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Landscape Character, Biodiversity and Land Use Planning: The Case of Kwangju City Region, South Korea
Abstract
Strong pressure on landscapes in South Korea from urbanisation is leading to severe environmental problems, changes in landscape character, and loss and fragmentation of woodlands which threaten biodiversity. Sustainable land use approaches for nature conservation are urgently needed to effectively counter these trends. This research develops and tests a methodological approach to assess the biodiversity potential of landscapes in city regions to provide the necessary information for this purpose. Landscape character assessment, an approach developed in the UK, is adapted and tested in Kwangju, a fast growing city region in the South west of the Korean peninsula. Twelve landscape character types are distinguished and landscape metrics (landscape heterogeneity, patch shape, patch context and patch distance) are customised to provide quantitative information on their biodiversity potential. Only land cover data that could be obtained from existing topographical maps and aerial photographs is required for this approach. It is suggested that the methodology presented in this paper can provide the necessary information to support sustainable land use planning for nature conservation in Korean city regions and elsewhere.
... Urbanisation often replaces natural features such as green spaces and vegetation cover with dense built-up areas and roads [12,13]. This conversion of natural or semi-natural ecosystems to urban built-up or artificial ecosystems leads to a reduction in biodiversity and natural resources [14,15], an increase in environmental damages [16][17][18], and a disruption of ecosystem processes and structures [19,20]. Rapid urban growth and immense land-use alteration, particularly green space, can also pose significant challenges to sustainable urban development. ...
... Vegetation cover and green lands are often the first victims of rapid urbanisation all around the world [12,13]. The reduction of green spaces due to the expansion of built-up areas impacts urban ecosystems [14,15], and creates socioenvironmental challenges [16][17][18]. This is strongly visible in developing countries, where the physical development of cities often leads to the loss of valuable ecological resources, including urban vegetation cover [12][13][14][15]. ...
... The reduction of green spaces due to the expansion of built-up areas impacts urban ecosystems [14,15], and creates socioenvironmental challenges [16][17][18]. This is strongly visible in developing countries, where the physical development of cities often leads to the loss of valuable ecological resources, including urban vegetation cover [12][13][14][15]. ...
Rapid urbanisation, economic growth, and urban spatial development in developing countries, such as Iran, have resulted in tremendous loss of green cover and associated ecological problems. Any effort to achieve sustainable urban development should be supported by recognising and evaluating the ecological health of vegetation cover. This study investigates vegetation cover reduction and changes in the Tehran Metropolis, Iran and identifies the most important factors influencing the observed changes. The aim of this study is two-fold: first, to assess the spatio-temporal changes in vegetation cover in Tehran between 1990 and 2020, and second, to identify the factors contributing to the changes. The Normalised Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) is used as an indicator of green cover. The spatial and statistical data used in this study were extracted from Landsat satellite imagery and the last approved Master Plan of Tehran (2006). Geographically Weighted Regression (GWR) and geographical modelling methods were employed to analyse vegetation cover in all municipal districts of the Tehran metropolis. The results show that the vegetation density in the Tehran metropolis decreased significantly (from 38,936.80 hectares to 4663.23 hectares) between 1990 and 2020. The expansion of construction lands and the increase of population density were the most significant factors affecting the reduction in vegetation cover in Tehran. In contrast, the growth of industrial units in the urban areas of Tehran had no significant relationship with vegetation cover. The results of this study can help urban planners understand the significant drivers of vegetation loss and identify appropriate interventions to prevent it.
... To describe the spatial patterns, various methods and tools have been developed and applied in urban ecology (e.g. McGarigal and Marks (1995); Kim and Pauleit (2007) Kuttner et al. (2013) with the aim of revealing the links between urban GI patterns with ecological and social functions (Luck and Wu, 2002). They comprise methods such as Fragstats (Luck and Wu, 2002;McGarigal et al., 2002;McGarigal and Marks, 1995), which provides a series of landscape metrics (e.g. ...
... They comprise methods such as Fragstats (Luck and Wu, 2002;McGarigal et al., 2002;McGarigal and Marks, 1995), which provides a series of landscape metrics (e.g. area/density, patch shape index and proximity metrics) for detecting the urbanization gradient of landscape patterns (Kupfer, 2012;Luck and Wu, 2002) and biodiversity conservation (Kim and Pauleit, 2007). In addition, tools such as least cost measures (Sutcliffe et al., 2003) and genetic patterns offer a more ecologically oriented approach to quantifying spatial patterns (e.g. ...
... In order to describe the spatial patterns, various methods and tools have been developed and applied in urban ecology (e.g. McGarigal and Marks (1995), Kim and Pauleit (2007), Kuttner et al. (2013)) that reveal the links between urban GI patterns and ecological and social functions (Luck and Wu, 2002). ...
Photos of cover pages: © J. Wang.
The entire process of sustainable urban development is creative, changeable and challengeable. It requires new urban and landscape planning methods and government responses as well as management capacities to mitigate climate change, halt biodiversity loss and enhance ecosystem services. As an innovative planning and strategic method, urban green infrastructure planning aims to meet these challenges, in particular, by promoting multifunctionality and connectivity in green infrastructure. Nevertheless, the role of urban green infrastructure and the multiple ecosystem services provided by green infrastructure in urban areas is still marginal in urban planning processes. The lack of adequate mapping and functional analysis methods is a significant factor in this. This dissertation, comprised of three papers, explores urban green infrastructure planning as an approach to enhancing multifunctional greenspace networks for sustainable urban development. It investigates the character of urban green infrastructure planning and fills research gaps by analyzing its multiple functions and undertaking connectivity mapping. Key research topics are the conceptual evolution of green infrastructure, the assessment of multifunctional green infrastructure as well as the spatial patterns in relation to equitable access for citizens to urban green spaces. First, Paper I focuses on the conceptual development of green infrastructure and its respective functional analysis at various spatial scales. It examines what green infrastructure actually measures, and questions whether its current manifestations are consistent with its conceptual development. Furthermore, it seeks to find out whether there are specific trends in the conceptual evolution of definitions of green infrastructure, and whether there are gaps between this evolution and the implementation of green infrastructure in the context of advancing sustainable development. It demonstrates that at this point in time, multifunctionality is a core feature of green infrastructure and central to the evolving green infrastructure concept. Other important features or concepts related to green infrastructure are connectivity, sustainability, protection of biodiversity, urban focus as well as inter- and transdisciplinary collaboration. Paper I proposes ways of enhancing and applying the green infrastructure concept in the future, taking into consideration these key concepts. A key finding of Paper I is the lack of an integrative framework for the assessment of multifunctional green infrastructure. In order to reduce this deficit, in Paper II, an integrated indicator framework is developed to evaluate the multiple ecosystem services provided by green infrastructure in urban areas. The second paper emphasizes that a clear framework and methodology are crucial for the sustainable management of spatially oriented green infrastructure plans over time and for different stakeholder groups. Hence, it proposes an explicit framework and methodology for the assessment of multifunctional green infrastructure, while addressing the pillars of urban sustainability (ecology, socio-economy, socio-culture and human health) and the multifunctionality of green infrastructure explicitly. For the purpose of validation, the integrative framework and methodology developed here are applied to an illustrative case study in Leipzig, Germany. This exemplification contains three stages of assessment: a conceptual framework for priority setting, a contextual assessment as well as a retrospective assessment. In total, 18 indicators are employed, and both hot and cold spots of selected green infrastructure functions and their multifunctionality are identified. Green infrastructure planners and policy makers may refer to this integrative indicator framework, which provides an application methodology as common grounds for better mutual understanding among scientists and stakeholders. To advance the principles proposed in Paper I and answer the question of to what extent spatial patterns of urban green infrastructure may affect the spatial equity of access to urban green infrastructure for citizens, Paper III analyzes nine selected sample sites with regard to the connectivity of, and equitable access to, urban green infrastructure, representing three typical residential areas in the City of Leipzig, the fastest growing city in Germany. The third paper employs the morphological spatial pattern analysis approach (one finding of Paper I), exploring urban green infrastructure patterns in three typical residential districts in order to verify the similarities between the characteristics of spatial patterns in each residential type and to observe a tendency of increasing equity from (semi-)detached houses to linear housing through to perimeter blocks. It depicts the spatial equity of green infrastructure distributions in typical residential areas from a morphological perspective, and thus further underpins urban green infrastructure planning for strategic networks as a key principle in the urban green infrastructure concept. The results pinpoint the necessity of developing further green infrastructure links in order to enhance structural connectivity as well as spatial equity. Overall, urbanization processes increase the need for urban green infrastructure to support the well-being of urban dwellers and to underpin a sustainable planning strategy. It is a challenge for urban planning to make cities socio-spatially equitable; it requires strategic planning based on measured gradients of spatial equity for green infrastructure. In conclusion, strategic urban green infrastructure planning should take into account the inherent spatial patterns and foster a fair distribution of green infrastructure towards spatial equity. The integrative framework, methodology and results regarding the assessment of multifunctional green infrastructure and urban green infrastructure planning presented here contribute to discourses regarding the enhancement of the green infrastructure concept; they are expected to provoke further discussion on how to improve analytical methods for remote sensing data as well as how to exploit best remote-sensing-based methods at multiple spatial, temporal and spectral scales to support green infrastructure plans.
... The purpose of landscape character evaluation is to develop spatial planning strategies that are specific to landscape character areas and types. In addition, this analysis is a tool used in a rational manner to perform sustainable rural development targets (Kim and Pauleit 2007). ...
... Landscape Character Analysis‖ (LCA) was used as a term in the scope of -European Landscape Character Assessment Initiative‖ (ELCAI).European Landscape Character Analysis study was applied with the participation of 14 different countries in Europe, and there are 51 specific examples in this field. Many of these examples are in national scale like UK, Ireland, the Netherlands, Hungary, (Heritage Council 2006;Wrbkaet al. 1999;Van Eetvelde and Antrop 2007;Swanwick 2002;Turner 2005),or in regional scale like Lower Normandy (France), Belgium (Gulincket al. 2001, Gomez-Sal et al. 2003, Kim and Pauleit 2007.In order to ensure a unity that is acceptable at international level by using a common language on the definition, protection, management and planning of landscapes, the European Landscape Convention (ELC) was opened for signature in 2000, and became effective in 2004. The countries that are members or candidates, which accepted the agreement, and among which Turkey also existed, are responsible for defining their landscapes, determining the character types of their landscapes, and follow-up of the changes and the transformations of the landscapes (Van Eetvelde and Antrop 2007). ...
