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 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 changes have greater effects than climate changes on six insect pests in China.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhao, Zihua; Sandhu, Hardev S; Ouyang, Fang; Ge, Feng

2016-06-01

In recent years, global changes are the major causes of frequent, widespread outbreaks of pests in mosaic landscapes, which have received substantial attention worldwide. We collected data on global changes (landscape and climate) and economic damage caused by six main insect pests during 1951-2010 in China. Landscape changes had significant effects on all six insect pests. Pest damage increased significantly with increasing arable land area in agricultural landscapes. However, climate changes had no effect on damage caused by pests, except for the rice leaf roller (Cnaphalocrocis medinalis Guenee) and armyworm (Mythimna separate (Walker)), which caused less damage to crops with increasing mean temperature. Our results indicate that there is slight evidence of possible offset effects of climate changes on the increasing damage from these two agricultural pests. Landscape changes have caused serious outbreaks of several species, which suggests the possibility of the use of landscape design for the control of pest populations through habitat rearrangement. Landscape manipulation may be used as a green method to achieve sustainable pest management with minimal use of insecticides and herbicides.

Visualization of landscape changes and threatening environmental processes using a digital landscape model

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Svatonova, H; Rybansky, M

2014-01-01

Visualizations supported by new geoinformation technologies prove to be appropriate tools for presenting and sharing the research results by professional and general public. The object of the research was to evaluate the benefits of visualizations for the nonexpert users. The subject of evaluation was: the success rate of interpreting the information; forming of a realistic idea of the unknown landscape; and the preference of the users during selection of the appropriate visualization for the purpose of solving the task. The tasks concerned: assessing the current situation and changes of the landscape; assessing the erosion in the landscape; and the ways of their visualizing. To prepare and process the landscape visualizations, it was necessary to select areas that allow tracking of land use changes and representative environmental processes. Then the digital landscape model was created and a number of visualizations were generated. The results of visualization testing show that the users prefer maps to orthophotos, they are able to formulate correct statements concerning the landscape with the help of visualizations, and that the simulated fly throughs represent a very suitable tool supporting formation of a realistic ideas about the landscape

Exploring ecosystem-change and society through a landscape lens

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Plieninger, Tobias; Kizos, Thanasis; Bieling, Claudia

2015-01-01

Landscapes are closely linked to human well-being, but they are undergoing rapid and fundamental change. Understanding the societal transformation underlying these landscape changes, as well as the ecological and societal outcomes of landscape transformations across scales are prime areas for lan...

Evaluation of Visual and Landscape Impacts of Nuclear Power Plants

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Algohary, S.A.

2007-01-01

The nuclear power plant is a huge structure, and in terms of both size and function may result in an unacceptable visual conflict in both local and wider environment. Also, it has major implications in terms of physical, social, economic, environmental and impact on people. The environmental impacts include the visual and landscape aspects of these plants. This paper outlines the main general ideas of the architecture aspects of nuclear power plants, nuclear reactors. Also, it discusses the site selection considerations: Finally, it introduces an approach for the evaluation of visual and landscape impacts of nuclear power plants

Predicting the genetic consequences of future climate change: The power of coupling spatial demography, the coalescent, and historical landscape changes.

Science.gov (United States)

Brown, Jason L; Weber, Jennifer J; Alvarado-Serrano, Diego F; Hickerson, Michael J; Franks, Steven J; Carnaval, Ana C

2016-01-01

Climate change is a widely accepted threat to biodiversity. Species distribution models (SDMs) are used to forecast whether and how species distributions may track these changes. Yet, SDMs generally fail to account for genetic and demographic processes, limiting population-level inferences. We still do not understand how predicted environmental shifts will impact the spatial distribution of genetic diversity within taxa. We propose a novel method that predicts spatially explicit genetic and demographic landscapes of populations under future climatic conditions. We use carefully parameterized SDMs as estimates of the spatial distribution of suitable habitats and landscape dispersal permeability under present-day, past, and future conditions. We use empirical genetic data and approximate Bayesian computation to estimate unknown demographic parameters. Finally, we employ these parameters to simulate realistic and complex models of responses to future environmental shifts. We contrast parameterized models under current and future landscapes to quantify the expected magnitude of change. We implement this framework on neutral genetic data available from Penstemon deustus. Our results predict that future climate change will result in geographically widespread declines in genetic diversity in this species. The extent of reduction will heavily depend on the continuity of population networks and deme sizes. To our knowledge, this is the first study to provide spatially explicit predictions of within-species genetic diversity using climatic, demographic, and genetic data. Our approach accounts for climatic, geographic, and biological complexity. This framework is promising for understanding evolutionary consequences of climate change, and guiding conservation planning. © 2016 Botanical Society of America.

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

The Globalized Landscape: Rural Landscape Change and Policy in the United States and European Union

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Nassauer, J.I.; Wascher, D.M.

2008-01-01

While some rural areas draw increasing populations to their landscape amenities and some are changed by the long reach of metropolitan sprawl, agriculture defines, and dominates rural landscapes. Amenity characteristics and ecological services of many rural landscapes occur in the context of

Processes and driving forces in changing cultural landscapes across Europe

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bürgi, Matthias; Bieling, Claudia; Von Hackwitz, Kim

2017-01-01

Context: Cultural landscapes evolve over time. However, the rate and direction of change might not be in line with societal needs and more information on the forces driving these changes are therefore needed. Objectives: Filling the gap between single case studies and meta-analyses, we present...... perceived landscape changes, and remembered driving forces. Land cover and landscape changes were analysed regarding change, conversions and processes. For all case study areas, narratives on mapped land cover change, perceived landscape changes and driving forces were compiled. Results: Despite a very high...... diversity in extent, direction and rates of change, a few dominant processes and widespread factors driving the changes could be identified in the six case study areas, i.e. access and infrastructure, political shifts, labor market, technological innovations, and for the more recent period climate change...

Simulation of landscape disturbances and the effect of climatic change

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Baker, W.L.

1993-01-01

The purpose of this research is to understand how changes in climate may affect the structure of landscapes that are subject to periodic disturbances. A general model useful for examining the linkage between climatic change and landscape change has been developed. The model makes use of synoptic climatic data, a geographical information system (GRASS), field data on the location of disturbance patches, simulation code written in the SIMSCRIPT language, and a set of landscape structure analysis programs written specifically for this research project. A simplified version of the model, lacking the climatic driver, has been used to analyze how changes in disturbance regimes (in this case settlement and fire suppression) affect landscape change. Landscape change lagged in its response to changes in the disturbance regime, but the lags differed depending upon the character of the change and the particular measure considered. The model will now be modified for use in a specific setting to analyze the effects of changes in climate on the structure of flood-disturbed patches along the Animas River, Colorado

State-and-transition simulation models: a framework for forecasting landscape change

Science.gov (United States)

Daniel, Colin; Frid, Leonardo; Sleeter, Benjamin M.; Fortin, Marie-Josée

2016-01-01

SummaryA wide range of spatially explicit simulation models have been developed to forecast landscape dynamics, including models for projecting changes in both vegetation and land use. While these models have generally been developed as separate applications, each with a separate purpose and audience, they share many common features.We present a general framework, called a state-and-transition simulation model (STSM), which captures a number of these common features, accompanied by a software product, called ST-Sim, to build and run such models. The STSM method divides a landscape into a set of discrete spatial units and simulates the discrete state of each cell forward as a discrete-time-inhomogeneous stochastic process. The method differs from a spatially interacting Markov chain in several important ways, including the ability to add discrete counters such as age and time-since-transition as state variables, to specify one-step transition rates as either probabilities or target areas, and to represent multiple types of transitions between pairs of states.We demonstrate the STSM method using a model of land-use/land-cover (LULC) change for the state of Hawai'i, USA. Processes represented in this example include expansion/contraction of agricultural lands, urbanization, wildfire, shrub encroachment into grassland and harvest of tree plantations; the model also projects shifts in moisture zones due to climate change. Key model output includes projections of the future spatial and temporal distribution of LULC classes and moisture zones across the landscape over the next 50 years.State-and-transition simulation models can be applied to a wide range of landscapes, including questions of both land-use change and vegetation dynamics. Because the method is inherently stochastic, it is well suited for characterizing uncertainty in model projections. When combined with the ST-Sim software, STSMs offer a simple yet powerful means for developing a wide range of models of

Community identities as visions for landscape change

Science.gov (United States)

William P. Stewart; Derek Liebert; Kevin W. Larkin

2004-01-01

Residents' felt senses of their community can play substantial roles in determining visions for landscape change. Community identities are often anchored in tangible environments and events of a community, and have the potential to serve as visions for landscape planning processes. Photo-elicitation is applied in this study to connect community-based meanings to...

[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.

Assessment of landscape change and occurrence at watershed ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

... the southern watershed zones. Monitoring land cover change at the watershed scale is more indicative of impact level and where efforts for managing and conserving the urban landscape should be prioritized. Key words: Urban expansion, land cover type, remote sensing, watershed units, urban landscape conservation.

Landscape, Process and Power: Re-evaluating Traditional Environmental Knowledge

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Colleen Marie O'Brien

2010-09-01

Full Text Available Review of Landscape, Process and Power: Re-evaluating Traditional Environmental Knowledge. Serena Heckler, ed. 2009. Berghahn Books, New York. Pp. 304, 21 illustrations, bibliography, index. $95.00 (hardback. ISBN 978-1-84545-549-1

A landscape simulation system for power plants

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yoshinaga, Toshiaki; Yoshida, Miki; Usami, Yoshiaki.

1997-01-01

As scenes of power plants give many influences to environments, the plants that harmonized with the environments are demanded. We developed a landscape simulation system for the plants by using computer graphics technologies. This system has functions to generate realistic images about plant buildings and environments. Since the system contains information of ridge lines in addition to usual terrain data, the terrain shapes are expressed more precisely. Because the system enables users to visualize plant construction plans, the advance evaluations of plant scenes become possible. We regard this system as useful for environmental assessment of power plants. (author)

The anthropological actions on Tandil natural landscape produced by irreversible alterations and changes in the landscape

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bernabe, M.; Morrone, M.

2007-01-01

The anthropological actions on Tandil natural landscape are producing irreversible alterations and changes in the landscape. The changes take place mainly in: a) Depredation mining activity on the hills, b) Advance of the constructions on the hills. c) Superficial drainage changes by tubes and dike deficiencies) Stuffed of diggings with industrials solids remainders. The presence of System of Tandilia hills grants a high landscaping and economic value to the area. The mining activity and the related tourism constructions are in constant development. The mentioned activities are harnessed by the economic height of last five years, since Tandil is chosen as place of permanent residence by job and educational supply, and tourism by near accessibility from Buenos Aires city. Like consequence, it takes place great urban expansion where particular houses stand out, also districts, countries; and the related ones to the tourist activity like inns, that are located on the hills, generating changes in the landscape. The study area is located in the S-SW-SE sector of the city of Tandil, head of the party homonym of the Southeastern center of the province of Buenos Aires. The purpose of this paper aim to emphasize the anthropological action like main agent the natural landscape alteration, generating environmental problems. Aerial photography, and topographic maps to scale: 1:50000 were used. (author)

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...

Changing and Differentiated Urban Landscape in China: Spatiotemporal Patterns and Driving Forces.

Science.gov (United States)

Fang, Chuanglin; Li, Guangdong; Wang, Shaojian

2016-03-01

Urban landscape spatiotemporal change patterns and their driving mechanisms in China are poorly understood at the national level. Here we used remote sensing data, landscape metrics, and a spatial econometric model to characterize the spatiotemporal patterns of urban landscape change and investigate its driving forces in China between 1990 and 2005. The results showed that the urban landscape pattern has experienced drastic changes over the past 15 years. Total urban area has expanded approximately 1.61 times, with a 2.98% annual urban-growth rate. Compared to previous single-city studies, although urban areas are expanding rapidly, the overall fragmentation of the urban landscape is decreasing and is more irregular and complex at the national level. We also found a stair-stepping, urban-landscape changing pattern among eastern, central, and western counties. In addition, administrative level, urban size, and hierarchy have effects on the urban landscape pattern. We also found that a combination of landscape metrics can be used to supplement our understanding of the pattern of urbanization. The changes in these metrics are correlated with geographical indicators, socioeconomic factors, infrastructure variables, administrative level factors, policy factors, and historical factors. Our results indicate that the top priority should be strengthening the management of urban planning. A compact and congregate urban landscape may be a good choice of pattern for urban development in China.

Numerical modelling of landscape and sediment flux response to precipitation rate change

Science.gov (United States)

Armitage, John J.; Whittaker, Alexander C.; Zakari, Mustapha; Campforts, Benjamin

2018-02-01

Laboratory-scale experiments of erosion have demonstrated that landscapes have a natural (or intrinsic) response time to a change in precipitation rate. In the last few decades there has been growth in the development of numerical models that attempt to capture landscape evolution over long timescales. However, there is still an uncertainty regarding the validity of the basic assumptions of mass transport that are made in deriving these models. In this contribution we therefore return to a principal assumption of sediment transport within the mass balance for surface processes; we explore the sensitivity of the classic end-member landscape evolution models and the sediment fluxes they produce to a change in precipitation rates. One end-member model takes the mathematical form of a kinetic wave equation and is known as the stream power model, in which sediment is assumed to be transported immediately out of the model domain. The second end-member model is the transport model and it takes the form of a diffusion equation, assuming that the sediment flux is a function of the water flux and slope. We find that both of these end-member models have a response time that has a proportionality to the precipitation rate that follows a negative power law. However, for the stream power model the exponent on the water flux term must be less than one, and for the transport model the exponent must be greater than one, in order to match the observed concavity of natural systems. This difference in exponent means that the transport model generally responds more rapidly to an increase in precipitation rates, on the order of 105 years for post-perturbation sediment fluxes to return to within 50 % of their initial values, for theoretical landscapes with a scale of 100×100 km. Additionally from the same starting conditions, the amplitude of the sediment flux perturbation in the transport model is greater, with much larger sensitivity to catchment size. An important finding is that

Numerical modelling of landscape and sediment flux response to precipitation rate change

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

J. J. Armitage

2018-02-01

Full Text Available Laboratory-scale experiments of erosion have demonstrated that landscapes have a natural (or intrinsic response time to a change in precipitation rate. In the last few decades there has been growth in the development of numerical models that attempt to capture landscape evolution over long timescales. However, there is still an uncertainty regarding the validity of the basic assumptions of mass transport that are made in deriving these models. In this contribution we therefore return to a principal assumption of sediment transport within the mass balance for surface processes; we explore the sensitivity of the classic end-member landscape evolution models and the sediment fluxes they produce to a change in precipitation rates. One end-member model takes the mathematical form of a kinetic wave equation and is known as the stream power model, in which sediment is assumed to be transported immediately out of the model domain. The second end-member model is the transport model and it takes the form of a diffusion equation, assuming that the sediment flux is a function of the water flux and slope. We find that both of these end-member models have a response time that has a proportionality to the precipitation rate that follows a negative power law. However, for the stream power model the exponent on the water flux term must be less than one, and for the transport model the exponent must be greater than one, in order to match the observed concavity of natural systems. This difference in exponent means that the transport model generally responds more rapidly to an increase in precipitation rates, on the order of 105 years for post-perturbation sediment fluxes to return to within 50 % of their initial values, for theoretical landscapes with a scale of 100×100 km. Additionally from the same starting conditions, the amplitude of the sediment flux perturbation in the transport model is greater, with much larger sensitivity to catchment size. An

Emerging Changes in the Worldwide Power Sector: The Assets of Thermal Power

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Moliere, Michel; Girardot, Amelie; Jones, Robert M.

2007-07-01

In forthcoming decades we will see major changes in the landscape of the worldwide power sector as CO2 management and incipient hydrocarbon scarcity exert their increasing influence. The power generation community must be prepared to satisfy a particularly complex and challenging set of requirements. These issues include curbing CO2 emissions, coping with surging primary energy prices, and compliance with regional and local emissions requirements such as SOx and NOx-while maintaining maximum efficiency. In this context, as confirmed by International Energy Agency forecasts, thermal power will maintain a prominent position in overall power generation since it enables the large capacity additions required in emerging countries. Thanks to their reliable assets (such as energy efficiency and environment) gas turbine-based power systems, including Gas Turbine Combined Cycles (GTCC) and Combined Heat & Power (CHP), will continue to be major contributors to worldwide power generation. However, evolving changes in the spectrum of fuels will create an additional challenge for power generation equipment manufacturers-requiring innovative technologies in fuel processing, combustion, and emission controls to address these needs. This paper reviews the factors underlining the changing power generation environment worldwide, including the increasing scarcity of conventional fuels and the growing interest in biofuels and hydrogen. Insights will be offered into various technologies needed to support the growing need for increased fuel flexibility.

Dynamic Changes of Landscape Pattern and Vulnerability Analysis in Qingyi River Basin

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Ziwei; Xie, Chaoying; He, Xiaohui; Guo, Hengliang; Wang, Li

2017-11-01

Environmental vulnerability research is one of the core areas of global environmental change research. Over the past 10 years, ecologically fragile zones or transition zones had been significantly affected by environmental degradation and climate change and human activities. In this paper, we analyzed the spatial and temporal changes of landscape pattern and landscape vulnerability degree in Qingyi River Basin by calculating the landscape sensitivity index and landscape restoration degree index based on Landsat images of 2005, 2010 and 2015. The results showed that: (1) The top conversion area was farmland, woodland and grassland area decreased, city land and rural residential land increased fastest. (2) The fragility of the landscape pattern along the Qingyi River gradually increased between 2005 and 2015, the downstream area was influenced by the influence of human activities. (3) Landscape pattern changes and fragility are mainly affected by urbanization. These findings are helpful for understanding the evolution of landscape pattern as well as urban ecology, which both have significant implications for urban planning and minimize the potential environmental impacts of urbanization in Qingyi River Basin.

Modelling interactions and feedback mechanisms between land use change and landscape processes

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Claessens, L.; Schoorl, J.M.; Verburg, P.H.; Geraedts, L.; Veldkamp, A.

2009-01-01

Land use changes and landscape processes are interrelated and influenced by multiple bio-physical and socio-economic driving factors, resulting in a complex, multi-scale system. Consequently in landscapes with active landscape processes such as erosion, land use changes should not be analysed in

Dynamic-landscape metapopulation models predict complex response of wildlife populations to climate and landscape change

Science.gov (United States)

Thomas W. Bonnot; Frank R. Thompson; Joshua J. Millspaugh

2017-01-01

The increasing need to predict how climate change will impact wildlife species has exposed limitations in how well current approaches model important biological processes at scales at which those processes interact with climate. We used a comprehensive approach that combined recent advances in landscape and population modeling into dynamic-landscape metapopulation...

Adaptive Landscapes of Resistance Genes Change as Antibiotic Concentrations Change.

Science.gov (United States)

Mira, Portia M; Meza, Juan C; Nandipati, Anna; Barlow, Miriam

2015-10-01

Most studies on the evolution of antibiotic resistance are focused on selection for resistance at lethal antibiotic concentrations, which has allowed the detection of mutant strains that show strong phenotypic traits. However, solely focusing on lethal concentrations of antibiotics narrowly limits our perspective of antibiotic resistance evolution. New high-resolution competition assays have shown that resistant bacteria are selected at relatively low concentrations of antibiotics. This finding is important because sublethal concentrations of antibiotics are found widely in patients undergoing antibiotic therapies, and in nonmedical conditions such as wastewater treatment plants, and food and water used in agriculture and farming. To understand the impacts of sublethal concentrations on selection, we measured 30 adaptive landscapes for a set of TEM β-lactamases containing all combinations of the four amino acid substitutions that exist in TEM-50 for 15 β-lactam antibiotics at multiple concentrations. We found that there are many evolutionary pathways within this collection of landscapes that lead to nearly every TEM-genotype that we studied. While it is known that the pathways change depending on the type of β-lactam, this study demonstrates that the landscapes including fitness optima also change dramatically as the concentrations of antibiotics change. Based on these results we conclude that the presence of multiple concentrations of β-lactams in an environment result in many different adaptive landscapes through which pathways to nearly every genotype are available. Ultimately this may increase the diversity of genotypes in microbial populations. © The Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society for Molecular Biology and Evolution. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Empirical methods for modeling landscape change, ecosystem services, and biodiversity

Science.gov (United States)

David Lewis; Ralph. Alig

2009-01-01

The purpose of this paper is to synthesize recent economics research aimed at integrating discrete-choice econometric models of land-use change with spatially-explicit landscape simulations and quantitative ecology. This research explicitly models changes in the spatial pattern of landscapes in two steps: 1) econometric estimation of parcel-scale transition...

Sustaining forest landscape connectivity under different land cover change scenarios

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Rubio, L.; Rodriguez-Freire, M.; Mateo-Sanchez, M. C.; Estreguil, C.; Saura, S.

2012-11-01

Managing forest landscapes to sustain functional connectivity is considered one of the key strategies to counteract the negative effects of climate and human-induced changes in forest species pools. With this objective, we evaluated whether a robust network of forest connecting elements can be identified so that it remains efficient when facing different types of potential land cover changes that may affect forest habitat networks and ecological fluxes. For this purpose we considered changes both in the forested areas and in the non-forest intervening landscape matrix. We combined some of the most recent developments in graph theory with models of land cover permeability and least-cost analysis through the forest landscape. We focused on a case of study covering the habitat of a forest dwelling bird (nuthatch, Sitta europaea) in the region of Galicia (NW Spain). Seven land-use change scenarios were analysed for their effects on connecting forest elements (patches and links): one was the simplest case in which the landscape is represented as a binary forest/non-forest pattern (and where matrix heterogeneity is disregarded), four scenarios in which forest lands were converted to other cover types (to scrubland due to wildfires, to extensive and intensive agriculture, and to urban areas), and two scenarios that only involved changes in the non-forested matrix (re naturalization and intensification). Our results show that while the network of connecting elements for the species was very robust to the conversion of the forest habitat patches to different cover types, the different change scenarios in the landscape matrix could more significantly weaken its long-term validity and effectiveness. This is particularly the case when most of the key connectivity providers for the nuthatch are located outside the protected areas or public forests in Galicia, where biodiversity-friendly measures might be more easily implemented. We discuss how the methodology can be applied to

Modeling the role of behavior in wildlife responses to landscape change

Science.gov (United States)

Land-use change alters landscapes at different rates and to different degrees. Wildlife responses to shifting habitat conditions vary from species to species depending on the rate of landscape change, species’ life history traits, and aspects of behavior such as dispersal patter...

Large scale power suppression in a multifield landscape

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Blanco-Pillado, Jose J.; Frazer, Jonathan; Sousa, Kepa; Dias, Mafalda

2015-01-01

Power suppression of the cosmic microwave background on the largest observable scales could provide valuable clues about the particle physics underlying inflation. Here we consider the prospect of power suppression in the context of the multifield landscape. Based on the assumption that our observable universe emerges from a tunnelling event and that the relevant features originate purely from inflationary dynamics, we find that the power spectrum not only contains information on single-field dynamics, but also places strong constraints on all scalar fields present in the theory. We find that the simplest single-field models giving rise to power suppression do not generalise to multifield models in a straightforward way, as the resulting superhorizon evolution of the curvature perturbation tends to erase any power suppression present at horizon crossing. On the other hand, multifield effects do present a means of generating power suppression which to our knowledge has so far not been considered. We propose a mechanism to illustrate this, which we dub flume inflation

Large scale power suppression in a multifield landscape

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Blanco-Pillado, Jose J.; Frazer, Jonathan; Sousa, Kepa [Department of Theoretical Physics, Bizkaiako Campusa/Campus de Bizkaia, Posta Kodea 48940, Leioa, Bizkaia (Spain); Dias, Mafalda, E-mail: josejuan.blanco@ehu.es, E-mail: m.dias@sussex.ac.uk, E-mail: j.frazer@ucl.ac.uk, E-mail: kepa.sousa@ehu.es [Astronomy Centre, Department of Physics and Astronomy, School of Maths and Physical Sciences, University of Sussex, Pevensey II Building, Falmer, Brighton, BN1 9QH (United Kingdom)

2015-08-01

Power suppression of the cosmic microwave background on the largest observable scales could provide valuable clues about the particle physics underlying inflation. Here we consider the prospect of power suppression in the context of the multifield landscape. Based on the assumption that our observable universe emerges from a tunnelling event and that the relevant features originate purely from inflationary dynamics, we find that the power spectrum not only contains information on single-field dynamics, but also places strong constraints on all scalar fields present in the theory. We find that the simplest single-field models giving rise to power suppression do not generalise to multifield models in a straightforward way, as the resulting superhorizon evolution of the curvature perturbation tends to erase any power suppression present at horizon crossing. On the other hand, multifield effects do present a means of generating power suppression which to our knowledge has so far not been considered. We propose a mechanism to illustrate this, which we dub flume inflation.

Watermill and Small-Scale Hydroelectric Power Plant Landscapes Assessed According to Ecological Aspects

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lilita Lazdāne

2013-10-01

Full Text Available Research of watermill and small-scale hydroelectric power plant (HPP landscapes in Latvia according to ecological aspects is a part of a more complex research. The aim of this research is to examine the existing situation of watermill and small-scale HPP landscapes in Latvia by applying the ecological assessment criteria, and then try to formulate a definition of common tendencies of the landscape character. This paper provides a landscape inventory matrix for research in the field stu­dies of landscape identification at the local planning level. The duration of the research was from 2010 to 2012. The research includes 42 territories starting with the three most densely developed areas in Latvia: in Latgale, Kurzeme and Vidzeme uplands distribution ranges. The research results reflect tendencies of the landscape features assessed according to the previously developed criteria of ecological aspects.

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

Science.gov (United States)

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.

Landscape Conservation Cooperatives: Creating a Collaborative Conservation Vision in the Face of Climate Change Uncertainty

Science.gov (United States)

Athearn, N.; Schlafmann, D.

2015-12-01

The 22 Landscape Conservation Cooperatives (LCCs) form a "network of networks," each defined by the characteristics of its ecoregion and its unique community of conservation managers, practitioners, and scientists. As self-directed partnerships, LCCs are strongly influenced not only by the landscape but by the evolving cultures and values that define the multi-faceted relationships between people and place. LCCs maintain an ecologically connected network across these diverse landscapes by transcending borders and leveraging resources. Natural resource managers are challenged to make decisions in the face of multiple uncertainties, and several partners across the network have recognized that climate change is one important uncertainty that spans boundaries - both across the conservation community and beyond. The impacts of climate change across the LCC Network are likely to be as diverse as the network itself - manifesting as, for example, sea level rise, ocean acidification, loss of sea ice, and shifts in climate patterns and timing - but synergies are being leveraged within and between LCCs and national climate-focused programs to systematically address the needs of the network to support a collaborative conservation vision that addresses multiple landscape-scale stressors in the face of climate uncertainties. This vision is being achieved by leveraging the convening power of the LCCs and collaborating with DOI Climate Science Centers and others. Selected case studies will demonstrate how the network finds strength in its differences, but also reveals powerful collaborative opportunities through integrated science, shared conservation strategies, and strategic approaches for translating targeted science to conservation action. These examples exemplify past successes as well as ongoing efforts as the network continues to bring about effective application of climate science to achieve conservation outcomes across the LCC Network in an uncertain future climate.

How landscape ecology informs global land-change science and policy

Science.gov (United States)

Audrey L. Mayer; Brian Buma; Am??lie Davis; Sara A. Gagn??; E. Louise Loudermilk; Robert M. Scheller; Fiona K.A. Schmiegelow; Yolanda F. Wiersma; Janet Franklin

2016-01-01

Landscape ecology is a discipline that explicitly considers the influence of time and space on the environmental patterns we observe and the processes that create them. Although many of the topics studied in landscape ecology have public policy implications, three are of particular concern: climate change; land use–land cover change (LULCC); and a particular type of...

Land Tenure as a Factor Underlying Agricultural Landscape Changes in Europe: A Review

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Krčílková Š.

2016-06-01

Full Text Available Land tenure is generally considered to be an important factor affecting farming, landscape, and rural development. This paper reviews selected case studies to identify how land tenure influences agricultural landscape changes in Europe. We identified how land tenure information was transformed into variables, grouping these variables into general thematic categories: (1 land rights variables based on references to the type of stakeholders and duration of land occupancy, (2 land structure variables describing general land structure, and (3 behavioural variables dependent on stakeholders’ attitudes, perceptions, and personal values. Each thematic category can be defined on three spatial levels: parcel or production block, stakeholder, and landscape. The results show that the tenure factor is not frequently included into landscape-change studies. When a land tenure factor was part of a given study, it either played a minor role among other drivers of landscape change or, if it influenced significant landscape changes, it had only locally specific effects. Moreover, there were studies with contradictory results and so it is difficult to generalize specific findings. Nevertheless, land tenure is frequently discussed within landscape-change research in relation to land abandonment as well as green services and their connection with the European Union’s Common Agricultural Policy.

The role of agricultural engineering in the management of landscape changes

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Natalia Fumagalli

2011-02-01

Full Text Available Landscape represents the “sensory aspect” of the land and as such it can be appreciated by all the five senses: sight, smelling, hearing, touch and taste. At the same time, landscape evolves over time and its value – ecological, economical and affective – changes as its constitutive elements change. Engineering can help “to drive” this evolution addressing it towards a condition of balance between individual and community requirements, especially referred to the effect of technological development on landscape. This effect can be referred to three dimensions: perceptive, functional and symbolic dimensions. The possible contribution to the management of landscape changes concerns all the three historic souls of Agricultural Engineering; in particular, Agricultural Hydraulics deals with the topic of landscape referring to both irrigation and the possible recreational use of canal systems; Agricultural Engineering determines plot form and size and woodland view; Rural Building deals with both the recovery of existing buildings and the design and making of new ones and their fitting in the landscape; moreover, the sector has developed new methods for the evaluation and the planning of rural land resources, especially about agriculture and forestry productivity, ecological stability and visual quality of rural land itself.

Aeolian Landscape Change in West Greenland

Science.gov (United States)

Heindel, Ruth Chaves

In the Arctic, aeolian processes can be important drivers of landscape change. Soil deflation, the removal of fine-grained sediment by wind, is one aeolian process that has had a profound impact in the Arctic. While soil deflation has been well studied in Iceland, our understanding of aeolian processes across the rest of the Arctic remains limited. Kangerlussuaq, West Greenland, provides an opportunity to study the mechanisms and impacts of soil deflation without direct anthropogenic influence. In Kangerlussuaq, strong katabatic winds have resulted in distinct erosional landforms, here referred to as deflation patches, that are largely devoid of vascular plants and are dominated by biological soil crusts. This dissertation considers the geomorphic and ecological impacts of soil deflation through an interdisciplinary framework. I show that deflation patches are a critical component of the Kangerlussuaq ecosystem, accounting for 22% of the terrestrial landscape and impacting vegetation dynamics by providing habitat for graminoid, herbaceous, and lichen species. Deflation patches formed roughly 230-800 years ago, during a period of cold, dry, and windy climate conditions. Deflation patches expand across the landscape when the active margin, or scarp, becomes undercut and collapses. I estimate that rates of patch expansion are roughly 2.5 cm yr-1, and that geomorphic change can be detected even over the short time period of two years. I suggest that an erosional threshold exists because climate conditions required for initial deflation-patch formation are harsher than those required for continued patch expansion. The future trajectory of deflation patches depends on the role of the biological soil crust as either a successional facilitator or a long-term landscape cover, as well as future climate conditions. While the biological soil crusts slightly enrich soil fertility over time, they decrease soil moisture and create an impenetrable soil surface, which may inhibit

Changing historical flood behaviour - is there a link to landscape changes?

Science.gov (United States)

Rogger, Magdalena; Kiss, Andrea; Bloeschl, Guenter

2014-05-01

Although large-scale changes in flood behaviour are usually related to the variability and changes of climatic conditions and atmospheric patterns, human impact clearly also played an important role in changing flood behaviour by various types of river regulations and by land use changes (vegetation cover and soil conditions). The influence of land use changes on the flood regime is, however, still poorly understood. Based on scientific literature, we present the major phases of historical landscape changes of the last 1000 years in Europe discussing possible impacts on the related flood regimes. On the one hand, we provide an overview of major landscape changes and phases of changes in Europe dividing the available evidence into four major regions (Central Europe, Mediterranean, North- and West-Europe). On the other hand, we present case studies where we discuss the potential differences in the impacts of changes in specific vegetation types or the abandonment of formerly cultivated areas (with special emphasis on hilly areas) on the flood regime. In this sense, we make a special emphasis on the LIA-MWP (Little Ice Age - Medieval Warm Period) transition (i.e. 13th-15th centuries) as well as on the period of the early industrial revolution (18th-19th centuries).

Combining landscape variables and species traits can improve the utility of climate change vulnerability assessments

Science.gov (United States)

Nadeau, Christopher P.; Fuller, Angela K.

2016-01-01

Conservation organizations worldwide are investing in climate change vulnerability assessments. Most vulnerability assessment methods focus on either landscape features or species traits that can affect a species vulnerability to climate change. However, landscape features and species traits likely interact to affect vulnerability. We compare a landscape-based assessment, a trait-based assessment, and an assessment that combines landscape variables and species traits for 113 species of birds, herpetofauna, and mammals in the northeastern United States. Our aim is to better understand which species traits and landscape variables have the largest influence on assessment results and which types of vulnerability assessments are most useful for different objectives. Species traits were most important for determining which species will be most vulnerable to climate change. The sensitivity of species to dispersal barriers and the species average natal dispersal distance were the most important traits. Landscape features were most important for determining where species will be most vulnerable because species were most vulnerable in areas where multiple landscape features combined to increase vulnerability, regardless of species traits. The interaction between landscape variables and species traits was important when determining how to reduce climate change vulnerability. For example, an assessment that combines information on landscape connectivity, climate change velocity, and natal dispersal distance suggests that increasing landscape connectivity may not reduce the vulnerability of many species. Assessments that include landscape features and species traits will likely be most useful in guiding conservation under climate change.

Spatial resilience of forested landscapes under climate change and management

Science.gov (United States)

Melissa S. Lucash; Robert M. Scheller; Eric J. Gustafson; Brian R. Sturtevant

2017-01-01

Context Resilience, the ability to recover from disturbance, has risen to the forefront of scientific policy, but is difficult to quantify, particularly in large, forested landscapes subject to disturbances, management, and climate change. Objectives Our objective was to determine which spatial drivers will control landscape...

Evolution of livestock farming systems and landscape changes

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

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.

Land Change in Eastern Mediterranean Wood-Pasture Landscapes

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Schaich, Harald; Kizos, Thanasis; Schneider, Stefan

2015-01-01

In Mediterranean Europe, wood-pasture landscapes with oak woodlands as emblematic ecosystems are undergoing rapid land-use change, which may threaten their legacy as hotspots of biodiversity, ecosystem services, and cultural heritage. The objective of this study was to quantify land cover changes...... and transitions as well as the dynamics of oak woodland patterns and densities over 50 years in two municipalities at the center and edges of Quercus macrolepis distribution in Northern Lesvos (Greece). We used aerial photographs from 1960 and WorldView-2 satellite images from 2010 to process land cover maps...... and metrics, and to calculate oak canopy cover with a point-grid sampling approach. Spatiotemporal dynamics of land cover change were generally high—especially between oak woodlands and grass- and shrub-lands, resulting in a more heterogeneous and fragmented landscape in 2010. Surprisingly, oak woodland area...

Analyzing Vegetation Change in an Elephant-Impacted Landscape Using the Moving Standard Deviation Index

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Timothy J. Fullman

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Northern Botswana is influenced by various socio-ecological drivers of landscape change. The African elephant (Loxodonta africana is one of the leading sources of landscape shifts in this region. Developing the ability to assess elephant impacts on savanna vegetation is important to promote effective management strategies. The Moving Standard Deviation Index (MSDI applies a standard deviation calculation to remote sensing imagery to assess degradation of vegetation. Used previously for assessing impacts of livestock on rangelands, we evaluate the ability of the MSDI to detect elephant-modified vegetation along the Chobe riverfront in Botswana, a heavily elephant-impacted landscape. At broad scales, MSDI values are positively related to elephant utilization. At finer scales, using data from 257 sites along the riverfront, MSDI values show a consistent negative relationship with intensity of elephant utilization. We suggest that these differences are due to varying effects of elephants across scales. Elephant utilization of vegetation may increase heterogeneity across the landscape, but decrease it within heavily used patches, resulting in the observed MSDI pattern of divergent trends at different scales. While significant, the low explanatory power of the relationship between the MSDI and elephant utilization suggests the MSDI may have limited use for regional monitoring of elephant impacts.

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

Landscape Change in the Midwest: An Integrated Research and Development Program

Science.gov (United States)

Paul H. Gobster; Robert G. Haight; Dave Shriner

2000-01-01

Change happens. In the realm of forest landscapes, one of the great realizations of the late 20th century was that forests in the United States and elsewhere often are not the stable systems we once thought them to be, attaining a final "climax" stage through the process of succession. Advances in forest ecology show that landscape change is the rule rather...

Hinkley Point 'C' power station public inquiry: proof of evidence on landscape and architecture

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lisney, A.; Owen, I.D.

1988-09-01

A public inquiry has been set up to examine the planning application made by the Central Electricity Generating Board (CEGB) for the construction of a 1200 MW Pressurized Water Reactor power station at Hinkley Point (Hinkley Point ''C'') in the United Kingdom, adjacent to an existing nuclear power station. The CEGB evidence to the Inquiry includes an assessment of the effect, in visual terms, that the additional power station will have on the surrounding landscape and landscaping proposals for the proposed construction, including reinstatement of land used for temporary works. In addition, the architectural objectives for the new buildings are presented, primarily aiming at the best possible appearance from relatively short distances and medium and long range. (UK)

Integrating continuous stocks and flows into state-and-transition simulation models of landscape change

Science.gov (United States)

Daniel, Colin J.; Sleeter, Benjamin M.; Frid, Leonardo; Fortin, Marie-Josée

2018-01-01

them. With the addition of stocks and flows, STSMs provide a conceptually simple yet powerful approach for characterizing uncertainties in projections of a wide range of questions regarding landscape change.

Temelín power plant as an unusual landscape feature

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Těšitel, Jan; Kušová, Drahomíra; Bartoš, Michael

2005-01-01

Roč. 24, č. 1 (2005), s. 139-149 ISSN 1335-342X Institutional research plan: CEZ:AV0Z60870520 Keywords : Temelín nuclear power plant * landscape character * quality of life * local community * visual contamination Subject RIV: DN - Health Impact of the Environment Quality Impact factor: 0.085, year: 2005

Wind power plants and the landscape: Analysis of conflict and methods of solution - practical examples

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Brux, H.

1993-01-01

The conflict between wind power plants and the appearance of the landscape is explained. Legal regulations forcing one to take it into account are pointed out. After an introduction into the theoretical basis, methods of solution for the operation of aesthetic landscape judgments are introduced by examples from planning practice. Finally, the frequently unused possibilities of site optimisation with the aid of applied biology and landscape planning are pointed out. (orig.) [de

The Vigil Network: A means of observing landscape change in drainage basins

Science.gov (United States)

Osterkamp, W.R.; Emmett, W.W.; Leopold, Luna Bergere

1991-01-01

Long-term monitoring of geomorphic, hydrological, and biological characteristics of landscapes provides an effective means of relating observed change to possible causes of the change. Identification of changes in basin characteristics, especially in arid areas where the response to altered climate or land use is generally rapid and readily apparent, might provide the initial direct indications that factors such as global warming and cultural impacts have affected the environment. The Vigil Network provides an opportunity for earth and life scientists to participate in a systematic monitoring effort to detect landscape changes over time, and to relate such changes to possible causes. The Vigil Network is an ever-increasing group of sites and basins used to monitor landscape features with as much as 50 years of documented geomorphic and related observations.

Climate change and landscape evolution in Provence-Alpes-Cote d'Azur. Volume 1 - Phase 1: identification of large landscape settings; Volume 2 - Phase 2: Hypotheses for climate change in the Provence-Alpes-Cote d'Azur region; Phase 3: Predictable effects of climate change on emblematic landscapes and action plan (technical sheets)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2015-08-01

The main objective of this study is to give an insight on possible effects climate change may have on landscapes of the Provence-Alpes-Cote d'Azur region on the medium and long term according to current hypotheses regarding global warming for Mediterranean regions. A first phase aimed at identifying the main landscape settings of the region. This comprised a definition of the notion of landscape, a discussion of landscape definitions with respect to a regional scale, a framework for the definition of the main landscape settings, an identification of these landscape settings and their characterisation according to a set of criteria and parameters. The second phase aimed at giving an overview of hypotheses regarding climate change. The authors discuss various issues and knowledge about the world climate, available climate models and their uncertainties, and climatic predictions for the region. The third phase aimed at assessing predictable effects of climate change on emblematic landscapes and at defining actions plans. The different components of these action plans are then discussed for the identified landscapes for which the landscape context and challenges are described, and potential actors are indicated. These different phases are first presented, and more detailed reports are provided for each of them, notably with detailed reports and sheets for each landscape setting

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.

Sustaining ecosystem services in cultural landscapes

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tobias Plieninger

2014-06-01

Full Text Available Classical conservation approaches focus on the man-made degradation of ecosystems and tend to neglect the social-ecological values that human land uses have imprinted on many environments. Throughout the world, ingenious land-use practices have generated unique cultural landscapes, but these are under pressure from agricultural intensification, land abandonment, and urbanization. In recent years, the cultural landscapes concept has been broadly adopted in science, policy, and management. The interest in both outstanding and vernacular landscapes finds expression in the UNESCO World Heritage Convention, the European Landscape Convention, and the IUCN Protected Landscape Approach. These policies promote the protection, management, planning, and governance of cultural landscapes. The ecosystem services approach is a powerful framework to guide such efforts, but has rarely been applied in landscape research and management. With this paper, we introduce a special feature that aims to enhance the theoretical, empirical and practical knowledge of how to safeguard the resilience of ecosystem services in cultural landscapes. It concludes (1 that the usefulness of the ecosystem services approach to the analysis and management of cultural landscapes should be reviewed more critically; (2 that conventional ecosystem services assessment needs to be complemented by socio-cultural valuation; (3 that cultural landscapes are inherently changing, so that a dynamic view on ecosystem services and a focus on drivers of landscape change are needed; and (4 that managing landscapes for ecosystem services provision may benefit from a social-ecological resilience perspective.

Experimental evidence of reorganizing landscape under changing climatic forcing

Science.gov (United States)

Singh, A.; Tejedor, A.; Zaliapin, I. V.; Reinhardt, L.; Foufoula-Georgiou, E.

2015-12-01

Quantification of the dynamics of landscape reorganization under changing climatic forcing is important to understand geomorphic transport laws under transient conditions, assess response of landscapes to external perturbations for future predictive modeling, and for interpreting past climate from stratigraphic record. For such an analysis, however, real landscape observations are limited. To this end, a series of controlled laboratory experiments on evolving landscape were conducted at the St. Anthony Falls laboratory at the University of Minnesota. High resolution elevation data at a temporal resolution of 5 mins and spatial resolution of 0.5 mm were collected as the landscape approached steady state (constant uplift and precipitation rate) and in the transient state (under the same uplift and 5 times precipitation rate). Our results reveal rapid topographic re-organization under a five-fold increase in precipitation with the fluvial regime encroaching into the previously debris dominated regime, widening and aggradation of channels and valleys, and accelerated erosion happening at hillslope scales. To better understand the initiation of the observed reorganization, we perform a connectivity and clustering analysis of the erosional and depositional events, showing strikingly different spatial patterns on landscape evolution under steady-state (SS) and transient-state (TS), even when the time under SS is renormalized to match the total volume of eroded and deposited sediment in TS. Our results suggest a regime shift in the behavior of transport processes on the landscape at the intermediate scales i.e., from supply-limited to transport-limited.

Visual simulations of forest wildlife habitat structure, change, and landscape context in New England

Science.gov (United States)

Richard M. DeGraaf; Anna M. Lester; Mariko Yamasaki; William B. Leak

2007-01-01

Visualization is a powerful tool for depicting projections of forest structure and landscape conditions, for communicating habitat management practices, and for providing a landscape context to private landowners and to those concerned with public land management. Recent advances in visualization technology, especially in graphics quality, ease of use, and relative...

Globalisation, sustainable development and competencies of landscape change in a European perspective

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Brandt, Jesper

2005-01-01

During the last 10 years the collective goals connected with the agenda of sustainable development has been challenged by the globalisation agenda furthering a global liberalised market with the individual producer and consumer in focus. Only in the local planning and management of the concrete...... landscape the two agendas seems to meet. In a European perspective the European landscape convention has been promoted as a common frame for the promotion of landscape aspect of the sustainability agenda. The paper analyses the EU proposal for a European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD) from...... on the ability and strength of local authorities to unite for such goals, and that detailed analyses of the power balance between different geographical competences in the rural community is necessary to evaluate the possibilities for a sustainable landscape development in rural areas under the conditions...

Landscape Hazards in Yukon Communities: Geological Mapping for Climate Change Adaptation Planning

Science.gov (United States)

Kennedy, K.; Kinnear, L.

2010-12-01

Climate change is considered to be a significant challenge for northern communities where the effects of increased temperature and climate variability are beginning to affect infrastructure and livelihoods (Arctic Climate Impact Assessment, 2004). Planning for and adapting to ongoing and future changes in climate will require the identification and characterization of social, economic, cultural, political and biophysical vulnerabilities. This pilot project addresses physical landscape vulnerabilities in two communities in the Yukon Territory through community-scale landscape hazard mapping and focused investigations of community permafrost conditions. Landscape hazards are identified by combining pre-existing data from public utilities and private-sector consultants with new geophysical techniques (ground penetrating radar and electrical resistivity), shallow drilling, surficial geological mapping, and permafrost characterization. Existing landscape vulnerabilities are evaluated based on their potential for hazard (low, medium or high) under current climate conditions, as well as under future climate scenarios. Detailed hazard maps and landscape characterizations for both communities will contribute to overall adaptation plans and allow for informed development, planning and mitigation of potentially threatening hazards in and around the communities.

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.

Urban Growth in a Fragmented Landscape: Estimating the Relationship between Landscape Pattern and Urban Land Use Change in Germany, 2000-2006

Science.gov (United States)

Keller, R.

