Landscape Pattern Analysis Research Articles

Analysis of landscape pattern on urban land use based on GF-5 hyperspectral data

Analysis of landscape pattern on urban land use based on GF-5 hyperspectral data

城市热岛“源-汇”景观识别及降温效率

PDF HTML阅读 XML下载 导出引用 引用提醒 城市热岛“源-汇”景观识别及降温效率 DOI: 10.5846/stxb201904140747 作者: 作者单位: 作者简介: 通讯作者: 中图分类号: 基金项目: 国家自然科学基金项目（41771204） “Source-sink” landscape identification of the urban heat island and the cooling efficiency Author: Affiliation: Fund Project: National Natural Foundation of China 'Risk from urban island and mechanism of landscape for mitigation and adaptation' 摘要 | 图/表 | 访问统计 | 参考文献 | 相似文献 | 引证文献 | 资源附件 | 文章评论 摘要:快速城市化背景下，不同景观降温效率的差异是深入理解景观格局对城市热岛效应影响机理的基础。现有城市热岛研究多以土地利用或土地覆被替代热岛效应的源与汇，往往忽略景观的热特征与相邻景观的热关系，造成信息偏差。需要从景观热特征的视角，探讨面向城市热岛效应的景观分类方法，并分析不同特征景观的降温效率差异。基于"源-汇"景观理论，以深圳市西部为研究区，构建面向城市热岛的景观分类方法，通过2010年TM遥感影像提取NDVI、NDMI及ISA等地表特征及地表温度特性，叠加划分16类城市景观，分析不同地表特征的景观等距离梯度下的温度变化关系，识别城市热岛的"源-汇"景观。在此基础上，分析"源-汇"景观的结构特征，构建以面积和温度为影响因素的景观降温效率指数，结合景观格局指数，分析不同面积与形状的"汇"景观降温效率。结果表明，在16类景观中，5类景观被识别为城市热岛汇景观，面积约533 km2，占研究区总面积的45.5%。降温效率结果表明，"汇"景观的降温效率为1.54，其中绿色空间及阴影景观的降温效率贡献率较高。通过面积与形状的景观格局分析发现，降温效果随两个指数的增加，均呈先升后降的趋势。研究结果为城市规划与城市绿色基础设施建设决策中降温景观的形状和面积设定提供依据，增加景观水平的缓解热岛效应的效率。 Abstract:In the context of rapid urbanization, the difference in cooling efficiency of different landscapes is the basis of understanding the influence mechanism underpinning landscape pattern on urban heat island effect. Existing studies on the heat island effect primarily use land use or land cover as the proxy for the source and sink landscape. This creates an information bias by ignoring the thermal characteristics of the landscape and the thermal relationship with adjacent landscapes. It is deemed necessary to explore the landscape classification method for the urban heat island effect and analyze differences in the cooling efficiency of landscapes with different characteristics. Based on "source-sink" landscape theory, this study constructs a landscape classification method for urban heat island using the western part of Shenzhen City as the study area. Sixteen urban landscape types were divided based on the extraction of surface features such as Normalized Difference Vegetation Index, Normalized Difference Moisture Index, and Impervious Surface Area and land surface temperature from Thematic Mapper remote sensing imagery in 2010. With the analysis of the temperature relationship under the equal distance gradient for landscapes with different surface features, the "source-sink" landscape of urban heat island was identified. On this basis, the composed landscape characteristics of the "source-sink" landscape were analyzed, and the cooling efficiency of landscape with area and temperature as influencing factors was calculated. Combined with the landscape pattern index, the cooling efficiency of separate areas and shapes of the sink landscape was analyzed. Five landscape types were identified as the urban heat island sink landscape. The area is approximately 533 km2, accounting for 45.5% of the total study area. Results of cooling efficiency showed that the cooling efficiency of the "sink" landscape is 1.54, among which the contribution rate of green space and shadow landscape was higher. Based on the analysis of landscape patterns, it was found that the cooling efficiency both first increases and then decreases with the increase of the index value. The results can provide support for the shape and area setting of a cooling landscape in urban planning and urban green infrastructure design decision-making, mitigate urban heat island effect and increase the cooling efficiency at the landscape level. 参考文献 相似文献 引证文献