... By doing so, accurate decisions may be made during the physical planning process for the purpose of using the natural sources. In addition, outputs of this study can fit into broader decisions tools such as Environmental Conservation Plans, strategies such as woodland, ecological networks (Therivel and Paridario 1996, Kim andPauleit 2007). It can be used to assess the specific capacity for land use change, including urbanization, in the landscape character units and types (Martin 2004). ...
In this study, the landscape character assessment (LCA) methodology was tested at the district scale in Savsat, which is located in the Turkish Eastern Black Sea Region. In addition, the role of the LCA at a district scale in the determination of the tourism and protection potential of the landscape character areas, the development of the regional policies, and integrating them into current land use policies are also discussed in the study.We usedthe LCA methods in this study. The natural and cultural datawere collected in thestudy areas. The determination of thelandscape character areas and ecological analyses were evaluated in GIS; moreover, thelandscape character areas were identified with-Area Survey Forms‖. As a result of theanalyses, 854 different landscape character types and 13 landscape character areas were determined. We also prepared identity cards to determinethe landscape character areas.As a result, the importance of LCA Method in protecting biodiversity, rural development, and tourism strategies were emphasized in the study.
... Remote sensing satellites have proven valuable in employing various classification techniques to map LULC changes within watersheds such as supervised, unsupervised classification, and object-based image analysis (Table 1). Lidar, Sentinel 2 87-91% [40] Unsupervised classification is a computer-automated process that groups pixels that are statistically similar into categories using a clustering algorithm, such as K-means [41] or ISODATA [38]. Unsupervised classification is valuable when the field data are lacking or knowledge about the study area is unavailable [20,42]. ...
... However, other LULCs that are not nearby sub-catchments may have an influence on or contribute to impacts on the water quality, because pollutants from LULC in the upper catchment may be transported downstream. The scale of the stream reach might be improper as the pollutants are diluted by the flow or absorbed by plants [38,142]. Other studies propound that the whole catchment plays an important role in influencing the impacts of LULC on the water quality [12,136,143]. ...
Citation: Mashala, M.J.; Dube, T.; Mudereri, B.T.; Ayisi, K.K.; Ramudzuli, M.R. Abstract: This study aimed to provide a systematic overview of the progress made in utilizing remote sensing for assessing the impacts of land use and land cover (LULC) changes on water resources (quality and quantity). This review also addresses research gaps, challenges, and opportunities associated with the use of remotely sensed data in assessment and monitoring. The progress of remote sensing applications in the assessment and monitoring of LULC, along with their impacts on water quality and quantity, has advanced significantly. The availability of high-resolution satellite imagery, the integration of multiple sensors, and advanced classification techniques have improved the accuracy of land cover mapping and change detection. Furthermore, the study highlights the vast potential for providing detailed information on the monitoring and assessment of the relationship between LULC and water resources through advancements in data science analytics, drones, web-based platforms, and balloons. It emphasizes the importance of promoting research efforts, and the integration of remote sensing data with spatial patterns, ecosystem services, and hydrological models enables a more comprehensive evaluation of water quantity and quality changes. Continued advancements in remote sensing technology and methodologies will further improve our ability to assess and monitor the impacts of LULC changes on water quality and quantity, ultimately leading to more informed decision making and effective water resource management. Such research endeavors are crucial for achieving the effective and sustainable management of water quality and quantity.
... Landscape character is a common means of describing the spatial variability of a landscape pattern. It is defined as a unique and identifiable pattern of elements that occur repeatedly across a given landscape type [22]. A particular combination of the natural landscape components (topography, soils, vegetation) and the man-made landscape components (built-up areas, villages) create landscape characters that distinguish one landscape from another, generate different perceptible characteristics, and make an area unique [23]. ...
... Compared to analyzing only changes in land-use, considering changes in LCTs can better support spatial planning [22]. The classification of LCTs is inherently site-specific, as it often depends on attributes that imbue the study area with landscape identity and a sense of place, and highlight its unique qualities [51,52]. ...
The urban landscape is being affected by rapid urbanization, leading to a complexity of land features and a fragmentation of patches. However, many studies have focused on the prediction of land-use change with a lack of research on the landscape character types which have more integrated descriptions of land features. Hence, this study predicts and identifies landscape character types (LCTs) in different periods based on the PLUS model and the K-Medoids algorithm, taking the central city of Chongqing as an example, to reveal the differences in the influence of driving factors on LCTs. The results show that (1) the urban landscape characteristic types present a gradient change from the built-up area to the outward expansion. (2) The SHDI and LPI of landscape character types decreased significantly with the expansion of construction land. (3) Nighttime light, distance from water bodies, and distance from the motorways are the main factors affecting the change of landscape character types. This study predicts and identifies urban landscape character types and quantifies the impact of urban expansion on landscape character. It can be used to guide urban planning and help governments to make more informed decisions on sustainable urban development and ecological conservation.
... Landscape value mapping of Hong Kong, China, as part of a territory-wide development strategy, only had land use, building density, and building height as cultural factors. In the case of LCA of the city region in Kwangju, South Korea, to support sustainable land use in urban areas, only landscape ecological metrics (e.g., shape, context and distance of patch, and landscape heterogeneity) were used to identify landscape character type (Kim & Pauleit, 2007). The European Landscape Map was limited to biophysical methods due to the lack of consistent data based on historical factors of European culture (Mücher et al., 2010). ...
... However, the situation changed after 2005. Most of the LCA studies published after 2005 corrected the shortcomings and were based either on stepwise, criteriabased GIS overlay techniques (Ding et al., 2020;Kim & Pauleit, 2007), multispectral segmentation (Mücher et al., 2010), or GIS analysis in combination with multivariate statistical analysis (Atik et al., 2017;Li & Zhang, 2017;van der Zanden et al., 2016;Van Eetvelde & Antrop, 2009). The most commonly used multivariate characterization method in recent years, which is called the parametric method by Antrop and Van Eetvelde (2017), has two main principles: 1) division of landscape into fixed spatial units (regular cells or vectorized polygons); 2) multivariate statistical analyses of data to classify or group landscape units into generic landscape types or distinct areas with similar characteristics. ...
Diverse urban landscape is an important cultural driving force for urban sustainable development. Although characterizing landscape to protect landscape diversity is widely used in regional landscape and preservation practices, it is difficult to apply to urban landscape character assessment, which needs fine-scale data support, explicit study units, and effective clustering models. Therefore, this study uses urban big geospatial data and machine learning technology to establish a technical system for character assessment of urban landscape applicable to the block scale and complete the landscape assessment of urban areas of Beijing and Shanghai, China. A total of 64 landscape character types were identified in Beijing, and 61 in Shanghai. We find that (1) urban landscape characters are different with the ring road as the boundary, but each zone presents a combination of different proportions of landscape characters. (2) Beijing's city wall demolition policy is affected by historical protection policy. Landscape differentiation on both sides of the Huangpu River in Shanghai has yet to be realized. This study extends the theory of LCA and realizes the research exploration of urban built environment. It can also be used to guide urban zoning control, evaluate planning policy, and provide assistance in practice for sustainable urban development and management.
... An initial literature review on LCA revealed a variety of applications using Geographic Information Systems (GIS) for various purposes in many countries, particularly in Europe, UK and Ireland [Cary's 2002, Sam 2005, Heritage Council 2006 and other countries such as Hong Kong, South Korea, New Zealand [Planning Department 2008, Keun-Ho and Stephan 2007, Lars 2009]. There are few LCA applications in the Mediterranean countries, Turkey, Tunisia, and Cyprus [Ioannis and Louis 2007, Steven et al. 2008, Osman et al. 2011, Nilgun et al. 2015. ...
... In the present study, the variables for LCA were selected from previously published works [Keun-Ho and Stephan 2007, Cary's 2002, Meryem et al. 2015 and were inspired by the characteristics of the Ziban region. ...
Landscape is an area formed by the interactions between humans and nature, which bring various characteristics to the area. Landscape Character Assessment (LCA) methods enable more accurate description, mapping, and evaluation of features within the landscape. Also, landscape characterization and classification is facilitated by the advances of Geographic Information Systems (GIS), which constitute a very efficient tool for analysis and overlay mapping. This paper explores and tests an application of Landscape Character Assessment (LCA) methodology at a regional scale in Ziban region, Algeria, combining natural and cultural attributes using GIS. The first stage of overlay of attributes is followed by the verification of draft map involving a visual assessment on-site in order to develop the final classification and assessment describing each landscape character area and type. The study results show that Ziban region has a rich structure with diversified landscapes created by unique natural and cultural landscape values composed of 36 different character areas and 19-character types. The main contribution of this research consists in developing a typology for Ziban landscape and providing useful results for decision-making related to the future management of landscape character in the Algerian context, which has undergone strong pressure related to urbanization, industry, transport, desertification, and tourism.
... Various approaches and tools in urban ecology have been developed and applied to determine GI connectivity (e.g., Forman (1995), McGarigal and Marks (1995), Kim and Pauleit (2007), Kuttner et al. (2013)) to unfold the links between urban GI patterns with ecological and social functions (Luck and Wu, 2002). Mainstreaming methods comprise such as FRAGSTATS (Luck and Wu, 2002;McGarigal et al., 2002;McGarigal and Marks, 1995), which provides a series of landscape metrics (e.g. ...
... Mainstreaming methods comprise such as FRAGSTATS (Luck and Wu, 2002;McGarigal et al., 2002;McGarigal and Marks, 1995), which provides a series of landscape metrics (e.g. proximity index, connectance index, cohesion and proximity metrics at patch, class and landscape levels) to detect the urbanization gradient of landscape patterns (Kupfer, 2012;Luck and Wu, 2002), urban green space provision (Zepp et al., 2020) and biodiversity conservation (Kim and Pauleit, 2007); and tools like least-cost measures (Sutcliffe et al., 2003)as well as genetic patterns offer a more ecologically oriented approach to quantifying spatial patterns (e.g. Chardon et al. (2003), Coulon et al. (2004) and Hokit et al. (2010)). ...
