Landscape Pattern Characteristics Research Articles

Research on Spatial Differentiating Characteristics of Landscape Pattern in Youjiang Valley by Using Remote Sensing and GIS

Using TM data acquired in 1986 and 2006 and supported by the technology of geographic information system(GIS)and the principle of landscape ecology,the authors selected some indexes of landscape heterogeneity.Taking the Pingguo County of Guangxi,a typical area in the Youjiang valley area,as the study area,this paper analyzed the landscape pattern and its dynamic change characteristics of the study area in the past 20 years.The results show that the general trend of the land-use change from 1986 to 2006 in the study area was the increase of forest,unused land and residents,and the decrease of grassland,farmland and water area.All kinds of landscape indexes of land-use change indicate the space-time response obviously,and the diversity of landscape becomes more evident.On the other hand,the dominance and fragmentation of landscape and fractal dimension become smaller,which suggests that the whole landscape of the study area is developing in the ideal direction.

Investigating the dynamics of wetland landscape pattern in Beijing from 1984 to 2008

The landscape pattern of Beijing wetlands has undergone a significant change as a result of natural and artificial elements. Supported by remote sensing and GIS technology, using multi-temporal TM images from 1984 to 2008 in Beijing, this paper analyzed the dynamic characteristics of wetlands landscape pattern through selected typical indices including patch area, patch average area, fractal dimension index, diversity, dominance, contagion indices and the spatial centroids of each wetlands type were calculated. Finally, the paper explored the evolution mode and driving factors of wetland landscape pattern. The results were obtained as follows: the total wetland area increased during the period 1984–1996, then decline from 1996 to 2004. The wetland area in 1994 accounted for only 47.37% of that in 2004. The proportion of artificial wetland area was larger than that of natural wetland. The proportion of reservoir wetland was 33.50% to 53.73% and had the maximum average area. pond and paddy field wetland type with the least average area accounted for 16.46% to 45.09% of the total wetland area. The driving forces of the natural river wetland were mainly natural elements; its fractal dimension index was greater than the others. The Shannon diversity index of wetland landscape increased from 1.11 in 1992 to 1.34 in 2004, indicating that the difference between proportions of each wetland type decreased and areas of each wetland type were evenly distributed. The contagion index went down from 65.59 to 58.41, indicating that the connectivity degraded. Miyun Reservoir had the largest area and its area change had a great impact on the location of the centroid. Wetland resources degenerated gradually from the joint effects of natural and artificial factors. During the period 2006–2008, the precipitation increased and the drought condition was relieved. The government implemented series of positive policies to save water resources, and the wetland area increased.

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

Regional landscape ecological security is an important issue for ecological security, and has a great influence on national security and social sustainable development. The Pearl River Delta (PRD) in southern China has experienced rapid economic development and intensive human activities in recent years. This study, based on landscape analysis, provides a method to discover the alteration of character among different landscape types and to understand the landscape ecological security status. Based on remotely sensed products of the Landsat 5 TM images in 1990 and the Landsat 7 ETM+ images in 2005, landscape classification maps of nine cities in the PRD were compiled by implementing Remote Sensing and Geographic Information System technology. Several indices, including aggregation, crush index, landscape shape index, Shannon's diversity index, landscape fragile index, and landscape security adjacent index, were applied to analyze spatial-temporal characteristics of landscape patterns in the PRD. A landscape ecological security index based on these outcomes was calculated by projection pursuit using genetic algorithm. The landscape ecological security of nine cities in the PRD was thus evaluated. The main results of this research are listed as follows: (1) from 1990 to 2005, the aggregation index, crush index, landscape shape index, and Shannon's diversity index of nine cities changed little in the PRD, while the landscape fragile index and landscape security adjacent index changed obviously. The landscape fragile index of nine cities showed a decreasing trend; however, the landscape security adjacent index has been increasing; (2) from 1990 to 2005, landscape ecology of the cities of Zhuhai and Huizhou maintained a good security situation. However, there was a relatively low value of ecological security in the cities of Dongguan and Foshan. Except for Foshan and Guangzhou, whose landscape ecological security situation were slightly improved, the cities had reduced values in landscape ecological security, with the most decreased number 0.52 in Zhaoqing. Results of this study offer important information for regional eco-construction and natural resource exploitation.

