Landscape Ecological Assessment Research Articles

Cross‐administrative solutions for sustainable development: The case of the Watertown Hub

AbstractWater‐abundant regions face challenges due to urbanization and development, which pose threats to local water networks and the environment. Fragmented water network management and administrative boundaries hinder cross‐administrative collaboration and ecological conservation. This study presents a framework centered around the “Watertown Hub” concept, which focuses on integrated ecological and green development, fostering multifunctional, shared spaces for coordinated management in the Watertown region of the Yangtze River Delta, China. By leveraging landscape infrastructure and ecological sensitivity assessment, shared spaces are established beyond administrative boundaries, promoting cross‐administrative coordination, management, and resource integration. The approach effectively balances the protection of basin ecology and economic development, mitigates water system fragmentation, and addresses environmental concerns. It enhances regional communication, connectivity, and sustainability. Although the focus is on China's Jiangnan region, this research provides insights applicable to other water‐rich areas in South Asia and beyond, fostering cross‐administrative ecological coordination and sustainable development amidst urbanization pressures.

Landscape ecological risks assessment of the China-Vietnam border area: the perspective of production-living-ecological spaces

Landscape ecological risks assessment of the China-Vietnam border area: the perspective of production-living-ecological spaces

An Assessment of Ecological Sensitivity and Landscape Pattern in Abandoned Mining Land

In recent years, the development of abandoned mining land has become a focal point in landscape planning. However, during the development of abandoned mining land, there often exists a phenomenon of prioritizing economic considerations over ecological concerns, leading to a failure to achieve genuinely sustainable development. An ecological sensitivity assessment, guided by the principles of protection and development, provides an evaluation framework that directs planning strategies for abandoned mining land from the perspective of balanced development and conservation. To facilitate the development and construction of abandoned mining land, this paper utilizes GIS technology, on-site surveys, analytic hierarchy processes, etc. Taking the abandoned mining land in Haining, Zhejiang, China, as the research subject and considering its unique site conditions, ecological sensitivity is divided into topographic conditions, surface water systems, and plant landscapes. Ecological sensitivity factors are selected, and an ecological sensitivity assessment system is constructed from the perspectives of ecological conservation and sustainable development. Using ArcGIS 10.2 and Fragstats 4.2 software, landscape pattern analysis is conducted, exploring the relationship between landscape patterns and ecological sensitivity assessment results from the perspectives of landscape fragmentation, diversity, and aggregation. By comparing the results of single-factor sensitivity analysis and comprehensive sensitivity analysis, as well as landscape pattern indices before and after classifying ecologically sensitive areas, the practicality of the evaluation system is verified, facilitating planning studies and providing design recommendations for abandoned mining land. Landscape pattern indices serve as supplementary explanations for ecological sensitivity. Based on the results of ecological sensitivity assessment and landscape pattern indices, the ecological conservation levels in the research area are classified into five categories: the Level I Comprehensive Protection Zone, Level II Moderately Developed Zone, Level III Construction Suitable Zone, Level IV Core Construction Zone, and Level V Core Development Zone. These correspond to ecological protection zones, sightseeing experience zones, historical exhibition zones, core commercial zones, and themed amusement zones, respectively. The I-level sensitive area in the research area has the smallest range, while IV-level and VI-level sensitive areas have larger extents, exhibiting a high degree of overall landscape fragmentation but with diverse and dominant landscape types. Integrating ecological sensitivity assessment results and landscape pattern indices aids in delineating ecological conservation levels and regional functional recreation zones, guiding the rational recreation allocation of resources for abandoned mining land and promoting its development into a scenic area integrating ecology and tourism.

Quantifying the smoke-related public health trade-offs of forest management

AbstractPrescribed burning can mitigate extreme wildfire risk and reduce total smoke emissions. Yet prescribed burns’ emissions may also contribute to smoke exposures in nearby communities. Incorporating public health considerations into forest management planning efforts may help reduce prescribed burn-related exposure impacts. We present a methodological framework linking landscape ecology, air-quality modelling and health impact assessment to quantify the air-quality and health impacts of specific management strategies. We apply this framework to six forest management scenarios proposed for a landscape in the Central Sierra, California. We find that moderate amounts of prescribed burning can decrease wildfire-specific PM2.5 exposures and reduce asthma-related health impacts in the surrounding region; however, the magnitude of that benefit levels off under scenarios with additional prescribed burning because of the added treatment-related smoke burdens. This framework can be applied to other fire-prone landscapes to incorporate public health considerations into forest management planning.