2013-12-01

One of the highest priorities in the conservation and management of biodiversity, natural resources and other vital ecosystem services is the assessment of the mechanisms that drive urban land use change. Using key landscape indicators, this study addresses why urban land increased 6 percent overall in Germany from 2000-2006. Building on regional science and economic geography research, I develop a model of landscape change that integrates remotely sensed and other geospatial data, and socioeconomic data in a spatial autoregressive model to explain the variance in urban land use change observed in German kreise (counties) over the past decade. The results reveal three key landscape mechanisms that drive urban land use change across Germany, aligning with those observed in US studies: (1) the level of fragmentation, (2) the share of designated protected areas, and (3) the share of prime soil. First, as fragmentation of once continuous habitats in the landscape increases, extensive urban growth follows. Second, designated protected areas have the perverse effect of hastening urbanization in surrounding areas. Third, greater shares of prime, productive soil experienced less urban land take over the 6 year period, an effect that is stronger in the former East Germany, where the agricultural sector remains large. The results suggest that policy makers concentrate their conservation efforts on preexisting fragmented land with high shares of protected areas in Germany to effectively stem urban land take. Given that comparative studies of land use change are vital for the scientific community to grasp the wider global process of urbanization and coincident ecological impacts, the methodology employed here is easily exportable to land cover and land use research programs in other fields and geographic areas. Key words: Urban land use change, Ecosystem services, Landscape fragmentation, Remote sensing, Spatial regression models, GermanyOLS and Spatial Autoregressive Model

Net Ecosystem Exchange of CO2 with Rapidly Changing High Arctic Landscapes

Science.gov (United States)

Emmerton, C. A.

2015-12-01

High Arctic landscapes are expansive and changing rapidly. However our understanding of their functional responses and potential to mitigate or enhance anthropogenic climate change is limited by few measurements. We collected eddy covariance measurements to quantify the net ecosystem exchange (NEE) of CO2 with polar semidesert and meadow wetland landscapes at the highest-latitude location measured to date (82°N). We coupled these rare data with ground and satellite vegetation production measurements (Normalized Difference Vegetation Index; NDVI) to evaluate the effectiveness of upscaling local to regional NEE. During the growing season, the dry polar semidesert landscape was a near zero sink of atmospheric CO2 (NEE: -0.3±13.5 g C m-2). A nearby meadow wetland accumulated over two magnitudes more carbon (NEE: -79.3±20.0 g C m-2) than the polar semidesert landscape, and was similar to meadow wetland NEE at much more southern latitudes. Polar semidesert NEE was most influenced by moisture, with wetter surface soils resulting in greater soil respiration and CO2 emissions. At the meadow wetland, soil heating enhanced plant growth, which in turn increased CO2 uptake. Our upscaling assessment found that polar semidesert NDVI measured on site was low (mean: 0.120-0.157) and similar to satellite measurements (mean: 0.155-0.163). However, weak plant growth resulted in poor satellite NDVI-NEE relationships and created challenges for remotely-detecting changes in the cycling of carbon on the polar semidesert landscape. The meadow wetland appeared more suitable to assess plant production and NEE via remote-sensing, however high Arctic wetland extent is constrained by topography to small areas that may be difficult to resolve with large satellite pixels. We predict that until summer precipitation and humidity increases substantially, climate-related changes of dry high Arctic landscapes may be restricted by poor soil moisture retention, and therefore have some inertia against

The Girls on Ice program: Improving perceptions of climate change and environmental stewardship by exploring a glacier landscape

Science.gov (United States)

Young, J. C.; Conner, L.; Pettit, E. C.

2017-12-01

Girls on Ice is a unique, free, science and mountaineering experience for underserved girls aged 16 to 18. Each year, two teams of nine girls spend eight days on a remote Alaska or Washington glacier to learn about glaciology, climate change, and alpine ecology (as well as mountaineering, art and leadership). During the program, the girls live on, explore and study a glacier and the visibly climate change-altered landscape that surrounds it, through both instructor-led modules and scientific field studies the girls design themselves. Time spent on the glacier means witnessing rivers of meltwater running off the surface, climbing 300 m uphill to where the glacier last sat 150 years ago, and learning how scientists monitor the glacier's retreat. Previous studies have shown that pro-environmental behavior in youth is strongly influenced by having significant life experiences outdoors, and that engagement of citizens in a climate change-impacted landscape is emerging as a powerful way to connect people to environment and to motivate environmental action. Given the significant life experience provided by our unique wilderness format, and the interactions with a rapidly changing glacier landscape, this study examines how participation in Girls on Ice impacts the 16 to 18 year-old participants' perceptions of climate change, as well as their sense of environmental identity. We use mixed qualitative and quantitative methods, including pre- and post-program questionnaires, an in-program focus group discussion, end-of-program interviews, and early and late in-program concept (node-link) mapping exercises. Preliminary results from qualitative data show a shift in many girls' perceptions of climate change towards being motivated to act to combat it, with particular reference to glaciers as a key component prompting that shift. Ultimately, this study aims to demonstrate the value of tenets of environmental and outdoor education theory, namely significant life experiences and

Cumulative effects of climate and landscape change drive spatial distribution of Rocky Mountain wolverine (Gulo gulo L.).

Science.gov (United States)

Heim, Nicole; Fisher, Jason T; Clevenger, Anthony; Paczkowski, John; Volpe, John

2017-11-01

Contemporary landscapes are subject to a multitude of human-derived stressors. Effects of such stressors are increasingly realized by population declines and large-scale extirpation of taxa worldwide. Most notably, cumulative effects of climate and landscape change can limit species' local adaptation and dispersal capabilities, thereby reducing realized niche space and range extent. Resolving the cumulative effects of multiple stressors on species persistence is a pressing challenge in ecology, especially for declining species. For example, wolverines ( Gulo gulo L.) persist on only 40% of their historic North American range. While climate change has been shown to be a mechanism of range retractions, anthropogenic landscape disturbance has been recently implicated. We hypothesized these two interact to effect declines. We surveyed wolverine occurrence using camera trapping and genetic tagging at 104 sites at the wolverine range edge, spanning a 15,000 km 2 gradient of climate, topographic, anthropogenic, and biotic variables. We used occupancy and generalized linear models to disentangle the factors explaining wolverine distribution. Persistent spring snow pack-expected to decrease with climate change-was a significant predictor, but so was anthropogenic landscape change. Canid mesocarnivores, which we hypothesize are competitors supported by anthropogenic landscape change, had comparatively weaker effect. Wolverine population declines and range shifts likely result from climate change and landscape change operating in tandem. We contend that similar results are likely for many species and that research that simultaneously examines climate change, landscape change, and the biotic landscape is warranted. Ecology research and species conservation plans that address these interactions are more likely to meet their objectives.

[Responses of boreal forest landscape in northern Great Xing'an Mountains of Northeast China to climate change].

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Xiao-Na; He, Hong-Shi; Wu, Zhi-Wei; Liang, Yu

2012-12-01

With the combination of forest landscape model (LANDIS) and forest gap model (LINKAGES), this paper simulated the effects of climate change on the boreal forest landscape in the Great Xing'an Mountains, and compared the direct effects of climate change and the effects of climate warming-induced fires on the forest landscape. The results showed that under the current climate conditions and fire disturbances, the forest landscape in the study area could maintain its dynamic balance, and Larix gmelinii was still the dominant tree species. Under the future climate and fire disturbances scenario, the distribution area of L. gmelinii and Pinus pumila would be decreased, while that of Betula platyphylla, Populus davidiana, Populus suaveolens, Chosenia arbutifolia, and Pinus sylvestris var. mongolica would be increased, and the forest fragmentation and forest diversity would have an increase. The changes of the forest landscape lagged behind climate change. Climate warming would increase the growth of most tree species except L. gmelinii, while the increased fires would increase the distribution area of P. davidiana, P. suaveolens, and C. arbutifolia and decrease the distribution area of L. gmelinii, P. sylvestris var. mongolica, and P. pumila. The effects of climate warming-induced fires on the forest landscape were almost equal to the direct effects of climate change, and aggravated the direct effects of climate change on forest composition, forest landscape fragmentation, and forest landscape diversity.

New policy challenges on a changing economic landscape | IDRC ...

International Development Research Centre (IDRC) Digital Library (Canada)

2011-01-27

Jan 27, 2011 ... New policy challenges on a changing economic landscape ... Consortium deals with a wide variety of issues, SEP works primarily through four ... strengthen and reform the institutions, rules and customs by which nations and ...

Assessment of Landscape Changes: Theoretical Starting Points for Study and the Research Reality

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Kolejka, Jaromír; Trnka, P.

2008-01-01

Roč. 16, č. 3 (2008), s. 2-15 ISSN 1210-8812 Institutional research plan: CEZ:AV0Z30860518 Keywords : criteria of landscape changes * landscape structures * space- time - dynamics Subject RIV: DE - Earth Magnetism, Geodesy, Geography

Landscape metrics application in ecological and visual landscape assessment

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

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

PUSAKA SAUJANA BOROBUDUR: PERUBAHAN DAN KONTINUITASNYA (Borobudur Cultural Landscape: Change and Continuity

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Dwita Hadi Rahmi

2012-03-01

Full Text Available ABSTRAK Penelitian ini dilakukan di kawasan Borobudur, Kabupaten Magelang, Jawa Tengah, untuk mengkaji potensi dan nilai keunggulan pusaka saujana Borobudur, serta mengetahui perubahan dan kontinuitasnya. Dengan interpretasi sejarah dan penjelasan secara naratif, wujud pusaka saujana Borobudur dapat diapresiasi dalam bentuk: a pola pengolahan lahan; b tata kehidupan; c arsitektur tradisional kawasan; dan d bentukan-bentukan alami. Potensi yang dimiliki pusaka saujana Borobudur meliputi potensi budaya, sejarah, bentukan-bentukan alami, dan panorama kawasan. Potensi-potensi yang dimiliki kawasan Borobudur, serta kontinuitas kondisi bentanglahan dan budayanya menjadikan kawasan Borobudur sebuah pusaka saujana yang unggul, dan nilai keunggulan ini meliputi: a kandungan sejarah lingkungan kawasan, b kawasan peninggalan benda-benda arkeologi, c saujana-saujana desa yang menunjukkan kehidupan agraris masyarakatnya, dan d panorama indah bentanglahan. Dalam lingkungan yang dinamis, pusaka saujana Borobudur terus mengalami perubahan yang dapat mengancam kontinuitasnya. Perubahan terjadi terutama pada tata guna lahan, kualitas visual, dan sebagian budaya masyarakat, sedangkan kontinuitas masih dapat ditemui pada kegiatan pertanian secara tradisional; sebagian tradisi atau adat istiadat yang berkaitan dengan pertanian, keagamaan, dan kepercayaan; arsitektur tradisional kawasan perdesaan; dan panorama indah bentanglahan. Sampai saat ini, perubahan-perubahan yang terjadi belum berdampak pada hilangnya atau menurunnya kontinuitas pusaka saujana Borobudur. Meskipun demikian, upaya-upaya pelestarian dan pengelolaannya diperlukan untuk menjaga kontinuitasnya.   ABSTRACT This research was conducted in Borobudur area, Magelang Regency, Central Java, to examine the potencies and  outstanding values of Borobudur cultural landscape heritage, and to understand its changes and continuity. By historic interpretation and narrative explanation, the forms of Borobudur

P2Y12R-Dependent Translocation Mechanisms Gate the Changing Microglial Landscape

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Ukpong B. Eyo

2018-04-01

Full Text Available Summary: Microglia are an exquisitely tiled and self-contained population in the CNS that do not receive contributions from circulating monocytes in the periphery. While microglia are long-lived cells, the extent to which their cell bodies are fixed and the molecular mechanisms by which the microglial landscape is regulated have not been determined. Using chronic in vivo two-photon imaging to follow the microglial population in young adult mice, we document a daily rearrangement of the microglial landscape. Furthermore, we show that the microglial landscape can be modulated by severe seizures, acute injury, and sensory deprivation. Finally, we demonstrate a critical role for microglial P2Y12Rs in regulating the microglial landscape through cellular translocation independent of proliferation. These findings suggest that microglial patrol the CNS through both process motility and soma translocation. : Using a chronic in vivo imaging approach, Eyo et al. show that the physical positions of brain microglia change daily and that these changes increase following certain experimental manipulations. The mechanism underlying these changes involves cell translocation controlled by microglial-specific P2Y12 receptors. Keywords: microglia, P2Y12, seizures, epilepsy, whisker trimming, microglial landscape, two photon chronic imaging

Landscape Changes in Rural Areas: A Focus on Sardinian Territory

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Mara Balestrieri

2018-01-01

Full Text Available During the past decades the Italian rural landscape has undergone drastic alterations as a result of complex and contradictory transformation dynamics. This paper aims to investigate and evaluate these alterations in Sardinia, one of the most rural Italian regions. Land-use maps from different years were studied to identify the dominant rural landscape features of the region and the transformations they were subjected to over the course of time. The analysis investigates changes on three geographical scales: region, provinces, and “agrarian regions”. An overall economic balance of landscape changes was calculated from the value ascribed to types of land use on the basis of the allowances (compensation for expropriation provided by the local authorities (Provincial Commissions. This economic balance was considered in light of the regional policies which accompanied it. Results partially confirm the national and European general trend of loss of agricultural land when it is converted to new forms of exploitation. The analysis at different geographical scales has, in some cases, revealed data against the general trend, especially for some agricultural regions and for certain agricultural products. There is consistent with economic balance. This shows the need of a deep ex post evaluation of the effects of policies financed by regional and national community funds on the evolution of Sardinian landscapes.

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

A Decade of Change in Australia's DBA Landscape

Science.gov (United States)

Wallace, Michelle; Byrne, Cathy; Vocino, Andrea; Sloan, Terry; Pervan, Simon J.; Blackman, Deborah

2015-01-01

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine the dynamics of the Doctorate of Business Administration (DBA) in Australia through the lens of a changing higher education landscape. The paper reflects on issues raised in a previous analysis of DBA programmes undertaken a decade ago, and highlights persistent challenges and emerging opportunities…

Emergent reorganization of an evolving experimental landscape under changing climatic forcing

Science.gov (United States)

Singh, A.; Tejedor, A.; Zaliapin, I. V.; Reinhardt, L.; Foufoula-Georgiou, E.

2014-12-01

Understanding landscape re-organization under changing climatic forcing is fundamental to advancing our understanding of geomorphic transport laws under transient conditions, developing predictive models of landscape response to external perturbations, and interpreting the stratigraphic record for past climates by incorporating possible regime shifts. Real landscape observations for long-term analysis are limited and to this end a high resolution controlled laboratory experiment was conducted at the St. Anthony Falls laboratory at the University of Minnesota. Elevation data were collected at temporal resolution of 5 mins and spatial resolution of 0.5 mm as the landscape approached steady state (for a constant uplift and precipitation rate) and in the transient state (under the same uplift and 5x precipitation). The results reveal rapid topographic re-organization under a five-fold precipitation increase with the fluvial regime expanding into previously debris dominated regime, accelerated erosion happening at hillslope scales, and rivers shifting from an erosion-limited to a transport-limited regime. By studying the space-time structure of the individual erosional and depositional events in terms of their size, location, clustering, and total volume we report complex space-time patterns of change which are scale-dependent and bounded by the river network topology. At the same time, the river network topology itself adjusts at smaller scales, with new channels added to accommodate increased hillslope erosional transport, further adjusting the landscape. Some new ideas related to landscape variability and entropy evolution at different scales during steady and transient states and the possibility of analyzing the self-organization with Optimal Mass Transport (OMT) metrics to infer possible underlying "optimality" principles governing the re-organization will also be presented.

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

RS- and GIS-based study on landscape pattern change in the Poyang Lake wetland area, China

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Xiaoling; Li, Hui; Bao, Shuming; Wu, Zhongyi; Fu, Weijuan; Cai, Xiaobin; Zhao, Hongmei; Guo, Peng

2006-10-01

As wetland has been recognized as an important component of ecosystem, it is received ever-increasing attention worldwide. Poyang Lake wetlands, the international wetlands and the largest bird habitat in Asia, play an important role in biodiversity and ecologic protection. However, with the rapid economic growth and urbanization, landscape patterns in the wetlands have dramatically changed in the past three decades. To better understand the wetland landscape dynamics, remote sensing, geographic information system technologies, and the FRAGSTATS landscape analysis program were used to measure landscape patterns. Statistical approach was employed to illustrate the driving forces. In this study, Landsat images (TM and ETM+) from 1989 and 2000 were acquired for the wetland area. The landscapes in the wetland area were classified as agricultural land, urban, wetland, forest, grassland, unused land, and water body using a combination of supervised and unsupervised classification techniques integrated with Digital Elevation Model (DEM). Landscape indices, which are popular for the quantitative analysis of landscape pattern, were then employed to analyze the landscape pattern changes between the two dates in a GIS. From this analysis an understanding of the spatial-temporal patterns of landscape evolution was generated. The results show that wetland area was reduced while fragmentation was increased over the study period. Further investigation was made to examine the relationship between landscape metrics and some other parameters such as urbanization to address the driving forces for those changes. The urban was chosen as center to conduct buffer analysis in a GIS to study the impact of human-induced activities on landscape pattern dynamics. It was found that the selected parameters were significantly correlated with the landscape metrics, which may well indicate the impact of human-induced activities on the wetland landscape pattern dynamics and account for the driving

Soil Landscape Pattern Changes in Response to Rural Anthropogenic Activity across Tiaoxi Watershed, China

Science.gov (United States)

Xiao, Rui; Jiang, Diwei; Christakos, George; Fei, Xufeng; Wu, Jiaping

2016-01-01

Soil sealing (loss of soil resources due to extensive land covering for the purpose of house building, road construction etc.) and subsequent soil landscape pattern changes constitute typical environmental problems in many places worldwide. Previous studies concentrated on soil sealing in urbanized regions, whereas rural areas have not been given sufficient attention. Accordingly, this paper studies soil landscape pattern dynamics (i.e., landscape pattern changes in response to rural anthropogenic activities) in the Tiaoxi watershed (Zhejiang province, eastern China), in which surface sealing is by far the predominant component of human forcing with respect to environmental change. A novel approach of quantifying the impacts of rural anthropogenic activities on soil resources is presented. Specifically, quantitative relationships were derived between five soil landscape pattern metrics (patch density, edge density, shape index, Shannon’s diversity index and aggregation index) and three rural anthropogenic activity indicators (anthropogenic activity intensity, distance to towns, and distance to roads) at two landscape block scales (3 and 5 km) between 1985 and 2010. The results showed that the Tiaoxi watershed experienced extensive rural settlement expansion and high rates of soil sealing. Soil landscapes became more fragmented, more irregular, more isolated, and less diverse. Relationships between soil landscape pattern changes and rural anthropogenic activities differed with the scale (spatial and temporal) and variable considered. In particular, the anthropogenic activity intensity was found to be the most important indicator explaining social development intensity, whereas the other two proximity indicators had a significant impact at certain temporal interval. In combination with scale effects, spatial dependency (correlation) was shown to play a key role that should be carefully taken into consideration in any relevant environmental study. Overall, the

Rural Districts between Urbanization and Land Abandonment: Undermining Long-Term Changes in Mediterranean Landscapes

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ilaria Zambon

2018-04-01

Full Text Available The present study investigates changes in the rural landscapes of a Mediterranean country (Greece over a long time period (1970–2015 encompassing economic expansions and recessions. Using a spatial distribution of 5 basic agricultural land-use classes (arable land, garden crop, vineyards, tree crop and fallow land derived from official statistics at 6 years (1970, 1979, 1988, 1997, 2006, 2015, a quantitative analysis based on correlation and multivariate techniques was carried out to identify recent changes in the Greek agricultural landscape at prefectural level during different economic waves. Empirical results evidenced both intuitive and counter-intuitive landscape transformations, including: (i a progressive, spatially-homogeneous reduction of cropland; (ii a (more or less rapid decrease in the surface of high-input crops, including arable land, horticulture and vineyards; (iii a parallel increase in the surface of tree crops, especially olive; (iv a spatially-heterogeneous decrease of fallow land concentrated in metropolitan and tourism districts, especially in the last decade; and, finally, (v increasingly diversified landscapes in rural, accessible areas close to the sea coast. Based on a correlation analysis with background socioeconomic indicators, our findings reflect the multiple impacts of urbanization and land abandonment on the composition and diversity of rural landscapes. Changes in agricultural land-use were moulded by multiple drivers depending on latent transformations in rural systems and inherent conflicts with expanding urban regions. Together with market conditions and the Common Agricultural Policy subsidy regime, social contexts and the economic cycle are important when identifying long-term changes in agricultural landscapes, especially in transitional socio-ecological systems.

Landscape ecological impact of climatic change some preliminary findings of the LICC Project

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Boer, M.M.

1991-01-01

The main objectives of the LICC project are to address the potential effects of a future climatic change on (semi-) natural terrestrial ecosystems and landscapes in Europe; six case studies are covered: alpine regions, boreal and subartic regions, Mediterranean region, fluvial systems, wetlands and coastal dunes. Preliminary findings showed a serious lack in fundamental ecological knowledge. Assessment of potential effects involved changes in water and sediment fluxes, changes in the vegetation cover, species response, dispersal and migration in a fragmented landscape and modification of climate impacts by man

Remotely-Sensed Urban Wet-Landscapes AN Indicator of Coupled Effects of Human Impact and Climate Change

Science.gov (United States)

Ji, Wei

2016-06-01

This study proposes the concept of urban wet-landscapes (loosely-defined wetlands) as against dry-landscapes (mainly impervious surfaces). The study is to examine whether the dynamics of urban wet-landscapes is a sensitive indicator of the coupled effects of the two major driving forces of urban landscape change - human built-up impact and climate (precipitation) variation. Using a series of satellite images, the study was conducted in the Kansas City metropolitan area of the United States. A rule-based classification algorithm was developed to identify fine-scale, hidden wetlands that could not be appropriately detected based on their spectral differentiability by a traditional image classification. The spatial analyses of wetland changes were implemented at the scales of metropolitan, watershed, and sub-watershed as well as based on the size of surface water bodies in order to reveal urban wetland change trends in relation to the driving forces. The study identified that wet-landscape dynamics varied in trend and magnitude from the metropolitan, watersheds, to sub-watersheds. The study also found that increased precipitation in the region in the past decades swelled larger wetlands in particular while smaller wetlands decreased mainly due to human development activities. These findings suggest that wet-landscapes, as against the dry-landscapes, can be a more effective indicator of the coupled effects of human impact and climate change.

REMOTELY-SENSED URBAN WET-LANDSCAPES: AN INDICATOR OF COUPLED EFFECTS OF HUMAN IMPACT AND CLIMATE CHANGE

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

W. Ji

2016-06-01

Full Text Available This study proposes the concept of urban wet-landscapes (loosely-defined wetlands as against dry-landscapes (mainly impervious surfaces. The study is to examine whether the dynamics of urban wet-landscapes is a sensitive indicator of the coupled effects of the two major driving forces of urban landscape change – human built-up impact and climate (precipitation variation. Using a series of satellite images, the study was conducted in the Kansas City metropolitan area of the United States. A rule-based classification algorithm was developed to identify fine-scale, hidden wetlands that could not be appropriately detected based on their spectral differentiability by a traditional image classification. The spatial analyses of wetland changes were implemented at the scales of metropolitan, watershed, and sub-watershed as well as based on the size of surface water bodies in order to reveal urban wetland change trends in relation to the driving forces. The study identified that wet-landscape dynamics varied in trend and magnitude from the metropolitan, watersheds, to sub-watersheds. The study also found that increased precipitation in the region in the past decades swelled larger wetlands in particular while smaller wetlands decreased mainly due to human development activities. These findings suggest that wet-landscapes, as against the dry-landscapes, can be a more effective indicator of the coupled effects of human impact and climate change.

The changing landscape for clinical research.

Science.gov (United States)

Heinig, S J; Quon, A S; Meyer, R E; Korn, D

1999-06-01

The authors review the history of U.S. clinical research and identify the profound changes stemming from advancements in the biomedical sciences, the recent transformation in the organization and financing of health care delivery, and the increasing application of information technologies. They observe that the enterprise must reorganize to account for the changed landscape, but there is a lack of the data necessary to monitor change and determine the extent to which clinical research is successfully realigning and sustaining itself. The authors discuss the evolving definition, scope, and venues for clinical research, and review previous analyses of clinical research's difficulties and remedies proposed: shared responsibility in the financing of academic medicine, support by federal and private health insurers for routine costs of patient care in clinical trials, and strengthened collaboration between and among industry, academia, insurers, and government. The authors conclude by describing two major initiatives to foster clinical investigation in the new landscape. The first is the Clinical Research Summit Project, a convocation of representative stakeholders from the health care system with an interest in clinical research, whose charge will be to formulate a national agenda for clinical research that has the broad-based support of the stakeholders. Among the challenges of this undertaking are the needs to identify new and stable sources of support for clinical research infrastructure, assess the future workforce needs for clinical investigation, and devise new methods to ensure the continued vitality and account-ability of clinical research. The second is the Clinical Research Task Force, an initiative of the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC), which is already exploring and advising on how AAMC member organizations can best strengthen their capacity to support clinical research programs in the current scientific, health care delivery, and financial

LCMS landscape change monitoring system—results from an information needs assessment

Science.gov (United States)

Kevin Megown; Brian Schwind; Don Evans; Mark. Finco

2015-01-01

Understanding changes in land use and land cover over space and time provides an important means to evaluate complex interactions between human and biophysical systems, to project future conditions, and to design mitigation and adaptive management strategies. Assessing and monitoring landscape change is evolving into a foundational element of climate change adaptation...

Changing Settlements and Landscapes: Medieval Whittlewood, its Predecessors and Successors

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Richard Jones

2006-09-01

Full Text Available This article presents an interpretative synthesis of the development of a medieval landscape in the English Midlands. It explores its administrative organisation and divisions; the exploitation of its woodland, pasture, and arable resources; and the creation, growth, and decline of its villages, hamlets and farmsteads. It takes as its central theme two inter-related oppositions: continuity and change, moments and processes. In particular it examines the role these played in the development of varying settlement morphologies (the area under investigation contains both nucleated and dispersed settlement forms and in the introduction and demise of the open field system. The article is based on the investigation of twenty-one medieval villages and hamlets and their surrounding landscapes, straddling the Northamptonshire-Buckinghamshire boundary and previously falling within the royal forest of Whittlewood. This work was undertaken between 2000 and 2005 as part of an AHRC (formerly ARHB-funded research project. This enquiry, and the use it has made of the comparative method, has pinpointed moments of village and hamlet 'creation' and the alternative forms that these could take in their earliest phases. The subsequent development of these settlements has been charted, revealing the divergent paths they took towards the nucleated or dispersed plans they present when first mapped in the 17th, 18th or 19th centuries. This dynamic pattern of settlement has been set against a background of related changes to the authoritative landscape, which saw the fission and fusion of administrative units; to the economic landscape, which witnessed the development of the open field system and the re-organisation of woodland; and to social and cultural landscapes, affected inter alia by the growth and decline of population, and the imposition of Forest Law. The reconstruction of these medieval village territories has only been achieved by adopting an interdisciplinary

Landscape Ecological Risk Responses to Land Use Change in the Luanhe River Basin, China

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ying Li

2015-12-01

Full Text Available Land use change has large effects on natural ecosystems, which is considered to be the main factor in eco-environment change. We analyzed the future characters of land use change by the CLUE-S model and explored landscape ecological risk responses to land use change by the landscape ecological risk index method. Using the Luanhe River Basin as a case study, we simulated future land use change from 2010 to 2030 under 3 scenarios (i.e., trend, high economic growth, and ecological security, and identified the hotspots of land use change. Afterward, we quantitatively investigated the degree of land use development and landscape ecological risk patterns that have occured since 2000 and that are expected to occur until 2030. Results revealed that, under the three scenarios, construction land and forest are expanding mainly at the expense of agriculture land and grassland. The hotspots of land use change are located in the vicinity of Shuangluan and Shuangqiao District of Chengde City in the midstream of the Luanhe River Basin, where urbanization has been strong since 2000 and is projected to continue that way until 2030. During this time period, hotspots of land use development have been gradually transferring from the downstream to the midstream since 2000 and, again, is expected to continue that way until 2030, which will impact the spatial distribution of landscape ecological risk. We found that the landscape ecological risk of the entire basin has shown a negative trend. However, a few areas still have serious ecological risk, which are mainly located in the east of upstream (Duolun County and Weichang County, the middle region (Shuangluan and Shuangqiao District, Chengde County, and Xinglong County, and the downstream (Qinglong County. These can provide key information for land use management, and for helping to prepare future eco-environmental policies in the Luanhe River Basin.

The changing geopolitical landscape of energy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lesourne, Jacques

2011-08-01

The author first discusses the impact of the financial crisis of 2008, and of the large-scale exploitation of shale gases in the USA on energy policies and on the geopolitical landscape of energy. Then, he discusses the influence that events which occurred in 2011 had on these issues: firstly, the Copenhagen and Cancun Conferences, secondly, the Fukushima accident, thirdly, the nuclear phasing-out by Germany and incidentally by Italy, and fourthly, the Arab Spring. In the next parts, he comments the consequences for the European energy policy, and the perspectives for the struggle against climate change

Anthropogenic Influences in Land Use/Land Cover Changes in Mediterranean Forest Landscapes in Sicily

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Donato S. La Mela Veca

2016-01-01

Full Text Available This paper analyzes and quantifies the land use/land cover changes of the main forest and semi-natural landscape types in Sicily between 1955 and 2012. We analyzed seven representative forest and shrubland landscapes in Sicily. These study areas were chosen for their importance in the Sicilian forest panorama. We carried out a diachronic survey on historical and current aerial photos; all the aerial images used to survey the land use/land cover changes were digitalized and georeferenced in the UTM WGS84 system. In order to classify land use, the Regional Forest Inventory 2010 legend was adopted for the more recent images, and the CORINE Land Cover III level used for the older, lower resolution images. This study quantifies forest landscape dynamics; our results show for almost all study areas an increase of forest cover and expansion, whereas a regressive dynamic is found in rural areas due to intensive agricultural and pasturage uses. Understanding the dynamics of forest landscapes could enhance the role of forestry policy as a tool for landscape management and regional planning.

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.

Landscape Change and Microbial Response in the McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica: Preliminary Results

Science.gov (United States)

Fountain, A. G.; Levy, J.; Gooseff, M. N.; Van Horn, D. J.; Obryk, M.; Pettersson, R.; Telling, J. W.; Glennie, C. L.

2017-12-01

Permafrost in the McMurdo Dry Valleys (MDV), Antarctica is ubiquitous with active layer depths ranging from a few cm at the highest elevations to 1 m near sea level. Although many landscapes in this region have been considered stable over millennia, ad-hoc field observations have documented extreme geomorphic changes in the valley bottoms over the past decade. To assess these changes across the region, we compared a lidar dataset surveyed in the austral summers of 2001-2002 against one surveyed in 2014-2015. Results showed that the vertical resolution of the surveys was resolution of the elevation differences and we ignored differences 1m) landscape changes, including stream channel incision into buried ice deposits (implying the advection of heat by stream water locally degrades thermokarst) and slope failures in thermokarst landforms from block failure and insolation-driven retreat. Smaller changes (bank erosion intercepted buried ice, or in thermokarst ponds. The magnitude and rate of change is much larger than observed previously in this otherwise stable and slowly changing environment. Biological surveys and experimental manipulations show that wetted soils host microbial communities different from those hosted by adjacent dry soils, and are hotspots of biodiversity highly susceptible to changing physical conditions. In all cases field-checked, the association of sediment and rock debris blanketing buried ice was noted, indicating these are the most vulnerable landscapes to climate warming. Ground penetrating radar mapping of buried ice showed, however, that not all buried ice is associated with landscape change due to the depth of burial, slope, and proximity to stream water. Similarly, modeling of soil temperatures suggests a spatial heterogeneity in warming rates across the valley bottom, as a consequence of microclimatic influences, topographic shading and moisture content. Collectively, these conditions imply that landscapes in the MDV will become

Adaptation approaches for conserving ecosystems services and biodiversity in dynamic landscapes caused by climate change

Science.gov (United States)

Oswald J. Schmitz; Anne M. Trainor

2014-01-01

Climate change stands to cause animal species to shift their geographic ranges. This will cause ecosystems to become reorganized across landscapes as species migrate into and out of specific locations with attendant impacts on values and services that ecosystems provide to humans. Conservation in an era of climate change needs to ensure that landscapes are resilient by...

Ecosystem services in changing landscapes: An introduction

Science.gov (United States)

Louis Iverson; Cristian Echeverria; Laura Nahuelhual; Sandra. Luque

2014-01-01

The concept of ecosystem services from landscapes is rapidly gaining momentum as a language to communicate values and benefits to scientists and lay alike. Landscape ecology has an enormous contribution to make to this field, and one could argue, uniquely so. Tools developed or adapted for landscape ecology are being increasingly used to assist with the quantification...

The changing landscape of Clara Bog: the history of an Irish raised bog

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Crushell, P.H.; Connolly, A.; Schouten, M.G.C.; Mitchell, F.J.G.

2008-01-01

Clara Bog is one of the few raised bogs that has not been fully exploited in the Irish midlands and is a reminder of how the landscape of this region once appeared. This paper describes how the Clara Bog landscape has been changing since the commencement of the Holocene 11,500 years ago. Initially

Changing the constitutional landscape for firearms: the US Supreme Court's recent Second Amendment decisions.

Science.gov (United States)

Vernick, Jon S; Rutkow, Lainie; Webster, Daniel W; Teret, Stephen P

2011-11-01

In 2 recent cases-with important implications for public health practitioners, courts, and researchers-the US Supreme Court changed the landscape for judging the constitutionality of firearm laws under the Constitution's Second Amendment. In District of Columbia v Heller (2008), the court determined for the first time that the Second Amendment grants individuals a personal right to possess handguns in their home. In McDonald v City of Chicago (2010), the court concluded that this right affects the powers of state and local governments. The court identified broad categories of gun laws-other than handgun bans-that remain presumptively valid but did not provide a standard to judge their constitutionality. We discuss ways that researchers can assist decision makers.

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.

Placing lochs in their landscapes: linking landscape ecology, ecohydrology and conservation interest in a changing climate

Science.gov (United States)

Muir, M. C.; Spray, C. J.; Rowan, J. S.

2011-12-01

Scotland is a country with outstanding freshwater systems providing multiple social, economic and cultural functions as well as ecological services of international importance. Scotland's lakes (locally termed lochs) occupy approximately 3% of the country's land mass and contain more than 90% of Great Britain's total freshwater resource. With over 25,000 lochs (surface area greater than 0.1 hectares) standing freshwaters are an iconic part of Scotland's landscape and they come in a myriad of forms and sizes contributing outstanding geodiversity as well as habitats of international importance for numerous species of conservation interest. There is undoubtedly a need to protect the conservation interests of designated sites in the face of changing loch and catchment pressures - which include diffuse pollutants, morphological modification, recreation and invasive species. Climate change presents a new set of challenges with potential impacts across the entire standing water resource base and predicting how these systems might respond to these changes greatly amplifies uncertainties implicit in their environmental management. Global climate change is predicted to be a major cause of change across all ecosystems and there are particular concerns about impacts on freshwater systems due to the coupling of impacts to both hydrology and ecology. Climate change is likely to affect the hydrological cycle in a number of ways, most significantly through changing temperature and precipitation patterns, intensities and extremes. These changes, coupled with reduced snow and ice cover, frequency and duration, will lead to changes in soil moisture conditions and subsequently runoff. This is turn will impact on river flow, loch water levels, epilimnic temperatures, nutrient availability and, subsequently, the ecological structure and function of the entire standing water system. For some species these habitat changes will push them to the very limits of their natural tolerances and a

Challenges and potentials in using alternative landscape futures during climate change: A literature review and survey study

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Amin Rastandeh

2015-12-01

Full Text Available This study focuses on the feasibility of applying alternative futures and scenario analysis in landscape planning during climate change to provide a wider perspective and deeper understanding of this approach for better use and more effective application in the future. The study consists of a literature review and an analysis of recent applied projects carried out worldwide. In addition, an electronic survey was conducted from March to September 2014 to examine viewpoints on the use and application of this approach with reference to climate-change impacts. The survey participants were a group of highly experienced researchers from eighteen countries involved in at least one applied project since 2000 relating to this topic. After analysis of more than forty applied projects, the survey results were incorporated into the analysis to create a comprehensive picture regarding the potentials and limitations of alternative futures and scenario analysis in landscape planning with particular attention to climate change. The findings show that this method is one of the most effective decision-making approaches for adopting landscape policies where landscapes change rapidly under the pressure of urbanisation and climate change. Nevertheless, there is a gap between the advances offered by the approach in various dimensions and the complexity of patterns, uncertainties and upheavals in landscapes due to climate-change impacts in the urbanising world. The research indicates that the approach opens up a great opportunity for decision-makers to expand their perspective and adopt appropriate landscape policies before reaching a point of no return from the sustainability point of view. Meanwhile, there are challenges and barriers in the application of alternative futures and scenario analysis for envisioning the landscapes influenced by climate change and urbanisation that should be pushed back. Although informative, this research raises new questions about 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.

US exposure to multiple landscape stressors and climate change

Science.gov (United States)

Becky K. Kerns; John B. Kim; Jeffrey D. Kline; Michelle A. Day

2016-01-01

We examined landscape exposure to wildfire potential, insects and disease risk, and urban and exurban development for the conterminous US (CONUS). Our analysis relied on spatial data used by federal agencies to evaluate these stressors nationally. We combined stressor data with a climate change exposure metric to identify when temperature is likely to depart from...

The Bavarian Model? Modernization, Environment, and Landscape Planning in the Bavarian Nuclear Power Industry, 1950--1980

Science.gov (United States)

Miller, Russell Lowell

Perhaps no state in the Federal Republic of Germany witnessed a more pronounced state sponsored modernization effort than Bavaria, 1950-1980. This vast transformation, particularly in the field of nuclear energy, required a continuous negotiation of landscape planning between state officials, scientists, and ordinary citizens. While ordinary Bavarians had little input in the technical or scientific aspects of the nuclear industry, they could shape the landscape policy, by offering environmental and cultural criticism on specific locations for reactors. Using material from the Bavarian State Archives (some, from the 1970s, only recently declassified), this dissertation compares the Bavarian landscape disputes over nuclear facilities in the nineteen-fifties with those featured in the widespread anti-nuclear demonstrations of the nineteen-seventies. As one of the few English language studies on the topic, this dissertation suggests considerably more continuity in landscape disputes than previous scholarship and offers a fresh look into the migration of skepticism towards the landscape use of nuclear power from political right to left over the course of thirty years.

CDMetaPOP: An individual-based, eco-evolutionary model for spatially explicit simulation of landscape demogenetics

Science.gov (United States)

Landguth, Erin L; Bearlin, Andrew; Day, Casey; Dunham, Jason B.

2016-01-01

1. Combining landscape demographic and genetics models offers powerful methods for addressing questions for eco-evolutionary applications.2. Using two illustrative examples, we present Cost–Distance Meta-POPulation, a program to simulate changes in neutral and/or selection-driven genotypes through time as a function of individual-based movement, complex spatial population dynamics, and multiple and changing landscape drivers.3. Cost–Distance Meta-POPulation provides a novel tool for questions in landscape genetics by incorporating population viability analysis, while linking directly to conservation applications.

Alternative future analysis for assessing the potential impact of climate change on urban landscape dynamics.

Science.gov (United States)

He, Chunyang; Zhao, Yuanyuan; Huang, Qingxu; Zhang, Qiaofeng; Zhang, Da

2015-11-01

Assessing the impact of climate change on urban landscape dynamics (ULD) is the foundation for adapting to climate change and maintaining urban landscape sustainability. This paper demonstrates an alternative future analysis by coupling a system dynamics (SD) and a cellular automata (CA) model. The potential impact of different climate change scenarios on ULD from 2009 to 2030 was simulated and evaluated in the Beijing-Tianjin-Tangshan megalopolis cluster area (BTT-MCA). The results suggested that the integrated model, which combines the advantages of the SD and CA model, has the strengths of spatial quantification and flexibility. Meanwhile, the results showed that the influence of climate change would become more severe over time. In 2030, the potential urban area affected by climate change will be 343.60-1260.66 km(2) (5.55 -20.37 % of the total urban area, projected by the no-climate-change-effect scenario). Therefore, the effects of climate change should not be neglected when designing and managing urban landscape. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Monitoring, analyzing and simulating of spatial-temporal changes of landscape pattern over mining area

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Pei; Han, Ruimei; Wang, Shuangting

2014-11-01

According to the merits of remotely sensed data in depicting regional land cover and Land changes, multi- objective information processing is employed to remote sensing images to analyze and simulate land cover in mining areas. In this paper, multi-temporal remotely sensed data were selected to monitor the pattern, distri- bution and trend of LUCC and predict its impacts on ecological environment and human settlement in mining area. The monitor, analysis and simulation of LUCC in this coal mining areas are divided into five steps. The are information integration of optical and SAR data, LULC types extraction with SVM classifier, LULC trends simulation with CA Markov model, landscape temporal changes monitoring and analysis with confusion matrixes and landscape indices. The results demonstrate that the improved data fusion algorithm could make full use of information extracted from optical and SAR data; SVM classifier has an efficient and stable ability to obtain land cover maps, which could provide a good basis for both land cover change analysis and trend simulation; CA Markov model is able to predict LULC trends with good performance, and it is an effective way to integrate remotely sensed data with spatial-temporal model for analysis of land use / cover change and corresponding environmental impacts in mining area. Confusion matrixes are combined with landscape indices to evaluation and analysis show that, there was a sustained downward trend in agricultural land and bare land, but a continues growth trend tendency in water body, forest and other lands, and building area showing a wave like change, first increased and then decreased; mining landscape has undergone a from small to large and large to small process of fragmentation, agricultural land is the strongest influenced landscape type in this area, and human activities are the primary cause, so the problem should be pay more attentions by government and other organizations.

Learning topography with Tangible Landscape games

Science.gov (United States)

Petrasova, A.; Tabrizian, P.; Harmon, B. A.; Petras, V.; Millar, G.; Mitasova, H.; Meentemeyer, R. K.

2017-12-01

Understanding topography and its representations is crucial for correct interpretation and modeling of surface processes. However, novice earth science and landscape architecture students often find reading topographic maps challenging. As a result, many students struggle to comprehend more complex spatial concepts and processes such as flow accumulation or sediment transport.We developed and tested a new method for teaching hydrology, geomorphology, and grading using Tangible Landscape—a tangible interface for geospatial modeling. Tangible Landscape couples a physical and digital model of a landscape through a real-time cycle of hands-on modeling, 3D scanning, geospatial computation, and projection. With Tangible Landscape students can sculpt a projection-augmented topographic model of a landscape with their hands and use a variety of tangible objects to immediately see how they are changing geospatial analytics such as contours, profiles, water flow, or landform types. By feeling and manipulating the shape of the topography, while seeing projected geospatial analytics, students can intuitively learn about 3D topographic form, its representations, and how topography controls physical processes. Tangible Landscape is powered by GRASS GIS, an open source geospatial platform with extensive libraries for geospatial modeling and analysis. As such, Tangible Landscape can be used to design a wide range of learning experiences across a large number of geoscience disciplines.As part of a graduate level course that teaches grading, 16 students participated in a series of workshops, which were developed as serious games to encourage learning through structured play. These serious games included 1) diverting rain water to a specified location with minimal changes to landscape, 2) building different combinations of landforms, and 3) reconstructing landscapes based on projected contour information with feedback.In this poster, we will introduce Tangible Landscape, and

Shifting Restoration Policy to Address Landscape Change, Novel Ecosystems, and Monitoring

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Joy B. Zedler

2012-12-01

Full Text Available Policy to guide ecological restoration needs to aim toward minimizing the causes of ecosystem degradation; where causes cannot be eliminated or minimized, policy needs to shift toward accommodating irreversible landscape alterations brought about by climate change, nitrogen deposition, altered hydrology, degraded soil, and declining biodiversity. The degree to which lost diversity and ecosystem services can be recovered depends on the extent and nature of landscape change. For wetlands that occur at the base of watersheds that have been developed for agriculture or urban centers, the inflows of excess water, sediment, and nutrients can be permanent and can severely challenge efforts to restore historical services, including biodiversity support. In such cases, the historical state of downstream wetlands will not be completely restorable. Wetland restoration policy should promote watershed planning, wherein wetland and upland restoration is prioritized to achieve multiple, specific ecosystem services. For downstream wetlands, it is realistic to aim to enhance nitrogen removal and to establish native plants that are matrix dominants, namely, those that facilitate rather than displace other natives. More ambitious objectives such as maximizing diversity would be suitable for less-altered, upstream wetlands. Policy should also call for adaptive restoration and long-term assessments. For large sites and multiple sites of a given wetland type within a region, experimental tests can determine a wetland's ability to support high levels of ecosystem services. Once projects are underway, long-term monitoring of structural and functional indicators can characterize progress toward each objective. Managers can then learn which targets are unachievable based on data, not just opinion. Where an experimental treatment shows limited progress, practitioners would shift to more promising treatments and targets, thereby adapting restoration efforts to changing

Landscape Change in Mediterranean Farmlands: Impacts of Land Abandonment on Cultivation Terraces in Portofino (Italy and Lesvos (Greece

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Sluis Theo Van Der

2014-01-01

Full Text Available The Mediterranean landscape has been rapidly changing over the past decades. Many regions saw a population decline, which resulted in changing land use, abandonment of marginal lands and colonisation by shrubs and tree species. Typical features like farming terraces, olive yards, and upland grasslands have been decreasing over the past 50 years. This results in a declining biodiversity and loss of traditional Mediterranean landscapes. In this paper we assess the landscape changes that took place in two areas, in Portofino, on the Italian Riviera, and Lesvos, a Greek island near the Turkish coast. We compared land use maps and aerial photographs over the past decades to quantify the land use changes in these two areas. Additional information was acquired from farmers’ interviews and literature. We found that changes are related to societal changes in the appraisal of agricultural land uses, and to the urban expansion, tourism and recreation. These diffuse processes are a result of policy measures and autonomous societal transformations. This is confirmed by the results of two interview surveys: between 1999 and 2012 agricultural land use in Portofino regional Park and buffer zone further marginalised, and the associated landscape changes are perceived as a substantial loss of character and identity. This problem is emblematic for large parts of the Mediterranean. Comparing different landscapes reveal similar processes of landscape change, which can be related to similar driving forces. Based on such comparisons, we learn about possible trajectories of change, and ask for a comprehensive approach to land use management.

Changing landscapes and the cosmopolitism of the eastern Colorado avifauna

Science.gov (United States)

Knopf, Fritz L.

