups of taxa (anaerobes, psychrophiles that may be missed by traditional culture-based techniques. Other issues discussed include questions as to whether to determine the microbiome during plant growth or at point of purchase or consumption, and the potential role of the natural bacterial community in mitigating pathogen survival.

Modeling Coupled Landscape Evolution and Soil Organic Carbon Dynamics in Intensively Management Landscapes

Science.gov (United States)

Yan, Q.; Kumar, P.

2017-12-01

Soil is the largest reservoir of carbon in the biosphere but in agricultural areas it is going through rapid erosion due disturbance arising from crop harvest, tillage, and tile drainage. Identifying whether the production of soil organic carbon (SOC) from the crops can compensate for the loss due to erosion is critical to ensure our food security and adapt to climate change. In the U.S. Midwest where large areas of land are intensively managed for agriculture practices, predicting soil quantity and quality are critical for maintaining crop yield and other Critical Zone services. This work focuses on modeling the coupled landscape evolutions soil organic carbon dynamics in agricultural fields. It couples landscape evolution, surface water runoff, organic matter transformation, and soil moisture dynamics to understand organic carbon gain and loss due to natural forcing and farming practices, such as fertilizer application and tillage. A distinctive feature of the model is the coupling of surface ad subsurface processes that predicts both surficial changes and transport along with the vertical transport and dynamics. Our results show that landscape evolution and farming practices play dominant roles in soil organic carbon (SOC) dynamics both above- and below-ground. Contrary to the common assumption that a vertical profile of SOC concentration decreases exponentially with depth, we find that in many situations SOC concentration below-ground could be higher than that at the surface. Tillage plays a complex role in organic matter dynamics. On one hand, tillage would accelerate the erosion rate, on the other hand, it would improve carbon storage by burying surface SOC into below ground. Our model consistently reproduces the observed above- and below-ground patterns of SOC in the field sites of Intensively Managed Landscapes Critical Zone Observatory (IMLCZO). This model bridges the gaps between the landscape evolution, below- and above-ground hydrologic cycle, and

[Urban habitants' attitudes toward nature-approximating landscape architecture: taking Hongshan District of Wuhan City, China as a case].

Science.gov (United States)

Yang, Yu-ping; Zhou, Zhi-xiang; Cai, Shao-ping; Gao, Kai; Jia, Ruo

2011-07-01

Nature-approximating landscape architecture (NALA) is a concept of sustainable development as applied to landscape architecture, while the urban habitants' awareness and acceptance of NALA idea is the key for the successful application of NALA. Through semi-structured interview, this paper explored the attitudes of the habitants in Hongshan District of Wuhan City toward the NALA design and management, and the influence of the social-economic characteristics of the responders on their attitudes toward the NALA. A fairly low percentage of the responders approved of the NALA design (10.3% - 46.9%) and management (7.4% - 34.9%). The attitudes towards NALA design were mainly affected by the responders' age, and the attitudes toward NALA management were significantly correlated with the responders' age, educational level, and profession. The efficient cause why a large number of responders did not support the NALA was that these responders attached importance to the aesthetic effect of green space, and preferred cleanliness and order. The lack of related ecological knowledge and environmental awareness was the root cause of the lesser support towards NALA. To establish NALA demonstration bases and to intensify the publicity and education of NALA idea and related ecological knowledge could promote an increasing number of urban habitants actively participating in NALA construction.

Assessment of hazards and risks for landscape protection planning in Sicily.

Science.gov (United States)

La Rosa, Daniele; Martinico, Francesco

2013-09-01

Landscape protection planning is a complex task that requires an integrated assessment and involves heterogeneous issues. These issues include not only the management of a considerable amount of data to describe landscape features but also the choice of appropriate tools to evaluate the hazards and risks. The landscape assessment phase can provide fundamental information for the definition of a Landscape Protection Plan, in which the selection of norms for protection or rehabilitation is strictly related to hazards, values and risks that are found. This paper describes a landscape assessment methodology conducted by using GIS, concerning landscape hazards, values and risk. Four hazard categories are introduced and assessed concerning urban sprawl and erosion: landscape transformations by new planned developments, intensification of urban sprawl patterns, loss of agriculture land and erosion. Landscape value is evaluated by using different thematic layers overlaid with GIS geoprocessing. The risk of loss of landscape value is evaluated, with reference to the potential occurrence of the previously assessed hazards. The case study is the Province of Enna (Sicily), where landscape protection is a relevant issue because of the importance of cultural and natural heritage. Results show that high value landscape features have a low risk of loss of landscape value. For this reason, landscape protection policies assume a relevant role in landscapes with low-medium values and they should be addressed to control the urban sprawl processes that are beginning in the area. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

ORIBATID MITES POPULATION’S STRUCTURE IN TECHNOGENIC AND NATURAL LANDSCAPES AS AN INDICATOR OF ECOSYSTEMS’ CONDITION

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Shtirts A. D.

2013-12-01

Full Text Available Species composition and specific ecological structure of oribatid mites community in industrial site and buffer zone of «Artyomovsk nonferrous metal plant» and botanical nature sanctuary «Steppe Otradovskaya» were established. The ecological structure of «Artyomovsk nonferrous metal plant» area is perturbed, and typical for the anthropogenically-transformed ecosystems, and has low rates of average population density, wealth rate, ecological diversity indexes; it also has changed in dominance structure and life forms distribution. The oribatid community structure in the botanical nature sanctuary «Steppe Otradovskaya» during the spring period is typical for Donbass steppe conservations. In summer it resembles structurally in disrupted landscapes due to adverse edaphic conditions, occurring in Donbass in August. The integral sensitivity threshold indicator for oribatid mite communities shows that an environmental state of the technogenic area («Artyomovsk nonferrous metal plant» in summer and autumn is subnormal. The ecological status of «Steppe Otradovskaya» in spring can be considered as normal, and in the thalweg of the steppe gully as relatively favorable. During summer, the environmental condition of the study area is subnormal.

Landscape characterization integrating expert and local spatial knowledge of land and forest resources.

Science.gov (United States)

Fagerholm, Nora; Käyhkö, Niina; Van Eetvelde, Veerle

2013-09-01

In many developing countries, political documentation acknowledges the crucial elements of participation and spatiality for effective land use planning. However, operative approaches to spatial data inclusion and representation in participatory land management are often lacking. In this paper, we apply and develop an integrated landscape characterization approach to enhance spatial knowledge generation about the complex human-nature interactions in landscapes in the context of Zanzibar, Tanzania. We apply an integrated landscape conceptualization as a theoretical framework where the expert and local knowledge can meet in spatial context. The characterization is based on combining multiple data sources in GIS, and involves local communities and their local spatial knowledge since the beginning into the process. Focusing on the expected information needs for community forest management, our characterization integrates physical landscape features and retrospective landscape change data with place-specific community knowledge collected through participatory GIS techniques. The characterization is established in a map form consisting of four themes and their synthesis. The characterization maps are designed to support intuitive interpretation, express the inherently uncertain nature of the data, and accompanied by photographs to enhance communication. Visual interpretation of the characterization mediates information about the character of areas and places in the studied local landscape, depicting the role of forest resources as part of the landscape entity. We conclude that landscape characterization applied in GIS is a highly potential tool for participatory land and resource management, where spatial argumentation, stakeholder communication, and empowerment are critical issues.

Group differences in the aesthetic evaluation of nature development plans : A multilevel approach

NARCIS (Netherlands)

van den Berg, A.E.; Vlek, CAJ; Coeterier, JF

The study presented here addresses theoretical, methodological and practical aspects of the issue of group differences in the aesthetic evaluation of natural landscapes. Beauty ratings of an agrarian landscape and five computer simulations of nature development plans in this landscape were collected

Simulation of a low-gradient Coastal Plain watershed using the SWAT landscape model

Science.gov (United States)

Accurate representation of landscape processes in natural resource models requires distributed representation of basin hydrology and transport processes. To better represent these processes, a landscape version of the SWAT model has been developed. The model has been modified to represent the runo...

Comparing fire spread algorithms using equivalence testing and neutral landscape models

Science.gov (United States)

Brian R. Miranda; Brian R. Sturtevant; Jian Yang; Eric J. Gustafson

2009-01-01

We demonstrate a method to evaluate the degree to which a meta-model approximates spatial disturbance processes represented by a more detailed model across a range of landscape conditions, using neutral landscapes and equivalence testing. We illustrate this approach by comparing burn patterns produced by a relatively simple fire spread algorithm with those generated by...

The influence of landscape characteristics and home-range size on the quantification of landscape-genetics relationships

Science.gov (United States)

Tabitha A. Graves; Tzeidle N. Wasserman; Milton Cezar Ribeiro; Erin L. Landguth; Stephen F. Spear; Niko Balkenhol; Colleen B. Higgins; Marie-Josee Fortin; Samuel A. Cushman; Lisette P. Waits

2012-01-01

A common approach used to estimate landscape resistance involves comparing correlations of ecological and genetic distances calculated among individuals of a species. However, the location of sampled individuals may contain some degree of spatial uncertainty due to the natural variation of animals moving through their home range ormeasurement error in plant or animal...

Assessment of the suitability of trees for brownfields reuse in the post-mining landscape

Science.gov (United States)

Mec, J.; Lokajickova, B.; Sotkova, N.; Svehlakova, H.; Stalmachova, B.

2017-10-01

The post-mining landscape of Upper Silesian is deterioration of the original landscape caused by underground coal mining. There are huge ecosystems changes, which have been reclaimed by nature-friendly procedures. The aim of the work is to evaluate the suitability of selected trees for reuse of brownfields in this landscape and proposals for reclamation in the interest areas of Upper Silesian.

Results of revision of the data base of the State list of particularly protected parts of nature and landscape in sequence on the collection of letters of the state list

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ambroz, L.; Sykora, J.

2005-01-01

The State list of particularly protected parts of nature and landscape (Stat list) is official account of protected territories and protected trees and their protected zones on the territory of the Slovak Republic. The State list was delimited from the State protection of nature of the Slovak Republic on the Museum of Nature Protection and Speleology. The content of the State list and structure of data base of protected territories and protected territories are presented

Delineating landscape-scale processes of hydrology and plant dispersal for species-rich fen conservation : the Operational Landscape Unit approach

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Verhoeven, Jos T.A.; Beltman, Boudewijn; Janssen, Ron; Soons, Merel B.

2017-01-01

Restoration and conservation of species-rich nature reserves requires inclusion of landscape-scale connections and transport processes such as hydrologic flows and species dispersal. These are important because they provide suitable habitat conditions and an adequate species pool. This study aimed

Evolution of livestock farming systems and landscape changes

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Giuseppe Pulina

2009-10-01

Full Text Available In the last fifty years, the rural landscape of vast areas, historically modelled by livestock farming, has experienced radical changes. The marginalisation of traditional farming systems resulted in a shift towards intensive systems in the more favourable areas, and in the abandoning of farming in the less favourable areas. Consequences of these trends are numerous: intensification and abandoning concurred in determining the disappearance of traditional architectural styles and in disrupting the historical links between local landscape, way of farming, and variety of products; intensification of farming caused local excesses of nutrients releases and/or land degradation; abandoning has permitted an extensive natural reforestation, which in turn has greatly modified the aesthetic value and biodiversity richness of landscape. Research for a sustainable “livestock farming landscape” will need the ability to integrate a systemic and geographic description of the interactions of farming systems with landscape quality and biodiversity with the definition of consequent technologies and farm management options.

Farm multifunctional diversification and agricultural landscape trasformations

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Emilio Chiodo

Full Text Available The work aims to analyze changes in agricultural landscape linked to transformations in agricultural productive system. The territory for analysis is situated along the “internal Marche ridge” of the Apennines, in the province of Ancona (Marche region, partly included in the Regional Natural Park “Gola della Rossa e Frassassi”. The work aims at elaborating an investigative methodology which can highlight the transformation of territorial structures and the dynamics that influence management of the territory and landscape in order to provide operative instructions for an integrated elaboration of instruments for urban planning and economic programming, specially for agricultural policies. Multi-functionality and diversification in agriculture are the instruments that can help agriculture to improve the economic value of products and at the same time to improve the quality of territory and landscape.

Using Landsat imagery to detect, monitor, and project net landscape change

Science.gov (United States)

Reker, Ryan R.; Sohl, Terry L.; Gallant, Alisa L.

2015-01-01

Detailed landscape information is a necessary component to bird habitat conservation planning. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) Center has been providing information on the Earth’s surface for over 40 years via the continuous series of Landsat satellites. In addition to operating, processing, and disseminating satellite images, EROS is the home to nationwide and global landscape mapping, monitoring, and projection products, including:National Land Cover Database (NLCD) – the definitive land cover dataset for the U.S., with updates occurring at five-year intervals;Global Land Cover Monitoring – producing 30m resolution global land cover;LANDFIRE – Landscape Fire and Resource Management Planning Tools–EROS is a partner in this joint program between U.S. Department of Agriculture and Department of Interior that produces consistent, comprehensive, geospatial data and databases that describe vegetation, wildland fuel, and fire regimes across the U.S.;Land Cover Trends – a landscape monitoring and assessment effort to understand the rates, trends, causes, and consequences of contemporary U.S. land use and land cover change; andLand Use and Land Cover (LULC) Modeling – a project extending contemporary databases of landscape change forward and backward in time through moderate-resolution land cover projections.

Landscapes of human evolution: models and methods of tectonic geomorphology and the reconstruction of hominin landscapes.

Science.gov (United States)

Bailey, Geoffrey N; Reynolds, Sally C; King, Geoffrey C P

2011-03-01

This paper examines the relationship between complex and tectonically active landscapes and patterns of human evolution. We show how active tectonics can produce dynamic landscapes with geomorphological and topographic features that may be critical to long-term patterns of hominin land use, but which are not typically addressed in landscape reconstructions based on existing geological and paleoenvironmental principles. We describe methods of representing topography at a range of scales using measures of roughness based on digital elevation data, and combine the resulting maps with satellite imagery and ground observations to reconstruct features of the wider landscape as they existed at the time of hominin occupation and activity. We apply these methods to sites in South Africa, where relatively stable topography facilitates reconstruction. We demonstrate the presence of previously unrecognized tectonic effects and their implications for the interpretation of hominin habitats and land use. In parts of the East African Rift, reconstruction is more difficult because of dramatic changes since the time of hominin occupation, while fossils are often found in places where activity has now almost ceased. However, we show that original, dynamic landscape features can be assessed by analogy with parts of the Rift that are currently active and indicate how this approach can complement other sources of information to add new insights and pose new questions for future investigation of hominin land use and habitats. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Prescribing habitat layouts: Analysis of optimal placement for landscape planning [Chapter 23

Science.gov (United States)

Curtis H. Flather; Michael Bevers; John Hof

2002-01-01

Physical restructuring of landscapes by humans is a prominent stress on ecological systems (Rapport et al. 1985). Landscape restructuring occurs primarily through land-use conversions or alteration of native habitats through natural resource management. A common faunal response to such land-use intensification is an increased dominance of opportunistic species leading...