Research on the Characteristics of Landscape Pattern and Change in Changsha-Zhuzhou-Xiangtan Metropolitan Region

Research on the Characteristics of Landscape Pattern and Change in Changsha-Zhuzhou-Xiangtan Metropolitan Region

The change of land use/cover and characteristics of landscape pattern in arid areas oasis: An application in Jinghe, Xinjiang

This paper uses 3S technology in macroscopic. Combining the integrated technology of ecological quantity analytical method with GIS technology through ArcGIS and Fragstats, the authors study the images of 1972, 1990, 2001, and 2005 and obtained land use data in Jinghe County. Then, the change of land use/cover and landscape pattern had been analyzed in the Jinghe County of Xinjiang. The conclusions were as follows: (1) The trend of LUCC is that the area of oasis expands slowly in nearly 33 years between 1972 to 2005 in Jinghe County. (2) The water area is mainly influenced by Ebinur Lake, so the area expands a little in this period. (3) The area of salinization-land expands at first and reduces later. The area of sand land decreases and the other land class increases, while the probability of transfer is always high. (4) Landscape change is also obvious throughout the decades. Overall, landscape density increases, the largest path index decreases at first and expends later, the weight area index decreases, and the shape of landscape becomes regulated. The nearest distances, the degrees of reunite, and outspread decreases. It shows that the connection of the main path in 1972 is better than 2005, wherein the patch becomes more complex. From the changes of Shannon’s Diversity Index and Shannon’s Evenness Index, we know that the diversity of landscape and the Interspersion Juxtaposition Index increase. The degree of diversity landscape and fragmentation increase also shows that the land uses become more complex. All in all, it is essential to intensify the spatial relationships among landscape elements and to maintain the continuity of landscape ecological process and pattern in the course of area expansion.

Land Use/Cover Change in Response to Driving Forces of Zoige County, China

The changing characteristics of landscape patterns in Zoige County, from 1986 to 2005 were investigated using time-series high-quality Land sat Thematic Mapper(TM) images. The article first carried out the images data processing using the eCognition software, and then used the GIS and FRAGSTAT software to calculate the Land Use/Cover Change (LUCC) in Zoige County, and the changes and trend of wetland during the study area. The results showed that the landscape become more complicated and heterogeneous due mainly to fragmentation; NP and PD of the wetland increased 95.36% and 95.24% respectively, along with other metrics, this paper concluded that the wetland in Zoige County has been extensively disturbed; there was a net area of 410.93 km2 turned into grassland from wetland, which indicated that the ditching for grassland enlargement result in the degradation of the wetland in Zoige County. Through analysis of LUCC driving forces, finally got the conclusions: the climate change and human disturbance factors, including increasing temperature, over-grazing, drainage of water systems, were both responsible for the wetland degradation in Zoige County.

Investigating spatiotemporal patterns of landscape diversity in response to urbanization

Landscape patterns in urban regions are usually influenced by human-induced change in land cover in the processes of urbanization. Landscape spatial patterns have profound implications for the functions of ecological systems, and landscape diversity is an effective parameter representing landscape spatial patterns. However, the dynamics of landscape diversity in response to urbanization and its relationships with other aspects of landscape patterns have not been adequately discussed in the context of urban regions. Moreover, the significance of spatial distributions and local differences in landscape diversity within urban regions has received minimal attention. To further understand landscape diversity this study conducted a series analysis of landscape metrics to describe the spatiotemporal pattern of landscape diversity within the Taipei metropolitan region between 1971 and 2005. The landscape metrics were also analyzed to present the characteristics of landscape patterns and examine the correlations of metrics. The dynamics of intra-level landscape diversity in response to urbanization and its relationships with other aspects of landscape patterns were revealed by a series of metric analyses. The spatial distributions and local differences of landscape diversity were revealed to identify the areas where landscape diversity significantly changed in Taipei metropolitan region. This study also identified the regular pattern of landscape diversity in response to the process of urbanization and tested the theory of urban growth.

