Landscape Physiognomy Research Articles

Changes in the physiognomy of the archaeological landscape - learning from the past to build the future (with prehistorical burial sites in Poland as an example)

The aims of this research were to identify the key processes that have occurred in the past that have caused changes in the physiognomy of archaeological landscape and to indicate possible future processes, along with their landscape implications. The study was based on cartographic and literature studies, and field visits. It covered an analysis of the land cover, the history of archaeological research, the establishment of forms of legal protection and tourist infrastructure development. The past changes are visualised for each site in theform of a block graph. Possible future scenarios with landscape implications are presented on a tree diagram.

Relationship between pollination syndromes, pollen morphology and plant ecology in Quaternary deposits of the Cerrado

This study presents morphological descriptions and ecological information for 58 terrestrial pollen taxa and seven water-related pollen taxa from the Brazilian Cerrado, obtained from two sediment cores, Lake Feia (LFB1) and Getulio Swamp (VGE-17), encompassing the last 5000 and 15,000 cal yr BP, respectively. The relationships between the ecological and morphological traits (pollination syndrome, vegetation stratum and grain size) within each of the two depositional environments were investigated. In the LFB1 core, the pollen assemblages were dominated by arboreal pollen from closed physiognomies and lower storey trees (<10 m in height), while a combination of closed and open physiognomies was observed in the pollen assemblages from the VGE-17 core. The vast majority of the pollen taxa exhibited the entomophilous pollination syndrome, and a higher influx of entomophilous pollen was observed in both cores. Anemophilous and anemophilous/entomophilous syndromes were less well represented. Small and medium pollen grain classes were the most abundant, while the large pollen grain class was rare. The influx of small pollen grains was slightly more abundant in the lake record, while in the swamp record medium pollen grains were more abundant. Our results show that swamps and lakes differ in their representation of local versus regional pollen and in their sensitivity and responses to water-level changes. Landscape physiognomy also influences pollen dispersion: a closed physiognomy increases the local pollen signal, while a more open physiognomy results in better representation of local and regional signals.

Tourism landscape footprint in the archaeological landscape

Tourism has an increasing influence on the environment, including a significant impact on the landscape. This article presents a method of assessing the Tourism Landscape Footprint in selected archaeological sites (in Poland), understood as a degree of the influence of tourist facilities on the landscape physiognomy. The more numerous the facilities, the more visible they are in the landscape, and the closer to the archaeological forms they are located, the greater is their visual impact. An index of the Tourism Landscape Footprint was proposed based on the assumption, that the impact of tourism facilities on the landscape depends on the number of the facilities, their type (a coefficient indicating the scale of the impact of the facilities on the landscape), and their location (distance to the archaeological forms). The results show that the landscape of the sites under consideration has not been strongly transformed, however, the obtained Tourism Landscape Footprint index is diversified. The differentiation of the index, of the archaeological forms (their number and area) and the tourism infrastructure, allowed us to group the sites (using the cluster analysis), in terms of the character of the landscape and the influence of the tourist development. Presented method provides a tool for comparing and diagnosing changes induced by tourism development in the historical landscape.

Classification of Landscape Physiognomies in Rural Poland: The Case of the Municipality of Cekcyn

&lt;p&gt;This article presents a methodology and the results of the classification of the rural landscapes physiognomies conducted on the study area located in the municipality of Cekcyn, Poland. The study aimed to develop a landscape identification method that would combine natural, cultural, and visual criteria with which to implement the provisions of the European Landscape Convention. The realization of the European Landscape Convention in Poland is incomplete due to the lack of practical application of landscape assessment in land management and spatial planning at the commune level. The research was intended at helping to fill this void. The study develops a method using which it will be possible to protect the diversity and beauty of Europe’s rural landscapes more effectively. The goal has so far been of little scientific interest in Poland. The physiognomy of the studied area was analyzed with the use of commonly available spatial data and by means of field studies. Physical-geographical units and cultural characteristics have been designated based on spatial databases. Landscape patterns were identified by analyzing visual fields with the use of both GIS applications and field studies. This practice made it possible to determine physiognomic units of the landscape which are internally coherent and relatively homogeneous in terms of physical-geographical, cultural, and visual features. Identifying the landscape physiognomy within the designated landscape physiognomic units serves to harmonize spatial alterations in the area of rural communes in processes of land management and planning.&lt;/p&gt;