Developing a multiscale landscape assessment framework integrating multiobjectives to identify priority action plans for sustainable development of small inhabited islands

The sustainable development of SII (small inhabited islands) has critical impacts on human well-being and requires balancing complex multiobjectives, for which the most beneficial actions must be prioritized, with limited financial and labor support. The effect of current plans based on single-scale or single-objective assessments may be overestimated, and multiscale landscape assessments and plans offer a potential solution. This study aimed to bring more attention to SII and use landscape ecology theories and methods to develop a multiscale landscape assessment framework that integrates multiobjectives to identify priority action plans for sustainable development. This framework consists of a LEHA (landscape ecological health assessment) based on the PSR (pressure-state-response) index system and a TLSA (tourism landscape suitability assessment) based on the AHP (analytic hierarchy process) index system at regional and unit landscape scales, respectively. And we verified it on Xiaodeng Island in Xiamen, China, near Kinmen Island in Taiwan Province, which is a typical case of SII that are in the administrative division of “township” consisting of villages only. Our framework is characterized by overall consistency, hierarchical transmission and spatial variability, which ensures the scientific and operability of plans that can meet both ‘top-down’ management objectives and ‘bottom-up’ development needs. The application in Xiaodeng Island confirmed its feasibility. We proposed 4 strategies and an action plan network of 12 actions with specific content, location and order based on the assessment results with the goal of mitigating climate change, particularly in marine ecosystems, and providing more sustainable development opportunities for SII residents. In the future, we need a long-term monitoring database, scenario modeling predictions and quantitative analysis of the plan effectiveness for SII; furthermore, we need to implement this framework at different landscape scales in other areas.

Urban blue–green space landscape ecological health assessment based on the integration of pattern, process, function and sustainability

Landscape ecological health (LEH) assessment of blue–green space is vital for the management and restoration of the urban environment. At present, existing LEH assessment research has mainly focused on the single measurement of landscape pattern or external ecological service function, ignoring the effect mechanism. Moreover, there is a lack of targeted assessment of urban blue–green space LEH. In this study, we constructed an urban blue–green space LEH assessment framework based on the integration of pattern, process, function and sustainability, and conducted an empirical analysis in Harbin, a megacity in Northeastern China. The results showed that the spatial changes in the four assessment units of landscape ecological pattern, process, function and sustainability were not coordinated in the study area. From 2011 to 2020, the overall condition of blue–green space LEH in the study area improved but still at an unhealthy level, and the spatial difference increased. Grassland, water and wetland suffered from the widespread degradation of LEH in the study area, and the LEH level improvement type had the largest area proportion, and the stabilization type had the smallest. Moreover, based on the spatial autocorrelation analysis, we clarified the LEH spatial correlation characteristics of the study area and proposed targeted optimization suggestions. Our assessment framework will extend the LEH assessment scope and methodology, and the research results can provide significant references for urban blue–green space protection and management.

Mathematical Problems in Engineering Landscape Ecological Security Assessment and Ecological Pattern Optimization of Inland River Basins in Arid Regions: A Case Study in Tarim River Basin

Tarim River Basin (TRB), located at the Eurasia center, is a typical arid inland basin. It is critical to maintain the ecological security of TRB for the sustainable development of oases. With the inputs of four period land use data, the landscape ecological risk assessment model, the minimum cumulative resistance model, and network analysis were applied to analyze the landscape ecological security pattern and to optimize the landscape pattern. The results show that, during the period 1990–2020, (1) landscape ecological risks of TRB increased by 1.76%; (2) landscape ecological risks tend to agglomerate in space in each period. The clusters of high-high risk are mainly distributed in the central and eastern desert areas, while low-low risk clusters are mainly distributed in watersheds Oasis and mountains. (3) Ecological security pattern network of the basin becomes more complex and better. The optimized pattern, called Oasis Corridor Functional Area with one ring, two screens, two belts, ten corridors, and multicenter, is expected to provide reference for the ecological environment management and restoration.