Scaling Effect on the Relationship between Landscape Pattern and Land Surface Temperature

The objective of this paper is to examine the scaling-up effect on the relationship between landscape patterns and land surface temperatures based on a case study of Indianapolis, United States. The integration of remote sensing, GIS, and landscape ecology methods was used in this study. Four TERRA ASTER images were acquired to derive the land-use and land-cover (LULC) patterns and land surface temperatures (LST) in different seasons. Each LULC and LST image was resampled to eight spatial scales: 15, 30, 60, 90, 120, 250, 500, and 1,000 m. The scaling-up effect on the spatial and ecological characteristics of landscape patterns and LSTs were examined by the use of landscape metrics. Optimal spatial resolutions were determined on the basis of the minimum distance in the landscape metric spaces. The results show that the patch percentages of LULC and LST patches were not strongly affected by the scaling-up process in different seasons. The patch densities and landscape shape indices and LST patches kept decreasing across the scales without distinct seasonal differences. Thirty meters was found to be the optimal resolution in the study of the relationship between urban LULC and LST classes. Ninety meters was found to be the optimal spatial resolution for assessing the landscape-level relationship between LULC and LST patterns. This paper may provide useful information for urban planners and environmental practitioners to manage urban landscapes and urban thermal environments as a result of urbanization.

Seasonal variations in the relationship between landscape pattern and land surface temperature in Indianapolis, USA

This paper intended to examine the seasonal variations in the relationship between landscape pattern and land surface temperature based on a case study of Indianapolis, United States. The integration of remote sensing, GIS, and landscape ecology methods was used in this study. Four Terra's ASTER images were used to derive the landscape patterns and land surface temperatures (LST) in four seasons in the study area. The spatial and ecological characteristics of landscape patterns and LSTs were examined by the use of landscape metrics. The impact of each land use and land cover type on LST was analyzed based on the measurements of landscape metrics. The results show that the landscape and LST patterns in the winter were unique. The rest of three seasons apparently had more agreeable landscape and LST patterns. The spatial configuration of each LST zone conformed to that of each land use and land cover type with more than 50% of overlap in area for all seasons. This paper may provide useful information for urban planners and environmental managers for assessing and monitoring urban thermal environments as result of urbanization.

Landscape pattern and eco-hydrological characteristics at the upstream of Minjiang River, China

Based on three scenes of Landsat 5 Thematic Mapper (TM) satellite images acquired on June 26, 1994, 12 land cover types were identified by the supervised classification techniques. The precipitation, runoff, and normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) data of six catchments were accumulated from April to September in 1992, 1993, and 1995. A new eco-hydrological index, expressed by the difference between precipitation and runoff divided by the product of precipitation and NDVI, was used in this study to represent the eco-hydrological functions of different catchments. The results were: (1) The selected six catchments at the upstream of Minjiang River, China were different in landscape patterns in terms of landscape type and cover. There were higher contagion, lower edge density and diversity index in the Shouxi catchments and lower contagion, higher edge density and diversity index in the Zagunao catchments. (2) Eco-hydrological indexes had remarkable differences among different catchments. The highest eco-hydrological index was found in the Shouxi catchments, which indicated higher precipitation holding capacity of vegetation therein. While the lower eco-hydrological index was found in the Zagunao catchments, which indicated its lower precipitation holding capacity of vegetation. (3) High correlation was detected between the landscape indexes and eco-hydrological indexes. Eco-hydrological index was positively correlated with landscape contagion in contrast with the negative correlation with landscape diversity and edge density.