[Changes of wetland landscape pattern in Dayang River Estuary based on high-resolution remote sensing image].

Science.gov (United States)

Wu, Tao; Zhao, Dong-zhi; Zhang, Feng-shou; Wei, Bao-quan

2011-07-01

Based on the comprehensive consideration of the high resolution characteristics of remote sensing data and the current situation of land cover and land use in Dayang River Estuary wetland, a classification system with different resolutions of wetland landscape in the Estuary was established. The landscape pattern indices and landscape transition matrix were calculated by using the high resolution remote sensing data, and the dynamic changes of the landscape pattern from 1984 to 2008 were analyzed. In the study period, the wetland landscape components changed drastically. Wetland landscape transferred from natural wetland into artificial wetland, and wetland core regional area decreased. Natural wetland's largest patch area index descended, and the fragmentation degree ascended; while artificial wetland area expanded, its patch number decreased, polymerization degree increased, and the maximum patch area index had an obvious increasing trend. Increasing human activities, embankment construction, and reclamation for aquaculture were the main causes for the decrease of wetland area and the degradation of the ecological functions of Dayang River Estuary. To constitute long-term scientific and reasonable development plan, establish wetland nature reserves, protect riverway, draft strict inspective regimes for aquaculture reclamation, and energetically develop resource-based tourism industry would be the main strategies for the protection of the estuarine wetland.

Unraveling Landscape Complexity: Land Use/Land Cover Changes and Landscape Pattern Dynamics (1954-2008) in Contrasting Peri-Urban and Agro-Forest Regions of Northern Italy.

Science.gov (United States)

Smiraglia, D; Ceccarelli, T; Bajocco, S; Perini, L; Salvati, L

2015-10-01

This study implements an exploratory data analysis of landscape metrics and a change detection analysis of land use and population density to assess landscape dynamics (1954-2008) in two physiographic zones (plain and hilly-mountain area) of Emilia Romagna, northern Italy. The two areas are characterized by different landscape types: a mixed urban-rural landscape dominated by arable land and peri-urban settlements in the plain and a traditional agro-forest landscape in the hilly-mountain area with deciduous and conifer forests, scrublands, meadows, and crop mosaic. Urbanization and, to a lesser extent, agricultural intensification were identified as the processes underlying landscape change in the plain. Land abandonment determining natural forestation and re-forestation driven by man was identified as the process of change most representative of the hilly-mountain area. Trends in landscape metrics indicate a shift toward more fragmented and convoluted patterns in both areas. Number of patches, the interspersion and juxtaposition index, and the large patch index are the metrics discriminating the two areas in terms of landscape patterns in 1954. In 2008, mean patch size, edge density, interspersion and juxtaposition index, and mean Euclidean nearest neighbor distance were the metrics with the most different spatial patterns in the two areas. The exploratory data analysis of landscape metrics contributed to link changes over time in both landscape composition and configuration providing a comprehensive picture of landscape transformations in a wealthy European region. Evidence from this study are hoped to inform sustainable land management designed for homogeneous landscape units in similar socioeconomic contexts.

NATURE-RURAL SETTLEMENT INTERACTIONS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zehra Eminağaoğlu

2006-04-01

Full Text Available Conservation and management of natural environments are generally brought up upon adverse developments against nature in the humannature interactions. Although individual actions are often considered to be more immediate innatıre-related issuesi ecologic problems tend to spread in time and lead to reginol or even global problems. For this reason, it stands imperative that economic, ecologic and aesthetic values of the environment we live in be protected and used sustainably. Being the scene of nature and the environment landscape signifies the whole with living and nonliving entities where we live in. Dameged and destroyed landscape scenes particularly in urban areas necessitaites the reconsideration of human-nature relations and nature-frendly life style. This study investigates the rural settlements that show harmony with nature and reflects qualities of natural environments on the dwellings. Particularly, with the examples of drawing and pictures it examines the associatiation of rural settlements with nature as well as the use of the green as an occasional or spacial element.

Re-animated heritage. National project Nieuwe Hollandse Waterlinie (New Dutch Water Defence Line as a format for landscape policy

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Eric Luiten

2011-12-01

Full Text Available Landscape policy has always been characterized, often supported but just as often hindered by its multiple origins in both landscape protection and landscape development. Along the recalcitrant and frequently inconsistent lines of preservation of monuments, nature conservation, land use, open-air recreation and the planting of new woods and shrubs respectively, landscape protection did not develop without difficulty. On a government level landscape protection was most extensively laid down in the Structure Plan for Nature Conservation and Protection of the Countryside. In this Plan the government introduced an extensive series of landscape categories, among which National Parks, National Landscapes, Valuable Agricultural Cultural Landscapes, Natural Heritage Valuable Areas, Large Landscape Unities and Valuable Scenic and/or Historical Views. In the Green Space Structure Plan from 1994 the differentiation of landscape policy was drastically reduced to the category of Valuable Cultural Landscapes and in addition a reference was made to the intended execution of large projects, such as the Randstad Green Structure and the National Ecological Network. In the revision of this Structural Plan in 2002 the category of National Landscapes was reintroduced. From the quarter of landscape development approximately every ten years a policy document is issued. The View on Landscape Creation (dating from the seventies, the View on Landscape (eighties and the Policy Document on Landscape (nineties are to be regarded as attempts at a synthesis of the various motives behind landscape development. The gist of these policy documents shifts from manifests for national green areas towards worked-out, integral concepts and formulas for rural-area development and closes with more and more complicatedly formulated recommendations, such as in the Development-oriented Landscape Strategy. After the Policy Document on Landscape with poorly argued maps of the so

Patterns and drivers of land use change in selected European rural landscapes

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kristensen, Søren Bech Pilgaard; Busck, Anne Gravsholt; van der Sluis, Theo

2016-01-01

concerns are less dominant and many landscape and land use changes are undertaken to improve public goods or fulfil personal and family ambitions and values. This paper investigates the patterns of farm-level land use changes that occurred between 2002 and 2012 in three different landscape regions...... with their engagement in land use changes. Common to all areas is that agricultural production is under pressure due to physical or socio-economic challenges. The results indicate that relatively more nature or landscape features have been added by landowners than removed by them in the six study areas. Furthermore......, the analysis revealed that full-time landowners were responsible for the largest proportion of landscape change and that the areas involved differed greatly. The analysis also underlined the variety of European landscapes, as many landscape activities exhibited strong geographical patterns. A multivariate...

A DEFINITION OF AUTHENTICITY CONCEPT IN CONSERVATION OF CULTURAL LANDSCAPES

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Somayeh Fadaei Nezhad

2015-03-01

Full Text Available Cultural landscape can be defined as the result of human interaction with nature over time, which has led to the formation of the many and diverse layers of value. Currently, the UNESCO World Heritage Centre has a unique role among other scientific associations. In recent years, the World Heritage Center has put efforts into developing a framework and measures for evaluation and management of cultural landscapes. Moreover, the concept of authenticity; as the transmitter of values and significance of cultural landscape, is considered as the key component in the process of cultural landscape conservation. A lot of scientific resources have pointed out the importance of authenticity in the process of conserving cultural landscapes. However, the role of authenticity within the domain of conservation of cultural landscapes has received little attention. One of the main reasons can be lack of adaptation between conventional definitions of UNESCO and international documents concerning the authenticity for including the flexible and dynamic structure of cultural landscapes around the world. Therefore, this paper seeks to explore and develop a flexible framework in order to redefine the concept of authenticity in relation to cultural landscapes, which has some overlaps with UNESCO definitions despite its differences. For developing this framework, Iranian-Islamic philosophy of Mollasadra is applied and described with some examples of cultural landscapes in Iran.

Urban Landscape Architecture in the Reshaping of the Contemporary Cityscape

Science.gov (United States)

Ananiadou-Tzimopoulou, Maria; Bourlidou, Anastasia

2017-10-01

The contemporary urban landscape is the evolving image of dynamic social, economic and ecological changes and heterogeneity. It constitutes the mirror of history, natural and cultural, urban processes, as well as locations of hybrid character, such as degraded and fragmented spaces within the urban fabric or in the city boundaries -areas in between, infrastructures, post-industrial and waterfront sites, but also potential grounds for urban development. Along with the awakening of the global ecological awareness and the ongoing discussion on sustainability issues, the cityscape with its new attributes, constitutes a challenging field of research and planning for various disciplines, further more than landscape architecture, such as architecture, planning, ecology, environment and engineering. This paper focuses on the role of urban landscape architecture, via its theory and practice, in the reshaping of the city territory. It aspires to broaden the discussion concerning the upgrading of the contemporary cities, aiming firstly at the determination of a wider vocabulary for the urban landscape and its design, and secondly at the highlighting of landscape architecture’s contribution to the sustainable perspective of urban design and planning. The methodology is based on a comparative research implemented both on a theoretical level and on a level of applied work. Urban landscape architecture is described through theory and practice, along with correlative approaches deriving mainly from landscape urbanism and secondarily from the field of architecture. Urban landscape is approached as a socio-ecological and perceptual legible, a territory of culture, process and production; operating as an entity of ecological, infrastructural systems and planning needs, it is also regarded as a precedent for urban development. Furthermore, the research is supported by selected European and International urban landscape projects, presented in a cohesive multiscalar approach, from the

Landscape services as boundary concept in landscape governance: Building social capital in collaboration and adapting the landscape

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Westerink, Judith; Opdam, Paul; Rooij, Van Sabine; Steingröver, Eveliene

2017-01-01

The landscape services concept provides a lens to study relations within the social-ecological networks that landscapes are, and to identify stakeholders as either providers or beneficiaries. However, landscape services can also be used as a boundary concept in collaborative landscape governance. We

Modern Christian Landscape in Nanjing, China: A Literature Review

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Cheng Fang

2017-11-01

Full Text Available Between the First Opium War in 1840 and the founding of the People’s Republic of China in 1949, the development of modern Christianity in Nanjing expanded beyond the parameters of faith and spirituality, while interacting closely with Nanjing’s city life and space across a wider spectrum, such that a unique religious and cultural landscape was produced. Through an extensive literature review of 115 articles identified on this topic, this paper analyzes the development of the space of Christian churches in Nanjing, and further documents the pattern of interactions between Nanjing’s development as a modern city and its religious cultural landscape. Moreover, drawing from the theoretical perspective of Sense of Place, the paper summarizes the characteristics of religious cultural landscape in the aspects of vision and structure, function and modernization, and memory and identity, and points out that the Christian landscape should also be conducted from the activation of material form, local functions and historical meanings to achieve sustainable development of Christian landscape. Finally, the paper offers planning and design strategies for the continued growth of Christian landscape in Nanjing.

Agents, Individuals, and Networks: Modeling Methods to Inform Natural Resource Management in Regional Landscapes

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Lael Parrott

2012-09-01

Full Text Available Landscapes are complex systems. Landscape dynamics are the result of multiple interacting biophysical and socioeconomic processes that are linked across a broad range of spatial, temporal, and organizational scales. Understanding and describing landscape dynamics poses enormous challenges and demands the use of new multiscale approaches to modeling. In this synthesis article, we present three regional systems - i.e., a forest system, a marine system, and an agricultural system - and describe how hybrid, bottom-up modeling of these systems can be used to represent linkages across scales and between subsystems. Through the use of these three examples, we describe how modeling can be used to simulate emergent system responses to different conservation policy and management scenarios from the bottom up, thereby increasing our understanding of important drivers and feedback loops within a landscape. The first case study involves the use of an individual-based modeling approach to simulate the effects of forest harvesting on the movement patterns of large mammals in Canada's boreal forest and the resulting emergent population dynamics. This model is being used to inform forest harvesting and management guidelines. The second case study combines individual and agent-based approaches to simulate the dynamics of individual boats and whales in a marine park. This model is being used to inform decision-makers on how to mitigate the impacts of maritime traffic on whales in the Saint Lawrence Estuary in eastern Canada. The third example is a case study of biodiversity conservation efforts on the Eyre Peninsula, South Australia. In this example, the social-ecological system is represented as a complex network of interacting components. Methods of network analysis can be used to explore the emergent responses of the system to changes in the network structure or configuration, thus informing managers about the resilience of the system. These three examples

Implications of changes in land cover and landscape structure for the biocontrol potential of stemborers in Ethiopia

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Kebede, Yodit; Bianchi, Felix; Baudron, Frédéric; Abraham, Kristin; Valença, de Anne; Tittonell, Pablo

2018-01-01

The land cover and structure of agricultural landscapes may influence the abundance and diversity of natural enemies of crop pests. However, these landscapes are continuously evolving due to changing land uses and agricultural practices. Here we assess changes in land use and landscape structure in

Complexity of Naturally Produced Polybrominated Diphenyl Ethers Revealed via Mass Spectrometry

Science.gov (United States)

Agarwal, Vinayak; Li, Jie; Rahman, Imran; Borgen, Miles; Aluwihare, Lihini I.; Biggs, Jason S.; Paul, Valerie J.; Moore, Bradley S.

