Landscape Management Policies Research Articles

Improving societal resilience through a GIS-based approach to manage road transport networks under wildfire hazards

Climate change is causing an increase in the frequency and intensity of wildfires, demonstrating that our capacity to respond to them is insufficient. Therefore, it is necessary to reconsider wildfire management policies, practices, and decision-support tools, extending beyond emergency measures. This study presents the extension of a GIS-based methodology for fire analysis, providing decision-making support for the implementation of new fire-related policies for road transportation infrastructure. It represents a novel contribution that facilitates the transition towards proactive wildfire policies. The framework is demonstrated to support informed decision-making, addressing both reactive actions, i.e., emergency response, and the evaluation of proactive adaptation measures at a system level. The results suggest that landscape management policies can play an important role in improving the resilience of road networks to wildfires.

Integrating Landscape Pattern Metrics to Map Spatial Distribution of Farmland Soil Organic Carbon on Lower Liaohe Plain of Northeast China

Accurate digital mapping of farmland soil organic carbon (SOC) contributes to sustainable agricultural development and climate change mitigation. Farmland landscape pattern has changed greatly under anthropogenic influence, which should be considered an environmental variable to characterize the impact of human activities on SOC. In this study, we verified the feasibility of integrating landscape patterns in SOC prediction on Lower Liaohe Plain. Specifically, ten variables (climate, topographic, and landscape pattern variables) were selected for prediction with Random Forest (RF) and Support Vector Machines (SVMs). The effectiveness of landscape metrics was verified by establishing different variable combinations: (1) natural variables, and (2) natural and landscape pattern variables. The results confirmed that landscape variables improved mapping accuracy compared with natural variables. R2 of RF and SVM increased by 20.63% and 20.75%, respectively. RF performed better than SVM with smaller prediction error. Ranking of importance of variables showed that temperature and precipitation were the most important variables. The Aggregation Index (AI) contributed more than elevation, becoming the most important landscape variable. The Mean Contiguity Index (CONTIG-MN) and Landscape Contagion Index (CONTAG) also contributed more than other topographic variables. We conclude that landscape patterns can improve mapping accuracy and support SOC sequestration by optimizing farmland landscape management policies.

UAV‐Lidar reveals that canopy structure mediates the influence of edge effects on forest diversity, function and microclimate

Abstract Widespread forest loss and fragmentation dramatically increases the proportion of forest areas located close to edges. Although detrimental, the precise extent and mechanisms by which edge proximity impacts remnant forests remain to be ascertained. By combining unmanned aerial vehicle laser scanning (UAV‐LS) with field data from 46 plots distributed at varying distances from the edge to the forest interior in a fragmented forest of New‐Caledonia, we investigated edge influence on forest structure, composition, function, above‐ground biomass (AGB) and microclimate. Using simple linear regressions, structural equation modelling and variance partitioning, we analysed the direct and indirect relationships between distance to edge, UAV‐LS‐derived canopy structural metrics, understorey microclimate, AGB, taxonomic and functional composition while accounting for the potential influence of fine‐scale variation in topography. We found that the distance to the closest forest edge was strongly correlated with canopy structure and that canopy structure was better correlated to forest composition, function, biomass and microclimate than distance to the closest forest edge. This suggests that the influence of edge is mediated by changes in canopy structure. Plots located near the edge exhibited a lower canopy with more gaps, higher microclimate extremes, lower biomass, lower taxonomic and functional diversity as well as denser wood and lower specific leaf area. UAV‐LS‐derived canopy structural metrics were relevant predictors of understorey microclimate, biomass and taxonomic and functional composition. Overall, the influence of topography was marginal compared to edge effects. Synthesis. Accounting for fine‐scale variation in canopy structure captured by UAV‐LS provides insights on the multiple edge impacts on key forest properties related to structure, diversity, function, biomass and microenvironmental conditions. Integrating UAV‐LS‐derived data can foster our understanding of cascading and interacting impacts of anthropogenic influence on tropical forest ecosystems and should help to improve conservation strategies and landscape management policies.

Wetland Reclamation and the Development of Reclamation Landscapes: A Comparative Framework

ABSTRACT Wetland reclamation has occurred under diverse geographic and socio-political conditions. A single reclamation event however, forms only one step in the evolution of what we refer to as reclamation landscapes. This paper assesses how interacting physical geographical, cultural and biological processes shape the landscape diachronically. Using a triangular model, we compare two wetland landscapes: the Pontine marshes in central Italy, reclaimed as part of Rome’s early Imperial expansion; and the Onlanden area in the northern Netherlands, reclaimed by emergent state societies in the Middle Ages. Reclamation turned out not fully resilient from a cultural perspective in both cases, as physical geographical and biological processes continued to raise challenges in both reclamation landscapes. It is argued that the triangular model offers potential to systematically explore the drivers behind landscape evolution comparatively. A better understanding of such drivers may in turn improve current landscape management policies, including rewilding efforts.