Developing green infrastructure (GI) has drawn increasing attention as a strategic planning approach for advancing urban sustainability. The connectivity of green spaces, a central principle of GI, has been considered in planning studies regarding its structure and functions for biodiversity conservation and ecosystem services delivery; however, aspects of GI connectivity across temporal and spatial scales are rarely addressed. This paper aims to develop and apply a method for the GI connectivity analysis at multiple spatiotemporal scales. A transferable and multi-scale workable approach is presented to reveal the changes of structural and spatial heterogeneity of urban GI. Our method includes i) morphological spatial patterns analysis for central and green corridors recognition, ii) a graph-based quantification of GI connectivity based on the Conefor model, and iii) least-cost path analysis for identifying potential green corridors. We apply the GI connectivity analysis method in the Ruhr Metropolitan Area (RMA), one of Europe's largest agglomerations. We use spatial Urban Atlas data from 2006 to 2018. At the metropolitan scale, we find that GI connectivity in the RMA decreases 3.9% from 2006 to 2018, even though the general distributions of GI changes only slightly. With reference to the municipal scale from 2006 to 2018, four major types of GI connectivity changes were discovered in RMA's 15 cities, namely consistent decreasing, consistent increasing, increase followed by decrease, and vice-versa. Our findings provide new evidence on GI connectivity changes across a twelve-year difference and at metropolitan and municipal scales, as well as the identification of priority areas for increasing GI connectivity. It provides insights on the evolving and heterogenous nature of GI connectivity in support of decision-making for more sustainable metropolitan development for people and nature.
... Various approaches and tools in urban ecology have been developed and applied to determine GI connectivity (e.g., Forman (1995), McGarigal and Marks (1995), Kim and Pauleit (2007), Kuttner et al. (2013)) to unfold the links between urban GI patterns with ecological and social functions (Luck and Wu, 2002). Mainstreaming methods comprise such as FRAGSTATS (Luck and Wu, 2002;McGarigal et al., 2002;McGarigal and Marks, 1995), which provides a series of landscape metrics (e.g. ...
... Mainstreaming methods comprise such as FRAGSTATS (Luck and Wu, 2002;McGarigal et al., 2002;McGarigal and Marks, 1995), which provides a series of landscape metrics (e.g. proximity index, connectance index, cohesion and proximity metrics at patch, class and landscape levels) to detect the urbanization gradient of landscape patterns (Kupfer, 2012;Luck and Wu, 2002), urban green space provision (Zepp et al., 2020) and biodiversity conservation (Kim and Pauleit, 2007); and tools like least-cost measures (Sutcliffe et al., 2003)as well as genetic patterns offer a more ecologically oriented approach to quantifying spatial patterns (e.g. Chardon et al. (2003), Coulon et al. (2004) and Hokit et al. (2010)). ...
Developing green infrastructure (GI) has drawn increasing attention as a strategic planning approach for advancing urban sustainability. The connectivity of green spaces, a central principle of GI, has been considered in planning studies regarding its structure and functions for biodiversity conservation and ecosystem services delivery; however, aspects of GI connectivity across temporal and spatial scales are rarely addressed. This paper aims to develop and apply a method for the GI connectivity analysis at multiple spatiotemporal scales. A transferable and multi-scale workable approach is presented to reveal the changes of structural and spatial heterogeneity of urban GI. Our method includes i) morphological spatial patterns analysis for central and green corridors recognition, ii) a graph-based quantification of GI connectivity based on the Conefor model, and iii) least-cost path analysis for identifying potential green corridors. We apply the GI connectivity analysis method in the Ruhr Metropolitan Area (RMA), one of Europe's largest agglomerations. We use spatial Urban Atlas data from 2006 to 2018. At the metropolitan scale, we find that GI connectivity in the RMA decreases 3.9% from 2006 to 2018, even though the general distributions of GI changes only slightly. With reference to the municipal scale from 2006 to 2018, four major types of GI connectivity changes were discovered in RMA's 15 cities, namely consistent decreasing, consistent increasing, increase followed by decrease, and vice-versa. Our findings provide new evidence on GI connectivity changes across a twelve-year difference and at metropolitan and municipal scales, as well as the identification of priority areas for increasing GI connectivity. It provides insights on the evolving and heterogenous nature of GI connectivity in support of decision-making for more sustainable metropolitan development for people and nature.
... Criteria that reflect the cultural landscape value of the region were determined based on the observations conducted in field studies. A "cultural landscape value determination card "was created in line with these criteria (Brabyn, 2005;Kim and Pauleit, 2007;Bartlett et al., 2017). The obtained data through field observations and interviews with the locals were recorded on these cards and the cultural landscape values pertaining to all rural settlements were revealed. ...
... Locals should be guided and educated in alternative tourism activities such as plateau tourism, mountain climbing, bird watching and hiking. Yet, the demand for rural/cultural tourism also increases the pressure on resources (Kim and Pauleit, 2007). Therefore, it should be remembered that the number of visitors coming for tourism could increase day by day and place pressure on resources. ...
The traditions, socio-economic conditions, habitational settings and the climatic factors of a society become stratified with the cultural values and establish the current values of the cultural landscape. The significance of a rural landscape as cultural heritage is directly related to the existence of cultural values and cultural landscape, which constitutes the totality of the cultural values should be preserved in order to ensure historical and cultural sustainability. The study area (Şavşat/Artvin, Turkey) has a rich value based on its cultural landscape and texture, given its rich biodiversity and the lifestyle of different cultures that shaped the traditional settlement. Certain routes were determined within the scope of the present study, with the aim to encompass the whole Şavşat. A method based on an inventory study was employed to analyze the 39 rural settlements and the values of the traditional cultural landscape were quantified through scoring 8 parameters based on the existence or nonexistence of cultural values. The 5-point scoring was ranged as follows: very low, low, medium, high and very high. Based on this scoring, Yavuz village, Kocabey, Kirazlı, Kayadibi, Çoraklı, Şavşat Center, Ilıca, Maden were found have high, Cevizli, Maden, Köprülü and Çağlayan were found to have very high values for the cultural landscape. Consequently, it was indicated that identifying the values of the traditional cultural landscape through the scoring system based on the existence and nonexistence of cultural values with respect to certain parameters could contribute to the literature. It was considered that the findings of the present study could provide an important database in the regional/sub-regional scale for the conservation of cultural values with natural landscape resources and conveying these values to future generations.
... It is also recognized as a tool that contributes to environmental protection and rational use of resources to achieve sustainable development goals. (Kim & Pauleit, 2007). ...
Spatial planning is a multidisciplinary approach that encompasses both the
enhancement of existing urban structures and the delineation of new development
areas. This approach constitutes a strategic process adopted to regulate cities'
environmental, social, physical, and economic development. The process
encompasses the development of infrastructure, the planning of transport
systems, the design of settlement areas, and the protection and regulation of green
spaces. The primary objective of spatial planning is the creation of urban areas
that are conducive to human habitation, sustainable, and functional. In this
context, the term 'spatial planning' is not restricted to the mere organization of
physical spaces. Instead, it encompasses many objectives, including the
enhancement of societal well-being, the guarantee of social equality, and the
safeguarding of environmental resources. Furthermore, it necessitates
implementing strategic decisions to reduce the environmental consequences of
urban expansion and address social requirements(Carmona, 2021; Levy, 2015).
In essence, spatial planning provides adaptable and viable solutions to address
the future requirements of urban areas while concurrently reconciling the
imperatives of environmental sustainability, economic development, and social
equity (Hall & Tewdwr-Jones, 2019).
... It is also recognized as a tool that contributes to environmental protection and rational use of resources to achieve sustainable development goals. (Kim & Pauleit, 2007). ...
... These results may be used as the basis for regional planning. The use of indicators from landscape ecology has also become common (Gobster et al. [15]; Kim and Pauleit, [16]; Fry et al. [17]; Martín et al. [18]). This calls for an eclectic effort to integrate data-driven approaches with those of social sciences to simplify and present them in a single intuitive score. ...
This study analysed the greater Seoul area (GSA) in terms of naturalness, a representative indicator of natural scenic beauty, and created an assessment map, shifting from a traditional urban development perspective to a landscape perspective. It also developed a “normalised naturalness index” by combining the results of the expert metric score with the Hemeroby index, which was used as a naturalness assessment representative item. Then, it interpreted the naturalness status of the GSA landscape characteristics. As a result, the landscape of the GSA demonstrates the following five characteristics: First, the central business districts in the capital city of Seoul are densely developed areas with a very high degree of human intervention. Second, the satellite cities built to solve Seoul’s housing and logistics problems are rated as “a little less, but still heavily humanised” as a landscape characteristic. These areas are becoming increasingly humanised. Also, it is worth noting that the third characteristic, regarding moderate landscape areas, has a distinctly different meaning for areas outside of the city boundary, as well as those within the city boundary. Although these areas are in the same statistical category, they have two different meanings: one is the area where the average values converged on “moderate” by virtue of urban forests near the city centre, and the other is the area outside of Seoul that has a Hemeroby value of 0.5–0.6, which refers to open spaces such as agricultural lands, wetlands, or coastal areas. Fourth, suburban forests are reserved with legal restrictions to curb excessive urban sprawl, as well as parts of the demilitarised zone along the border areas of North and South Koreas. The last landscape characteristic is illustrated in the scenic area of the eastern woodlands. The normalised landscape naturalness index developed through this study provides an overall understanding of the environmental state of the GSA. Future research may build on the results of this study to refine methods for assessing public perceptions of naturalness.
... A corollary of urbanization and the associated build-up of areas is the shrinking of urban open space (UOS), which is to the detriment of ecosystems and the environment [2]. The majority of the environmental impacts associated with urbanization relate to the destruction of open green space, which produces a myriad of negative impacts, including but not limited to habitat destruction, biodiversity reduction, and disruption of the urban ecosystem's processes and structures [3]. Contrastingly, these impacts can be mitigated to some extent by the presence of open green spaces, as can be seen with how they regulate the urban heat island effect [4], energy flows [5], and water and atmospheric pollution, respectively [6]. ...