Dynamics of landscape ecological quality based on benefit evaluation coupled with the rocky desertification control in South China Karst

Human uncontrolled land use is the main cause of ecosystem degradation and increased rock desertification in karst areas of Southern China. Landscape ecological quality assessment (LEQA) based on land use plays a significant role in promoting sustainable ecological restoration in karst rocky desertification areas. This paper selects the karst plateau canyon rocky desertification comprehensive control demonstration area in South China as the research object to accurately quantify the impact of ecological management on landscape ecological quality changes (LEQ). Based on the characteristics of the karst ecological environment, the basic theory of spatial heterogeneity and landscape pattern is applied to evaluate the ecological quality of the study area at three levels: landscape stability, landscape disturbance degree, and ecological restoration and reconstruction ability. The results showed that the comprehensive score of regional ecological quality increased from 0.539 to 0.662 from 2015-2020. However, the ecological quality level of unused land and mining areas was still poor, and unsound production activities such as ore mining were the main hindrances to improvements in landscape ecological quality. Areas of better ecological quality were mainly distributed to the north and south of the study area. Treatment measures such as returning farmland to forest and agroforestry effectively improved the ecological environment quality of these areas, but the ecological benefits brought by the treatment in different areas varied significantly. The current analysis results show that the land use-based landscape ecological quality evaluation method is applicable in karst areas with special ecological environments. This work provides a new quantitative research method for the unique ecological environment in karst areas; it can accurately identify trends in ecological environment quality changes and provide a basis for sustainable ecological restoration.

Study on Landscape Ecological Classification and Landscape Types Evolution: A Case Study of a Mining City in Semi-Arid Steppe

Landscape Ecological Classification (LEC) is the premise and foundation of landscape ecology research. The current research on LEC of Mining Cities in the Semi-arid Steppe (MCSS) is relatively low. Moreover, the question of how to classify the mining landscape into ecologically significant landscape units at a scale suitable for ecological management has not been clear. The research results are as follows: (1) Google Earth, Gaode map, Baidu map, various high-resolution images, unmanned aerial vehicle, and field investigation were used to investigate the landscape types. Based on the land classification of the occurrence model, integrating theories of landscape ecology, mining, ecology, geography, and land resources, this study constructed the LEC system for MCSS using the top-down decomposition classification method, including 4 types of landscape kingdom, 16 types of landscape class, 62 types of landscape family, and more than 200 types of landscape species. (2) Based on LEC, we found the landscape type evolution characteristics of MCSS. Both the open-pit landscape and the dumping landscape were constantly expanding, and ecological restoration of the mining area was carried out simultaneously with coal mining. The trend of Change Intensity (CI) of mining industrial square landscape and industrial storage landscape was very similar. The development of coal has driven the development of the regional industry. The expansion intensity of the town commercial and residential service landscape was gradually decreasing, and the motivation for town expansion was insufficient. The research area was a typical landscape evolution mode of “human advance and grassland retreat”. However, the intensity of humans occupying grassland was decreasing. This study provides a reference for the research of LEC in the semi-arid steppe and provides a theoretical basis for the landscape ecological assessment, planning, and management of mining cities.

Integrating hydrological, landscape ecological, and economic assessment during hydropower exploitation in the upper Yangtze River