Living on the edge: Effects of clear-cut created ecotones on nocturnal macromoth assemblages in the eastern boreal forest, Canada

Forest management increases the amount of edges or ecotones on the landscape. Ecotones are important transition zones, representing a rapid change in landscape physiognomy and can support greater biodiversity than the adjacent habitats. It is therefore essential to understand how species respond to such habitat transitions. The Lepidoptera (moths and butterflies) provide numerous important ecosystem services in forests as herbivores, pollinators, and as food for many birds, bats, and other animals. It is therefore important to understand how this taxon responds to forest management in the boreal forest, and specifically how Lepidoptera assemblages change across anthropogenic forest edges. Via light trapping in clear-cut, forest, and edge habitats, we quantified the extent to which forestry-created ecotones influence nocturnal macromoth assemblages in the eastern boreal forest. We estimated species diversity as Hill numbers, calculated abundance, assessed composition with nonmetric multidimensional scaling ordination, and used indicator species analysis to determine how assemblage structure differed between the three habitats. We collected a total of 3486 individuals, representing 187 species that belonged to six families over 108 trap-nights. We collected a higher abundance of nocturnal macromoths in edges than clear-cuts, but not than forest. The composition of edges was intermediate between clear-cuts and forests, but differed significantly from adjacent habitats and included many unique species. Forest sites supported lower species richness, Simpson diversity and Shannon diversity than clear-cuts and edges, which overlapped with each other. Overall, our study indicates that the habitat created by forest edges supports unique macromoth assemblages. Moreover, the macromoth assemblage in this habitat is rich and abundant as compared to the adjacent habitats. This has important implications for the maintenance of biodiversity and the provisioning of ecosystem services in the boreal, as well as forestry in the context of natural disturbance emulation.

Deconstructing landscape pattern: applications of remote sensing to physiognomic landscape mapping

In 1939, Carl Troll pointed out that “air photo interpretation is to a large extent landscape ecology”. From that time forward, remote sensing has been applied across different disciplines to comprehend the holistic and dynamic spatial layout of the visual Earth environment. However, its applicability in the domain of landscape character assessment, landscape design and planning is still questionable. The purpose of this paper was to synthesise some historical and current applications of remote sensing for the decomposition of the continual visual landscape from a bird’s eye perspective and to explore the potential for bridging geographic processes with visual perception and an appreciation of the landscape pattern. From the point of view of landscape ecology, the organisation of the landscape pattern [namely, the size, shape (form), number, density and diversity, the complexity of landscape elements, and colours and textures of the land cover] is crucial for the cognition of both the visual landscape experience and the geographic processes. There are numerous pieces of evidence from the literature that remote sensing data are widely implemented in the modelling of physiognomic landscape. The synthesis of the literature concludes with perspective directions of remote sensing applications, such as mapping the status of the ecosystem (landscape) services provision, the delineation of the boundaries of the protected areas based on the quality of the visual environment, and the assessment of the sustainability of the land use practices, regarding their impact on landscape aesthetics extent.

Percepcja i projekcja krajobrazu: teorie, zastosowania, oczekiwania = Perception and projection of the landscape: theories, applications, expectations

The human species transforms the landscape to meet its needs, but landscape resources and valuable features at the same time affect wellbeing in the context of human activity. In these mutually conditioned interactions, two processes playing a key role are the so-called landscape perception and landscape projection. This article presents: (1) a review of theories playing a key role in the development of knowledge on landscape perception; (2) the basis for landscape projection as a logical and creative continuation of perception processes; (3) an outline of the theory of physiognomic landscape structure and of possibilities for it to gain practical application; (4) the results of the first Polish research into the public’s expectations where quality of the landscape is concerned. Perception of the landscape entails the receipt of stimuli from surrounding space with the help of the senses. It serves primarily in knowledge-based transformation of landscape systems, in a manner that meets ever-more exacting requirements on the part of society when it comes to living in an environment of the highest quality. Only a little scientific work has been devoted to the process of landscape projection. This is therefore a new research field, just opening up, which has the potential to give rise to a group of space-projection theories.