1986-01-01

The avifauna of continental North America has changed dramatically since colonial times. Excessive hunting contributed, at least in part, to the extinction of birds such as the great auk (Pinguinus impennis) and passenger pigeon (Ectopistes migratorius), while more recently organochlorine insecticide residues have resulted in drastic reductions in numbers of brown pelicans (Pelecanus occidentalis) (Anderson et al. 1975) and other species. Generally, however, vertebrate populations change in direct response to changes in their habitats. For example, herring gulls (Larus argentatus) have increased in numners (Kadlec and Drury 1968) with urbanization of the New England coastline, in the same locations formerly occupied by the extinct heath hen (Tympanuchus cupido cupido). Also, passerine birds of forest interiors have declined in numbers with fragmentation of the eastern deciduous forest into small stands; this fragmentation has led to increases in numbers of edge species (Robbins 1979, Ambuel and Temple 1983). Even subtle community shifts can introduce new competitive processes that can augment population changes among species (Brittingham and Temple 1983). Such studies of broad-scale changes in vegetative communities and their influence on native wildlife species have fostered the recent topical emphasis on "conservation biology" (Soule and Wilcox 1980, Soule 1985) and "landscape ecology" (Burgess and Sharpe 1981, Harris 1984:25-43). As changes in landscapes are causing subtle (but potentially dramatic) changes in the distribution of native species, conservation biologists are finding that mere presence-absence data on populations, or even accurate information on reproductive success, is inadequate to evaluate management activities or environmental perturbations. The principles of "conservation genetics" are attracting interest in the management of natural preserves especially (Schonewald-Cox et al. 1983). Changing patterns in landscape complexion or genetic makeup

Contesting authority: China and the new landscape of power sector governance in the developing world

Science.gov (United States)

Hannam, Phillip Matthew

development sovereignty among recipients, it can cause backsliding on safeguards and rules among established donors with consequences for power sector outcomes, making fragile movement away from carbon-intensive development even more tenuous. By characterizing this new and uncertain landscape of power sector governance, the thesis contributes to theorization on discord in international governance and to policy development for mitigating climate change.

Trophic interactions in changing landscapes: responses of soil food webs.

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Hedlund, K.; Griffiths, B.; Christensen, S.; Scheu, S.; Setälä, H.; Tscharntke, T.; Verhoef, H.A.

2004-01-01

Soil communities in landscapes that are rapidly changing due to a range of anthropogenic processes can be regarded as highly transient systems where interactions between competing species or trophic levels may be seriously disrupted. In disturbed communities dispersal in space and time has a role in

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...

Linking Hunter Knowledge with Forest Change to Understand Changing Deer Harvest Opportunities in Intensively Logged Landscapes

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Todd J. Brinkman

2009-06-01

Full Text Available The effects of landscape changes caused by intensive logging on the availability of wild game are important when the harvest of wild game is a critical cultural practice, food source, and recreational activity. We assessed the influence of extensive industrial logging on the availability of wild game by drawing on local knowledge and ecological science to evaluate the relationship between forest change and opportunities to harvest Sitka black-tailed deer (Odocoileus hemionus sitkensis on Prince of Wales Island, Alaska. We used data collected through interviews with local deer hunters and GIS analysis of land cover to determine relationships among landscape change, hunter access, and habitat for deer hunting over the last 50 yr. We then used these relationships to predict how harvest opportunities may change in the future. Intensive logging from 1950 into the 1990s provided better access to deer and habitat that facilitated deer hunting. However, successional changes in intensively logged forests in combination with a decline in current logging activity have reduced access to deer and increased undesirable habitat for deer hunting. In this new landscape, harvest opportunities in previously logged landscapes have declined, and hunters identify second-growth forest as one of the least popular habitats for hunting. Given the current state of the logging industry in Alaska, it is unlikely that the logging of the remaining old-growth forests or intensive management of second-growth forests will cause hunter opportunities to rebound to historic levels. Instead, hunter opportunities may continue to decline for at least another human generation, even if the long-term impacts of logging activity and deer harvest on deer numbers are minimal. Adapting hunting strategies to focus on naturally open habitats such as alpine and muskeg that are less influenced by external market forces may require considerably more hunting effort but provide the best option for

Direct and indirect climate change effects on carbon dioxide fluxes in a thawing boreal forest-wetland landscape.

Science.gov (United States)

Helbig, Manuel; Chasmer, Laura E; Desai, Ankur R; Kljun, Natascha; Quinton, William L; Sonnentag, Oliver

2017-08-01

In the sporadic permafrost zone of northwestern Canada, boreal forest carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) fluxes will be altered directly by climate change through changing meteorological forcing and indirectly through changes in landscape functioning associated with thaw-induced collapse-scar bog ('wetland') expansion. However, their combined effect on landscape-scale net ecosystem CO 2 exchange (NEE LAND ), resulting from changing gross primary productivity (GPP) and ecosystem respiration (ER), remains unknown. Here, we quantify indirect land cover change impacts on NEE LAND and direct climate change impacts on modeled temperature- and light-limited NEE LAND of a boreal forest-wetland landscape. Using nested eddy covariance flux towers, we find both GPP and ER to be larger at the landscape compared to the wetland level. However, annual NEE LAND (-20 g C m -2 ) and wetland NEE (-24 g C m -2 ) were similar, suggesting negligible wetland expansion effects on NEE LAND . In contrast, we find non-negligible direct climate change impacts when modeling NEE LAND using projected air temperature and incoming shortwave radiation. At the end of the 21st century, modeled GPP mainly increases in spring and fall due to reduced temperature limitation, but becomes more frequently light-limited in fall. In a warmer climate, ER increases year-round in the absence of moisture stress resulting in net CO 2 uptake increases in the shoulder seasons and decreases during the summer. Annually, landscape net CO 2 uptake is projected to decline by 25 ± 14 g C m -2 for a moderate and 103 ± 38 g C m -2 for a high warming scenario, potentially reversing recently observed positive net CO 2 uptake trends across the boreal biome. Thus, even without moisture stress, net CO 2 uptake of boreal forest-wetland landscapes may decline, and ultimately, these landscapes may turn into net CO 2 sources under continued anthropogenic CO 2 emissions. We conclude that NEE LAND changes are more likely to be

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

In the near future we are facing a global environmental situation where hydrological changes undoubtedly will take place. These changes will have an impact on the landscapes and affect socio-environmental systems. An understanding of the effects of the long-term interplay between society, hydrology and landscape must become one of the main platforms on which societies prospects for the next century will be based. In this paper I will present new information derived from a combination of qualitative and quantitative methods to put forward the experience of the landscape and different boundaries; topographical, ideological and historical by using methods such as water catchment areas and regression equations. This is combined with the archaeological record and theories on experience derived from the concept of Historical Ecology. The main aim is to identify Neolithic territories from a long term perspective. The question to be discussed is: How did people experience and respond to different boundaries in a changing coastal landscape? Emphasis is given to the hydrological patterns and the role of water for the construction of geographically defined, social and sustainable landscapes. Just as human-environment interactions are crucial in creating landscapes, environmental changes are likely to have strong impacts on social constructions. Environmental changes cause diverse social effects and social relations are essential for understanding the responses to such changes as well as for understanding patterns of land use and the social and political construction of the landscape. An important aspect of reconstructing land use is therefore to analyse the cultural, social, and economic factors that drive land use decisions in relation to the initial conditions and emergent properties of the landscape. The Uppland area has undergone dramatic changes since the inland ice retreated around 10,000 BC. This process offered new land for occupation and at the same time changed

[Dynamic changes of landscape pattern and hemeroby in Ximen Island wetland, Zhejiang Province, China].

Science.gov (United States)

Xiao, Cui; Xie, Xue-Fen; Wu, Tao; Jiang, Guo-Jun; Bian, Hua-Jing; Xu, Wei

2014-11-01

Abstract: The hemeroby type classification system of Ximen Island wetland of Zhejiang Province was established based on the multiple datasets: SOPT-5 image data with a spatial resolution of 5 m in 2007 and 2010, its wetland land cover and land use status, the National Land Use Classification (on trail), and sea area use classification of marine industry standards as well as remote sensing data features. Meanwhile, the dynamic relationship between the landscape pattern and the degree of hemeroby in Ximen Island was investigated with the landscape indices and hemeroby index (HI) derived from the landscape pattern index and GIS spatial analysis. The results showed that the wetland landscape spatial heterogeneity, fragmentation and dominance index dropped, and the landscape shape index complexity was low. The human disturbance center developed from a dispersion type to a concentration type. The landscape type of the disturbance center was bare land and settlement. The HI rose up from the sea to the land. Settlement, wharf and traffic land had the highest HI. The HI of the mudflat cultivation, mudflats and raft-cultivation dramatically changed. Marine-terrestrial interlaced zone showed a low total HI with unstable characteristics. The number of patches declined of undisturbed, partially disturbed and completely disturbed landscapes. Mean patch areas of partially disturbed and completely disturbed landscapes increased, and that of the undisturbed decreased. Mean shape index of the undisturbed landscape decreased, while the partially disturbed and completely disturbed landscapes showed a trend of shape complication.

Spurious correlations and inference in landscape genetics

Science.gov (United States)

Samuel A. Cushman; Erin L. Landguth

2010-01-01

Reliable interpretation of landscape genetic analyses depends on statistical methods that have high power to identify the correct process driving gene flow while rejecting incorrect alternative hypotheses. Little is known about statistical power and inference in individual-based landscape genetics. Our objective was to evaluate the power of causalmodelling with partial...

[Relationships of wetland landscape fragmentation with climate change in middle reaches of Heihe River, China].

Science.gov (United States)

Jiang, Peng-Hui; Zhao, Rui-Feng; Zhao, Hai-Li; Lu, Li-Peng; Xie, Zuo-Lun

2013-06-01

Based on the 1975-2010 multi-temporal remotely sensed TM and ETM images and meteorological data, in combining with wavelet analysis, trend surface simulation, and interpolation method, this paper analyzed the meteorological elements' spatial distribution and change characteristics in the middle reaches of Heihe River, and elucidated the process of wetland landscape fragmentation in the study area by using the landscape indices patch density (PD), mean patch size (MPS), and patch shape fragment index (FS). The relationships between the wetland landscape fragmentation and climate change were also approached through correlation analysis and multiple stepwise regression analysis. In 1975-2010, the overall distribution patterns of precipitation and temperature in the study area were low precipitation in high temperature regions and high precipitation in low temperature regions, and the main characteristics of climate change were the conversion from dry to wet and from cold to warm. In the whole study period, the wetland landscape fragmentation was mainly manifested in the decrease of MPS, with a decrement of 48.95 hm2, and the increase of PD, with an increment of 0.006 ind x hm(-2).

Hydroclimate-driven changes in the landscape structure of the terminal lakes and wetlands of the China's Heihe River Basin.

Science.gov (United States)

Xiao, Shengchun; Xiao, Honglang; Peng, Xiaomei; Song, Xiang

2015-01-01

Changes in the landscape structure of terminal lakes and wetlands along inland rivers in arid areas are determined by the water balance in the river basins under the impacts of climate change and human activities. Studying the evolution of these landscapes and the mechanisms driving these changes is critical to the sustainable development of river basins. The terminal lakes and wetlands along the lower reaches of the Heihe River, an inland river in arid northwestern China, can be grouped into three types: runoff-recharged, groundwater-recharged, and precipitation-recharged. These water-recharge characteristics determine the degree to which the landscape structure of a terminal lake or wetland is impacted by climate change and human activities. An analysis of seven remote-sensing and hydroclimatic data sets for the Heihe River basin during the last 50 years indicates that hydrological changes in the basin caused by regional human activities were the primary drivers of the observed changes in the spatial and temporal landscape-structure patterns of the terminal lakes and wetlands of the Heihe River. In this warm, dry climatic context, the lakes and wetlands gradually evolved toward and maintained a landscape dominated by saline-alkaline lands and grasslands.

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...

Modelling landscape change in paddy fields using logistic regression and GIS

Science.gov (United States)

Franjaya, E. E.; Syartinilia; Setiawan, Y.

2018-05-01

Paddy field in karawang district, as an important agricultural land in west java, has been decreased since 1994. From previous study, paddy fields dominantly turned into built area. The changes were almost occured in the middle area of the district where roadways, industries, settlements, and commercial buildings were existed. These were estimated as driving forces. But, we still need to prove it. This study aimed to construct the paddy field probability change model, subsequently the driving forces will be obtained. GIS combined with logistic regression using environmental variables were used as main method in this study. Ten environmental variables were elevation 0–500 m, elevation>500 m, slope8%, CBD, build up area, river, irrigation, toll and national roadway, and collector and local roadway. The result indicated that four variables were significantly played as driving forces (slope>8%, CBD area, build up area, and collector and local roadway). Paddy field has high, medium, and low probability to change which covered about 27.8%, 7.8%, and 64.4% area in Karawang respectively. Based on landscape ecology, the recommendation that suitable with landscape change is adaptive management.

Rural electrification in multiethnic Arizona: A study of power, urbanization and change

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Glaser, Leah Suzanne

2002-01-01

From as early as the 1880s until as late as the 1970s, electrical power served as a critical tool for bringing America's diverse western communities into an urban industrial era. This study examines the process of electrification in three demographically diverse rural regions of Eastern Arizona. These three regions include the valleys of the Southeast, the White Mountains, and the Navajo Reservation to the north. While federal programs aided rural residents, local and regional factors determined the timing and nature of electrification and its impact. Access to electricity depended upon economics and technological advances, as well as a combination of local community and regional characteristics such as location, landscape, demographics, politics, and culture. At the turn of the century, electricity, with its elaborate and extensive infrastructure of wires, towers, and poles, emerged across America's cultural landscapes as the industrial era's most prominent symbol of progress, power, and a modern, urban lifestyle. Technological innovations and mechanization flourished, but primarily in the urban areas of the Northeast. People living outside concentrated settlements, of all ethnic backgrounds, had few hopes for delivery due to the cost of building power lines to a limited market. Arizona's rural population has historically been ethnically diverse, and its landscape varies from desert valleys to mountains of alpine forest. The federal government owns much of the land. Aided by federal guidance and funding sources like the New Deal's Rural Electrification Administration (REA), the existing rural communities took the initiative and constructed electrical systems specific to their local and regional needs. While products of the communities that built them, these systems symbolized and defined newly urbanized regions within the context of old rural landscapes, lifestyles, and traditions. In some ways the rural electrification process urbanized rural Arizona. The

Analysis of changes in farm pond network connectivity in the peri-urban landscape of the Taoyuan area, Taiwan.

Science.gov (United States)

Huang, Shu-Li; Lee, Ying-Chieh; Budd, William W; Yang, Min-Chia

2012-04-01

The farm pond system for irrigation is the most prominent feature in the Taoyuan area, Taiwan, giving the region a unique landscape and hydrological character. Although this area had more than 3,290 ponds in the 1970s, fewer than 1,800 now remain. This study analyzes changes in irrigation farm ponds and the canal network landscape in the Taoyuan area. The spatial and temporal changes to ponds and the canal network on the Taoyuan plain were examined graphically for each spatial unit (2,765 m × 2,525 m) using aerial photographs for 1979 and 2005. Landscape metrics were calculated to analyze landscape change associated with increased urbanization. Landscape indices of connectivity and circuitry were utilized to describe changes in the configuration of ponds and canal networks. The total length of canals and total number of ponds in the study area decreased significantly during 1979-2005. The average values of connectivity indices (γ- and α-index) also decreased during 1979-2005, reflecting degradation of canal networks due to urban sprawl. A multivariate technique was applied to portion the study area into three zones according to changes to land cover, ponds, and canal networks. The effects of urban sprawl on the spatial pattern of ponds and canal networks are discussed.

Quantifying landscape change in an arctic coastal lowland using repeat airborne LiDAR

Science.gov (United States)

Jones, Benjamin M.; Stoker, Jason M.; Gibbs, Ann E.; Grosse, Guido; Romanovsky, Vladimir E.; Douglas, Thomas A.; Kinsman, Nichole E.M.; Richmond, Bruce M.

2013-01-01

Increases in air, permafrost, and sea surface temperature, loss of sea ice, the potential for increased wave energy, and higher river discharge may all be interacting to escalate erosion of arctic coastal lowland landscapes. Here we use airborne light detection and ranging (LiDAR) data acquired in 2006 and 2010 to detect landscape change in a 100 km2 study area on the Beaufort Sea coastal plain of northern Alaska. We detected statistically significant change (99% confidence interval), defined as contiguous areas (>10 m2) that had changed in height by at least 0.55 m, in 0.3% of the study region. Erosional features indicative of ice-rich permafrost degradation were associated with ice-bonded coastal, river, and lake bluffs, frost mounds, ice wedges, and thermo-erosional gullies. These features accounted for about half of the area where vertical change was detected. Inferred thermo-denudation and thermo-abrasion of coastal and river bluffs likely accounted for the dominant permafrost-related degradational processes with respect to area (42%) and volume (51%). More than 300 thermokarst pits significantly subsided during the study period, likely as a result of storm surge flooding of low-lying tundra (impact of warm summers in the late-1980s and mid-1990s. Our results indicate that repeat airborne LiDAR can be used to detect landscape change in arctic coastal lowland regions at large spatial scales over sub-decadal time periods.

Historical Delineation of Landscape Units Using Physical Geographic Characteristics and Land Use/Cover Change

Science.gov (United States)

Campos-Campos, Oswaldo; Cruz-Cárdenas, Gustavo; Aquino, Roque Juan Carrasco; Moncayo-Estrada, Rodrigo; Machuca, Martha Alicia Velázquez; Meléndez, Luis Arturo Ávila

2018-03-01

Landscape units are conceived as a part of the territory that share similar physical and geographic characteristics. Their delineation can contribute to identify the physical and social dynamics that emerge in the spatial environment and to propose strategies of planning and management of the territory. The main objective was to make a historical delineation of landscape units in the Duero river basin that demonstrate the dynamics of changes in the territory, the description of the actors involved, and the affectations in the natural and social environment. We analyzed the vegetation change and urban growth from 1983 to 2014, incorporating climatic, edaphic, and topographic variables. A Principal Component Analysis was performed with the information and results were used in Maximum Likelihood procedure to define different clusters based on environmental characteristics. We defined five categories from the Landsat images. Results showed landscape units with homogeneous environmental characteristics and some differences in the units' delineation were mainly influenced by political and socioeconomic factors. Temporally there was an increased tendency of landscape units, three in 1983, nine in 1990, 1995, 2000 and 2011, and eight in 2014. This increase resulted from territory fragmentation because of berries and avocado cultivars expansion over wooded area.

[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.

Simulating streamflow in ungauged basins under a changing climate: The importance of landscape characteristics

Science.gov (United States)

Teutschbein, Claudia; Grabs, Thomas; Laudon, Hjalmar; Karlsen, Reinert H.; Bishop, Kevin

2018-06-01

In this paper we explored how landscape characteristics such as topography, geology, soils and land cover influence the way catchments respond to changing climate conditions. Based on an ensemble of 15 regional climate models bias-corrected with a distribution-mapping approach, present and future streamflow in 14 neighboring and rather similar catchments in Northern Sweden was simulated with the HBV model. We established functional relationships between a range of landscape characteristics and projected changes in streamflow signatures. These were then used to analyze hydrological consequences of physical perturbations in a hypothetically ungauged basin in a climate change context. Our analysis showed a strong connection between the forest cover extent and the sensitivity of different components of a catchment's hydrological regime to changing climate conditions. This emphasizes the need to redefine forestry goals and practices in advance of climate change-related risks and uncertainties.

Applying a framework for landscape planning under climate change for the conservation of biodiversity in the Finnish boreal forest.

Science.gov (United States)

Mazziotta, Adriano; Triviño, Maria; Tikkanen, Olli-Pekka; Kouki, Jari; Strandman, Harri; Mönkkönen, Mikko

2015-02-01

Conservation strategies are often established without consideration of the impact of climate change. However, this impact is expected to threaten species and ecosystem persistence and to have dramatic effects towards the end of the 21st century. Landscape suitability for species under climate change is determined by several interacting factors including dispersal and human land use. Designing effective conservation strategies at regional scales to improve landscape suitability requires measuring the vulnerabilities of specific regions to climate change and determining their conservation capacities. Although methods for defining vulnerability categories are available, methods for doing this in a systematic, cost-effective way have not been identified. Here, we use an ecosystem model to define the potential resilience of the Finnish forest landscape by relating its current conservation capacity to its vulnerability to climate change. In applying this framework, we take into account the responses to climate change of a broad range of red-listed species with different niche requirements. This framework allowed us to identify four categories in which representation in the landscape varies among three IPCC emission scenarios (B1, low; A1B, intermediate; A2, high emissions): (i) susceptible (B1 = 24.7%, A1B = 26.4%, A2 = 26.2%), the most intact forest landscapes vulnerable to climate change, requiring management for heterogeneity and resilience; (ii) resilient (B1 = 2.2%, A1B = 0.5%, A2 = 0.6%), intact areas with low vulnerability that represent potential climate refugia and require conservation capacity maintenance; (iii) resistant (B1 = 6.7%, A1B = 0.8%, A2 = 1.1%), landscapes with low current conservation capacity and low vulnerability that are suitable for restoration projects; (iv) sensitive (B1 = 66.4%, A1B = 72.3%, A2 = 72.0%), low conservation capacity landscapes that are vulnerable and for which alternative conservation measures are required depending on the

Evidence and opportunities for integrating landscape ecology into natural resource planning across multiple-use landscapes

Science.gov (United States)

Trammel, E. Jamie; Carter, Sarah; Haby, Travis S.; Taylor, Jason J.

2018-01-01

Enhancing natural resource management has been a focus of landscape ecology since its inception, but numerous authors argue that landscape ecology has not yet been effective in achieving the underlying goal of planning and designing sustainable landscapes. We developed nine questions reflecting the application of fundamental research topics in landscape ecology to the landscape planning process and reviewed two recent landscape-scale plans in western North America for evidence of these concepts in plan decisions. Both plans considered multiple resources, uses, and values, including energy development, recreation, conservation, and protection of cultural and historic resources. We found that land use change and multiscale perspectives of resource uses and values were very often apparent in planning decisions. Pattern-process relationships, connectivity and fragmentation, ecosystem services, landscape history, and climate change were reflected less frequently. Landscape sustainability was considered only once in the 295 decisions reviewed, and outputs of landscape models were not referenced. We suggest six actionable opportunities for further integrating landscape ecology concepts into landscape planning efforts: 1) use landscape sustainability as an overarching goal, 2) adopt a broad ecosystem services framework, 3) explore the role of landscape history more comprehensively, 4) regularly consider and accommodate potential effects of climate change, 5) use landscape models to support plan decisions, and 6) promote a greater presence of landscape ecologists within agencies that manage large land bases and encourage active involvement in agency planning efforts. Together these actions may improve the defensibility, durability, and sustainability of landscape plan decisions.

Modeling long-term changes in forested landscapes and their relation to the Earth's energy balance

Science.gov (United States)

Shugart, H. H.; Emanuel, W. R.; Solomon, A. M.

1984-01-01

The dynamics of the forested parts of the Earth's surface on time scales from decades to centuries are discussed. A set of computer models developed at Oak Ridge National Laboratory and elsewhere are applied as tools. These models simulate a landscape by duplicating the dynamics of growth, death and birth of each tree living on a 0.10 ha element of the landscape. This spatial unit is generally referred to as a gap in the case of the forest models. The models were tested against and applied to a diverse array of forests and appear to provide a reasonable representation for investigating forest-cover dynamics. Because of the climate linkage, one important test is the reconstruction of paleo-landscapes. Detailed reconstructions of changes in vegetation in response to changes in climate are crucial to understanding the association of the Earth's vegetation and climate and the response of the vegetation to climate change.

GIS analysis of change in an agriculture landscape in Central Finland

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Riitta Ruuska

1996-12-01

Full Text Available Changes in landscape over a period of 50 years were analysed in a rural area of 324 ha in Central Finland. The data were digitized from aerial photographs of the National Land Survey taken in 1944, 1959, 1979 and 1991, and analysed with the IDRISI™ geographic information system (GIS. The average proportion of land in agricultural use in the sample area was 17.4%. The arable area declined from the maximum of 62.3 ha (1959 to 47.6 ha. The total length of linear landscape elements, predominantly ditch bank habitats, halved, from 876 m/ha of field (1944 to 449 m/ha by the end of the period. The average rate of loss of field boundary habitat was 9.1 m/ha/ year. At the same time, the Shannon-Weaver index of diversity of agricultural landscape elements dropped from 0.37 to 0.24. The number of field parcels declined by 29%, and the mean parcel size increased by 45%, from 1.2 ha to 1.7 ha. The index value of the fractal dimension measuring the complexity of parcel shapes also fell, from 1.88 (1959 to 1.86 (1991. The change in spatial structure reflects the intensification of farming in Finland. Biodiversity at ecosystem level has clearly declined. However, the implications for the agroecosystem and its sustainability are still unknown.

Fire Data as Proxy for Anthropogenic Landscape Change in the Yucatán

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Marco Millones

2017-09-01

Full Text Available Fire is one of the earliest and most common tools used by humans to modify the earth surface. Landscapes in the Yucatán Peninsula are composed of a mosaic of old growth subtropical forest, secondary vegetation, grasslands, and agricultural land that represent a well-documented example of anthropogenic intervention, much of which involves the use of fire. This research characterizes land use systems and land cover changes in the Yucatán during the 2000–2010 time period. We used an active fire remotely sensed data time series from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS, in combination with forest loss, and anthrome map sources to (1 establish the association between fire and land use change in the region; and (2 explore links between the spatial and temporal patterns of fire and specific types of land use practices, including within- and between-anthromes variability. A spatial multinomial logit model was constructed using fire, landscape configuration, and a set of commonly used control variables to estimate forest persistence, non-forest persistence, and change. Cross-tabulations and descriptive statistics were used to explore the relationships between fire occurrence, location, and timing with respect to the geography of land use. We also compared fire frequencies within and between anthrome groups using a negative binomial model and Tukey pairwise comparisons. Results show that fire data broadly reproduce the geography and timing of anthropogenic land change. Findings indicate that fire and landscape configuration is useful in explaining forest change and non-forest persistence, especially in fragmented (mosaicked landscapes. Absence of fire occurrence is related usefully to the persistence of spatially continuous core areas of older growth forest. Fire has a positive relationship with forest to non-forest change and a negative relationship with forest persistence. Fire is also a good indicator to distinguish between

Feedbacks in human-landscape systems

Science.gov (United States)

Chin, Anne

2015-04-01

As human interactions with Earth systems intensify in the "Anthropocene", understanding the complex relationships among human activity, landscape change, and societal responses to those changes is increasingly important. Interdisciplinary research centered on the theme of "feedbacks" in human-landscape systems serves as a promising focus for unraveling these interactions. Deciphering interacting human-landscape feedbacks extends our traditional approach of considering humans as unidirectional drivers of change. Enormous challenges exist, however, in quantifying impact-feedback loops in landscapes with significant human alterations. This paper illustrates an example of human-landscape interactions following a wildfire in Colorado (USA) that elicited feedback responses. After the 2012 Waldo Canyon Fire, concerns for heightened flood potential and debris flows associated with post-fire hydrologic changes prompted local landowners to construct tall fences at the base of a burned watershed. These actions changed the sediment transport regime and promoted further landscape change and human responses in a positive feedback cycle. The interactions ultimately increase flood and sediment hazards, rather than dampening the effects of fire. A simple agent-based model, capable of integrating social and hydro-geomorphological data, demonstrates how such interacting impacts and feedbacks could be simulated. Challenges for fully capturing human-landscape feedback interactions include the identification of diffuse and subtle feedbacks at a range of scales, the availability of data linking impact with response, the identification of multiple thresholds that trigger feedback mechanisms, and the varied metrics and data needed to represent both the physical and human systems. By collaborating with social scientists with expertise in the human causes of landscape change, as well as the human responses to those changes, geoscientists could more fully recognize and anticipate the coupled

Quantifying landscape change in an arctic coastal lowland using repeat airborne LiDAR

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jones, Benjamin M; Stoker, Jason M; Gibbs, Ann E; Richmond, Bruce M; Grosse, Guido; Romanovsky, Vladimir E; Douglas, Thomas A; Kinsman, Nicole E M

2013-01-01

Increases in air, permafrost, and sea surface temperature, loss of sea ice, the potential for increased wave energy, and higher river discharge may all be interacting to escalate erosion of arctic coastal lowland landscapes. Here we use airborne light detection and ranging (LiDAR) data acquired in 2006 and 2010 to detect landscape change in a 100 km 2 study area on the Beaufort Sea coastal plain of northern Alaska. We detected statistically significant change (99% confidence interval), defined as contiguous areas (>10 m 2 ) that had changed in height by at least 0.55 m, in 0.3% of the study region. Erosional features indicative of ice-rich permafrost degradation were associated with ice-bonded coastal, river, and lake bluffs, frost mounds, ice wedges, and thermo-erosional gullies. These features accounted for about half of the area where vertical change was detected. Inferred thermo-denudation and thermo-abrasion of coastal and river bluffs likely accounted for the dominant permafrost-related degradational processes with respect to area (42%) and volume (51%). More than 300 thermokarst pits significantly subsided during the study period, likely as a result of storm surge flooding of low-lying tundra (<1.4 m asl) as well as the lasting impact of warm summers in the late-1980s and mid-1990s. Our results indicate that repeat airborne LiDAR can be used to detect landscape change in arctic coastal lowland regions at large spatial scales over sub-decadal time periods. (letter)

The Landscape Change of Qiang’s Settlements in the Upper Reaches of Minjiang River after Wenchuan Earthquake

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Xiaofei Wen

2015-09-01

Full Text Available Qiang ethnic group is one of the oldest ethnic groups in China, mainly living in upper reaches of Minjiang River in southwest of China. Qiang’s traditional settlements are valuable cultural heritages. Unfortunately, most of Qiang’s settlements were damaged during Wenchuan earthquake in 2008 in different degree. After the earthquake, settlements were reconstructed in different ways. The landscape of Qiang’s settlements had been changed greatly by dual influences, the destruction of earthquake and reconstruction after earthquake. Researching the changing process of Qiang’s settlements landscape has great significance to the protection of cultural heritage and the inheritance of culture, especially in the period after earthquake. At first, Qiang’s settlements are classified into five types with typology method after field research, according to the different degree of destruction and the different model of reconstruction. The five types are settlements restored to original forms in original location, settlements rebuilt to traditional forms in original location, settlements transformed to traditional forms in original location, settlements rebuilt in new location according to unified planning and settlements rebuilt in new location by villagers themselves. Secondly, the five types of settlements are compared with traditional settlements from several aspects including geographical environment, location of settlements, forms of settlements, space structure, building materials and construction technology, in order to research for the change of the landscape characteristics. Finally, the changing processes of each type of settlements landscape are analyzed. The change of villagers’ demands for settlements space are analyzed with the changes of their production model, life style, traditional customs, cultural communication, national religion and spiritual pursuit. Based on this analysis, the main factors influencing the changes of Qiang�

Historical Delineation of Landscape Units Using Physical Geographic Characteristics and Land Use/Cover Change

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Campos-Campos Oswaldo

2018-03-01

Full Text Available Landscape units are conceived as a part of the territory that share similar physical and geographic characteristics. Their delineation can contribute to identify the physical and social dynamics that emerge in the spatial environment and to propose strategies of planning and management of the territory. The main objective was to make a historical delineation of landscape units in the Duero river basin that demonstrate the dynamics of changes in the territory, the description of the actors involved, and the affectations in the natural and social environment. We analyzed the vegetation change and urban growth from 1983 to 2014, incorporating climatic, edaphic, and topographic variables. A Principal Component Analysis was performed with the information and results were used in Maximum Likelihood procedure to define different clusters based on environmental characteristics. We defined five categories from the Landsat images. Results showed landscape units with homogeneous environmental characteristics and some differences in the units’ delineation were mainly influenced by political and socioeconomic factors. Temporally there was an increased tendency of landscape units, three in 1983, nine in 1990, 1995, 2000 and 2011, and eight in 2014. This increase resulted from territory fragmentation because of berries and avocado cultivars expansion over wooded area.

Identifying socio-ecological networks in rural-urban gradients: Diagnosis of a changing cultural landscape.

Science.gov (United States)

Arnaiz-Schmitz, C; Schmitz, M F; Herrero-Jáuregui, C; Gutiérrez-Angonese, J; Pineda, F D; Montes, C

2018-01-15

Socio-ecological systems maintain reciprocal interactions between biophysical and socioeconomic structures. As a result of these interactions key essential services for society emerge. Urban expansion is a direct driver of land change and cause serious shifts in socio-ecological relationships and the associated lifestyles. The framework of rural-urban gradients has proved to be a powerful tool for ecological research about urban influences on ecosystems and on sociological issues related to social welfare. However, to date there has not been an attempt to achieve a classification of municipalities in rural-urban gradients based on socio-ecological interactions. In this paper, we developed a methodological approach that allows identifying and classifying a set of socio-ecological network configurations in the Region of Madrid, a highly dynamic cultural landscape considered one of the European hotspots in urban development. According to their socio-ecological links, the integrated model detects four groups of municipalities, ordered along a rural-urban gradient, characterized by their degree of biophysical and socioeconomic coupling and different indicators of landscape structure and social welfare. We propose the developed model as a useful tool to improve environmental management schemes and land planning from a socio-ecological perspective, especially in territories subject to intense urban transformations and loss of rurality. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Change in the forested and developed landscape of the Lake Tahoe basin, California and Nevada, USA, 1940-2002

Science.gov (United States)

Raumann, C.G.; Cablk, Mary E.

2008-01-01

The current ecological state of the Lake Tahoe basin has been shaped by significant landscape-altering human activity and management practices since the mid-1850s; first through widespread timber harvesting from the 1850s to 1920s followed by urban development from the 1950s to the present. Consequences of landscape change, both from development and forest management practices including fire suppression, have prompted rising levels of concern for the ecological integrity of the region. The impacts from these activities include decreased water quality, degraded biotic communities, and increased fire hazard. To establish an understanding of the Lake Tahoe basin's landscape change in the context of forest management and development we mapped, quantified, and described the spatial and temporal distribution and variability of historical changes in land use and land cover in the southern Lake Tahoe basin (279 km2) from 1940 to 2002. Our assessment relied on post-classification change detection of multi-temporal land-use/cover and impervious-surface-area data that were derived through manual interpretation, image processing, and GIS data integration for four dates of imagery: 1940, 1969, 1987, and 2002. The most significant land conversion during the 62-year study period was an increase in developed lands with a corresponding decrease in forests, wetlands, and shrublands. Forest stand densities increased throughout the 62-year study period, and modern thinning efforts resulted in localized stand density decreases in the latter part of the study period. Additionally forests were gained from succession, and towards the end of the study period extensive tree mortality occurred. The highest rates of change occurred between 1940 and 1969, corresponding with dramatic development, then rates declined through 2002 for all observed landscape changes except forest density decrease and tree mortality. Causes of landscape change included regional population growth, tourism demands

Neogeomorphology, prediction, and the anthropic landscape

Science.gov (United States)

Haff, P. K.

The surface of the earth is undergoing profound change due to human impact. By some measures the level of human impact is comparable to the effects of major classical geomorphic processes such as fluvial sediment transport. This change is occurring rapidly, has no geologic precedent, and may represent an irreversible transition to a new and novel landscape with which we have no experience. For these reasons prediction of future landscape evolution will be of increasing importance. The combination of physical and social forces that drive modern landscape change represents the Anthropic Force. Neogeomorphology is the study of the Anthropic Force and its present and likely future effects on the landscape. Unique properties associated with the Anthropic Force include consciousness, intention and design. These properties support the occurrence of nonclassical geomorphic phenomena, such as landscape planning, engineering, and management. The occurrence of short time-scale phenomena induced by anthropic landscape change, the direct effects of this change on society, and the ability to anticipate and intentionally influence the future trajectory of the global landscape underscore the importance of prediction in a neogeomorphic world.

Response of Landscapes of the Sikhote-Alin Western Slopes to the Middle-Late Holocene Climatic Changes

Science.gov (United States)

Razzhigaeva, N. G.; Ganzey, L. A.; Panichev, A. M.; Grebennikova, T. A.; Mokhova, L. M.; Kopoteva, T. A.; Kudryavtseva, E. P.; Arslanov, Kh. A.; Maksimov, F. E.; Starikova, A. A.; Zakusin, S. V.

2017-12-01

The response of landscape biotic components of the western slope of the Sikhote-Alin Mountains (Bikin River middle flow) to the Middle-Late Holocene climate changes is discussed. The paleoreconstruction object was the Krasny Yar mari, which developed under the control of multidirectional short-term climatic changes. The last millennium was marked by particularly rapid and frequent changes in the local landscapes. The closely spaced orographic barrier strongly affected the development of biotic components and changes in the swamp hydrological regime. The moisture dynamics within the river catchment considerably controlled the development and change of the peat-forming plants. Several stages of the mari development were reconstructed; each began from the accumulation of eutrophic peat. It was followed by the transitional eutrophic-mesotrophic stage, with a higher role of atmospheric supply. The larch forests appeared in this part of the valley within the Atlantic-Subboreal cooling period. Korean pine developed in the forest vegetation in the low mountain relief at the beginning of the Subboreal and became one of the leading trees 2.6-2.3 ka BP. The lower role of the Korean pine and birch forest expansion in the first half of the Subatlantic could be related to the fires. The broadleaf-Korean pine forests became widespread in the Medieval Warm Period. Local swamp landscapes changed dramatically in the Little Ice Age, while the slope vegetation was not subject to any major changes. The landscapes were also affected by the fires, which became more frequent. The derivative communities with birch appeared on the mari. Moreover, this part of the valley was occasionally subject to heavy flooding.

LiDAR and Orthophoto Synergy to optimize Object-Based Landscape Change: Analysis of an Active Landslide

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Martijn Kamps

2017-08-01

Full Text Available Active landslides have three major effects on landscapes: (1 land cover change, (2 topographical change, and (3 above ground biomass change. Data derived from multi-temporal Light Detection and Ranging technology (LiDAR are used in combination with multi-temporal orthophotos to quantify these changes between 2006 and 2012, caused by an active deep-seated landslide near the village of Doren in Austria. Land-cover is classified by applying membership-based classification and contextual improvements based on the synergy of orthophotos and LiDAR-based elevation data. Topographical change is calculated by differencing of LiDAR derived digital terrain models. The above ground biomass is quantified by applying a local-maximum algorithm for tree top detection, in combination with allometric equations. The land cover classification accuracies were improved from 65% (using only LiDAR and 76% (using only orthophotos to 90% (using data synergy for 2006. A similar increase from respectively 64% and 75% to 91% was established for 2012. The increased accuracies demonstrate the effectiveness of using data synergy of LiDAR and orthophotos using object-based image analysis to quantify landscape changes, caused by an active landslide. The method has great potential to be transferred to larger areas for use in landscape change analyses.

The impact of land use change and hydroclimatic variability on landscape connectivity dynamics across surface water networks at subcontinental scale

Science.gov (United States)

Tulbure, M. G.; Bishop-Taylor, R.; Broich, M.

2017-12-01

Land use (LU) change and hydroclimatic variability affect spatiotemporal landscape connectivity dynamics, important for species movement and dispersal. Despite the fact that LU change can strongly influence dispersal potential over time, prior research has only focused on the impacts of dynamic changes in the distribution of potential habitats. We used 8 time-steps of historical LU together with a Landsat-derived time-series of surface water habitat dynamics (1986-2011) over the Murray-Darling Basin (MDB), a region with extreme hydroclimatic variability, impacted by LU changes. To assess how changing LU and hydroclimatic variability affect landscape connectivity across time, we compared 4 scenarios, namely one where both climate and LU are dynamic over time, one where climate is kept steady (i.e. a median surface water extent layer), and two scenarios where LU is kept steady (i.e. resistance values associated with the most recent or the first LU layer). We used circuit theory to assign landscape features with `resistance' costs and graph theory network analysis, with surface water habitats as `nodes' connected by dispersal paths or `edges' Findings comparing a dry and an average season show high differences in number of nodes (14581 vs 21544) and resistance distances. The combined effect of LU change and landscape wetness was lower than expected, likely a function of the large, MDB-wide, aggregation scale. Spatially explicit analyses are expected to identify areas where the synergistic effect of LU change and landscape wetness greatly reduce or increase landscape connectivity, as well as areas where the two effects cancel each other out.

Experimental evidence of dynamic re-organization of evolving landscapes under changing climatic forcing

Science.gov (United States)

Singh, Arvind; Tejedor, Alejandro; Zaliapin, Ilya; Reinhardt, Liam; Foufoula-Georgiou, Efi

2015-04-01

The aim of this study is to better understand the dynamic re-organization of an evolving landscape under a scenario of changing climatic forcing for improving our knowledge of geomorphic transport laws under transient conditions and developing predictive models of landscape response to external perturbations. Real landscape observations for long-term analysis are limited and to this end a high resolution controlled laboratory experiment was conducted at the St. Anthony Falls laboratory at the University of Minnesota. Elevation data were collected at temporal resolution of 5 mins and spatial resolution of 0.5 mm as the landscape approached steady state (constant uplift and precipitation rate) and in the transient state (under the same uplift and 5x precipitation). The results reveal rapid topographic re-organization under a five-fold precipitation increase with the fluvial regime expanding into the previously debris dominated regime, accelerated erosion happening at hillslope scales, and rivers shifting from an erosion-limited to a transport-limited regime. From a connectivity and clustering analysis of the erosional and depositional events, we demonstrate the strikingly different spatial patterns of landscape evolution under steady-state (SS) and transient-state (TS), even when the time under SS is "stretched" compared to that under TS such as to match the total volume and PDF of erosional and depositional amounts. We quantify the spatial coupling of hillslopes and channels and demonstrate that hillslopes lead and channels follow in re-organizing the whole landscape under such an amplified precipitation regime.

Half-lives of PAHs and temporal microbiota changes in commonly used urban landscaping materials

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Marja I. Roslund

2018-03-01

Full Text Available Background Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs accumulate in urban soils, and PAH contamination can change soil microbial community composition. Environmental microbiota is associated with human commensal microbiota, immune system and health. Therefore, studies investigating the degradation of PAHs, and the consequences of soil pollution on microbial communities in urban landscaping materials, are crucial. Methods Four landscaping materials (organic matter 1, 2, 13 and 56% were contaminated with PAHs commonly found at urban sites (phenanthrene, fluoranthene, pyrene, chrysene and benzo(bfluoranthene in PAH concentrations that reflect urban soils in Finland (2.4 µg g -1 soil dry weight. PAHs were analyzed initially and after 2, 4, 8 and 12 weeks by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. Half-lives of PAHs were determined based on 12-weeks degradation. Bacterial communities were analyzed at 1 and 12 weeks after contamination using Illumina MiSeq 16S rRNA gene metabarcoding. Results Half-lives ranged from 1.5 to 4.4 weeks for PAHs with relatively low molecular weights (phenanthrene, fluoranthene and pyrene in landscaping materials containing 1–2% organic matter. In contrast, in materials containing 13% and 56% organic matter, the half-lives ranged from 2.5 to 52 weeks. Shorter half-lives of phenanthrene and fluoranthene were thus associated with low organic matter content. The half-life of pyrene was inversely related to the relative abundance of Beta-, Delta- and Gammaproteobacteria, and diversity of Bacteroidetes and Betaprotebacteria. Compounds with higher molecular weights followed compound-specific patterns. Benzo(bfluoranthene was resistant to degradation and half-life of chrysene was shorter when the relative abundance of Betaproteobacteria was high. Temporal microbiota changes involved increase in the relative abundance of Deltaproteobacteria and decrease in genera Flavobacterium and Rhodanobacter. Exposure to PAHs seems to adjust

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

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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…

The changing treatment landscape in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis

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Ulrich Costabel

2015-03-01

Full Text Available Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF is a chronic, progressive and irreversible fibrotic disease of the lung that has greatly frustrated clinicians for a long time. The prognosis of IPF (median survival 2–5 years following diagnosis is poorer than that of some cancers and for many years no significant advances were made in its management. However, between 2011 and 2014 a number of pivotal developments were made that have improved the outlook for patients with IPF. Herein, we review this rapidly changing landscape, discussing key events whilst still acknowledging that IPF remains a challenging disease to diagnose and manage.

The impact of industrial oil development on a protected area landscape: A case study on human population growth and landscape level change in Murchison Falls Conservation Area, Uganda.

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Dowhaniuk, Nicholas; Hartter, Joel; Congalton, Russell G.; Palace, Michael W.; Ryan, Sadie J.

2016-04-01

Protected areas in Sub-Saharan Africa are sanctuaries for rich biodiversity and are important economic engines for African nations, but they are becoming increasingly threatened by discoveries of mineral deposits within and nearby their boundaries. In 2006, viable oil reserves were discovered in Murchison Falls Conservation Area (MFCA) in northern Uganda. Exploratory and appraisal activities concluded in 2014, and production is expected to begin in 2016. The oil development is associated with a substantial increase in human population outside MFCA, with people seeking jobs, land, and economic opportunity. Concomitant with this change is increased truck traffic, a sprawling and denser road network, and infrastructure within the park, which could have large impacts on both the flora and fauna. We examined the broader protected area landscape and the potential feedbacks from resource development on the ecosystem and local livelihoods. Our analysis combines a land cover analysis using Object Based Image Analysis of Landsat data (2002 and 2014), migration patterns and population change (1959-2014), and qualitative interview data. Our results suggest that most of the larger-scale impacts on the landscape and people are occurring in the western and northern sections, both inside and outside of the park. Additionally, oil development is not the only factor in the region influencing population growth and landscape change. Post conflict regrowth in the north, sugarcane production in the south, and migration to this region from conflict-ridden neighboring countries are also playing a vital role in human migration shaping the MFCA Landscape. Understanding the social and environmental changes and impacts in the MFCA and its surrounding areas will add to limited literature on the impacts of resource extraction on local, subsistence communities and landscape level change, which will be important as access and pressure for oil and minerals within protected areas continues to rise.

Landscape evolution models using the stream power incision model show unrealistic behavior when m ∕ n equals 0.5

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J. S. Kwang

2017-12-01

Full Text Available Landscape evolution models often utilize the stream power incision model to simulate river incision: E = KAmSn, where E is the vertical incision rate, K is the erodibility constant, A is the upstream drainage area, S is the channel gradient, and m and n are exponents. This simple but useful law has been employed with an imposed rock uplift rate to gain insight into steady-state landscapes. The most common choice of exponents satisfies m ∕ n = 0.5. Yet all models have limitations. Here, we show that when hillslope diffusion (which operates only on small scales is neglected, the choice m ∕ n = 0.5 yields a curiously unrealistic result: the predicted landscape is invariant to horizontal stretching. That is, the steady-state landscape for a 10 km2 horizontal domain can be stretched so that it is identical to the corresponding landscape for a 1000 km2 domain.