2015-01-01

Polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) are persistent and bioaccumulative anthropogenic and natural chemicals that are broadly distributed in the marine environment. PBDEs are potentially toxic due to inhibition of various mammalian signaling pathways and enzymatic reactions. PBDE isoforms vary in toxicity in accordance with structural differences, primarily in the number and pattern of hydroxyl moieties afforded upon a conserved core structure. Over four decades of isolation and discovery-based efforts have established an impressive repertoire of natural PBDEs. Based on our recent reports describing the bacterial biosyntheses of PBDEs, we predicted the presence of additional classes of PBDEs to those previously identified from marine sources. Using mass spectrometry and NMR spectroscopy, we now establish the existence of new structural classes of PBDEs in marine sponges. Our findings expand the chemical space explored by naturally produced PBDEs, which may inform future environmental toxicology studies. Furthermore, we provide evidence for iodinated PBDEs and direct attention toward the contribution of promiscuous halogenating enzymes in further expanding the diversity of these polyhalogenated marine natural products. PMID:25559102

Discrete Anisotropic Radiative Transfer (DART 5 for Modeling Airborne and Satellite Spectroradiometer and LIDAR Acquisitions of Natural and Urban Landscapes

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jean-Philippe Gastellu-Etchegorry

2015-02-01

Full Text Available Satellite and airborne optical sensors are increasingly used by scientists, and policy makers, and managers for studying and managing forests, agriculture crops, and urban areas. Their data acquired with given instrumental specifications (spectral resolution, viewing direction, sensor field-of-view, etc. and for a specific experimental configuration (surface and atmosphere conditions, sun direction, etc. are commonly translated into qualitative and quantitative Earth surface parameters. However, atmosphere properties and Earth surface 3D architecture often confound their interpretation. Radiative transfer models capable of simulating the Earth and atmosphere complexity are, therefore, ideal tools for linking remotely sensed data to the surface parameters. Still, many existing models are oversimplifying the Earth-atmosphere system interactions and their parameterization of sensor specifications is often neglected or poorly considered. The Discrete Anisotropic Radiative Transfer (DART model is one of the most comprehensive physically based 3D models simulating the Earth-atmosphere radiation interaction from visible to thermal infrared wavelengths. It has been developed since 1992. It models optical signals at the entrance of imaging radiometers and laser scanners on board of satellites and airplanes, as well as the 3D radiative budget, of urban and natural landscapes for any experimental configuration and instrumental specification. It is freely distributed for research and teaching activities. This paper presents DART physical bases and its latest functionality for simulating imaging spectroscopy of natural and urban landscapes with atmosphere, including the perspective projection of airborne acquisitions and LIght Detection And Ranging (LIDAR waveform and photon counting signals.

Incorporating Ecosystem Processes Controlling Carbon Balance Into Models of Coupled Human-Natural Systems

Science.gov (United States)

Currie, W.; Brown, D. G.; Brunner, A.; Fouladbash, L.; Hadzick, Z.; Hutchins, M.; Kiger, S. E.; Makino, Y.; Nassauer, J. I.; Robinson, D. T.; Riolo, R. L.; Sun, S.

2012-12-01

A key element in the study of coupled human-natural systems is the interactions of human populations with vegetation and soils. In human-dominated landscapes, vegetation production and change results from a combination of ecological processes and human decision-making and behavior. Vegetation is often dramatically altered, whether to produce food for humans and livestock, to harvest fiber for construction and other materials, to harvest fuel wood or feedstock for biofuels, or simply for cultural preferences as in the case of residential lawns with sparse trees in the exurban landscape. This alteration of vegetation and its management has a substantial impact on the landscape carbon balance. Models can be used to simulate scenarios in human-natural systems and to examine the integration of processes that determine future trajectories of carbon balance. However, most models of human-natural systems include little integration of the human alteration of vegetation with the ecosystem processes that regulate carbon balance. Here we illustrate a few case studies of pilot-study models that strive for this integration from our research across various types of landscapes. We focus greater detail on a fully developed research model linked to a field study of vegetation and soils in the exurban residential landscape of Southeastern Michigan, USA. The field study characterized vegetation and soil carbon storage in 5 types of ecological zones. Field-observed carbon storage in the vegetation in these zones ranged widely, from 150 g C/m2 in turfgrass zones, to 6,000 g C/m2 in zones defined as turfgrass with sparse woody vegetation, to 16,000 g C/m2 in a zone defined as dense trees and shrubs. Use of these zones facilitated the scaling of carbon pools to the landscape, where the areal mixtures of zone types had a significant impact on landscape C storage. Use of these zones also facilitated the use of the ecosystem process model Biome-BGC to simulate C trajectories and also

Investigation of landscape and its components in the Ignalina NPP region

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Masiliunas, L.; Eitmanavichiene, N.

1995-01-01

The landscapes were distinguished in the Ignalina NPP (the basin of Lake Drukshiai) region: 1 - landscape with large hills, kettles and lakes; morainic-loamy; 2 - with small hills, kettles, lakes; morainic-loamy; 3 -waved, boggy, fliuvioglacial sandy plain. Heavy metals and radionuclides are least stable in landscapes with fliuvioglacial sand and gravel deposits. Meanwhile, in bogs (especially raised ones) metals and radionuclides most intensively accumulate and, the least amount of them get into other structures of landscape and Lake Drukshiai. As migration conditions of radionuclides, landscape resistivity to radionuclide load and regulation means of this resistivity are characterized by a territorial way of spreading and can be reflected on maps. This would be a radioecological map of Ignalina NPP and Lake Drukshiai basin with the planned measures of nature protection and economic use. (author). 3 refs., 3 figs

Reference price of natural gas produced in Bacia dos Solimoes; Preco de referencia do gas natural produzido na Bacia do Solimoes

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Valim, Leandro S.; Ferreira, Leticia P.; Correia, Irina S.; Guimaraes, Maria Jose de O.C.; Seidl, Peter R. [Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ), RJ (Brazil). Escola de Quimica; Bispo, Luiz Henrique de Oliveira [Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ), RJ (Brazil). Escola de Quimica; Agencia Nacional do Petroleo, Gas Natural e Biocombustiveis (ANP), Rio de Janeiro, RJ (Brazil)

2012-07-01

Oil and natural gas are exhaustible resources. Thus, exploitation of these energy sources can lead to shortages and even the absence for future generations. In this context, royalties are included as a way to financially compensate future generations through a monthly payment made by the explorer. In Brazil, the control of the royalties and their distribution is charge of the National Agency of Petroleum, Natural Gas and Biofuels (ANP). Its function is to establish reference prices used for the payment of royalties on oil and natural gas. In this study, three methods were used to calculate royalties, using data from Leste do Urucu field, located in Solimoes Basin. The first one is imposed by Resolution ANP No. 40/2009 that uses the calculation of the reference price of natural gas produced in Brazil. The second one is an alternative method of calculating royalties produced by Bispo, 2011, considering the different compositions of the gas produced and injected. And finally, the Resolution ANP RD No. 983/2011 that uses the calculation of the price of gas injected, considering this as the price of gas processed. When performing the calculation of royalties through the proposed methodologies by Bispo, 2011, and the ANP (Resolution No. 40/2009 and RD 983/2011), the results were similar to each other, and the methodology proposed by Resolution No. 40/2009 was the most different from the others. (author)

Conceiving Landscape through Film

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Farsø, Mads; Munck Petersen, Rikke

2015-01-01

This article shows how the media of film can be integrated, explored and can add value to architectural design studios and practice. It elucidates how film may offer an alternative position in architecture, where landscapes and cities are thought, planned and developed in closer relation...... to their spatial and sensory effects on humans. It underscores that the film camera can work as a kind of amplifier of how we, with our bodies, perceive space and project space. In the “Landscape Film” Studio at University of Copenhagen the film medium was tested as a combined registration and design tool...... for a new Nature Park south of Copenhagen. The final studio films and designs show how resonate recordings of sound, time and a bodily presence may simulate an Einfühling that inspires an alternative architecture of relations: the ambient, the changeable and the volatile. They also emphasize that an ability...

Measuring Thermal Characteristics of Urban Landscapes

Science.gov (United States)

Luvall, Jeffrey C.; Quattrochi, Dale A.; Rickman, Doug L.

1999-01-01

The additional heating of the air over the city is the result of the replacement of naturally vegetated surfaces with those composed of asphalt, concrete, rooftops and other man-made materials. The temperatures of these artificial surfaces can be 20 to 40 C higher than vegetated surfaces. Materials such as asphalt store much of the sun's energy and remains hot long after sunset. This produces a dome of elevated air temperatures 5 to 8 C greater over the city, compared to the air temperatures over adjacent rural areas. This effect is called the "urban heat island". Urban landscapes are a complex mixture of vegetated and nonvegetated surfaces. It is difficult to take enough temperature measurements over a large city area to characterize the complexity of urban radiant surface temperature variability. However, the use of remotely sensed thermal data from airborne scanners are ideal for the task. In a study funded by NASA, a series of flights over Huntsville, Alabama were performed in September 1994 and over Atlanta, Georgia in May 1997. Analysis of thermal energy responses for specific or discrete surfaces typical of the urban landscape (e.g., asphalt, building rooftops, vegetation) requires measurements at a very fine spatial scale (i.e., urban forest in both mitigating the urban heat island effect, in making cities more aesthetically pleasing and more habitable environments, and in overall cooling of the community. In this presentation we will examine the techniques of analyzing remotely sensed data for measuring the effect of various urban surfaces on their contribution to the urban heat island effect.

Determination of naturally occurring radionuclides in scales produced in oil industry

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Al-Masri, M S; Ali, A F; Kitue, M; Kawash, A [Atomic Energy Commission, Dept. of Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety, Damascus (Syrian Arab Republic)

1997-04-01

Scales produced by Oil production operations contain relatively high concentrations of natural radionuclides especially radium isotopes (Ra-226, Ra-228, Ra-224) and their daughters. These scales deposit in oil surface equipment such as separator tanks, tubular, and storage tanks. In this work, naturally occurring radionuclides and radiation exposure levels in some Syrian oil lines have been determined. Radiation measurements have shown high radiation exposure in some production sites and reached about 23 {mu}Sv/hr (production wellhead) which is higher than the normal background (0.09 - 012 {mu}Sv/hr). The highest value of the exposure around storage tanks was about o.5 {mu}Sv/hr. Moreover, the highest concentration of radionuclides in scales were found to be 47000 Bq/Kg and 55000 Bq/Kg for Ra-226 and Ra-228 respectively while in sludge samples, the Ra-226 concentration was about 24.2 Bq/Kg, a relatively very low activity. In addition, results have shown that soil contamination can occur by disposal of produced water to the surrounding environment. Furthermore, the present paper shows some of protection procedures, which should be followed by workers for radiation protection. (author). 10 refs., 4 tabs.

From Forest Landscape to Agricultural Landscape in the Developing Tropical Country of Malaysia: Pattern, Process, and Their Significance on Policy

Science.gov (United States)

Abdullah, Saiful Arif; Hezri, Adnan A.

2008-11-01

Agricultural expansion and deforestation are spatial processes of land transformation that impact on landscape pattern. In peninsular Malaysia, the conversion of forested areas into two major cash crops—rubber and oil palm plantations—has been identified as driving significant environmental change. To date, there has been insufficient literature studying the link between changes in landscape patterns and land-related development policies. Therefore, this paper examines: (i) the links between development policies and changes in land use/land cover and landscape pattern and (ii) the significance and implications of these links for future development policies. The objective is to generate insights on the changing process of land use/land cover and landscape pattern as a functional response to development policies and their consequences for environmental conditions. Over the last century, the development of cash crops has changed the country from one dominated by natural landscapes to one dominated by agricultural landscapes. But the last decade of the century saw urbanization beginning to impact significantly. This process aligned with the establishment of various development policies, from land development for agriculture between the mid 1950s and the 1970s to an emphasis on manufacturing from the 1980s onward. Based on a case study in Selangor, peninsular Malaysia, a model of landscape pattern change is presented. It contains three stages according to the relative importance of rubber (first stage: 1900-1950s), oil palm (second stage: 1960s-1970s), and urban (third stage: 1980s-1990s) development that influenced landscape fragmentation and heterogeneity. The environmental consequences of this change have been depicted through loss of biodiversity, geohazard incidences, and the spread of vector-borne diseases. The spatial ecological information can be useful to development policy formulation, allowing diagnosis of the country’s “health” and sustainability

Governance Challenges in an Eastern Indonesian Forest Landscape

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rebecca A. Riggs

2018-01-01

Full Text Available Integrated approaches to natural resource management are often undermined by fundamental governance weaknesses. We studied governance of a forest landscape in East Lombok, Indonesia. Forest Management Units (Kesatuan Pengelolaan Hutan or KPH are an institutional mechanism used in Indonesia for coordinating the management of competing sectors in forest landscapes, balancing the interests of government, business, and civil society. Previous reviews of KPHs indicate they are not delivering their potential benefits due to an uncertain legal mandate and inadequate resources. We utilized participatory methods with a broad range of stakeholders in East Lombok to examine how KPHs might improve institutional arrangements to better meet forest landscape goals. We find that KPHs are primarily limited by insufficient integration with other actors in the landscape. Thus, strengthened engagement with other institutions, as well as civil society, is required. Although new governance arrangements that allow for institutional collaboration and community engagement are needed in the long term, there are steps that the East Lombok KPH can take now. Coordinating institutional commitments and engaging civil society to reconcile power asymmetries and build consensus can help promote sustainable outcomes. Our study concludes that improved multi-level, polycentric governance arrangements between government, NGOs, the private sector, and civil society are required to achieve sustainable landscapes in Lombok. The lessons from Lombok can inform forest landscape governance improvements throughout Indonesia and the tropics.

Driving forces behind landscape transformation in Europe, from a conceptual approach to policy options

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Klijn, J.A.

2004-01-01

Natural and man-induced changes modelled and remodelled European landscapes continuously. As historical and ongoing changes differ in character and intensity from time to time and from region to region whereas landscapes themselves differ in their responses, temporal and regional specification is

Region, landscape, and host plant effects on reproduction by a mobile, multivoltine arthropod herbivore

Science.gov (United States)

Community structure, species abundance, and biotic interactions of invertebrate species in farmlands are influenced by larger-scale processes at region and landscape levels. While previous work makes clear the importance of landscape factors for natural enemy populations, relatively less is known ab...

