Processes Of Landscape Transformation Research Articles

A New Model for a New Nature

Smart city applications, evolving from technological to socially inclusive, aim to prioritize sustainability and livability. Despite growing interest, a lack of standardized definitions and planning methodologies hinders smart city development. Urban living labs (ULLs), on the other hand, play a pivotal role in implementing smart city solutions, acting as testing grounds for technologies and policies. Their integration into local government practices is essential. However, ULLs in Turkiye, such as the Basaksehir Living Lab and Istanbul Planning Agency, focus on local problem-solving and sustainable development. While ULLs hold promise, it is unclear if they can entirely replace existing urban governance models. Research is needed to assess their effectiveness. Effective collaboration between national and local governments is essential for comprehensive urban planning. Addressing these challenges, the article emphasizes the interaction between ULL and local government by analyzing Istanbul's landscape transformation process and management system as a model for other countries.

Landscape dynamics of the aeolian savanna: Santos Luzardo National Park 1988–2018

This research defines the savanna aeolian landscape dynamics of the ‘Santos Luzardo’ National Park in the Llanos of Venezuela between 1988 and 2018, using images from the LANDSAT series to elaborate and compare ecosystems maps. The ecosystem dynamics show that the landscape changes naturally since the transitions occurred towards other types of natural savanna due to soil water seasonality. The savannas are the dominant matrix of the landscape, occupying between 69.1 and 76.7%. The dynamics of transformation of the aeolian savanna landscape are mainly associated with soil water content. The application of temporal studies contributes to understanding the aeolian savanna landscape transformation processes and evaluating their conservation status.

Contested Living with/in the Boeng Chhmar Flooded Forests, Tonle Sap Lake, Cambodia

The paper is based on empirical research of a territorial transect in Cambodia’s Tonle Sap floodplain. The flooded forests of the Tonle Sap Lake are determined by a significant seasonal flood of up to 13 m, where a large gradient of wetness and alluvia flow and dramatically transform the territory. The paper zooms into a case study of the inhabited RAMSAR area of Boeng Chhmar with its five floating villages, which are dispersed along seasonal waterways. Boeng Chhmar is one of the richest symbiotic habitats in the world and its inhabitants completely rely on the flooded forest’s natural cycles for settling, subsistence fishing, and forest−gathering activities. From two opposite landscape transformation processes, Khmer indigenous practices and State development procedures, the paper unravels the logics of settling, coexistence, and contestation. On the one hand, local daily practices are embedded in seasonal floods and forest lifecycles, coexisting, and reconfiguring the inhabited wild for subsistence living. On the other hand, State development through history has centered on (de)−(re)forestation and modern landscape construction for commercially exploitative practices. Forest logging and large−scale fishing lots extracted enormous quantities of natural resources and compromised the health and natural regenerative capacity of the ecological system. This also undermined the ago−old legacy of inhabitant’s ways of settling in and with the landscape. Today, State operations face challenges from both nature itself and cultural resistance. The findings for the paper are based on multi−scalar interpretive mapping. The tracing of morpho−typologies and landscape transformation processes allows multiple narratives to be translated into spatial terms. The coexistence and contestation in Boeng Chhmar and the Tonle Sap can provide spatial insights into contemporary forest and water urbanisms, especially concerning local material cultural practices and landscape transformation.

The role of agroforestry areas in the potential provision of ecosystem services: the case of the Molise Region.

Changes in land use and land cover represent the main cause of the loss of natural capital and the ecosystem services supply. Analyzing the dynamics and impacts of these changes is also important with respect to the implementation of the D.lgs 34/2018, which recognizes ecosystem services generated by forests and identifies payments for ecosystem services as innovative tools for sustainable forest management. mapping, quantification, and economic valuation of ecosystem services. In our study, we analyzed the change in the supply of ecosystem services in relation to land use and land cover dynamics that occurred between 1960 and 2018 in the Molise Region. 
 To do this type of analysis, we employed a methodology based on the GIS analysis of the agroforestry landscape transformation processes and qualitative matrices of potential supply of ecosystem services linked to land cover. The results obtained could be functional to the prediction of future scenarios and to the identification of adaptive strategies for the mitigation of impacts due to land cover changes at regional and national scales.