Although there is extensive research demonstrating the significant loss and fragmentation of urban spaces caused by rapid urbanization, to date, no empirical research in Shanghai has investigated the spatiotemporal dynamics of urban open spaces using a comprehensive set of integrated geospatial techniques based on long-sequence time series. Based on the Google Earth Engine (GEE) platform and using the Random Forest (RF) classifier, multiple techniques, namely landscape metrics, trend analysis, open space ratio, transition matrix, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), and fractal dimension analysis, were applied to analyze the Landsat satellite data. Next, Geographic Detector (GeoDetector) methods were used to investigate the driving forces of such spatial variations. The results showed that (1) the RF classification algorithm, supported by the GEE, can accurately and quickly obtain a research object dataset, and that calculating the optimal spatial grain size for open space pattern was 70 m; (2) open spaces exhibited declining and contracting trends; and open spaces in the city experienced a decline from 91.83% in 1980 to 69.63% in 2020. Meanwhile, the degree of open spaces in each district increased to different extents, whilst connectivity markedly decreased. Furthermore, the open space of city center districts showed the lowest rate of decrease, with open space patterns fragmenting due to encroaching urbanization; (3) the contribution of socioeconomic factors to the spatial–temporal changes in open space continually has increased over the past 40 years, and were also higher than natural geographic factors to some extent. Apart from offering policy insights guiding the future spatial planning and development of the city, this paper has contributions from both methodological and empirical perspectives. Based on integrated remote sensing and geographic information science (GIS) techniques, this paper provides updated evidence and a clearer understanding of the spatiotemporal variations in urban spaces and their influencing mechanisms in Shanghai.
... Fragmentation of urban green spaces and increasing CO2 emissions led to greenhouse gases are some of the environmental problems caused by urbanization [4]. Furthermore, the destruction of animal habitat and decreasing biodiversity was also the other cause of urbanization [5]. The same issues have also occurred in Malang Indonesia, the second biggest city in East Java Indonesia. ...
This study aims to identify tree species and their potential as carbon stock in three urban forests of Malang City. This research was conducted in three urban forests including the Urban Forest of Malabar, Velodrome, and Hamid Rusdi. Data were analyzed with an important value index (IVI) and Carbon stock estimation. There were 41 species of trees in three Malang City Forests. There are differences in tree dominance in the three Malang city forests, namely: the Malabar city forest is Albizia chinensis, the Velodrome city forest is Gmelina arborea, and the Hamid Rusdi city forest is Polyalthia longifolia. The highest value of carbon stock in the Malabar urban forest is A. Chinensis, 6,214.38 kg; in the Velodrome urban forest is Enterolobium cyclocarpum, 7,225.88 kg; and in the Hamid Rusdi Urban Forest is Samanea saman with a carbon stock of 4,757.01 kg.
... Many studies have revealed, across various global cities that green areas which should ideally be conserved, have undergone urbanization. The reduction of these green spaces can result in a decline in biodiversity and lead to distortions in urban ecosystems [3]. These changes can also alter the urban energy balance, giving rise to the Urban Heat Island (UHI) phenomenon [4]. ...
... The success in recent years of this pioneering methodology in British landscape studies has been remarkable, and its application by archaeologists and historians has been carried out in order to offer information on landscape management, planning and research throughout the UK (Clark et al. 2004;Fairclough et al. 2002;Highways Agency 2006;Finch 2007;Turner 2006bTurner , 2007Swanwick and Fairclough 2018) as well as in other countries in Europe (Bolòs 2010;Bolòs et al. 2016;Crow and Turner 2009;Crow et al. 2011;Lambrick et al. 2013;Nogué and Sala 2018;RCE 2017;Sarlöv et al., 2018;Turner and Crow 2010;Turner and Fairclough 2007;Turner et al. 2018), in Turkey (Atik andKaradeniz, 2018;Crow and Turner 2009;Demir 2016;Erdoğan et al. 2020;Sengur and Nurlu 2021), and even as far countries as Tanzania (Käyhkö et al. 2018), South Africa (Escott and Kiepiel 2010;Quayle et al. 2011), South Korea (Kim and Pauleit 2007), México (Rojas et al. 2012), the United States (Dingwall and Gaffney 2007), Canada (Prosper 2018) or New Zealand (Brabyn 2009;Brown and Brabyn 2012;Stephenson 2010;Swaffield et al. 2018), Australia (Lennon 2018), among others. ...
Industrial heritage landscapes today are phenomena of extraordinary complexity, the study of which has been addressed belatedly by the scientific community in general, and to date no methodological trend has given priority to its study and management. There do exist, however, recent methodological approaches, such as Historic Landscape Characterisation, which, in recent years, have addressed the problems and opportunities presented by a wide diversity of landscapes, as is the case of the industrial landscape of Blaenavon. The aim of this article is to critically evaluate the validity of this methodology in terms of responding to the needs that these landscapes present with regard to their study, enhancement and intervention from a heritage and cultural perspective. This study concludes that, while this methodology is a valuable contribution to knowledge of the historical character of these landscapes, the importance of addressing their specific nature makes necessary the development of more solid, methodologically sophisticated approaches that respond to some of the theoretical and methodological weaknesses of this methodology. In this regard, this article advances in the definition of improvements and methodological innovations that attempt to address, among other issues, the complexity of these landscapes in terms of their establishment in the territory, the diversity of spatial and temporal scales in which they participate, their dynamic, highly anthropised character, and their uniqueness as landscapes that have been radically transformed by past industrial activity and which possess enormous cultural and heritage value.
... Nevertheless, anthropogenic interference has led to the development of urban open space from a homogeneous, unified and contiguous pattern to a mosaic form of heterogeneity, segmentation and discontinuity (Yang et al., 2014;Yu et al., 2022a). This mosaic form of open space fragmentation is expressed in morphological segmentation and inefficient connectivity of landscapes (Yu et al., 2023a), which could lead to urban ecosystem degradation, animal habitat destruction and social isolation (Kim and Pauleit, 2007;Kowe et al., 2021). Open space fragmentation is increasing recognition of urban environmental degradation worldwide (Fahrig, 2003;Atasoy, 2018). ...
Spatial equity embeddedness in fragmented open space has long been neglected but is now becoming a pivotal topic in sustainable urban development. It is unclear whether open space fragmentation has widened existing spatial inequalities. Thus, this study proposes an integrated methodological framework of open space fragmentation and its associated spatial equity issue in towns at different stages of urbanisation development. Hong Kong's built–up area could provide a typical case to unveil this topic due to the high shortage of open space, continued urbanisation, high immigrant rate, large wealth gap and aging population. The characteristics of open space fragmentation forms in old and new towns are elaborated through landscape pattern analysis and principal components analysis. Spatial horizontal equity and spatial vertical equity based on demographic characteristics and social economic status are portrayed by means of the Theil index and spatial matching. The findings indicate that the heterogeneity of open space fragmentation is evidenced by the uneven distribution of residents' environments in the old and new towns. Statistics reveal that in addition to shape fragmentation, the mean values of use fragmentation, internal fragmentation, extensive fragmentation and location fragmentation in old towns are all larger than those in new towns. Additionally, internal fragmentation overall is embedded in more spatial horizontal inequalities, and there is a higher level of spatial horizontal inequality in old towns than in new towns. Vulnerable groups that rely more on open spaces, including children, the elder, low education groups, immigrant groups and unemployed groups, suffer more from spatial vertical inequalities in old towns than in new towns. The knowledge gained from this research could provide a valuable reference for open space planning at home and abroad.
... Today, urbanization rates continue to increase rapidly in both developed and developing countries. This situation causes deterioration and even disappearance of natural areas (Kim & Pauleit, 2007). ...
The concept of green infrastructure is an important element of sustainable cities. As components of the green infrastructure system, natural habitats, green corridors, open and green spaces in the urban landscape are interrelated and contribute to the development of urban ecology. In this context, this study aimed to investigate the definition, planning, and the concept of green infrastructure for a sustainable city, to improve the existing green infrastructure in cities in the fight against climate change, within the framework of a theoretical evaluation. Within the framework of sustainable urban development, the concepts have been researched with a qualitative method in a way to provide a theoretical evaluation. After the literature review of this research, conclusions and recommendations were developed. At this point, the concept of green infrastructure has increasing importance for the formation of resilient cities capable of coping with the consequences of global warming and climate change.
... Today, urbanization rates continue to increase rapidly in both developed and developing countries. This situation causes deterioration and even disappearance of natural areas (Kim & Pauleit, 2007). ...
The concept of green infrastructure is an important element of sustainable cities. As components of the green infrastructure system, natural habitats, green corridors, open and green spaces in the urban landscape are interrelated and contribute to the development of urban ecology. In this context, this study aimed to investigate the definition, planning, and the concept of green infrastructure for a sustainable city, to improve the existing green infrastructure in cities in the fight against climate change, within the framework of a theoretical evaluation. Within the framework of sustainable urban development, the concepts have been researched with a qualitative method in a way to provide a theoretical evaluation. After the literature review of this research, conclusions and recommendations were developed. At this point, the concept of green infrastructure has increasing importance for the formation of resilient cities capable of coping with the consequences of global warming and climate change.
... Email: pegahsalsabilian@yahoo.com Rise of the City-Region, Literature Review Before the 20th century, the two concepts of city and village and, in some cases, the metropolis described the spatial developments (Ellingsen and Leknes 2012;Friedmann and Wolff 1982;Parr 2007); while the expansion of urbanization in the twentieth century created new concepts in the spatial organization. The concept of city-region has recently become prominent by changes in urbanization (Davoudi 2008;Hedblom and Söderström 2008;Huang et al. 2016;Kim and Pauleit 2007;Lazzarini 2018;Páez and Scott 2004). Despite the widespread use of this concept, the city-region is still ambiguous (Davoudi 2003;Etherington 2009;Parr 2005). ...
The development and expansion of 20th-century urbanization have led to large-scale populated regions that did not exist prior to this era. City-region is a kind of 20-century large-scale concept recognized as the most advanced stage of urban development. Regardless of its long history, the concept of city-region does not enjoy a standard definition. In this vein, the present paper seeks to provide a suitable framework for the primary argument determining the city-region boundary. Indeed, understanding the boundary allows planners to study a precise area, resulting in refining the concept and meticulously planning. Therefore, as applied research, it is aimed to respond to the practical problem in spatial planning by expanding and developing the city-region's knowledge base. The paper has a mixed-method, using content analysis, the Structural Equation Model techniques, and Hot spot analysis. The results introduce six factors for determining the city-region's boundary, including economic self-sufficiency, community relation, regional competitiveness, balanced management, services and infrastructure capacities, and the space of flows. The research's flexible model allows planners to adjust it based on their field of study, inferring that the proposed model is utterly comprehensive; however, having access to different databases, scholars may encounter a challenge to adapt indicators. Accordingly, indicators should be customized based on general ones. In this study, the indicators are customized according to Iran's data sources, and the output framework is tested on the Tehran region that deals with inefficiencies in urban and regional planning.
