Artificial Landscapes Research Articles

The Application of Mycorrhizal Fungi and Organic Fertilisers in Horticultural Potting Soils to Improve Water Use Efficiency of Crops

In recent years, the addition of microorganisms such as Plant Growth-Promoting Bacteria (PGPB) and mycorrhiza are becoming more popular, both in research as well as in practical use. While inoculants are usually not necessary for plants cultivated outdoors on biologically active soil, they can be useful on sterile substrates, newly created artificial landscapes, and also in soils that have been managed using non-selective sterilization methods, such as fumigation. In a multi-year lysimeter experiment, we investigated the influence of a commercial mycorrhizal inoculum on water use efficiency and biomass production of maize (Zea mays), sunflower (Helianthus annuus), sweet clover (Melilotus officinalis), sweet sorghum (Sorghum bicolor), cup-plant (Silphium perfoliatum) and tall wheatgrass (Elymus elongatus subsp. ponticus cv. Szarvasi-1) when exposed to high or low ground-water levels. Results showed that all plants benefited from the mycorrhizal association. Mycorrhizal-inoculated plants were more successful in terms of dry matter production and water use than the non-mycorrhizal plants. The source of the mycorrhiza—autochthonous or introduced—made no significant difference. The results indicate that inoculation with mycorrhiza and promotion of the naturally abundant mycorrhiza in agricultural production systems can significantly contribute to a sustainable production of crops. Effects depended on plant species, cultivar, soil type, ground-water level and the mycotrophy of the individual crop species.

Study on Urban Artificial Landscape Feature Grading Based on Aesthetic Structure Theory

Under the background of rapid urbanization, artificial urban landscape represents the features of the times. Based on the aesthetic structure theory of landscape features, the bases of artificial landscape grading are proposed in this paper, and the aesthetic features of different types of artificial landscape are analyzed. It is pointed out that the grading of artificial urban landscape is to set up standards for building urban landscape features, and serve as an important indicator for measuring the distinctiveness of urban landscape features as well.

Spatial characteristics analysis of Huizhou-Styled Village based on ideal ecosystem model and 3D landscape indices: A case in Chengkan, China

Huizhou-Styled Village is a typical representative of the traditional Chinese ancient villages. It preserves plentiful information of the regional culture and ecological connotation. The Huizhou-Style is the apotheosis of harmony between the Chinese ancient people and nature. The research and protection of Huizhou-Styled Village plays a very important role in fields of ecology, geography, architecture and esthetics. This paper took Chengkan Village of Anhui Province as an exa-mple, and proposed a new model of ideal ecosystem oriented in theories of Feng-shui and psychological field. The new method of characterizing 3D landscape index was introduced to explore the spatial patterns of Huizhou-Styled Village and the functionality of the composited landscape components in a quantitative way. The results indicated that, Chengkan Village showed a spatially composited pattern of "mountain-forest-village-river-forest". It formed an ideal settlement ring structure with human architecture in the center and natural landscape around in the horizontal and vertical horizons. The traditional method based on the projection distance caused the deviation of the landscape index, such as underestimating the area and distance of landscape patch. The 3D landscape index of average patch area was 6.7% higher than the 2D landscape index. The increasing rate ofarea proportion in 3D index was 1.0% higher than that of 2D index in forest lands. Area proportion of the other landscapes decreased, especially the artificial landscapes like construction and cropland landscapes. The area and perimeter metric were underestimated, whereas the shape metric and the diversity metric were overestimated. This caused the underestimation of the dominance of natural patches was underestimated and the overestimation of the dominance of artificial patches during the analysis of landscape pattern. The 3D landscape index showed that the natural elements and their combination in Chengkan Village ecosystem reflected better ecological function, the key elements and the composited landscape ecosystem preserved higher stability, connectivity and aggregation. The quantitative confirmation showed that the Huizhou-Styled Village represented by Chengkan Village is an ideal ecosystem.