Dynamic Sustainability, Resource Management, and Collective Action on Two Atolls in the Remote Pacific

Examples of environmental transformation, the creation of sustainable lifeways, and the development of environmentally aware political forms better our understanding of how peoples build on tradition and environmental circumstance to form novel institutions. Using archaeological data, oral histories, genealogies, radiocarbon dating, and Bayesian modeling, we present a timeline of habitation and land-use patterns on Manihiki and Rakahanga, two remote atolls in East Polynesia. We track socioecological change on the atolls from the time of first colonization ca. AD 1200–1400 through to sustained European contact in the mid-1800s. The findings document and temporally anchor collective action-based processes of landscape transformation, the development of a system of cyclical mass migration aimed at sustainable resource use, and the implementation of a novel dual-chiefdom political system. This demonstrates that new levels of political “complexity” manifest as patterns of shifting hierarchy and novel forms of political and ecological management, and can arise in relation to specific social and ecological challenges in systems of any size. The perpetuation and adaptation of aspects of these traditional institutions can help to maintain the sustainability of populations today in the face of climatic and social change.

Urban Pressures and The Process of Cultural Landscape Change. The Example of The Lielupe River Valley

Abstract With the increasing density and cost of living in cities in the early 21st century, more and more people are choosing to live in rural areas. With improvements in road quality, vehicle technology and engineering infrastructure, the population of rural areas within 10–15 km outside of cities is increasing, choosing the most scenic locations. This is also the case of the Lielupe river countryside, where not only old homesteads are being renovated but also new housing clusters with their own infrastructure are being created, bringing a new architectonic and aesthetic quality. This is particularly true in areas where both a cultural and historic area and a picturesque natural base coexist. The study examines the processes of landscape transformation of the Lielupe riverbanks downstream of Bauska and upstream of Jelgava. The landscape of the banks of the Lielupe river between Bauska and Jelgava is rich in cultural and historical buildings. Part of it was lost both during the Bermondt affair period and in September 1944 when the Russian army forced its way into the shallower parts of the Lielupe. With the growth of low-rise buildings along the banks of the Lielupe in the early 21st century, new viewpoints, features and dominants were introduced, marking a new architectural character of the buildings. The silhouette of a particular historic site, which sharply marks this dissonance in the plain area, is fading away. At the beginning of the 21st century, the development pressure is creating a new scale for the mosaic landscape of the plain with the changing character of the Lielupe river – from a steep bank with exposed dolomite layers to the flow of the river through the floodplain meadows.

An Integrated Ecological-Social Simulation Model of Farmer Decisions and Cropping System Performance in the Rolling Pampas (Argentina)

Agricultural systems experience land-use changes that are driven by population growth and intensification of technological inputs. This results in land-use and cover change (LUCC) dynamics representing a complex landscape transformation process. In order to study the LUCC process we developed a spatially explicit agent-based model in the form of a Cellular Automata implemented with the Cell-DEVS formalism. The resulting model called AgroDEVS is used for predicting LUCC dynamics along with their associated economic and environmental changes. AgroDEVS is structured using behavioral rules and functions representing a) crop yields, b) weather conditions, c) economic profit, d) farmer preferences, e) technology level adoption and f) natural resources consumption based on embodied energy accounting. Using data from a typical location of the Pampa region (Argentina) for the 1988-2015 period, simulation exercises showed that the economic goals were achieved, on average, each 6 out of 10 years, but the environmental thresholds were only achieved in 1.9 out of 10 years. In a set of 50-years simulations, LUCC patterns quickly converge towards the most profitable crop sequences, with no noticeable tradeoff between the economic and environmental conditions.