... The term ''ecological stress'' simply refers to the negative impact on the ecosystem or its biotic components due to various causes, most of which are anthropogenic (Lin et al., 2021). Rapid urbanisation, as a result of natural population growth and an ever-increasing rate of rural-urban migration (Sun et al., 2013), is one of the factors that has the potential to devastate the ecology and biodiversity of its surroundings (Kim & Pauleit, 2007). Since 1970, India has experienced substantial urbanisation, with the urban population rising from 109 million (19.9%) in 1971 to 377 million (31.6%) in 2011. ...
Urban expansion now plays the most effective role in the loss of natural ecosystems by directly altering the landscape configuration and intensifying the ecological stress. The impact is not only confined to those areas where the natural landscape is altered by built-up use; the adjacent areas are also experiencing the adverse effects of urban expansion. But this adjacency effect is often neglected or not much discussed by the scholars or researchers. On the other hand, in India, the issues in smaller cities (as compared to the cities like Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, etc.) are usually overlooked because of their size, and as a consequence, the issues grow faster. The present study explores the ecological stress on Asansol city, which is one of the fastest growing cities in India, using a landscape adjacency-based mechanism. The result reveals that during the last 30 years (1990–2020), ecological stress on the city has been estimated as reached up to 78%. At the micro-scale (10 sq. km grid), the average stress level has been amplified to 84% (extreme condition). Hence, this study can provide a suitable conceptual basis for the city planner, authorities, and any government body responsible for maintaining the sustainability of the natural city sphere. Moreover, the present methodology of the study combines both the inner-city and city-margin ecological stress due to expansion of built-up area, so it could be applied with more functionality for further scientific studies in the future.
... Bu nedenle Peyzaj Karakter Analizi yerel, bölgesel ve ulusal ölçeklerde yapılmaktadır. Ayrıca peyzaj karakter analizi yanlış arazi kullanımları sonucu ortaya çıkan sorunların çözümlenmesinde ve peyzaj değeri yüksek alanların geliştirilmesinde yardımcı olabilir (Kim and Pauleit 2007). Kentsel alanların peyzaj karekterlerinin belirlenmesinde kentin doğal, kültürel ve sosyal değerlerinin farklılığı, miktarı, dağılımı, yeterliliği, fonksiyonel ve estetik değeri gibi özellikler dikkate alınmaktadır. ...
... Günümüzde kentleşme faaliyetleri hem gelişmiş hem de gelişmekte olan ülkelerde hızlı bir şekilde devam etmektedir. Bu süreç doğal alanlar üzerinde baskı oluşturmakta, tamamen yok olmalarına veya doğal özelliklerinde bozulmalara neden olarak tahribatlarına yol açmaktadır (Kim & Pauleit, 2007). ...
... The global urbanization rate was predicted to reach 70% by 2050 [1]. The accelerated urbanization in the world has led to the ever-expanding built-up area and ever-shrinking urban green space (UGS) [2,3], causing ecosystem and environmental problems [4][5][6]. UGS is an important component of urban ecosystems, and its degradation disrupts the structure and process of urban ecosystems and affects urban sustainability. Increasing attention has been paid to the ecosystem service of UGS, including the improvement of microclimate regulation [7], mitigation of urban heat island effects [8], urban pollution controlling [9], providing aesthetic enjoyment and entertainment opportunities and maintaining wellbeing physically and psychologically [10]. ...
Urbanization has led to the continuous expansion of built-up areas and the ever-growing urban population, threatening the quantity and quality of urban green space (UGS). Exploring the spatiotemporal variations of UGS is substantially conducive to the formulation of land-use policies to protect the ecosystems. As one of the largest megacities all around the world, Shanghai has experienced rapid urbanization in the past three decades. Insights into how UGS changes in response to urbanization and greening policies are essential for guiding sustainable urban development. This paper employed integrated approaches to characterize the changing patterns and intensities of green space in Shanghai, China from 1990 to 2015. The spatiotemporal dynamics of the UGS pattern were derived through four main methods: green space ratio, dynamic change degree (DCD), transition matrix and landscape metrics. The results showed that Shanghai’s green space decreased from 84.8% in 1990 to 61.9% in 2015 while the built-up areas increased from 15.0% to 36.5%. Among the green space sub-types, farmland was largely encroached and fragmented by urban sprawl, especially in the Outer Ring Expressway and Suburban Ring Expressway belts of the city. About 1522 km² of the green space has transferred into built-up areas, followed by farmland, waterbody, forest, and grassland in descending order. The 2000–2010 period witnessed the strong urban expansion and dramatic changes in UGS, but then the change around 2015 turned down and stable. The landscape pattern metrics showed that the entire green space in Shanghai was growingly fragmented and isolated during the past 25 years. Combined with the green space-related planning and policies issued in 1990–2015, the results revealed that both rapid urbanization and greening policies accounted for the spatiotemporal dynamics of UGS. Based on the results, some implicants to new urban planning and policies of Shanghai were highlighted.
... This research is expected to strengthen the existing body of knowledge on the urban sprawl and urbanization in the capital city of Islamabad during this period. The urbanization of Islamabad has created high urban poverty, slum and informal dwellings, improper basic facilities, lack of clean water and sanitation, poor public transport, stagnation in economic activities, inadequate housing, environmental degradation, poor governance and difficulties in provision of services to leapfrog development in the cities (Minallh et al., 2016;Alam, 2010;Kim & Pauleit, 2007). ...
Urbanization in Pakistan is increasing at 3% annually, the highest in South Asia. 50% of the population is expected to urbanize by 2025. The capital city of Pakistan, Islamabad has experienced phenomenal increase in the urban population and extent in the last four decades. The aim of this research was to analyze the urban sprawl of Islamabad and changes in the Land Use and Land Cover (LULC), with the help of satellite images. LULC statics were extracted from Landsat Multi-Spectral Scanner (MSS), Thematic Mapper (TM), Enhanced Thematic Mapper Plus (ETM+) and Operational Land Imager (OLI) images, for the years 1979, 1989, 1999, 2008 and 2019. There is an increase of 377 sq. km in built-up areas and slight increase of 47 sq km in the agriculture land. The forest cover has been reduced by 83 sq km and the water bodies have also reduced. The barren land has experienced an unprecedented decrease of 333 sq km in the meanwhile. The master plan is under revision to regularize such uncontrolled constructions and accommodate the increased demand. The city, as a result, has been facing issues of water supply, sanitation, transportation etc. This has seriously jeopardized the master plan of the city.
... We hypothesized that in urban green space the number of spontaneous species is positively related to species dispersal probability between neighboring patches, thus with higher landscape shape index and perimeter-area ratio values. Indeed, the bivariate analysis and non-linear regression analysis both found a positive correlation between landscape shape index and spontaneous species richness, as has been found in many other locations including Beijing (Peng et al., 2019), Chongqing and Kwangju (Kim and Pauleit, 2007). ...
Urban green space provides refuges for species that are unintentionally introduced by humans and which do not belong to the remnants of natural habitats in urban areas. However, the quantitative relationships between urban green space properties and these spontaneous species are unclear. To address this, we surveyed plant species occurring in urban green patches in Kunming city, which is located in a biodiversity hotspot in southwest China. We classified spontaneous plants into native, non-native and invasive plant species. A total of 386 spontaneous species belonging to 278 genera and 92 families were recorded in 190 patches. Most of the recorded species were herbaceous plants (76.2%). While invasive species constituted a relatively small proportion of the total species pool (17.9%), six out of ten of the most frequently occurring species were invasive. Regression models inspired by the theory of Island Biogeography show that total, native, non-native and invasive spontaneous species richness in urban green patches were best explained by the size of the ‘island’ (patch area), dispersal limitations (as expressed by ‘distance to city boundary’) and edge effects (as shown by the landscape shape index). While the set of drivers of spontaneous plants is similar for the different groups of species, the relative importance of each driver varies among them. Our study provides quantification of drivers of biodiversity patterns in urban green space. Based on this understanding, planning and management of urban green space can be adapted to maximize spontaneous plant conservation in rapidly urbanizing biodiversity hotspot regions.
... Landscape Character Analysis (LCA) is performed to define the character of the areas representing the relationship between human and place, to determine the main factors of character change and to evaluate biodiversity values in natural resources (Kim and Pauleit 2007). LCA is considered as a biophysical approach based on natural sciences (Bastian, 2008;Sarlöv Herlin, 2016) and is adopted by physical geographers and landscape ecologists (Bastian, 2008). ...
The European Landscape Convention (ELC) has directed the landscape classification towards landscape character analysis. Landscape character analysis provides a character-based classification that can combine different values or variables and be applied at different scales to define the landscapes of each country and define the forces on the landscape. In this study, the Kapısuyu Basin of Küre Mountains National Park, which is one of the hot spots in the world in terms of different landscape character and natural quality, was classified by landscape character analysis. In this study, Kapısuyu basin was analyzed on an analytical ground according to the landscape variables and the basin landscape types, and the landscape character area map were obtained based on the dominant features of the area and the cultural landscape pattern. Throughout the basin, 345 landscape character types and 21 landscape character area were identified. Despite having similar values, the surface area of the protected area in the national park and the rural area had significant differences in landscape character ratios and patchiness ratio. Patchiness was seen to be higher in rural areas. When looked at Shannon Diversity 3 Index (SDI) values, it is seen that a high diversity of Landscape Character Types (LCT) exist in the rural areas. Within the scope of this study, the fact that the landscape character analysis performed at the basin scale in the protected area can be evaluated together with different variables and interpreted from the perspective of holistic landscape planning shows that the technique is a positive approach in the evaluation of protected areas.