Spatially Explicit Landscape-Level Ecological Risks Induced by Land Use and Land Cover Change in a National Ecologically Representative Region in China

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Jian Gong

2015-11-01

Full Text Available Land use and land cover change is driven by multiple influential factors from environmental and social dimensions in a land system. Land use practices of human decision-makers modify the landscape of the land system, possibly leading to landscape fragmentation, biodiversity loss, or environmental pollution—severe environmental or ecological impacts. While landscape-level ecological risk assessment supports the evaluation of these impacts, investigations on how these ecological risks induced by land use practices change over space and time in response to alternative policy intervention remain inadequate. In this article, we conducted spatially explicit landscape ecological risk analysis in Ezhou City, China. Our study area is a national ecologically representative region experiencing drastic land use and land cover change, and is regulated by multiple policies represented by farmland protection, ecological conservation, and urban development. We employed landscape metrics to consider the influence of potential landscape-level disturbance for the evaluation of landscape ecological risks. Using spatiotemporal simulation, we designed scenarios to examine spatiotemporal patterns in landscape ecological risks in response to policy intervention. Our study demonstrated that spatially explicit landscape ecological risk analysis combined with simulation-driven scenario analysis is of particular importance for guiding the sustainable development of ecologically vulnerable land systems.

Bird community in an Araucaria forest fragment in relation to changes in the surrounding landscape in Southern Brazil

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Pedro Scherer-Neto

2012-12-01

Full Text Available The dynamics of the bird community in a small forest fragment was evaluated along seven years in relation to changes in the surrounding landscape. The study area is an Araucaria forest fragment in Southern Brazil (state of Paraná. The sampling period covered the years 1988 through 1994 and the mark-release-recapture method was utilized. The landscape analysis was based on Landsat TM images, and changes in exotic tree plantations, native forest, open areas (agriculture, pasture, bare soil, and abandoned field, and "capoeira"(native vegetation < 2 m were quantified. The relationship between landscape changes and changes in abundance diversity of forest birds, open-area birds, forest-edge birds, and bamboo specialists was evaluated. Richness estimates were run for each year studied. The richness recorded in the study area comprised 96 species. The richness estimates were 114, 118 and 110 species for Chao 1, Jackknife 1 and Bootstrap, respectively. The bird community varied in species richness, abundance and diversity from year to year. As for species diversity, 1991, 1993 and 1994 were significantly different from the other years. Changes in the landscape contributed to the increase in abundance and richness for the groups of forest, open-area and bamboo-specialist species. An important factor discussed was the effect of the flowering of "taquara" (Poaceae, which contributed significantly to increasing richness of bamboo seed eaters, mainly in 1992 and 1993. In general, the results showed that landscape changes affected the dynamics and structure of the bird community of this forest fragment over time, and proved to have an important role in conservation of the avian community in areas of intensive forestry and agricultural activities.

Integrating landscape ecology and geoinformatics to decipher landscape dynamics for regional planning.

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Dikou, Angela; Papapanagiotou, Evangelos; Troumbis, Andreas

2011-09-01

We used remote sensing and GIS in conjunction with multivariate statistical methods to: (i) quantify landscape composition (land cover types) and configuration (patch density, diversity, fractal dimension, contagion) for five coastal watersheds of Kalloni gulf, Lesvos Island, Greece, in 1945, 1960, 1971, 1990 and 2002/2003, (ii) evaluate the relative importance of physical (slope, geologic substrate, stream order) and human (road network, population density) variables on landscape composition and configuration, and (iii) characterize processes that led to land cover changes through land cover transitions between these five successive periods in time. Distributions of land cover types did not differ among the five time periods at the five watersheds studied because the largest cumulative changes between 1945 and 2002/2003 did not take place at dominant land cover types. Landscape composition related primarily to the physical attributes of the landscape. Nevertheless, increase in population density and the road network were found to increase heterogeneity of the landscape mosaic (patchiness), complexity of patch shape (fractal dimension), and patch disaggregation (contagion). Increase in road network was also found to increase landscape diversity due to the creation of new patches. The main processes involved in land cover changes were plough-land abandonment and ecological succession. Landscape dynamics during the last 50 years corroborate the ecotouristic-agrotouristic model for regional development to reverse trends in agricultural land abandonment and human population decline and when combined with hypothetical regulatory approaches could predict how this landscape could develop in the future, thus, providing a valuable tool to regional planning.

Integration of Landscape Metrics and Variograms to Characterize and Quantify the Spatial Heterogeneity Change of Vegetation Induced by the 2008 Wenchuan Earthquake

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Ling Wang

2017-06-01

Full Text Available The quantification of spatial heterogeneity can be used to examine the structure of ecological systems. The 2008 Wenchuan earthquake caused severe vegetation damage. In addition to simply detecting change, the magnitude of changes must also be examined. Remote sensing and geographic information system techniques were used to produce landscape maps before and after the earthquake and analyze the spatial-temporal change of the vegetation pattern. Landscape metrics were selected to quantify the spatial heterogeneity in a categorical map at both the class and landscape levels. The results reveal that the Wenchuan earthquake greatly increased the heterogeneity in the study area. In particular, forests experienced the most fragmentation among all of the landscape types. In addition, spatial heterogeneity in a numerical map was studied by using variogram analysis of normalized difference vegetation indices derived from Landsat images. In comparison to before the earthquake, the spatial variability after the earthquake had doubled. The structure of the spatial heterogeneity represented by the range of normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI variograms also changed due to the earthquake. Moreover, the results of the NDVI variogram analysis of three contrasting landscapes, which were farmland, broadleaved forest, and coniferous forest, confirm that the earthquake produced spatial variability and changed the structure of the landscapes. Regardless of before or after the earthquake, farmland sites are the most heterogeneous among the three landscapes studied.

Linking hunter knowledge with forest change to understand changing deer harvest opportunities in intensively logged landscapes

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Tidd J. Brinkman; Terry Chapin; Gary Kofinas; David K. Person

2009-01-01

The effects of landscape changes caused by intensive logging on the availability of wild game are important when the harvest of wild game is a critical cultural practice, food source, and recreational activity. We assessed the influence of extensive industrial logging on the availability of wild game by drawing on local knowledge and ecological science to evaluate the...

Growing the physics community in the Philippines in a changing landscape

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Lim, May T.; Esguerra, Jose Perico H.

2015-12-01

Since the participation of the Philippines in the 3rd IUPAP International Conference on Women in Physics in 2008, the biggest change in the environment has happened online: Social media use is now pervasive. After the change in country leadership in 2010, policy directions were taken that directly affected the science research agenda, which in turn changed the research funding landscape. The uptake of government scholarship support for physics degrees continues to be popular with bachelor's and master's students regardless of gender. The country has also adopted the K-12 education system, and its impact on university employment remains to be seen.

Emerging methods for the study of coastal ecosystem landscape structure and change

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Brock, John C.; Danielson, Jeffrey J.; Purkis, Sam

2013-01-01

Coastal landscapes are heterogeneous, dynamic, and evolve over a range of time scales due to intertwined climatic, geologic, hydrologic, biologic, and meteorological processes, and are also heavily impacted by human development, commercial activities, and resource extraction. A diversity of complex coastal systems around the globe, spanning glaciated shorelines to tropical atolls, wetlands, and barrier islands are responding to multiple human and natural drivers. Interdisciplinary research based on remote-sensing observations linked to process studies and models is required to understand coastal ecosystem landscape structure and change. Moreover, new techniques for coastal mapping and monitoring are increasingly serving the needs of policy-makers and resource managers across local, regional, and national scales. Emerging remote-sensing methods associated with a diversity of instruments and platforms are a key enabling element of integrated coastal ecosystem studies. These investigations require both targeted and synoptic mapping, and involve the monitoring of formative processes such as hydrodynamics, sediment transport, erosion, accretion, flooding, habitat modification, land-cover change, and biogeochemical fluxes.

Wildfire patterns and landscape changes in Mediterranean oak woodlands.

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Guiomar, N; Godinho, S; Fernandes, P M; Machado, R; Neves, N; Fernandes, J P

2015-12-01

Fire is infrequent in the oak woodlands of southern Portugal (montado) but large and severe fires affected these agro-forestry systems in 2003-2005. We hypothesised transition from forest to shrubland as a fire-driven process and investigated the links between fire incidence and montado change to other land cover types, particularly those related with the presence of pioneer communities (generically designed in this context as "transitions to early-successional communities"). We present a landscape-scale framework for assessing the probability of transition from montado to pioneer communities, considering three sets of explanatory variables: montado patterns in 1990 and prior changes from montado to early-successional communities (occurred between 1960 and 1990), fire patterns, and spatial factors. These three sets of factors captured 78.2% of the observed variability in the transitions from montado to pioneer vegetation. The contributions of fire patterns and spatial factors were high, respectively 60.6% and 43.4%, the influence of montado patterns and former changes in montado being lower (34.4%). The highest amount of explained variation in the occurrence of transitions from montado to early-successional communities was related to the pure effect of fire patterns (19.9%). Low spatial connectedness in montado landscape can increase vulnerability to changes, namely to pioneer vegetation, but the observed changes were mostly explained by fire characteristics and spatial factors. Among all metrics used to characterize fire patterns and extent, effective mesh size provided the best modelling results. Transitions from montado to pioneer communities are more likely in the presence of high values of the effective mesh size of total burned area. This cross-boundary metric is an indicator of the influence of large fires in the distribution of the identified transitions and, therefore, we conclude that the occurrence of large fires in montado increases its probability of

Modulation of the erosion rate of an uplifting landscape by long-term climate change: An experimental investigation

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Moussirou, Bérangé; Bonnet, Stéphane

2018-02-01

Whether or not climatic variations play a major role in setting the erosion rate of continental landscapes is a key factor in demonstrating the influence of climate on the tectonic evolution of mountain belts and understanding how clastic deposits preserved in sedimentary basins may record climatic variations. Here, we investigate how a change in precipitation influences the erosional dynamics of laboratory-scale landscapes that evolved under a combination of uplift and rainfall forcings. We consider here the impact of a decrease in the precipitation rate of finite duration on the erosive response of a landscape forced by a constant uplift and initially at a steady state (SS1). We performed several experiments with the same amplitude but different durations of precipitation decrease (Tp). We observe that the decrease in precipitation induces a phase of surface uplift of landscapes to a new steady state condition (SS2); however, the details of the uplift histories (timing, rate) differ between the experiments according to Tp. We also observe a decrease in the erosion rate induced by the precipitation change; however, the timing and amplitude of this decrease vary according to Tp, defining a delayed and damped erosion signal. Our data show that the landscape response to precipitation change is dictated by a critical water-to-rock ratio (ratio of precipitation over uplift) that likely corresponds to a geomorphic threshold. Our study suggests that variations in precipitation that occur at a geological time scale (> 106 years) may have a weak impact on the erosion of landscapes and on the delivery of siliciclastic material to large rivers and sedimentary basins.

Climate change impact on landscape fire and forest biomass dynamics

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Li, C.

2004-01-01

The aim of this study was to improve current understandings of fire regimes. The estimation of biomass dynamics at the stand scale is essential for understanding landscape scale biomass dynamics, particularly in order to understand the potential effects of fire regimes. This study presented a synthesis of research results obtained from stand scale studies together with fire behaviour and weather variables. Landscape structure, topography and climate conditions were also considered. Integration of the data was conducted with the SEM-LAND model, a spatially explicit model for landscape dynamics. Equations for the model were presented, including fire initiation and spread, as well as a lightning fire process and simulated fire suppression. Results indicated that fire suppression could alter the distribution of fire sizes. The effect of tree and stand mortality on forest biomass estimates was also discussed along with the impact of climate change on fire regimes. Results indicate that fire activities are likely to increase. Results also demonstrate that fire frequency and size distribution are correlated without human intervention. Theoretical negative exponential forest age distribution is not always supported by empirical observations. Point-based fire frequency and fire cycle definitions are special cases from a computational perspective. Detection of quantitative interrelationships may simplify preconditions for estimating fire regimes, and serve as a means to address incomplete empirical observations. 12 refs., 3 figs

Beyond the conventional: meeting the challenges of landscape governance within the European Landscape Convention?

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Scott, Alister

2011-10-01

Academics and policy makers seeking to deconstruct landscape face major challenges conceptually, methodologically and institutionally. The meaning(s), identity(ies) and management of landscape are controversial and contested. The European Landscape Convention provides an opportunity for action and change set within new governance agendas addressing interdisciplinarity and spatial planning. This paper critically reviews the complex web of conceptual and methodological frameworks that characterise landscape planning and management and then focuses on emerging landscape governance in Scotland within a mixed method approach involving policy analyses, semi-structured interviews and best practice case studies. Using Dower's (2008) criteria from the Articles of the European Landscape Convention, the results show that whilst some progress has been made in landscape policy and practice, largely through the actions of key individuals and champions, there are significant institutional hurdles and resource limitations to overcome. The need to mainstream positive landscape outcomes requires a significant culture change where a one-size-fits-all approach does not work. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Bird on the wire: Landscape planning considering costs and benefits for bird populations coexisting with power lines.

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D'Amico, Marcello; Catry, Inês; Martins, Ricardo C; Ascensão, Fernando; Barrientos, Rafael; Moreira, Francisco

2018-02-24

Power-line grids are increasingly expanding worldwide, as well as their negative impacts on avifauna, namely the direct mortality through collision and electrocution, the reduction of breeding performance, and the barrier effect. On the other hand, some bird species can apparently benefit from the presence of power lines, for example perching for hunting purposes or nesting on electricity towers. In this perspective essay, we reviewed the scientific literature on both costs and benefits for avifauna coexisting with power lines. Overall, we detected a generalized lack of studies focusing on these costs or benefits at a population level. We suggest that a switch in research approach to a larger spatio-temporal scale would greatly improve our knowledge about the actual effects of power lines on bird populations. This research approach would facilitate suitable landscape planning encompassing both mitigation of costs and promotion of benefits for bird populations coexisting with power lines. For example, the strategic route planning of electricity infrastructures would limit collision risk or barrier effects for threatened bird populations. Concurrently, this strategic route planning would promote the range expansion of threatened populations of other bird species, by providing nesting structures in treeless but potentially suitable landscapes. We suggest establishing a collaborative dialogue among the scientific community, governments, and electricity companies, with the aim to produce a win-win scenario in which both biodiversity conservation and infrastructure development are integrated in a common strategy.

Changing Landscapes in Documentation Efforts: Civil Society Documentation of Serious Human Rights Violations

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Brianne McGonigle Leyh

2017-04-01

Full Text Available Wittingly or unwittingly, civil society actors have long been faced with the task of documenting serious human rights violations. Thirty years ago, such efforts were largely organised by grassroots movements, often with little support or funding from international actors. Sharing information and best practices was difficult. Today that situation has significantly changed. The purpose of this article is to explore the changing landscape of civil society documentation of serious human rights violations, and what that means for standardising and professionalising documentation efforts. Using the recent Hisséne Habré case as an example, this article begins by looking at how civil society documentation can successfully influence an accountability process. Next, the article touches upon barriers that continue to impede greater documentation efforts. The article examines the changing landscape of documentation, focusing on technological changes and the rise of citizen journalism and unofficial investigations, using Syria as an example, as well as on the increasing support for documentation efforts both in Syria and worldwide. The changing landscape has resulted in the proliferation of international documentation initiatives aimed at providing local civil society actors guidelines and practical assistance on how to recognise, collect, manage, store and use information about serious human rights violations, as well as on how to minimise the risks associated with the documentation of human rights violations. The recent initiatives undertaken by international civil society, including those by the Public International Law & Policy Group, play an important role in helping to standardise and professionalise documentation work and promote the foundational principles of documentation, namely the ‘do no harm’ principle, and the principles of informed consent and confidentiality. Recognising the drawback that greater professionalisation may bring, it

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

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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.

Chapter 9. The landscape sector

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Larivaille, Pierrette

1980-01-01

The object of this work is to examine the interactions between the activities of the electric industry (generating, transmission and distribution) and the environment, whilst showing to what extent the facilities are likely to affect it adversely and describing the measures taken to lessen the detrimental effects. The chapter devoted to the 'landscape' includes a section covering the electricity generating facilities, and among these, the nuclear power stations. The studies carried out on the main units of insertion into the site are presented, particularly the landscaping involved in setting up a power station [fr

Spatiotemporal Analysis of Urban Land Cover Changes in Kigali, Rwanda Using Multitemporal Landsat Data and Landscape Metrics

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Mugiraneza, T.; Haas, J.; Ban, Y.

2017-11-01

Mapping urbanization and ensuing environmental impacts using satellite data combined with landscape metrics has become a hot research topic. The objectives of the study are to analyze the spatio-temporal evolution of urbanization patterns of Kigali, Rwanda over the last three decades (from 1984 to 2015) using multitemporal Landsat data and to assess the associated environmental impact using landscape metrics. Landsat images, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Grey Level Co-occurrence Matrix (GLCM) variance texture and digital elevation model (DEM) data were classified using a support vector machine (SVM). Eight landscape indices were derived from classified images for urbanization environment impact assessment. Seven land cover classes were derived with an overall accuracy exceeding 88 % with Kappa Coefficients around 0.8. As most prominent changes, cropland was reduced considerably in favour of built-up areas that increased from 2,349 ha to 11,579 ha between 1984 and 2015. During those 31 years, the increased number of patches in most land cover classes illustrated landscape fragmentation, especially for forest. The landscape configuration indices demonstrate that in general the land cover pattern remained stable for cropland but it was highly changed in built-up areas. Satellite-based analysis and quantification of urbanization and its effects using landscape metrics are found to be interesting for grassroots and provide a cost-effective method for urban information production. This information can be used for e.g. potential design and implementation of early warning systems that cater for urbanization effects.

Analysis on landscape pattern change and ecosystem services value of modern agriculture corridor: a case study of Jingcheng Highway

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Liu, Bao; Gu, Xiaohe; Zhang, Jing; Du, Chong; Di, Xingcui

2009-10-01

Based on SPOT images and other geoscience data, this paper gets the land use and land cover information of Modern Agriculture Corridor from 2006 to 2008 by RS and GIS technology and makes analysis of land use changes in landscape ecology view. Then we build a quantitative evaluation model which select vegetation coverage as adjustment coefficient to monitor the changes of ecological services value. The results show that: In the aspect of landscape pattern index, the landscape heterogeneity of the region is increasing, the land use types become various, degree of landscape fragmentation has increased; woodland, farmland and construction land play a leading role in the dynamic changes of landscape. In the view of ecosystem service value, the total value of ecosystem services of Modern Agriculture Corridor from 2006 to 2008 are respectively 186, 188, 193 million Yuan, and the annual average rate is 2%; ecosystem qualities are different in different seasons, and quality in summer is best which has 33% contribution to the full-year value of ecosystem services; the average contribution rates of forest and waters ecosystems are the highest, respectively 37% and 33%; increase of woodland, grassland and water area is the main reason that enhancing ecosystem services.

[Dynamic changes of urban architecture landscape based on Barista: a case study in Tiexi District of Shenyang City].

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Zhang, Pei-feng; Hu, Yuan-man; He, Hong-shi; Xiong, Zai-ping; Liu, Miao

2010-12-01

In this paper, three-dimensional building information was extracted from high resolution satellite image based on Barista software. Combined with ArcGIS software, the dynamic changes of the building landscape in Tiexi District of Shenyang City during urban renewal process were analyzed from the conversion contribution rate, building density, average building height, and built-up area rate. It was found that during this urban renewal process, four dominant landscape types (vacant lot, residential building, industrial building, and road) were the main parts of the landscape changes. The areas of vacant lot, residential building, commercial building, and road increased, while that of industrial building decreased. The building density decreased, while the average building height increased. There was an obvious regional variation in building landscape. The building density in industrial district was higher than that in residential district, while the average building height was in adverse. The further from the city center, the lower the building density and building average height.

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.

The effects of seed dispersal on the simulation of long-term forest landscape change

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Hong S. He; David J. Mladenoff

1999-01-01

The study of forest landscape change requires an understanding of the complex interactions of both spatial and temporal factors. Traditionally, forest gap models have been used to simulate change on small and independent plots. While gap models are useful in examining forest ecological dynamics across temporal scales, large, spatial processes, such as seed dispersal,...

Monitoring Forest Change in Landscapes Under-Going Rapid Energy Development: Challenges and New Perspectives

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Paul D. Pickell

2014-07-01

Full Text Available The accelerated development of energy resources around the world has substantially increased forest change related to oil and gas activities. In some cases, oil and gas activities are the primary catalyst of land-use change in forested landscapes. We discuss the challenges associated with characterizing ecological change related to energy resource development using North America as an exemplar. We synthesize the major impacts of energy development to forested ecosystems and offer new perspectives on how to detect and monitor anthropogenic disturbance during the Anthropocene. The disturbance of North American forests for energy development has resulted in persistent linear corridors, suppression of historical disturbance regimes, novel ecosystems, and the eradication of ecological memory. Characterizing anthropogenic disturbances using conventional patch-based disturbance measures will tend to underestimate the ecological impacts of energy development. Suitable indicators of anthropogenic impacts in forests should be derived from the integration of multi-scalar Earth observations. Relating these indicators to ecosystem condition will be a capstone in the progress toward monitoring forest change in landscapes undergoing rapid energy development.

Monitoring shifts in plant diversity in response to climate change: A method for landscapes

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Stohlgren, T.J.; Owen, A.J.; Lee, M.

2000-01-01

Improved sampling designs are needed to detect, monitor, and predict plant migrations and plant diversity changes caused by climate change and other human activities. We propose a methodology based on multi-scale vegetation plots established across forest ecotones which provide baseline data on patterns of plant diversity, invasions of exotic plant species, and plant migrations at landscape scales in Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado, USA. We established forty two 1000-m2 plots in relatively homogeneous forest types and the ecotones between them on 14 vegetation transects. We found that 64% of the variance in understory species distributions at landscape scales were described generally by gradients of elevation and under-canopy solar radiation. Superimposed on broad-scale climatic gradients are small-scale gradients characterized by patches of light, pockets of fertile soil, and zones of high soil moisture. Eighteen of the 42 plots contained at least one exotic species; monitoring exotic plant invasions provides a means to assess changes in native plant diversity and plant migrations. Plant species showed weak affinities to overstory vegetation types, with 43% of the plant species found in three or more vegetation types. Replicate transects along several environmental gradients may provide the means to monitor plant diversity and species migrations at landscape scales because: (1) ecotones may play crucial roles in expanding the geophysiological ranges of many plant species; (2) low affinities of understory species to overstory forest types may predispose vegetation types to be resilient to rapid environmental change; and (3) ecotones may help buffer plant species from extirpation and extinction.

Using Landscape metrics to analyze the landscape evolution under land abandonment

Science.gov (United States)

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

Changing tree composition by life history strategy in a grassland-forest landscape

Science.gov (United States)

Brice B. Hanberry; John M. Kabrick; Hong S. He

2014-01-01

After rapid deforestation in the eastern United States, which generally occurred during the period of 1850-1920, forests did not return to historical composition and structure. We examined forest compositional change and then considered how historical land use and current land use may influence forests in a grassland-forest landscape, the Missouri Plains, where...

Applying a framework for landscape planning under climate change for the conservation of biodiversity in the Finnish boreal forest

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Mazziotta, Adriano; Triviño, Maria; Tikkanen, Olli Pekka

2015-01-01

= 0.6%), intact areas with low vulnerability that represent potential climate refugia and require conservation capacity maintenance; (iii) resistant (B1 = 6.7%, A1B = 0.8%, A2 = 1.1%), landscapes with low current conservation capacity and low vulnerability that are suitable for restoration projects......Conservation strategies are often established without consideration of the impact of climate change. However, this impact is expected to threaten species and ecosystem persistence and to have dramatic effects towards the end of the 21st century. Landscape suitability for species under climate...... change is determined by several interacting factors including dispersal and human land use. Designing effective conservation strategies at regional scales to improve landscape suitability requires measuring the vulnerabilities of specific regions to climate change and determining their conservation...

Interpreting landscape change in high mountains of northeastern Oregon from long-term repeat photography.

Science.gov (United States)

Jon M. Skovlin; Gerald S. Strickler; Jesse L. Peterson; Arthur W. Sampson

2001-01-01

We compared 45 photographs taken before 1925 to photographs taken as late as 1999 and documented landscape changes above 5,000 feet elevation in the Wallowa, Elkhorn, and Greenhorn Mountains of northeastern Oregon. We noted the following major changes from these comparisons: (1) the expansion of subalpine fir into mountain grasslands, (2) the invasion of moist and wet...

Spatial allocation of future landscape patterns for biomass and alleviation of hydrologic impacts of climate change

Science.gov (United States)

Ssegane, H.; Negri, M. C.

2015-12-01

Current and future demand for food, feed, fiber, and energy require novel approaches to land management, which demands that multifunctional landscapes are created to integrate various ecosystem functions into a sustainable land use. Concurrently, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) predicts an increase of 2 to 4°C over the next 100 years above the preindustrial baseline, beginning as early as 2016 to 2035 over all seasons in the North America. This climate change is projected to further strain water resources currently stressed by anthropogenic activities. Therefore, placement of bioenergy crops on strategically selected sub-field areas in an agricultural landscape has the potential to increase the environmental and economic sustainability if location and choice of the crops result in minimal disruption of current food production systems and therefore cause minimal indirect land use change. This study identified sub-field marginal areas in an agricultural watershed using soil-based environmental sustainability criteria and a crop productivity index. Future landscape patterns (FLPs) were developed by allocating bioenergy crops (switchgrass: Panicum virgatum or shrub willows: Salix spp.) to these marginal areas (20% of the watershed). SWAT hydrologic model and dynamically downscaled climatic projection were used to asses impact of climate change on extreme flow conditions, total annual production of commodity and bioenergy crops, and water quality under current and future landscape patterns for the mid-21st century (2045-2055) and late 21st century (2085-2095) climatic projections. The frequency of flood and drought conditions was projected to increase while the corresponding durations to decrease. Sediment yields were projected to increase by 85% to 170% while FLPs would mitigate this increase by 26% to 32%.

Classification of Farmland Landscape Structure in Multiple Scales

Science.gov (United States)

Jiang, P.; Cheng, Q.; Li, M.

2017-12-01

Farmland is one of the basic terrestrial resources that support the development and survival of human beings and thus plays a crucial role in the national security of every country. Pattern change is the intuitively spatial representation of the scale and quality variation of farmland. Through the characteristic development of spatial shapes as well as through changes in system structures, functions and so on, farmland landscape patterns may indicate the landscape health level. Currently, it is still difficult to perform positioning analyses of landscape pattern changes that reflect the landscape structure variations of farmland with an index model. Depending on a number of spatial properties such as locations and adjacency relations, distance decay, fringe effect, and on the model of patch-corridor-matrix that is applied, this study defines a type system of farmland landscape structure on the national, provincial, and city levels. According to such a definition, the classification model of farmland landscape-structure type at the pixel scale is developed and validated based on mathematical-morphology concepts and on spatial-analysis methods. Then, the laws that govern farmland landscape-pattern change in multiple scales are analyzed from the perspectives of spatial heterogeneity, spatio-temporal evolution, and function transformation. The result shows that the classification model of farmland landscape-structure type can reflect farmland landscape-pattern change and its effects on farmland production function. Moreover, farmland landscape change in different scales displayed significant disparity in zonality, both within specific regions and in urban-rural areas.

Projected gains and losses of wildlife habitat from bioenergy-induced landscape change

Science.gov (United States)

Tarr, Nathan M.; Rubino, Matthew J.; Costanza, Jennifer K.; McKerrow, Alexa; Collazo, Jaime A.; Abt, Robert C.

2016-01-01

Domestic and foreign renewable energy targets and financial incentives have increased demand for woody biomass and bioenergy in the southeastern United States. This demand is expected to be met through purpose-grown agricultural bioenergy crops, short-rotation tree plantations, thinning and harvest of planted and natural forests, and forest harvest residues. With results from a forest economics model, spatially explicit state-and-transition simulation models, and species–habitat models, we projected change in habitat amount for 16 wildlife species caused by meeting a renewable fuel target and expected demand for wood pellets in North Carolina, USA. We projected changes over 40 years under a baseline ‘business-as-usual’ scenario without bioenergy production and five scenarios with unique feedstock portfolios. Bioenergy demand had potential to influence trends in habitat availability for some species in our study area. We found variation in impacts among species, and no scenario was the ‘best’ or ‘worst’ across all species. Our models projected that shrub-associated species would gain habitat under some scenarios because of increases in the amount of regenerating forests on the landscape, while species restricted to mature forests would lose habitat. Some forest species could also lose habitat from the conversion of forests on marginal soils to purpose-grown feedstocks. The conversion of agricultural lands on marginal soils to purpose-grown feedstocks increased habitat losses for one species with strong associations with pasture, which is being lost to urbanization in our study region. Our results indicate that landscape-scale impacts on wildlife habitat will vary among species and depend upon the bioenergy feedstock portfolio. Therefore, decisions about bioenergy and wildlife will likely involve trade-offs among wildlife species, and the choice of focal species is likely to affect the results of landscape-scale assessments. We offer general principals

An assessment of landscape changes in Mediterranean region. A case study of Algarve, southern Portugal.

Science.gov (United States)

Fernandez, Helena; Martins, Fernando; Valín, Maria Isabel; Moreno, Ângela; Pedras, Celestina

2014-05-01

Currently, the application of remote sensing techniques is a key factor for the planning and land management to ensure a sustainable development of the regions. Algarve, the most southern region of Portugal is characterized by its Mediterranean climate. This climate is described by irregular precipitation throughout the year with drought during summer months. The regional climate has a profound influence on its particular vegetation and wildlife turning it in a unique habitat for many species. Since the 1970s, increases in tourism have greatly affected the coastal region. This has led to great landscape pressure and urban growth, resulting in population increases due to local economic prosperity. Across Algarve, in recent decades, lawns areas have grown dramatically. Landscape water use has increased mainly because homeowners seldom pay the 'true' cost of water. Continued expansion of water supply is not, therefore, a viable management option in the future, particularly given the anticipated increase in the frequency and severity of droughts in Portugal. There's a need to change the perception of landscape relative to water consumption. Algarve needs a sustainable, 'demand-led' approach to water resource management, focusing on conserving water and using it more efficiently. The water resources available in the Algarve are limited, and decisions regarding sustainability must consider the environment. The aim of this study is to apply the remote sensing techniques to analyse the landscape changes in three municipalities of Algarve (Portugal): Albufeira, Loulé and Faro. The three Landsat images, from April 9th 1973 (Landsat1), March 23th 1989 (Landsat5) and April 26th 2013 (Landsat8) were used. The images were classified based on the radiometric information and the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI). These range of dates of the Landsat images used allowed for the differentiation between classes of the landscape. Land use and water resources are closely

Landscape genomic prediction for restoration of a Eucalyptus foundation species under climate change.

Science.gov (United States)

Supple, Megan Ann; Bragg, Jason G; Broadhurst, Linda M; Nicotra, Adrienne B; Byrne, Margaret; Andrew, Rose L; Widdup, Abigail; Aitken, Nicola C; Borevitz, Justin O

2018-04-24

As species face rapid environmental change, we can build resilient populations through restoration projects that incorporate predicted future climates into seed sourcing decisions. Eucalyptus melliodora is a foundation species of a critically endangered community in Australia that is a target for restoration. We examined genomic and phenotypic variation to make empirical based recommendations for seed sourcing. We examined isolation by distance and isolation by environment, determining high levels of gene flow extending for 500 km and correlations with climate and soil variables. Growth experiments revealed extensive phenotypic variation both within and among sampling sites, but no site-specific differentiation in phenotypic plasticity. Model predictions suggest that seed can be sourced broadly across the landscape, providing ample diversity for adaptation to environmental change. Application of our landscape genomic model to E. melliodora restoration projects can identify genomic variation suitable for predicted future climates, thereby increasing the long term probability of successful restoration. © 2018, Supple et al.

Landscape degradation at different spatial scales caused by aridification

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Meyer Burghard Christian

2017-12-01

Full Text Available Landscape responses to degradation caused by aridification bring the landscape system into a new equilibrium state. The system transformation may entail irreversible changes to its constituting parameters. This paper analyses the impact of aridification on landscape degradation processes in the sand-covered landscapes of the Hungarian Danube-Tisza Interfluve region at the regional, landscape, and local site scales. Changes in groundwater level (well data, lake surface area (Modified Normalized Difference Water Index and vegetation cover (Enhanced Vegetation Index were analysed over time periods of 12–60 years. Significant regional variation in decreasing groundwater levels is observed and limits the regional applicability of this indicator. Applying the lake surface area parameter from remote sensing data demonstrated greater utility, identifying several local lakes in the landscapes which have dried out. Analysis of the vegetation response indicated minor changes over the 2000–2014 time period and did not indicate a landscape system change. Landscape degradation as a result of changes in groundwater, vegetation, land cover and land use is clearly identified exclusively in local lake areas, but at the landscape scale, changes in the water balance are found in phases of system stability and transformation. Thresholds are identified to support policy and management towards landscape degradation neutrality.

A Method for Gauging Landscape Change as a Prelude to Urban Watershed Regeneration: The Case of the Carioca River, Rio de Janeiro

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Vera Regina Tangari

2012-08-01

Full Text Available Natural systems undergo processes, flows, and rhythms that differ from those of urban sociocultural systems. While the former takes place over eras or many generations, the latter may occur within years or even months. Natural systems change includes no principle of intentional progress or enhancement of complexity. In contrast, sociocultural systems change occurs through inherited characteristics, learning, and cultural transmission [1]. Both are dynamic, heterogeneous, and vulnerable to regime shifts, and are inextricably linked. The interrelations among natural and anthropogenic factors affecting sustainability vary spatially and temporally. This paper focuses on landscape changes along the Carioca River valley in Rio de Janeiro, located in the Brazilian Neotropical Southeastern Region, and its implications for local urban sustainability. The study incorporates a transdisciplinary approach that integrates landscape ecology and urban morphology methodologies to gauge landscape change and assess social-ecological systems dynamics. The methodology includes a variety of landscape change assessments; including on-site landscape ecological, landscape morphology, biological and urbanistic surveys, to gauge urban watershed quality. It presents an adapted inventory for assessment of urban tropical rivers, Neotropical Urban Stream Visual Assessment Protocol (NUSVAP, and correlates the level of stream and rainforest integrity to local urban environmental patterns and processes. How can urban regional land managers, planners and communities work together to promote shifts toward more desirable configurations and processes? An understanding of the transient behavior of social-ecological systems and how they respond to change and disturbance is fundamental to building appropriate management strategies and fostering resilience, regenerative capacity, and sustainable development in urban watersheds. The sociocultural patterns, processes and dynamics of Rio�

Landscape changes in the environment due to military actions and their epidemic risks

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Krushelnitsky A.D.

2016-05-01

Full Text Available The article considers the influence of the military-ecological and man-caused-anthropogenic factors on the environment state and natural processes. Epidemic risks and consequences resulted from landscapic changes of the environment which arise as a result of war and destruction of ecosystems are described.

Power lines, roads, and avian nest survival: effects on predator identity and predation intensity.

Science.gov (United States)

DeGregorio, Brett A; Weatherhead, Patrick J; Sperry, Jinelle H

2014-05-01

1 Anthropogenic alteration of landscapes can affect avian nest success by influencing the abundance, distribution, and behavior of predators. Understanding avian nest predation risk necessitates understanding how landscapes affect predator distribution and behavior. 2 From a sample of 463 nests of 17 songbird species, we evaluated how landscape features (distance to forest edge, unpaved roads, and power lines) influenced daily nest survival. We also used video cameras to identify nest predators at 137 nest predation events and evaluated how landscape features influenced predator identity. Finally, we determined the abundance and distribution of several of the principal predators using surveys and radiotelemetry. 3 Distance to power lines was the best predictor of predator identity: predation by brown-headed cowbirds (Molothrus ater), corvids (Corvus sp. and Cyanocitta cristata), racers (Coluber constrictor), and coachwhips (Masticophis flagellum) increased with proximity to power lines, whereas predation by rat snakes (Elaphe obsoleta) and raptors decreased. In some cases, predator density may reliably indicate nest predation risk because racers, corvids, and cowbirds frequently used power line right-of-ways. 4 Of five bird species with enough nests to analyze individually, daily nest survival of only indigo buntings (Passerina cyanea) decreased with proximity to power lines, despite predation by most predators at our site being positively associated with power lines. For all nesting species combined, distance to unpaved road was the model that most influenced daily nest survival. This pattern is likely a consequence of rat snakes, the locally dominant nest predator (28% of predation events), rarely using power lines and associated areas. Instead, rat snakes were frequently associated with road edges, indicating that not all edges are functionally similar. 5 Our results suggest that interactions between predators and landscape features are likely to be specific to

[Dynamic changes of land desertification landscape pattern in agriculture and pasturage interlaced zone of northern Shaanxi].

Science.gov (United States)

Jia, Ke-Li; Chang, Qing-Rui

2007-09-01

By using the 1986, 1993 and 2003 Landsat TM images and with the help of GIS, the dynamic changes of land desertification landscape pattern in agriculture and pasturage interlaced zone of northern Shaanxi in 1986-2003 were analyzed. The results showed that in the past 17 years, the desertification area in the zone decreased by 206,655.2 hm2, with the patches in landscape structure reduced and fragmentation abated. Fortunately, the desertification degree decreased obviously, and moderate and light desertification took the leading position. From 1986 to 2003, the spatial centroid of desertification landscape patches expanded southwestward and northeastward, giving serious threat to the ecological safety of the southeast and northeast loess gully and hilly areas.

Hydrologic and landscape changes in the Middle Ebro River (NE Spain: implications for restoration and management

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

A. Cabezas

2009-02-01

Full Text Available The changes of landscape (1927–2003, discharge regime and anthropic activities with the river-floodplain of one reach at the Middle Ebro River (NE Spain were investigated with the objective to identify the factors that best explain the natural ecotope succession and propose a realistic restoration option with consideration of the landscape dynamics during the last century and the socio-economic context. Our results indicate that hydrological and landscape patterns have been dramatically changed during the last century as a consequence of human alteration of the fluvial dynamics within the studied reach. The magnitude and variability of river discharge events have decreased at the end of the last century, and flood protection structures have disrupted the river floodplain connectivity. As a result, the succesional pathways of riparian ecotopes have been heavily modified because natural rejuvenation no longer takes place, resulting in decreased landscape diversity. It is apparent from these data that floodplain restoration must be incorporated as a significant factor into river management plans if a more natural functioning wants to be retrieved. The ecotope structure and dynamics of the 1927–1957 period should be adopted as the guiding image, whereas current hydrologic and landscape (dykes, raised surfaces patterns should be considered. Under the current socio-economic context, the more realistic option seems to create a dynamic river corridor reallocating dykes and lowering floodplain heights. The extent of this river corridor should adapt to the restored flow regime, although periodic economic investments could be an option if the desired self-sustained dynamism is not reached.

Change of Landscape Structure before and after Winter Olympic Games in Nagano City

Science.gov (United States)

Fujii, Yoshio; Takeda, Toshiharu

Recently it is desirable to realize the conservation of biodiversity and to create the city with symbiosis with nature even in local city. In this study, we chose Nagano City which was the site of the Winter Olympic Games as the subject of study, investigated the change of land cover by using Landsat TM data of the year 1985 and 1999 which were before and after the Winter Olympic Games, and grasped the change of landscape structure quantitatively by using landscape indices. As a result, we obtained the following conclusions. The expansion of urban area proceeded rapidly before and after the Winter Olympic Games. The area of artificial land cover in the city planning area has increased by 57%. In the meantime the areas of upland field and paddy field have decreased by 45% and 50% respectively. Therefore, agricultural land changed into urban area remarkably. It was found that the shape of paches of paddy field and upland field especially became small and the inequality of the paches decreased before and after the Winter Olympic Games. It became clear that the fragmentation has occurred in agricultural land such as paddy field, upland field and orchard.

Past and future landscape dynamics in pasture-woodlands of the Swiss Jura Mountains under climate change

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Alexander Peringer

2013-09-01

We present a refined version of the spatially explicit, dynamic simulation model WoodPaM with improved climate sensitivity of simulated vegetation. We investigate pasture-woodland dynamics by applying an innovative combination of retrospective simulations starting in the Middle Ages with prospective simulations following two climate change scenarios. The retrospective simulations demonstrate the strong dependency of the landscape mosaic on both climate and management. In high elevation mountain pastures, climate cooling during the Little Ice Age hindered simulated tree regeneration and reduced forage production of grasslands. Both led to an increase in open grassland and to a structural simplification of the landscape. In turn, climate warming afterwards showed the opposite effect. At lower elevations, high cattle stocking rates generally dominate simulated succession, leading to a slow development of quite homogenous landscapes whose structures are hardly affected by historical climate variability. Aerial photographs suggest that logging and windstorms critically shaped the current landscape, both homogenizing mosaic structures that emerge from selective grazing. Simulations of climate change scenarios suggest delayed but inevitable structural changes in the landscape mosaic and a temporary breakdown of the ecosystem service wood production. The population of currently dominating Norway spruce collapses due to simulated drought. Spruce is only slowly replaced either by beech under moderate warming or by Scots pine under extreme warming. In general, the shift in tree species dominance results in landscapes of less structural richness than today. In order to maintain the mosaic structure of pasture-woodlands, we recommend a future increase in cattle stocking on mountain pastures. The (re- introduction of mixed herds (cattle with horses, sheep, and goats could mitigate the simulated trend towards structural homogenization of the forest-grassland mosaic because

The view from within and the view from without: Australian landscape research.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

David Yencken

1995-03-01

Full Text Available THE LANDSCAPE RESEARCH TASK in Australia is one that commands our attention. The Australian landscape, compared to that of other countries, is still not well understood scientifically as a rich and diverse biome, pragmatically as a productive base, or perceptually as a source of emotional support and inspiration. Australian society is multicultural and changing rapidly. There are complex and shifting strands of interwoven relationships-involving the people and the land-among the original occupiers, the children of European and other settlers and more recent migrants. There are important forces at work which are changing the way knowledge and information are generated, interpreted, shared and disseminated. These include powerful new technologies on the one hand and new epistemologies on the other. Australian landscape practice is young, unfocused and without a distinctive style or philosophy of its own. The discipline of landscape architecture lacks the intellectual depth needed to command respect in Australian society. Only through excellent research and fine writing will the schools of landscape architecture, those now in place and those emerging, respond to these issues in thoughtful ways, prepare students adequately, support and assist those in practice and contribute properly to the intellectual life and development of the country. To explore these issues this paper examines the realm of landscape research, discusses further the distinctive aspects of the landscape research task in Australia, reviews the research so far completed and looks at the route we might take in the future to develop a rich research culture.

Landscape Ecology and problems of European cultural landscapes

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Brandt, Jesper

2011-01-01

by practical problems of European cultural – especial agricultural – landscapes since the rise of the environmental movement. Central themes have been the consequences of technological and structural changes within European agriculture for the landscape and the development of habitats and dispersal...... Problemstellungen basieren auf multifunktionalen Nutzungskonzepten ruraler Landschaften, besonders im Hinblick auf Suburbanisierungsprozesse. Eine Anzahl untereinander vergleichbarer Projekte, mit parallelen bis ähnlichen Ausprägungen innerhalb Dänemarks und weiteerer europäischer Länder, werden exemplarisch...

The changing landscape of biosimilars in rheumatology

Science.gov (United States)

Dörner, Thomas; Strand, Vibeke; Cornes, Paul; Gonçalves, João; Gulácsi, László; Kvien, Tore K; Tanaka, Yoshiya; Burmester, Gerd R

2016-01-01

Biosimilars remain a hot topic in rheumatology, and some physicians are cautious about their application in the real world. With many products coming to market and a wealth of guidelines and recommendations concerning their use, there is a need to understand the changing landscape and the real clinical and health-economic potential offered by these agents. Notably, rheumatologists will be at the forefront of the use of biosimilar monoclonal antibodies/soluble receptors. Biosimilars offer cost savings and health gains for our patients and will play an important role in treating rheumatic diseases. We hope that these lower costs will compensate for inequities in access to therapy based on economic differences across countries. Since approved biosimilars have already demonstrated highly similar efficacy, it will be most important to establish pharmacovigilance databases across countries that are adequate to monitor long-term safety after marketing approval. PMID:26964144

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...

Changes in Landscape Pattern of Wetland around Hangzhou Bay

Science.gov (United States)

Lin, Wenpeng; Li, Yuan; Xu, Dan; Zeng, Ying

2018-04-01

Hangzhou Bay is an important estuarial coastal wetland, which offers a large number of land and ecological resources. It plays a significant role in the sustainable development of resources, environment and economy. In this paper, based on the remote sensing images in 1996, 2005 and 2013, we extracted the coastal wetland data and analyzed the wetland landscape pattern of the Hangzhou Bay in the past 20 years. The results show that: (1) the area of coastal wetland is heading downwards in the recent decades. Paddy field and the coastal wetland diminish greatly. (2) the single dynamic degree of wetland of the Hangzhou Bay displays that paddy fields and coastal wetlands are shrinking, but lakes, reservoirs and ponds are constantly expanding. (3) the wetland landscape pattern index shows that total patch area of the coastal wetland and paddy fields have gradually diminished. The Shannon diversity index, the Shannon evenness index as well as the landscape separation index of the coastal wetlands in the Hangzhou Bay increase steadily. The landscape pattern in the study area has shown a trend of high fragmentation, dominance decreases, but some dominant landscape still exist in this region. (4) Urbanization and natural factors lead to the reduction of wetland area. Besides the pressure of population is a major threat to the wetland. The study will provide scientific basis for long-term planning for this region.

Models of vegetation change for landscape planning: a comparison of FETM, LANDSUM, SIMPPLLE, and VDDT

Science.gov (United States)

T. M. Barrett

2001-01-01

Landscape assessment and planning often depend on the ability to predict change of vegetation. This report compares four modeling systems (FETM, LANDSUM, SIMPPLLE, and VDDT) that can be used to understand changes resulting from succession, natural disturbance, and management activities. The four models may be useful for regional or local assessments in National Forest...

An Agent-Based Assessment of Land Use and Ecosystem Changes in Traditional Agricultural Landscape of Portugal

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Acosta, L.; Rounsevell, M.D.A.; Bakker, M.M.; Doorn, van A.M.; Gómez-Delgado, M.; Delgado, M.