基于InVEST模型的皖西大别山区生境质量时空演化及景观格局分析

PDF HTML阅读 XML下载 导出引用 引用提醒 基于InVEST模型的皖西大别山区生境质量时空演化及景观格局分析 DOI: 10.5846/stxb201904260858 作者: 作者单位: 作者简介: 通讯作者: 中图分类号: 基金项目: 国家社会科学基金重点项目（14AZD124）；安徽高校人文社会科学研究重大项目（SK2018ZD043）；安徽省科技创新战略与软科学研究项目（201806a02020046） Spatial-temporal evolution of habitat quality and analysis of landscape patterns in Dabie Mountain area of west Anhui province based on InVEST model Author: Affiliation: Fund Project: 摘要 | 图/表 | 访问统计 | 参考文献 | 相似文献 | 引证文献 | 资源附件 | 文章评论 摘要:新型城镇化及生态文明建设背景下，加强中国重要生态功能区的生境质量研究具有重要意义。以皖西大别山区舒城县为例，基于InVEST模型及地形位等方法进行生境质量时空演变与景观格局互动及梯度效应分析，结果表明：（1）1995-2015年，研究区生境质量指数从1995年的0.6392下降为2015年的0.6356，总体降幅不大；生境退化程度持续上升，由0.0133上升至0.0142。热点分析表明，生境质量较差的冷点区主要分布于东北部的城镇及其周边区域，质量较高的热点区主要位于西南部植被分布区；（2）生境质量及生境退化分布指数具有显著的地形位梯度效应。高生境质量分布指数与林地分布一致并随地形位梯度上升成主导优势，而低生境质量分布与建设用地和农地分布一致，并在低地形位梯度上占主导优势；（3）分区和整体生境质量与景观格局指数相关性显著，但不同区域内的二者之间相关性质各异。生境质量演化受地形和景观格局影响较大。研究结果对于大别山重要生态功能区的生境保护及生态系统功能调控具有一定的理论与实践价值。 Abstract:Under the background of new-type urbanization and ecological civilization construction, it is of great significance to strengthen the research on habitat quality of important ecological functional areas in China. Taking the Shucheng County of Dabie Mountain area in west Anhui province as an example, based on InVEST model and terrain gradient method, this study analyzes the spatial-temporal evolution of habitat quality and the interaction between landscape pattern and gradient effect. The results showed that: (1)In the past two decades, the habitat quality index of the study area was 0.6392 in 1995 and 0.6356 in 2015, respectively. The value of habitat quality showed decline trend from 1995 to 2015, but the degree of habitat degradation continued to rise from 0.0133 to 0.0142. Hot spot analysis showed that the cold spot areas with poor habitat quality were mainly located in the northeastern and its peripheral zone of the study area, which is mainly dominated by cities and towns, and the hot spot areas with high habitat quality were mainly located in the southwestern vegetation distribution region. (2)Habitat quality and habitat degradation distribution have significant topographic potential gradient effect. The distribution index of high habitat quality was consistent with that of forest land and became dominant along with the topographic gradient, while the distribution of low habitat quality was consistent with that of construction land and farmland and became dominant along the topographic gradient. (3)There was a significant correlation between habitat quality and landscape pattern indexes at overall region level and sub-region level, but the characteristics of correlation varied greatly among four levels. The evolution of habitat quality is greatly influenced by topography and landscape pattern. The results could have certain theoretical and practical value for habitat protection and functional regulation of ecosystem in west Anhui Dabie Mountain area, which is an important ecological function area in China. 参考文献 相似文献 引证文献