An introduction to the classification of the physiognomic landscape types: methodology and results of testing in the area of Kazimierz Landscape Park (Poland)

ABSTRACTThe publication of the European Landscape Convention (2000) had a stimulating effect on the development of both new systems of landscape classification and new methods of their evaluation and mapping. As an example, a new classification of physiognomic landscape types was developed in Poland in 2014. The objectives of the paper are to (1) popularize, on the international scale, the classification of physiognomic landscape types in a new, improved version, (2) present the original method of physiognomic landscape types mapping with the use of the system of basic landscape units, and (3) present the results of testing of the method in the area of the Kazimierz Landscape Park, Poland. In the area of the Kazimierz Landscape Park, 491 basic landscape units were delimited, within which, on the basis of the leading traits of land relief and cover forms, the physiognomic landscape types were identified. Maps of this type can be important tools in implementing the recommendations of the European Landscape Convention. The total number of physiognomic landscape types identified within a specific area can be one of the key indicators of landscape diversity.

Johannes Gabriel Granö and his Cartography- Oriented Landscape Research. A Reviewing Appreciation

The present article shall bring to mind the extraordinary stimuli given by Johannes Gabriel Granö (1882 – 1956) to international landscape research through his exceptionally wide spectrum of studies. It begins with his expeditions into the Altai Mountains and to Northwestern Mongolia at the beginning of the 20th century and his multifaceted publications about their results – also in difficult times – like in 1945. The paper further treats Granö’s pioneering works about geography and cartography of Estonia at the beginning of the 1920s, his methodological and applied articles about physiognomic landscape characteristics, both in detailed as well as in overview scales – and mostly demonstrated in his Finnish motherland. Granö’s monograph „Reine Geographie“ / „Pure Geography“ – first published in German language in 1929 – revived, after its translation into English (in 1997), half a century later eager interest in his activities. In 2002, the Universities of Turku (Finland) and Tartu (Estonia) responded to this development through the establishment of a Granö Centre as a site of encounters and exchanges. In the context of the European Landscape Convention (ECL) it becomes obvious how far J.G. Granö was ahead of his time.

Forum: Social-Ecological System Archetypes for European Rangelands

Rangelands in Europe are imprinted by livestock production and embedded in mosaic landscapes of grasslands, croplands, woodlands, and settlements. They developed as social-ecological systems: People managed rangelands in order to maintain or enhance their ecosystem services, which in turn supported their well-being. The appreciation of ecosystem services provided by rangelands depends on the broad, socioeconomic aspirations and abilities of the managers and the capital available to achieve these aspirations. Here we propose four archetypical social-ecological system representations for European rangelands along the dimensions of socioeconomic aspirations (i.e., oriented toward conventional or sustainable production) and available financial capital (i.e., low or high) to employ farming technologies on rangelands. The four archetypes are aspiration misfit, pockets of sustainability, techno-dependence, and money dependent sustainability. We describe the landscape physiognomy, ecosystem service appreciation, and management-related synergies and trade-offs in ecosystem services supply related to each archetype and formulate a number of research questions to document and further understand them as social-ecological systems. We include the importance of urbanization, land grabbing, and institutional networks in shaping the social-ecological archetypes of rangelands and the relationship between our social-ecological archetypes and the resilience and transformability of rangelands.

Landscape’s physiognomic structure: conceptual development and practical applications

The past decade has seen an increased interest in approaches for the identification and assessment of landscapes, which has been, in part, a response to the European Landscape Convention (ELC). In this article, we review landscape physiognomy, an important component of the Polish approach to the assessment and identification of its landscape. We address the relevance of physiognomy both in relation to the ELC and to the landscape character assessments approach, and then explore the theoretical basis of landscape physiognomic structure. We also expand the existing classification of landscape interiors; this is followed by combining three approaches: (1) physical geography in the field of comprehensive classification of natural landscapes; (2) landscape ecology studies on the spatial structure of land cover patches against the ‘landscape matrix’ and (3) the theory of landscape interiors. Presented ideas create the outline of the concept of landscape’s physiognomic structure.

Physiognomic structure of agro-forestry landscapes: method of evaluation and guidelines for design, on the example of the West Polesie Biosphere Reserve

Abstract Harmonious planning of agro-forestry landscapes plays a increasing role in building a social satisfaction flowing from the high quality of the environment on the rural areas. It is also a very good way to create a unique place identity of protected areas, rest areas etc. especially valuable regions. The objectives of the paper are: 1) elaboration the method of evaluation and mapping the physiognomic landscape composition on the rural areas with a high natural values; 2) testing this method on dominated by forests, peatbogs and arable lands the central part of the West Polesie UNESCO Biosphere Reserve (Eastern Poland); 3) formulation of guidelines on the design of landscape interiors and view openings composition, highlighting the unique features of West Polesie landscape and building a sense of the place identity; 4) to show the necessary to enshrine the values of physiognomic landscape composition in land use policy. In evaluation and mapping the landscape composition, a special attention was paid to the role of agro-forest ecotones. The results of the research part of the study as well as a guidelines on landscape design have been presented in the form of a map, study figures and a description.