Evolutionary Effect on the Embodied Beauty of Landscape Architectures.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Wei; Tang, Xiaoxiang; He, Xianyou; Chen, Guangyao

2018-01-01

According to the framework of evolutionary aesthetics, a sense of beauty is related to environmental adaptation and plasticity of human beings, which has adaptive value and biological foundations. Prior studies have demonstrated that organisms derive benefits from the landscape. In this study, we investigated whether the benefits of landscape might elicit a stronger sense of beauty and what the nature of this sense of beauty is. In two experiments, when viewing classical landscape and nonlandscape architectures photographs, participants rated the aesthetic scores (Experiment 1) and had a two-alternative forced choice aesthetic judgment by pressing the reaction button located near to (15 cm) or far from (45 cm) the presenting stimuli (Experiment 2). The results showed that reaction of aesthetic ratings for classical landscape architectures was faster than those of classical nonlandscape architectures. Furthermore, only the reaction of beautiful judgment of classical landscape architecture photograph was significantly faster when the reaction button was in the near position to the presenting photograph than those in the position of far away from the presenting photograph. This finding suggests a facilitated effect for the aesthetic perception of classical landscape architectures due to their corresponding components including water and green plants with strong evolutionary implications. Furthermore, this sense of beauty for classical landscape architectures might be the embodied approach to beauty based on the viewpoint of evolutionary aesthetics and embodied cognition.

Landscape Pattern Detection in Archaeological Remote Sensing

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Arianna Traviglia

2017-12-01

Full Text Available Automated detection of landscape patterns on Remote Sensing imagery has seen virtually little or no development in the archaeological domain, notwithstanding the fact that large portion of cultural landscapes worldwide are characterized by land engineering applications. The current extraordinary availability of remotely sensed images makes it now urgent to envision and develop automatic methods that can simplify their inspection and the extraction of relevant information from them, as the quantity of information is no longer manageable by traditional “human” visual interpretation. This paper expands on the development of automatic methods for the detection of target landscape features—represented by field system patterns—in very high spatial resolution images, within the framework of an archaeological project focused on the landscape engineering embedded in Roman cadasters. The targets of interest consist of a variety of similarly oriented objects of diverse nature (such as roads, drainage channels, etc. concurring to demark the current landscape organization, which reflects the one imposed by Romans over two millennia ago. The proposed workflow exploits the textural and shape properties of real-world elements forming the field patterns using multiscale analysis of dominant oriented response filters. Trials showed that this approach provides accurate localization of target linear objects and alignments signaled by a wide range of physical entities with very different characteristics.

From Product to Place-Spatializing governance in a commodified landscape.

Science.gov (United States)

van Oosten, Cora; Moeliono, Moira; Wiersum, Freerk

2018-07-01

This article analyzes the potential for landscape governance in large-scale commodity landscapes in Indonesia. It conceptualizes landscape governance as the spatialization of governance, which entails the interplay between natural-spatial conditions of place, public-private actor constellations, and policy responses. The article presents the case of a commodified oil palm landscape in West Kalimantan, where a potentially new type of landscape governance is emerging out of the experimental activities of an ecologically responsible commercial enterprise. It describes the development of a multifunctional concession as a process of productive bricolage involving the creative combination of different land uses within a single productive space. It also describes how such a multifunctional concession does not fit into existing policies, which are sectorally defined and embedded in sticky institutional frames. The formation of new public-private institutional arrangements needed for the development of multifunctional concessions is a difficult process, as it requires an alignment of contrasting discourses and an integration of sectorally-defined policy frames. If successful, it might facilitate the transition from multifunctional concessions to multifunctional landscapes. Such a fundamental change in land use and production relations however requires intensive stakeholder engagement and policy dialog. Indonesia's continuous decentralization process offers opportunities for this, as it increasingly provides institutional space at the landscape level, for public and private actors to explore common concerns, and craft public-private arrangements specific to the landscape.

Dissonant Nature

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Clemmensen, Thomas Juel

2013-01-01

Nature restoration is far from being a neural undertaking. Just like any other type of heritage production it can be the source of dissonance – ‘our’ nature is not necessary ‘their’ nature. Often this dissonance is managed in ways, which are not particular sensitive to site-specificity. As exempl...... and allows for multiple interpretations to coexist. Evidence can be found in the Re-naturalization of River Aire (2002-2015), a restoration project, which reveals approaches that could be labelled landscape architecture specific....

Regular Topographic Patterning of Karst Depressions Suggests Landscape Self-Organization

Science.gov (United States)

Quintero, C.; Cohen, M. J.

2017-12-01

Thousands of wetland depressions that are commonly host to cypress domes dot the sub-tropical limestone landscape of South Florida. The origin of these depression features has been the topic of debate. Here we build upon the work of previous surveyors of this landscape to analyze the morphology and spatial distribution of depressions on the Big Cypress landscape. We took advantage of the emergence and availability of high resolution Light Direction and Ranging (LiDAR) technology and ArcMap GIS software to analyze the structure and regularity of landscape features with methods unavailable to past surveyors. Six 2.25 km2 LiDAR plots within the preserve were selected for remote analysis and one depression feature within each plot was selected for more intensive sediment and water depth surveying. Depression features on the Big Cypress landscape were found to show strong evidence of regular spatial patterning. Periodicity, a feature of regularly patterned landscapes, is apparent in both Variograms and Radial Spectrum Analyses. Size class distributions of the identified features indicate constrained feature sizes while Average Nearest Neighbor analyses support the inference of dispersed features with non-random spacing. The presence of regular patterning on this landscape strongly implies biotic reinforcement of spatial structure by way of the scale dependent feedback. In characterizing the structure of this wetland landscape we add to the growing body of work dedicated to documenting how water, life and geology may interact to shape the natural landscapes we see today.

Visions of Restoration in Fire-Adapted Forest Landscapes: Lessons from the Collaborative Forest Landscape Restoration Program

Science.gov (United States)

Urgenson, Lauren S.; Ryan, Clare M.; Halpern, Charles B.; Bakker, Jonathan D.; Belote, R. Travis; Franklin, Jerry F.; Haugo, Ryan D.; Nelson, Cara R.; Waltz, Amy E. M.

2017-02-01

Collaborative approaches to natural resource management are becoming increasingly common on public lands. Negotiating a shared vision for desired conditions is a fundamental task of collaboration and serves as a foundation for developing management objectives and monitoring strategies. We explore the complex socio-ecological processes involved in developing a shared vision for collaborative restoration of fire-adapted forest landscapes. To understand participant perspectives and experiences, we analyzed interviews with 86 respondents from six collaboratives in the western U.S., part of the Collaborative Forest Landscape Restoration Program established to encourage collaborative, science-based restoration on U.S. Forest Service lands. Although forest landscapes and group characteristics vary considerably, collaboratives faced common challenges to developing a shared vision for desired conditions. Three broad categories of challenges emerged: meeting multiple objectives, collaborative capacity and trust, and integrating ecological science and social values in decision-making. Collaborative groups also used common strategies to address these challenges, including some that addressed multiple challenges. These included use of issue-based recommendations, field visits, and landscape-level analysis; obtaining support from local agency leadership, engaging facilitators, and working in smaller groups (sub-groups); and science engagement. Increased understanding of the challenges to, and strategies for, developing a shared vision of desired conditions is critical if other collaboratives are to learn from these efforts.

Visions of Restoration in Fire-Adapted Forest Landscapes: Lessons from the Collaborative Forest Landscape Restoration Program.

Science.gov (United States)

Urgenson, Lauren S; Ryan, Clare M; Halpern, Charles B; Bakker, Jonathan D; Belote, R Travis; Franklin, Jerry F; Haugo, Ryan D; Nelson, Cara R; Waltz, Amy E M

2017-02-01

Collaborative approaches to natural resource management are becoming increasingly common on public lands. Negotiating a shared vision for desired conditions is a fundamental task of collaboration and serves as a foundation for developing management objectives and monitoring strategies. We explore the complex socio-ecological processes involved in developing a shared vision for collaborative restoration of fire-adapted forest landscapes. To understand participant perspectives and experiences, we analyzed interviews with 86 respondents from six collaboratives in the western U.S., part of the Collaborative Forest Landscape Restoration Program established to encourage collaborative, science-based restoration on U.S. Forest Service lands. Although forest landscapes and group characteristics vary considerably, collaboratives faced common challenges to developing a shared vision for desired conditions. Three broad categories of challenges emerged: meeting multiple objectives, collaborative capacity and trust, and integrating ecological science and social values in decision-making. Collaborative groups also used common strategies to address these challenges, including some that addressed multiple challenges. These included use of issue-based recommendations, field visits, and landscape-level analysis; obtaining support from local agency leadership, engaging facilitators, and working in smaller groups (sub-groups); and science engagement. Increased understanding of the challenges to, and strategies for, developing a shared vision of desired conditions is critical if other collaboratives are to learn from these efforts.

Peculiarities of high-altitude landscapes formation in the Small Caucasus mountains

Science.gov (United States)

Trifonova, Tatiana

2014-05-01

Various mountain systems differ in character of landscapes and soil. Basic problem of present research: conditions and parameters determining the development of various landscapes and soils in mountain areas. Our research object is the area of Armenia where Small Caucasus, a part of Armenian upland is located. The specific character of the area is defined by the whole variety of all mountain structures like fold, block folding mountain ridges, volcanic upland, individual volcanoes, and intermountain depressions. As for the climate, the area belongs to dry subtropics. We have studied the peculiarities of high-altitude landscapes formation and mountain river basins development. We have used remote sensing data and statistic database of climatic parameters in this research. Field observations and landscape pictures analysis of space images allow distinguishing three types of mountain geosystems clearly: volcanic massifs, fold mountainous structures and closed high mountain basins - area of the lakes. The distribution of precipitation according to altitude shows some peculiarities. It has been found that due to this factor the investigated mountain area may be divided into three regions: storage (fold) mountainous area; Ararat volcanic area (southern macro exposure); closed high mountainous basin-area of the lake Sevan. The mountainous nature-climatic vertical landscapes appear to be horizontally oriented and they are more or less equilibrium (stable) geosystems, where the stable functional relationship between the landscape components is formed. Within their limits, definite bioclimatic structure of soil is developed. Along the slopes of fold mountains specific landscape shapes like litho-drainage basins are formed. They are intensively developing like relatively independent vertical geosystems. Mechanism of basin formation is versatile resulting in formation of the polychronous soil mantle structure. Landscapes and soils within the basin are of a different age, since

CD ROM 'Natural heritage of Slovakia'

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Uradnikova, B.

2005-01-01

Centre of Environmental Education Geopark ('Centre') applied environmental education into school and out-of-school institutions. The 'Centre' is working in the fields: environmental education, eco-tourism development, presentation of the cultural landscape and world heritage. The CD ROM 'Natural heritage of Slovakia' was created with aim enhancement of environmental awareness, pedagogy, education and development of eco-tourism on the Slovakia. It abets general review about environment, its components, legislative, history and the present day of nature and landscape protection

Color landscape plan of the concrete Consideration on the harmony of concrete and landscape; Konkurito no shikisai keikan keikaku. Keikan to konkurito no chowa wo kangaeru

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Akiyama, Hiroshi [Landscape Planning and Design with Concrete and Color, Tokyo (Japan)

1999-03-10

In Ministry of Construction, they positively promote the natural river make, and they have announced the basic design with the aim of river which does not use the concrete and river in which the concrete is not seen. It is the design control in using the concrete to be necessary for this. They introduced color landscape plan of the pile block of the concrete as a case in aiming at the harmony of concrete and landscape of being more concrete. They introduced concrete product which could express the local color characteristics of colors of the concrete which it does not suit for the landscape, usage of the concrete, concrete of the warm color, colors of concrete product of France, examples of the Disneyland, colors concrete lied, landscapes and cost, etc. (NEDO)

Urban gardens promote bee foraging over natural habitats and plantations.

Science.gov (United States)

Kaluza, Benjamin F; Wallace, Helen; Heard, Tim A; Klein, Alexandra-Maria; Leonhardt, Sara D

2016-03-01

Increasing human land use for agriculture and housing leads to the loss of natural habitat and to widespread declines in wild bees. Bee foraging dynamics and fitness depend on the availability of resources in the surrounding landscape, but how precisely landscape related resource differences affect bee foraging patterns remains unclear. To investigate how landscape and its interaction with season and weather drive foraging and resource intake in social bees, we experimentally compared foraging activity, the allocation of foragers to different resources (pollen, nectar, and resin) and overall resource intake in the Australian stingless bee Tetragonula carbonaria (Apidae, Meliponini). Bee colonies were monitored in different seasons over two years. We compared foraging patterns and resource intake between the bees' natural habitat (forests) and two landscapes differently altered by humans (suburban gardens and agricultural macadamia plantations). We found foraging activity as well as pollen and nectar forager numbers to be highest in suburban gardens, intermediate in forests and low in plantations. Foraging patterns further differed between seasons, but seasonal variations strongly differed between landscapes. Sugar and pollen intake was low in plantations, but contrary with our predictions, it was even higher in gardens than in forests. In contrast, resin intake was similar across landscapes. Consequently, differences in resource availability between natural and altered landscapes strongly affect foraging patterns and thus resource intake in social bees. While agricultural monocultures largely reduce foraging success, suburban gardens can increase resource intake well above rates found in natural habitats of bees, indicating that human activities can both decrease and increase the availability of resources in a landscape and thus reduce or enhance bee fitness.

Performance of a Small-scale Treatment Wetland for Treatment of Landscaping Wash Water

Science.gov (United States)

Thompson, R. J.; Fayed, E.; Fish, W.

2011-12-01

A large number of lawn mowers and related equipment must be cleaned each day by commercial landscaping operations and state and local highway maintenance crews. Washing these devices produces wastewater that contains high amounts of organic matter and potentially problematic nutrients, as well as oil and grease and other chemicals and metals that come from the machinery itself. Dirty water washes off the mowers, flows off the pavement and into nearby storm drains without any kind of treatment. A better idea would be to collect such wastewater, retain it in an appropriate catchment such as an engineered wetland where natural processes could break down any pollutants in the wash water, and allow the water to naturally evaporate or percolate into the soil where it could recharge ground water resources safely. This research examines the performance of a small-scale treatment wetland tailored to remove nitrogen from landscaping wash water by incorporating both aerobic and anaerobic phases. Contaminants are analyzed through physical and chemical methods. Both methods involve collection of samples, followed by standardized, validated analytical laboratory tests for measuring total solids, total kjeldahl nitrogen, nitrates, total and dissolved phosphorus, COD, BOD, oil and grease, and metals (Zn and Cu). High levels of total solids, total kjeldahl nitrogen, nitrates, total and dissolved phosphorus, COD, BOD, oil and grease are found. Zinc and copper levels are low. Wetland treatment removes 99% total solids, 77% total kjeldahl nitrogen, 100% nitrates, 94% total phosphorus, 86% dissolved phosphorus, 94% COD, 97% BOD, and 76% oil and grease. The results will be a critical step towards developing a sustainable low-energy system for treating such wastewater that could be used by private landscaping companies and government agencies.