2014-01-01

This paper presents an assessment of land use changes and their impacts on the ecosystem in the Montado, a traditional agricultural landscape of Portugal in response to global environmental change. The assessment uses an agent- based model (ABM) of the adaptive decisions of farmers to simulate the

Nuclear power: A changing landscape. 7 July 2006, Ankara, Turkey

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

ElBaradei, M.

2006-01-01

With this brief overview, I have tried to outline some of the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead, with respect to the role of nuclear energy as part of the global energy mix. With its recent decision to embark on a nuclear power programme, Turkey will be facing its own set of technological and institutional challenges. At the IAEA, we stand ready to work with you in finding the solutions that are best suited to your needs and priorities

Quantitative analyses of empirical fitness landscapes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Szendro, Ivan G; Franke, Jasper; Krug, Joachim; Schenk, Martijn F; De Visser, J Arjan G M

2013-01-01

The concept of a fitness landscape is a powerful metaphor that offers insight into various aspects of evolutionary processes and guidance for the study of evolution. Until recently, empirical evidence on the ruggedness of these landscapes was lacking, but since it became feasible to construct all possible genotypes containing combinations of a limited set of mutations, the number of studies has grown to a point where a classification of landscapes becomes possible. The aim of this review is to identify measures of epistasis that allow a meaningful comparison of fitness landscapes and then apply them to the empirical landscapes in order to discern factors that affect ruggedness. The various measures of epistasis that have been proposed in the literature appear to be equivalent. Our comparison shows that the ruggedness of the empirical landscape is affected by whether the included mutations are beneficial or deleterious and by whether intragenic or intergenic epistasis is involved. Finally, the empirical landscapes are compared to landscapes generated with the rough Mt Fuji model. Despite the simplicity of this model, it captures the features of the experimental landscapes remarkably well. (paper)

Sixty-Year Changes in Residential Landscapes in Beijing: A Perspective from Both the Horizontal (2D and Vertical (3D Dimensions

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zhong Zheng

2017-09-01

Full Text Available Landscape changes associated with urbanization can lead to many serious ecological and environmental problems. Quantifying the vertical structure of the urban landscape and its change is important to understand its social and ecological impacts, but previous studies mainly focus on urban horizontal expansion and its impacts on land cover/land use change. This papers focuses on the residential landscape to investigate how the vertical dimension of the urban landscape (i.e., building height change through time, and how such change is related to changes in the horizontal dimension of the landscape, using Beijing, the capital of China, as a case study. We quantified the expansion of the residential neighborhoods from 1949 to 2009, and changes in vegetation coverage, building density, and building height within these neighborhoods, using 1 m spatial resolution imagery. One-way ANOVA and correlation analysis were used to examine the relationships of building height to vegetation coverage and building density. We found: (1 The residential areas expanded rapidly and were dominated by outward growth, with much less within-city infilling. The growth rate varied greatly through time, first increasing from 1949–2004 and then decreasing from 2005–2009. The expansion direction of newly built residential neighborhoods shifted from west to north in a clockwise direction. (2 The vertical structure of residential neighborhoods changed with time and varied in space, forming a “low-high” pattern from urban central areas to the urban edges within the 5th ring road of Beijing. (3 The residential neighborhoods built in different time periods had significant differences in vegetation coverage, building density, and building height. The residential neighborhoods built in more recent years tended to have taller buildings, lower building density and lower vegetation coverage.

Changing cultural landscape in post-productivism of rice field in Nyuh Kuning Village Bali

Science.gov (United States)

Maulidi, C.; Wulandari, L. D.

2017-06-01

Natural landscape in developing countries is facing a challenge due to economic growth, a cultural shift, and population dynamics. Farm land where is close to urban areas tending to be converted into more economically valuable spaces. Watershed Pakerisan listed as World Heritage of UNESCO, rich of cultural value on its landscape, especially the Subak, a traditional irrigation system, has a close relationship to the philosophy of Hindu-Bali culture. Nyuh Kuning, a village (local terms is Banjar) located adjacent to the Pakerisan Watershed, and has a spatial pattern in synergic ally connected with tradition, culture, and their religion. Rice field not only for economical but also its place to worship the Goddess (Dewi Sri). Rice Field in Nyuh Kuning declined significantly along past 10 years. The changing landscape of Nyuh Kuning traced through serial of aerial photographs from 2005 until 2015. Along with the broad decline of rice field, villager’s attachment on their cultural space is also changing. An economic motive pronounces a winner in the bargaining between the motives of economic value and cultural value in the Nyuh Kuning. Villagers revealed arguments that necessities nowadays prosecute high consumption, both for household and for education. Therefore conversion of rice fields to become more economical is understandable among communities. Villagers rent the rice fields to foreigners (migrants), and then foreigners take rice-fields as personal assets, not for the villagers (ritual activities and the cultural traditions) any longer. In theoritical term, villager’s emotional bond to the cultural landscape in post—productivism of rice field, is weakened. Wawedangan Desa and its complex cultural values are not part of their identity anymore. However, place dependence become the reason why the shifting place attachment is happening. Functional economic bond is mentioned as place dependence dominats in villager’s attachment. Certainly it’s not a

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

Landscape degradation at different spatial scales caused by aridification

OpenAIRE

Meyer Burghard Christian; Mezősi Gábor; Kovács Ferenc

2017-01-01

Landscape responses to degradation caused by aridification bring the landscape system into a new equilibrium state. The system transformation may entail irreversible changes to its constituting parameters. This paper analyses the impact of aridification on landscape degradation processes in the sand-covered landscapes of the Hungarian Danube-Tisza Interfluve region at the regional, landscape, and local site scales. Changes in groundwater level (well data), lake surface area (Modified Normaliz...

Perspectives of Fijian Policymakers on the Obesity Prevention Policy Landscape

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Anna-Marie Hendriks

2015-01-01

Full Text Available In Fiji and other Pacific Island countries, obesity has rapidly increased in the past decade. Therefore, several obesity prevention policies have been developed. Studies show that their development has been hampered by factors within Fiji’s policy landscape such as pressure from industry. Since policymakers in the Fijian national government are primarily responsible for the development of obesity policies, it is important to understand their perspectives; we therefore interviewed 15 policymakers from nine Fijian ministries. By applying the “attractor landscape” metaphor from dynamic systems theory, we captured perceived barriers and facilitators in the policy landscape. A poor economic situation, low food self-sufficiency, power inequalities, inappropriate framing of obesity, limited policy evidence, and limited resource sharing hamper obesity policy developments in Fiji. Facilitators include policy entrepreneurs and policy brokers who were active when a window of opportunity opened and who strengthened intersectoral collaboration. Fiji’s policy landscape can become more conducive to obesity policies if power inequalities are reduced. In Fiji and other Pacific Island countries, this may be achievable through increased food self-sufficiency, strengthened intersectoral collaboration, and the establishment of an explicit functional focal unit within government to monitor and forecast the health impact of policy changes in non-health sectors.

Perspectives of Fijian Policymakers on the Obesity Prevention Policy Landscape

Science.gov (United States)

Hendriks, Anna-Marie; Delai, Mere Y.; Thow, Anne-Marie; Gubbels, Jessica S.; De Vries, Nanne K.; Kremers, Stef P. J.; Jansen, Maria W. J.

2015-01-01

In Fiji and other Pacific Island countries, obesity has rapidly increased in the past decade. Therefore, several obesity prevention policies have been developed. Studies show that their development has been hampered by factors within Fiji's policy landscape such as pressure from industry. Since policymakers in the Fijian national government are primarily responsible for the development of obesity policies, it is important to understand their perspectives; we therefore interviewed 15 policymakers from nine Fijian ministries. By applying the “attractor landscape” metaphor from dynamic systems theory, we captured perceived barriers and facilitators in the policy landscape. A poor economic situation, low food self-sufficiency, power inequalities, inappropriate framing of obesity, limited policy evidence, and limited resource sharing hamper obesity policy developments in Fiji. Facilitators include policy entrepreneurs and policy brokers who were active when a window of opportunity opened and who strengthened intersectoral collaboration. Fiji's policy landscape can become more conducive to obesity policies if power inequalities are reduced. In Fiji and other Pacific Island countries, this may be achievable through increased food self-sufficiency, strengthened intersectoral collaboration, and the establishment of an explicit functional focal unit within government to monitor and forecast the health impact of policy changes in non-health sectors. PMID:26380307

Detecting the Land-Cover Changes Induced by Large-Physical Disturbances Using Landscape Metrics, Spatial Sampling, Simulation and Spatial Analysis

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Hone-Jay Chu

2009-08-01

Full Text Available The objectives of the study are to integrate the conditional Latin Hypercube Sampling (cLHS, sequential Gaussian simulation (SGS and spatial analysis in remotely sensed images, to monitor the effects of large chronological disturbances on spatial characteristics of landscape changes including spatial heterogeneity and variability. The multiple NDVI images demonstrate that spatial patterns of disturbed landscapes were successfully delineated by spatial analysis such as variogram, Moran’I and landscape metrics in the study area. The hybrid method delineates the spatial patterns and spatial variability of landscapes caused by these large disturbances. The cLHS approach is applied to select samples from Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI images from SPOT HRV images in the Chenyulan watershed of Taiwan, and then SGS with sufficient samples is used to generate maps of NDVI images. In final, the NDVI simulated maps are verified using indexes such as the correlation coefficient and mean absolute error (MAE. Therefore, the statistics and spatial structures of multiple NDVI images present a very robust behavior, which advocates the use of the index for the quantification of the landscape spatial patterns and land cover change. In addition, the results transferred by Open Geospatial techniques can be accessed from web-based and end-user applications of the watershed management.

Drivers of Change in Socio-Ecological Production Landscapes: Implications for Better Management

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Hongyan Gu

2014-03-01

Full Text Available The term socio-ecological production landscapes (SEPLs has recently gained currency in conservation circles because of a recognized need to look beyond protected areas to the management of human-influenced landscapes and ecosystems. We have drawn on a variety of case studies from Asia and other parts of the world to understand the underlying driving forces that have led to the need for greater awareness and sustainable management of SEPLs. We have analyzed the drivers of these changes from socio-political, legal, economic, and socio-cultural perspectives. The analysis shows that SEPLs contribute to local, national, and global economies, and their production and harvesting processes are subject to external demands and pressures. Policy makers should recognize the wide range and diverse values of SEPLs and incorporate these values into broader policy considerations. We have also provided some suggestions for future studies.

The influence of changes in land use and landscape patterns on soil erosion in a watershed.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Shanghong; Fan, Weiwei; Li, Yueqiang; Yi, Yujun

2017-01-01

It is very important to have a good understanding of the relation between soil erosion and landscape patterns so that soil and water conservation in river basins can be optimized. In this study, this relationship was explored, using the Liusha River Watershed, China, as a case study. A distributed water and sediment model based on the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) was developed to simulate soil erosion from different land use types in each sub-basin of the Liusha River Watershed. Observed runoff and sediment data from 1985 to 2005 and land use maps from 1986, 1995, and 2000 were used to calibrate and validate the model. The erosion modulus for each sub-basin was calculated from SWAT model results using the different land use maps and 12 landscape indices were chosen and calculated to describe the land use in each sub-basin for the different years. The variations in instead of the absolute amounts of the erosion modulus and the landscape indices for each sub-basin were used as the dependent and independent variables, respectively, for the regression equations derived from multiple linear regression. The results indicated that the variations in the erosion modulus were closely related to changes in the large patch index, patch cohesion index, modified Simpson's evenness index, and the aggregation index. From the regression equation and the corresponding landscape indices, it was found that watershed erosion can be reduced by decreasing the physical connectivity between patches, improving the evenness of the landscape patch types, enriching landscape types, and enhancing the degree of aggregation between the landscape patches. These findings will be useful for water and soil conservation and for optimizing the management of watershed landscapes. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Beyond the fragmentation threshold hypothesis: regime shifts in biodiversity across fragmented landscapes.

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Renata Pardini

Full Text Available Ecological systems are vulnerable to irreversible change when key system properties are pushed over thresholds, resulting in the loss of resilience and the precipitation of a regime shift. Perhaps the most important of such properties in human-modified landscapes is the total amount of remnant native vegetation. In a seminal study Andrén proposed the existence of a fragmentation threshold in the total amount of remnant vegetation, below which landscape-scale connectivity is eroded and local species richness and abundance become dependent on patch size. Despite the fact that species patch-area effects have been a mainstay of conservation science there has yet to be a robust empirical evaluation of this hypothesis. Here we present and test a new conceptual model describing the mechanisms and consequences of biodiversity change in fragmented landscapes, identifying the fragmentation threshold as a first step in a positive feedback mechanism that has the capacity to impair ecological resilience, and drive a regime shift in biodiversity. The model considers that local extinction risk is defined by patch size, and immigration rates by landscape vegetation cover, and that the recovery from local species losses depends upon the landscape species pool. Using a unique dataset on the distribution of non-volant small mammals across replicate landscapes in the Atlantic forest of Brazil, we found strong evidence for our model predictions--that patch-area effects are evident only at intermediate levels of total forest cover, where landscape diversity is still high and opportunities for enhancing biodiversity through local management are greatest. Furthermore, high levels of forest loss can push native biota through an extinction filter, and result in the abrupt, landscape-wide loss of forest-specialist taxa, ecological resilience and management effectiveness. The proposed model links hitherto distinct theoretical approaches within a single framework

Human management and landscape changes at Palaikastro (Eastern Crete) from the Late Neolithic to the Early Minoan period

Science.gov (United States)

Cañellas-Boltà, N.; Riera-Mora, S.; Orengo, H. A.; Livarda, A.; Knappett, C.

2018-03-01

On the east Mediterranean island of Crete, a hierarchical society centred on large palatial complexes emerges during the Bronze Age. The economic basis for this significant social change has long been debated, particularly concerning the role of olive cultivation in the island's agricultural system. With the aim of studying vegetation changes and human management to understand the landscape history from Late Neolithic to Bronze Age, two palaeoenvironmental records have been studied at Kouremenos marsh, near the site of Palaikastro (Eastern Crete). Pollen, NPP and charcoal particles analyses evidenced seven phases of landscape change, resulting from different agricultural and pastoral practices and the use of fire probably to manage vegetation. Moreover, the Kouremenos records show the importance of the olive tree in the area. They reflect a clear trend for its increasing use and exploitation from 3600 cal yr BC (Final Neolithic) to the Early Minoan period, that is coeval with an opening of the landscape. The increase of Olea pollen was due to the expansion of the tree and its management using pruning and mechanical cleaning. The onset of olive expansion at c. 3600 cal yr BC places Crete among the first locales in the eastern Mediterranean in the management of this tree. Between c. 2780 and 2525 cal yr BC the landscape was largely occupied by olive and grasslands, coinciding with an increase in grazing practices. The high Olea pollen percentages (40-45%) suggest an intensive and large-scale exploitation of the olive tree. The results suggest that a complex and organized landscape with complementary land uses and activities was already in place since the Final Neolithic. The notable expansion of olive trees suggests the relevance of olive exploitation in the socio-economic development of Minoan towns of eastern Crete. Other crops, such as cereals and vine, and activities such as grazing have also played an important role in the configuration of the past landscape.

Landscape-based upstream-downstream prevalence of land-use/cover change drivers in southeastern rift escarpment of Ethiopia.

Science.gov (United States)

Temesgen, Habtamu; Wu, Wei; Legesse, Abiyot; Yirsaw, Eshetu; Bekele, Belew

2018-02-23

Characterized by high population density on a rugged topography, the Gedeo-Abaya landscape dominantly contains a multi-strata traditional agroforests showing the insight of Gedeo farmers on natural resource management practices. Currently, this area has been losing its resilience and is becoming unable to sustain its inhabitants. Based on both RS-derived and GIS-computed land-use/cover changes (LUCC) as well as socioeconomic validations, this article explored the LUCC and agroecological-based driver patterns in Gedeo-Abaya landscape from 1986 to 2015. A combination of geo-spatial technology and cross-sectional survey design were employed to detect the drivers behind these changes. The article discussed that LUCC and the prevalence of drivers are highly diverse and vary throughout agroecological zones. Except for the population, most downstream top drivers are perceived as insignificant in the upstream region and vice versa. In the downstream, land-use/cover (LUC) classes are more dynamic, diverse, and challenged by nearly all anticipated drivers than are upstream ones. Agroforestry LUC has been increasing (by 25% of its initial cover) and is becoming the predominant cover type, although socioeconomic analysis and related findings show its rapid LUC modification. A rapid reduction of woodland/shrubland (63%) occurred in the downstream, while wetland/marshy land increased threefold (158%), from 1986 to 2015 with annual change rates of - 3.7 and + 6%, respectively. Land degradation induced by changes in land use is a serious problem in Africa, especially in the densely populated sub-Saharan regions such as Ethiopia (FAO 2015). Throughout the landscape, LUCC is prominently affecting land-use system of the study landscape due to population pressure in the upstream region and drought/rainfall variability, agribusiness investment, and charcoaling in the downstream that necessitate urgent action.

Controlled experiments of hillslope co-evolution at the Biosphere 2 Landscape Evolution Observatory: toward prediction of coupled hydrological, biogeochemical, and ecological change

Science.gov (United States)

Volkmann, T. H. M.; Sengupta, A.; Pangle, L.; Abramson, N.; Barron-Gafford, G.; Breshears, D. D.; Bugaj, A.; Chorover, J.; Dontsova, K.; Durcik, M.; Ferre, T. P. A.; Harman, C. J.; Hunt, E.; Huxman, T. E.; Kim, M.; Maier, R. M.; Matos, K.; Alves Meira Neto, A.; Meredith, L. K.; Monson, R. K.; Niu, G. Y.; Pelletier, J. D.; Rasmussen, C.; Ruiz, J.; Saleska, S. R.; Schaap, M. G.; Sibayan, M.; Tuller, M.; Van Haren, J. L. M.; Wang, Y.; Zeng, X.; Troch, P. A.

2017-12-01

Understanding the process interactions and feedbacks among water, microbes, plants, and porous geological media is crucial for improving predictions of the response of Earth's critical zone to future climatic conditions. However, the integrated co-evolution of landscapes under change is notoriously difficult to investigate. Laboratory studies are typically limited in spatial and temporal scale, while field studies lack observational density and control. To bridge the gap between controlled lab and uncontrolled field studies, the University of Arizona - Biosphere 2 built a macrocosm experiment of unprecedented scale: the Landscape Evolution Observatory (LEO). LEO consists of three replicated, 330-m2 hillslope landscapes inside a 5000-m2 environmentally controlled facility. The engineered landscapes contain 1-m depth of basaltic tephra ground to homogenous loamy sand that will undergo physical, chemical, and mineralogical changes over many years. Each landscape contains a dense sensor network capable of resolving water, carbon, and energy cycling processes at sub-meter to whole-landscape scale. Embedded sampling devices allow for quantification of biogeochemical processes, and facilitate the use of chemical tracers applied with the artificial rainfall. LEO is now fully operational and intensive forcing experiments have been launched. While operating the massive infrastructure poses significant challenges, LEO has demonstrated the capacity of tracking multi-scale matter and energy fluxes at a level of detail impossible in field experiments. Initial sensor, sampler, and restricted soil coring data are already providing insights into the tight linkages between water flow, weathering, and (micro-) biological community development during incipient landscape evolution. Over the years to come, these interacting processes are anticipated to drive the model systems to increasingly complex states, potentially perturbed by changes in climatic forcing. By intensively monitoring

Climate change and vulnerability of bull trout (Salvelinus confluentus ) in a fire-prone landscape

Science.gov (United States)

Jeffrey A. Falke; Rebecca L. Flitcroft; Jason B. Dunham; Kristina M. McNyset; Paul F. Hessburg; Gordon H. Reeves; C. Tara Marshall

2015-01-01

Linked atmospheric and wildfire changes will complicate future management of native coldwater fishes in fire-prone landscapes, and new approaches to management that incorporate uncertainty are needed to address this challenge. We used a Bayesian network (BN) approach to evaluate population vulnerability of bull trout (Salvelinus confluentus) in the Wenatchee River...

REGIONAL ASSESSMENT OF LANDSCAPE AND DEMOGRAPHIC CHANGE EFFECTS IN THE MEDITERRANEAN REGION, THE MOROCCO CASE STUDY (1981 - 2003)

Science.gov (United States)

The effect of changes in landscape factors on socioeconomics was analyzedlocally and regionally. The method presented here allows mapping changes in vegetation covertrends over large areas quickly and inexpensively, thus providing policy-makers with a technical

Temporal and spatial changes of land use and landscape in a coal mining area in Xilingol grassland

Science.gov (United States)

Guan, Chunzhu; Zhang, Baolin; Li, Jiannan; Zhao, Junling

2017-01-01

Coal mining, particularly surface mining, inevitably disturbs land. According to Landsat images acquired over Xilingol grassland in 2005, 2009 and 2015, land uses were divided into seven classes, i. e., open stope, stripping area, waste-dump area, mine industrial area, farmland, urban area and the original landscape (grassland), using supervised classification and human-computer interactive interpretation. The overall classification accuracies were 97.72 %, 98.43 % and 96.73 %, respectively; the Kappa coefficients were 0.95, 0.97 and 0.95, respectively. Analysis on LUCC (Land Use and Cover Change) showed that surface coal mining disturbed grassland ecosystem: grassland decreased by 8661.15 hm2 in 2005-2015. The area and proportion of mining operation areas (open stope, stripping area, waste-dump area, mine industrial field) increased, but those of grassland decreased continuously. Transfer matrix of land use changes showed that waste-dump had the largest impacts in mining disturbance, and that effective reclamation of waste-dump areas would mitigate eco-environment destruction, as would be of great significance to protect fragile grassland eco-system. Six landscape index showed that landscape fragmentation increased, and the influences of human activity on landscape was mainly reflected in the expansion of mining area and urban area. Remote sensing monitoring of coal surface mining in grassland would accurately demonstrate the dynamics and trend of LUCC, providing scientific supports for ecological reconstruction in surface mining area.

GIS-based landscape design research: Stourhead landscape garden as a case study

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Steffen Nijhuis

2017-11-01

analysed, such as the visible form and the shape of the walk, and serves as the basis for the landscape architectonic analysis in which GIS is used as the primary analytical tool.  GIS-based design research has the possibility to cultivate spatial intelligence in landscape architecture through three fields of operation: • GIS-based modelling: description of existing and future landscape architectonic compositions in digital form; • GIS-based analysis: exploration, analysis and synthesis of landscape architectonic compositions in order to reveal latent architectonic relationships and principles, while utilizing the processing capacities and possibilities of computers for ex-ante and ex-post simulation and evaluation; • GIS-based visual representation: representation of (virtual landscape architectonic compositions in space and time, in order to retrieve and communicate information and knowledge of the landscape design.  Though there are limitations, this study exemplifies that GIS is a powerful instrument to acquire knowledge from landscape architectonic compositions. The study points out that the application of GIS in landscape design research can be seen as an extension of the fundamental cycle of observation, visual representation, analysis and interpretation in the process of knowledge acquisition, with alternative visualisations and digital landscape models as important means for this process. Using the calculating power of computers, combined with inventive modelling, analysis and visualisation concepts in an interactive process, opened up possibilities to reveal new information and knowledge about the basic, spatial, symbolic and programmatic form of Stourhead. GIS extended the design researchers’ perception via measurement, simulation and experimentation, and at the same time offered alternative ways of understanding the landscape architectonic composition. This gave rise to the possibility of exploring new elements in the framework of landscape design

Landscape-and regional-scale shifts in forest composition under climate change in the Central Hardwood Region of the United States

Science.gov (United States)

Wen J. Wang; Hong S. He; Frank R. Thompson; Jacob S. Fraser; William D. Dijak

2016-01-01

Tree species distribution and abundance are affected by forces operating at multiple scales. Niche and biophysical process models have been commonly used to predict climate change effects at regional scales, however, these models have limited capability to include site-scale population dynamics and landscape- scale disturbance and dispersal. We applied a landscape...

Why is a landscape perspective important in studies of primates?

Science.gov (United States)

Arroyo-Rodríguez, Víctor; Fahrig, Lenore

2014-10-01

With accelerated deforestation and fragmentation through the tropics, assessing the impact that landscape spatial changes may have on biodiversity is paramount, as this information is required to design and implement effective management and conservation plans. Primates are expected to be particularly dependent on the landscape context; yet, our understanding on this topic is limited as the majority of primate studies are at the local scale, meaning that landscape-scale inferences are not possible. To encourage primatologists to assess the impact of landscape changes on primates, and help future studies on the topic, we describe the meaning of a "landscape perspective" and evaluate important assumptions of using such a methodological approach. We also summarize a number of important, but unanswered, questions that can be addressed using a landscape-scale study design. For example, it is still unclear if habitat loss has larger consistent negative effects on primates than habitat fragmentation per se. Furthermore, interaction effects between habitat area and other landscape effects (e.g., fragmentation) are unknown for primates. We also do not know if primates are affected by synergistic interactions among factors at the landscape scale (e.g., habitat loss and diseases, habitat loss and climate change, hunting, and land-use change), or whether landscape complexity (or landscape heterogeneity) is important for primate conservation. Testing for patterns in the responses of primates to landscape change will facilitate the development of new guidelines and principles for improving primate conservation. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Navigating the Interface Between Landscape Genetics and Landscape Genomics

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Andrew Storfer

2018-03-01

' phylogeographic history. To this end, we summarize recent simulation studies that test the power and accuracy of genome scan methods under a variety of demographic scenarios and sampling designs. We conclude with a discussion of additional considerations for future method development, and a summary of methods that show promise for landscape genomics studies but are not yet widely used.

LANDIS PRO: a landscape model that predicts forest composition and structure changes at regional scales

Science.gov (United States)

Wen J. Wang; Hong S. He; Jacob S. Fraser; Frank R. Thompson; Stephen R. Shifley; Martin A. Spetich

2014-01-01

LANDIS PRO predicts forest composition and structure changes incorporating species-, stand-, and landscape-scales processes at regional scales. Species-scale processes include tree growth, establishment, and mortality. Stand-scale processes contain density- and size-related resource competition that regulates self-thinning and seedling establishment. Landscapescale...

The contribution of vegetation and landscape configuration for predicting environmental change impacts on Iberian birds

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Triviño, Maria; Thuiller, Wilfried; Cabeza, Mar

2011-01-01

of distributions, but they are rarely considered in such assessments. We explore the consequences of using simulated vegetation structure and composition as well as its associated landscape configuration in models projecting global change effects on Iberian bird species distributions. Both present-day and future...

Telling Stories about the Changing Landscape: One Center's Evolution

Science.gov (United States)

Arnold, C. L., Jr.; Wilson, E. H.; Chadwick, C.; Dickson, D.

2016-12-01

Since its inception, the Center for Land Use Education and Research (CLEAR) at the University of Connecticut has had a strong applied research and public outreach focus. As a center that focuses on topics that virtually all have a geographic component, the intersection of Web and mapping technologies over the past decade has been an invaluable tool for communicating information. The primary target audience of this information is land use decision makers, who in New England are almost exclusively at the local (municipal) level and are often unpaid volunteers with little or no science background. Data-driven science communication focusing on this very worthy - and very needy - sector of the populace poses problems different from communicating with academic peers at one end of the spectrum, or the general public on the other end. The information must be understandable and accessible to non-technical users, yet specific and authoritative enough to inform decisions. CLEAR's approach to reaching this audience has evolved over the years in response to new internet and GIS technologies on the one hand, and internal deliberations on the other. A critical point was the 2004 public debut of the Center's Changing Landscape project, comprised of complex remotely-sensed land cover data: CLEAR principals decided to make the data publicly available via the Center website, but also to design a website to make the information accessible in as many ways, and for as many different audiences, as possible. This approach has had considerable success, as evidenced in the widespread use of the land cover information by communities, NGOs, federal and state agencies, and academia. Over the past several years, CLEAR has embraced the ESRI story map as a technological tool that embodies the Center's goal of "democratization" of science-based information through multifaceted accessibility. CLEAR's Story Map Gallery currently has six maps, covering a wide range of topics including the Changing

Conserving agrobiodiversity amid global change, migration, and nontraditional livelihood networks: the dynamic uses of cultural landscape knowledge

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Karl S. Zimmerer

2014-06-01

Full Text Available I examined agrobiodiversity in smallholder cultural landscapes with the goal of offering new insights into management and policy options for the resilience-based in situ conservation and social-ecological sustainability of local, food-producing crop types, i.e., landraces. I built a general, integrative approach to focus on both land use and livelihood functions of crop landraces in the context of nontraditional, migration-related livelihoods amid global change. The research involved a multimethod, case-study design focused on a cultural landscape of maize, i.e., corn, growing in the Andes of central Bolivia, which is a global hot spot for this crop's agrobiodiversity. Central questions included the following: (1 What are major agroecological functions and food-related services of the agrobiodiversity of Andean maize landraces, and how are they related to cultural landscapes and associated knowledge systems? (2 What are new migration-related livelihood groups, and how are their dynamic livelihoods propelled through global change, in particular international and national migration, linked to the use and cultural landscapes of agrobiodiversity? (3 What are management and policy options derived from the previous questions? Combined social-ecological services as both cultivation and food resources are found to function in relation to the cultural landscape. Results demonstrated major variations of maturation-based, phenologic traits and food-use properties that are cornerstones of the landrace-level agrobiodiversity of Andean maize. Knowledge of these parameters is widespread. Linkage of these production and consumption functions yields a major insight into dynamics of Andean maize agrobiodiversity. Concurrently, this smallholder cultural landscape has become increasingly dependent on new rural conditions, especially increased livelihood diversification and migration amid growing peri-urban influences. Viability of landrace-level maize

Wildlife disease prevalence in human-modified landscapes.

Science.gov (United States)

Brearley, Grant; Rhodes, Jonathan; Bradley, Adrian; Baxter, Greg; Seabrook, Leonie; Lunney, Daniel; Liu, Yan; McAlpine, Clive

2013-05-01

Human-induced landscape change associated with habitat loss and fragmentation places wildlife populations at risk. One issue in these landscapes is a change in the prevalence of disease which may result in increased mortality and reduced fecundity. Our understanding of the influence of habitat loss and fragmentation on the prevalence of wildlife diseases is still in its infancy. What is evident is that changes in disease prevalence as a result of human-induced landscape modification are highly variable. The importance of infectious diseases for the conservation of wildlife will increase as the amount and quality of suitable habitat decreases due to human land-use pressures. We review the experimental and observational literature of the influence of human-induced landscape change on wildlife disease prevalence, and discuss disease transmission types and host responses as mechanisms that are likely to determine the extent of change in disease prevalence. It is likely that transmission dynamics will be the key process in determining a pathogen's impact on a host population, while the host response may ultimately determine the extent of disease prevalence. Finally, we conceptualize mechanisms and identify future research directions to increase our understanding of the relationship between human-modified landscapes and wildlife disease prevalence. This review highlights that there are rarely consistent relationships between wildlife diseases and human-modified landscapes. In addition, variation is evident between transmission types and landscape types, with the greatest positive influence on disease prevalence being in urban landscapes and directly transmitted disease systems. While we have a limited understanding of the potential influence of habitat loss and fragmentation on wildlife disease, there are a number of important areas to address in future research, particularly to account for the variability in increased and decreased disease prevalence. Previous studies

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.

Palaeogeographical time series maps of the Pleistocene and Holocene lowland landscapes in and around the North Sea.

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Cohen, K.M.

2017-01-01

Palaeogeographical time series maps provide powerful text figures that narrate the chronological story of landscape change in prehistoric and historic times in a quite accessible way. They inspire and communicate the broad idea of developments quickly, no matter how the maps are produced

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

From climate-smart agriculture to climate-smart landscapes

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Scherr Sara J

2012-08-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background For agricultural systems to achieve climate-smart objectives, including improved food security and rural livelihoods as well as climate change adaptation and mitigation, they often need to be take a landscape approach; they must become ‘climate-smart landscapes’. Climate-smart landscapes operate on the principles of integrated landscape management, while explicitly incorporating adaptation and mitigation into their management objectives. Results An assessment of climate change dynamics related to agriculture suggests that three key features characterize a climate-smart landscape: climate-smart practices at the field and farm scale; diversity of land use across the landscape to provide resilience; and management of land use interactions at landscape scale to achieve social, economic and ecological impacts. To implement climate-smart agricultural landscapes with these features (that is, to successfully promote and sustain them over time, in the context of dynamic economic, social, ecological and climate conditions requires several institutional mechanisms: multi-stakeholder planning, supportive landscape governance and resource tenure, spatially-targeted investment in the landscape that supports climate-smart objectives, and tracking change to determine if social and climate goals are being met at different scales. Examples of climate-smart landscape initiatives in Madagascar’s Highlands, the African Sahel and Australian Wet Tropics illustrate the application of these elements in contrasting contexts. Conclusions To achieve climate-smart landscape initiatives widely and at scale will require strengthened technical capacities, institutions and political support for multi-stakeholder planning, governance, spatial targeting of investments and multi-objective impact monitoring.

Landscape changes in a neotropical forest-savanna ecotone zone in central Brazil: The role of protected areas in the maintenance of native vegetation.

Science.gov (United States)

Garcia, Andrea S; Sawakuchi, Henrique O; Ferreira, Manuel Eduardo; Ballester, Maria Victoria R

2017-02-01

In the Amazon-savanna ecotone in northwest Brazil, the understudied Araguaia River Basin contains high biodiversity and seasonal wetlands. The region is representative of tropical humid-dry ecotone zones, which have experienced intense land use and land cover (LULC) conversions. Here we assessed the LULC changes for the last four decades in the central portion of the Araguaia River Basin to understand the temporal changes in the landscape composition and configuration outside and inside protected areas. We conducted these analyzes by LULC mapping and landscape metrics based on patch classes. During this period, native vegetation was reduced by 26%. Forests were the most threatened physiognomy, with significant areal reduction and fragmentation. Native vegetation cover was mainly replaced by croplands and pastures. Such replacement followed spatial and temporal trends related to the implementation of protected areas and increases in population cattle herds. The creation of most protected areas took place between 1996 and 2007, the same period during which the conversion of the landscape matrix from natural vegetation to agriculture occurred. We observed that protected areas mitigate fragmentation, but their roles differ according to their location and level of protection. Still, we argue that landscape characteristics, such as suitability for agriculture, also influence landscape conversions and should be considered when establishing protected areas. The information provided in this study can guide new research on species conservation and landscape planning, as well as improve the understanding of the impacts of landscape composition and configuration changes. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Interdisciplinary approach to depict landscape change drivers; a case study of the Ticuiz agrarian community in Michoacan, Mexico.

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Campos, M.; Velazquez, A.; Priego, A.; Skutsch, Margaret

2012-01-01

Landscape changes are driven by a combination of physical, ecological and socio-cultural factors. Hence, a large amount of information is necessary to monitor these changes and to develop effective strategies for management and conservation. For this, novel strategies for combining social and

Landscape change in mediterranean farmlands: impacts of land abandonment on cultivation terraces in portofino (italy) and lesvos (greece)

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Sluis, van der T.; Kizos, T.; Pedroli, G.B.M.

2014-01-01

The Mediterranean landscape has been rapidly changing over the past decades. Many regions saw a population decline, which resulted in changing land use, abandonment of marginal lands and colonisation by shrubs and tree species. Typical features like farming terraces, olive yards, and upland

Landscapes of the Kruger National Park

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W. P. D Gertenbach

1983-12-01

Full Text Available Knowledge on the abiotic and biotic components of the Kruger National Park (KNP system has increased to such an extent, that it was possible to zonate the KNP into landscapes. A landscape was defined as an area with a specific geomorphology, climate, soil and vegetation pattern together with the associated fauna. On this basis 35 landscapes were identified and described in terms of the components mentioned in the definition. The objective of classification is that future management should be based on these landscapes. Relevant management considerations may change, but the landscape a@ a basic functional unit should not be negotiable.

Spatial modelling of landscape aesthetic potential in urban-rural fringes.

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Sahraoui, Yohan; Clauzel, Céline; Foltête, Jean-Christophe

2016-10-01

The aesthetic potential of landscape has to be modelled to provide tools for land-use planning. This involves identifying landscape attributes and revealing individuals' landscape preferences. Landscape aesthetic judgments of individuals (n = 1420) were studied by means of a photo-based survey. A set of landscape visibility metrics was created to measure landscape composition and configuration in each photograph using spatial data. These metrics were used as explanatory variables in multiple linear regressions to explain aesthetic judgments. We demonstrate that landscape aesthetic judgments may be synthesized in three consensus groups. The statistical results obtained show that landscape visibility metrics have good explanatory power. Ultimately, we propose a spatial modelling of landscape aesthetic potential based on these results combined with systematic computation of visibility metrics. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

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

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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

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.

Tool-effect: Controls on Landscape Persistence

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Willenbring, J. K.; Brocard, G. Y.; Salles, T.; Harrison, E. J.

2017-12-01

The ability of rivers to cut through rock and to remove former land surfaces sets the pace of landscape response to mountain uplift. Because of associations between tectonism, river incision, erosion, carbon burial and silicate weathering, high rates of rock uplift are thought to initiate a cascade of processes that are linked to sequestration of CO2 over geologic timescales. However, even in some cases of landscapes experiencing rapid uplift, some portions of landscapes remain unchanged or `relict' for long periods and the fluxes of chemical weathering and physical erosion do not reflect the new tectonic regime-sometimes for millions of years following uplift. These relict portions of the landscape are often composed of subdued topography with thick soils. River incision is achieved by various processes, but one of the main contributors is bedrock abrasion by bedload. Here, we show how the presence of flat, relict landscapes in headwaters can lead to reduced incision rates and low erosion fluxes. We use a known pulse of uplift in Puerto Rico and track the river response to the uplift over time to illustrate a how landscapes in hot, humid climates can persist for millions of years even after rapid mountain uplift. We run experiments on simplified topography using numerical landscape evolution models. Typically, numerical landscape evolution models apply a standard stream power law model, whereby river incision is proportional to basal shear stress or unit stream power, and is not affected by gravel flux. We implement a formulation of the tool and cover effect model, and then we added a reinforcing effect of weathering on this process, by implementing a gravel production function. This function simulates the effect of the residence time of rocks in soil, which is expected to affect the grain-size distribution of the particles in the soil, with lower erosion rates, and longer residence time further decreasing the proportion of gravel delivered to the streams. We find

[Applications of 2D and 3D landscape pattern indices in landscape pattern analysis of mountainous area at county level].

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Lu, Chao; Qi, Wei; Li, Le; Sun, Yao; Qin, Tian-Tian; Wang, Na-Na

2012-05-01

Landscape pattern indices are the commonly used tools for the quantitative analysis of landscape pattern. However, the traditional 2D landscape pattern indices neglect the effects of terrain on landscape, existing definite limitations in quantitatively describing the landscape patterns in mountains areas. Taking the Qixia City, a typical mountainous and hilly region in Shandong Province of East China, as a case, this paper compared the differences between 2D and 3D landscape pattern indices in quantitatively describing the landscape patterns and their dynamic changes in mountainous areas. On the basis of terrain structure analysis, a set of landscape pattern indices were selected, including area and density (class area and mean patch size), edge and shape (edge density, landscape shape index, and fractal dimension of mean patch), diversity (Shannon's diversity index and evenness index) , and gathering and spread (contagion index). There existed obvious differences between the 3D class area, mean patch area, and edge density and the corresponding 2D indices, but no significant differences between the 3D landscape shape index, fractal dimension of mean patch, and Shannon' s diversity index and evenness index and the corresponding 2D indices. The 3D contagion index and 2D contagion index had no difference. Because the 3D landscape pattern indices were calculated by using patch surface area and surface perimeter whereas the 2D landscape pattern indices were calculated by adopting patch projective area and projective perimeter, the 3D landscape pattern indices could be relative accurate and efficient in describing the landscape area, density and borderline, in mountainous areas. However, there were no distinct differences in describing landscape shape, diversity, and gathering and spread between the 3D and 2D landscape pattern indices. Generally, by introducing 3D landscape pattern indices to topographic pattern, the description of landscape pattern and its dynamic

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.

Inventory of major landscape changes in the Czech Republic, Hungary, Romania and Slovak Republic 1970s - 1990s

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Feranec, Ján; Šúri, Marcel; Ot'ahel', Ján; Cebecauer, Tomáš; Kolář, Ján; Soukup, Tomáš; Zdeňková, Dagmar; Waszmuth, Jiří; Vâjdea, Vasile; Vîjdea, Anca-Marina; Nitica, Constantin

One of the most important achievements in 1998-1999 of Phare Topic Link on Land Cover has been the development and practical application of a methodological approach to landscape change identification and analysis in the territories of four Phare countries (the Czech Republic, Hungary, Romania, and the Slovak Republic). The changes were identified on a national level from Landsat TM and MSS satellite images by application of the CORINE Land Cover databases for two time horizons (the late 1970s and early 1990s) at the second hierarchic level. Based on identified causality, the landscape changes were grouped into 7 types: intensification of agriculture, extensification of agriculture, urbanisation-industrialisation, enlargement (exhaustion) of natural resources, afforestation, deforestation and other anthropogenic causes. The results of the groupings are presented in the form of contingency tables and maps showing the spatial distribution of the changes. From the point of view of total extent, forest landscape changed the most in the Czech Republic. This change represents a reduction of forest by 167,702 ha and an enlargement of transitional woodland-scrub by about 26,339 ha. In Hungary the most pronounced changes were decrease of forests by 66,622 ha and decrease of arable land, orchards and vineyards by 21,529 ha. The most remarkable changes identified in Romania were decrease of arable land, forests and wetlands by 366,817 ha, 285,887 ha, and 59,967 ha, respectively, as well as enlargement of areas of complex cultivation pattern by almost 347,220 ha. The most pronounced changes in Slovakia were represented by diminution of forest by 94,935 ha and that of heterogeneous agricultural areas by 18,451 ha; enlargement of transitional woodland-scrub areas and urbanised area were about 13,107 ha and 14,990 ha, respectively.

Can We Model the Scenic Beauty of an Alpine Landscape?

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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.

Comparing the utility of image algebra operations for characterizing landscape changes: the case of the Mediterranean coast.

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Alphan, Hakan

2011-11-01

The aim of this study is to compare various image algebra procedures for their efficiency in locating and identifying different types of landscape changes on the margin of a Mediterranean coastal plain, Cukurova, Turkey. Image differencing and ratioing were applied to the reflective bands of Landsat TM datasets acquired in 1984 and 2006. Normalized Difference Vegetation index (NDVI) and Principal Component Analysis (PCA) differencing were also applied. The resulting images were tested for their capacity to detect nine change phenomena, which were a priori defined in a three-level classification scheme. These change phenomena included agricultural encroachment, sand dune afforestation, coastline changes and removal/expansion of reed beds. The percentage overall accuracies of different algebra products for each phenomenon were calculated and compared. The results showed that some of the changes such as sand dune afforestation and reed bed expansion were detected with accuracies varying between 85 and 97% by the majority of the algebra operations, while some other changes such as logging could only be detected by mid-infrared (MIR) ratioing. For optimizing change detection in similar coastal landscapes, underlying causes of these changes were discussed and the guidelines for selecting band and algebra operations were provided. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

TERRECO: A Flux-Based Approach to Understanding Landscape Change, Potentials of Resilience and Sustainability in Ecosystem Services

Science.gov (United States)

Tenhunen, J. D.; Kang, S.

2011-12-01

The Millenium Assessment has provided a broad perspective on the ways and degree to which global change has stressed ecosystems and their potential to deliver goods and services to mankind. Management of natural resources at regional scale requires a clear understanding of the ways that ongoing human activities modify or create new system stressors, leading to net gains or losses in ecosystem services. Ever since information from the International Biological Program (IBP) was summarized in the 1960s, we know that ecosystem stress response, recovery and resilience are related to changes in ecosystem turnover of materials, nutrient retention or loss, resource use efficiencies, and additional ecosystem properties that determine fluxes of carbon, water and nutrients. At landscape or regional scale, changes in system drivers influence land-surface to atmosphere gas exchange (water, carbon and trace gas emissions), the seasonal course of soil resource stores, hydrology, and transport of nutrients and carbon into and through river systems. In today's terminology, shifts in these fluxes indicate a modification of potential ecosystem services provided to us by the landscape or region of interest, and upon which we depend. Ongoing modeling efforts of the TERRECO project carried out in S. Korea focus on describing landscape and regional level flow networks for carbon, water, and nutrients, but in addition monetary flows associated with gains and losses in ecosystem services (cf. Fig. 1). The description is embedded within a framework which examines the trade-offs between agricultural intensification versus yield of high quality water to reservoirs for drinking water supply. The models also quantify hypothetical changes in flow networks that would occur in the context of climate, land use and social change scenarios.

Adapting the botanical landscape of Melbourne Gardens (Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria in response to climate change

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Timothy J. Entwisle

2017-12-01

Full Text Available Botanic gardens around the world maintain collections of living plants for science, conservation, education, beauty and more. These collections change over time – in scope and content – but the predicted impacts of climate change will require a more strategic approach to the succession of plant species and their landscapes. Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria has recently published a ‘Landscape Succession Strategy’ for its Melbourne Gardens, a spectacular botanical landscape established in 1846. The strategy recognizes that with 1.6 million visitors each year, responsibility for a heritage-listed landscape and the need to care for a collection of 8500 plant species of conservation and scientific importance, planting and planning must take into account anticipated changes to rainfall and temperature. The trees we plant today must be suitable for the climate of the twenty-second century. Specifically, the Strategy sets out the steps needed over the next twenty years to transition the botanic garden to one resilient to the climate modelled for 2090. The document includes a range of practical measures and achievable (and at times somewhat aspirational targets. Climate analogues will be used to identify places in Australia and elsewhere with conditions today similar to those predicted for Melbourne in 2090, to help select new species for the collection. Modelling of the natural and cultivated distribution of species will be used to help select suitable growth forms to replace existing species of high value or interest. Improved understanding of temperature gradients within the botanic garden, water holding capacity of soils and plant water use behaviour is already resulting in better targeted planting and irrigation. The goal is to retain a similar diversity of species but transition the collection so that by 2036 at least 75% of the species are suitable for the climate in 2090. Over the next few years we hope to provide 100% of irrigation water

Strategic Environmental Assessment Framework for Landscape-Based, Temporal Analysis of Wetland Change in Urban Environments.