Comprehensive investigation of hydrological processes associated with landscape ecology and economic development plays a key role in watershed management, and is less developed in watersheds with large-scale cascade dams. With the abundant hydropower resources and its unprecedented advantages, hydropower exploitation in the upper Yangtze River (Jinsha River) is critical to energy structure adjustment in China. Therefore, we integrated hydrological modeling, landscape ecology analysis, and economic analysis in the dammed Jinsha River. With climate variations in the Jinsha River Basin, the average flow near the uppermost dams in the mainstream grew from 796 m3 s−1 (1990s), to 918 m3 s−1 (2000s), and further to 1025 m3 s−1 (2010s). During 1991 to 2017, the source power in the headwater region grew slightly, but varied little in the downstream area. In the lower dammed Jinsha River, analysis of landscape indicators showed that the landscape was enriched, while the landscape type distribution was more uniform. Moreover, hydropower exploitation brought benefits to regional economic development. Principal component analysis further highlighted the landscape ecological and economic variations with high loadings in the first principal component. With the non-significant temporal variations and normal spatial fluctuations in flow discharge, the landscape pattern was basically stable, and the utilization of hydropower can be sustainable in the Jinsha River. In addition, hydropower development drove local economic development. Based on the integrated analysis of hydrological, landscape ecological, and economic assessment at the watershed scale, our results stressed the significance of hydropower exploitation in the Jinsha River. However, more attention should be paid to the warming climate during hydropower exploitation. These findings are valuable for the scientific planning of hydropower bases in watersheds with large-scale cascade dams, and have substantial implications for sustainable hydropower development.

Factors influencing to formation of geosystems of southern slope of the Greater Caucasus in the Republic of Azerbaijan and assessment of landscape-environmental capacity

The Azerbaijani part of the Greater Caucasus consists of mountain ranges, mountainous depressions and sloppy plains. Different types of relief forms and landscapes have been formed during the repetition of endogenous and exogenous processes that have emerged as a result of the mutual influence of internal and external forces on the relief. The factors which influence the southern slope geosystems of the Greater Caucasus were first studied by us. Landscape-ecological assessment of the area was carried out using suitable, satisfactory, tense, crisis-critical and standard criteria, and a landscape map was compiled on its basis. The materials include the steppe expedition data. The applied methods are landscape-geomorphological, historical, comparative, mathematical-statistical, cartographic. Resistance of natural landscapes to anthropogenic influences is determined.

Modelling landscape ecological assessments of land use and cover change scenarios. Application to the Bojnourd Metropolitan Area (NE Iran)

Assessing the spatiotemporal dynamics of Land Use and Cover Change (LUCC) and their socio-ecological consequences on the landscape is essential for understanding the relationships between social and natural phenomena, especially in metropolitan areas. All research into the effects of metropolitan land-cover dynamics on landscape ecology should include two basic parts: LUCC simulation and Landscape Ecological Assessment (LEA). This paper proposes a novel integrated LEA-LUCC model that includes Multi-Layer Perceptron Neural Network (MLPNN), Markov Chains (MC) and Ecological Connectivity Index (ECI) able to cope with the complex and non-linear nature of metropolitan socio-ecological systems. Based on Landsat satellite images (1988, 1998, 2008, 2018) of the Bojnourd Metropolitan Area (NE Iran), and using MLPNN and MC to simulate LUCC (2028, 2038), we compare historical and future scenarios and assess their impact on ECI. Our research showed the potential of the tested models for recognizing spatiotemporal LUCC and the efficiency of remote sensing data in LUCC assessment, especially in regions lacking land-cover databases. As the outcome of the integrated models reveals, LUCC in the metropolis of Bojnourd could cause an important depression of landscape ecological functioning. The proposed LEA–LUCC model is a valuable tool for enhancing landscape sustainability in dynamic metropolitan areas and for predicting the effects of land-use planning. The LEA–LUCC model should help policy-makers and land-managers choose appropriate strategies in the socio-ecological transition of complex metropolitan systems.

Landscape ecological quality assessment and its dynamic change in coal mining area: a case study of Peixian

Coal mining area is a special man–land system, where the ecological environment is affected by coal mining and other human activities. While many studies have focused on landscape pattern change and its ecological effects, little attention has been paid to the comprehensive ecological quality and its dynamic change in coal mining area during long time periods, especially lacking an ecological effect assessment pre and post the land reclamation. This paper, taking the coal mining area of Peixian in Xuzhou, China, as a case area, presents a method of monitoring and assessing landscape ecological quality using a landscape ecological assessment model based on landscape ecological theories, remote sensing and geographic information systems technology. The results show that landscape ecological quality changed substantially, and the overall trend became worse gradually during 1990–2014. The landscape ecological quality gradually improved in the reclamation area but greatly deteriorated in the urbanized areas of Peixian between 2004 and 2014, indicating satisfactory reclamation activity. Coal mining, land reclamation and urban expansion were major factors that affected the ecological environment of Peixian. The present analyses result in a close range between the appraisal and actual situation, suggesting that the model is generally applicable. This work provides a quantitative method for assessing landscape ecological quality, and will contribute to future resource development, landscape planning and land reclamation in coal mining areas.