Temporal and spatial variations of impervious surface landscape pattern and the driving factors in Xiamen City, China

Xiamen is one of China's five major special economic zones and is the core city of Haixi Economic Zone, with a high level of urbanization. Monitoring and driving force analysis of impervious surfaces can increase our understanding of urbanization process and have important significance for urban landscape pattern research and urban ecological environment construction. We used the Landsat remote sensing image data from 1978 to 2018 to reveal the temporal and spatial variation characteristics of the impervious surface landscape in Xiamen in the past 40 years, using the full-restricted least squares method, landscape pattern analysis, slope gradient analysis and correlation analysis. We further analyzed its relationship with social and economic factors. The results showed that, during 1978-2018, the impervious surface of Xiamen increased by 348.96 km2, with a mean annual increase of 8.72 km2. The impervious surface dynamics reached a maximum of 9.0% in 2005-2010. More than 86.6% of the impervious surface of Xiamen was distributed within 6° of slope, with a tendency to expand to a greater slope in 2010-2018. With the increases of slope, the proportion of impervious surface decreased, the density of plaque decreased with the shape tending to be regular and continuous, the degree of fragmentation of the impervious surface increased. The increases of impervious surface in Xiamen was significantly related to the regional economic aggregate and population. In the study period, the spatial pattern of impervious surface in Xiamen significantly altered. In the future urban planning process, the extent and speed of impervious surface expansion should be coordinated to avoid ecological problems caused by excessive impervious surface to meet the need for sustainable development of Xiamen.

Land-Use Variations in Regions with Rapid Economic Development - A Case Study in the Pearl River Delta

This study evaluates land use/cover changes (LUCC), urban expansion and landscape pattern in the Pearl River Delta (PRD) from 1995 to 2015. Specifically, analysis of spatial-temporal process and transfer directions of LUCC. From the perspective of landscape pattern analysis, select twelve types of landscape indexes, and comprehensively explore the impact of LUCC on landscape pattern. The results show that forestland has the largest area in all landscape types, occupying more than 50%. The forest coverage rate of the PRD is relatively high; meanwhile, forestland presents a spatially distributed form of aggregation. Urban-land expansion is primarily driven by population growth and economic development. The LUCC is imbalanced and shows a one-way transition; the proportion of built-up land increased from 7.91% in 1995 to 14.34% in 2015 (expansion has nearly doubled in size). The prominent built-up land expansions found in Foshan, Guangzhou, Shenzhen and Dongguan; mainly though the occupation of large amounts of forest and cropland. The landscape tends to be more fragmented and diversified. Human activities, as the main driving force, need to avoid the acceleration of the urbanization process to occupy a large amount of ecological land in future development and maintain the existing forest coverage.

The dynamics of landscape pattern changes in mining areas: The case study of the Adamów-Koźmin Lignite Basin

AbstractMining belongs to the types of human activity that have a significant impact on the environment, and especially on the landscape. The main objective of this study is a quantitative diagnosis of the dynamics of land use changes and landscape pattern modification in areas shaped under the influence of processes related to the open pit exploitation of lignite. The study was carried out in the Adamów-Koźmin Lignite Basin, which is a model example of an area affected by strong anthropogenic pressure. An assessment of changes was carried out using a set of maps depicting land use in the period preceding the exploitation of lignite (the year 1940) and after over 60 years of the mining activity in this area (as of 2011). The source materials for mapping for the first period were archival maps and for the second period, an orthophotomap. The heads-up digitising method was used to determine 7 types of land-cover classes according to the definitions of Corine Land Cover. Ten landscape metrics for five categories of landscape features (surface, shape, neighbourhood, edge, spatial distribution and diversity) were used in the landscape pattern analysis. The results do not confirm the hypothesis of a significant landscape simplification after reclamation. The shape of patches in the landscape was more complex and the number of land-use types was higher, which combined with their spatial arrangement, caused the landscape pattern to be more diversified in the year 2011.