Positive forest cover effects on coffee yields are consistent across regions

Abstract Enhancing biodiversity‐based ecosystem services can generate win–win opportunities for conservation and agricultural production. Pollination and pest control are two essential agricultural services provided by mobile organisms, many depending on native vegetation networks beyond the farm scale. Many studies have evaluated the effects of landscape changes on such services at small scales. However, several landscape management policies (e.g. selection of conservation sites) and associated funding allocation occur at much larger spatial scales (e.g. state or regional level). Therefore, it is essential to understand whether the links between landscape, ecosystem services and crop yields are robust across broad and heterogeneous regional conditions. Here, we used data from 610 Brazilian municipalities within the Atlantic Forest region (~50 Mha) and show that forest is a crucial factor affecting coffee yields, regardless of regional variations in soil, climate and management practices. We found forest cover surrounding coffee fields was better at predicting coffee yields than forest cover at the municipality level. Moreover, the positive effect of forest cover on coffee yields was stronger for Coffea canephora, the species with higher pollinator dependence, than for Coffea arabica. Overall, coffee yields were highest when they were near to forest fragments, mostly in landscapes with intermediate to high forest cover (>20%), above the biodiversity extinction threshold. Coffee cover was the most relevant management practice associated with coffee yield prediction. An increase in crop area was associated with a higher yield, but mostly in high forest covers municipalities. Other localized management practices like irrigation, pesticide use, organic manure and honeybee density had little importance in predicting coffee yields than landscape structure parameters. Neither the climatic or topographic variables were as relevant as forest cover at predicting coffee yields. Synthesis and application. Our work provides evidence that landscape relationships with ecosystem service provision are consistent across regions with different agricultural practices and environmental conditions. These results provide a way in which landscape management can articulate small landscape management with regional conservation goals. Policies directed towards increasing landscape interspersion of coffee fields with forest remnants favour spillover process, and can thus benefit the provision of biodiversity‐based ecosystem services, increasing agricultural productivity. Such interventions can generate win–win situations favouring biodiversity conservation and increased crop yields across large regions.

Subsurface delineation of doline features associated with Pleistocene clay-with-flints deposits in the Chilterns: Implications for British Palaeolithic archaeology

Palaeolithic research in the Chiltern Hills (southern England) is important for our understanding of the Pleistocene occupation of Britain, through its record of primary-context assemblages identified by Worthington G. Smith in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The information available from these sites and surface findspots is limited by the context in which the assemblages were retrieved, but can inform attempts to locate further relevant sites within the region. These previous sites are all focused around doline features that may have acted as semi-permanent ponds or lakes that recurrently or occasionally attracted hominins. Therefore, the present study presents results of a desk-based geographical information system (GIS) analysis, using publicly available national geological datasets, aiming to identify and characterise probable subsurface doline features within the karstic landscape of the Chilterns, with a regional focus on Hyde Heath (Buckinghamshire). Rather than relying exclusively on surface findspot associations, we follow the Unified Palaeolithic Landscape Approach framework in relation to artefact release and preservation to refine which features would be most conducive to in situ primary preservation of hominin activity and behaviour. This also has implications for landscape management policy and preservation of archaeological sites in the region.

A Knowledge Brokering Framework for Integrated Landscape Management

Sustainable land management is at the heart of some of the most intractable challenges facing humanity in the 21st century. It is critical for tackling biodiversity loss, land degradation, climate change and the decline of ecosystem services. It underpins food production, livelihoods, dietary health, social equity, climate change adaptation and many other outcomes. However, interdependencies, trade-offs, time lags and non-linear responses make it difficult to predict the combined effects of land management decisions . Policy decisions also have to be made in the context of conflicting interests, values and power dynamics of those living on the land and those affected by the consequences of land use decisions. This makes designing and coordinating effective land management policies and programmes highly challenging. The difficulty is exacerbated by the scarcity of reliable data on the impacts of land management on the environment and livelihoods. This poses a challenge for policymakers and practitioners in governments, development banks, non-governmental organisations and other institutions. It also sets demands for researchers, who are under ever increasing pressure from funders to demonstrate uptake and impact of their work. Relatively few research methods exist that can address such questions in a holistic way. Decision makers and researchers need to work together to help untangle, contextualise and interpret fragmented evidence through systems approaches to make decisions in spite of uncertainty. Individuals and institutions acting as knowledge brokers can support these interactions by facilitating the co-creation and use of scientific and other knowledge. Given the patchy nature of data and evidence, particularly in developing countries, it is important to draw on the full range of available models, tools and evidence. In this paper we review the use of evidence to inform multiple-objective integrated landscape management policies and programmes, focusing on how to achieve multiple sustainable development objectives across diverse landscapes. We set out key success factors for evidence-based decision-making, which are summarised into ten key principles for integrated landscape management knowledge brokering and 12 key skills for knowledge brokers. We finally propose a decision-support framework to organise evidence that can be used to tackle different types of land management policy decision.