... Urban growth is occurring right now at an unprecedented rate globally as a shared outcome of natural growth of population and large scale rural to urban migration (Sun et al. 2013). This process leads to extension of impervious areas and alters the urban landscape with vast loss of green space effective upon bio-psychosocial status of urban habitats, biodiversity and the structure of the urban ecosystem (Kim and Pauleit 2007). ...
Urban green spaces play a crucial role in maintaining the sustainability of a city with the
promotion of essential ecological functions to supplement the natural and social environment of the urban area. Preservation of a substantial proportion of the city’s space under green cover has now become a qualification for city planning and design. But the
urban green spaces are vanishing out at an alarming rate caused by rapid and unplanned urbanization— especially in India. It has posed serious threats to the ecological equilibrium of the metros. The present study strives to explicate the spatiotemporal dynamisms of green areas in industrially reliant Asansol city as a corollary of its lopsided expansion during the past years. Though more than half of the study area (55.66%) is covers with vegetation, with notable per capita green space of 44.76 m2/city dwellers, but only 0.12% area in the core region of Asansol city is occupied by green cover with a negligible amount of per capita green space of 0.27 m2/city dweller, which is much lower than the international standard. Hence sharp discrimination in the distribution of green space has been observed between the city core and the peripheral region. Land use/land cover (LULC) map (2000 and 2018) and normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) of the same years have been prepared to attest the land transformations in spatiotemporal
context. The alterations consequent upon the surface temperature has also been appraised through land surface temperature (LST) maps of 2000 and 2018. A drastic change in LULC mosaic with vast destruction of green spaces (from 66.25 km2 in 2000 to 20.41 km2 in 2018) and increasing built-up and commercial spaces has been experienced over the last 18 years (2000–2018). Hence, nearly 14% of vegetated land has vanished during the observation period. Besides, a sharp increment in LST (both the maximum and
minimum) has also been found during the stipulated period. The negative relationship between NDVI and LST reveals that the disappearing green spaces act as one of the active factors of increasing temperature during the study period, which has intimidated the sustainability of the natural as well as the social sphere of the city.
... Peyzaj karakter analizi, belirlenen bir alan ve ölçek dâhilinde doğal ve kültürel peyzaj bileşenlerinin analizi ve bunun sonucunda peyzaj karakter tipleri ve bunların alandaki dağılımlarının ortaya konulmasıdır (Kim and Pauleit 2007). Tudor (2014)'e göre peyzaj karakter analizi beş temel prensibe dayanmaktadır; ...
Nüfus artışı, plansız kentleşme ve sanayi kaynaklı etkiler özellikle içerisinde bulunduğumuz yüzyılda, etkisini artan oranlarda hissettirmekte ve çevre üzerindeki baskısını arttırmaktadır. Bu baskılar peyzajların bozulmasına ve sulak alanlar gibi hassas ekosistemlere sahip alanlarda geri dönüşü mümkün olmayan kayıpların yaşanmasına neden olmaktadır. Bu kayıplar çevresel kaygıların ön plana çıkmasını ve bu doğrultuda uluslararası bir takım adımlar atılması gerekliliğini beraberinde getirmiştir. Peyzajların tanımlanması, korunması, yönetilmesi ve planlaması konularında uluslararası bir dil birliği geliştirilmesi amacıyla imzaya açılan Avrupa Peyzaj Sözleşmesi bu konuda atılan en önemli adımlardan biridir. APS gereğince; taraf ülkelerin tümü, peyzajlarını tanımlama, peyzaj karakter tiplerini belirleme, peyzajın değişim ve dönüşümünü izlemeyi taahhüt etmişlerdir. Bu çalışmada ülkemizin de taraf olduğu APS’den hareketle aynı zamanda uluslararası öneme sahip bir sulak alan olan Uluabat Gölü ve çevresinde planlama, yönetim, koruma ve sürdürülebilir alan kullanımına yönelik karar alma aşamalarında önemli bir yeri olan peyzaj karakter değerlendirme yöntemi kullanılmıştır. Çalışmada peyzaj karakter değerlendirme yönteminin bir aşaması olan peyzaj karakter analizindeki, peyzaj karakter tip ve alanlarının belirlenmesi aşamasına odaklanılmıştır. Çalışma alanının belirlenmesinde Ramsar tampon bölge sınırları dikkate alınmıştır. CBS tekniklerinden yararlanılan ve arazi çalışmalarıyla desteklenen çalışma sonucunda 229 adet peyzaj karakter tipi ve 7 adet peyzaj karakter alanı belirlenmiştir. Belirlenen her bir peyzaj karakter alanına ilişkin baskı unsurları ortaya konularak, sürdürülebilir alan kullanımına ilişkin öneriler geliştirilmiştir.
Urbanization impacts and homogenization pressures are threatening rural landscapes worldwide, leading to the loss of their regionality and uniqueness. Landscape Character Assessment (LCA) measures and identifies the uniqueness and distinctiveness of landscapes, making the unique value of rural resources easier to understand, protect, and perpetuate. Originating in the UK in the 1970s, LCA has become the mainstream approach for identifying landscape characteristics and is now a tool for managing landscape changes globally. Landscape Personality Assessment (LPA) offers another perspective for effectively measuring and analyzing landscape characteristics but has not been widely applied since its proposal. To distinguish between these two perspectives on landscape uniqueness identification, this paper conducted a literature review and comparison study, summarizing and comparing the characteristics of LCA and LPA in terms of evaluation scale, dimensions, indicators, and supported types of practices, further clarifying their respective strengths and weaknesses. To complement each other's perspectives on landscape characteristic identification, a framework nesting LCA and LPA was proposed to address the issue of the loss of rural landscape regionality in territorial spatial planning. This framework aims to couple evaluations of multi-level spatial characteristics and combine the identification of multi-temporal landscape characteristics. The goal is to enrich the theoretical and methodological system of rural landscape characteristic evaluation and provide more tools for the planning and conservation of the regionality of rural landscapes globally.
Rapid urban developmental growth is a heated debate worldwide due to environmental challenges. This research has examined the spatiotemporal trend of informal built-up growth in Karachi city. Using a geo-information system, the past twenty years (2000–2020) trends of informal built-up growth are examined. For attaining the research objectives, geo-referenced high-resolution maps and satellite images are used for accuracy based spatial data. Karachi is divided into five different land use and land cover (LULC): formal built-up, informal built-up, vacant, water bodies, and green spaces. Spatial data of informal built-up growth change of five different years, 2000, 2005, 2010, 2015, and 2020 are generated through acquired maps digitization using ArcMap. Subsequently, the gains and transfers of Karachi’s informal built-up growth based on five years 2000–2005, 2005–2010, 2010–2015, and 2015–2020 are analyzed using the Land Change Modeler (LCM) in IDRISI software. Also, land use land cover changes (LULCC) are predicted for the next 40 years (2020–2060) using the integrated Cellular Automata Markov (CAMarkov) simulation model in IDRISI. The results revealed that Karachi’s built-up is expanding rapidly. Land conversion into the informal built-up area is alarming, as it has changed from 144.31 sq.km to 217.19 sq.km with 72.88 sq.km in the past twenty years (2000–2020) and has occupied green and agricultural land. Most informal built-up areas have transitioned from vacant (71.01 sq.km) land use land cover (LULC). The informal built-up area could expand from 217.19 sq.km to 317.63 sq.km, with about 100.44 sq.km up to 2060. The planned and unplanned development will be towards the city’s East (E) direction and will convert and ruin agriculture and vacant land. The present study provides suggestions to urban planners, administrative authorities, and policymakers to control informal growth and achieve sustainable development goals in developing countries.
Many research studies focus on regenerating localities or the local identity of cities and urban areas. Most of these studies do not address city life experiences that matter in the process and product of urban regeneration. Often, developers and policymakers foresee what the product could be and neglect the fact that the process is more important to ensure locality is at least maintained, if not enhanced. In this chapter, we stress the importance of locality, local identity, and local characteristics of urban areas in urban regeneration. While we could not be part of the regeneration process of Shangri-La’s old town, we did surveys of the city’s transformative changes that clearly highlight various local characteristics of the city. Shangri-La is a unique case in China, as the city itself is just renamed for tourism purposes. Therefore, this case study selection is strategic as it highlights a major research gap in the context of Shangri-La and the larger Yunnan Province area. The findings from the chapter focus on the local characteristics of the city and how they matter in regenerating the city’s old town.KeywordUrban regenerationLocal characteristicsCity life experiencesIdentityOld townTransformativeShangri-La
Bu çalışmada peyzajın farklı ayırt edici özelliklerinin ortaya çıkartılması amacıyla Eğirdir Havzası Peyzaj Karakteri ortaya çıkarılmıştır. Bu amaçla çalışma alanı kapsamında peyzajın yapısal özellikleri peyzaj karakter tipleri ile peyzajın fonksiyon özellikleri ise ekolojik süreç (erozyon ve su süreçleri) analizleriyle gerçekleştirilmiştir. Sonuç olarak, Eğirdir İlçesi Çevre Düzeni Planı, çalışma alanı peyzaj karakteri ile karşılaştırarak değerlendirilmiştir. Bu Plan peyzaj karakter analizi bilgisi olmaksızın yürütülmüştür. Peyzaj karakter analizi ve değerlendirmesi ile üretilen bilgi çevre düzeni planlarının hazırlanması sürecinde referans alınması gerekli bir temeldir.
Urban green spaces are essential elements of cities that play an important role in urban sustainability and human health. This study analyzed the users' preferences and perceptions towards urban green spaces. A total of five parks were purposively selected from Debre Berhan and Debre Markos cities. A questionnaire survey was administered to 350 park users in both cities. Data were analyzed with descriptive statistics, and the independence of variables was tested using a chi-square test using IBM SPSS 20. The chi2 test shows that visits' purpose depended on the users' age, gender, and education level (P < 0.05). 26.1% and 13.8% of the users visit the parks "always" to chill with friends and to enjoy nature, respectively. The existence of fences, safety and security, and spaciousness of the park were the major encouraging factors, with the average Likert value of 3.04, 3.01, and 2.72, respectively. Alcoholic drinks and chewing Khat (stimulant green leafy plant) within the parks, lack of comfortable sitting areas, absence of safety and security, and improper park management were the main discouraging factors. There was a very strong statistical association between perceptions of users to the benefits of green spaces and occupation (χ2 (95, N = 350) = 158.908, p < 0.001), age (χ2 (76, N = 350) = 175.135, p < 0.001), gender (χ2 (19, N = 350) = 68.226, p < 0.001), and education level (χ2 (114, N = 350) = 240.798, p < 0.001). The "highly" perceived benefits of green spaces were recreational, aesthetic, and pollution protection. 50% of the respondents "never" participated in any green space development activities. Therefore, rapidly urbanized cities in Africa and Asia could take a lesson from this study about the importance of incorporating citizens' preferences for green spaces and public participation in urban green space development and management.