Assessing soil organic matter of reclaimed soil from a large surface coal mine using a field spectroradiometer in laboratory

Soil organic matter (SOM) for topsoil is one of most important indicators to support the success of mine ecological reclamation. SOM varies along the artificial mine landscape characterized by different bench-slopes of dump. Reflectance using field spectroscopy can provide useful information on the assessment of punctual soil variation, and has the advantages of speed and efficiency. The aims of this study were to 1) explore the characteristic spectrum of reclaimed soil of different landforms, 2) develop a key spectral-ratio index for evaluating SOM content, and 3) establish a SOM prediction model using the Partial Least Square Regression-Support Vector Machine (PLS-SVM) method. Based on comprehensive analysis of the relationship between SOM content and corresponding spectral reflectance in soils from different landforms, the results showed a new derived spectral index would be useful for estimating SOM. The ratio spectral index (R2294nm/R2286nm), calculated using available wavebands in the 350–2500nm region, was proposed for use in the reliable estimation of SOM from downslope and midslope. The PLS-SVM calibration model for the raw spectrum, showed a high predictive accuracy for estimating the SOM content, with cross-validated R2 of 0.95, and RMSE of 0.12. These outcomes provide a theoretical basis and technical support for estimations of SOM content using visible/near-infrared spectra in reclamation areas. It is proposed that the spectral difference index and model undergo further testing and optimization prior to wider application for observation of mine-reclamation ecosystems.

Urbanism and Anthropogenic Landscapes

Humans consistently modify their environments—both directly and indirectly. However, the linkage between human activity and anthropogenic landscapes intensifies in urban situations. The artificial landscapes and dense concentrations of human populations encountered in urban environments create a centripetal pull for resources that results in continual and distant landscape changes, thus inextricably linking urbanism and anthropogenic landscapes. Examining past and present patterns of urban settlement and environmental impact provides context for this symbiotic relationship. Archaeological data, methodology, and technology offer insight into the similarities and variations in urban anthropogenic landscapes across time and space, suggesting that ancient practices can be compared with contemporary ones and that ancient models may have applicability for future-focused urban planning.

Creating knowledge maps using Memory Island

Knowledge maps are useful tools, now beginning to be widely applied to the management and sharing of large-scale hierarchical knowledge. In this paper, we discuss how knowledge maps can be generated using Memory Island. Memory Island is our cartographic visualization technique, which was inspired by the ancient "Art of Memory". It consists of automatically creating the spatial cartographic representation of a given hierarchical knowledge (e.g., ontology). With the help of its interactive functions, users can navigate through an artificial landscape, to learn and retrieve information from the knowledge. We also present some preliminary results of representing different hierarchical knowledge to show how the knowledge maps created by our technique work.

De Landschapsarchitectuur van het Polder-boezemsysteem

De Landschapsarchitectuur van het Polder-boezemsysteem

An Ecocritical Reading of Melville's "Bartleby the Scrivener"

This research is an ecocritical reading of Melville's "Bartleby the Scrivener." Melville's treatment of the environment is described and analyzed with regard to Augé 's theory of non-Places. The examples of non-place in Melville's Wall Street story include the compartmentalized office, the urban labyrinth, artificial and natural greeneries and oriental landscapes. The motif of compartmentalization forms the binary of insider and outsider. A close attention to the binaries in this story reveal Melville's critical attitude towards urban culture that threatens the American identity and mocks the American predilection for mobility in open spaces. This story reveals the way social institutions of an urban culture can determine the tragic fate of an out of place individual. Melville, in this story, reveals the consequences of marginalizing nature and indicates his ecological concerns in mid-nineteenth century America. He mourns the fading out of biocentric view of nature and warns against the domination of the anthropocentric worldview which is brought about by modernity, enlightenment and capitalism.

Genetic mixture of multiple source populations accelerates invasive range expansion.