Modeling forest harvesting effects on landscape pattern in the Northwest Wisconsin Pine Barrens

Science.gov (United States)

Volker C. Radeloff; David J. Mladenoff; Eric J. Gustafson; Robert M. Scheller; Patrick A. Zollner; Hong S. Heilman; H. Resit Akcakaya

2006-01-01

Forest management shapes landscape patterns, and these patterns often differ significantly from those typical for natural disturbance regimes. This may affect wildlife habitat and other aspects of ecosystem function. Our objective was to examine the effects of different forest management decisions on landscape pattern in a fire adapted ecosystem. We used a factorial...

TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER TO U.S. INDEPENDENT OIL AND NATURAL GAS PRODUCERS

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Unknown

2003-04-30

The Petroleum Technology Transfer Council (PTTC) continued pursuing its mission of helping U.S. independent oil and natural gas producers make timely, informed technology decisions. Networking opportunities that occur with a Houston Headquarters (HQ) location are increasing name awareness. Focused efforts by Executive Director Don Duttlinger to interact with large independents, national service companies and some majors are continuing to supplement the support base of the medium to smaller industry participants around the country. PTTC is now involved in many of the technology-related activities that occur in high oil and natural gas activity areas. Access to technology remains the driving force for those who do not have in-house research and development capabilities and look to the PTTC to provide services and options for increased efficiency.

Software applications to three-dimensional visualization of forest landscapes -- A case study demontrating the use of visual nature studio (VNS) in visualizing fire spread in forest landscapes

Science.gov (United States)

Brian J. Williams; Bo Song; Chou Chiao-Ying; Thomas M. Williams; John Hom

2010-01-01

Three-dimensional (3D) visualization is a useful tool that depicts virtual forest landscapes on computer. Previous studies in visualization have required high end computer hardware and specialized technical skills. A virtual forest landscape can be used to show different effects of disturbances and management scenarios on a computer, which allows observation of forest...

Cultural Landscape and Migration

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gunnar Haaland

2011-04-01

Full Text Available This paper focus on the way Nepalese migrants in Myanmar use features of the natural environment in their homeland in metaphoric constructions of a cultural landscape expressing ethnic identity. It is through such "symbolic work" that perceptions of "ethnoscapes" are shaped and indoctrinated. Although the appeal is to symbols that can serve to foster the importance of Nepaliness as a basis for belonging to an imagined community, this does not mean that the caste/ethnicity interaction boundaries are broken down. It does mean however that sectors of activities where such boundaries are made relevant have been changed and so has the cultural content organized through such interaction boundaries. Ethnoscapes do not exist by themselves from a 'primordial' past; they require ongoing expression and confirmation. Features of a natural environment most migrants have never seen is used as sources for spinning compelling webs of significance extolling the values of belonging to a group that shares a common past in that environment. I shall here present material of an ethnoscape very different from what is experienced in Nepal, namely Nepalese multi-caste/ethnic communities among Kachins, Shans, Burmese, Indian and Chinese traders in the Kachin state of Northern Myanmar. Keywords: Nepali migrants; Myanmar; ethnic identity; cultural landscape DOI: 10.3126/dsaj.v4i0.4515 Dhaulagiri Journal of Sociology and Anthropology Vol.4 2010 pp.99-110

Rich RNA Structure Landscapes Revealed by Mutate-and-Map Analysis.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Pablo Cordero

2015-11-01

Full Text Available Landscapes exhibiting multiple secondary structures arise in natural RNA molecules that modulate gene expression, protein synthesis, and viral infection [corrected]. We report herein that high-throughput chemical experiments can isolate an RNA's multiple alternative secondary structures as they are stabilized by systematic mutagenesis (mutate-and-map, M2 and that a computational algorithm, REEFFIT, enables unbiased reconstruction of these states' structures and populations. In an in silico benchmark on non-coding RNAs with complex landscapes, M2-REEFFIT recovers 95% of RNA helices present with at least 25% population while maintaining a low false discovery rate (10% and conservative error estimates. In experimental benchmarks, M2-REEFFIT recovers the structure landscapes of a 35-nt MedLoop hairpin, a 110-nt 16S rRNA four-way junction with an excited state, a 25-nt bistable hairpin, and a 112-nt three-state adenine riboswitch with its expression platform, molecules whose characterization previously required expert mutational analysis and specialized NMR or chemical mapping experiments. With this validation, M2-REEFFIT enabled tests of whether artificial RNA sequences might exhibit complex landscapes in the absence of explicit design. An artificial flavin mononucleotide riboswitch and a randomly generated RNA sequence are found to interconvert between three or more states, including structures for which there was no design, but that could be stabilized through mutations. These results highlight the likely pervasiveness of rich landscapes with multiple secondary structures in both natural and artificial RNAs and demonstrate an automated chemical/computational route for their empirical characterization.

Biophysical landscape interactions: Bridging disciplines and scale with connectivity

Science.gov (United States)

van der Ploeg, Martine; Baartman, Jantiene; Robinson, David

2017-04-01

concepts of biophysical landscape interactions are needed to evaluate soil water availability in relation to the stability of natural vegetation, especially in the perspective of soil threats, population growth, climate change, and global water scarcity. An integrated concept can only be established by bridging the gap between several disciplines, but needs to be appealing to those disciplines at the same time. As evidence suggests interdisciplinary work is more challenging to get funded [6]. The key aspect of the connectivity concept is that it can create pathways for feedbacks which are so often missing in soil and water models. Connectivity could thus play an important role in bridging disciplines and scales. [1] Schwilch G, Bernet L. Fleskens L, Giannakis E, Leventon J, Marañón T, Mills J, Short C, Stolte J, van Delden H, Verzandvoort S. 2016. Operationalizing ecosystem services for the mitigation of soil threats: A proposed framework. Ecological Indicators 67: 586-597,doi:10.1016/j.ecolind.2016.03.016 [2] Pelletier JD, DeLong SB, Orem CA, Becerra P, Compton K, Gressett K, Lyons-Baral J, McGuire LA, Molaro JL, Spinler JCCF. 2012. How do vegetation bands form in dry lands? Insights from numerical modeling and field studies in southern Nevada, USA. Journal of Geophysical Research: Earth Surface 117: F04026,doi:10.1029/2012JF002465 [3] Liu J, Dietz T, Carpenter SR, Alberti M, Folke C, Moran E, ..., Ostrom E. 2007. Complexity of coupled human and natural systems. Science 317.5844: 1513-1516,doi:10.1126/science.1144004 [4] Cook BJ, Hauer FR. 2007. Effects of hydrologic connectivity on water chemistry, soils, and vegetation structure and function in an intermontane depressional wetland landscape. Wetlands 27.3: 719-738,doi:10.1672/0277-5212(2007)27 [5] Roth K. 2008. Scaling of water flow through porous media and soils. European journal of soil science, 59(1), 125-130, doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2389.2007.00986.x [6] Bromham, L, Dinnage R, Hua X. 2016. Interdisciplinary research

Marine actinobacteria associated with marine organisms and their potentials in producing pharmaceutical natural products.

Science.gov (United States)

Valliappan, Karuppiah; Sun, Wei; Li, Zhiyong

2014-09-01

Actinobacteria are ubiquitous in the marine environment, playing an important ecological role in the recycling of refractory biomaterials and producing novel natural products with pharmic applications. Actinobacteria have been detected or isolated from the marine creatures such as sponges, corals, mollusks, ascidians, seaweeds, and seagrass. Marine organism-associated actinobacterial 16S rRNA gene sequences, i.e., 3,003 sequences, deposited in the NCBI database clearly revealed enormous numbers of actinobacteria associated with marine organisms. For example, RDP classification of these sequences showed that 112 and 62 actinobacterial genera were associated with the sponges and corals, respectively. In most cases, it is expected that these actinobacteria protect the host against pathogens by producing bioactive compounds. Natural products investigation and functional gene screening of the actinobacteria associated with the marine organisms revealed that they can synthesize numerous natural products including polyketides, isoprenoids, phenazines, peptides, indolocarbazoles, sterols, and others. These compounds showed anticancer, antimicrobial, antiparasitic, neurological, antioxidant, and anti-HIV activities. Therefore, marine organism-associated actinobacteria represent an important resource for marine drugs. It is an upcoming field of research to search for novel actinobacteria and pharmaceutical natural products from actinobacteria associated with the marine organisms. In this review, we attempt to summarize the present knowledge on the diversity and natural products production of actinobacteria associated with the marine organisms, based on the publications from 1991 to 2013.

Fitness landscapes, heuristics and technological paradigms: a critique on random search models in evolutionary economics

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Frenken, K.

2001-01-01

The biological evolution of complex organisms, in which the functioning of genes is interdependent, has been analyzed as "hill-climbing" on NK fitness landscapes through random mutation and natural selection. In evolutionary economics, NK fitness landscapes have been used to simulate the evolution

Untangling human development and natural gradients: implications of underlying correlation structure for linking landscapes and riverine ecosystems

Science.gov (United States)

Yasmin Lucero; E. Ashley Steel; Kelly M. Burnett; Kelly. Christiansen

2011-01-01

Increasingly, ecologists seek to identify and quantify relationships between landscape gradients and aquatic ecosystems. Considerable statistical challenges emerge in this effort, some of which are attributable to multicollinearity between human development and landscape gradients. In this paper, we measure the covariation between human development—such as agriculture...

The coastal landscape of the river of silver basis for management

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Martinez, A.; Fernandez, E.; Cendom, A.; Vila, L.

2013-01-01

A complex of morphogenic, ecologic and cultural factors converge in coastal landscape modelling. The goal of this research is to identify the coastal environment as a water-land interphase in the Rio de la Plata, Uruguay. The area of work is within Punta Gorda, Colonia Department, and Maldonado River, in the Maldonado Department. An integrated landscape approach is used to interpret the complex of natural areas. The knowledge of natural complex is the goal of this research using the vegetation dynamic as an expression of site condition. Cartography at scale 1:50.000, colour composition of Landsat images at scale 1:100.000 (1994), aerial photographs at scale 1:10.000 (1994), are the source of information. A methodology of three components was organized: a typology of the coastal border, scale 1:500.000, a littoral morphology analysis using maps and aerial photographs, scale 1:10.000 and the coastal landscape, scale 1:100.000. A land cover legend was organized to integrate: geomorphology, vegetation and human intervention. It has 12 classes y 4 subclasses of land cover. This information was integrated in an analysis of an ideal coastal outline that represents the ideal disposition of the landscape elements in a cross and vertical perspective. The final goal of this research is an inventory of coastal uniform sectors. The research was performed within an approach of environmental factors equilibrium, such as geomorphology, environment, biologic and anthropogenic, and natural’s process in progress. Specific and general coastal problems are identified. A conceptual coastal landscape approach, a coastal cartography and setting of landscape units are the final products

Landscape Optimization in a Highly Urbanized Tourism Destination: An Integrated Approach in Nanjing, China

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lingling Chen

2017-12-01

Full Text Available Planning and developing urban tourism destinations must encompass landscape optimization to achieve healthy urban ecosystems, as well as for evolution sustainability. This study explored sustainable landscape planning by examining the optimization of landscape spatial distribution in an urban tourism destination–Nanjing, China—using an integrated approach that included remote sensing (RS, geographic information system (GIS, and landscape metrics in the context of an urban tourism destination evolution model. Least-cost modeling in GIS was also used to optimize decision-making from an ecological perspective. The results indicated that landscapes were more homogenous, fragmented, and less connected. Except for the eastern area, the landscape evolution showed characteristics of both degeneration and growth. A complete greenway network including sources, greenways, and nodes were constructed, and an increase in natural landscapes was strongly recommended. The findings provide geographic insights for sustainable urban tourism planning and development via comprehensive methodological applications.

Influence of urban form on landscape pattern and connectivity in metropolitan regions: a comparative case study of Phoenix, AZ, USA, and Izmir, Turkey.

Science.gov (United States)

Park, Sohyun; Hepcan, Çiğdem C; Hepcan, Şerif; Cook, Edward A

2014-10-01

Although ecological connectivity conservation in urban areas has recently been recognized as an important issue, less is known about its relationship to urban form and landscape pattern. This study investigates how urban morphology influences regional ecosystem pattern and landscape connectivity. Two metropolitan landscapes, Phoenix, AZ, USA, and Izmir, Turkey, were compared, both of which are fast-growing regions in their national context. A wide range of variables were considered for identifying natural and urban properties. The natural characteristics include typology of urban ecosystems, urban to natural cover ratio, dominant habitat type, urban biodiversity, landscape context, and connectivity conservation efforts. Urban parameters examine urban form, urban extent, urban cover proportion, growth rate, populations, urban gradient, major drivers of urbanization, urban density, and mode/approach of urban development. Twelve landscape metrics were measured and compared across the natural patches. Results show that there is little difference in landscape connectivity in the rural zones of Phoenix and Izmir, although Phoenix has slightly higher connectivity values. The connectivity variance in urbanized areas, however, is significantly dependent on the region. For example, Phoenix urban zones have substantially lower connectivity than either urban or suburban zones in Izmir. Findings demonstrate that small and compact urban settlements with more dense populations are more likely to conserve landscape connectivity compared to multiple-concentric but amalgamated urban form spreading all over the landscape (aka urban sprawl).

Antropogenic landscapes in Kharkiv region: information and sightseeing material for knowledge of environment in geographical education

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Людмила Поліщук

2016-10-01

Full Text Available The article is devoted to development of information material for the study of anthropogenic landscapes in Kharkiv region in the school course in Geography. Analysis of the State Standard of complete secondary education and school programs of Ukraine has showed that the features of transformation natural landscapes given in school geographical education are insufficient. In present-day natural science education it is important not only to expand educational material and increase its complexity but also to deepen the knowledge through disclosure of connections and relationships. This especially applies to geography, the content of which consists of a number of knowledge systems being formed within several courses. Thus, the focus should be directed on development of ideas about the unity of nature, indissolubility of all the components of nature, laws and mechanisms of anthropogenic impacts on the constituents of biosphere, and through them to the biosphere as a whole. Formation of a holistic image of nature begins from the study of real natural objects of the native locality (city, district, region, which allows to understand global laws and processes. Based on informational development about anthropogenic landscapes in Kharkiv region, the authors offered promising areas of work with students in the mode of excursions. Information about anthropogenic landscapes of Kharkiv region is important for visual use in obtaining knowledge about them in the geographical education and will provide attraction of students to practical research activities of study about anthropogenic landscapes. This approach will allow the students to form a spatial idea, and consciously navigate in the social and economic, social and political and environmental problems of the state and its region.