Combined fire and grazing of surrounding grassland does not prevent saxicolous lichens growth

Background and aims The use of fire as a managing tool influences and maintains many types of vegetation and may determine landscape physiognomy and species composition. Fire has a strong effect on l

Habitat Use by Nile Crocodiles in Ndumo Game Reserve, South Africa: A Naturally Patchy Environment

Distribution patterns reflect the interactions of organisms with their environment. We discuss the distribution patterns of Nile Crocodiles (Crocodylus niloticus) in a naturally patchy floodplain environment with the use of aerial survey data collected over the last 40 yr. Although only 10,000 ha in size, Ndumo Game Reserve (NGR) supports one of the largest wild crocodile populations in South Africa, largely because of landscape complementation with neighboring Mozambique. Distributions within the NGR were influenced by landscape physiognomy and composition as well as connectivity and corridor quality. To quantify the effects of environmental conditions on crocodile distribution, we conducted 40 diurnal counts at Lake Nyamithi in the NGR between 2009 and 2012. Average monthly maximum temperature had an effect on the number of crocodiles in Lake Nyamithi; however, environmental variables influenced different size classes of Nile Crocodiles to a varying extent. Anthropogenic disturbances influenced the functionality of the floodplain landscape negatively, with impacts on habitat use and connectivity. It is considered essential that a cross-border conservation program be initiated in order to conserve the current population of Nile Crocodiles in the greater NGR area.

Pesticide risk assessment in free-ranging bees is weather and landscape dependent.

The risk assessment of plant protection products on pollinators is currently based on the evaluation of lethal doses through repeatable lethal toxicity laboratory trials. Recent advances in honeybee toxicology have, however, raised interest on assessing sublethal effects in free-ranging individuals. Here, we show that the sublethal effects of a neonicotinoid pesticide are modified in magnitude by environmental interactions specific to the landscape and time of exposure events. Field sublethal assessment is therefore context dependent and should be addressed in a temporally and spatially explicit way, especially regarding weather and landscape physiognomy. We further develop an analytical Effective Dose (ED) framework to help disentangle context-induced from treatment-induced effects and thus to alleviate uncertainty in field studies. Although the ED framework involves trials at concentrations above the expected field exposure levels, it allows to explicitly delineating the climatic and landscape contexts that should be targeted for in-depth higher tier risk assessment.

How to Evaluate and Forecast Changes in Landscape Image: The Case of a Small River Valley in Poland

River valleys play a key role in functioning landscape systems on a regional and continental level. Their ecological and cultural functions have developed simultaneously for centuries, creating a unique composition. Cultural heritage has grown from natural heritage and has enriched it wonderfully. However, river valleys have become areas of particularly intense human pressure for approximately the last two centuries, but especially over the last half century; changes occurring in the landscape are more and more drastic. The analysis and evaluation of these changes can therefore be a good indicator and predictor of changes that occur in the environment of entire (regional and transregional) landscape systems. This paper presents the method and results of landscape studies based on the sequence: retrospection—diagnosis—variant prognosis. The aim of the present work was to attempt to answer questions concerning the future direction of the development landscape physiognomy of small river valleys.

Method of retrospective evaluation of physiognomic landscape changes and its application in the West Polesie region (CE Poland)