A wealth of population genetic studies have documented that many successful biological invasions stem from multiple introductions from genetically distinct source populations. Yet, mechanistic understanding of whether and how genetic mixture promotes invasiveness has lagged behind documentation that such mixture commonly occurs. We conducted a laboratory experiment to test the influence of genetic mixture on the velocity of invasive range expansion. The mechanistic basis for effects of genetic mixture could include evolutionary responses (mixed invasions may harbour greater genetic diversity and thus elevated evolutionary potential) and/or fitness advantages of between-population mating (heterosis). If driven by evolution, positive effects of source population mixture should increase through time, as selection sculpts genetic variation. If driven by heterosis, effects of mixture should peak following first reproductive contact and then dissipate. Using a laboratory model system (beetles spreading through artificial landscapes), we quantified the velocity of range expansion for invasions initiated with one, two, four or six genetic sources over six generations. Our experiment was designed to test predictions corresponding to the evolutionary and heterosis mechanisms, asking whether any effects of genetic mixture occurred in early or later generations of range expansion. We also quantified demography and dispersal for each experimental treatment, since any effects of mixture should be manifest in one or both of these traits. Over six generations, invasions with any amount of genetic mixture (two, four and six sources) spread farther than single-source invasions. Our data suggest that heterosis provided a 'catapult effect', leaving a lasting signature on range expansion even though the benefits of outcrossing were transient. Individual-level trait data indicated that genetic mixture had positive effects on local demography (reduced extinction risk and enhanced population growth) during the initial stages of invasion but no consistent effects on dispersal ability. Our work is the first to demonstrate that genetic mixture can alter the course of spatial expansion, the stage of invasion typically associated with the greatest ecological and economic impacts. We suggest that similar effects of genetic mixture may be a common feature of biological invasions in nature, but that these effects can easily go undetected.

Optimizing intermediate ecosystem services in agriculture using rules based on landscape composition and configuration indices

Important intermediate ecosystem services (ES) such as crop pollination and biological control of pests, which underpin the final ES agricultural yields, are mediated by mobile organisms that depend on availability of habitat and its arrangement in the landscape. It has been suggested that landscape-scale management (LSM) of habitat in a multi-farm setting results in higher provisioning of such ES compared to farm-scale management (FSM). However, to achieve the LSM solution, farmers' land-use decisions need to be coordinated. To this end, we develop rules based on novel landscape composition and configuration indices. We model farmers' interdependencies through ES in an agent-based model (ABM) and optimize land use at both the farm and landscape scales for comparison. Our analysis is based on a simple artificial landscape with homogeneous soil quality and uses crop pollination as an illustrative ecosystem service. We consider habitat configuration at the field scale. Our rules demonstrate that the coordinated solution is characterized by a higher degree of habitat availability and a configuration of habitat that is dispersed rather than agglomerated. We tested these rules over a range of assumptions about ecological parameter values and suggest that such rules could be used to improve governance of ES in agricultural landscapes.

Sequence Evolution Under Constraints: Lessons Learned from Sudoku.

The complex structures of all proteins in nature are outcomes of a random walk driven by mutation and selection. Reconstructing the fitness landscape staging this process based on first-principle physical rules or experimental measurements is difficult. In this article we turn the popular Sudoku game into an artificial fitness landscape and use it as a model system to study sequence evolution under constraints. The Sudoku rules, which are human-mind friendly, intertwine a rugged landscape for sequences composed of digits, mimicking the functional constraints felt by a tightly folded protein. Simulated evolution reveals interesting properties of the valley-crossing dynamics on this complex landscape. It is found that (i) the mutation accumulation rate during valley-crossing is constant among different evolutionary pathways and depends on the ruggedness of the landscape; (ii) genetic drift and neutral networks play constructive roles during the process of searching for novel functions; and (iii) under strong selection, gene duplication can speed up the evolution by relaxing, but not completely liberating, the redundant copy from selective pressure. Insights gained from this prototype model may help us understand the evolution of real proteins.