Management System of Urban Landscape in Poland on the Example of Wroclaw in the Context of European Landscape Convention Implementation

This study analyzes legal system of urban landscape management in Poland and its changes in last decade on the example of Wroclaw – city located in central part of Lower Silesia region in south-western Poland. The main objective of the study was to assess the current legal system of urban landscape management in Poland in terms of the implementation of the European Landscape Convention provisions. Before coming into force the act of 24 April 2015 amending certain laws in connection with the reinforcement of the tools for landscape protection (so-called “Landscape Act”) the basis of landscape management were spatial planning documents and guidelines from documents forming protection areas of nature or monument values. Study of the conditions and directions of spatial development, selected land development plans as well as guidelines for seven nature conservation areas and one cultural park were analyzed in terms of landscape management provisions. Changes of legal basis were also taken into account. After 11 years since ratifying European Landscape Convention in 2004 Polish authorities have finally noticed the necessity to implement its provisions to Polish law. Legal basis for urban landscape management has been drastically changed. Landscape Act introduces new tool for landscape management at regional level called landscape audit which will affect all new spatial planning documents of the city. It consists in characterization and assessment of all landscape types identified within the borders of each region in Poland. It is the basis for selection of priority landscapes, identification of threats and determination the way of spatial development of landscape units. Local authorities have also received new tool for shaping advertising policy. In the context of European Landscape Convention implementation, it should be emphasized that before 2015 there was no document dedicated strictly for landscape management of Wroclaw because there was no legal basis for it. All the provisions were scattered in various kind of documents that’s why there was no coherent landscape management policy. It remains to be hoped that in the coming years, a coherent policy in this area will finally be developed and adopted thanks to the use of new landscape management tools.

경관인식에 따른 산지경관 관리 가치 연구†

Recently, the conservation of mountainous landscape and compensation for diverse demands for mountain areas such as leisure, recreation and welfare are under discussion. The purpose of this study is to investigation the perception of mountainous landscapes by those who view and recognize the landscapes and to estimate economic value by estimating the willingness to pay for the management of mountainous landscapes. This study will provide data for the management of mountainous landscapes. As a result of comparing the perception between the territorial landscape and the mountain landscape, the mountain scenery was 3.96, the management level satisfaction was 3.28, and the management necessity was 4.38, which was higher than the national landscape, while the national landscape was satisfactory but the management level was insufficient. Jeju Island (39.0%) and Gangwon (38.6%) were chosen as the most scenic areas with beautiful forest and mountainous landscape resources. The aesthetic characteristics of the vast skyline of mountain scenery, the background of the area, and the mountainous landscape that forms the landmark were evaluated highly. And, it is considered that consciousness of mountainous landscape management is heightened by 86.8% of respondents, who positively answered the Mountainous Landscape Visual Impact Assessment before the development project. The per capita payment amount for mountainous landscape management was calculated to be 3,742 won and, based on the number of visitors to the mountain National Parks in 2016, it is estimated to have an economic value of about 169.5 billion won. Policymakers have limitations in the mountainous landscape management policies of the administrative subject. Establishing a consensus on the importance and necessity of landscape management by diagnosing the status of public perception is expected to help create more effective policy direction and implement strategies for the management of these areas.

Socioecological disparities in New Orleans following Hurricane Katrina

AbstractDespite growing interest in urban resilience, remarkably little is known about vegetation dynamics in the aftermath of disasters. In this study, we examined the composition and structure of plant communities across New Orleans (Louisiana, USA) following catastrophic flooding triggered by levee failures during Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Focusing on eight neighborhoods that span a range of demographic and topographical conditions, we assessed whether plant communities in post‐Katrina New Orleans reflect flooding disturbance and post‐disaster landscape management policies. We then contextualized vegetation patterns and associated ecosystem services and disservices with census‐based demographic trends and in‐depth interviews to draw inferences about the drivers and outcomes of urban land abandonment in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. We found that areas subject to the greatest flooding disturbance exhibit the highest rates of vegetation response. Disturbance intensity and elevation, however, are relatively weak drivers of vegetation differences among the studied neighborhoods. Rather, we found that household income, racial demographics, and land abandonment are important drivers of vegetation community composition and structure across the city. Our findings indicate that resettlement and landscape management policies can mediate post‐flooding ecological outcomes and demonstrate that unmanaged, emergent vegetation on abandoned lands can be an environmental justice concern in underserved and historically marginalized communities.