Metrics and Models for Quantifying Ecological Resilience at Landscape Scales

An explicit link between the abiotic environment, the biotic components of ecosystems, and resilience to disturbance across multiple scales is needed to operationalize the concept of ecological resilience. To accomplish this, managers must be able to measure the ecological resilience of current conditions and project resilience under future scenarios of landscape change. The goal of this paper is to present metrics and describe a process for using geospatial data, landscape pattern analysis and landscape dynamic simulation modeling to evaluate ecosystem resilience at management scales. The dynamic equilibria of species abundances, community structure, and landscape patterns that are produced under a given combination of abiotic conditions, such as topography, soils, and climate, can form a foundation to define desired conditions and measure resistance and resilience. The degree of forcing required to push the system from this dynamic range is a measure of resistance, and the rate of return to the dynamic range after the perturbation is a measure of the resilience and recovery of the system. Several tools from the field of landscape ecology are useful in defining the dynamic range of an ecosystem under natural regulation and to measure the forcing required to drive departure and the rate of recovery. Simulation models provide means to quantify the expected range of species abundance, community structure, and landscape patterns under a variety of scenarios, including the natural disturbance regime, current disturbance regime, and possible future regimes under alternative management and climate scenarios. Landscape pattern analysis and multivariate trajectory analysis provide a means to quantify conditions and change vectors relative to this desired range. Together this combination of tools provides a means to define the conditions of a desired state for an ecosystem, to quantify the degree of resistance and resilience of the system to perturbation, and to measure and monitor the departure from the range of natural variability in the system dynamics.

Spatial scaling of multiple landscape features in the conterminous United States

Spatial heterogeneity is scale-dependent. Understanding the scaling rules of spatial features across wide ranges of scale is a major challenge in landscape ecology. The lack of scientific justification in choosing proper scale may lead to unexpected outcomes in landscape pattern analysis and result in biases in subsequent process analysis. The goal is to provide an extensive analysis on scaling relationships for a variety of landscape metrics as functions of grain size and extent. Specific research objectives are to: (1) identify scaling relationships of landscape metrics as functions of grain size, (2) define scale domains of these scaling relationships, and (3) explore how scaling relations of landscape metrics with respect to grain size would change with spatial extent. Expanding the approach of Wu and Hobbs (Landsc Ecol 17:355–365, 2002) and Wu (Landsc Ecol 19:125–138, 2004) using a much bigger dataset and covering a wider range of scales, we examined the patterns of scalograms of 38 landscape metrics within 96 sampled landscapes ranging from 25 to 221 km2 in the conterminous United States. Scaling models were derived from the scalograms as a function of grain size, and the scale domains of these models were identified as the critical scales along the dimensions of grain size and spatial extent where the performance of the models fell below a given error limit. The responses of landscape metrics with respect to changing resolutions fall into three categories: predictable across the whole spectrum of grain size investigated (Type I), predictable in a limited range of grain size (Type II), and unpredictable (Type III). For Type II metrics, the critical aggregation resolutions were identified based on the predefined error limit, and scale-invariant power-law scaling relationships were found between critical resolutions and spatial extents. All the scaling exponents are positive, suggesting that critical aggregation resolutions can be relaxed as the spatial extent expands. Furthermore, the coefficients of scaling relations for Type I and II metrics vary with spatial extents, and robust scaling functions between the coefficients and the extent can be observed for some metrics. This study addresses a fundamental scale issue in landscape ecology: how a particular spatial pattern would change with scale and how information could be adequately transferred from one scale to another. A variety of scaling relationships exist on the spatial patterns of landscape metrics, and they could provide guidance to researchers on how to select an appropriate scale for a study of interest. In addition, the findings support the empirical perception that coarser grain size might be used for a larger spatial extent.