Analysis of the landscape pattern and aesthetic characteristics of the Hani terraced fields

The Yuanyang terraced fields,famous for their large area,wide distribution,astonishing construction and rarity in world,were identified as the core area of the cultural landscape of Hani terraces by the government of Honghe district,Yunnan province,China.The terraces were the physical basis of Hani peoples' life and the symbolization of Hani peoples' spirit.And the cultural landscape of Hani terraces was the model of sustainable land use and harmonious human ecosystem between culture and nature.Thus,we took the Yuanyang terraced fields as objects,calculated the landscape metrics,such as shape,number,density and area using the landscape structure analysis software-FRAGSTATS at class and landscape levels.The patch granularity and the neighboring characteristics were counted using Geographic Information System ArcView,and the relationship between landscape pattern and aesthetic character istics was analyzed finally.The results indicated that: 1) The dry land,dense forest,shrubbery and paddy field constituted the most part of landscape.Both the farmland and the forest accounted for 40% of the total area of the landscape,forming a predominant pattern of the landscape.But however,water area and uncovered land or rock were lack as a landacake component in Yuanyang County.2) Patches of the housing area had the maximum numbers and small size.Dry land had the most complex shape and the most centralized distribution pattern.The natural grassland and other garden plots had the minimum numbers and the most dispersed distribution pattern.The huge-sized and medium-sized patches were distributed alternatively,forming a relatively fragmentized landscape pattern.3) The edge length and edge numbers of the neighboring types as well as the percentages differed evidently,and most of the types were adjacent to dry land which impacted on them intensively.4) In the landscape,the area of paddy terraced fields occupied a higher proportion,being 16%.There were 253 patches with an average patch area larger than many other types,further more,the nearest distance among the patches was only 469.4m.All of the aforementioned landscape patterns were contributive to the aesthetic characteristics of scale.5) The vertical pattern of forest-village-terrace was important to the harmonious aesthetics of landscape structure.6) The neighboring and size characteristics of landscape were one of the landscape patterns.It was very significant to analyze the relationship between landscape pattern and aesthetic characteristics.

The landscape pattern characteristics of coastal wetlands in Jiaozhou Bay Under The Impact Of Human Activities

In this study, we interpreted coastal wetland types from an ASTER satellite image in 2002, and then compared the results with the land-use status of coastal wetlands in 1952 to determine the wetland loss and degradation around Jiaozhou Bay. Seven types of wetland landscape were classified, namely: shallow open water, inter-tidal flats, estuarine water, brackish marshes, salt ponds, fishery ponds and ports. Several landscape pattern indices were analysed: the results indicate that the coastal wetlands have been seriously degraded. More and more natural wetlands have been transformed into artificial wetlands, which covered about 33.7% of the total wetlands in 2002. In addition, we used a defined model to assess the impacts of human activities on coastal wetlands. The results obtained show that the coastal wetlands of Jiaozhou Bay have suffered severe human disturbance. Effective coastal management and control is therefore needed to solve the issues of the coastal wetland loss and degradation existing in this area.

Fractal Analysis of Satellite-Detected Urban Heat Island Effect

This study reports on a study of the urban heat island (UHI) phenomenon in Guangzhou, China. In the study, surface radiant temperatures derived from Landsat TM thermal infrared images of December, 13, 1989, March 3, 1996, and August 29, 1997 were used. To examine the spatial distribution of surface radiant temperatures, transects were drawn and analyzed from each temperature image. The fractal dimensions of these transects were then computed using the divider method, to better understand the spatial variability of surface radiant temperatures caused by the thermal behavior of different land-cover types and landscape pattern characteristics. The effect of urban development on the geographical distribution of surface radiant temperatures and thus on the UHI was also investigated. The results revealed two major heat islands, one in the southwest and the other in the east of the city. The distribution of the UHIs was closely associated with industrial land uses but not with residential land uses. Changes in fractal dimension in different seasons were not only attributed to solar illumination and climatologic conditions relating to soil moisture and air temperature, but also to the topographic variation and the spatial arrangement and extent of different land cover types. Urban development increased the spatial variability of radiant temperatures, resulting in higher fractal dimension values.