The Ebb and Flow of Trees and Farmland: Symbols of Nationhood in Scotland and Norway

How does historiography merge with national stories and shape tangible land use and land management issues? This article explores how two national stories—“The Free Norwegian Farmer” in Norway and “The Caledonian Forest” in Scotland—have become influential. More specifically, it investigates how they activate key symbols which are used as both ends and means in landscape-management policies. Using trees as a starting point, this article will show how afforestation plans on one hand and schemes to fight brushwood encroachment on the other each are direct or indirect outcomes of national stories that have merged with historical processes. National stories are defined as accounts used in the past and present to strengthen the political idea of nationhood. The term “key symbols” will be used as Sherry Ortner defined them: as elements within a culture “which ... are crucial to its distinctive organization”. This article is based on literature studies, interviews, and ethnographic fieldwork among people working in agriculture, forestry, and land management and policy in Scotland and Norway during 2001, 2004, and 2005.

Análise cênica e diversidade visual de paisagens:

A análise da qualidade cênica com uso de geotecnologias reduz a subjetividade nas avaliações de impacto visual no planejamento de trilhas para a visitação turística. Pelo emprego da técnica de viewshed, foi conduzida uma análise da qualidade cênica e da diversidade de paisagens das trilhas ativas do Parque Nacional da Chapada dos Veadeiros - Goiás, visando à identificação de melhores alternativas para a visitação turística. Verificou-se que a Trilha dos Saltos possui maior abrangência visual da paisagem em termos de tamanho e qualidade cênica. A intersecção dos viewsheds das duas principais trilhas foi de 20,13 km², representando uma área que merece pesquisas específicas que forneçam subsídios para a implementação de uma política de gestão. A técnica empregada minimiza os efeitos dos impactos ambientais negativos, ao permitir uma análise das melhores opções de visitação e ao identificar áreas prioritárias em termos de manejo ambiental com vistas ao uso turístico sustentável.

농어촌경관 관리정책에 대한 관련 주체의 의식분석 및 향후 과제

This study aims to make a comparison of the attitudes between residents, officials and experts towards the rural landscape management polices. It is also designed to suggest the improvements to the rural landscape management policies. This study showed that there were differences in awareness of the rural landscape management polices depending on stakeholder who are residents, officials and experts and experienced groups of rural landscape projects. The directions of improvement of rural landscape policies are as follows: First, it's necessary that the various rural landscape management polices is made of considering the differences on the interest group's recognition. Second, the related rural landscape improvement programs should be implemented based on those plan. Third, the various programs which are to lead voluntary residents participation and to strengthen participant's capabilities have to be arranged to manage the rural landscape effectively.

Harnessing benefits from improved livestock water productivity in crop–livestock systems of sub-Saharan Africa: synthesis

The threat of water scarcity in sub-Saharan Africa is real, due to the expanding agricultural needs, climate variability and inappropriate land use. Livestock keeping is the fastest growing agricultural sector, partly because of increasing and changing demands for adequate, quality and diverse food for people, driven by growing incomes and demographic transitions. Besides the economic benefits, rising livestock production could also deplete water and aggravate water scarcity at local and global scales. The insufficient understanding of livestock–water interactions also led to low livestock productivity, impeded sound decision on resources management and undermined achieving positive returns on investments in agricultural water across sub-Saharan Africa. Innovative and integrated measures are required to improve water productivity and reverse the growing trends of water scarcity. Livestock water productivity (LWP), which is defined as the ratio of livestock outputs to the amount of water depleted, could be improved through: (i) raising the efficiency of the water inputs by integrating livestock with crop, water and landscape management policies and practices. Improving feed water productivity by maximising transpiration and minimising evaporation and other losses is critical; (ii) increasing livestock outputs through improved feed management, veterinary services and introducing system-compatible breeds; and (iii) because livestock innovation is a social process, it is not possible to gain LWP improvements unless close attention is paid to policies, institutions and their associated processes. Policies targeting infrastructure development would help livestock keepers secure access to markets, veterinary services and knowledge. This paper extracts highlights from various papers presented in the special issue of The Rangeland Journal on technologies and practices that would enable improving water productivity at various scales and the premises required to reverse the negative trends of water depletion and land degradation.