Landscape ecological safety assessment and landscape pattern optimization in arid inland river basin: Take Ganzhou District as an example

Landscape ecological security assessment aims to make a comprehensive evaluation of regional landscape ecological security through the construction of regional ecological security evaluation indicator system. According to the theory of landscape ecology, spatial principal component analysis (SPCA) and GIS techniques, we obtained the distribution of landscape ecological security pattern of Ganzhou District, Gansu province, China. We obtained the ecological sources, corridors, and nodes according to the minimum cumulative resistance (MCR) model to optimize the structure and function of ecological function network. The following results were found: the comprehensive landscape ecological security situation of the research area was on the average. The spatial distribution pattern of landscape ecological security level indicated that the low level of safety were mainly distributed in the Gobi and desert areas in the north, accounting for 19.9% of the study area, while the high safety level was mainly distributed in the northwest and southeast of the Heihe River basin, accounting for 24.8% of the study area. With points, lines, and surfaces being interlaced, a regional ecological network was constructed, which was consisted of six ecological corridors, 14 ecological nodes, a large ecological source area and a plurality of small source areas, and could effectively improve landscape ecological security level of the study area.

Landscape typology and ecological connectivity assessment to inform Greenway design

European Greenway developments typically ‘upcycle’ disused transport corridors for multi-use, non-motorised public infrastructure. The linear and relatively undisturbed nature of these disused infrastructures means many currently function as high quality ecological corridors. Corridors providing connectivity among habitat patches can mitigate the effects of fragmentation on biodiversity, allowing species dispersal throughout the landscape matrix. The sustainable integration of Greenway infrastructure and ecological corridor functions requires consideration during design, development and maintenance stages, taking into account surrounding landscape composition and connectivity. This paper presents a method to characterise a proposed Greenway corridor landscape, focusing on habitat composition and ecosystems connectivity. Morphological Spatial Pattern Analysis (MSPA) was used to comprehensively describe the structural connectivity of linear and spatial habitats occurring within the study area. A subsequent multivariate classification of structural connectivity and habitat data determined six distinctive landscape characters. Interpretation of these landscape characters highlights the principal habitat compositions and connectivity conditions in terms of habitat core, links and potential linkages. For example one landscape was intensified, yet retained high woodland connectivity, while another diverse habitat landscape supported little connectivity for woodland and grasslands. The results of this study suggest significant opportunities exist to enhance European landscape connectivity through informed Greenway development. Crucial habitat linkages can be optimised along Greenway infrastructure, contributing towards the realisation of European Greenways as Green Infrastructure and true sustainable projects.

Landscape Pattern and Ecological Security Assessment and Prediction Using Remote Sensing Approach

In this work, we present a processing chain for landscape pattern and ecological security status assessment and prediction based on cellular automata Markov (CA-Markov) and pressure status response pattern (PSRP) models using remotely sensed data (RSD) captured in 1986, 1996, 2006, 2016, and RSD simulated in 2026 over Zhengzhou city, Henan province, China. Three major findings can be withdrawn through the experiments. First, there is a significant changing of landscape type area, especially for building land. The area of building land is up to more than 5%, from 1986 to 2016. Secondly, the heterogeneity of landscape is increasing, and the diversity of landscape is becoming more and more diversifying and complex. Third, the changing trend of ecological security of Zhengzhou city shaped as decreasing and increasing gradually during the last 40 years. While the ecological security status, nowadays, appeared to a good trend by contrast of the previous stages. The predicted results with CA-Markov model show that the level of ecological security is still in moderate and has a trend of moving toward to the center in 2026.