Activity patterns of medium and large mammals in two savanna ecosystems in the Colombian Llanos

Neotropical savannas have undergone continuous processes of landscape transformation (e.g., agriculture, oil, gas, and hydrocarbon industry) and very little is known about the ecology and natural history of key biological groups such as terrestrial mammals while the information on behavioral aspects of mammalian species in these ecosystems is very scarce. Here, we aimed to describe the activity patterns of medium and large mammals in two savanna ecosystems in the Colombian Llanos. A set of 60 camera traps was installed in the two ecosystems for 35 days (2100 camera days). We described the activity patterns of nine predominantly nocturnal species. We found no difference in circadian distributions of mammals between ecosystems. Cuniculus paca Linnaeus 1758 and Dasyprocta fuliginosa Wagler 1832 showed patterns of exclusion probably due to competition whereas other species like Tamandua tetradactyla Linnaeus1758 and Myrmecophaga tridactyla Linnaeus 1758 displayed similar activity patterns. We highlight the importance of savannas for the conservation of these species and discuss the relevance of studies on activity patterns for mammal ecology and conservation in Neotropical savannas. 

Birds diversity and faunogenetic structure of avifauna in forests parks of two megalopolises (Ukraine)

Background. In the 21st century, landscape transformation processes are underway in large cities, which affects the stability of wildlife habitats. Habitat transformations often reduce species richness due to a decrease in the population sizes of some species, and therefore, small in number and rare species are eliminated from bird communities. Rare species can have unique consortive relationships, which makes them particularly important for the long-term ecosystem functioning. A study of the avifauna of forest parks makes it possible to develop an algorithm for the coexistence of human and birds. Methods. The number and distribution of birds were determined by route counting. The total length of the fixed route was 5.7 km in Kyiv and 3.5 km in Kharkiv. On each route, observations were carried out annually with three repetitions during the nesting period when the birds are most attached to their habitats (end of April–May–June). The average data for the total study period (2013–2017) were calculated for each city. For the average number, the standard deviation was calculated. An analysis of the faunogenetic structure of avifauna was carried out according to the method developed by V.P. Belik. A faunogenetic complex is a group of animal species associated by a common origin with ecosystems of a certain landscape-geographical zone. We also classified bird species into ecological groups according to the patterns of microhabitat choice. To compare the α-diversity of bird in the forest-park zones of cities, a number of commonly accepted indices that express the correlation between the number and density of species were calculated: 1) Berger–Parker dominance index: DBP = Nimax / N; 2) Shannon diversity index: H´ = -∑(Pi × LnPi); 3) Pielou evenness index: E = H´ / LnS; where: Nі– the number of each species; Nimax – the maximum value of Nі; N = ∑Ni – the total number of all species (pairs/km); Pi = Ni / N – the ratio of each species; S – total number of the species. Results. The study presents a comparative analysis of diversity and faunogenetic structure of avifauna in the forest park zones of Kyiv and Kharkiv, inhabited by 71 breeding species of birds that belong to 10 orders. In the eastern region, the proportion of birds of the boreal and the European forest-steppe complex decreases, but the share of the desert-mountain complex increases. The fauna of the European nemoral complex dominates (32.8 % in Kyiv and 40.4 % in Kharkiv). The basis of the communities are dendrophils: 83.6 % (n = 67) in Kyiv and 82.7 % (n = 52) in Kharkiv. The dominant species in all forest parks are the great tit (Parus major) and chaffinch (Fringilla coelebs). Conclusions. The differences in the faunogenetic structure of bird communities are due to the proximity of model forest parks on the territory of Kyiv to the forest natural geographical zone, and on the territory of Kharkiv to the steppe, which leads in the eastern region to a decrease in the proportion of birds of the boreal and the European forest-steppe complex while the proportion of desert-mountain complex increases. Dendrophils predominate significantly, and the share of sclerophils and limnophils in total is less than 20 % of the bird community in the forest parks of each city. As a consequence of the fragmentation of the Kiev forest park zone, the diversity of nesting birds communities in the forest-park zone of Kyiv is slightly lower than of Kharkiv, and the pressure of the dominant species is more significant.