Spatial-Temporal Dynamic Analysis of Land Use and Landscape Pattern in Guangzhou, China: Exploring the Driving Forces from an Urban Sustainability Perspective

Rapid urbanization is one of the most important factors causing land-use change, which mainly results from the orientation of government policies, adjustment of industrial structure, and migration of the rural population. Land use and land cover change (LUCC) is the natural foundation of urban development that is significantly influenced by human activities. By analyzing the LUCC and its inner driving force, as well as landscape pattern change, human activity and urban sustainable development can be better understood. This research adopted a geographic information system (GIS) and remote sensing (RS) technology to comprehensively analyze land use of Guangzhou, respectively, in 1995, 2005, and 2015. Fragmentation Statistics (FRAGSTATS) is the most authoritative software to calculate landscape metrics. Landscape pattern change was analyzed by FRAGSTATS. The results showed that urban land significantly increased from 16.33% in 1995 to 36.05% in 2015. Farmland greatly decreased from 45.16% in 1995 to 27.82% in 2005 and then slightly decreased to 25.10% in 2015. In the first decade, the non-agricultural conversion of rural land and the expansion of urban land was the dominant factor that led to the change. In the second decade, urban land had been supplemented through the redevelopment of low-efficiency land. The fragmentation of landscape patterns significantly increased from 1995 to 2005 and slightly decreased from 2005 to 2015. It indicated that the change in land use in the second decade was different from that in the first. This difference mainly resulted from three aspects: (1) urban development area and ecological conservation area were clearly defined in Guangzhou; (2) many small towns had developed into urban centers, and the scattered urban land gathered into these centers; (3) the establishment of greenway improved the connection of fragmented patches. After that, this study discussed land-use change and its causes and proposed the trend of urban development from the perspective of sustainability.

QUANTIFYING EFFECTS OF CHANGING SPATIAL SCALE ON SPATIAL ENTROPY INDEX: USE OF FRACTAL DIMENSION

Abstract. Quantifying landscape heterogeneity and its organization at different scales is essential for understanding ecosystems and landscapes. Among hundreds of landscape metrics, entropy-related index represents an efficient tool to quantify and characterize landscape patterns. A recent development is Spatial Entropy index (Hs), and it has been validated as flexible and effective in landscape pattern analysis. However, the effects of changing spatial scale on Hs has not been quantified. This paper applies the fractal method to measure the spatial scale (grain size) sensitivity of Hs. Using the initial land-use data of Yanhe watershed, which is located in northwest of China, eleven different spatial scales were created in order to investigate the scale effects on Hs. A linear log–log regression model was then constructed based on the power law to calculate the coefficient of determination (COD) of the model and the fractal dimension (FD) of Hs. The result indicates that Spatial Entropy index shows a robust fractal feature, and it decreases as the spatial scale (or grain size) becomes lager in a moderate degree. In total, we believe that this study will help us to get a better understanding of Hs, and to facilitate further applications of this entropy-related index.

Landscape pattern analysis and ecological network planning of Tianjin City

Ecological considerations in urban planning stem mostly from the recent sustainable development requirements. In current urban planning, ecological considerations rarely take ecological network structure into account, which often leads to severe landscape fragmentation, poor patch connectivity and serious threats to urban ecological systems. Improving patch connectivity through ecological networks, a minimum cost distance model was proposed for constructing urban ecological corridors and networks and the established urban ecological networks was optimized by setting up foot stones and source points. The establishment of ecological network of Tianjin City was taken as an example. The importance of ecological corridors was further obtained by gravity model. The results showed that the optimized urban ecological network greatly improved on aspects of the city’s corridor connectivity and network closure.