Resource distributions among habitats determine solitary bee offspring production in a mosaic landscape.

Science.gov (United States)

Williams, Neal M; Kremen, Claire

2007-04-01

Within mosaic landscapes, many organisms depend on attributes of the environment that operate over scales ranging from a single habitat patch to the entire landscape. One such attribute is resource distribution. Organisms' reliance on resources from within a local patch vs. those found among habitats throughout the landscape will depend on local habitat quality, patch quality, and landscape composition. The ability of individuals to move among complementary habitat types to obtain various resources may be a critical mechanism underlying the dynamics of animal populations and ultimately the level of biodiversity at different spatial scales. We examined the effects that local habitat type and landscape composition had on offspring production and survival of the solitary bee Osmia lignaria in an agri-natural landscape in California (U.S.A.). Female bees were placed on farms that did not use pesticides (organic farms), on farms that did use pesticides (conventional farms), or in seminatural riparian habitats. We identified pollens collected by bees nesting in different habitat types and matched these to pollens of flowering plants from throughout the landscape. These data enabled us to determine the importance of different plant species and habitat types in providing food for offspring, and how this importance changed with landscape and local nesting-site characteristics. We found that increasing isolation from natural habitat significantly decreased offspring production and survival for bees nesting at conventional farms, had weaker effects on bees in patches of seminatural habitat, and had little impact on those at organic farm sites. Pollen sampled from nests showed that females nesting in both farm and seminatural habitats relied on pollen from principally native plant species growing in seminatural habitat. Thus connectivity among habitats was critical for offspring production. Females nesting on organic farms were buffered to isolation effects by switching to

The Interaction Between Landscape Architecture and Urban Development. Do we Have a Common Goal?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Vaiva Deveikienė

2015-05-01

Full Text Available The article analyses the problem of the relationship and interaction between urban design and landscape architecture. This refers to the period of the modern city from the late nineteenth century to the present day. There are presented and discussed urbanization processes and examples of solutions with emphasis on problems arising from the relationship between a city and nature as well as those related to urban landscape and sustainability of urban landscaping in the twentieth century.

Natural Landscape Blocks - CEHC [ds621

Data.gov (United States)

California Natural Resource Agency — The California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) and California Department of Fish and Game (CDFG) commissioned the California Essential Habitat Connectivity...

Analyzing anthropogenic pressures in soils of agro-ecological protected coastal wetlands in L'Albufera de Valencia Natural Park, Spain

Science.gov (United States)

Pascual-Aguilar, Juan Antonio; Andreu, Vicente; Gimeno, Eugenia; Picó, Yolanda

2013-04-01

Coastal wetlands, despite the importance of their environmental and ecological functions, are areas that suffer of great pressures. Most of them are produced by the rapid development of the surrounding artificial landscapes. Socio-economic factors such as population growth and urban-industrial surfaces expansion introduce pressures on the nearby environment affecting the quality of natural and agricultural landscapes. The present research analyses interconnections among landscapes (urban, agricultural and natural) under the hypothesis that urban-artificial impacts could be detected on soils of an agro-ecological protected area, L'Albufera de Valencia, Natural Park, located in the vicinity or the urban area of the City of Valencia, Spain. It has been developed based on Environmental Forensics criteria witch attend two types of anthropogenic pressures: (1) direct, due to artificialization of soil covers that produce anthropogenic soil sealing, and (2) indirect, which are related to water flows coming from urban populations throw artificial water networks (sewage and irrigation systems) and that ultimately will be identified by the presence of o emerging-pharmaceuticals contaminants in soils of the protected area. For the first case, soil sealing a methodology based on temporal comparison of two digital layers for the years 1991 and 2011 applying Geographical Information Systems and Landscapes Metrics were undertaken. To determine presence of emerging contaminants 15 soil samples within the Natural Park were analyzed applying liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry for the detection of 17 pharmaceutical compounds. Results show that both processes are present in the Natural Park with a clear geographical pattern. Either soil sealing or detection of pharmaceuticals are more intensive in the northern part of the study area. This is related to population density (detection of pharmaceuticals) and land cover conversion from agricultural and natural surfaces to

How could companies engage in sustainable landscape management?

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Opdam, P.F.M.; Steingröver, E.G.

2018-01-01

Current concepts that aim to align economic development with sustainability, such as the circular and green economy, often consider natural systems as externalities. We extend the green economy concept by including the landscape as the provider of social, economic and environmental values. Our aim

Studies on quality, storeability, cooking and processing for products of agricultural and livestock produced by natural farming

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Cho, Han Ok; Byun, Myung Woo; Yang, Jae Seung; Jo, Sung Ki; Go, Youn Mi [Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute, Seoul (Korea, Republic of); Lee, Heun Ja; Lee, Sung Hee [Ansung National University, Ansung (Korea, Republic of)

1997-12-01

The wholesomeness of agricultural and livestock products produced in contaminated natural environment and inactivated farmland are under apprehension. We have to produce foodstuff reliable high quality and wholesomeness in harmonizing with environmental condition and sustainable agriculture. All members of Korean Natural Farming Association are working at the self-managing natural farming field and has been developed steadily to village unit due to voluntary demanding and self-practicing more than 30 years. Agricultural and livestock products and its processed foods produced by member of Association are distributing in domestic and exporting to Japan and other country with recognition of its high quality and wholesomeness by consumer. In order to propagate the natural farming technology and to increase the consumption of its products and processed food in domestic and abroad, scientific approach and evaluation for their quality were carried out in field of chemical component and microbial activity of farmland(32 kinds), physico-chemical properties of cereals(7 kinds), fruits and vegetables(14 kinds) and meat processed foods (2 kinds). 51 refs., 29 tabs. (author)

Thermokarst transformation of permafrost preserved glaciated landscapes.

Science.gov (United States)

Kokelj, S.; Tunnicliffe, J. F.; Fraser, R.; Kokoszka, J.; Lacelle, D.; Lantz, T. C.; Lamoureux, S. F.; Rudy, A.; Shakil, S.; Tank, S. E.; van der Sluijs, J.; Wolfe, S.; Zolkos, S.

2017-12-01

Thermokarst is the fundamental mechanism of landscape change and a primary driver of downstream effects in a warming circumpolar world. Permafrost degradation is inherently non-linear because latent heat effects can inhibit thawing. However, once this thermal transition is crossed thermokarst can accelerate due to the interaction of thermal, physical and ecological feedbacks. In this paper we highlight recent climate and precipitation-driven intensification of thaw slumping that is transforming permafrost preserved glaciated landscapes in northwestern Canada. The continental distribution of slump affected terrain reflects glacial extents and recessional positions of the Laurentide Ice sheet. On this basis and in conjunction with intense thermokarst in cold polar environments, we highlight the critical roles of geological legacy and climate history in dictating the sensitivity of permafrost terrain. These glaciated landscapes, maintained in a quasi-stable state throughout much of the late Holocene are now being transformed into remarkably dynamic environments by climate-driven thermokarst. Individual disturbances displace millions of cubic metres of previously frozen material downslope, converting upland sedimentary stores into major source areas. Precipitation-driven evacuation of sediment by fluidized mass flows perpetuates non-linear enlargement of disturbances. The infilling of valleys with debris deposits tens of metres thick increases stream base-levels and promotes rapid valley-side erosion. These processes destabilize adjacent slopes and proliferate disturbance effects. Physically-based modeling of thaw slump development provides insight into the trajectories of landscape change, and the mapping of fluvial linkages portrays the cascade of effects across watershed scales. Post-glacial or "paraglacial" models of landscape evolution provide a useful framework for understanding the nature and magnitude of climate-driven changes in permafrost preserved glaciated

Changing Landscapes, Changing Landscape's Story

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Lapka, Miloslav; Cudlínová, Eva

2003-01-01

Roč. 28, č. 3 (2003), s. 323-328 ISSN 0142-6397. [Symposium on Sustainable Landscapes in an Enlarged Europe. Nové Hrady, 12.09.2001-14.09.2001] R&D Projects: GA MŠk ME 530 Grant - others:GA-(XE) QLK5-CT-2000-01211-SPRITE Institutional research plan: CEZ:AV0Z5039906 Keywords : Landscape stability * narrative approach * socio-economic typology Subject RIV: DO - Wilderness Conservation

LANDSCAPE PLANNING IN UKRAINE: THE FIRST LANDSCAPE-PLANNING PROGRAM

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Leonid Rudenko

2013-01-01

Full Text Available The paper presents the results of the first, in Ukraine; project on landscape planning widely accepted in European countries. Under the project implemented in 2010–2013, a landscape-planning program has been developed for the Cherkassy oblast. This is the first document of this kind in Ukraine. The program is mainly based on the experience of the German and Russian schools of landscape planning and on research and assessment conducted by the authors, which allowed identifying approaches to landscape planning, principles of the national policy, and characteristics and potential of environmentally friendly planning in Ukraine. The paper discusses the main phases of the work on the development of the landscape program for the oblast. It also identifies the main stages and key concepts and principles of landscape planning. The paper presents the results of integrated research on the identification and classification of conflicts in land use and the integral concept of the developmental goals for the oblast. The results can be the foundation for adopting management decisions and development of action plans for the lower hierarchal branches.

Mapping Meaningful Places on Washington's Olympic Peninsula: Toward a Deeper Understanding of Landscape Values.

Science.gov (United States)

Cerveny, Lee Karol; Biedenweg, Kelly; McLain, Rebecca

2017-10-01

Landscape values mapping has been widely employed as a form of public participation GIS (PPGIS) in natural resource planning and decision-making to capture the complex array of values, uses, and interactions between people and landscapes. A landscape values typology has been commonly employed in the mapping of social and environmental values in a variety of management settings and scales. We explore how people attribute meanings and assign values to special places on the Olympic Peninsula (Washington, USA) using both a landscape values typology and qualitative responses about residents' place-relationships. Using geographically referenced social values data collected in community meetings (n = 169), we identify high-frequency landscape values and examine how well the landscape values are reflected in open-ended descriptions of place-relations. We also explore the various interpretations of 14 landscape values used in the study. In particular, we investigate any overlapping meanings or blurriness among landscape values and reveal potentially emergent landscape values from the qualitative data. The results provide insights on the use of landscape values mapping typologies for practitioners and researchers engaged in the mapping of social values for PPGIS.

Mapping Meaningful Places on Washington's Olympic Peninsula: Toward a Deeper Understanding of Landscape Values

Science.gov (United States)

Cerveny, Lee Karol; Biedenweg, Kelly; McLain, Rebecca

2017-10-01

Landscape values mapping has been widely employed as a form of public participation GIS (PPGIS) in natural resource planning and decision-making to capture the complex array of values, uses, and interactions between people and landscapes. A landscape values typology has been commonly employed in the mapping of social and environmental values in a variety of management settings and scales. We explore how people attribute meanings and assign values to special places on the Olympic Peninsula (Washington, USA) using both a landscape values typology and qualitative responses about residents' place-relationships. Using geographically referenced social values data collected in community meetings ( n = 169), we identify high-frequency landscape values and examine how well the landscape values are reflected in open-ended descriptions of place-relations. We also explore the various interpretations of 14 landscape values used in the study. In particular, we investigate any overlapping meanings or blurriness among landscape values and reveal potentially emergent landscape values from the qualitative data. The results provide insights on the use of landscape values mapping typologies for practitioners and researchers engaged in the mapping of social values for PPGIS.

Development of a landscape integrity model framework to support regional conservation planning.

Science.gov (United States)

Walston, Leroy J; Hartmann, Heidi M

2018-01-01

Land managers increasingly rely upon landscape assessments to understand the status of natural resources and identify conservation priorities. Many of these landscape planning efforts rely on geospatial models that characterize the ecological integrity of the landscape. These general models utilize measures of habitat disturbance and human activity to map indices of ecological integrity. We built upon these modeling frameworks by developing a Landscape Integrity Index (LII) model using geospatial datasets of the human footprint, as well as incorporation of other indicators of ecological integrity such as biodiversity and vegetation departure. Our LII model serves as a general indicator of ecological integrity in a regional context of human activity, biodiversity, and change in habitat composition. We also discuss the application of the LII framework in two related coarse-filter landscape conservation approaches to expand the size and connectedness of protected areas as regional mitigation for anticipated land-use changes.

Characterizing European cultural landscapes

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Tieskens, Koen F.; Schulp, Catharina J E; Levers, Christian

2017-01-01

intensification and land abandonment. To prevent the loss of cultural landscapes, knowledge on the location of different types of cultural landscapes is needed. In this paper, we present a characterization of European cultural landscapes based on the prevalence of three key dimensions of cultural landscapes......Almost all rural areas in Europe have been shaped or altered by humans and can be considered cultural landscapes, many of which now are considered to entail valuable cultural heritage. Current dynamics in land management have put cultural landscapes under a huge pressure of agricultural...... the three dimensions into a continuous “cultural landscape index” that allows for a characterization of Europe's rural landscapes. The characterization identifies hotspots of cultural landscapes, where all three dimensions are present, such as in the Mediterranean. On the other hand, Eastern and Northern...

Landscape ecological security assessment based on projection pursuit in Pearl River Delta.

Science.gov (United States)

Gao, Yang; Wu, Zhifeng; Lou, Quansheng; Huang, Huamei; Cheng, Jiong; Chen, Zhangli

2012-04-01

values in landscape ecological security, with the most decreased number 0.52 in Zhaoqing. Results of this study offer important information for regional eco-construction and natural resource exploitation.