Conflicting trajectories of landscape transformation in the humid tropical agricultural plantations of the Western Ghats, India

The forest-agricultural landscapes of the humid tropics are transforming in their physical and socio-cultural spaces. Even though the processes of landscape transformation are highly contextual, their drivers, impacts and implications fan out across multiple scales from the local to the global. In the present study, the processes of landscape change, their multi-scalar actors and trajectories are examined in the agricultural plantations of tea, coffee and cardamom within a humid tropical forest of the Western Ghats, India. It employs an integrated multiple-source analysis of data collected through household surveys and interviews, secondary datasets, satellite imageries and litigation documents. The landscape change processes identified in the physical, social and cultural spaces include confiscation of plantations by the state, simplification of agricultural practices or abandonment of cultivation altogether, casualisation and feminisation of labour and non-agricultural diversions such as land speculation and tourism, driven by the global plantation crisis and changes in national and state forest policies. Post-globalisation, there was a high out-migration of labour and a significant decline (43%) of the population in the region. The prominent institutional actors of the state, the planters and the judiciary make these forest-enclosed plantations a highly contested space, with 75% of the area under various conflicts of tenure. These processes and actors had resulted in contrasting trajectories of incipient forest regeneration on the one hand and increased degradation on the other. A contextualized analysis of these trajectories of landscape change in these globally important humid tropical landscapes can valuably inform sustainable natural resource management frameworks.

Critical Physical Geography and the Study of Genocide: Lessons from Cambodia

For holistic accounts of past and present genocides to exist, the production of critical geographies of genocide, produced at the interface of human and physical geography, is vital. The emergent area of critical physical geography (CPG) scholarship stands to provide such holistic accounts in addition to providing genocide studies with a much‐needed geographic perspective, one that is grounded in the lived material realities and social relations produced by the material interactions humans have with their environments. With the land, water, and people of Democratic Kampuchea and contemporary Cambodia as subjects, this work demonstrates how a grounded, empirical CPG approach enhances our understanding of genocide and its aftermath. By examining processes of landscape transformation we suggest that violence, agriculture, and water in the context of Cambodia cannot be considered separate “social” or “natural” components of systems that are either exclusively geopolitical or physiographic. Rather, we emphasise the importance of understanding genocide and violence as internally related to the wider geomorphology—and resulting hydrology and agricultural landscape—produced under the Khmer Rouge. Our approach here has two important consequences. First, the resultant empirical knowledge serves to reinterpret how the Cambodian genocide happened, upending normative myths by demonstrating that the Khmer Rouge consistently acted with intentionality in devaluing human life to the point of mass death while transforming physical landscapes to modernise and enter the global capitalist economy. This reinterpretation serves as a framework for reinterpreting how other genocides may also be stories of continuity and acceleration, rather than aberrant rupture. Second, our CPG approach communicates to genocide studies the need to better situate genocides within their material‐geographic contexts. Specifically, that paying close attention to how humans live and die socio‐politically, relative to the changing physical landscapes around them, can yield significant insights into how and why genocides continue to happen.

INDICATIVE SIGNIFICANCE OF MICRO-FOCAL PROCESSES OF THE AMU DARYA DELTA TERRITORIES FOR EARLY DETECTION OF ECOSYSTEM TRANSFORMATION TRENDS

The paper concerns effect of micro-focal processes of landscape transformation in desertified deltas in th arid zone. Some particular stages of the pant community succession had been revealed. Genetic link of these transformation with complex terrestrial ecosystem degradation had been derived.

Land Cover Change and Landscape Transformations (2000–2018) in the Rural Municipalities of the Upper Silesia-Zagłębie Metropolis

Dynamic changes in the landscape have been observed in recent years. They are particularly visible in areas with a high degree of anthropopressure. An example of such areas is metropolitan regions and their immediate rural surroundings. The purpose of this article is to identify changes in land cover in the rural municipalities within metropolises and detect the processes of landscape transformation in rural areas, which are extremely sensitive to anthropopressure. The dynamics of land cover changes in the years 2000–2018 were determined using a change index (ChI), and their directions were determined using the indicator of changes in types of land cover. Corine Land Cover for level 2 groups (1.1–4.2) was used as research material, and the Upper Silesia-Zagłębie Metropolis was selected as the model area. The greatest changes in the landscape were observed in built-up areas, industrial areas, meadows and mining areas. This is due to the disappearance of the mining industry that was traditional for this region and the ongoing suburbanization process, as well as the re-industrialization of modern industry and the abandonment of arable land in rural areas.