Greenspace Pattern and the Surface Urban Heat Island: A Biophysically-Based Approach to Investigating the Effects of Urban Landscape Configuration

Surface urban heat islands (SUHIs) are influenced by the spatial distribution of green space, which in turn can be influenced by urban planning. When studying the relationship between structure and function it is critical that the scale of observation reflects the scale of the phenomenon being measured. To investigate the relationship between green space pattern and the SUHI in the Kansas City metropolitan area, we conducted a multi-resolution wavelet analysis of land surface temperature (LST) to determine the dominant length scales of LST production. We used these scales as extents for calculating landscape metrics on a high-resolution land cover map. We built regression models to investigate whether–controlling for the percent vegetated area–patch size, fragmentation, shape, complexity, and/or proximity can mitigate SUHIs. We found that while some of the relationships between landscape metrics and LST are significant, their explanatory power would be of little use in planning for green infrastructure. We also found that the relationships often reported between landscape metrics and LST are artifacts of the relationship between the percent of vegetation and LST. By using the dominant length scales of LST we provide a methodology for robust biophysically-based analysis of urban landscape pattern and demonstrate that the contributions of green space configuration to the SUHI are negligible. The simple result that increasing green space can lower LST regardless of configuration allows the prioritization of resources towards benefiting neighborhoods most vulnerable to the negative impacts of urban heat.

A conceptual model for a process-oriented landscape pattern analysis

Linking landscape patterns to specific ecological processes has been and will continue to be the key topic in landscape ecology. However, this goal is difficult to achieve by using the traditional landscape metric based on the Patch-Mosaic Model (PMM), as they don’t integrate ecological processes with landscape patterns. In this paper, we proposed a conceptual model, i.e., the Source-Pathway-Sink Model (SPSM), which designates the role of a landscape unit into “source”, “sink”, or “pathway” based on specific ecological processes during the landscape pattern analysis. While the traditional landscape metrics derived from the PMM model is visual- or geometrical-oriented and lack of linkage to ecological significance, the SPSM model is process-oriented, dynamic, and scale dependent. A comparison between the PMM and the SPSM models shows that the SPSM model is complementary to the PMM model, and can provide a simple and dynamic perspective on landscape pattern analysis. The SPSM model may represent a conceptual innovation in landscape ecology.

Relationship between forest city landscape pattern and thermal environment: A case study of Longquan City, China.

The differentiation characteristics of landscape pattern affect the urban thermal environment. In this study, temperature characteristics of nine types of landscape in a national forest city, Longquan City, were analyzed by temperature inversion method and spatial analysis. The landscape pattern analysis method was used to explore the correlation of landscape metrics and the thermal environment from 1 km to 3.5 km. The results showed that the high and sub-high temperature zones of Longquan City were distributed in northeast-southwest, mainly composed of urban and rural residential areas. The low and sub-low temperature zone were mainly distributed in the northwest and southeast areas, mainly composed of public welfare forests. By calculating the mean land surface temperature of each landscape type in the area below 700 m above sea level, the temperature of coniferous forest, broadleaf forest, conifer-broadleaf forest, bamboo forest and water was relatively low, whereas that of shrub land, other forest land, cultivated land and construction land was relatively high. Through the analysis of landscape pattern and thermal environment, it was found that the class pattern index was more practical than the landscape pattern index. The correlation between thermal environment effect and construction land distribution reached 0.835, coniferous forest land, broadleaf forest land, coniferous-broadleaf forest land and water were the second, up to -0.5 to -0.4. The cooling effects of different forest types vaied across different spatial scales. Broadleaved forests and coniferous-broadleaved forests were more conducive to cooling at large scales. The larger the area and volume stock of forest land, the more likely it had the lowest land surface temperature.