Since the mid-twentieth century, fundamental landscape physiognomy transformations have been observed. A number of different methods of evaluation of landscape physiognomy values have been developed so far. Nonetheless, the assessment of changes occurring in landscape physiognomy still poses numerous methodological problems. The objective of the study is to propose an original “method of retrospective evaluation of landscape physiognomy changes” and to present the results of its testing in a fragment of the “West Polesie” Biosphere Reserve (CE Poland) over the period from 1838 to 2011. The method is based on the comparison of the present character of landscape physiognomy with its probable image at the beginning of the period analysed. Such a retrospective assessment of the state of landscape in the 1840s was performed based on the analysis of old topographic maps, literary and tourist descriptions, as well as the analysis of paintings, and since the 1950s also aerial and terrestrial photographs. The analysis of changes in landscape physiognomy covered a route of 12 km. Changes in landscape physiognomy were assessed on the route along five 1-km sections distributed fairly evenly over the entire route. Both the former and current landscape physiognomy values were assessed at a scale from 1 to 10 points according to five precisely defined criteria. The obtained bonitation results were presented in the form of tables and subject to comparative analysis. The results showed that in spite of the large scale of changes, certain areas retained very high physiognomic values and still represent unique genius loci of the Polesie region. These areas were suggested to be covered by particular protection. In other areas, landscape physiognomy changes have the character of discontinuation. In spite of the subjective character of individual assessments, results obtained suggest that the method is suitable for the identification of the traditional (conservative) features, and for the purposes of conservation and management of the identity of unique landscapes.

TRuLAn: A high-resolution method for multi-time analysis of traditional rural landscapes and its application in Emilia-Romagna, Italy

This paper proposes the TRuLAn method (Traditional Rural Landscape Analysis) for the quantitative analysis of changes in the signs of traditional rural landscapes at the farm scale. We present the general framework of TRuLAn and a set of parameters that represent part of the method focusing on rural settlement (farmstead and farmyard), as experimentally applied to an Italian study area. TRuLAn consists of the following phases: preliminary identification of the elements that make up the physiognomy of landscape, synchronic and diachronic inventory of rural landscape signs, definition of parameters and integrated interpretation of the multidimensional nature inherent in the spatial and time diversification of the physiognomical characters. Complementary reading perspectives and representation forms allowed us to analyze the evolution of the main characters of the rural settlement and its components (buildings, open spaces, and boundaries), focusing on the overall trends within a given area and on the homogeneity/diversification among the various study cases. The high spatial- and time-resolution study of the evolution of the physiognomy of the rural settlements proved useful to support the description, planning, and meta-design of rural settlements and to improve the definition of agricultural development policies and planning tools on the local scale.

Habitat vs. dispersal constraints on bryophyte diversity in the Mojave Desert, USA

Preserving desert plant diversity requires an understanding of the degree to which plant communities are constrained either by suitable habitat or by dispersal limitations. Using a spatially explicit approach, we surveyed diversity in an undisturbed xeric bryophyte community within a regular sampling grid of 1000 adjacent cells. Eigenvector mapping and variation partitioning revealed that spatially independent habitat processes accounted for little of the variation in community composition (2.0%); most variation was attributed either to habitats that were spatially structured (25.6%) or to dispersal independent of habitat (28.0%). At three nested scales, the most influential habitat factors were topography (broad-scale >5 m2), shrub “islands” (meso-scale 1−5 m2), and physical substrate characteristics (fine-scale < 1 m2). Dispersal limitation was less obviously scale-dependent at the community level, yet was important when considering individual species, which showed a wide range of spatial autocorrelation (Moran's I = −0.003–0.601). Our findings suggest that bryophyte diversity is the joint result of dispersal limitations and the distinctive spatially patterned environment of desert shrublands. Therefore, conservation efforts must not only account for dispersal limitations of individual species of concern, but should also seek to retain native shrubs and consequent landscape physiognomy that create bryophyte habitat.

La Tumba Tebana 49 y su propietario, en el paisaje sacralizado del occidente tebano, Egipto

The starting point is the study of Neferhotep’s tomb (TT49) and its links to the natural physiognomy and material endowment of the regional landscape for the realization of the New Kingdom funerary practices. The poor preservation of the material evidence required to implement analytical ways that transcend traditional Egyptological approaches -monumentalists and classifiers, and privilege the study of human behavior. The exis-tence of documentary and archaeological records made evident the need to establish interdisciplinary researches, inasmuch their location in the landscape, its construction and decoration attended practical issues –deposition of mummies- as symbolic -funerary rites-, and social - alliances-. Consequently, theoretical guidelines interrelate concepts coming from: archaeology, emphasizing the symbolic allocation of the space and the physical properties of the material record in the formation of deposits; history, in terms of social reproduction and construction of cultural memory; and anthropology, for understanding the social and transcendental balance for which the ritual practices have contributed. It is expected to recognize how cultural memory building operates in the consolida-tion of a sacred landscape, sensitive to ideological changes and ‘invigorated’ by ritual celebrations.