Flow regulation manipulates contemporary seasonal sedimentary dynamics in the reservoir fluctuation zone of the Three Gorges Reservoir, China

Since the launch of the Three Gorges Dam on the Yangtze River, a distinctive reservoir fluctuation zone has been created and significantly modified by regular dam operations. Sediment redistribution within this artificial landscape differs substantially from that in natural fluvial riparian zones, due to a specific hydrological regime comprising steps of water impoundment with increasing magnitudes and seasonal water level fluctuation holding a range of sediment fluxes. This study reinterpreted post-dam sedimentary dynamics in the reservoir fluctuation zone by stratigraphy determination of a 345-cm long sediment core, and related it to impact of the hydrological regime. Seasonality in absolute grain-size composition of suspended sediment was applied as a methodological basis for stratigraphic differentiation. Sedimentary laminations with relatively higher proportions of sandy fractions were ascribed to sedimentation during the dry season when proximal subsurface bank erosion dominates source contributions, while stratigraphy with a lower proportion of sandy fractions is possibly contributed by sedimentation during the wet season when distal upstream surface erosion prevails. Chronology determination revealed non-linear and high annual sedimentation rates ranging from 21.7 to 152.1cm/yr. Although channel geomorphology may primarily determine the spatial extent of sedimentation, seasonal sedimentary dynamics was predominantly governed by the frequency, magnitude, and duration of flooding. Summer inundation by natural floods with enhanced sediment loads produced from upstream basins induced higher sedimentation rates than water impoundment during the dry season when distal sediment supply was limited. We thus conclude that flow regulation manipulates contemporary seasonal sedimentary dynamics in the reservoir fluctuation zone, though little impact on total sediment retention rate was detected. Ongoing reductions in flow and sediment supply under human disturbance may have profound implications in affecting sedimentary equilibrium in the reservoir fluctuation zone. The results herein provide insights of how big dams have disrupted the sediment conveyance processes of large scale fluvial systems.

De Landschapsarchitectuur van het Polder-boezemsysteem

De Landschapsarchitectuur van het Polder-boezemsysteem

De Landschapsarchitectuur van het Polder-boezemsysteem

De Landschapsarchitectuur van het Polder-boezemsysteem

An evolutionary algorithm to create artificial soundscapes of birdsongs

Birdsongs are an integral part of many landscapes, in urban and countryside areas. Together they constitute an ecological network of interacting sonic agents that are self-organised into an open complex system of similar cognitive aspects, yet with original acoustic content. This work presents a preliminary study and development of an evolutionary algorithm (EA) used here for the generation of virtual birdsongs that create an artificial sonic landscape; a soundscape of birdsongs. They are reproduced by genetic operators that build sequences of parameters to control instantiations of a computer model that emulates a bird syrinx. Such models are capable of synthesising a wide range of realistic birdsongs that altogether compound a dynamic network of artificial bird calls. This system can also be interactive as external input data can be received in real-time through instant text messages from the micro-blog Twitter. These messages are mapped as new individuals living in the EA system population set. As further described, by means of an aimless evolutionary process, the EA system presented here is capable of creating realistic artificial soundscapes of birdsongs.

Automatic Change Detection from Remote Sensing Stereo Image for Large Surface Coal Mining Area

Surface mining activities may cause the significant change of the topography and stability of landscape, which may lead to a series of environmental issues, such as water runoff, soil erosion and vegetation degradation. Thus, the characteristic of artificial landscapes should be concerned for reconstruction of mining ecosystems. Remote sensing imagery, particularly stereo image with the advantage of generating digital elevation model (DEM) efficiently can provide information of topography from the surface mining area. The purpose of this study is to monitor topographic change using remote sensing stereo image in large surface coal mine. In this study the ASTER stereo imageries collected in 2002 and 2006 were used to generate DEM. Quantitative methods such as the RMSE and topography profile were conducted to evaluate the accuracy of the ASTER DEM based on the reference 1:50000 topography map. Furthermore, the change of topographic which can be detected were developed based on the image difference by setting a threshold value and watershed transform method. The results indicated that: root-mean-square errors (RMSEs) in elevation are 25m for ASTER DEM in 2002, and 26m for ASTER DEM in 2006. The topographic change from open pit at 2002 and dump at 2006 was automatically and accurately detected, which provided quantitative information for exploiting-peeling-deserting unification of mining. Such piece of information would be very useful in mining rehabilitation and ecology restoration.