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Sizo, Anton; Noble, Bram F; Bell, Scott

2016-03-01

This paper presents and demonstrates a spatial framework for the application of strategic environmental assessment (SEA) in the context of change analysis for urban wetland environments. The proposed framework is focused on two key stages of the SEA process: scoping and environmental baseline assessment. These stages are arguably the most information-intense phases of SEA and have a significant effect on the quality of the SEA results. The study aims to meet the needs for proactive frameworks to assess and protect wetland habitat and services more efficiently, toward the goal of advancing more intelligent urban planning and development design. The proposed framework, adopting geographic information system and remote sensing tools and applications, supports the temporal evaluation of wetland change and sustainability assessment based on landscape indicator analysis. The framework was applied to a rapidly developing urban environment in the City of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada, analyzing wetland change and land-use pressures from 1985 to 2011. The SEA spatial scale was rescaled from administrative urban planning units to an ecologically meaningful area. Landscape change assessed was based on a suite of indicators that were subsequently rolled up into a single, multi-dimensional, and easy to understand and communicate index to examine the implications of land-use change for wetland sustainability. The results show that despite the recent extremely wet period in the Canadian prairie region, land-use change contributed to increasing threats to wetland sustainability.

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.

Changes in the geodiversity of Dutch peatlands inferred from 19th and 20th century landscape paintings

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Jungerius, Pieter Dirk; van den Ancker, Hanneke; Wevers, Nina

2013-04-01

Geodiversity is the natural and cultural range of geological, geomorphological and soil features. We analysed the large database of 19th and early 20th century paintings of Simonis and Buunk (www.Simonis-Buunk.com) to track changes in the geodiversity of Dutch peatlands since pre-photographic times. Peat dominated in two of the eight main landscapes of the Netherlands: the Lowland peats in the Holocene west and the Highland peats in the sandy Pleistocene eastern parts. Painters were mainly attracted by the lowland peats. Since more than thousand years, peat plays a major role in Dutch military security, economy, ecology and cultural life. Natural variety and cultural use resulted in a geodiversity that is unique in Europe. There are more than 100 place names with 'veen' (= peat), and surnames with 'veen' are common. Proof of the exploitation of peat for salt and fuel exists from the Roman times onwards. In the 9th century, peatlands were drained and reclaimed for growing wheat. Already in the 11th century, it was necessary to build dikes to prevent flooding, to control waterlevels to avoid further oxidation, and to convert landuse to grassland. But subsidence continued, and in the 14th century windmills were needed to drain the lands and pump the water out. In the 16th century industrial peat exploitation fuelled the rise of industries and cities. All this draining and digging caused the peat surface to shrink. The few remaining living peats are conserved by nature organisations. Geodiversity and landscape paintings In the peat landscapes, popular painting motives were high water levels, the grasslands of the 'Green Heart', the winding streams and remaining lakes. The paintings of landscapes where peat had been removed, show watermanagement adaptations: wind mills, different water levels, canals made for the transport of fuel, bridges, tow paths and the 'plassen', i.e. the lakes left after peat exploitation. The droogmakerijen (reclaimed lakes), now 2 to 5 m below

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.

Landscape Archaeology and Sacred Space in the Eastern Mediterranean: A Glimpse from Cyprus

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Giorgos Papantoniou

2017-06-01

Full Text Available This article aims to raise issues for discussion about the change in the use and concept of sacred landscapes, which were originally constructed in the era of the Cypriot kings (the basileis, but then continued to function in a new imperial environment, that of the rule of the Ptolemaic strategos and later of the Roman proconsul and the various Christian bishops. Our archaeological survey project in the Xeros river valley, titled ‘Settled and Sacred Landscapes of Cyprus’, reveals that these new politico-economic structures were also supported by the construction of symbolically charged sacred landscapes. Thus, while outlining the long history of the island as manifested from the diachronic study of Cypriot sacred landscapes, we identify three pivotal phases: first, the consolidation of the Cypriot polities and the establishment of a ‘full’ sacred landscape; second, the transition from segmented to unitary administration under the Ptolemaic and Roman imperial rule and the consolidation of a more ‘unified sacred landscape’; and finally, the establishment of a number of Christian bishoprics on the island and the movement back to a ‘full’ sacred landscape. Moving beyond the discipline of Cypriot archaeology, this contribution aims to serve as a paradigm for the implications that the employment of the ‘sacred landscapes’ concept may have when addressing issues of socio-political and socio-economic transformations. While it is very difficult to define or capture the concept of landscape in a pre-modern world, it offers a useful means by which to assess changing local conditions. We have also attempted to situate the term in archaeological thought, in order to allow the concept to become a more powerful investigative tool for approaching the past.

Sports Tribes and Academic Identity: Teaching the Sociology of Sport in a Changing Disciplinary Landscape

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Dart, Jon

2017-01-01

Using data from 15 semi-structured interviews with UK-based early/mid-career academics, this paper offers an empirically informed assessment of how lecturers teaching/researching the sociology of sport are managing their careers in a changing higher education landscape. Those interviewed were involved in the delivery of sociological content to a…

Does Public Service Broadcasting Serve the Public? The Future of Television in the Changing Media Landscape

NARCIS (Netherlands)

van Dijk, M.; Nahuis, R.; Waagmeester, D.

The media landscape is subject to substantial technological change. In this Discussion Paper we analyse how technological trends affect the economic rationale for PSB. After identifying the aims and nature of PSB, we derive eight possible market failures from the specific economic characteristics of

Fifty-year spatiotemporal analysis of landscape changes in the Mont Saint-Hilaire UNESCO Biosphere Reserve (Quebec, Canada).

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Béliveau, Marc; Germain, Daniel; Ianăş, Ana-Neli

2017-05-01

Diachronic analysis with a GIS-based classification of land-use changes based on aerial photographs, orthophotos, topographic maps, geotechnical reports, urban plans, and using landscape metrics has permitted insight into the driving forces responsible for landscape fragmentation in the Mont Saint-Hilaire (MSH) Biosphere Reserve over the period 1958-2015. Although the occurrence of exogenous factors, such as extreme weather and fires, can have a significant influence on the fragmentation of the territory in time and space, the accelerated development of the built environment (+470%) is nevertheless found to be primarily responsible for landscape fragmentation and the loss of areas formerly occupied by orchards, agriculture, and woodlands. The landscape metrics used corroborate these results, with a simplification of the shape of polygons, and once again reveal the difficulties of harmonizing different land uses. MSH has become somewhat of a forest island in a sea of residential development and agriculture. To counter this isolation of fragmented habitat components, forest corridors have been proposed and developed for the Biosphere Reserve and particularly for the core area. Two corridors, to the north and south, are used to connect the protected area and other wooded areas at the regional scale, in order to promote genetic exchange between populations of various species. In that regard, the forest buffer zone around the hill continues to play a key role and has great ecological value for species and ecological preservation and conservation. However, appropriate management and landscape preservation actions should recognize and focus on landscape composition and the associated geographical configuration.

Changing Landscape of Congenital Heart Disease.

Science.gov (United States)

Bouma, Berto J; Mulder, Barbara J M

2017-03-17

, the landscape of adult congenital heart disease has changed dramatically, which has to be continued in the future. © 2017 American Heart Association, Inc.

Oasis dynamics change and its influence on landscape pattern on Jinta oasis in arid China from 1963a to 2010a: Integration of multi-source satellite images

Science.gov (United States)

Xie, Yuchu; Gong, Jie; Sun, Peng; Gou, Xiaohua

2014-12-01

As one of the vital research highlights of global land use and cover change, oasis change and its interaction with landscape pattern have been regarded as an important content of regional environmental change research in arid areas. Jinta oasis, a typical agricultural oasis characterized by its dramatic exploitation and use of water and land resources in Hexi corridor, northwest arid region in China, was selected as a case to study the spatiotemporal oasis change and its effects on oasis landscape pattern. Based on integration of Keyhole satellite photographs, KATE-200 photographs, Landsat MSS, TM and ETM+ images, we evaluated and analyzed the status, trend and spatial pattern change of Jinta oasis and the characteristics of landscape pattern change by a set of mathematical models and combined this information with landscape metrics and community surveys. During the period of 1963a-2010a, Jinta oasis expanded gradually with an area increase of 219.15 km2, and the conversion between oasis and desert was frequent with a state of “imbalance-balance-extreme imbalance conditions”. Moreover, most of the changes took place in the ecotone between oasis and desert and the interior of oasis due to the reclamation of abandoned land, such as Yangjingziwan and Xiba townships. Furthermore, the area, size and spatial distribution of oasis were influenced by human activities and resulted in fundamental changes of oasis landscape pattern. The fractal characteristics, dispersion degree and fragmentation of Jinta oasis decreased and the oasis landscape tended to be simple and uniform. Oasis change trajectories and its landscape pattern were mainly influenced by water resource utilization, policies (especially land policies), demographic factors, technological advancements, as well as regional economic development. We found that time series analysis of multi-source remote sensing images and the application of an oasis change model provided a useful approach to monitor oasis change

Planetary Landscape Geography

Science.gov (United States)

Hargitai, H.

hydrosphere (no erosion). Adding new elements (differentiated body: horizon, atmosphere: blue/purple etc sky as visually important elements; complex lithology (mountains of tectonic ori- gin); atmosphere (which can alter temperature) and hydrosphere (erosion, rivers, de- position) a more complex landscape will appear. As a first step, by making a "landscape model", we can input general parameters of atmosphere, lithosphere, hydrosphere, biosphere, the distance from the Sun, orbital parameters, last resurfacing date, age of the planet and the model will output the pos- 1 sible landscape elements in the planet. This can be refined by inputing the actual pa- rameters (place on planet, climate region etc.) from which the actual landscape can be the result. The landscape altering processes are: exogenic (impact), mass movement, endogenic (volcanism, thermal conditions), weathering, aeolic, fluvial, glacial, biogenic, antro- pogenic processes. Comparing planets and moons, all of these processes work on Earth, only half of them works on Mars and Venus, and even fewer on Mercury and Moon [3], where most of the surface is an "post-impact" landscape. A Planetary view. Science-fiction writers often describe planets with one characteris- tic: "desert planet", "ocean planet", "forest planet". Generally, planetary flyby missions verify these images (Europa - ice plain planet or Io - volcano world), but a orbiter mis- sion makes clear than in any planet, several significantly different landcape units are present, but from planet to planet, the average climatic and lithologic conditions do change and characterize the given planet. LANDSCAPE RESOURCES, LANDSCAPE "HOT SPOTS" Landscape hot spots has "high values" in the factors listed below. Physical landscape values. Small object not detectable from orbiters: individual rocks or the local physical characteristics of the upper layer of the regolith, the sediment or bedrock characteristics along with relief forms will be the important factors of

Unraveling the drivers of community dissimilarity and species extinction in fragmented landscapes.

Science.gov (United States)

Banks-Leite, Cristina; Ewers, Robert M; Metzger, Jean Paul

2012-12-01

Communities in fragmented landscapes are often assumed to be structured by species extinction due to habitat loss, which has led to extensive use of the species-area relationship (SAR) in fragmentation studies. However, the use of the SAR presupposes that habitat loss leads species to extinction but does not allow for extinction to be offset by colonization of disturbed-habitat specialists. Moreover, the use of SAR assumes that species richness is a good proxy of community changes in fragmented landscapes. Here, we assessed how communities dwelling in fragmented landscapes are influenced by habitat loss at multiple scales; then we estimated the ability of models ruled by SAR and by species turnover in successfully predicting changes in community composition, and asked whether species richness is indeed an informative community metric. To address these issues, we used a data set consisting of 140 bird species sampled in 65 patches, from six landscapes with different proportions of forest cover in the Atlantic Forest of Brazil. We compared empirical patterns against simulations of over 8 million communities structured by different magnitudes of the power-law SAR and with species-specific rules to assign species to sites. Empirical results showed that, while bird community composition was strongly influenced by habitat loss at the patch and landscape scale, species richness remained largely unaffected. Modeling results revealed that the compositional changes observed in the Atlantic Forest bird metacommunity were only matched by models with either unrealistic magnitudes of the SAR or by models ruled by species turnover, akin to what would be observed along natural gradients. We show that, in the presence of such compositional turnover, species richness is poorly correlated with species extinction, and z values of the SAR strongly underestimate the effects of habitat loss. We suggest that the observed compositional changes are driven by each species reaching its

In Preparation or Response: Examining Health Care Coalitions Amid a Changing Economic and Political Landscape.

Science.gov (United States)

Dornauer, Mark E

2015-12-01

The Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response within the US Department of Health and Human Services leads the nation in preparing for, responding to, and recovering from the adverse health effects of public health emergencies, in part through formal collaborations between hospitals, health systems, community health centers, public health departments, and community organizations via health care coalitions (HCCs). HCCs endeavor to meet the medical surge demands inherent to disasters and to improve health outcomes before, during, and after public health emergencies. Nevertheless, significant changes in health economics and policy can impact the operations, capabilities, and scope of HCCs. Specifically, hospital consolidation and the Affordable Care Act (ACA) are altering the national health care landscape, as well as the emergency preparedness sector, and are challenging HCCs to adapt to large-scale, industry-wide transformations. This article examines HCCs in the context of the developments of hospital consolidation and the ACA in order to facilitate future discourse regarding the strategy and policy of HCCs amid a changing economic and political landscape.

Socioeconomic Dimensions of Changes in the Agricultural Landscape of the Mediterranean Basin: A Case Study of the Abandonment of Cultivation Terraces on Nisyros Island, Greece

Science.gov (United States)

Petanidou, Theodora; Kizos, Thanasis; Soulakellis, Nikolaos

2008-02-01

Agricultural landscapes illustrate the impact of human actions on physical settings, and differential human pressures cause these landscapes to change with time. Our study explored changes in the terraced landscapes of Nisyros Island, Greece, focusing on the socioeconomic aspects during two time periods using field data, cadastral research, local documents, and published literature, as well as surveys of the islanders. Population increases during the late 19th to early 20th centuries marked a significant escalation of terrace and dry stone wall construction, which facilitated cultivation on 58.4% of the island. By the mid-20th century, the economic collapse of agricultural activities and consequent emigration caused the abandonment of cultivated land and traditional management practices, dramatically reducing farm and field numbers. Terrace abandonment continued in recent decades, with increased livestock grazing becoming the main land management tool; as a result, both farm and pasture sizes increased. Neglect and changing land use has led to deterioration and destruction of many terraces on the island. We discuss the socioeconomic and political backgrounds responsible for the land-use change before World War II (annexation of Nisyros Island by the Ottoman Empire, Italy, and Greece; overseas migration opportunities; and world transportation changes) and after the war (social changes in peasant societies; worldwide changes in agricultural production practices). The adverse landscape changes documented for Nisyros Island appear to be inevitable for modern Mediterranean rural societies, including those on other islands in this region. The island’s unique terraced landscapes may qualify Nisyros to become an archive or repository of old agricultural management techniques to be used by future generations and a living resource for sustainable management.

Socioeconomic dimensions of changes in the agricultural landscape of the Mediterranean basin: a case study of the abandonment of cultivation terraces on Nisyros Island, Greece.

Science.gov (United States)

Petanidou, Theodora; Kizos, Thanasis; Soulakellis, Nikolaos

2008-02-01

Agricultural landscapes illustrate the impact of human actions on physical settings, and differential human pressures cause these landscapes to change with time. Our study explored changes in the terraced landscapes of Nisyros Island, Greece, focusing on the socioeconomic aspects during two time periods using field data, cadastral research, local documents, and published literature, as well as surveys of the islanders. Population increases during the late 19th to early 20th centuries marked a significant escalation of terrace and dry stone wall construction, which facilitated cultivation on 58.4% of the island. By the mid-20th century, the economic collapse of agricultural activities and consequent emigration caused the abandonment of cultivated land and traditional management practices, dramatically reducing farm and field numbers. Terrace abandonment continued in recent decades, with increased livestock grazing becoming the main land management tool; as a result, both farm and pasture sizes increased. Neglect and changing land use has led to deterioration and destruction of many terraces on the island. We discuss the socioeconomic and political backgrounds responsible for the land-use change before World War II (annexation of Nisyros Island by the Ottoman Empire, Italy, and Greece; overseas migration opportunities; and world transportation changes) and after the war (social changes in peasant societies; worldwide changes in agricultural production practices). The adverse landscape changes documented for Nisyros Island appear to be inevitable for modern Mediterranean rural societies, including those on other islands in this region. The island's unique terraced landscapes may qualify Nisyros to become an archive or repository of old agricultural management techniques to be used by future generations and a living resource for sustainable management.

Drawing time : The representation of change and dynamics in Dutch landscape architectural practice after 1985

NARCIS (Netherlands)

van Dooren, N.

2017-01-01

Landscape architect design involves drawings. The relation between drawing and new landscape seems evident, but is complex and fascinating, due to the particularities of drawings, of landscape and of landscape architecture. Landscape is essentially a time-based medium -think of the seasons (cyclical

How fire history, fire suppression practices and climate change affect wildfire regimes in Mediterranean landscapes.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lluís Brotons

Full Text Available Available data show that future changes in global change drivers may lead to an increasing impact of fires on terrestrial ecosystems worldwide. Yet, fire regime changes in highly humanised fire-prone regions are difficult to predict because fire effects may be heavily mediated by human activities We investigated the role of fire suppression strategies in synergy with climate change on the resulting fire regimes in Catalonia (north-eastern Spain. We used a spatially-explicit fire-succession model at the landscape level to test whether the use of different firefighting opportunities related to observed reductions in fire spread rates and effective fire sizes, and hence changes in the fire regime. We calibrated this model with data from a period with weak firefighting and later assess the potential for suppression strategies to modify fire regimes expected under different levels of climate change. When comparing simulations with observed fire statistics from an eleven-year period with firefighting strategies in place, our results showed that, at least in two of the three sub-regions analysed, the observed fire regime could not be reproduced unless taking into account the effects of fire suppression. Fire regime descriptors were highly dependent on climate change scenarios, with a general trend, under baseline scenarios without fire suppression, to large-scale increases in area burnt. Fire suppression strategies had a strong capacity to compensate for climate change effects. However, strong active fire suppression was necessary to accomplish such compensation, while more opportunistic fire suppression strategies derived from recent fire history only had a variable, but generally weak, potential for compensation of enhanced fire impacts under climate change. The concept of fire regime in the Mediterranean is probably better interpreted as a highly dynamic process in which the main determinants of fire are rapidly modified by changes in landscape

How fire history, fire suppression practices and climate change affect wildfire regimes in Mediterranean landscapes.

Science.gov (United States)

Brotons, Lluís; Aquilué, Núria; de Cáceres, Miquel; Fortin, Marie-Josée; Fall, Andrew

2013-01-01

Available data show that future changes in global change drivers may lead to an increasing impact of fires on terrestrial ecosystems worldwide. Yet, fire regime changes in highly humanised fire-prone regions are difficult to predict because fire effects may be heavily mediated by human activities We investigated the role of fire suppression strategies in synergy with climate change on the resulting fire regimes in Catalonia (north-eastern Spain). We used a spatially-explicit fire-succession model at the landscape level to test whether the use of different firefighting opportunities related to observed reductions in fire spread rates and effective fire sizes, and hence changes in the fire regime. We calibrated this model with data from a period with weak firefighting and later assess the potential for suppression strategies to modify fire regimes expected under different levels of climate change. When comparing simulations with observed fire statistics from an eleven-year period with firefighting strategies in place, our results showed that, at least in two of the three sub-regions analysed, the observed fire regime could not be reproduced unless taking into account the effects of fire suppression. Fire regime descriptors were highly dependent on climate change scenarios, with a general trend, under baseline scenarios without fire suppression, to large-scale increases in area burnt. Fire suppression strategies had a strong capacity to compensate for climate change effects. However, strong active fire suppression was necessary to accomplish such compensation, while more opportunistic fire suppression strategies derived from recent fire history only had a variable, but generally weak, potential for compensation of enhanced fire impacts under climate change. The concept of fire regime in the Mediterranean is probably better interpreted as a highly dynamic process in which the main determinants of fire are rapidly modified by changes in landscape, climate and

How Fire History, Fire Suppression Practices and Climate Change Affect Wildfire Regimes in Mediterranean Landscapes

Science.gov (United States)

Brotons, Lluís; Aquilué, Núria; de Cáceres, Miquel; Fortin, Marie-Josée; Fall, Andrew

2013-01-01

Available data show that future changes in global change drivers may lead to an increasing impact of fires on terrestrial ecosystems worldwide. Yet, fire regime changes in highly humanised fire-prone regions are difficult to predict because fire effects may be heavily mediated by human activities We investigated the role of fire suppression strategies in synergy with climate change on the resulting fire regimes in Catalonia (north-eastern Spain). We used a spatially-explicit fire-succession model at the landscape level to test whether the use of different firefighting opportunities related to observed reductions in fire spread rates and effective fire sizes, and hence changes in the fire regime. We calibrated this model with data from a period with weak firefighting and later assess the potential for suppression strategies to modify fire regimes expected under different levels of climate change. When comparing simulations with observed fire statistics from an eleven-year period with firefighting strategies in place, our results showed that, at least in two of the three sub-regions analysed, the observed fire regime could not be reproduced unless taking into account the effects of fire suppression. Fire regime descriptors were highly dependent on climate change scenarios, with a general trend, under baseline scenarios without fire suppression, to large-scale increases in area burnt. Fire suppression strategies had a strong capacity to compensate for climate change effects. However, strong active fire suppression was necessary to accomplish such compensation, while more opportunistic fire suppression strategies derived from recent fire history only had a variable, but generally weak, potential for compensation of enhanced fire impacts under climate change. The concept of fire regime in the Mediterranean is probably better interpreted as a highly dynamic process in which the main determinants of fire are rapidly modified by changes in landscape, climate and

What are the transitions of woodlands at the landscape level? Change trajectories of forest, non-forest and reclamation woody vegetation elements in a mining landscape in North-western Czech Republic

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Skaloš, J.; Novotný, M.; Woitsch, Jiří; Zacharová, J.; Berchová, K.; Svoboda, M.; Křováková, K.; Romportl, D.; Keken, Z.

2015-01-01

Roč. 58, March (2015), s. 206-216 ISSN 0143-6228 Institutional support: RVO:68378076 Keywords : Forest history * Change trajectories * GIS * Mining landscape Subject RIV: DO - Wilderness Conservation Impact factor: 2.565, year: 2015

Changes in canopy fuels and fire behavior after ponderosa pine restoration treatments: A landscape perspective

Science.gov (United States)

J. P. Roccaforte; P. Z. Fule

2008-01-01

(Please note, this is an abstract only) We modeled crown fire behavior and assessed changes in canopy fuels before and after the implementation of restoration treatments in a ponderosa pine landscape at Mt. Trumbull, Arizona. We measured 117 permanent plots before (1996/1997) and after (2003) thinning and burning treatments. The plots are evenly distributed across the...

Evaluating the impact of abrupt changes in forest policy and management practices on landscape dynamics: analysis of a Landsat image time series in the Atlantic Northern Forest.

Science.gov (United States)

Legaard, Kasey R; Sader, Steven A; Simons-Legaard, Erin M

2015-01-01

Sustainable forest management is based on functional relationships between management actions, landscape conditions, and forest values. Changes in management practices make it fundamentally more difficult to study these relationships because the impacts of current practices are difficult to disentangle from the persistent influences of past practices. Within the Atlantic Northern Forest of Maine, U.S.A., forest policy and management practices changed abruptly in the early 1990s. During the 1970s-1980s, a severe insect outbreak stimulated salvage clearcutting of large contiguous tracts of spruce-fir forest. Following clearcut regulation in 1991, management practices shifted abruptly to near complete dependence on partial harvesting. Using a time series of Landsat satellite imagery (1973-2010) we assessed cumulative landscape change caused by these very different management regimes. We modeled predominant temporal patterns of harvesting and segmented a large study area into groups of landscape units with similar harvest histories. Time series of landscape composition and configuration metrics averaged within groups revealed differences in landscape dynamics caused by differences in management history. In some groups (24% of landscape units), salvage caused rapid loss and subdivision of intact mature forest. Persistent landscape change was created by large salvage clearcuts (often averaging > 100 ha) and conversion of spruce-fir to deciduous and mixed forest. In groups that were little affected by salvage (56% of landscape units), contemporary partial harvesting caused loss and subdivision of intact mature forest at even greater rates. Patch shape complexity and edge density reached high levels even where cumulative harvest area was relatively low. Contemporary practices introduced more numerous and much smaller patches of stand-replacing disturbance (typically averaging forest ecology.

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...

Circumpolar distribution and carbon storage of thermokarst landscapes

Science.gov (United States)

Olefeldt, David; Goswami, S.; Grosse, G.; Hayes, D.; Hugelius, G.; Kuhry, P.; McGuire, A. David; Romanovsky, V.E.; Sannel, A.B.K.; Schuur, E.A.G.; Turetsky, M.R.

2016-01-01

Thermokarst is the process whereby the thawing of ice-rich permafrost ground causes land subsidence, resulting in development of distinctive landforms. Accelerated thermokarst due to climate change will damage infrastructure, but also impact hydrology, ecology and biogeochemistry. Here, we present a circumpolar assessment of the distribution of thermokarst landscapes, defined as landscapes comprised of current thermokarst landforms and areas susceptible to future thermokarst development. At 3.6 × 106 km2, thermokarst landscapes are estimated to cover ∼20% of the northern permafrost region, with approximately equal contributions from three landscape types where characteristic wetland, lake and hillslope thermokarst landforms occur. We estimate that approximately half of the below-ground organic carbon within the study region is stored in thermokarst landscapes. Our results highlight the importance of explicitly considering thermokarst when assessing impacts of climate change, including future landscape greenhouse gas emissions, and provide a means for assessing such impacts at the circumpolar scale.

Analysis of human induced changes in a karst landscape - the filling of dolines in the Kras plateau, Slovenia.

Science.gov (United States)

Kovačič, Gregor; Ravbar, Nataša

2013-03-01

A comprehensive analysis of the increased pressure on karst landscapes due to expansive economic and urban development is presented with the aim of evaluating changes in land use and their deleterious effects on karst relief forms. The study focuses on two areas surrounding the relatively quickly growing settlements of Hrpelje-Kozina and Divača on the Kras plateau (Slovenia) that have been subjected to intensive urban and business development and traffic since the motorway was brought to their vicinity fifteen years ago. National legislation loopholes and technological improvement were the cause of the commonly unsupervised human encroachment which caused the widespread degradation of the landscape. By comparing different topographical and ortophotographical materials from the past four decades and by detailed field inspection of land use and environmental changes, as well as the morphometrical characterization of dolines, the following results have been found: due to the population growth in the past four decades (39% and 50%, respectively), an increase of settlement area by 18 and 11 percentage points took place. Consequently, between 25 and 27% of dolines have disappeared or have been extensively modified (filled up and leveled). According to the local spatial plans, an additional 18% to 28% dolines are endangered. Broad human induced changes in the karst landscape have resulted in a noticeable increase in landscape deterioration, which is consistent with similar phenomena observed in other regions. Due to the extreme susceptibility of the karst to human activities that may lead to the degradation of its exceptional esthetic and environmental value, the alteration of karst processes such as corrosion, endangering of unique habitats and the quality of non-renewable natural resources, it is necessary to promptly define measures for its protection at the national level. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Climate change and landscape development in post-closure safety assessment of solid radioactive waste disposal: Results of an initiative of the IAEA.

Science.gov (United States)

Lindborg, T; Thorne, M; Andersson, E; Becker, J; Brandefelt, J; Cabianca, T; Gunia, M; Ikonen, A T K; Johansson, E; Kangasniemi, V; Kautsky, U; Kirchner, G; Klos, R; Kowe, R; Kontula, A; Kupiainen, P; Lahdenperä, A-M; Lord, N S; Lunt, D J; Näslund, J-O; Nordén, M; Norris, S; Pérez-Sánchez, D; Proverbio, A; Riekki, K; Rübel, A; Sweeck, L; Walke, R; Xu, S; Smith, G; Pröhl, G

2018-03-01

The International Atomic Energy Agency has coordinated an international project addressing climate change and landscape development in post-closure safety assessments of solid radioactive waste disposal. The work has been supported by results of parallel on-going research that has been published in a variety of reports and peer reviewed journal articles. The project is due to be described in detail in a forthcoming IAEA report. Noting the multi-disciplinary nature of post-closure safety assessments, here, an overview of the work is given to provide researchers in the broader fields of radioecology and radiological safety assessment with a review of the work that has been undertaken. It is hoped that such dissemination will support and promote integrated understanding and coherent treatment of climate change and landscape development within an overall assessment process. The key activities undertaken in the project were: identification of the key processes that drive environmental change (mainly those associated with climate and climate change), and description of how a relevant future may develop on a global scale; development of a methodology for characterising environmental change that is valid on a global scale, showing how modelled global changes in climate can be downscaled to provide information that may be needed for characterising environmental change in site-specific assessments, and illustrating different aspects of the methodology in a number of case studies that show the evolution of site characteristics and the implications for the dose assessment models. Overall, the study has shown that quantitative climate and landscape modelling has now developed to the stage that it can be used to define an envelope of climate and landscape change scenarios at specific sites and under specific greenhouse-gas emissions assumptions that is suitable for use in quantitative post-closure performance assessments. These scenarios are not predictions of the future, but

Land-use change in oil palm dominated tropical landscapes-An agent-based model to explore ecological and socio-economic trade-offs.

Science.gov (United States)

Dislich, Claudia; Hettig, Elisabeth; Salecker, Jan; Heinonen, Johannes; Lay, Jann; Meyer, Katrin M; Wiegand, Kerstin; Tarigan, Suria

2018-01-01

Land-use changes have dramatically transformed tropical landscapes. We describe an ecological-economic land-use change model as an integrated, exploratory tool used to analyze how tropical land-use change affects ecological and socio-economic functions. The model analysis seeks to determine what kind of landscape mosaic can improve the ensemble of ecosystem functioning, biodiversity, and economic benefit based on the synergies and trade-offs that we have to account for. More specifically, (1) how do specific ecosystem functions, such as carbon storage, and economic functions, such as household consumption, relate to each other? (2) How do external factors, such as the output prices of crops, affect these relationships? (3) How do these relationships change when production inefficiency differs between smallholder farmers and learning is incorporated? We initialize the ecological-economic model with artificially generated land-use maps parameterized to our study region. The economic sub-model simulates smallholder land-use management decisions based on a profit maximization assumption. Each household determines factor inputs for all household fields and decides on land-use change based on available wealth. The ecological sub-model includes a simple account of carbon sequestration in above-ground and below-ground vegetation. We demonstrate model capabilities with results on household consumption and carbon sequestration from different output price and farming efficiency scenarios. The overall results reveal complex interactions between the economic and ecological spheres. For instance, model scenarios with heterogeneous crop-specific household productivity reveal a comparatively high inertia of land-use change. Our model analysis even shows such an increased temporal stability in landscape composition and carbon stocks of the agricultural area under dynamic price trends. These findings underline the utility of ecological-economic models, such as ours, to act as

Post-Little Landscape and Glacier Change in Glacier Bay National Park: Documenting More than a Century of Variability with Repeat Photography

Science.gov (United States)

Molnia, B. F.; Karpilo, R. D.; Pranger, H. S.

2004-12-01

Historical photographs, many dating from the late-19th century are being used to document landscape and glacier change in the Glacier Bay area. More than 350 pre-1980 photographs that show the Glacier Bay landscape and glacier termini positions have been acquired by the authors. Beginning in 2003, approximately 150 of the sites from which historical photographs had been made were revisited. At each site, elevation and latitude and longitude were recorded using WAAS-enabled GPS. Compass bearings to photographic targets were also determined. Finally, using the historical photographs as a composition guide, new photographs were exposed using digital imaging and film cameras. In the laboratory, 21st century images and photographs were compared with corresponding historical photographs to determine, and to better understand rates, timing, and mechanics of Glacier Bay landscape evolution, as well as to clarify the response of specific glaciers to changing climate and environment. The comparisons clearly document rapid vegetative succession throughout the bay; continued retreat of larger glaciers in the East Arm of the bay; a complex pattern of readvance and retreat of the larger glaciers in the West Arm of the bay, coupled with short-term fluctuations of its smaller glaciers; transitions from tidewater termini to stagnant, debris-covered termini; fiord sedimentation and erosion; development of outwash and talus features; and many other dramatic changes. As might be expected, 100-year-plus photo comparisons show significant changes throughout the Glacier Bay landscape, especially at the southern ends of East and West Arms. Surprisingly, recent changes, occurring since the late-1970s were equally dramatic, especially documenting the rapid thinning and retreat of glaciers in upper Muir Inlet.

Energy landscapes, landscapes in transition. How to prepare one's territory to the deployment of renewable energies

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2014-06-01

This guide first defines the notion of landscape, outlines what is at stake with decentralised renewable energy production, and presents the various important aspects of a deployment of decentralised renewable energy production. It describes how to define a general strategy for the integration of this production: relationship between energy and landscape, project implementation, partnership, tools to anticipate changes, evolution of social demand through dialogue, conciliation of technical and financial constraints and landscape ambitions. An appendix proposes legal and bibliographical information: legal relationships between energy and landscape, possible arrangements for PLU (plan local d'urbanisme, local urban plan) and SCOT (schema de coherence territoriale, territorial planning document)

Climate change amplifies the interactions between wind and bark beetle disturbances in forest landscapes.

Science.gov (United States)

Seidl, Rupert; Rammer, Werner

2017-07-01

Growing evidence suggests that climate change could substantially alter forest disturbances. Interactions between individual disturbance agents are a major component of disturbance regimes, yet how interactions contribute to their climate sensitivity remains largely unknown. Here, our aim was to assess the climate sensitivity of disturbance interactions, focusing on wind and bark beetle disturbances. We developed a process-based model of bark beetle disturbance, integrated into the dynamic forest landscape model iLand (already including a detailed model of wind disturbance). We evaluated the integrated model against observations from three wind events and a subsequent bark beetle outbreak, affecting 530.2 ha (3.8 %) of a mountain forest landscape in Austria between 2007 and 2014. Subsequently, we conducted a factorial experiment determining the effect of changes in climate variables on the area disturbed by wind and bark beetles separately and in combination. iLand was well able to reproduce observations with regard to area, temporal sequence, and spatial pattern of disturbance. The observed disturbance dynamics was strongly driven by interactions, with 64.3 % of the area disturbed attributed to interaction effects. A +4 °C warming increased the disturbed area by +264.7 % and the area-weighted mean patch size by +1794.3 %. Interactions were found to have a ten times higher sensitivity to temperature changes than main effects, considerably amplifying the climate sensitivity of the disturbance regime. Disturbance interactions are a key component of the forest disturbance regime. Neglecting interaction effects can lead to a substantial underestimation of the climate change sensitivity of disturbance regimes.

Chungthang: an emerging urban landscape in Sikkim

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Chettri, Mona

2017-01-01

The Indian border state of Sikkim has remained relatively detached from the rest of India owing to its cultural distinction and geographical isolation from the Indian mainland. However, over the recent decade state-induced economic liberalisation, evinced in private hydro-power projects, pharmace......-induced development in Chungthang, north Sikkim, and the creation of an urban landscape that raises questions and concerns about belonging and identity......., pharmaceutical companies and educational institutes, has been the predominant cause of social, economic and spatial transformation in the region, visible in infrastructural growth, rapid urbanisation of rural and semi-urban areas, increased consumerism and changing aspirations. This paper focuses on state...

The impacts of climate change and disturbance on spatio-temporal trajectories of biodiversity in a temperate forest landscape.

Science.gov (United States)

Thom, Dominik; Rammer, Werner; Dirnböck, Thomas; Müller, Jörg; Kobler, Johannes; Katzensteiner, Klaus; Helm, Norbert; Seidl, Rupert

2017-02-01

1. The ongoing changes to climate challenge the conservation of forest biodiversity. Yet, in thermally limited systems, such as temperate forests, not all species groups might be affected negatively. Furthermore, simultaneous changes in the disturbance regime have the potential to mitigate climate-related impacts on forest species. Here, we (i) investigated the potential long-term effect of climate change on biodiversity in a mountain forest landscape, (ii) assessed the effects of different disturbance frequencies, severities and sizes and (iii) identified biodiversity hotspots at the landscape scale to facilitate conservation management. 2. We employed the model iLand to dynamically simulate the tree vegetation on 13 865 ha of the Kalkalpen National Park in Austria over 1000 years, and investigated 36 unique combinations of different disturbance and climate scenarios. We used simulated changes in tree cover and composition as well as projected temperature and precipitation to predict changes in the diversity of Araneae, Carabidae, ground vegetation, Hemiptera, Hymenoptera, Mollusca, saproxylic beetles, Symphyta and Syrphidae, using empirical response functions. 3. Our findings revealed widely varying responses of biodiversity indicators to climate change. Five indicators showed overall negative effects, with Carabidae, saproxylic beetles and tree species diversity projected to decrease by more than 33%. Six indicators responded positively to climate change, with Hymenoptera, Mollusca and Syrphidae diversity projected to increase more than twofold. 4. Disturbances were generally beneficial for the studied indicators of biodiversity. Our results indicated that increasing disturbance frequency and severity have a positive effect on biodiversity, while increasing disturbance size has a moderately negative effect. Spatial hotspots of biodiversity were currently found in low- to mid-elevation areas of the mountainous study landscape, but shifted to higher

The power of change conference

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Anon.

1995-01-01

Business aspects of the electrical power utility industry in Canada were discussed in these proceedings of The Power of Change Conference, held in Vancouver, BC on April 9-11, 1995. Topics of discussion included the future of the electric utility industry in Canada, integrated resource planning, rate design, load forecasting, regulatory changes, supplier relationships, training needs and economic and demographic outlooks. These proceedings were accompanied by proceedings from four other conferences in a digital CD-ROM format

A Behavioral Model of Landscape Change in the Amazon Basin: The Colonist Case

Science.gov (United States)

Walker, R. A.; Drzyzga, S. A.; Li, Y. L.; Wi, J. G.; Caldas, M.; Arima, E.; Vergara, D.

2004-01-01

This paper presents the prototype of a predictive model capable of describing both magnitudes of deforestation and its spatial articulation into patterns of forest fragmentation. In a departure from other landscape models, it establishes an explicit behavioral foundation for algorithm development, predicated on notions of the peasant economy and on household production theory. It takes a 'bottom-up' approach, generating the process of land-cover change occurring at lot level together with the geography of a transportation system to describe regional landscape change. In other words, it translates the decentralized decisions of individual households into a collective, spatial impact. In so doing, the model unites the richness of survey research on farm households with the analytical rigor of spatial analysis enabled by geographic information systems (GIs). The paper describes earlier efforts at spatial modeling, provides a critique of the so-called spatially explicit model, and elaborates a behavioral foundation by considering farm practices of colonists in the Amazon basin. It then uses, insight from the behavioral statement to motivate a GIs-based model architecture. The model is implemented for a long-standing colonization frontier in the eastern sector of the basin, along the Trans-Amazon Highway in the State of Para, Brazil. Results are subjected to both sensitivity analysis and error assessment, and suggestions are made about how the model could be improved.

Is research keeping up with changes in landscape policy? A review of the literature.

Science.gov (United States)

Conrad, Elisabeth; Christie, Mike; Fazey, Ioan

2011-09-01

Several innovative directions for landscape policy development and implementation have emerged over recent years. These include: (i) an expansion of scope to include all landscape aspects and landscape types, (ii) an increased emphasis on public participation, (iii) a focus on designing measures appropriate for different contexts and scales, and (iv) encouraging support for capacity-building. In this paper, we evaluate the extent to which these policy directions are reflected in the practice of academic landscape research. We evaluate all research papers published in three leading landscape journals over six years, as well as published research papers relating directly to the European Landscape Convention. The latter, which was adopted in 2000, establishes a framework for landscape protection, planning and management in Europe and is to date the only international legal instrument of its kind. Results indicate that whilst policy innovations do not appear to be a major stimulus for academic research, studies nevertheless address a range of landscape aspects, types and scales (albeit with a slight bias towards bio-physical landscape aspects). However, geographical representativeness of research is weak and dominated by the United States and northern/western Europe, and research capacity likewise appears to be unevenly distributed. Landscape research is also limited in the extent to which it involves stakeholders or develops innovative methods for doing so, notwithstanding that this remains a key challenge for policy-makers. Results point to the potential for landscape research to address areas (topical and geographical) which have received little attention to date, as well as suggesting mutual benefits of stronger links between policy and academia. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Impacts of renewable energy on landscape. Alternative of offshore wind in marine areas

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Francesca Moraci

2014-01-01

Full Text Available The effects determined in the landscape by plants powered by renewable sources represent some unresolved issues in terms of visual and landscape impact mitigation in general. These aspects relate to the landscape are recognized in all types of impact with due attention to the various components and dynamics involved identifiable in the landscape of reference.The wind power plants, in particular, while making unquestionable environmental benefits thanks to the production of energy from renewable sources, but imposes a significant cost to the landscape with the installation of wind turbines in contexts necessarily favorable to impact,  interrupting the skyline, creating territorial discontinuities, "subtracting" and altering the landscape in the absence of effective mitigation works.The environmental compatibility of the proposed solutions depends primarily on the location of wind farms.Is necessary indicate  an overall strategy, a shared model of planning and land management, as in other European countries such as Denmark, Germany, France and the United Kingdom where the choice of locating wind farms has resulted in a new draft territory, construction and redesign of the landscape.

Coulomb Mechanics And Landscape Geometry Explain Landslide Size Distribution

Science.gov (United States)

Jeandet, L.; Steer, P.; Lague, D.; Davy, P.

2017-12-01

It is generally observed that the dimensions of large bedrock landslides follow power-law scaling relationships. In particular, the non-cumulative frequency distribution (PDF) of bedrock landslide area is well characterized by a negative power-law above a critical size, with an exponent 2.4. However, the respective role of bedrock mechanical properties, landscape shape and triggering mechanisms on the scaling properties of landslide dimensions are still poorly understood. Yet, unravelling the factors that control this distribution is required to better estimate the total volume of landslides triggered by large earthquakes or storms. To tackle this issue, we develop a simple probabilistic 1D approach to compute the PDF of rupture depths in a given landscape. The model is applied to randomly sampled points along hillslopes of studied digital elevation models. At each point location, the model determines the range of depth and angle leading to unstable rupture planes, by applying a simple Mohr-Coulomb rupture criterion only to the rupture planes that intersect downhill surface topography. This model therefore accounts for both rock mechanical properties, friction and cohesion, and landscape shape. We show that this model leads to realistic landslide depth distribution, with a power-law arising when the number of samples is high enough. The modeled PDF of landslide size obtained for several landscapes match the ones from earthquakes-driven landslides catalogues for the same landscape. In turn, this allows us to invert landslide effective mechanical parameters, friction and cohesion, associated to those specific events, including Chi-Chi, Wenchuan, Niigata and Gorkha earthquakes. The cohesion and friction ranges (25-35 degrees and 5-20 kPa) are in good agreement with previously inverted values. Our results demonstrate that reduced complexity mechanics is efficient to model the distribution of unstable depths, and show the role of landscape variability in landslide size

Comparison of Recent Oil and Gas, Wind Energy, and Other Anthropogenic Landscape Alteration Factors in Texas Through 2014.

Science.gov (United States)

Pierre, Jon Paul; Wolaver, Brad D; Labay, Benjamin J; LaDuc, Travis J; Duran, Charles M; Ryberg, Wade A; Hibbitts, Toby J; Andrews, John R

2018-05-01

Recent research assessed how hydrocarbon and wind energy expansion has altered the North American landscape. Less understood, however, is how this energy development compares to other anthropogenic land use changes. Texas leads U.S. hydrocarbon production and wind power generation and has a rapidly expanding population. Thus, for ~47% of Texas (~324,000 km 2 ), we mapped the 2014 footprint of energy activities (~665,000 oil and gas wells, ~5700 wind turbines, ~237,000 km oil and gas pipelines, and ~2000 km electrical transmission lines). We compared the footprint of energy development to non-energy-related activities (agriculture, roads, urbanization) and found direct landscape alteration from all factors affects ~23% of the study area (~76,000 km 2 ), led by agriculture (~16%; ~52,882 km 2 ). Oil and gas activities altered turbine pads and ~10 km 2 from power transmission lines. We found that edge effects of widely-distributed energy infrastructure caused more indirect landscape alteration than larger, more concentrated urbanization and agriculture. This study presents a novel technique to quantify and compare anthropogenic activities causing both direct and indirect landscape alteration. We illustrate this landscape-mapping framework in Texas for the Spot-tailed Earless Lizard (Holbrookia lacerata); however, the approach can be applied to a range of species in developing regions globally.

Interactions of landscape disturbances and climate change dictate ecological pattern and process: spatial modeling of wildfire, insect, and disease dynamics under future climates

Science.gov (United States)

Loehman, Rachel A.; Keane, Robert E.; Holsinger, Lisa M.; Wu, Zhiwei

2016-01-01

ContextInteractions among disturbances, climate, and vegetation influence landscape patterns and ecosystem processes. Climate changes, exotic invasions, beetle outbreaks, altered fire regimes, and human activities may interact to produce landscapes that appear and function beyond historical analogs.ObjectivesWe used the mechanistic ecosystem-fire process model FireBGCv2 to model interactions of wildland fire, mountain pine beetle (Dendroctonus ponderosae), and white pine blister rust (Cronartium ribicola) under current and future climates, across three diverse study areas.MethodsWe assessed changes in tree basal area as a measure of landscape response over a 300-year simulation period for the Crown of the Continent in north-central Montana, East Fork of the Bitterroot River in western Montana, and Yellowstone Central Plateau in western Wyoming, USA.ResultsInteracting disturbances reduced overall basal area via increased tree mortality of host species. Wildfire decreased basal area more than beetles or rust, and disturbance interactions modeled under future climate significantly altered landscape basal area as compared with no-disturbance and current climate scenarios. Responses varied among landscapes depending on species composition, sensitivity to fire, and pathogen and beetle suitability and susceptibility.ConclusionsUnderstanding disturbance interactions is critical for managing landscapes because forest responses to wildfires, pathogens, and beetle attacks may offset or exacerbate climate influences, with consequences for wildlife, carbon, and biodiversity.