Nowadays, LC/LU and climate change are causing changes in landscapes, resulting in loss and fragmentation of ecosystems. Therefore, it is necessary to define landscapes and determine their interactions with natural and anthropogenic processes over time. In this context, defining and characterizing landscapes, examining the ongoing processes on the landscape, determining the effects of LC/LU and climate change affecting these processes, determining landscape sensitivities within the scope of landscape processes and creation of landscape protection and development strategies has been determined as the aim of the study. Within the scope of the determined purpose, the method of the study was examined in three stages. In the first stage; the boundaries of the study area were determined and a landscape database was created by preparing the natural and cultural landscape inventory. The second stage, landscape character analysis, landscape function analysis and landscape sensitivity analysis were conducted. Landscape character analysis helped to identify landscape character types and areas. Landscape function analysis evaluated the water, erosion, habitat, biodiversity function and historical/cultural status of the basin. Soil and Water Assessment (SWAT) model was used to evaluate the water (surface runoff, infiltration, evapotranspiration) and erosion functions of the study area. In determining habitat function, spot analysis was used to show changes in habitat and landscape metrics were evaluated. In predicting future LC/LU change, the CA-Markov Chain method was used to estimate future LC/LU maps (2050, 2070) by evaluating the transition probabilities of past (2000, 2010) and current (2020) land cover classes. RCP8.5 scenario outputs of the HADGEM2-ES model, one of the global climate models, were evaluated to determine the impact of climate change on basin processes. Future water and erosion functions were predicted by evaluating the data obtained within the scope of future LC/LU and climate change with the SWAT model. Landscape sensitivity analysis, assessment of present and future function processes and landscape sensitivity status for 2020, 2050 and 2070 were determined at the level of micro-basins. In the third stage, landscape guidelines for agriculture, forestry and settlement sectors were developed by considering landscape sensitivities. As a result, it has been revealed that landscape character analysis and landscape management based studies at the basin scale are an effective tool for assessing the landscape sensitivity of each micro-basin and developing landscape protection, restoration and management strategies and sectoral guidelines for agriculture, forestry and settlement.
Food webs studies are intrinsically complex and time-consuming. Network data about trophic interaction across different large locations and ecosystems are scarce in comparison with general ecological data, especially if we consider terrestrial habitats. Here we present a complex network strategy to ease the gathering of the information by simplifying the collection of data with a taxonomic key. We test how well the topology of three different food webs retain their structure at the resolution of the nodes across distinct levels of simplification, and we estimate how community detection could be impacted by this strategy. The first level of simplification retains most of the general topological indices; betweenness and trophic levels seem to be consistent and robust even at the higher levels of simplification. This result suggests that generalisation and standardisation, as a good practice in food webs science, could benefit the community, both increasing the amount of open data available and the comparison among them, thus providing support especially for scientists that are new in this field and for exploratory analysis.
The purpose of this study is to determine the overall structure and relative comprehensive understanding of the development status of landscape character research visually. A knowledge mapping analysis of 308 academic papers in Web of Science published between 1967 and 2021 related to landscape character using CiteSpace from multiple perspectives including collaboration network, co-citation, and co-occurrence was conducted in this study. The results suggest that the quantity of publications about landscape character has increased rapidly and its staged characteristics have been exposed. The distribution of disciplines, countries, and research organizations, as well as the productive authors involved in landscape character research were identified. The research revealed the high-frequency themes sorted out in current literature including classification, biodiversity, perception, GIS, management, conservation, etc. Finally, the study visualized emerging research frontiers and deeply depicted six of them which consist of the cultural landscape, nonexpert-based landscape aesthetics evaluation, understanding public interest, landscape metrics, practical application, and using public participation GIS. This study provided a comprehensive prospect for the further study of landscape character and filled the gap in this field. It demonstrated that through the approach of CiteSpace can draw a sketch structure and potential relationship of landscape character researches. All these provide readers especially potential researchers with an overall and in-depth understanding of landscape character, indicating the research development and characteristics in this field. © 2022, The Author(s) under exclusive licence to Iranian Society of Environmentalists (IRSEN) and Science and Research Branch, Islamic Azad University.
Loss of green space habitats and landscape fragmentation are important reasons for the decline in environmental quality, degradation of ecosystem functions, and decline in biodiversity. Quantifying the spatio-temporal characteristics of landscape fragmentation of green space and its relationship with urban expansion mode is an important basis for improving urban development mode and enhancing urban ecological functions. For this paper, we took the Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei (BTH) urban agglomeration as the research object, a typical rapidly urbanizing area. Through multi-scale landscape pattern analysis and statistical analysis, the spatial–temporal evolution characteristics of green space fragmentation in the BTH urban agglomeration from 2000 to 2020 and the influence of urban expansion were analyzed, and the land-use situation in 2030 was predicted by the Future Land Use Simulation (FLUS) model. The main conclusions are as follows: The BTH urban agglomeration has developed rapidly in the last 20 years, showing the characteristics of diffusion and corridor development. The intensity and pattern of urban expansion have significantly affected the pattern of green space, leading to the intensification of domestic green space fragmentation. Among them, urban expansion exerts most severe effects on the fragmentation of farmland, followed by grassland and water. The influence of urban expansion on the scale and fragmentation of forestland is limited. The forecast results in 2030 show that built-up areas may continue to occupy green space. The rate of occupation of farmland will slow down while that of grassland will intensify.
Rapid urbanization development and construction has seriously threatened the connectivity of habitat patches in cities and hindered the construction of ecological networks in highly urbanized areas. Among them, China is affected by early compressed urbanization, and the broken ecological space in cities and towns has attracted the extensive interest of researchers. To avoid the subjective randomness and single analysis of ecological space in urbanization areas, this paper takes the central urban area of Wuhan as the main research area. It comprehensively evaluates the ecological network space by combining the MSPA-MCR model. The main conclusions are as follows: (1) Identifying the ecological landscape types with important ecological significance in the study area: Core (88.29%), Islet (0.25%), Perf (0.63%), Edge (9.74%), Loop (0.22%), and Bridge (0.14%). Through the dPC landscape index, seven important ecological sources south of the middle reaches of the Yangtze River were identified. (2) According to the comprehensive factors of natural and human factors constructed by the MCR model, the minimum cumulative ecological resistance surface was established, with an average value of 2.65, a maximum value of 4.70, and a minimum value of 1.00, showing a trend that the ecological resistance values in the central and eastern parts are lower than those in the western part. (3) According to the standard deviation ellipse, the distribution direction of NE–SW in ecological sources was analyzed. The ecological sources distributed in the north were less, and the spatial distribution was scattered on the whole. The strong global positive correlation and local spatial aggregation characteristics of ecological resistance surface were evaluated according to spatial autocorrelation. Based on the gravity model, the interaction intensity of ecological corridors between source areas was evaluated, and the importance of ecological corridor protection and restoration was quantitatively analyzed. The research results provide scientific and reasonable references and a basis for ecological planning of Wuhan central city.
The article attempts to define and determine the intangible components of cultural heritage related to the spatial structure of land in a comprehensive way using computational methods. The components were quantified and a method of empirical evaluation of landscape durability was proposed for agricultural areas of significant cultural and historical value with an evident mosaic structure of fields, baulks, ponds, meadows, and forests. This method allows us to identify places more resistant to political transformation and those with greater cultural potential. The paper proposed an integrated approach to the measuring of the degree of preservation of spatial arrangements in the landscape based on a set of objects that describe the spatial land structure. The article classifies areas by the degree of preservation of rural spatial arrangements of land. The spatial analysis employed facilitated a synthetic quantification of the multi-criteria process. Three groups of factors were used: spatial assessment of land-cover type persistence (u), agricultural land structure persistence (w), and persistence of settlement buildings (z). The final results pinpointed areas in need of strategic intervention to sufficiently protect the rural cultural heritage, properly consider them in zoning planning, and ensure their sustainable development. The proposed tool can be used to monitor the degree of changes in the landscape layout structure when multiple time points are analysed as well.
Aiming at the disadvantages of low recognition accuracy and high error rate when the current method recognizes features with high differences in urban street landscapes, the City Feature Recognition algorithm based on gray value and color feature preprocessing and convolutional neural network is proposed, and Object Recognition algorithm based on improved YOLO2 fully convolutional neural network. The urban street landscape high-disparity feature recognition solution uses two different algorithms after preprocessing the gray-scale image and the color image of the urban street landscape, respectively, in the data set of 1200 private photos and 5000 selected Mapillary Vistas. Experiments are conducted in the data set. In order to eliminate the influence of countries on the street landscape characteristics of cold cities, we selected pictures of cities adjacent to the same country in Experiment 1. In Experiment 2, pictures of non-cold cities were eliminated to reduce interference and make it more effective. Reflect the robustness of the method in this article. The experimental results show that in City Feature Recognition, our scheme can achieve an accuracy of 59%, which is a relatively high accuracy in experiments that only rely on pictures for prediction. In addition, in Object Recognition, the improved YOLO2 algorithm has a greater lead than the traditional RCNN algorithm in 8 categories of objects, and has achieved an accuracy of about 75% in categories with obvious characteristics.