Economic Globalization Impacts on the Ecological Environment of Inland Developing Countries: A Case Study of Laos from the Perspective of the Land Use/Cover Change

Economic globalization promotes the economic development of underdeveloped regions but also influences the ecological environments of these regions, such as natural forest degradation. For inland developing regions with underdeveloped traffic routes, are the effects on the ecological environment also as obvious? To reveal the response characteristics of the ecological environment of the inland developing countries to globalization, we took Laos as an example, and used the land use/cover change data and also its exports and imports data to analyze the ecological environment change since the millennium. Land use transfer matrix analysis showed that Laos had encountered a large conversion of 14.43% natural forest to plantation forest since 2000 to 2017, and also a degradation of 5.94% natural forest to shrubland and grassland. Landscape pattern analysis showed that these changes were the main reasons of the fragmentation of ecological patches, which would lead to a reduction in biodiversity. More, topographic analysis further showed that natural forest degradation mainly took place in high-altitude and large slope areas, which could increase the potential of natural hazards such as floods. Coupling analysis with its exports and imports data indicated that economic globalization still had a significant impact on the country’s ecological environment although Laos is an inland developing country. Laos should strengthen the regulation of renewable resources such as forests and water resources, to avoid losing the renewable resources market while still enjoying the dividends of economic globalization. At the same time, it is necessary to accurately evaluate the indirect impacts of development on neighboring countries to ensure sustainable development.

Landscape pattern analysis of urban green space based on the new green space classification standard Take Danzhou City, Hainan Province as an example

This study takes the urban center of Nada, Danzhou City, and Hainan Province as the research object and uses GIS technology and the principle of landscape ecology to analyze the urban green space and landscape pattern of public green space of the central city. The results show that the land scape structure of the central city is unreasonable, the public green space is seriously lacking and the distribution is not balanced. The proportion of regional green space is high and the available space is large; the landscape diversity index is 1ow and the degree of fragmentation is high.

Spatio-temporal analysis and prediction of landscape patterns and change processes in the Central Zagros region, Iran

Unfortunately in recent decades Central Zagros region has been changed adversely due to human activities. To analyze changes land cover maps produced using multi-temporal classification of Landsat satellite images of TM, ETM+ and OLI sensors, respectively for 1989, 2000 and 2013 years. Then derived maps used as input data in Land Change Modeler (LCM) to predict land cover changes on 2020, 2030, 2040 and 2050 based on a historical scenario. Results of classification and prediction were used to analyze landscape patterns and change processes. Five landscape pattern metrics as Normalized Entropy, Edge Density, Patch Area, Patch Compactness and Relative Richness were used to quantify landscape pattern and occurrence of ten landscape change processes as Attrition, Aggregation, Dissection, Creation, Shrinkage, Perforation, Shift, Deformation, Enlargement and Fragmentation were studied. Land cover maps showed great changes in central Zagros region in Lorestan province (Iran) whereas residential areas have destroyed about 5166.7 km2 of Zagros forests from 1989 to 2013. In this period residential areas are increased about 47.71 km2. Based on a “historical” scenario between 2013 up to 2050 about 4304.66 km2 of Zagros forests will lose and residential areas will increase about 244.51 km2 from. Results of landscape pattern analysis show increase of all studied landscape pattern metrics values; Normalized entropy from 0.001895 to 0.45236, Relative richness 11.12 to 22.89 percent, Edge density 0.002–0.44 m/ha, Patch area 92.04–193171.7 ha and Patch compactness 0.006 to 0.568 patches/100ha from 1989 to 2050. More over occurred change processes in different periods include: Shift, Enlargement, Attrition, Aggregation, Creation and Dissection. Results of this study present a clear perspective of future for managers and planners and can be used in natural resources management and environmental policy making, as well as creating mitigation measures in vulnerable areas.

Combining multi-state species distribution models, mortality estimates, and landscape connectivity to model potential species distribution for endangered species in human dominated landscapes