Multitemporal spatial pattern analysis of Tulum's tropical coastal landscape

Science.gov (United States)

Ramírez-Forero, Sandra Carolina; López-Caloca, Alejandra; Silván-Cárdenas, José Luis

2011-11-01

The tropical coastal landscape of Tulum in Quintana Roo, Mexico has a high ecological, economical, social and cultural value, it provides environmental and tourism services at global, national, regional and local levels. The landscape of the area is heterogeneous and presents random fragmentation patterns. In recent years, tourist services of the region has been increased promoting an accelerate expansion of hotels, transportation and recreation infrastructure altering the complex landscape. It is important to understand the environmental dynamics through temporal changes on the spatial patterns and to propose a better management of this ecological area to the authorities. This paper addresses a multi-temporal analysis of land cover changes from 1993 to 2000 in Tulum using Thematic Mapper data acquired by Landsat-5. Two independent methodologies were applied for the analysis of changes in the landscape and for the definition of fragmentation patterns. First, an Iteratively Multivariate Alteration Detection (IR-MAD) algorithm was used to detect and localize land cover change/no-change areas. Second, the post-classification change detection evaluated using the Support Vector Machine (SVM) algorithm. Landscape metrics were calculated from the results of IR-MAD and SVM. The analysis of the metrics indicated, among other things, a higher fragmentation pattern along roadways.

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)

Driving the Landscape

Science.gov (United States)

Haff, P. K.

2012-12-01

Technological modification of the earth's surface (e.g., agriculture, urbanization) is an old story in human history, but what about the future? The future of landscape in an accelerating technological world, beyond a relatively short time horizon, lies hidden behind an impenetrable veil of complexity. Sufficiently complex dynamics generates not only the trajectory of a variable of interest (e.g., vegetation cover) but also the environment in which that variable evolves (e.g., background climate). There is no way to anticipate what variables will define that environment—the dynamics creates its own variables. We are always open to surprise by a change of conditions we thought or assumed were fixed or by the appearance of new phenomena of whose possible existence we had been unaware or thought unlikely. This is especially true under the influence of technology, where novelty is the rule. Lack of direct long-term predictability of landscape change does not, however, mean we cannot say anything about its future. The presence of persistence (finite time scales) in a system means that prediction by a calibrated numerical model should be good for a limited period of time barring bad luck or faulty implementation. Short-term prediction, despite its limitations, provides an option for dealing with the longer-term future. If a computer-controlled car tries to drive itself from New York to Los Angeles, no conceivable (or possible) stand-alone software can be constructed to predict a priori the space-time trajectory of the vehicle. Yet the drive is normally completed easily by most drivers. The trip is successfully completed because each in a series of very short (linear) steps can be "corrected" on the fly by the driver, who takes her cues from the environment to keep the car on the road and headed toward its destination. This metaphor differs in a fundamental way from the usual notion of predicting geomorphic change, because it involves a goal—to reach a desired

Landscape moderation of biodiversity patterns and processes - eight hypotheses

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Tscharntke, T.; Tylianakis, J.M.; Rand, T.A.; Didham, R.K.; Fahrig, L.; Batary, P.; Bengtsson, J.; Clough, Y.; Crist, T.O.; Dormann, C.; Ewers, R.M.; Frund, J.; Holt, R.D.; Holzschuh, A.; Klein, A.M.; Kleijn, D.; Kremen, C.; Landis, D.A.; Laurance, W.F.; Lindenmayer, D.B.; Scherber, C.; Sodhi, N.; Steffan-Dewenter, I.; Thies, C.; Putten, van der W.H.; Westphal, C.

2012-01-01

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

Passive Solar Landscape Design: Its Impact on Fossil Fuel Consumption Through Landscape Design

OpenAIRE

Boelt, Robin Wiatt

2006-01-01

Gas, electricity, heating and cooling buildings - comfort â our lives revolve around fossil fuels. Technology and the demands of living in todayâ s society add to our gigantic fossil fuel appetite. With gas prices topping three dollars per gallon, changes must be made. This thesis project presents an analysis of passive solar landscape design (PSLD) principles used to create microclimates within the landscape, and thereby increasing human comfort both indoors and outdoors. The ...

Monitoring and identification of spatiotemporal landscape changes in multiple remote sensing images by using a stratified conditional Latin hypercube sampling approach and geostatistical simulation.

Science.gov (United States)

Lin, Yu-Pin; Chu, Hone-Jay; Huang, Yu-Long; Tang, Chia-Hsi; Rouhani, Shahrokh

2011-06-01

This study develops a stratified conditional Latin hypercube sampling (scLHS) approach for multiple, remotely sensed, normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) images. The objective is to sample, monitor, and delineate spatiotemporal landscape changes, including spatial heterogeneity and variability, in a given area. The scLHS approach, which is based on the variance quadtree technique (VQT) and the conditional Latin hypercube sampling (cLHS) method, selects samples in order to delineate landscape changes from multiple NDVI images. The images are then mapped for calibration and validation by using sequential Gaussian simulation (SGS) with the scLHS selected samples. Spatial statistical results indicate that in terms of their statistical distribution, spatial distribution, and spatial variation, the statistics and variograms of the scLHS samples resemble those of multiple NDVI images more closely than those of cLHS and VQT samples. Moreover, the accuracy of simulated NDVI images based on SGS with scLHS samples is significantly better than that of simulated NDVI images based on SGS with cLHS samples and VQT samples, respectively. However, the proposed approach efficiently monitors the spatial characteristics of landscape changes, including the statistics, spatial variability, and heterogeneity of NDVI images. In addition, SGS with the scLHS samples effectively reproduces spatial patterns and landscape changes in multiple NDVI images.

Analytically based forward and inverse models of fluvial landscape evolution during temporally continuous climatic and tectonic variations

Science.gov (United States)

Goren, Liran; Petit, Carole

2017-04-01

Fluvial channels respond to changing tectonic and climatic conditions by adjusting their patterns of erosion and relief. It is therefore expected that by examining these patterns, we can infer the tectonic and climatic conditions that shaped the channels. However, the potential interference between climatic and tectonic signals complicates this inference. Within the framework of the stream power model that describes incision rate of mountainous bedrock rivers, climate variability has two effects: it influences the erosive power of the river, causing local slope change, and it changes the fluvial response time that controls the rate at which tectonically and climatically induced slope breaks are communicated upstream. Because of this dual role, the fluvial response time during continuous climate change has so far been elusive, which hinders our understanding of environmental signal propagation and preservation in the fluvial topography. An analytic solution of the stream power model during general tectonic and climatic histories gives rise to a new definition of the fluvial response time. The analytic solution offers accurate predictions for landscape evolution that are hard to achieve with classical numerical schemes and thus can be used to validate and evaluate the accuracy of numerical landscape evolution models. The analytic solution together with the new definition of the fluvial response time allow inferring either the tectonic history or the climatic history from river long profiles by using simple linear inversion schemes. Analytic study of landscape evolution during periodic climate change reveals that high frequency (10-100 kyr) climatic oscillations with respect to the response time, such as Milankovitch cycles, are not expected to leave significant fingerprints in the upstream reaches of fluvial channels. Linear inversion schemes are applied to the Tinee river tributaries in the southern French Alps, where tributary long profiles are used to recover the

Agrarian Landscape Management in a Modernized World

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Christensen, Andreas Aagaard

) A historical analysis of social drivers of land use change affecting agrarian landscapes in the Western world in the period 1700-2000 based on a litterature review of modernization theory applied to two local scale historical case studies of changes in landscape structure; (2) A national scale analysis based...... on archival and cartographic sources of the way selected modernization processes affected rural land use patterns in New Zealand in the period from its first Europeancolonial exploration in the 17th century until the present. (3) A global scale analysis of historical patterns of modernization affecting rural...... land use patterns within the Western world based on historical cartographic evidence, (4) A local scale analysis of the decision making practices of landscape managers in four modern case landscapes in Denmark and New Zealand, based on interview surveys conducted in 2011 and 2012. Findings indicate...

Long-Term Changes in Game Species Over a Long Period of Transformation in the Iberian Mediterranean Landscape

Science.gov (United States)

Delibes-Mateos, Miguel; Farfán, Miguel Ángel; Olivero, Jesús; Márquez, Ana Luz; Vargas, Juan Mario

2009-06-01

Agricultural change has transformed large areas of traditional farming landscapes, leading to important changes in the species community assemblages in most European countries. We suspect that the drastic changes in land-use that have occurred in Andalusia (southern Spain) over recent decades, may have affected the distribution and abundance of game species in this region. This article compares the distribution of the main game species in Andalusia during the 1960s and 1990s, using data from maps available from the Mainland Spanish Fish, Game and National Parks Service and from recent datasets on hunting yield distributions, respectively. Big-game and small-game species were significantly segregated in southern Spain during the 1990s, as two clearly independent chorotypes (groups of species whose abundances are similarly distributed) were obtained from the classification analysis. In contrast, big-game and small-game species were not significantly segregated several decades ago, when there was only one chorotype consisting of small-game species and wild boar. The other three ungulates did not constitute a significant chorotype, as they showed positive correlations with some species in the group mentioned above. These changes seem to be a consequence of the transformations that have occurred in the Iberian Mediterranean landscape over the last few decades. The abandoning of traditional activities, and the consequent formation of dense scrubland and woodland, has led to an expansion of big-game species, and a decrease of small-game species in mountain areas. Moreover, agricultural intensification has apparently depleted small-game species populations in some agricultural areas. On the other hand, the increasingly intensive hunting management could be artificially boosting this segregation between small-game and big-game species. Our results suggest that the conservation and regeneration of traditional agricultural landscapes (like those predominating in the 1960s

Changing power of geographical competencies

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Brandt, Jesper

Torsten Hägerstrand’s ideas on landscape stayed as a rather general concept design which he mainly illustrated and tested through specific empirical studies. One of the most interesting examples on this mode proved in his study of the foundation of national parks in Sweden. It includes all major....... I will present a comparable follow-up with the foundation of national parks in Denmark, completed 100 years later, clearly showing the current strength and potential of his conceptualisation of landscape dynamics....

Fred Tschopp, Landscape Architect: The American Practice 1938 - 1970

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

John P Adam

2004-06-01

Full Text Available Fred Tschopp, a Swiss-American landscape architect practised in both New Zealand and America from the 1920s to 1970. While in New Zealand (1929-1932, Tschopp worked in Auckland, Wellington and Rotorua. Tschopp's projects in New Zealand represent a new form of practice, a modernist approach to the practise of landscape architecture. We argue that Tschopp's work is a break from conventional landscape design practice in New Zealand during the 1920s and 1930s. He introduced three important ideas; the first was the idea of the park as a multi-functional space that accommodates a wide range of community needs, sport, education and productive horticulture. The second were ideas of a new discipline, planning, which had developed from the landscape architectural programme at Harvard University. The third idea was a regionalist sensibility, influenced by his earlier projects for the Theodore Payne nursery in Los Angeles. Tschopp insisted on the uses of indigenous New Zealand plants in many of his New Zealand projects, notably his work for Parliament grounds and the Rotorua plan. On Tschopp's return to America he began working for the giant California water and power utility, the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP. For over 30 years Tschopp was responsible for the design, implementation, and maintenance of over 30 landscapes; reservoirs, storage tanks, and pumping stations, as part the vast infrastructure of the LADWP. This paper describes and discusses Tschopp's landscape practice at the LADWP and outlines Tschopp's career, examining in detail two particular areas of practice. Our contention is that Tschopp abandons his interest in the regional and, instead, develops one particular aspect of modernist practice, functionalism. We explore some of the ways writers and designers of landscape architecture have engaged with functionalism and finish by framing Tschopp's practice within this somewhat neglected aspect of the modern landscape.

Physical mechanism of mind changes and tradeoffs among speed, accuracy, and energy cost in brain decision making: Landscape, flux, and path perspectives

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yan Han; Wang Jin; Zhang Kun

2016-01-01

Cognitive behaviors are determined by underlying neural networks. Many brain functions, such as learning and memory, have been successfully described by attractor dynamics. For decision making in the brain, a quantitative description of global attractor landscapes has not yet been completely given. Here, we developed a theoretical framework to quantify the landscape associated with the steady state probability distributions and associated steady state curl flux, measuring the degree of non-equilibrium through the degree of detailed balance breaking for decision making. We quantified the decision-making processes with optimal paths from the undecided attractor states to the decided attractor states, which are identified as basins of attractions, on the landscape. Both landscape and flux determine the kinetic paths and speed. The kinetics and global stability of decision making are explored by quantifying the landscape topography through the barrier heights and the mean first passage time. Our theoretical predictions are in agreement with experimental observations: more errors occur under time pressure. We quantitatively explored two mechanisms of the speed-accuracy tradeoff with speed emphasis and further uncovered the tradeoffs among speed, accuracy, and energy cost. Our results imply that there is an optimal balance among speed, accuracy, and the energy cost in decision making. We uncovered the possible mechanisms of changes of mind and how mind changes improve performance in decision processes. Our landscape approach can help facilitate an understanding of the underlying physical mechanisms of cognitive processes and identify the key factors in the corresponding neural networks. (paper)

River flooding and landscape changes impact ecological conditions of a scour hole lake in the Rhine-Meuse delta, The Netherlands

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Cremer, H.; Bunnik, F.P.M.; Donders, T.H.; Hoek, W.Z.; Koolen-Eekhout, M.; Koolmees, H.H.; Lavooi, E.

2010-01-01

A 400-year sediment record from an 18 m deep scour hole lake (Haarsteegse Wiel) near the Meuse River in the Netherlands was investigated for past changes in water quality, flooding frequency and landscape change using geophysical, geochemical and micropaleontological information. The results are

Climate Change and Nuclear Power 2014

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

2014-10-15

Climate change is the foremost global environmental issue today. Nuclear power is one of the low carbon technologies that can contribute to reducing greenhouse gas emissions while delivering energy in the increasingly large quantities needed for growing populations and socioeconomic development. Nuclear power plants produce virtually no greenhouse gas emissions or air pollutants during their operation and only very low emissions over their entire life cycle. Nuclear power fosters energy supply security and industrial development by providing electricity reliably at stable and foreseeable prices. The accident at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in March 2011 caused deep public anxiety and raised fundamental questions about the future of nuclear energy throughout the world. It was a wake-up call for everyone involved in nuclear power — a reminder that safety can never be taken for granted. Yet, more than three years after the accident, it is clear that nuclear energy will remain an important option for many countries. Its advantages in terms of climate change mitigation are an important reason why many countries intend to introduce nuclear power in the coming decades, or to expand existing programmes. All countries have the right to use nuclear technology for peaceful purposes, as well as the responsibility to do so safely and securely. The IAEA provides assistance and information to countries that wish to introduce nuclear power. It also provides information for broader audiences engaged in energy, environmental and economic policy making. This report provides a comprehensive review of the potential role of nuclear power in mitigating global climate change and its contribution to other development and environmental challenges. The report also examines broader issues relevant to the climate change–nuclear energy nexus, such as costs, investments, financing, safety, waste management and non-proliferation. Recent developments in resource supply, changes in

Climate Change and Nuclear Power 2014

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2014-10-01

Climate change is the foremost global environmental issue today. Nuclear power is one of the low carbon technologies that can contribute to reducing greenhouse gas emissions while delivering energy in the increasingly large quantities needed for growing populations and socioeconomic development. Nuclear power plants produce virtually no greenhouse gas emissions or air pollutants during their operation and only very low emissions over their entire life cycle. Nuclear power fosters energy supply security and industrial development by providing electricity reliably at stable and foreseeable prices. The accident at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in March 2011 caused deep public anxiety and raised fundamental questions about the future of nuclear energy throughout the world. It was a wake-up call for everyone involved in nuclear power — a reminder that safety can never be taken for granted. Yet, more than three years after the accident, it is clear that nuclear energy will remain an important option for many countries. Its advantages in terms of climate change mitigation are an important reason why many countries intend to introduce nuclear power in the coming decades, or to expand existing programmes. All countries have the right to use nuclear technology for peaceful purposes, as well as the responsibility to do so safely and securely. The IAEA provides assistance and information to countries that wish to introduce nuclear power. It also provides information for broader audiences engaged in energy, environmental and economic policy making. This report provides a comprehensive review of the potential role of nuclear power in mitigating global climate change and its contribution to other development and environmental challenges. The report also examines broader issues relevant to the climate change–nuclear energy nexus, such as costs, investments, financing, safety, waste management and non-proliferation. Recent developments in resource supply, changes in

Quantitative study on spatio-temporal change of urban landscape pattern based on RS/GIS: a case of Xi'an metropolitan area in China

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Meiwu; Zong, Yueguang; Ma, Qiang; Li, Jian

2007-06-01

The study on landscape pattern is an important field of urban land use and ecological change. Since 1990s, the widely accepted Patch-Corridor-Matrix model is generally used in qualitative description of landscape pattern. In recent years, quantitative evaluation on urban landscape dynamics is becoming hot in research. By making a critical review on existing research methods of landscape pattern, a new approach based on RS/GIS is put forward in this paper, comprising three steps, "General pattern characteristics - Gradient differentiation feature- Directional signature of the landscape", and we call it GGD. This method is applied to the case study of Xi'an metropolitan area in China. The result shows that the method is effective on quantitative study of urban landscape. The preparation of the method GGD is setting up research platform based on RS and GIS. By using the software of Geographical Information System (Arcgis9.0 & Erdas), the authors got the interpretation of remote sensing images of different years, and carried on the division of the landscape type of the research region. By calculating various index of landscape level with software Fragstats3.3 as an assistant tool and adopting three steps of GGD combined with landscape index, this paper can assesses the landscape spatial pattern of urban area: 1) General pattern characteristics analysis is to get transition probability of various landscape through Markov chain and to predict the landscape transformation by introducing CA model. The analysis emphasizes on total landscape structure and its change over time; 2) Gradient characteristic analysis, which makes gradient zone by taking city as a center outwardly with certain distance and contrastively analyzes the landscape index of each subarea, stresses the spatial character of landscape pattern, verifies urban morphology theories and provides the quantitative warranty for establishment of urban modality. Therefore, the analysis is useful for supervising urban

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...

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

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

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.

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

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

Science.gov (United States)

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

2006-07-22

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 remaining biodiversity concentrated in field edges and non-crop habitats. The simplification of landscape composition and the decline of biodiversity may affect the functioning of natural pest control because non-crop habitats provide requisites for a broad spectrum of natural enemies, and the exchange of natural enemies between crop and non-crop habitats is likely to be diminished in landscapes dominated by arable cropland. In this review, we test the hypothesis that natural pest control is enhanced in complex patchy landscapes with a high proportion of non-crop habitats as compared to simple large-scale landscapes with little associated non-crop habitat. In 74% and 45% of the studies reviewed, respectively, natural enemy populations were higher and pest pressure lower in complex landscapes versus simple landscapes. Landscape-driven pest suppression may result in lower crop injury, although this has rarely been documented. Enhanced natural enemy activity was associated with herbaceous habitats in 80% of the cases (e.g. fallows, field margins), and somewhat less often with wooded habitats (71%) and landscape patchiness (70%). The similar contributions of these landscape factors suggest that all are equally important in enhancing natural enemy populations. We conclude that diversified landscapes hold most potential for the conservation of biodiversity and sustaining the pest control function.

Agro-forest landscape and the 'fringe' city: a multivariate assessment of land-use changes in a sprawling region and implications for planning.

Science.gov (United States)

Salvati, Luca

2014-08-15

The present study evaluates the impact of urban expansion on landscape transformations in Rome's metropolitan area (1500 km(2)) during the last sixty years. Landscape composition, structure and dynamics were assessed for 1949 and 2008 by analyzing the distribution of 26 metrics for nine land-use classes. Changes in landscape structure are analysed by way of a multivariate statistical approach providing a summary measure of rapidity-to-change for each metric and class. Land fragmentation increased during the study period due to urban expansion. Poorly protected or medium-low value added classes (vineyards, arable land, olive groves and pastures) experienced fragmentation processes compared with protected or high-value added classes (e.g. forests, olive groves) showing larger 'core' areas and lower fragmentation. The relationship observed between class area and mean patch size indicates increased fragmentation for all uses of land (both expanding and declining) except for urban areas and forests. Reducing the impact of urban expansion for specific land-use classes is an effective planning strategy to contrast the simplification of Mediterranean landscape in peri-urban areas. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

The changing power equation in hospitals.

Science.gov (United States)

Rayburn, J M; Rayburn, L G

1997-01-01

This research traces the origins, development, and reasons for change in the power equation in the U.S. hospitals between physicians, administrators and accountants. The paper contains three major sections: a review of the literature concerning authority, power, influence, and institutional theory; a review of the development of the power of professions, especially physicians, accounting and healthcare administrators, and the power equilibrium of a hospital; and, a discussion of the social policy implications of the power struggle. The basis for physicians' power derives from their legal ability to act on which others are dependent, such as choosing which hospital to admit patients, order tests and procedures for their patients. The Federal Government's prospective payment system and the hospitals' related case-mix accounting systems appear to influence the power structure in hospitals by redistributing that power. The basis of the accountants' power base is control of financial information. Accountants have a definite potential for influencing which departments receive financial resources and for what purpose. This moves hospital accountants into the power equation. The basis of the hospital administrators' power is their formal authority in the organization. Regardless of what actions federal government agencies, hospital accountants, or hospital administrators take, physicians are expected to remain the dominant factor in the power equation. Without major environmental changes to gain control of physician services, only insignificant results in cost containment will occur.

Ethics of clinician communication in a changing communication landscape: guidance from professional societies.

Science.gov (United States)

Gollust, Sarah E; Dwyer, Anne M

2013-12-01

Cancer experts engage in public communication whenever they promote their research or practice, respond to media inquiries, or use social media. In a changing communication landscape characterized by new technologies and heightened attention to cancer controversies, these activities may pose ethical challenges. This study was designed to evaluate existing resources to help clinicians navigate their public communication activities. We conducted a systematic, qualitative content analysis of codes of ethics, policy statements, and similar documents disseminated by professional medical and nursing societies for their members. We examined these documents for four types of content related to public communication: communication via traditional media; communication via social media; other communication to the public, policy, and legal spheres; and nonspecific language regarding public communication. We identified 46 documents from 23 professional societies for analysis. Five societies had language about traditional news media communication, five had guidance about social media, 11 had guidance about other communication domains, and 15 societies offered general language about public communication. The limited existing guidance focused on ethical issues related to patients (such as privacy violations) or clinicians (such as accuracy and professional boundaries), with less attention to population or policy impact of communication. Cancer-related professional societies might consider establishing more specific guidance for clinicians concerning their communication activities in light of changes to the communication landscape. Additional research is warranted to understand the extent to which clinicians face ethical challenges in public communication.

Long-term landscape changes in a subalpine spruce-fir forest in central Utah, USA

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jesse L. Morris1

2015-12-01

Full Text Available Background: In Western North America, increasing wildfire and outbreaks of native bark beetles have been mediated by warming climate conditions. Bioclimatic models forecast the loss of key high elevation species throughout the region. This study uses retrospective vegetation and fire history data to reconstruct the drivers of past disturbance and environmental change. Understanding the relationship among climate, antecedent disturbances, and the legacy effects of settlement-era logging can help identify the patterns and processes that create landscapes susceptible to bark beetle epidemics. Methods: Our analysis uses data from lake sediment cores, stand inventories, and historical records. Sediment cores were dated with radiometric techniques (14C and 210Pb/137Cs and subsampled for pollen and charcoal to maximize the temporal resolution during the historical period (1800 CE to present and to provide environmental baseline data (last 10,500 years. Pollen data for spruce were calibrated to carbon biomass (C t/ha using standard allometric equations and a transfer function. Charcoal samples were analyzed with statistical models to facilitate peak detection and determine fire recurrence intervals. Results: The Wasatch Plateau has been dominated by Engelmann spruce forests for the last ~10,500 years, with subalpine fir becoming more prominent since 6000 years ago. This landscape has experienced a dynamic fire regime, where burning events are more frequent and of higher magnitude during the last 3000 years. Two important disturbances have impacted Engelmann spruce in the historical period: 1 high-grade logging during the late 19th century; and (2 a high severity spruce beetle outbreak in the late 20th century that killed >90 % of mature spruce (>10 cm dbh. Conclusions: Our study shows that spruce-dominated forests in this region are resilient to a range of climate and disturbance regimes. Several lines of evidence suggest that 19th century logging

Changes of Bulgarian Coastal Dune Landscape under Anthropogenic Impact

Science.gov (United States)

Palazov, A.; Young, R.; Stancheva, M.; Stanchev, H.

2012-04-01

At one time large sand dune formations were widely distributed along the Bulgarian coast. However, due to increased urbanization in the coastal zone, the areas of total dune landscape has been constantly reduced. Dunes presently comprise only 10% of the entire 412 km long coastline of Bulgaria: they embrace a total length of 38.57 km and a total area of 8.78 km2 Important tasks in dune protection are identification of landscape changes for a certain period of time and accurate delineation of sand dune areas. The present research traces sand dune changes along the Bulgarian Black Sea coast over a 27 year period (1983-2010). This period includes also the time of expanded tourist boom and overbuilding of the coastal zone, and respectively presents the largest dune changes and reductions. Based on the landscape change analyst in GIS environment the study also aims to explore the importance of different natural and human factors in driving the observed dune alterations and destruction. To detect and assess dune changes during the last 3 decades, we used data for sand dunes derived from several sources at different time periods in order to compare changes in shoreline positions, dune contours and areas: i) Topographic maps in 1:5,000 scale from 1983; ii) Modern Very High Resolution orthophotographs from 2006 and 2010; iii) QuickBird Very High Resolution satellite images from 2009; iv) Statistical information for population and tourist infrastructure is also used to consider the influence of human pressure and hotel developments on the dune dynamics. In addition, for more detailed description and visualization of main dune types, digital photos have been taken at many parts of the Bulgarian coast. The study was performed in GIS environment. Based on the results obtained the dunes along the Bulgarian coast were divided into three main groups with relation to the general factors responsible for their alterations: i) Dunes that have decreased in result of shoreline retreat

Narratives of Landscape in Latvian History and Memory

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Vieda Skultans

2001-10-01

Full Text Available Latvian landscape has played a crucial, albeit changing, role in Latvian conceptions of identity. The nineteenth-century nationalist movement was articulated in terms of the relationship between land and people. During the independence period a uniquely local vision of the landscape was nurtured by art and literature, which encouraged a reverence for the landscape. Simultaneously, government policy encouraged agriculture, which flourished. Thus, the Soviets, following their occupation, entered a 'historically saturated landscape' and adopted as their remit the destruction of that landscape. My paper traces the semantic history of Latvian landscape and examines its role in providing a still point in personal narratives of loss and displacement. I conclude that the Soviets only partially succeeded in their mission of destruction. Although they succeeded in changing the physical face of the landscape and farming they were unable to destroy the pastoral vision which is a component of so many Latvian narratives. Our native hearth, Is burning in the sky, In order to come home, We do not open the door, But the cover of a book. We cannot learn from a snail, because home is not a refuge for us, But we will be a refuge for the homeland. Māra Zālīte

Evaluation of landscape change in the Vidoca Stream Watershed, São José dos Campos, SP, Brazil

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Ademir Fernando Morelli

2007-12-01

Full Text Available Hydrographic basins in urban areas frequently undergo drastic landscape changes. This work analyzed the landscape transformation of Vidoca Stream Watershed in the period from 1500 to 2003. Based on Remote Sensing and GIS techniques it was found that: a Between 1500 and 1953 natural vegetation classes which included Alluvial Semi-decidual Seasonal Forest, Mountainous Semi-decidual Seasonal Forest and Open Arboreal Savannah changed to anthropic fields and grasslands; b From 1954 to 1985, just before the massive urban occupation of the area, there was a short period of regeneration of the Alluvial Semi-decidual Seasonal Forest above the Carvalho Pinto Highway; later on, the grasslands changed to anthropic fields; c From 1986 to 1997, a fast urbanization process occurred and resulted in the replacement of the grassland and anthropic fields by urban constructions; d From 1998 to 2003, with the consolidation of the urbanization process, the urban occupation reached the boundaries of the plateau and the lowlands of the watershed, resulting in soil impermeabilization. The results of this research indicated that the urbanization process was not controlled in spite of restricted legislation and environmental degradation occurred in this studied watershed along of the study period.

Glomed-Land: a research project to study the effect of global change in contrasted mediterranean landscapes and future scenarios

Science.gov (United States)

Ruiz-Sinoga, José D.; Hueso-González, Paloma; León-Gross, Teodoro; Molina, Julián; Remond, Ricardo; Martínez-Murillo, Juan F.

2017-04-01

The Global Change is referred to the occurrence of great environmental changes associated to climatic fluctuations and human activity as wel (Vitousek et al., 1997; Steffen et al., 2004; Dearing et al., 2006). García-Ruiz et al. (2015) indicated that the relief varies very slowly in time while the changes in vegetation, overland flow generation and erosion occurred very rapidly and conditioned by their interactions and the climate variability as well. The GLOMED-LAND Project has its bases and scientific justification on the combination of the experience of the members of the research team, from one side, in the analysis of the dynamics and eco-geomorphological and climatic processes in Mediterranean environments of southern Spain, in the context of current Global change, and from another, in the study, development and application of new tools for simulation and modelling of future scenarios, and finally, in the analysis of the impact that society exercises the broadcast media related to the problem derived from the awareness and adaptation to Global change. Climate change (CC), directly affects the elements that compose the landscape. Both in the analysis of future climate scenarios raised by the IPCC (2013), such as the regionalisation carried out by AEMET, the Mediterranean region and, especially, the South of Spain, - with its defined longitudinal pluviometric gradient - configured as one of the areas of greatest uncertainty, reflected in a higher concentration of temporal rainfall, and even a reduction in the rainfall. Faced with this situation, the CC can modify the current landscape setting, with all the environmental impacts that this would entail for the terrestrial ecosystems and the systemic services rendered to the society. The combination of different work scales allows the analysis of the dynamics of the landscape and the consequence of its modifications on, hydro-geomorphological processes, closely related to degradation processes that can affect the

State Transitions in Semiarid Landscapes

Science.gov (United States)

Phillips, J. D.

2012-04-01

The U.S. Department of Agriculture has developed a large number of state-and-transition models (STM) to predict and interpret changes in vegetation communities in drylands of the southwestern U.S. These are represented as box-and-arrow models indicating potential changes in response to various combinations of management practices and environmental forcings. Analysis of the 320 STMs developed for areas within the state of Texas reveals two important aspects of environmental change in semiarid environments. First, the STMs are highly local—they are specific to very particular combinations of landform, soil, and climate. This is consistent with the perfect landscape concept in geomorphology, which emphasizes the irreducible importance of geographically and historically contingent local factors in addition to universal laws or principles in determining the state or condition of landscapes. Second, analysis of the STMs using algebraic graph theory shows that a majority of them have structures that tend to amplify effects of change and disturbances. In many cases the STMs represent a form of self-organization characterized by the potential of divergent behavior rather than convergence toward a dominant pattern or outcome. These results indicate that geomorphic, hydrologic, and ecological responses to climate and land use change are likely to be highly variable and idiosyncratic, both within and between semiarid landscapes of Texas.

A landscape indicator approach to the identification and articulation of the consequences of land-cover change in the Mid-Atlantic Region, 1973-2001

Science.gov (United States)

Slonecker, E. Terrence; Milheim, Lesley E.; Claggett, Peter

2009-01-01

Landscape indicators, derived from land-use and land-cover data, hydrology, nitrate deposition, and elevation data, were used by Jones and others (2001a) to calculate the ecological consequences of land-cover change. Nitrate loading and physical bird habitat were modeled from 1973 and 1992 land-cover and other spatial data for the Mid-Atlantic region. Utilizing the same methods, this study extends the analysis another decade with the use of the 2001 National Land Cover Dataset. Land-cover statistics and trends are calculated for three time periods: 1973-1992, 1992-2001 and 1973-2001. In addition, high-resolution aerial photographs (1 meter or better ground-sample distance) were acquired and analyzed for thirteen pairs of adjacent USGS 7.5 minute quadrangle maps in areas where distinct positive or negative changes to nitrogen loading and bird habitat were previously calculated. During the entire 30 year period, the data show that there was extensive loss of agriculture and forest area and a major increase in urban land-cover classes. However, the majority of the conversion of other classes to urban occurred during the 1992-2001 period. During the 1973-1992 period, there was only moderate increase in urban area, while there was an inverse relationship between agricultural change and forest change. In general, forest gain and agricultural loss was found in areas of improving landscape indicators, and forest loss and agricultural gain was found to occur in areas of declining indicators related to habitat and nitrogen loadings, which was generally confirmed by the aerial photographic analysis. In terms of the specific model results, bird habitat, which is mainly related to the extent of forest cover, declined overall with forest extent, but was also affected more in the decline of habitat quality. Nitrate loading, which is mainly related to agricultural land cover actually improved from 1992-2001, and in the overall study, mainly due to the conversion of agriculture to

Impact of Tourism Growth on the Changing Landscape of a World Heritage Site: Case of Luang Prabang, Lao PDR

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ceelia Leong

2017-11-01

Full Text Available Rapid tourism development adversely impacts and negatively transforms World Heritage Sites. This study aimed at examining how tourism growth has impacted the built environment of Luang Prabang, Lao PDR through an empirical approach. Luang Prabang has received a critical warning from World Heritage Committee for the escalating development pressure on its vulnerable landscape. Hence, this study examined two aspects: (1 the spatial pattern of the increase of touristic usage; and (2 the relation between the increase of touristic usage and the significant changes in the built environment. For this, geographical information systems (GIS are combined with statistical methods such as logistic regression and chi-square test of independence. The results affirmed that the change from other types of usage to touristic usage in existing buildings has a higher chance to occur along riverbank areas than in the middle of the peninsula in the core heritage area. Change to touristic usage is also related with three significant changes in the built environment, namely: (1 change from other types of architecture to Lao traditional architecture; (2 change from modern to traditional roof materials; and (3 change from traditional to modern building materials. This indicates that the increase in touristic usage has contributed to strengthening the heritage elements of the landscape.

Co-production and modeling landscape change - successes and challenges in developing useful climate science

Science.gov (United States)

Timm, K.; Reynolds, J.; Littell, J. S.; Murphy, K.; Euskirchen, E. S.; Breen, A. L.; Gray, S. T.; McGuire, A. D.; Rupp, S. T.

2017-12-01

Responding to the impacts of climate change and generating information that helps inform resource management requires exceptional communication and collaboration among researchers, managers, and other stakeholders. However, there is relatively little guidance on how to practically develop, facilitate, and evaluate this process given the highly specific and localized nature of many co-production efforts in terms of information needs, research questions, partners, and associated institutions. The Integrated Ecosystem Model (IEM) for Alaska and Northwest Canada was developed to understand how climate change influences interactions among disturbance (e.g. wildfire, thermokarst), permafrost, hydrology, and vegetation and identify how these changes affect valuable ecosystem services. The IEM was a unique co-production effort in that it was driven by broad management interests (rather than one research question), and because of the landscape-scale outputs, much broader engagement was warranted. Communication between the research team and the broader community of resource managers was facilitated by the Alaska Landscape Conservation Cooperatives and the Alaska Climate Science Center. Team members' reflections on the project confirm the importance of deliberate approaches to collaboration, where everyone has frequent opportunities to discuss goals, assumptions, and presumed outcomes of the project itself, as well as the elements of the process (i.e. meetings, reports, etc.). However, managing these activities requires significant time, resources, and perhaps more dedicated personnel. The lessons learned from the design and application of the IEM are highly relevant to researchers and land managers in other regions that are considering the development of a similar tool or an undertaking of similar magnitude, scale, and complexity.

Clustering of Groundwater Used in Isfahan Landscape Irrigation and Their Qualititative Changes Over one Decade

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Jahangir Abedi Koupai

2010-06-01

Full Text Available Ten irrigation wells were selected along Chaharbagh Street and the Zayandehrood River bank to investigate and classify the groundwaters used for irrigating Isfahan landscape for their quality. Monthly sampling was performed and the results of the quality tests were used as seasonal averages. Different measurements such as pH, EC, Na+, C1-, HCO3-, Fe+2 were made according to standard methods and the Surfer program was used and the results were represented as isolines. Also seasonal classification of wells was performed based on similarities found among the water quality of the wells using statistical programs. Results revealed the poor quality of water from some of the study wells due to the discharge of urban and industrial wastewaters, chemical manure, etc. Besides, investigation of changes in water quality indicated the declining irrigation water quality and the increasing availability of water for landscape irrigation.

Climate Change and Nuclear Power 2013

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2013-01-01

Climate change is one of the most important issues facing the world today. Nuclear power can make an important contribution to reducing greenhouse gas emissions while delivering energy in the increasingly large quantities needed for global socioeconomic development. Nuclear power plants produce virtually no greenhouse gas emissions or air pollutants during their operation and only very low emissions over their entire life cycle. The accident at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant of March 2011 caused deep public anxiety and raised fundamental questions about the future of nuclear energy throughout the world. It was a wake-up call for everyone involved in nuclear power - a reminder that safety can never be taken for granted. Yet, in the wake of the accident, it is clear that nuclear energy will remain an important option for many countries. Its advantages in terms of climate change mitigation are an important reason why many countries intend to introduce nuclear power in the coming decades, or to expand existing programmes. All countries have the right to use nuclear technology for peaceful purposes, as well as the responsibility to do so safely and securely. The International Atomic Energy Agency provides assistance and information to countries that wish to introduce nuclear power. It also provides information for broader audiences engaged in energy, environmental and economic policy making. This report has been substantially revised, updated and extended since the 2012 edition. It summarizes the potential role of nuclear power in mitigating global climate change and its contribution to other development and environmental challenges. The report also examines broader issues relevant to the climate change-nuclear energy nexus, such as cost, safety, waste management and non-proliferation. New developments in resource supply, innovative reactor technologies and related fuel cycles are also presented

[Dynamic evolution of landscape spatial pattern in Taihu Lake basin, China].

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Fang; Xie, Xiao Ping; Chen, Zhi Cong

2017-11-01

Based on the land-use satellite image datasets of 2000, 2010 and 2015, the landscape index, dynamic change model, landscape transfer matrix and CLUE-S model were integrated to analyze the dynamic evolution of the landscape spatial pattern of Taihu Lake basin. The results showed that the landscape type of the basin was dominated by cultivated land and construction land, and the degree of landscape fragmentation was strengthened from 2000 to 2015, and the distribution showed a uniform trend. From the point of transfer dynamic change, the cultivated land and construction land changed significantly, which was reduced by 6761 km 2 (2.1%) and increased by 6615.33 km 2 (8.4%), respectively. From the landscape transfer, it could be seen that the main change direction of the cultivated land reduction was the construction land, and the cultivated land with 7866.30 km 2 was converted into construction land, accounting for 91.6% of the cultivated land change, and the contribution to the construction land was 96.5%. The trend of dynamic changes of cultivated and construction land in the counties and cities was the same as that of the whole Taihu Lake basin. For Shanghai Central Urban, as well as Pudong District, Lin'an City, Baoshan District, Minhang District, Jiading District and Changzhou City, the area of the cultivated land and construction land changed more prominently. However, compared with the CLUE-S model for the landscape pattern change in 2030, the change of cultivated and construction lands would be the largest in the natural development scenario. Under the ecological protection scenario, the area of grassland would increase and the dynamic degree would reach 54.5%. Under the situation of cultivated land protection, the conversion of cultivated land to construction land would be decreased.

Greenhouse warming and landscape care

Science.gov (United States)

Kevin T. Smith

2009-01-01

Climate change is one of the few truly planetary processes that influence the assessments and actions of governments and of everyday citizens. Principles and practices of ecological landscaping fit well with concern about hte effects of climate change.

Understanding the relationship between sediment connectivity and spatio-temporal landscape changes in two small catchments

Science.gov (United States)

Giuseppina Persichillo, Maria; Meisina, Claudia; Cavalli, Marco; Crema, Stefano; Bordoni, Massimiliano

2016-04-01

The degree of linkage between the sediments sources and downstream areas (i.e., sediment connectivity) is one of the most important properties controlling landscape evolution. Many factors have been found to affect sediment connectivity, especially at the catchment scale. In particular, the degree of linkage between different areas within a catchment depends largely on the morphological complexity of the catchment (relief, terrain roughness, stream network density and catchment shape) and the combined effects of vegetation, such as land use changes and land abandonment. Moreover, the analysis of the spatial distribution of sediment connectivity and its temporal evolution can be also useful for the characterization of sediment source areas. Specifically, these areas represent sites of instability and their connectivity influences the probability that a local on-site effect could propagate within a multiple-events feedback system. Within this framework, the aim of this study is to apply a geomorphometric approach to analyze the linkage between landscape complexity and the sediment connectivity at the catchment scale. Moreover, to assess sediment delivery, the index of connectivity (IC) proposed by Cavalli et al. (2013) was used to evaluate the potential connection of sediment source areas with the main channel network. To better understand the relationship between morphological complexity of the catchment's landscape and the sediment spatial distribution and mobilization, two catchments with different size and geomorphological and land use characteristics were analysed: the Rio Frate and Versa catchments (Oltrepo Pavese, Southern Lombardy, Italy). Several shallow landslides, which represents the main sediment source area type in the catchments, were triggered especially in the period from 2009 to 2013. Moreover, relevant modification of land use and drainage system during last decades, especially related to land abandonment, have conditioned the sediment connectivity

Forest landscape models, a tool for understanding the effect of the large-scale and long-term landscape processes

Science.gov (United States)

Hong S. He; Robert E. Keane; Louis R. Iverson

2008-01-01

Forest landscape models have become important tools for understanding large-scale and long-term landscape (spatial) processes such as climate change, fire, windthrow, seed dispersal, insect outbreak, disease propagation, forest harvest, and fuel treatment, because controlled field experiments designed to study the effects of these processes are often not possible (...

Investigations on vegetation of Grikinishkes landscape standard in the Ignalina Nuclear Power Plant region

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Balevichiene, J.; Lazdauskaite, Z.; Matulevichiute, D.; Stankevichiute, J.

1995-01-01

The vegetation of Grikinishkes landscape standard was investigated in 1994 according to the methodics of the European integrated monitoring. After a common prospect of the territory the representative geobotanical profile of 2 km length and 200 m width was found out. There were described 10 associations (classified according to Zurich-Montpellier school principles) including 134 plant species. The site of an intensive monitoring was selected and background investigations carried out. The investigation data indicated, that the state of vegetation is only satisfactory. Anthropogenic changes coursed by sinantropisation, defoliation and pyrogenesis of flora were observed. (author). 7 refs., 3 tabs., 1 fig

Driving forces of main landscape change processes from past 200 years in Central Europe - differences between old democratic and post-socialist countries

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Skokanová Hana

2016-03-01

Full Text Available The article compares and points out differences in driving forces of four main landscape change processes that shaped post-socialist countries and old democratic countries of Central Europe during the last two centuries. Studying landscape change processes and corresponding driving forces helps in understanding patterns of present landscape and can help among others in better prediction of future landscape change trends. Here, the presented results are based on review of scientific articles published in peer-reviewed journals between 2000 and 2014. Driving forces affecting these processes were grouped into four categories. Economic forces drove mainly agricultural intensification; agricultural land abandonment and urbanisation and were pronounced especially in the second half of the 20th century and at the beginning of the 21st century. Technological driving forces affected agricultural intensification especially in the 19th century and the second half of the 20th century while cultural driving forces had the biggest impact on urbanisation at the beginning of the 21st century. Political driving forces affected agricultural intensification, urbanisation as well as agricultural land abandonment and were pronounced mainly during the second half of the 20th century in the post-socialist countries. Political forces in the form of subsidies drove agricultural extensification at the beginning of the 21st century. The drivers for the agricultural intensification as well as urbanisation seem to be similar for both old democratic and post-socialist countries. In contrast, agricultural land abandonment in the old democratic countries was driven by technological, cultural and economic driving forces while in the post-socialist countries the political driving forces were mainly responsible. Changes in systems for subsidies and changes in the agricultural commodity markets are also responsible for different frequencies and rates of extensification of

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

Climate Change and Nuclear Power 2015

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2015-09-01

Climate change is one of the most important environmental challenges facing the world today. Nuclear power can make a significant contribution to reducing greenhouse gas emissions while delivering energy in the increasingly large quantities needed for growing populations and socioeconomic development. Nuclear power plants produce virtually no greenhouse gas emissions or air pollutants during their operation and only very low emissions over their entire life cycle. Nuclear power fosters energy supply security and industrial development by providing electricity reliably at stable and foreseeable prices. The accident at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in March 2011 caused deep public anxiety and raised fundamental questions about the future of nuclear energy throughout the world. Yet, more than four years after the accident, it is clear that nuclear energy will remain an important option for many countries. Its advantages in terms of climate change mitigation are an important reason why many countries intend to introduce nuclear power in the coming decades, or to expand existing programmes. All countries have the right to use nuclear technology for peaceful purposes, as well as the responsibility to do so safely and securely. The IAEA provides assistance and information to countries that wish to introduce nuclear power. It also provides information for broader audiences engaged in energy, environmental and economic policy making. This report provides a comprehensive review of the potential role of nuclear power in mitigating global climate change and its contribution to other economic, energy and environmental challenges. The report also examines broader issues relevant to the climate change–nuclear energy nexus, such as costs, investments, financing, safety, waste management and non-proliferation. Recent developments in electricity generation and distribution technologies and their impacts on nuclear power are also presented. This edition has been

Climate Change and Nuclear Power 2016

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2016-09-01

Climate change is one of the most important environmental challenges facing the world today. Nuclear power can make a significant contribution to reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions while delivering energy in the increasingly large quantities needed for the socioeconomic well-being of a growing population. Nuclear power plants produce virtually no GHG emissions or air pollutants during their operation and only very low emissions over their entire life cycle. Nuclear power fosters energy supply security and industrial development by providing electricity reliably and at stable and predictable prices. The accident at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in March 2011 caused deep public anxiety and raised fundamental questions about the future of nuclear energy throughout the world. Yet, more than five years after the accident, it is clear that nuclear energy will remain an important option for many countries. Its advantages in terms of climate change mitigation are an important reason why many countries intend to introduce nuclear power in the coming decades, or to expand existing programmes. All countries have the right to use nuclear technology for peaceful purposes, as well as the responsibility to do so safely and securely. The IAEA provides assistance and information to countries that wish to introduce nuclear power. It also provides information for broader audiences engaged in energy, environmental and economic policy making. This publication provides a comprehensive review of the potential role of nuclear power in mitigating global climate change and its contribution to other economic, environmental and social sustainability challenges. The report also examines broader issues relevant to the climate change–nuclear energy nexus, such as costs, financing, safety, waste management and non-proliferation. Recent and future trends in the increasing share of renewables in overall electricity generation and its effect on nuclear power are also presented

Dimensional response of CANDU fuel to power changes

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Fehrenbach, P J [Fuel Engineering Branch, Chalk River Nuclear Laboratories, Atomic Energy of Canada Limited, Chalk River, ON (Canada); Hastings, I J; Morel, P A; Sage, R D; Smith, A D [Fuel Materials Branch, Chalk River Nuclear Laboratories, Atomic Energy of Canada Limited, Chalk River, ON (Canada)

1983-06-01

The introduction of CANLUB-coated fuel cladding, modified fuel management schemes, and revisions to the sequence of control rod movements, have eliminated power ramping fuel failures in CANDU power reactors. However, an irradiation program continues at Chalk River Nuclear Laboratories to determine the effect of various design and operating parameters on the dimensional response of UO{sub 2} fuel elements to power changes, over a range of conditions outside those normally experienced by CANDU power reactor fuel. We have investigated the effect of power changes on element diameter for UO{sub 2} fuel with starting densities of 10.6 and 10.8 Mg/m{sup 3} clad in 0.4 mm thick Zircaloy, at burnups from 0 to 100 MW.h/kg U. Element diameter measurements were obtained at power using an In-Reactor Diameter Measuring Rig (IRDMR). Rates of power change over the range 0.0005 to 0.03 kW.m{sup -1}.s{sup -1} were achieved by a combination of reactor power control and use of a Helium-3 power cycling facility. Total diameter increases in unirradiated elements were about 1% at pellet interface locations for both fuel densities during the initial power increase to 60 kW/m. Diameter changes during subsequent power cycles of these elements from 55 to 100% maximum power were significantly larger for the higher density fuel, ranging from 0.3 to 0.5% compared to less than 0.1% for the standard density (10.6 Mg/m{sup 3}) fuel. In elements pre-irradiated at 27 kW/m to burnups of about 100 MW.h/kg U prior to power ramping, the diameter increases measured after ramping to 55 kW/m also varied with starting fuel density. Diameter changes at pellet interface locations were about 0.9% and 0.6% for higher density and standard density fuel respectively. (author)

Sustainable landscapes in a world of change: tropical forests, land use and implementation of REDD+: Part I

Science.gov (United States)

Richard Birdsey; Yude Pan; Richard Houghton

2013-01-01

Tropical forests play a critical role in the Earth system; however, tropical landscapes have changed greatly in recent decades because of increasing demand for land to support agriculture and timber production, fuel wood, and other pressures of population and human economics. The observable results are a legacy of persistent deforestation, forest degradation, increased...