LAND-USE and land-cover change processes in Pampa biome and relation with environmental and socioeconomic data

Pampa biome in the last years has gone through a process of change in land use, chiefly due to the conversion of grassland vegetation for agriculture of grains and silviculture. The main objective of this work is to analyze processes of Land-Use and Land-Cover (LUCC) in the Brazilian Pampa Biome, mapped from Multitemporal data of MODIS sensor, including the main processes of landscape transformation. The period studied was 2000 and 2014, and MODIS-EVI images and night DMSP-OLS images were used for generation of land use and cover maps, through decision tree classification. IBGE census sectors’ limits were used. To investigate the processes of landscape transformation of Pampa Biome, environmental variables were used including geomorphometric data, landscape metrics and climate data and socioeconomic variables. Local (GWR) and global linear regression models were used in addition to procedures for spatial clustering (SKATER algorithm). Reduction of around 25% of grassland class in 15-year interval was verified, from 10,252,740 ha to 7,676,208 ha. On the other hand, agriculture areas like Soybean class obtained 145.56% increase in their total area, from 855,087 ha in 2000, to 2,099,837 ha in 2014. Silviculture class also presented increase of over 167% of its total area. The main factors in the global regression model that negatively contributed to grassland degradation process are: population density, height against the closest drainage (HAND Model) and degradation patches in the grassland. Factors that positively contributed are: population residing in domiciles, average of number of residents in domiciles, Soybean expansion patches and distance from Soybean expansion process. It was concluded that orbital data along with geoprocessing techniques provided tools for monitoring changes in land use and cover.

Functional diversity of phyllostomid bats in an urban–rural landscape: A scale‐dependent analysis

AbstractUrbanization is one of the most pervasive processes of landscape transformation, responsible for novel selection agents promoting functional community homogenization. Bats may persist in those environments, but the mechanisms responsible for their adaptability and the spatial scales in which the landscape imposes environmental filtering remain poorly studied in the Neotropics. We tested the hypothesis that landscape composition interacts with the spatial scale to affect the functional diversity of phyllostomids in an urban–rural gradient. Based on functional traits, we calculated indices of functional richness, divergence, evenness, and community‐weighted means of morphological traits, and classified species into functional groups. We evaluated the changes in those variables in response to forest, grassland, and urbanized areas at 0.5, 1.25, and 2km scales. The number of functional groups, functional richness, and functional evenness tended to be higher in areas far from cities and with higher forest cover, whereas functional divergence increased in more urbanized areas. Our results show that the mean value of wing loading in the assemblage was negatively associated with landscape transformation at several spatial scales. However, environmental filtering driven by grass cover was particularly robust at the 0.5km scale, affecting big‐sized species with long‐pointed wings. Retaining natural forest in cattle ranging systems at ~12 km2 appears to favor the functional evenness and number of functional groups of phyllostomids. Recognizing the scale of the effect on phyllostomid functional responses appears to be a fundamental issue for elucidating the spatial extent to which phyllostomid conservation planning in urban–rural landscapes should be addressed.Abstract in Spanish is available with online material.

Landscape transformation processes in two large and two small cities in Egypt and Jordan over the last five decades using remote sensing data

Research has tackled the physical expansion of urban growth and concomitant rural-urban transformation of land use in many parts of the world, but this phenomenon remained largely overlooked in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. To fill this knowledge gap, this study investigated land use changes from the 1970s to 2018 in the cities of Luxor and Cairo in Egypt, and of Aqaba and Amman in Jordan using different Landsat datasets. Land cover classifications were performed using the Maximum Likelihood Algorithm and Spectral Angle Mapper. In all four cities peri-urban green areas shrunk or shifted due to increased expansion of built-up areas. The largest reductions of peri-urban green areas were observed for Amman and Luxor, which decreased by 122.4 km2 and 17.2 km2, respectively, over the study period. For Cairo, an increase of peri-urban green area by 29 km2 was detected, but its location shifted over the last five decades due to urban expansion. In 2018, green areas (urban and peri-urban) on a per-capita basis were 4.6, 12, 91, and 142 m2/capita for Aqaba, Cairo, Amman, and Luxor, respectively. Land cover changes reflected critical political events like the so-called “Arab Spring”, international treaties, recent migration waves and population growth. Rapid increases in urban built-up area put pressure on scarce land and water resources in the peri-urban fringes, thereby potentially leading to environmental stress. Effective city planning is needed to address the multiple challenges and competing interests of urban and peri-urban environments.