Generating new varieties of shrubs for landscapes in Malaysia

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zaiton Ahmad; Affrida Abu Hassan; Shuhaimi Shamsudin; Norimah Yusof; Shakinah Salleh

2012-01-01

This project which was funded by National Landscape Department was aimed at generating new varieties of shrubs suitable for landscapes in Malaysia. Three species of shrubs commonly used in Malaysian landscapes (hibiscus, canna and turnera) were selected for generating new varieties through mutagenesis techniques using gamma rays and ion beams. The main objective was to produce new varieties with desired characters, such as longer bloom period, unique and prominent petal colors and larger flower size. Through this project, several potential mutants have been identified such as turnera with longer bloom period, canna with new flower colors and hibiscus with different flower form. These mutants are currently undergoing field screening at Serdang to analyze their genetic stability, and will be registered as new varieties with Department of Agriculture before being transferred to end-users. (author)

Transcending Landscapes: Working Across Scales and Levels in Pastoralist Rangeland Governance.

Science.gov (United States)

Robinson, Lance W; Ontiri, Enoch; Alemu, Tsegaye; Moiko, Stephen S

2017-08-01

Landscape approaches can be subjected to mistakenly targeting a single "best" level of governance, and paying too little attention to the role that cross-scale and cross-level interactions play in governance. In rangeland settings, resources, patterns of use of those resources, and the institutions for managing the resources exist at multiple levels and scales. While the scholarship on commons offers some guidance on how to conceptualize governance in rangeland landscapes, some elements of commons scholarship-notably the "design principles" for effective governance of commons-do not seem to apply neatly to governance in pastoralist rangeland settings. This paper examines three cases where attempts have been made to foster effective landscape governance in such settings to consider how the materiality of commons influences the nature of cross-scale and cross-level interactions, and how these interactions affect governance. In all three cases, although external actors seemed to work appropriately and effectively at community and landscape levels, landscape governance mechanisms have been facing great challenges arising from relationships beyond the landscape, both vertically to higher levels of decision-making and horizontally to communities normally residing in other landscapes. The cases demonstrate that fostering effective landscape-level governance cannot be accomplished only through action at the landscape level; it is a task that must be pursued at multiple levels and in relation to the connections across scales and levels. The paper suggests elements of a conceptual framework for understanding cross-level and cross-scale elements of landscape governance, and offers suggestions for governance design in pastoralist rangeland settings.

Transcending Landscapes: Working Across Scales and Levels in Pastoralist Rangeland Governance

Science.gov (United States)

Robinson, Lance W.; Ontiri, Enoch; Alemu, Tsegaye; Moiko, Stephen S.

2017-08-01

Landscape approaches can be subjected to mistakenly targeting a single "best" level of governance, and paying too little attention to the role that cross-scale and cross-level interactions play in governance. In rangeland settings, resources, patterns of use of those resources, and the institutions for managing the resources exist at multiple levels and scales. While the scholarship on commons offers some guidance on how to conceptualize governance in rangeland landscapes, some elements of commons scholarship—notably the "design principles" for effective governance of commons—do not seem to apply neatly to governance in pastoralist rangeland settings. This paper examines three cases where attempts have been made to foster effective landscape governance in such settings to consider how the materiality of commons influences the nature of cross-scale and cross-level interactions, and how these interactions affect governance. In all three cases, although external actors seemed to work appropriately and effectively at community and landscape levels, landscape governance mechanisms have been facing great challenges arising from relationships beyond the landscape, both vertically to higher levels of decision-making and horizontally to communities normally residing in other landscapes. The cases demonstrate that fostering effective landscape-level governance cannot be accomplished only through action at the landscape level; it is a task that must be pursued at multiple levels and in relation to the connections across scales and levels. The paper suggests elements of a conceptual framework for understanding cross-level and cross-scale elements of landscape governance, and offers suggestions for governance design in pastoralist rangeland settings.

Landscape Forsmark - data, methodology and results for SR-Site

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lindborg, Tobias [ed.; Svensk Kaernbraenslehantering AB (Sweden)

2010-12-15

This report presents an integrated description of the landscape at the Forsmark site during the succession from present conditions to the far future. It was produced as a part of the biosphere modelling within the SR-Site safety assessment. The report gives a description of input data, methodology and resulting models used to support the current understanding of the landscape used in SR-Site. It is intended to describe the properties and conditions at the site and to give information essential for demonstrating understanding. The report relies heavily on a number of discipline-specific background reports concerning details of the data analyses and modelling. Long-term landscape development in the Forsmark area is dependent on two main and partly interdependent factors, i.e. climate variations and shoreline displacement. These two factors in combination strongly affect a number of processes, which in turn determine the development of ecosystems. Some examples of such processes are erosion and sedimentation, groundwater recharge and discharge, soil formation, primary production and decomposition of organic matter. The biosphere at the site during the next 1,000 years is assumed to be quite similar to the present situation. The most important changes are the natural infilling of lakes and a slight withdrawal of the sea with its effects on the near-shore areas and the shallow coastal basins. The climate during the rest of the temperate period may vary considerably, with both warmer and colder periods. The main effect of temperature changes will be on the vegetation period. Changed temperatures may give rise to drier or wetter climate and to changed snow cover and frost characteristics, and this can in turn affect the dominant vegetation and mire build-up. The description of the Forsmark ecosystem succession during a glacial cycle is one of the main features of the SR-Site biosphere modelling. The future areas potentially affected by deep groundwater discharge are

Landscape Forsmark - data, methodology and results for SR-Site

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lindborg, Tobias

2010-12-01

This report presents an integrated description of the landscape at the Forsmark site during the succession from present conditions to the far future. It was produced as a part of the biosphere modelling within the SR-Site safety assessment. The report gives a description of input data, methodology and resulting models used to support the current understanding of the landscape used in SR-Site. It is intended to describe the properties and conditions at the site and to give information essential for demonstrating understanding. The report relies heavily on a number of discipline-specific background reports concerning details of the data analyses and modelling. Long-term landscape development in the Forsmark area is dependent on two main and partly interdependent factors, i.e. climate variations and shoreline displacement. These two factors in combination strongly affect a number of processes, which in turn determine the development of ecosystems. Some examples of such processes are erosion and sedimentation, groundwater recharge and discharge, soil formation, primary production and decomposition of organic matter. The biosphere at the site during the next 1,000 years is assumed to be quite similar to the present situation. The most important changes are the natural infilling of lakes and a slight withdrawal of the sea with its effects on the near-shore areas and the shallow coastal basins. The climate during the rest of the temperate period may vary considerably, with both warmer and colder periods. The main effect of temperature changes will be on the vegetation period. Changed temperatures may give rise to drier or wetter climate and to changed snow cover and frost characteristics, and this can in turn affect the dominant vegetation and mire build-up. The description of the Forsmark ecosystem succession during a glacial cycle is one of the main features of the SR-Site biosphere modelling. The future areas potentially affected by deep groundwater discharge are

Multifunctional landscape practice and accessibility in manorial landscapes

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Brandt, Jesper; Svenningsen, Stig Roar; Christensen, Andreas Aagaard

. However classical manorial estates seems to represent an opposite trend. Allthough working at the same market conditions as other large specialized holdings developed through the process of structural rationalization, they have often maintained and elaborated a land use strategy based on a multifunctional...... use of the potential ecosystem services present within their domain. The targeted combination of agriculture, forestry, hunting rents, rental housing, and a variety of recreational activities influences makes a certain public accessibility to an integrated part of this strategy, diverging from...... the multifunctional landscape strategy supporting a certain public access. A study of this thesis is presented based on an analysis of multifunctionality, landscape development and accessibility in Danish Manorial landscapes and eventual linkages between their multifunctional landscape strategy, their history...

Beyond Landscape MacArchitecture: new languages, new landscapes

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Simon Rackham

1996-03-01

Full Text Available The sine qua non of landscape architecture is respect for the genius loci, but even in the landscape, as in architecture and society more generally, a process of cultural homogenisation has been taking place. Against this process, a resurgence of interest in minority languages in Europe can be seen as an assertion of pride, and a desire to preserve difference. In Scotland, landscape architects are attempting to reinterpret Scottish and northern European urban design influences and materials: in effect to develop a new regional dialect for the new landscapes. Rooted in sound design principles and materials which respond to and reflect the climate, way of life and traditions of the place, design languages can communicate effectively about cultural values and differences.

The Anti-Landscape

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

There have always been some uninhabitable places, but in the last century human beings have produced many more of them. These anti-landscapes have proliferated to include the sandy wastes of what was once the Aral Sea, severely polluted irrigated lands, open pit mines, blighted nuclear zones...... that no longer sustain life. This history includes T. S. Eliot’s Wasteland and Cormac McCarthy’s The Road as well as air pollution, recycled railway lines, photography and landfills. It links theories of aesthetics, politics, tourism, history, geography, and literature into the new synthesis of the environmental...

Landscape Diversity and Crop Vigor Influence Biological Control of the Western Grape Leafhopper (E. elegantula Osborn in Vineyards.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Houston Wilson

Full Text Available This study evaluated how the proportional area of natural habitat surrounding a vineyard (i.e. landscape diversity worked in conjunction with crop vigor, cultivar and rootstock selection to influence biological control of the western grape leafhopper (Erythroneura elegantula Osborn. The key natural enemies of E. elegantula are Anagrus erythroneurae S. Trjapitzin & Chiappini and A. daanei Triapitsyn, both of which are likely impacted by changes in landscape diversity due to their reliance on non-crop habitat to successfully overwinter. Additionally, E. elegantula is sensitive to changes in host plant quality which may influence densities on specific cultivars, rootstocks and/or vines with increased vigor. From 2010-2013, data were collected on natural enemy and leafhopper densities, pest parasitism rates and vine vigor from multiple vineyards that represented a continuum of landscape diversity. Early in the season, vineyards in more diverse landscapes had higher Anagrus spp. densities and lower E. elegantula densities, which led to increased parasitism of E. elegantula. Although late season densities of E. elegantula tended to be lower in vineyards with higher early season parasitism rates and lower total petiole nitrogen content, they were also affected by rootstock and cultivar. While diverse landscapes can support higher natural enemy populations, which can lead to increased biological control, leafhopper densities also appear to be mediated by cultivar, rootstock and vine vigor.

PESP Landscaping Initiative

Science.gov (United States)

Landscaping practices can positively or negatively affect local environments and human health. The Landscaping Initiative seeks to enhance benefits of landscaping while reducing need for pesticides, fertilizers, etc., by working with partners.

Negative effects of pesticides on wild bee communities can be buffered by landscape context.

Science.gov (United States)

Park, Mia G; Blitzer, E J; Gibbs, Jason; Losey, John E; Danforth, Bryan N

2015-06-22

Wild bee communities provide underappreciated but critical agricultural pollination services. Given predicted global shortages in pollination services, managing agroecosystems to support thriving wild bee communities is, therefore, central to ensuring sustainable food production. Benefits of natural (including semi-natural) habitat for wild bee abundance and diversity on farms are well documented. By contrast, few studies have examined toxicity of pesticides on wild bees, let alone effects of farm-level pesticide exposure on entire bee communities. Whether beneficial natural areas could mediate effects of harmful pesticides on wild bees is also unknown. Here, we assess the effect of conventional pesticide use on the wild bee community visiting apple (Malus domestica) within a gradient of percentage natural area in the landscape. Wild bee community abundance and species richness decreased linearly with increasing pesticide use in orchards one year after application; however, pesticide effects on wild bees were buffered by increasing proportion of natural habitat in the surrounding landscape. A significant contribution of fungicides to observed pesticide effects suggests deleterious properties of a class of pesticides that was, until recently, considered benign to bees. Our results demonstrate extended benefits of natural areas for wild pollinators and highlight the importance of considering the landscape context when weighing up the costs of pest management on crop pollination services. © 2015 The Author(s) Published by the Royal Society. All rights reserved.

Measures of safeguard and rehabilitation for landscape protection planning: a qualitative approach based on diversity indicators.

Science.gov (United States)

La Rosa, Daniele; Privitera, Riccardo; Martinico, Francesco; La Greca, Paolo

2013-09-01

Maintaining existing levels of landscape diversity is becoming more and more important for planning considering the increasing pressures on agricultural ecosystems due to soil sealing, sprawl processes and intensive agriculture. Norms for land-use regulation and measures for landscape Safeguard and Rehabilitation have to take into consideration these threats in landscape planning. Evaluating the diversity of agricultural ecosystems is a fundamental step for proposing sound approaches to planning and managing both soil and landscape, as well as maintaining the related ecosystem services. The paper proposes a method aimed at the qualitative evaluation of spatial diversity of agricultural landscapes using a reduced set of ecological indicators based on land-use vector data. Indicators are calculated for defined landscape units characterized by landscape homogeneity. GIS geoprocessing and spatial analysis functions are employed. The study area is the Province of Enna in Sicily (Italy), which is characterized by cultivation mosaics in its southern region, cereal cultivation in the central region and prevailing natural environments in the northern region. Results from the indicator calculations are used to define measures to be included in a Landscape Protection Plan. Safeguard and Rehabilitation measures are introduced, which link indicator scores to planning protection aims. The results highlight the relevance of some agricultural mosaics in proximity to streams and seasonal fluvial environments, where some undamaged natural environments are still present. For these areas, specific landscape safeguard measures are proposed to preserve their diversity features together with their original agricultural functions. The work shows that even with a reduced number of indicators, a differentiated set of measures can be proposed for a Landscape Protection Plan. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Identifying landscape features associated with Rift Valley fever virus transmission, Ferlo region, Senegal, using very high spatial resolution satellite imagery.

Science.gov (United States)

Soti, Valérie; Chevalier, Véronique; Maura, Jonathan; Bégué, Agnès; Lelong, Camille; Lancelot, Renaud; Thiongane, Yaya; Tran, Annelise

2013-03-01

Dynamics of most of vector-borne diseases are strongly linked to global and local environmental changes. Landscape changes are indicators of human activities or natural processes that are likely to modify the ecology of the diseases. Here, a landscape approach developed at a local scale is proposed for extracting mosquito favourable biotopes, and for testing ecological parameters when identifying risk areas of Rift Valley fever (RVF) transmission. The study was carried out around Barkedji village, Ferlo region, Senegal. In order to test whether pond characteristics may influence the density and the dispersal behaviour of RVF vectors, and thus the spatial variation in RVFV transmission, we used a very high spatial resolution remote sensing image (2.4 m resolution) provided by the Quickbird sensor to produce a detailed land-cover map of the study area. Based on knowledge of vector and disease ecology, seven landscape attributes were defined at the pond level and computed from the land-cover map. Then, the relationships between landscape attributes and RVF serologic incidence rates in small ruminants were analyzed through a beta-binomial regression. Finally, the best statistical model according to the Akaike Information Criterion corrected for small samples (AICC), was used to map areas at risk for RVF. Among the derived landscape variables, the vegetation density index (VDI) computed within a 500 m buffer around ponds was positively correlated with serologic incidence (premote sensing data for identifying environmental risk factors and mapping RVF risk areas at a local scale.