Mapping glider songlines: development of a landscape management policy for the Yellow-bellied GliderPetaurus australis(Shaw 1791) in the Eurobodalla Shire on the south coast of New South Wales

This paper outlines the development in 2001 of a management policy for the Yellow-bellied Glider Petaurus australis in the Eurobodalla Shire in response to case studies conducted by the author for a development proposal. The proposal to clear habitat for a school indicated that significant impact on the Yellow-bellied Glider was likely after addressing the “eight part test” under section 5A of the NSW Environmental Planning & Assessment Act (1979). The subsequent Species Impact Statement placed the impacts of the development into a regional context in respect to the distribution of the glider and included an estimate of population size and identified a habitat corridor in the Broulee area. The local government then requested concurrence from the NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service. A ‘condition of concurrence’ was that a policy be developed by the Local Government Authority to conserve Yellow-bellied Glider habitat in the Broulee subregion. The policy to conserve the Yellow-bellied Glider in the Broul...

Hydrochemical Buffer Assessment in Agricultural Landscapes: From Local to Catchment Scale

Non-point-source pollution of surface and groundwater is a prominent environmental issue in rural catchments, with major consequences on water supply and aquatic ecosystem quality. Among surface-water protection measures, environmental or landscape management policies support the implementation and the management of buffer zones. Although a great number of studies have focused on buffer zones, quantification of the buffer effect is still a recurring question. The purpose of this article is a critical review of the assessment of buffer-zone functioning. Our objective is to provide land planners and managers with a set of variables to assess the limits and possibilities for quantifying buffer impact at the catchment scale. We first consider the scale of the local landscape feature. The most commonly used empirical method for assessing buffers is to calculate water/nutrient budgets from inflow-outflow monitoring at the level of landscape structures. We show that several other parameters apart from mean depletion of flux can be used to describe buffer functions. Such parameters include variability, with major implication for water management. We develop a theoretical framework to clarify the assessment of the buffer effect and propose a systematic analysis taking account of temporal variability. Second, we review the current assessment of buffer effects at the catchment scale according to the theoretical framework established at the local scale. Finally, we stress the limits of direct empirical assessment at the catchment scale and, in particular, we emphasize the hierarchy in hydrological processes involved at the catchment scale: The landscape feature function is constrained by other factors (climate and geology) that are of importance at a broader spatial and temporal scale.

The Need to Define Hydrologic Equivalence at the Landscape Scale for Freshwater Wetland Mitigation

Attempts to replace wetlands or define hydrologic equivalence for wetland mitigation must be based on an understanding of the complexity of wetland hydrology and of the relationship of individual wetlands to the landscape. Because mitigation has the potential to re‐configure the kinds and spatial distribution of wetland ecosystems over large geographic areas, I advocate a landscape approach to defining hydrologic equivalence. This approach does not depend on specification of hydroperiod or other hydrologic variables for individual wetlands. It relies instead on knowledge of landscape properties that control wetland hydrology and water chemistry. In this paper I develop the conceptual framework for defining hydrologic equivalence for wetland mitigation viewed as a de facto landscape management policy with the potential to reduce the diversity of wetland types within regions. I review modern hydrogeological understanding of where wetlands form in the landscape and identify key hydrologic variables responsible for the formation of specific wetland types. I also review existing evaluations of mitigation projects in several states. On the basis of these reviews, I argue that, in setting regulatory criteria for judging hydrologic equivalence, the scale must be enlarged from the individual wetland project to include the broader landscape. Only this broader view can provide the context within which decision‐makers can evaluate the potential cumulative effects of individual mitigation decisions on broad‐scale patterns of wetland diversity. The landscape approach to defining hydrologic equivalence that I advocate is based on the concept of templates for wetland development. These templates are the diversity of settings created in specific landscapes by the complex interactions of hydrogeologic factors and climate. These interactions, in turn, control key hydrologic variables and hydrologically influenced chemical variables that cause specific wetland types to form. Hydrologic equivalence then can be defined at the scale of landscapes in terms of the kinds, numbers, relative abundances, and spatial distribution of wetland templates. The approach can be implemented through the identification of landscape goals and profiles based on knowledge of these templates. The profiles would catalog and map the diversity of wetland templates and the diversity of existing wetland types within a given landscape, focusing the attention of decision‐makers on broad‐scale patterns of loss in wetland types and providing a context within which individual mitigation projects could be evaluated. Landscape goals for maintaining a diversity of wetland templates are suggested.