Espacio, tiempo y paisaje. La representación de experiencias visuales y procesos en el análisis, el proyecto y la planificación de los espacios abiertos

The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between space, time and landscape from two different but complementary approaches: that of perception and that of project. On the one hand, the way in which visual sequences are represented in the analysis of open spaces is analyzed, transferring to the field of landscape the space-time approach that Giedion introduced for architecture in his influential book Space, Time and Architecture. On the other hand, representation systems to design landscape transformation processes are studied, from those associated with plant succession to those of a more structural nature, which transcend the scale of architectural design to be placed in the field of urban scale strategic plans.

The identity of military heritage areas of the coast of Kurzeme

The coastal landscape of Kurzeme in Latvia is connected with the USSR border and military objects, established in the Soviet Union period that nowadays on losing their function are still on the coast and influence the landscape both physically and visually. These objects can be evaluated in different ways – both different and unfamiliar elements for the coastal landscape, as well as the potential of new landscape development. The research of the factors affecting the coastal development is a key to success for future coastal planning and management, as it helps to identify negative and positive landscape transformation processes, as well as their reflection on the identity of the coastal landscape. In order to understand the role of the military heritage of the coast of Kurzeme in the overall identity of the coastal landscape of Kurzeme, a survey of military areas was carried out by analyzing the physical and visual accessibility of the landscape, identifying the type of the landscape, existing elements, their materials and colour gamma, the current usage and state in common, as well as the emotional side of the landscape – feelings, impressions, atmosphere (sense of place). The information obtained in the survey helped to compile a biography of each of the military area landscapes, also based on the cultural and historical research of each landscape. The comparison of different landscape biographies of the military heritage of the coast of Kurzeme gives a perspective of their inclusion in the common identity of the coastal landscape of Kurzeme and reveals the potential for the development of these landscapes.

Destructive Landscapes in the Context of Public Urban Space: Issues of Rehabilitation, Adaptation and Integration

This paper is dedicated to the challenge for many Russian cities — the transformation of abandoned complex terrain landscapes into public spaces designed to become bona fide elements of the architectural and artistic environment. The purpose of this work was to form an integrated methodology for the valorization of such landscapes based on the initial and prospective parameters of the area for creation of a sustainable model of development thereof. The main tasks are to consider various aspects of destructive landscapes transformation and to reveal their potential for evolving and restoring the natural resources while maintaining the well-balanced ecological, economic and social environment. The methodological aspect of the work was based on the Russian and foreign sources dedicated to the urban landscape issues. As the optimal methodology for conceptual modeling, we chose the approach to the city landscape as a “green-blue infrastructure”. The principles of its formation, which are closely related to the natural, ecological and “urboecological” implications, are also analyzed. The results of the research were used as to create the concept of reconstruction of the “Glebuchev ravine” destructive landscape, viewed as a historical urban environment within the city of Saratov with a development potential. The focus was not so much on the ultimate achievement of a certain project result but on the demonstration of the strategic approach to organizing the destructive landscape transformation process. The conceptual proposals set forth in the paper can serve as framework to resolve similar problems in many cities of the Russian Federation.

Challenges Of Elephant Conservation: Insights From Oral Histories Of Colonialism And Landscape In Tsavo, Kenya

Understanding the reasons for conflict between elephants and people who live adjacent to conservation areas remains key to recruiting them as allies in preserving elephant populations. The Tsavo region of Kenya has become a notable battleground for elephant conservation in East Africa, characterized by ivory poachers, crop damages by elephants in communities adjacent to parks, and electric fencing to control human and wildlife mobility. Oral histories of six ethnic groups reveal how such human‐elephant conflict emerged during colonial times through a landscape transformation process involving elephants, livestock, people, and vegetation. The general trend over the past two centuries involves a transition from a precolonial modality characterized by human and elephant mobility to their increasing immobility, spatial separation, and conflict. Understanding of the historical emergence of that conflict forces recommendation of a change in policy direction, from further reducing mobility to restoration of mobility and spatial reintegration of people in parks. Keywords: colonialism and landscape, East Africa, elephant conservation, historical political ecology.