Landscape level analysis of disturbance regimes in protected areas ...

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

G B Pant Institute of Himalayan Environment and Development, Almora 263 643, Uttarakhand, India. ... level assessment of fragmentation and disturbance index in protected areas of Rajasthan using remote ..... anthropogenic/natural forces on the landscape was ..... Environmental Research, Engineering and Management.

Driving the Landscape

Science.gov (United States)

Haff, P. K.

2012-12-01

destination—whereas the natural evolution of landscape has no such goal. Goals will become an essential feature of landscape prediction. The presence of a goal potentially increases our ability to predict, provided it is possible to use feedback (i.e., management) to nudge the system back in the "right" direction when it starts to stray. Under a regime of accelerating technology the closest we can get to predicting the longer term future of landscape is adaptive management, which at large scale is really geoengineer the system. The goal presumably would be to maintain a condition conducive to human well-being, for example to maintain a suitable fraction of global arable land. A successful "prediction" would be to stay within an envelope of states consistent with that goal. We cannot say, however, in what specific state the landscape will be at any time beyond the near future; this will depend on the future sequence of management decisions, which are, like the system they are managing, unpredictable, except shortly before they are implemented. The landscape of the future will thus likely be the result of a series of quick fixes to previous trends in landscape change. Similar comments apply to the prediction, or management, of climate. There is of course no guarantee that it will be possible to stay within the desired envelope of well-being.

Analysis on Key Points of Construction and Management of Municipal Landscape Engineering

Science.gov (United States)

Liang, Mingxia; Fei, Cheng

2018-02-01

At present, China has made great efforts to promote the construction of ecological civilization and promote the development of ecological protection and environmental construction. It has important practical significance to maintain the ecological balance and environmental quality of our country. Especially with the gradual improvement in people’s awareness of environmental protection, so that the green of the city also put forward higher requirements at the same time with the rising of the level of urbanization. In the process of urban landscape construction, the rational planning of urban landscaping involves a lot of subject knowledge. In the green process, we should fully consider the system of urban development and construction in China, based on the design of urban development and long-term planning of the landscaping project. In addition, we must also consider the traditional layout of the city area and the physical and geographical situation and so on, to enhance the objective and scientific nature of urban landscape. Therefore, it is of great practical significance to ensure the quality of landscaping in the effective management of municipal landscape engineering.

Appreciation, Use, and Management of Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services in California's Working Landscapes

Science.gov (United States)

Plieninger, Tobias; Ferranto, Shasta; Huntsinger, Lynn; Kelly, Maggi; Getz, Christy

2012-09-01

"Working landscapes" is the concept of fostering effective ecosystem stewardship and conservation through active human presence and management and integrating livestock, crop, and timber production with the provision of a broad range of ecosystem services at the landscape scale. Based on a statewide survey of private landowners of "working" forests and rangelands in California, we investigated whether owners who are engaged in commercial livestock or timber production appreciate and manage biodiversity and ecosystem services on their land in different ways than purely residential owners. Both specific uses and management practices, as well as underlying attitudes and motivations toward biodiversity and ecosystem services, were assessed. Correlation analysis showed one bundle of ecosystem goods and services (e.g., livestock, timber, crops, and housing) that is supported by some landowners at the community level. Another closely correlated bundle of biodiversity and ecosystem services includes recreation, hunting/fishing, wildlife habitat, and fire prevention. Producers were more likely to ally with the first bundle and residential owners with the second. The survey further confirmed that cultural ecosystem services and quality-of-life aspects are among the primary amenities that motivate forest and rangeland ownership regardless of ownership type. To live near natural beauty was the most important motive for both landowner groups. Producers were much more active in management for habitat improvement and other environmental goals than residential owners. As the number of production-oriented owners decreases, developing strategies for encouraging environment-positive management by all types of landowners is crucial.

Coupling movement and landscape ecology for animal conservation in production landscapes.

Science.gov (United States)

Doherty, Tim S; Driscoll, Don A

2018-01-10

Habitat conversion in production landscapes is among the greatest threats to biodiversity, not least because it can disrupt animal movement. Using the movement ecology framework, we review animal movement in production landscapes, including areas managed for agriculture and forestry. We consider internal and external drivers of altered animal movement and how this affects navigation and motion capacities and population dynamics. Conventional management approaches in fragmented landscapes focus on promoting connectivity using structural changes in the landscape. However, a movement ecology perspective emphasizes that manipulating the internal motivations or navigation capacity of animals represents untapped opportunities to improve movement and the effectiveness of structural connectivity investments. Integrating movement and landscape ecology opens new opportunities for conservation management in production landscapes. © 2018 The Authors.

Comparing the Ecological Impacts of Wind and Oil & Gas Development: A Landscape Scale Assessment

Science.gov (United States)

Jones, Nathan F.; Pejchar, Liba

2013-01-01

Energy production in the United States is in transition as the demand for clean and domestic power increases. Wind energy offers the benefit of reduced emissions, yet, like oil and natural gas, it also contributes to energy sprawl. We used a diverse set of indicators to quantify the ecological impacts of oil, natural gas, and wind energy development in Colorado and Wyoming. Aerial imagery was supplemented with empirical data to estimate habitat loss, fragmentation, potential for wildlife mortality, susceptibility to invasion, biomass carbon lost, and water resources. To quantify these impacts we digitized the land-use footprint within 375 plots, stratified by energy type. We quantified the change in impacts per unit area and per unit energy produced, compared wind energy to oil and gas, and compared landscapes with and without energy development. We found substantial differences in impacts between energy types for most indicators, although the magnitude and direction of the differences varied. Oil and gas generally resulted in greater impacts per unit area but fewer impacts per unit energy compared with wind. Biologically important and policy-relevant outcomes of this study include: 1) regardless of energy type, underlying land-use matters and development in already disturbed areas resulted in fewer total impacts; 2) the number and source of potential mortality varied between energy types, however, the lack of robust mortality data limits our ability to use this information to estimate and mitigate impacts; and 3) per unit energy produced, oil and gas extraction was less impactful on an annual basis but is likely to have a much larger cumulative footprint than wind energy over time. This rapid evaluation of landscape-scale energy development impacts could be replicated in other regions, and our specific findings can help meet the challenge of balancing land conservation with society’s demand for energy. PMID:24312296

Comparing the ecological impacts of wind and oil & gas development: a landscape scale assessment.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nathan F Jones

Full Text Available Energy production in the United States is in transition as the demand for clean and domestic power increases. Wind energy offers the benefit of reduced emissions, yet, like oil and natural gas, it also contributes to energy sprawl. We used a diverse set of indicators to quantify the ecological impacts of oil, natural gas, and wind energy development in Colorado and Wyoming. Aerial imagery was supplemented with empirical data to estimate habitat loss, fragmentation, potential for wildlife mortality, susceptibility to invasion, biomass carbon lost, and water resources. To quantify these impacts we digitized the land-use footprint within 375 plots, stratified by energy type. We quantified the change in impacts per unit area and per unit energy produced, compared wind energy to oil and gas, and compared landscapes with and without energy development. We found substantial differences in impacts between energy types for most indicators, although the magnitude and direction of the differences varied. Oil and gas generally resulted in greater impacts per unit area but fewer impacts per unit energy compared with wind. Biologically important and policy-relevant outcomes of this study include: 1 regardless of energy type, underlying land-use matters and development in already disturbed areas resulted in fewer total impacts; 2 the number and source of potential mortality varied between energy types, however, the lack of robust mortality data limits our ability to use this information to estimate and mitigate impacts; and 3 per unit energy produced, oil and gas extraction was less impactful on an annual basis but is likely to have a much larger cumulative footprint than wind energy over time. This rapid evaluation of landscape-scale energy development impacts could be replicated in other regions, and our specific findings can help meet the challenge of balancing land conservation with society's demand for energy.

Ecologically Sound Procedural Generation of Natural Environments

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Benny Onrust

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Current techniques for the creation and exploration of virtual worlds are largely unable to generate sound natural environments from ecological data and to provide interactive web-based visualizations of such detailed environments. We tackle this challenge and propose a novel framework that (i explores the advantages of landscape maps and ecological statistical data, translating them to an ecologically sound plant distribution, and (ii creates a visually convincing 3D representation of the natural environment suitable for its interactive visualization over the web. Our vegetation model improves techniques from procedural ecosystem generation and neutral landscape modeling. It is able to generate diverse ecological sound plant distributions directly from landscape maps with statistical ecological data. Our visualization model integrates existing level of detail and illumination techniques to achieve interactive frame rates and improve realism. We validated with ecology experts the outcome of our framework using two case studies and concluded that it provides convincing interactive visualizations of large natural environments.

Life in a landscape of possibilities

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Duff, M. [Imperial College, London (United Kingdom)]. E-mail: m.duff@imperial.ac.uk

2005-12-01

Theoretical physicists are as big a bunch of atheists as you would care to meet. So why are they always going on about God? The answer, it seems, is that their God is not a personal deity in the usual religious sense, but rather some cosmic intelligence responsible for creating the universe and designing the laws of nature. As Hawking put it, 'You still have the question: why does the universe bother to exist? If you like, you can define God to be the answer to that question.' With his new book, Leonard Susskind - Felix Bloch professor of theoretical physics at Stanford University - has now decided to step into these waters. Susskind is one of the pioneers of string theory and a leading light in our attempts to understand the origin of the universe and the laws of nature. Like most of his fellow theorists, he is a card-carrying atheist. Nevertheless, in The Cosmic Landscape he expresses sympathy for the intelligent-design view when applied to physics and cosmology rather than biology. The key ingredient in Susskind's thesis is the 'landscape' - a term that he coined in 2003. To understand what the landscape is, we need to recall some things about superstring theory. This theory says that the fundamental building blocks of nature are not point-like elementary particles but tiny 1D strings that live in a universe with one time and nine space dimensions. Just like violin strings, these relativistic strings can vibrate, and each mode of vibration represents a different elementary particle.Most importantly, these stringy particles include gravitons, the hypothetical carriers of the gravitational force. Indeed, superstrings satisfy one of the main requirements of a consistent theory of quantum gravity. They allow us to calculate the probability of transitions from one quantum state to another involving gravitons without encountering the infinities and anomalies that have plagued all previous attempts based on applying ordinary quantum field

Liquidation sales: Land speculation and landscape change

Science.gov (United States)

Lazarus, E.

2012-12-01

Large-scale land-use transitions can occur with astonishing speed, and landscape stability can change with equal suddenness: for example, the catastrophic dustbowl that paralyzed the Midwestern US in the early 1930s came barely 40 years after the derby for homestead land in Oklahoma in 1889. Some human-landscape systems, like the large prehistoric settlements in the Brazilian Amazon, persisted for centuries without environmental collapse. Others quickly exhausted all of the environmental resources available, as occurred with phosphate mining on the Pacific Island of Nauru. Although abrupt shifts from resource plenty to resource scarcity are theoretically interesting for their complexity, the very real consequences of modern social and environmental boom-bust dynamics can catalyze humanitarian crises. Drawing on historical examples and investigative reporting of current events, I explore the hypothesis that land speculation drives rapid transitions in physical landscapes at large spatial scales. "Land grabs" is one of four core environmental justice and equality issues Oxfam International is targeting in its GROW campaign, citing evidence that foreign investors are buying up vast tracts of land in developing countries, and as a consequence exacerbating food scarcity and marginalization of poor families. Al Jazeera has reported extensively on land-rights disputes in Honduras and investment deals involving foreign ownership of large areas of agricultural land in New Zealand, India, Africa, and South America. Overlapping coverage has also appeared in the New York Times, the Washington Post, the BBC News, the Guardian, and other outlets. Although land itself is only one kind of natural resource, land rights typically determine access to other natural resources (e.g. water, timber, minerals, fossil fuels). Consideration of land speculation therefore includes speculative bubbles in natural-resource markets more broadly. There are categorical commonalities in agricultural

Orlice Nature Park - environmental themes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hanus, L.

2002-01-01

The aim of this abstract is to outline the main characteristics of Orlice Nature Park and of the procedure of Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA), and to evaluate public interest in the nature park and in nature protection in general. Orlice Nature Park was instituted in 1996. The function of the park is to protect the character of the area of landscape around the River Orlice. Orlice Natural Park covers an area of 115 sq. km. The main environmental risks to the park are: intensive agriculture, forest mono-culture, industry, transport, channel improvement, the building of holiday cottages, sport, and recreation. Among the conflicts of interest in the park are: nature protection, water management, building constrictions, business, fishery, water sports and recreation. During the process of Environmental Impact Assessment in Hradec Kralove, the public voiced its opinion against the building of a supermarket within the grounds of of the nature park. In this case the public showed its interest in the value of nature and landscape, the value of human health and the value of plant species. In general, the public and the local media show an interest in the park only in exceptional circumstances. (author)

Characteristics of Urban Natural Areas Influencing Winter Bird Use in Southern Ontario, Canada

Science.gov (United States)

Smith, Paul G. R.

2007-03-01

Characteristics of urban natural areas and surrounding landscapes were identified that best explain winter bird use for 28 urban natural areas in southern Ontario, Canada. The research confirms for winter birds the importance of area (size) and natural vegetation, rather than managed, horticultural parkland, within urban natural areas as well as percent urban land use and natural habitat in surrounding landscapes. Alien bird density and percent ground feeding species increased with percent surrounding urban land use. Higher percent forest cover was associated with higher percentages of forest, bark feeding, small (species. Natural area size (ha) was related to higher species richness, lower evenness and higher percentages of insectivorous, forest interior, area-sensitive, upper canopy, bark feeding, and non-resident species. Higher number of habitat types within natural areas and percent natural habitat in surrounding landscapes were also associated with higher species richness. Common, resident bird species dominated small areas (20 ha start to support some area-sensitive species. Areas similar to rural forests had >25% insectivores, >25% forest interior species, >25% small species, and species. Indicator species separated urban natural areas from rural habitats and ordination placed urban natural areas along a gradient between urban development and undisturbed, rural forests. More attention is needed on issues of winter bird conservation in urban landscapes.