A landscape ecology assessment of land-use change on the Great Plains-Denver (CO, USA) metropolitan edge.

For better or worse, in those parts of the world with a widespread farming, livestock rising, and urban expansion, the maintenance of species richness and ecosystem services cannot depend only upon protected natural sites. Can they rely on a network of cultural landscapes endowed with their own associated biodiversity? We analyze the effects of land-cover change on landscape ecological patterns and processes that sustain bird species richness associated to cropland-grassland landscapes in the Great Plains-Denver metropolitan edge. Our purpose is to assess the potential contribution to bird biodiversity maintenance of Great Plain's cropland-grassland mosaics kept as farmland green belts in the edge of metropolitan areas. We present a quantitative landscape ecology assessment of land-cover changes (1930-2010) experienced in five Great Plains counties in Colorado. Several landscape metrics assess the diversity of land-cover patterns and their impact on ecological connectivity indices. These metrics are applied to historical land-cover maps and datasets drawn from aerial photos and satellite imagery. The results show that the cropland-grassland mosaics that link the metropolitan edge with the surrounding habitats sheltered in less human-disturbed areas provide a heterogeneous land matrix were a high bird species richness exists. They also suggest that keeping multifunctional farmland-grassland green belts near the edge of metropolitan areas may provide important ecosystem services, supplementing traditional conservation policies. Our maps and indicators can be used for selecting certain types of landscape patterns and priority areas on which biodiversity conservation efforts and land-use planning can concentrate.

Urban landscape ecological security assessment based on remote sensing and PSR model: A case study in Longyan City, Fujian Province

In order to explore the degree and spatial distribution of landscape ecological security in Longyan City,the authors constructed the ecological security assessment index system of Longyan City based on the "pressure-state-response" conceptual model.And the landscape ecological security comprehensive index distribution in 2001 and 2008 was overplayed by means of multi-temporal remote sensing images,GIS techniques and landscape ecological theory.The results showed that,with the increasing of the outside pressures,landscape structure was stable,and landscape vigor and ecological status were both at a good level.The mean value of landscape ecological security index was 7.27 in 2001,which was located at the high level,while in 2008 the index was 6.65,which was at a medium level.Therefore,it is concluded that the landscape ecological security of Longyan City experienced a slight deterioration during the study period.In order to improve the urban landscape ecological security,the authors suggest optimizing the land use pattern in the future urban planning and construction.

Etropy Problem Simulation in Landscape Ecology Assessment Based on GIS – A Case Study of Landscape Conservation Value Assessment in Sa Pa District, Lao Cai Province, Vietnam

The Etropy problem has been widely applied in the assessment and analysis of landscape ecology. Research results are just at the indicators, not able to describe the spatial distribution of the landscape. In this paper, we will simulate the results of the application Etropy problem in landscape assessment based on a GIS. A GIS is used to store the information of layers on landscape structure, indicator analysis and map-layer assessment. This is a new research direction, research results of Etropy problem will be simulated by the evaluation map. Research have been applied in Sa Pa area - one of Vietnam's most mountainous district. Research results shown the landscape diversity in the research area and landscape area identification to be conserved.

도시개발의 경관생태적 성능 평가를 위한 경관생태관리시스템(LEMS) 구축에 관한 연구

Studies on landscape ecology have focused on conceptual aspects, while empirical focus for spatial planning has been rarely conducted. This study conducted an empirical analysis to enhance landscape ecological performance of urban developments using landscape ecology. To do so, concrete criteria and standards to analyze structural, functional and variational mechanisms of urban landscape ecology were developed. An integrated landscape ecology assessment model that can be applied to urban development planning was established by combining the criteria. Next, Landscape Ecological Management System (LEMS) was developed to implement an integrated assessment using GIS. To verify the effectiveness of the system, a case study was conducted using LEMS on Byulnae City in the Seoul Metropolitan Area. The LEMS can be useful for urban planners and policy makers in their selection of desirable planning alternatives. Moreover, the LEMS developed in this study can be a useful tool for academia in terms of the implementation of further related studies, and for planning professionals in their environmental impact assessment tasks.