A legtöbb nagyváros küzd a túlzsúfoltságból adódó környezeti, gazdasági és társadalmi gondokkal, különösen igaz ez a világ legsűrűbben lakott városára, Szöulra. A városok fenntarthatósága globális erőforrás-gazdálkodási kérdés, megoldása a városok irányításának a szintjén is globális felelősség, koncepciója a fenntartható fejlődésből az ökológiai gondolkodások keresztül fejlődött, és máig mindenütt meghatározza a városirányítást. A városok ökológiai és energiagazdálkodási gondjai azonban csak részlegesen oldhatók meg szabályozókkal és infrastrukturális beruházásokkal, legalább ennyire fontos az emberek értékrendjének megváltoztatása, a környezettudatos magatartás kifejlődésének elősegítése. E cél megvalósítása érdekében Szöul vezetése hatékony információtechnológiai eszközök bevezetésére vállalkozott. Ebben a tanulmányban a fenntarthatóság központi koncepcióján keresztül közelítjük meg a fenti problematikát, és alternatív válaszokat mutatunk be, melyek alkalmasak a környezeti problémák társadalmi szintű megoldására, különös tekintettel a IT-eszköztárra.
The study concerns a methodology of assessment that aims to detect the prior objectives relative to nature conservation in an extended area.of Tuscany in Italy. In particular, we designed a model to assess ecological value (EV) and ecological sensitivity (ES) that together define the hotspots of ecological attention (HEA) areas; we design a model to assess anthropic pressure (disturbance) (AP), which together with ecological sensitivity define the hotspots of ecological fragility (vulnerability) (HEF) areas. The results of the work confirm the robust-ness of the method and its application in the scope of extended area planning and environmental assessment.
Since 2018, the integrated regional development of the Yangtze River Delta has been subjected as a national strategy to intensify the interconnection between its cities. However, the questions of open space conservation and planning have so far remained essentially quantitative and strongly informed by regulatory and top-down principles. Focusing on the vast green heart between Shanghai, Suzhou, and Hangzhou, this design-driven research project hypothesizes that Taipu Canal can be upgraded from its current technical role into a civic spine that frames new developments and articulates the rich diversity of open spaces, ecosystems, historic water
towns and villages. The research adopts a crossscale method of “contextual prototypes” that combines sampling, typological classification, and prototypical design explorations in pilot projects. A
reflective phase zooms out to critically assess how these prototypical strategies can be systemized as structuring principles at the regional scale. The conclusion of the article discusses how this prototypical approach offers an opportunity to inductively complement the top-down Chinese territorial planning system, which needs to cope with increasingly complex conditions and vaster scales.
Landscape ecology has generated much excitement in the past two decades. One reason was that it brought spatial analysis and modeling to the forefront of ecological research. However, high expectations for landscape analysis to improve our understanding and prediction of ecological processes have largely been unfulfilled. We identified three kinds of critical issues: conceptual flaws in landscape pattern analysis, inherent limitations of landscape indices, and improper use of pattern indices. For example, many landscape analyses treat quantitative description of spatial pattern as an end itself and fail to explore relationships between pattern and process. Landscape indices and map data are sometimes used without testing their ecological relevance, which may not only confound interpretation of results, but also lead to meaningless results. In addition, correlation analysis with indices is impeded by the lack of data because of difficulties in large-scale experimentation and by complicated behavior of indices because of their varying responses to changes in scale and spatial pattern. These problems represent significant challenges to landscape pattern analysis, especially in terms of relating pattern to process. In this perspective paper, we examine the underlying problems of these challenges and offer some solutions.
The application of landscape patch shape complexity as a predictor ofvascularplant and bryophyte species richness is analysed. Several common complexityindices (shape index, fractal dimension, comparison to the area of the minimumbounding rectangle) are tested for their predictive power for plant speciesrichness. One new robust measure for shape complexity is presented whichovercomes some disadvantages of common complexity measures applied to highresolution analysis of agricultural landscapes based on aerial photographs. Thenew index is based on the number of shape characterising points along apolygons boundary. This new measure shows promising predictive capabilitiesforspecies richness of vascular plants and bryophytes (correlation coefficient:0.85 for vascular plants, 0.74 for bryophytes).
Landscape pattern is spatially correlated and scale-dependent. Thus, understanding landscape structure and functioning requires
multiscale information, and scaling functions are the most precise and concise way of quantifying multiscale characteristics
explicitly. The major objective of this study was to explore if there are any scaling relations for landscape pattern when
it is measured over a range of scales (grain size and extent). The results showed that the responses of landscape metrics
to changing scale fell into two categories when computed at the class level (i.e., for individual land cover types): simple
scaling functions and unpredictable behavior. Similarly, three categories were found at the landscape level, with the third
being staircase pattern, in a previous study when all land cover types were combined together. In general, scaling relations
were more variable at the class level than at the landscape level, and more consistent and predictable with changing grain
size than with changing extent at both levels. Considering that the landscapes under study were quite diverse in terms of
both composition and configuration, these results seem robust. This study highlights the need for multiscale analysis in order
to adequately characterize and monitor landscape heterogeneity, and provides insights into the scaling of landscape patterns.
Landscape ecology deals with assemblages of ecosystems occurring in a geographically defined region (a landscape), just as ecosystem ecology deals with assemblages of plant and animal species and nonliving environmental agents occurring at a given site.
The objective of biological conservation is the long-term maintenance of populations or species or, more broadly, of the Earth’s biodiversity. Many of the threats that elicit conservation concern result in one way or another from human land use. Population sizes may become precariously small when suitable habitat is lost or becomes spatially fragmented, increasing the likelihood of extinction. Changes in land cover may affect interactions between predator and prey or parasite and host populations. The spread of invasive or exotic species, disease, or disturbances such as fire may be enhanced by shifts in the distribution of natural, agricultural, or urbanized areas. The infusion of pollutants into aquatic ecosystems from terrestrial sources such as agriculture may be enhanced or reduced by the characteristics of the landscape between source and end point. Virtually all conservation issues are ultimately land-use issues.
Calculation of landscape metrics from land-cover data is becoming increasingly common. Some studies have shown that these measurements are sensitive to differences in land-cover composition, but none are known to have tested also their sensitivity to land-cover misclassification. An error simulation model was written to test the sensitivity of selected landscape pattern metrics to misclassification, and regression analysis was used to determine if these metrics were significantly related to differences in land-cover composition. Comparison of sensitivity and regression results suggests that differences in land-cover composition need to be about 5 percent greater than the misclassification rate to be confident that differences in landscape metrics are not due to misclassification.
Analyzed the avifaunal composition of a set of small islands of deciduous forest in the Maryland Piedmont. Isolation as well as size are important determinants of bird community composition. Two principal features of life history, neotropical migration and habitat preference, were powerful determinants of the ability of bird species to tolerate forest fragmentation. The multiplicity of factors generated by habitat fragmentation precludes any combination of small forest fragments acting as avifaunal preserves of eastern deciduous forest. Such reserves must be large. -from Authors
Comments on an article by Jerry Dincin (see record 2014-04063-001). Jerry Dincin wrote a brief and thoughtful review of a variety of issues that are important to psychosocial rehabilitation. Hawley expands upon Dincin's attack on strict ideologues in the field. Dincin mentioned, for example, the matter of housing programs. A growing number of people are advocating, in highly rhetorical terms, that one particular approach for providing housing services is the be-all and end-all for everyone with mental illness. Hawley has never found any approach to be the be-all and end-all for anything. Again, Dincin talked about the value of supportive psychotherapeutic services to people with mental illness. Psychotherapy is frequently not provided through effective modalities, and is substituted for the broader range of community support and rehabilitation services that were often a higher priority need. This could be exemplified by Dincin's put-down of "member empowerment", which he defined in a narrow sense that most people would not accept. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2014 APA, all rights reserved)
Interest in the influence of landscape features on animal movement has been widespread; however, few field studies of the emigration of small mammals from patches of habitat directly consider the effects of the small-scale landscape features. The simulation models of Stamps et al. (1987a, b) and Buechner (1987a, b) suggest that the size of a dispersal sink relative to the size of the source patch, the average distance traveled by dispersers in the sink, the ease with which dispersers cross the edge between the sink and a source patch, and source patch perimeter:area ratio may all be important influences on emigration rates. A review of field studies of small mammal dispersal into sinks suggests that in a substantial fraction of such studies the values of these factors fall within the ranges that the simulation models indicate have the greatest potential effect on emigration rates. New field studies of dispersal sinks that include a consideration of these factors are necessary in order to evaluate the magnitude of the impact of these factors on natural populations.
Landscape ecology is largely founded on the notion that environmental patterns strongly influence ecological processes. The habitats in which organisms live, for example, are spatially structured at a number of scales, and these patterns interact with organism perception and behavior to drive the higher-level processes of population dynamics and community structure. A disruption in landscape patterns may therefore compromise this structure's functional integrity by interfering with critical ecological processes necessary for population persistence and the maintenance of biodiversity and ecosystem health. For these and other reasons, much emphasis has been placed on developing methods to quantify landscape patterns, which is considered a prerequisite to the study of pattern–process relationships. This has resulted in the development of literally hundreds of indices of landscape patterns.
Geographical information systems (GIS) are well suited to the spatial analysis of landscape data, but generally lack programs for calculating traditional measures of landscape structure (e.g., fractal dimension). Standalone programs for calculating landscape structure measures do exist, but these programs do not enable the user to take advantage of GIS facilities for manipulating and analyzing landscape data. Moreover, these programs lack capabilities for analysis with sampling areas of different size (multiscale analysis) and also lack some needed measures of landscape structure (e.g., texture).
We have developed the r.le programs for analyzing landscape structure using the GRASS GIS. The programs can be used to calculate over sixty measures of landscape structure (e.g., distance, size, shape, fractal dimension, perimeters, diversity, texture, juxtaposition, edges) within sampling areas of several sizes simultaneously. Also possible are moving window analyses, which enable the production of new maps of the landscape structure within windows of a particular size. These new maps can then be used in other analyses with the GIS.
The aim of this study was to assess the impact of isolation on forest bird communities in agricultural landscapes in The Netherlands. We studied the avifauna of 235 small (0.1–39 ha) woodlots composed of mature deciduous trees in 1984–1985. These woodlots were selected in the eastern and central/southern part of the country within 22 regions showing great differences in landscape structure,i.e., degree of isolation. Multiple regression analysis indicated that woodlot size was the best single predictor of species number and probability of occurrence of most species. It turned out that the isolation variables, area of wood, number of woods, interpatch distance, and proximity and density of connecting elements, explained small but significant parts of the residual variances in species number. No single species was significantly affected by the density of connecting elements. Biogeographical differences between two groups of regions were emphasized. Evidence of four woodland species suggested that regional abundance affected the probability of occurrence in small isolates.