Alluviated soils of the Saint-Petersburg City

Saint-Petersburg macro urban landscape is situated in the most important part of the Baltic environment. This urban landscape is situated in the Neva Lowland and is known as the most anthropogenically transformed part of Russian North-West and Scandinavian region. Saint-Petersburg city has a huge area of hydraulically constructed (alluvial) soils or soil-like bodies, situated on the banks of the Gulf of Finland. These constructed grounds form the territory of parks in residential areas. Soils of the alluvial territories, created by human, play an important role in landscapes functioning and formation of ecological stability. Alluvial filled territories are considered as a semi-natural environmental model of landscape development in urban conditions. New formed soils of artificial landscapes have been described and their ecological functions are discussed as well. Constructed ground is characterized by problematic physical properties, which are not favourable for plants, soils of new formed plots show evidences of increased hyrdomorphism, gleyfication and formation of contrast layers phenomena. Artificial grounds of new hydraulically formed lands are characterized by number of soil-ecological problems. Refs 33. Figs 2. Tables 2.

The use of native vegetation as a proxy for habitat may overestimate habitat availability in fragmented landscapes

Native vegetation is often used as a proxy for habitat to estimate habitat availability in landscapes. This approach may lead to incorrect estimates of the impacts of habitat loss and fragmentation on species, which have not been thoroughly quantified so far. We quantified to what extent the loss of native vegetation reflect actual habitat loss by native species in landscapes. We tested the hypothesis that habitat availability declines at greater rates than native vegetation and thus is overestimated when it is quantified on the basis of native vegetation. Using simulations, we quantified how the loss of native vegetation in artificial and real landscapes affects habitat availability for species with different habitat requirements. We contrasted a generalist species, which uses all native vegetation, with 10 habitat-specialist species classified into three categories (interior, patchy and riparian species). Habitat availability generally declined at greater rates than native vegetation for all specialist species. This pattern was apparent for different specialist species in a broad range of landscape types. Interior species always lost habitat availability more rapidly than the generalist species. Most riparian species lost habitat availability more rapidly than the generalist species. Responses of patchy species were more complex, depending on their dispersal abilities and landscape structure. Habitat availability is likely to be overestimated when native vegetation is used as proxy for habitat, because habitat availability will generally decline at greater rates than native vegetation. Therefore, a species-centered approach should be adopted when estimating habitat availability in landscapes.

Zoning classes for forest visual landscape management in and around Pyeongchang Winter Olympic area: focused on Alpensia district in the city of Pyeongchang, Gangwon-do

Korea is preparing to host the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang. The region surrounding Pyeongchang mostly consists of forested areas. To manage this region, it is necessary to design a process designating different management areas such as those allowing the formation of artificial and concentrated landscapes and restricted areas for conservation of the landscape. This study identifies methods for analyzing the degree of forest landscape management and level of visual sensitivity and subdivides the visible areas surrounding the region where the Winter Olympics will be held into different classes. As a result, four different classes were subdivided and the areas were divided into conservation zones, buffer zone 1, buffer zone 2, and transitional zones. The areas in the fourth class (transitional zone), where artificial and aggressive forest landscape management is possible, were primarily subjected to frequent movement and high levels of use. These areas included roads, city streets, areas surrounding the stadiums, accommodation facilities, and the observatory. It will be necessary at a later date to conduct an itemized and more detailed analysis regarding forest landscape design to create landscapes that correspond to the characteristics of the region in each subdivision.

On choosing the form of the objective functional for optimal control of molecules

Optimal control techniques can be used to direct molecular dynamics to meet specified physical goals. However, the effectiveness of finding an optimal control field depends on the nature of the control landscape, defined as the objective as a functional of the control. Extensive analysis has considered the prospect of such landscapes being free of suboptimal traps for particular cases of different objective functions in both classical and quantum systems. While many typical objective functions have been shown to yield trap-free landscapes upon satisfaction of certain assumptions, this work more broadly considers the freedom in the choice of objective functionals. The latter freedom can be exploited to possibly accelerate the search for an optimal control, but we also show that the choice of functional needs to be made carefully to avoid inducing artificial landscape traps.