Chronic Alcohol Ingestion Changes the Landscape of the Alveolar Epithelium

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Charles A. Downs

2013-01-01

Full Text Available Similar to effects of alcohol on the heart, liver, and brain, the effects of ethanol (EtOH on lung injury are preventable. Unlike other vital organ systems, however, the lethal effects of alcohol on the lung are underappreciated, perhaps because there are no signs of overt pulmonary disorder until a secondary insult, such as a bacterial infection or injury, occurs in the lung. This paper provides overview of the complex changes in the alveolar environment known to occur following both chronic and acute alcohol exposures. Contemporary animal and cell culture models for alcohol-induced lung dysfunction are discussed, with emphasis on the effect of alcohol on transepithelial transport processes, namely, epithelial sodium channel activity (ENaC. The cascading effect of tissue and phagocytic Nadph oxidase (Nox may be triggered by ethanol exposure, and as such, alcohol ingestion and exposure lead to a prooxidative environment; thus impacting alveolar macrophage (AM function and oxidative stress. A better understanding of how alcohol changes the landscape of the alveolar epithelium can lead to improvements in treating acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS for which hospitalized alcoholics are at an increased risk.

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

Requirements for the retrofitting an extension of the maximum voltage power grid from the point of view of environmental protection and cultivated landscape work

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2013-01-01

The project on the requirements for the retrofitting an extension of the maximum voltage power grid from the point of view of environmental protection and cultivated landscape work includes contributions on the following topics: the development of the European transmission grid, the grid extension law, restrictions for the power grid and their infrastructure, requirements for the regulations concerning the realization of the transnational grid extension, inclusion of the public - public acceptance - communication, requirements concerning the environmental compensation law, overhead line - underground cable - health hazards, ecological effects of overhead lines and underground cables, infrastructural projects, power supply in the future, structural relief by photovoltaics.

Landscape experiences as a cultural ecosystem service in a Nordic context:

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Lindhjem, Henrik; Reinvang, Rasmus; Zandersen, Marianne

2015-01-01

Cultural ecosystem services in the form of experiences derived from landscapes are potentially important, but often overlooked. Given the large and unprecedented landscape changes many of the Nordic countries are undergoing, there is a need to find ways of including people’s preferences and the v......Cultural ecosystem services in the form of experiences derived from landscapes are potentially important, but often overlooked. Given the large and unprecedented landscape changes many of the Nordic countries are undergoing, there is a need to find ways of including people’s preferences...... and decision-making contexts in the Nordics. The literature demonstrates potentially high unaccounted welfare loss from landscape change. We find clear weaknesses in current practices, that a second phase will try to address. The project was carried out by Vista Analysis in Oslo and Department of Environmental...

Rapid landscape change in 6th century northern Jordan: interdisciplinary geoarchaeological perspectives

Science.gov (United States)

Lucke, Bernhard

2016-04-01

Landscapes of the ancient fertile crescent are considered affected by soil degradation as result of long-term farming since the Neolithic, and impressive ruins of antiquity led to assumptions that their abandonment must have been conntected with reduced agricultural productivity. In this context, a valley fill near the site of Abila of the Decapolis in northern Jordan was apparently deposited largely during the 6th century AD, and provides evidence for a rapid and intense landscape change during the Late Byzantine period. However, an interdisciplinary case study of land use, soil development, and sediments found that the valley fill cannot be connected with large-scale soil erosion in the vicinity of the site. On the one hand, this is indicated by the distribution of soil development and archaeological material as marker of past land use activity in the past, which suggests that the best soils were and still are used intensively. On the other hand, the sediments seem to point to the occurrence of climatic extremes such as heavy floods, the occurrence of soil creep after water saturation, but also a significant shift to aridity which may have triggered socio-economic changes of subsistence strategies from agriculture to pastoralism. The dates of sediments which are available so far indicate that the climatic change seemingly occurred rapidly within approximately 100 years during the late 6th and early 7th century AD, possibly connected with the "year without sun" or 'Mystery Veil' which the Byzantine historian Procopius described in the year 536 AD. Modern analogies of the Pinatubo eruption in 1991 let it seem possible that a volcanic event, perhaps the outbreak of the Ilopango volcano, was connected with these environmental turbulences. Such events cannot be understood by isolated studies: without a broad interdisciplinary framework, single archives are prone to misinterpretation, and our understanding of the environmental history of Abila is still very limited.

PNW Hydrologic Landscape Class

Data.gov (United States)

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency — Work has been done to expand the hydrologic landscapes (HLs) concept and to develop an approach for using it to address streamflow vulnerability from climate change....

The propagation of varied timescale perturbations in landscapes

Science.gov (United States)

Bingham, N.; Johnson, K. N.; Bookhagen, B.; Chadwick, O.

2016-12-01

The classic assumption of steady-state landscapes greatly simplifies models of earth-surface processes. Theoretically, steady-state denotes time independence, but in real landscapes steady-state requires a timescale over which to assume (or document) no change. In the past, poor spatiotemporal resolution of eroding landscapes necessitated that shorter timescale perturbations be ignored in favor of regional formulations of rock uplift = erosion, 105, 6 years. Now, novel techniques and technologies provide an opportunity to define local landscape response to various timescales of perturbations; thus, allowing us to consider multiple steady-states on adjacent watersheds or even along a single watershed. This study seeks to identify the physical propagation of varied timescale perturbations in landscapes in order to provide an updated geomorphic context for interpreting critical zone processes. At our study site - Santa Cruz Island (SCI), CA - perturbations include sea level and climate fluctuations over 105 years coupled with pulses of overgrazing and extreme storm events during the last 200 years. Comprehensive knickpoint location maps and dated marine and fill terraces tighten the spatiotemporal constraints on erosion for SCI. In addition, the island hosts a wide range of lithologies, allowing us to compare lithologic effects on landscape response to perturbations. Our study uses lidar point clouds and high resolution (0.25 and 1 m) digital elevation model analysis to segment landscapes by the degree of their response to perturbations. Landscape response is measured by increases in topographic roughness. We ascertain roughness by analyzing the changes in different terrain attributes on multiple spatial scales: catchment, sub-catchments and individual hillslopes. Terrain attributes utilized include slope, curvature, local relief, flowpath length and contributing catchment area. Statistical analysis of these properties indicates narrower ranges in values for regions

Bedrock hillslopes to deltas: New insights into landscape mechanics

Science.gov (United States)

Lamb, M. P.

2012-12-01

A powerful record of environmental history on Earth and other planets is preserved in landscapes and sedimentary deposits formed by erosion, transport and deposition of sediment. To understand this record and predict future landscape change, we need mechanistic theories for transport processes and morphodynamics. Significant progress has been made to develop and test transport laws in some settings including soil-mantled landscapes and modest gradient alluvial channels where conventional hydraulic and sediment-transport theories apply. Fundamental opportunities exist, however, to explore the physical limits of existing theories and develop new theories at the frontier of our knowledge base. In this presentation, I will describe recent case studies from sediment-source areas to depositional sinks designed to test the limits of existing transport theories and identify transitions in dominant geomorphic processes by pushing to steeper slopes, greater discharges, and dynamic boundary conditions. First, field measurements, laboratory experiments and theory suggest that sediment transport on steep, rocky hillslopes is different than on soil mantled landscapes, and may be controlled by vegetation dams and sediment release following wildfire. Second, laboratory experiments show that grain stability is enhanced in steep mountain channels compared to moderate gradient channels due to the coincident change in the ratio of flow depth to grain size, until the threshold for mass failure is surpassed. Third, field observations and theory indicate that canyons can be cut by extreme floods at rates that exceed typical river-incision rates by many orders of magnitude due to the transition from abrasion to plucking and toppling of jointed rock, with implications for megafloods on Mars. Finally, numerical modeling, laboratory experiments, and field work show that coastal rivers are coupled to their offshore plumes, and that this coupling may determine the size of deltas. These case

Landscape co-management practises and power structures at the UNESCO World Heritage site of Wachau, Austria

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Gugerell, Katharina; Penker, Marianne; Kieninger, Pia; Birkeland, Inger; Burton, Rob; Parra, Constanza; Siivonen, Katriina

The UNESCO World Heritage Site Wachau serves as a case to illustrate the role of co-management for the cultural sustainability of landscapes. Landscape governance shared by civil society, market and authorities is expected to contribute to more sustainable landscapes. On the one hand our case study

Short-Term Changes in Physical and Chemical Properties of Soil Charcoal Support Enhanced Landscape Mobility

Science.gov (United States)

Pyle, Lacey A.; Magee, Kate L.; Gallagher, Morgan E.; Hockaday, William C.; Masiello, Caroline A.

2017-11-01

Charcoal is a major component of the stable soil organic carbon reservoir, and the physical and chemical properties of charcoal can sometimes significantly alter bulk soil properties (e.g., by increasing soil water holding capacity). However, our understanding of the residence time of soil charcoal remains uncertain, with old measured soil charcoal ages in apparent conflict with relatively short modeled and measured residence times. These discrepancies may exist because the fate of charcoal on the landscape is a function not just of its resistance to biological decomposition but also its physical mobility. Mobility may be important in controlling charcoal landscape residence time and may artificially inflate estimates of its degradability, but few studies have examined charcoal vulnerability to physical redistribution. Charcoal landscape redistribution is likely higher than other organic carbon fractions owing to charcoal's low bulk density, typically less than 1.0 g/cm3. Here we examine both the physical and chemical properties of soil and charcoal over a period of two years following a 2011 wildfire in Texas. We find little change in properties with time; however, we find evidence of enhanced mobility of charcoal relative to other forms of soil organic matter. These data add to a growing body of evidence that charcoal is preferentially eroded, offering another explanation for variations observed in its environmental residence times.

Climate change, nuclear power, and the adaptation-mitigation dilemma

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kopytko, Natalie; Perkins, John

2011-01-01

Many policy-makers view nuclear power as a mitigation for climate change. Efforts to mitigate and adapt to climate change, however, interact with existing and new nuclear power plants, and these installations must contend with dilemmas between adaptation and mitigation. This paper develops five criteria to assess the adaptation-mitigation dilemma on two major points: (1) the ability of nuclear power to adapt to climate change and (2) the potential for nuclear power operation to hinder climate change adaptation. Sea level rise models for nine coastal sites in the United States, a review of US Nuclear Regulatory Commission documents, and reports from France's nuclear regulatory agency provided insights into issues that have arisen from sea level rise, shoreline erosion, coastal storms, floods, and heat waves. Applying the criteria to inland and coastal nuclear power plants reveals several weaknesses. Safety stands out as the primary concern at coastal locations, while inland locations encounter greater problems with interrupted operation. Adapting nuclear power to climate change entails either increased expenses for construction and operation or incurs significant costs to the environment and public health and welfare. Mere absence of greenhouse gas emissions is not sufficient to assess nuclear power as a mitigation for climate change. - Research Highlights: → The adaptation-mitigation criteria reveal nuclear power's vulnerabilities. → Climate change adaptation could become too costly at many sites. → Nuclear power operation jeopardizes climate change adaptation. → Extreme climate events pose a safety challenge.

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

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....

Multitemporal satellite change detection investigations for documentation and valorization of cultural landscape

Science.gov (United States)

Lasaponara, R.; Masini, n.

2012-04-01

The paper focus on the setting up of a methodology for analyzing cultural landscapes to extract information about ancient civilization settlements, land-use variations, stratified anthropogenic environment, human impacts on landscape, as well as climate driven changes over short, medium, and long periods of time. The analysis of cultural landscape along with its protection and preservation strategies requires the contribution of integrated disciplines and data source, and, above all, the fusion of multi-temporal and multi dimensional data available from different sources. In this contest satellite time series may help us in improve knowledge content of cultural landscape and heritage . The methodology approach we devised is focused on multitemporal/multisource/multiscale data analysis as a support for extracting (i) archaeological settlements and (ii) potential ancient land-use patterning. To these aims, DTM from SRTM and ASTER along multispectral data from TM, ASTER and Quikbird have been used. In order to make the satellite data more meaningful and more exploitable for investigations, reliable data processing have been carried out. Over the years a great variety of digital image enhancement techniques have been devised for specific application fields according to data availability. Nevertheless, only recently these methods have captured great attention also in the field of archaeology for an easier extraction of quantitative information using effective and reliable semiautomatic data processing. The setting up of fully-automatic methodologies is a big challenge to be strategically addressed by research communities in the next years. Multitemporal, multiscale and multisensor satellite data sets can provide useful tool for extracting information and traces related both to modern and ancient civilizations still fossilized in the modern landscape. Reference Lasaponara R, Masini N (2006a) On the potential of panchromatic and multispectral Quickbird data for

Global change and landscape structure in Ukraine: Ecological and socio-economic implications

Science.gov (United States)

Shvidenko, Anatoly; Lakyda, Petro; Schepaschenko, Dmitry; Vasylyshyn, Roman; Marchuk, Yuiry

2013-04-01

The current land cover of Ukraine is very heterogeneous. While on average forest covers 15.9% of its land, substantial part of the country is basically forestless. The agricultural potential of Ukraine is high. However, in spite of the fact that 68% of the arable land in Ukraine consists of the famous Ukrainian black soils (chernozems), the quality of the country's arable land (69.5% of the total land) is not satisfactory. The country has the highest over the globe share of the tilled land (~80% of the agricultural land in the country) and processes of soil erosion impact about one third of arable land. Air pollution, soil and water contamination are widespread. Substantial problems are generated by the Chernobyl disaster. Overall, about half of the country is in the critical and pre-critical ecological situation. Climatic predictions suppose that the country will live in much warmer and drier climate by end of this century. Taking into account that major pat of Ukraine lies in the xeric belt, the expected climatic change generates divers risks for both environment and vegetation ecosystems of the country, particularly for forests and agriculture. The presentation considers the role of forests and trees outside of forests in transition to integrated ecosystem management and sustainable structure of landscapes within two scenarios of socio-economic development for the next 20 yeas. The "business-as-usual" scenario prolongs tendencies of dynamics of the land-use and forest sectors during the last 20 years. This scenario leads to further deterioration of quality of land and environment in Ukraine. The "progressive" scenario is considered as a crucial initial step of adaptation to climatic change and includes a system of pressing measures which are needed to decrease destructive processes that are observed at the landscape level. It is shown that it would require development of 1.62 M ha of protective forests including 0.62 M ha on unstable elements of landscapes

CONTEMPORARY CHANGES OF THE CLIMATIC CONDITIONS OF THE CASPIAN SEMI-DESERT LANDSCAPES OF THE EASTERN CISCAUCASIA

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Z. V. Ataev

2011-01-01

Full Text Available The article analyzes the changes in the hydrothermal conditions within the pricaspian littoral plains accumulation and denudation-accumulative in places aeolian landscapes saltwort, saltwort-sagebrush deserts and semi-deserts in light chestnut soils based on data from weather stations "Makhachkala" for years 1945-2005.Tendencies of changes in temperature, precipitation, and hydrothermal coefficient and coefficient of moisture are shown. Tendency of modern fluctuations suggests that the climatic conditions of the last period contribute to the development of dry steppes and significant deviations from the conditions of the previous period do not occur.

Scenarios reveal pathways to sustain future ecosystem services in an agricultural landscape.

Science.gov (United States)

Qiu, Jiangxiao; Carpenter, Stephen R; Booth, Eric G; Motew, Melissa; Zipper, Samuel C; Kucharik, Christopher J; Chen, Xi; Loheide, Steven P; Seifert, Jenny; Turner, Monica G

2018-01-01

land-use changes and management may buffer water quality against undesirable future climate changes, but changing climate may overwhelm management efforts to sustain freshwater supply and flood regulation. Spatially, changes in ecosystem services were heterogeneous across the landscape, underscoring the power of local actions and fine-scale management. Our research highlights the value of embracing spatial and temporal perspectives in managing ecosystem services and their complex interactions, and provides a system-level understanding for achieving sustainability of the food-water-climate nexus in agricultural landscapes. © 2017 by the Ecological Society of America.

Improvement of the Performance of Scheduled Stepwise Power Programme Changes within the European Power System

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Welfonder, E.; Weissbach, T.; Schulz, U.

2008-01-01

Since the deregulation of the electrical energy market, the technical realisation of power transactions based on energy market contracts often effects large stepwise power programme changes – especially at the change of the hour. Due to mainly economic reasons these stepwise power programme changes...... extended discussions with power plant and power system operators as well as with power plant dispatchers the described issues will be adopted into a VGB-recommendation which shall be published by VGB Powertech for Germany and Europe. Subsequently, it is intended to include the main elements of the VGB...

Combining dispersal, landscape connectivity and habitat suitability to assess climate-induced changes in the distribution of Cunningham's skink, Egernia cunninghami.

Science.gov (United States)

Ofori, Benjamin Y; Stow, Adam J; Baumgartner, John B; Beaumont, Linda J

2017-01-01

The ability of species to track their climate niche is dependent on their dispersal potential and the connectivity of the landscape matrix linking current and future suitable habitat. However, studies modeling climate-driven range shifts rarely address the movement of species across landscapes realistically, often assuming "unlimited" or "no" dispersal. Here, we incorporate dispersal rate and landscape connectivity with a species distribution model (Maxent) to assess the extent to which the Cunningham's skink (Egernia cunninghami) may be capable of tracking spatial shifts in suitable habitat as climate changes. Our model was projected onto four contrasting, but equally plausible, scenarios describing futures that are (relative to now) hot/wet, warm/dry, hot/with similar precipitation and warm/wet, at six time horizons with decadal intervals (2020-2070) and at two spatial resolutions: 1 km and 250 m. The size of suitable habitat was projected to decline 23-63% at 1 km and 26-64% at 250 m, by 2070. Combining Maxent output with the dispersal rate of the species and connectivity of the intervening landscape matrix showed that most current populations in regions projected to become unsuitable in the medium to long term, will be unable to shift the distance necessary to reach suitable habitat. In particular, numerous populations currently inhabiting the trailing edge of the species' range are highly unlikely to be able to disperse fast enough to track climate change. Unless these populations are capable of adaptation they are likely to be extirpated. We note, however, that the core of the species distribution remains suitable across the broad spectrum of climate scenarios considered. Our findings highlight challenges faced by philopatric species and the importance of adaptation for the persistence of peripheral populations under climate change.

Combining dispersal, landscape connectivity and habitat suitability to assess climate-induced changes in the distribution of Cunningham's skink, Egernia cunninghami.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Benjamin Y Ofori

Full Text Available The ability of species to track their climate niche is dependent on their dispersal potential and the connectivity of the landscape matrix linking current and future suitable habitat. However, studies modeling climate-driven range shifts rarely address the movement of species across landscapes realistically, often assuming "unlimited" or "no" dispersal. Here, we incorporate dispersal rate and landscape connectivity with a species distribution model (Maxent to assess the extent to which the Cunningham's skink (Egernia cunninghami may be capable of tracking spatial shifts in suitable habitat as climate changes. Our model was projected onto four contrasting, but equally plausible, scenarios describing futures that are (relative to now hot/wet, warm/dry, hot/with similar precipitation and warm/wet, at six time horizons with decadal intervals (2020-2070 and at two spatial resolutions: 1 km and 250 m. The size of suitable habitat was projected to decline 23-63% at 1 km and 26-64% at 250 m, by 2070. Combining Maxent output with the dispersal rate of the species and connectivity of the intervening landscape matrix showed that most current populations in regions projected to become unsuitable in the medium to long term, will be unable to shift the distance necessary to reach suitable habitat. In particular, numerous populations currently inhabiting the trailing edge of the species' range are highly unlikely to be able to disperse fast enough to track climate change. Unless these populations are capable of adaptation they are likely to be extirpated. We note, however, that the core of the species distribution remains suitable across the broad spectrum of climate scenarios considered. Our findings highlight challenges faced by philopatric species and the importance of adaptation for the persistence of peripheral populations under climate change.

Ecological consequences of fragmentation and deforestation in an urban landscape: a case study

Science.gov (United States)

W.C. Zipperer; T.W. Foresman; S.P. Walker; C.T. Daniel

2012-01-01

Landscape change is an ongoing process even within established urban landscapes. Yet, analyses of fragmentation and deforestation have focused primarily on the conversion of non-urban to urban landscapes in rural landscapes and ignored urban landscapes. To determine the ecological effects of continued urbanization in urban landscapes, tree-covered patches were mapped...

Landscape sensitivity in a dynamic environment

Science.gov (United States)

Lin, Jiun-Chuan; Jen, Chia-Horn

2010-05-01

Landscape sensitivity at different scales and topics is presented in this study. Methodological approach composed most of this paper. According to the environmental records in the south eastern Asia, the environment change is highly related with five factors, such as scale of influence area, background of environment characters, magnitude and frequency of events, thresholds of occurring hazards and influence by time factor. This paper tries to demonstrate above five points from historical and present data. It is found that landscape sensitivity is highly related to the degree of vulnerability of the land and the processes which put on the ground including human activities. The scale of sensitivity and evaluation of sensitivities is demonstrated in this paper by the data around east Asia. The methods of classification are mainly from the analysis of environmental data and the records of hazards. From the trend of rainfall records, rainfall intensity and change of temperature, the magnitude and frequency of earthquake, dust storm, days of draught, number of hazards, there are many coincidence on these factors with landscape sensitivities. In conclusion, the landscape sensitivities could be classified as four groups: physical stable, physical unstable, unstable, extremely unstable. This paper explain the difference.

Landscape Changes and a Salt Production Sustainable Approach in the State of Salt Pan Area Decreasing on the Coast of Tianjin, China

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hui Wang

2015-07-01

Full Text Available Landsat images from 1979, 1988, 1999, 2008, and 2013 were used to analyze the landscape area change of salt pans lying on the coast of Tianjin. While initially (1979–1988, the area of Tianjin’s salt pan increased, later (1988–2013 it declined dramatically. In the first phase (1979–1988 of the studied period the primary roll-in landscape of the salt pan wasbarren land with an area of 60.0 km2. By 1988, the area of Tianjin’s salt pan rose to 457.8 km2. The main roll-out landscape of the salt pan during 1988–2013 was urban, barren land, village/town, harbor, and road whose area amounted to 69.8, 35.9, 27.3, 25.5 and 18.4 km2 respectively. The roll-out barren land will be transformed to construction land ultimately. By 2013, the total loss reached 167.3 km2, which was 36.5% of the salt pan area of Tianjin in 1988. With the development of coastal economy, the salterns with a lower economic value were transformed to and replaced by land use types with a higher economic value. This trend would influence the production of sea salt and the development of sodium hydroxide and sodium carbonate industries. Seawater desalination provides an opportunity for the restoration and compensation of salt production capacity. Based on the theory of circular economy and industrial symbiosis, in this article an industrial symbiosis model for sea salt production and sea water desalination is explored: “mariculture–power plant cooling–seawater desalination–Artemia culture–bromide extraction–sea salt production–salt chemical industry”. Through the application of this process sustainable development of the sea salt production in Tianjin could be achieved.

Governing Forest Landscape Restoration: Cases from Indonesia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

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.

Sustaining ecosystem services in cultural landscapes

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Plieninger, Tobias; van der Horst, Dan; Schleyer, Christian

2014-01-01

Classical conservation approaches focus on the man-made degradation of ecosystems and tend to neglect the socialecological values that human land uses have imprinted on many environments. Throughout the world, ingenious land-use practices have generated unique cultural landscapes...... research and management. With this paper, we introduce a special feature that aims to enhance the theoretical, empirical and practical knowledge of how to safeguard the resilience of ecosystem services in cultural landscapes. It concludes (1) that the usefulness of the ecosystem services approach...... to the analysis and management of cultural landscapes should be reviewed more critically; (2) that conventional ecosystem services assessment needs to be complemented by socio-cultural valuation; (3) that cultural landscapes are inherently changing, so that a dynamic view on ecosystem services and a focus...

Appropriate complexity landscape modeling

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Larsen, Laurel G.; Eppinga, Maarten B.; Passalacqua, Paola; Getz, Wayne M.; Rose, Kenneth A.; Liang, Man

Advances in computing technology, new and ongoing restoration initiatives, concerns about climate change's effects, and the increasing interdisciplinarity of research have encouraged the development of landscape-scale mechanistic models of coupled ecological-geophysical systems. However,

Development of power change maneuvering method for BWR

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fukuzaki, Takaharu; Yamada, Naoyuki; Kiguchi, Takashi; Sakurai, Mikio.

1985-01-01

A power change maneuvering method for BWR has been proposed to generate an optimal power control maneuver, which realizes the power change operation closest to a power change demand pattern under operating constraints. The method searches for the maneuver as an optimization problem, where the variables are thermal power levels sampled from the demand pattern, the performance index is defined to express the power mismatch between demand and feasible patterns, and the constraints are limit lines on the thermal power-core flow rate map and limits on keeping fuel integrity. The usable feasible direction method is utilized as the optimization algorithm, with newly developed techniques for initial value generation and step length determination, which apply one-dimensional search and inverse-interpolation methods, respectively, to realize the effective search of the optimal solution. Simulation results show that a typical computing time is about 5 min by a general purpose computer and the method has been verified to be practical even for on-line use. (author)

Landscapes in transition

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Padfield, Rory; Drew, Simon; Syayuti, Khadijah; Page, Susan; Evers, Stephanie; Campos-Arceiz, Ahimsa; Kangayatkarasu, Nagulendran; Sayok, Alex; Hansen, Sune; Schouten, Greetje; Maulidia, Martha; Papargyropoulou, Effie; Tham, Mun Hou

2016-01-01

The recent Southeast Asian haze crisis has generated intense public scrutiny over the rate, methods and types of landscape change in the tropics. Debate has centred on the environmental impacts of large-scale agricultural expansion, particularly the associated loss of high carbon stock forest and

Lithologic Effects on Landscape Response to Base Level Changes: A Modeling Study in the Context of the Eastern Jura Mountains, Switzerland

Science.gov (United States)

Yanites, Brian J.; Becker, Jens K.; Madritsch, Herfried; Schnellmann, Michael; Ehlers, Todd A.

2017-11-01

Landscape evolution is a product of the forces that drive geomorphic processes (e.g., tectonics and climate) and the resistance to those processes. The underlying lithology and structural setting in many landscapes set the resistance to erosion. This study uses a modified version of the Channel-Hillslope Integrated Landscape Development (CHILD) landscape evolution model to determine the effect of a spatially and temporally changing erodibility in a terrain with a complex base level history. Specifically, our focus is to quantify how the effects of variable lithology influence transient base level signals. We set up a series of numerical landscape evolution models with increasing levels of complexity based on the lithologic variability and base level history of the Jura Mountains of northern Switzerland. The models are consistent with lithology (and therewith erodibility) playing an important role in the transient evolution of the landscape. The results show that the erosion rate history at a location depends on the rock uplift and base level history, the range of erodibilities of the different lithologies, and the history of the surface geology downstream from the analyzed location. Near the model boundary, the history of erosion is dominated by the base level history. The transient wave of incision, however, is quite variable in the different model runs and depends on the geometric structure of lithology used. It is thus important to constrain the spatiotemporal erodibility patterns downstream of any given point of interest to understand the evolution of a landscape subject to variable base level in a quantitative framework.

Landscape genetics of high mountain frog metapopulations

Science.gov (United States)

Murphy, M.A.; Dezzani, R.; Pilliod, D.S.; Storfer, A.

2010-01-01

powerful new modelling approach for examining a wide range of both basic and applied questions in landscape genetics.

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

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.

Building the landscapes of Monte di Procida

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Carmine Piscopo

2014-02-01

Full Text Available A coastal landscape, peppered with ancient formations and recent damage, characterized by labyrinthine paths leading towards sandy beaches, from which strips of land start. The aim of the article is to present the City Plan (PUC2 for this particular landscape, currently being prepared. Themes in the plan are the strengthening of links to the coast, exploitation of Mediterranean architecture, regeneration of the network of paths, and mitigation of the effects due to climatechange. This strategy comes from the survey and interpretation of the area and takes account of the changing character of the landscape, in which "landscape units" have been identified and articulated in order to build a new architecture of the places.

'Pays' -'Land'-'Yuan Lin'. The power of landscape (architecture) terms

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Bruns, D.; Brink, van den A.

2012-01-01

In order to continue building a common body of knowledge, landscape architecture researchers and practitioners must refer to the same fundamental concepts – particularly in those instances where different words are used to describe them. This paper puts the focus on ‘landscape’, probably the most

Executive summary: Climate change in the northwest: Implications for our landscapes, waters, and communities

Science.gov (United States)

Dalton, Meghan M.; Bethel, Jeffrey; Capalbo, Susan M.; Cuhaciyan, J.E.; Eigenbrode, Sanford D.; Glick, Patty; Houston, Laurie L.; Littell, Jeremy S.; Lynn, Kathy; Mote, Philip W.; Raymondi, Rick R.; Reeder, W. Spencer; Shafer, Sarah L.; Snover, Amy K.

2013-01-01

Climate Change in the Northwest: Implications for Our Landscapes, Waters, and Communities is aimed at assessing the state of knowledge about key climate impacts and consequences to various sectors and communities in the northwest United States. It draws on a wealth of peer-reviewed literature, earlier state-level assessment reports conducted for Washington (2009) and Oregon (2010), as well as a risk-framing workshop. As an assessment, it aims to be representative (though not exhaustive) of the key climate change issues as reflected in the growing body of Northwest climate change science, impacts, and adaptation literature now available. This report will serve as an updated resource for scientists, stakeholders, decision makers, students, and community members interested in understanding and preparing for climate change impacts on Oregon, Washington, and Idaho. This more detailed, foundational report is intended to support the key findings presented in the Northwest chapter of the Third National Climate Assessment.

A multispecies framework for landscape conservation planning.

Science.gov (United States)

Schwenk, W Scott; Donovan, Therese M

2011-10-01

Rapidly changing landscapes have spurred the need for quantitative methods for conservation assessment and planning that encompass large spatial extents. We devised and tested a multispecies framework for conservation planning to complement single-species assessments and ecosystem-level approaches. Our framework consisted of 4 elements: sampling to effectively estimate population parameters, measuring how human activity affects landscapes at multiple scales, analyzing the relation between landscape characteristics and individual species occurrences, and evaluating and comparing the responses of multiple species to landscape modification. We applied the approach to a community of terrestrial birds across 25,000 km(2) with a range of intensities of human development. Human modification of land cover, road density, and other elements of the landscape, measured at multiple spatial extents, had large effects on occupancy of the 67 species studied. Forest composition within 1 km of points had a strong effect on occupancy of many species and a range of negative, intermediate, and positive associations. Road density within 1 km of points, percent evergreen forest within 300 m, and distance from patch edge were also strongly associated with occupancy for many species. We used the occupancy results to group species into 11 guilds that shared patterns of association with landscape characteristics. Our multispecies approach to conservation planning allowed us to quantify the trade-offs of different scenarios of land-cover change in terms of species occupancy. Conservation Biology © 2011 Society for Conservation Biology. No claim to original US government works.

Soil-landscape development and late Quaternary environmental change in coastal Estremadura, Portugal

Science.gov (United States)

Daniels, Michael; Haws, Jonathan; Benedetti, Michael; Bicho, Nuno

2015-04-01

This poster integrates soil-landscape analysis with archaeological survey and paleoenvironmental reconstruction. Soils in surface and buried contexts in Estremadura, Portugal, provide evidence of landscape stability and instability, relative age relationships between landforms, and general paleoenvironmental conditions during the late Quaternary. These factors provide insight into the distribution and condition of Paleolithic archaeological sites and help understand the record of human settlement in the region. Late Pleistocene and Holocene dunes extend inland approximately 10 km from coastal source regions. Surface soils in Holocene dunes under maritime pine (Pinus pinaster) forest exhibit A, E, C/Bh and A, C horizon sequences and classify as Quartzipsamments. Surface soils in late Pleistocene dunes exhibit A, E, Bh, Bhs, Bs horizon sequences and classify as Haplorthods. Both Pleistocene and Holocene dunes commonly bury a heavily weathered soil formed in calcareous sandstone. The boundary between underlying buried soils and overlying surface soils is characterized by a lag deposit of medium to coarse, moderately-rounded gravels, underlain immediately by subsurface Bt and Bss horizons. The lag deposit and absence of buried A horizons both indicate intense and/or prolonged surface erosion prior to burial by late Quaternary dunes. Soil-geomorphic relationships therefore suggest at least two distinct episodes of dune emplacement and subsequent landscape stability following an extensive episode late Pleistocene landscape instability and soil erosion. A conceptual model of soil-landscape evolution through the late Quaternary and Holocene results from the integration of soil profile data, proxy paleoenvironmental data, and the partial record of human settled as revealed in the archaeological record.

Mitigation/Adaptation: landscape architecture meets sustainable energy transition

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Stremke, S.

2009-01-01

Mitigation of climate change and adaptation to renewable energy sources are among the emerging fields of activity in landscape architecture. If landscape architects recognize the need for sustainable development on the basis of renewable energy sources, then how can we contribute to sustainable and

Post-wildfire landscape change and erosional processes from repeat terrestrial lidar in a steep headwater catchment, Chiricahua Mountains, Arizona, USA

Science.gov (United States)

DeLong, Stephen B.; Youberg, Ann M.; DeLong, Whitney M.; Murphy, Brendan P.

2018-01-01

Flooding and erosion after wildfires present increasing hazard as climate warms, semi-arid lands become drier, population increases, and the urban interface encroaches farther into wildlands. We quantify post-wildfire erosion in a steep, initially unchannelized, 7.5 ha headwater catchment following the 2011 Horseshoe 2 Fire in the Chiricahua Mountains of southeastern Arizona. Using time-lapse cameras, rain gauges, and repeat surveys by terrestrial laser scanner, we quantify the response of a burned landscape to subsequent precipitation events. Repeat surveys provide detailed pre-and post-rainfall measurements of landscape form associated with a range of weather events. The first post-fire precipitation led to sediment delivery equivalent to 0.017 m of erosion from hillslopes and 0.12 m of erosion from colluvial hollows. Volumetrically, 69% of sediment yield was generated from hillslope erosion and 31% was generated from gully channel establishment in colluvial hollows. Processes on hillslopes included erosion by extensive shallow overland flow, formation of rills and gullies, and generation of sediment-laden flows and possibly debris flows. Subsequent smaller rain events caused ongoing hillslope erosion and local deposition and erosion in gullies. Winter freeze-thaw led to soil expansion, likely related to frost-heaving, causing a net centimeter-scale elevation increase across soil-mantled slopes. By characterizing landscape form, the properties of near-surface materials, and measuring both precipitation and landscape change, we can improve our empirical understanding of landscape response to environmental forcing. This detailed approach to studying landscape response to wildfires may be useful in the improvement of predictive models of flood, debris flow and sedimentation hazards used in post-wildfire response assessments and land management, and may help improve process-based models of landscape evolution.

Post-wildfire landscape change and erosional processes from repeat terrestrial lidar in a steep headwater catchment, Chiricahua Mountains, Arizona, USA

Science.gov (United States)

DeLong, Stephen B.; Youberg, Ann M.; DeLong, Whitney M.; Murphy, Brendan P.

2018-01-01

Flooding and erosion after wildfires present increasing hazard as climate warms, semi-arid lands become drier, population increases, and the urban interface encroaches farther into wildlands. We quantify post-wildfire erosion in a steep, initially unchannelized, 7.5 ha headwater catchment following the 2011 Horseshoe 2 Fire in the Chiricahua Mountains of southeastern Arizona. Using time-lapse cameras, rain gauges, and repeat surveys by terrestrial laser scanner, we quantify the response of a burned landscape to subsequent precipitation events. Repeat surveys provide detailed pre-and post-rainfall measurements of landscape form associated with a range of weather events. The first post-fire precipitation led to sediment delivery equivalent to 0.017 m of erosion from hillslopes and 0.12 m of erosion from colluvial hollows. Volumetrically, 69% of sediment yield was generated from hillslope erosion and 31% was generated from gully channel establishment in colluvial hollows. Processes on hillslopes included erosion by extensive shallow overland flow, formation of rills and gullies, and generation of sediment-laden flows and possibly debris flows. Subsequent smaller rain events caused ongoing hillslope erosion and local deposition and erosion in gullies. Winter freeze-thaw led to soil expansion, likely related to frost-heaving, causing a net centimeter-scale elevation increase across soil-mantled slopes. By characterizing landscape form, the properties of near-surface materials, and measuring both precipitation and landscape change, we can improve our empirical understanding of landscape response to environmental forcing. This detailed approach to studying landscape response to wildfires may be useful in the improvement of predictive models of flood, debris flow and sedimentation hazards used in post-wildfire response assessments and land management, and may help improve process-based models of landscape evolution.

Transformation of tourist landscapes in mountain areas: Case studies from Slovakia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Branislav Chrenka

2011-11-01

Full Text Available After two decades of deregulated free market economy the post-socialist rural mountain areas are being unprecedently commodified. Landscapes of tourist consumption with specific behaviour patterns are produced and reproduced. The paper explores how landscapes are transformed due to massive investments into tourist infrastructure with questionable impacts on quality of life and environmental sustainability. Power relations and related production of space are analysed in three case studies in the selected mountain areas in Slovakia. First, the Oščadnica case study reflects on rural landscape rapidly transformed by massive ski resort development and deforestation. Second, the Tále golf course development case study describes commodification and gentrification processes in Central Slovakia. Third, the High Tatras case study explores how power structures push on the transformation of the oldest and most visited National Park in Slovakia.

Magical Landscapes and Designed Cities

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Raahauge, Kirsten Marie

2008-01-01

with “something special,” a feel-good, (almost spiritual) healing power (just moments away from the bustling city). In Melanesia, such a spiritual force goes by the name of “mana”. Århus’ mana landscapes are only invested with this huge, floating quality because they are near the city. Furthermore, they are seen...... from the point of view of the city, where order, design, planning and commerce are important cityscape qualities. The article deals with the way in which these two parts of the city, landscape and brandscape are complementary parts of the city-web. Analytical points made by Mauss, Lévi......-Strauss and Greimas are discussed in connection with the empirical setting of the city of Århus...

Topology topical thoughts on the contemporary landscape

CERN Document Server

Bucher, Annemarie; Körner, Stefan; Krull, Wilhelm; Kühn, Norbert; Kuster, Hansjörg; Lampugnani, Vittorio Magnago; Schäfer, Lothar; Schwartz, Joseph; Seelis, Martin; Seiler, Michael; Stokman, Antje; Tessin, Wulf; Girot, Christophe; Kirchengast, Albert; Freytag, Anette; Richter, Dunja

2014-01-01

How can an abstract term like ""Topology"" become pertinent and effective to landscape thinking today? There is a schism between the way landscape is understood scientifically, either as a normative network or an environmental system, and the way the same place exists emotionally for people. This disparity which prevails in today''s landscape calls for a change of approach, both in terms of action and perception. Topology, in this instance, is not confined to the science of continuous surfaces in mathematics, it can pay greater attention to deeper spatial, physical, poetic and philosophical va

A Landscape Indicator Approach to the Identification and Articulation of the Ecological Consequences of Land Cover Change in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed, 1970-2000

Science.gov (United States)

Slonecker, Terrence

2008-01-01

The advancement of geographic science in the area of land surface status and trends and land cover change is at the core of the current geographic scientific research of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) (McMahon and others, 2005). Perhaps the least developed or articulated aspects of USGS land change science have been the identification and analysis of the ecological consequences of land cover change. Changes in land use and land cover significantly affect the ability of ecosystems to provide essential ecological goods and services, which, in turn, affect the economic, public health, and social benefits that these ecosystems provide. One of the great scientific challenges for geographic science is to understand and calibrate the effects of land use and land cover change and the complex interaction between human and biotic systems at a variety of natural, geographic, and political scales. Understanding the dynamics of land surface change requires an increased understanding of the complex nature of human-environmental systems and will require a suite of scientific tools that include traditional geographic data and analysis methods, such as remote sensing and geographic information systems (GIS), as well as innovative approaches to understanding the dynamics of complex systems. One such approach that has gained much recent scientific attention is the landscape indicator, or landscape assessment, approach, which has been developed with the emergence of the science of landscape ecology.

Integration Research for Shaping Sustainable Regional Landscapes

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

David J. Brunckhorst

2005-01-01

Full Text Available Ecological and social systems are complex and entwined. Complex social-ecological systems interact in a multitude of ways at many spatial scales across time. Their interactions can contribute both positive and negative consequences in terms of sustainability and the context in which they exist affecting future landscape change. Non-metropolitan landscapes are the major theatre of interactions where large-scale alteration occurs precipitated by local to global forces of economic, social, and environmental change. Such regional landscape effects are critical also to local natural resource and social sustainability. The institutions contributing pressures and responses consequently shape future landscapes and in turn influence how social systems, resource users, governments, and policy makers perceive those landscapes and their future. Science and policy for “sustainable” futures need to be integrated at the applied “on-ground” level where products and effects of system interactions are fully included, even if unobserved. Government agencies and funding bodies often consider such research as “high-risk.” This paper provides some examples of interdisciplinary research that has provided a level of holistic integration through close engagement with landholders and communities or through deliberately implementing integrative and innovative on-ground experimental models. In retrospect, such projects have to some degree integrated through spatial (if not temporal synthesis, policy analysis, and (new or changed institutional arrangements that are relevant locally and acceptable in business, as well as at broader levels of government and geography. This has provided transferable outcomes that can contribute real options and adaptive capacity for suitable positive futures.

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...

Industrial Archaeology, Landscapes, and Historical Knowledge of Sustainability

Science.gov (United States)

Donald L. Hardesty

2006-01-01

The emergence of industrial life support systems in the last three centuries dramatically changed humanenvironmental relationships. Industrial landscapes are repositories of historical knowledge about this ecological revolution. The key components of industrial landscapes include landforms (for example, waste rock dumps from mines), industrial buildings and structures...

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....

Scenario modelling of land use/land cover changes in Munessa-Shashemene landscape of the Ethiopian highlands.

Science.gov (United States)

Kindu, Mengistie; Schneider, Thomas; Döllerer, Martin; Teketay, Demel; Knoke, Thomas

2018-05-01

Models under a set of scenarios are used to simulate and improve our understanding of land use/land cover (LULC) changes, which is central for sustainable management of a given natural resource. In this study, we simulated and examined the possible future LULC patterns and changes in Munessa-Shashemene landscape of the Ethiopian highlands covering four decades (2012-2050) using a spatially explicit GIS-based model. Both primary and secondary sources were utilized to identify relevant explanatory variables (drivers) and LULC datasets for the model. Three alternative scenarios, namely Business As Usual (BAU), Forest Conservation and Water Protection (FCWP) and Sustainable Intensification (SI) were used. The simulated LULC map of 2012 was compared with the actual for model validation and showed a good consistency. The results revealed that areas of croplands will increase widely under the BAU scenario and would expand to the remaining woodlands, natural forests and grasslands, reflecting vulnerability of these LULC types and potential loss of associated ecosystem service values (ESVs). FCWP scenario would bring competition among other LULC types, particularly more pressure to the grassland ecosystem. Hence, the two scenarios will result in severe LULC dynamics that lead to serious environmental crisis. The SI scenario, with holistic approach, demonstrated that expansion of croplands could vigorously be reduced, remaining forests better conserved and degraded land recovered, resulting in gains of the associated total ESVs. We conclude that a holistic landscape management, i.e. SI, is the best approach to ensure expected production while safeguarding the environment of the studied landscape and elsewhere with similar geographic settings. Further study is suggested to practically test our framework through a research for development approach in a test site so that it can be used as a model area for effective use and conservation of our natural resources. Copyright �

EVERYDAY LANDSCAPE AND MEANING IN URBAN LIVING

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

LAKSHMI PRIYA RAJENDRAN

2013-11-01

Full Text Available This paper conceptualizes landscape from a temporal and spatial perspective which emphasizes peoples’ interactions and activities as an inherent part of understanding the landscape itself. Today, peoples’ interaction with the landscape has become more complex, largely owing to the changing notions of place in contemporary urban living. In this context, the paper examines the role and significance of the landscapes of everyday life in urban environment and delineates how it (reconstructs ordinary human and social meanings that are necessary conditions for our existence. The paper is presented in three sections. In the first section, it discusses the concept of everyday life and its relevance in the contemporary urban living. In the following section, it examines the complexities encountered in urban landscapes today .The third section of the paper discusses how meaningful interaction experienced with everyday landscapes offer valuable insights for addressing the challenges posed by the complexities of urban city living. The paper concludes by highlighting the need for attention towards the largely neglected or overlooked domains of ‘ordinary’ everyday landscape by designer professionals, which plays a crucial role in creating meaningful relationship between people and place.