Species ranges are changing in response to human-related disturbances and often management and conservation decisions must be based on incomplete information. In this context, species distribution models (SDMs) represent the most widely used tool, but they often lack any reference to demographic performance of the population under study, spatial structure of the habitat patches, or connectivity at the landscape level.Combining a multi-state SDM with a landscape pattern analysis and a mortality model, we developed a spatially-explicit, integrated model to assist and inform conservation planning for the Apennine brown bear in central Italy. We identified 15 critical habitat areas, potentially hosting 76 adult female bears. Many of these areas are, however, characterized by high levels of human-related mortality, making them attractive sink-like areas. Structural connectivity was higher in the northern part of the study area while only limited connectivity characterizes the core area, where most of the bears currently live.Our integrated model indicates that the conservation of this relict and isolated bear population is a realistic conservation goal, as we estimated that 192–270 bears could live across the Apennines. Our modelling framework enhances the biological realism of traditional SDMs and provides a conservation planning tool that integrates habitat suitability, mortality risk (as a component of the total demographic performance) and structural connectivity among habitat patches at the landscape scale. It is particularly suited for endangered species living in a human-modified landscapes where establishing a realistic and spatially explicit conservation goal would facilitate pro-active management.

Information theory as a consistent framework for quantification and classification of landscape patterns

ContextQuantitative grouping of similar landscape patterns is an important part of landscape ecology due to the relationship between a pattern and an underlying ecological process. One of the priorities in landscape ecology is a development of the theoretically consistent framework for quantifying, ordering and classifying landscape patterns.ObjectiveTo demonstrate that the information theory as applied to a bivariate random variable provides a consistent framework for quantifying, ordering, and classifying landscape patterns.MethodsAfter presenting information theory in the context of landscapes, information-theoretical metrics were calculated for an exemplar set of landscapes embodying all feasible configurations of land cover patterns. Sequences and 2D parametrization of patterns in this set were performed to demonstrate the feasibility of information theory for the analysis of landscape patterns.ResultsUniversal classification of landscape into pattern configuration types was achieved by transforming landscapes into a 2D space of weakly correlated information-theoretical metrics. An ordering of landscapes by any single metric cannot produce a sequence of continuously changing patterns. In real-life patterns, diversity induces complexity—increasingly diverse patterns are increasingly complex.ConclusionsInformation theory provides a consistent, theory-based framework for the analysis of landscape patterns. Information-theoretical parametrization of landscapes offers a method for their classification.

Relationships between Riparian Vegetation Pattern and the Hydraulic Characteristics of Upslope Runoff

Riparian vegetation plays a vital role in inhibiting soil and water loss, but few studies have quantified the relationships between vegetation spatial pattern and the hydraulic characteristics of upslope runoff. This study investigated how hydraulic characteristics (e.g., runoff coefficient, flow regime, flow resistance, and flow shear stress of overland flow) responded to differences in vegetation cover (15% and 30%), slope gradient (5°, 10°, 15°, and 20°), and vegetation pattern in the riparian zone along the lower Yellow River, China, based on landscape pattern analysis and a runoff scouring experiment with flow rates of 9 and 15 L/min and an experimental plot size of 1 m × 3 m. We found that runoff generation on shallow slopes was moderated by increasing vegetation cover, but that this moderating effect decreased on steeper slopes. The regime of overland flow switched from laminar and subcritical on the 5° slope (Fr = 0.56–0.87) to laminar and critical on the 10°, 15°, and 20° slopes (Fr = 1.02–2.18). Flow resistance increased with vegetation cover and flow rate and decreased with slope gradients, and it was larger on shallow slopes with high vegetation cover. Flow shear stress had a range of 1.42–3.55 N m−2, and it increased with increasing slope gradient, vegetation cover, and flow rate. The hydraulic characteristics of upslope runoff, especially flow resistance, were significantly related to vegetation pattern at both the landscape and class levels. Flow resistance was negatively related to patch density, and positively related to perimeter–area fractal dimension and connectance index. The influencing mechanism of landscape patterns on soil erosion processes is dependent on the landscape scale, since the relationships between flow resistance and some landscape pattern indices (aggregation index, effective mesh size, and splitting index) were opposite at the landscape level compared to the class level. We conclude that fragmented vegetation distributions reduce flow resistance, and that riparian vegetation could be managed to inhibit slope erosion by increasing flow resistance.