Processes Of Landscape Change Research Articles

Habitat Suitability in High Andean Butterflies: The Role of Land Cover in the Occurrence and Conservation of Species.

High Andean butterflies in northern South America are subject to landscape change processes. Our study used models to assess the habitat suitability of three Satyrinae species in the Upper Bogotá River Basin, Colombia. These three species include Pedaliodes polla (Thieme), Pedaliodes phaea (Hewitson), and Pedaliodes phaeina (Staudinger), the last two are endemic to Colombia. We used MaxEnt software to assess the habitat quality of these species, analyze the bioclimatic requirements that most influence them, and propose priority conservation areas. Our results indicated that, in most cases, the contribution of cover is more significant than 60%, so this variable determines the habitat capacity to support the species under study. We identified that the areas with suitable habitats are reduced with values less than or equal to 25% and are located in areas with a medium degree of intervention, which allows the species to occur. On the other hand, the climatic variables with the most significant contribution to the models were Temperature Seasonality and Precipitation of Driest Quarter (May-July). Conservation efforts must be focused on the most suitable areas, given the reduction in habitat for these species. Our research emphasizes the need to safeguard well-connected remnants of the high Andean forest and natural cover in agricultural matrices to counter the impact of agricultural expansion.

Impacts of land use/land cover and climate change on landscape sensitivity in Tunca River sub-basin: Use in spatial planning and sectoral decision processes

Managing landscape change is increasingly challenging due to rapid anthropogenic shifts. A delicate balance must be struck between the environment and change to ensure landscapes can withstand these impacts. This study conducted in the Tunca River sub-basin of Edirne province, aims to assess landscape sensitivity by examining the influence of land use/land cover (LULC) and climate change on landscape function processes. For this purpose, a methodology was developed based on ecosystem services to determine landscape sensitivity. The results revealed a LULC transformation that could lead to a 60% reduction in forest areas and a 5% and 20% increase in urban and irrigated agricultural areas, respectively. Water and erosion emerged as the most affected landscape function processes. Future scenarios from 2050 to 2070 indicate noteworthy changes in landscape sensitivity, showing an increase in sensitivity in the upper regions of the basin. The study identified high sensitivity in forested areas, moderate sensitivity in agricultural zones, and low sensitivity in micro-basins near residential areas. Protection and improvement strategies are recommended for areas with high and moderate sensitivity, while use-oriented strategies are suggested for those with low sensitivity. This study also establishes a scientific foundation for guiding the protection and management of ecologically sensitive basin areas, offering insights into the effects of landscape change processes at the micro-basin level in connection with climate change models.

The Spatially Adaptable Filter for Error Reduction (SAFER) Process: Remote Sensing-Based LANDFIRE Disturbance Mapping Updates

LANDFIRE (LF) has been producing periodic spatially explicit vegetation change maps (i.e., LF disturbance products) across the entire United States since 1999 at a 30 m spatial resolution. These disturbance products include data products produced by various fire programs, field-mapped vegetation and fuel treatment activity (i.e., events) submissions from various agencies, and disturbances detected by the U.S. Geological Survey Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS)-based Remote Sensing of Landscape Change (RSLC) process. The RSLC process applies a bi-temporal change detection algorithm to Landsat satellite-based seasonal composites to generate the interim disturbances that are subsequently reviewed by analysts to reduce omission and commission errors before ingestion them into LF’s disturbance products. The latency of the disturbance product is contingent on timely data availability and analyst review. This work describes the development and integration of the Spatially Adaptable Filter for Error Reduction (SAFER) process and other error and latency reduction improvements to the RSLC process. SAFER is a random forest-based supervised classifier and uses predictor variables that are derived from multiple years of pre- and post-disturbance Landsat band observations. Predictor variables include reflectance, indices, and spatial contextual information. Spatial contextual information that is unique to each contiguous disturbance region is parameterized as Z scores using differential observations of the disturbed regions with its undisturbed neighbors. The SAFER process was prototyped for inclusion in the RSLC process over five regions within the conterminous United States (CONUS) and regional model performance, evaluated using 2016 data. Results show that the inclusion of the SAFER process increased the accuracies of the interim disturbance detections and thus has potential to reduce the time needed for analyst review. LF does not track the time taken by each analyst for each tile, and hence, the relative effort saved was parameterized as the percentage of 30 m pixels that are correctly classified in the SAFER outputs to the total number of pixels that are incorrectly classified in the interim disturbance and are presented. The SAFER prototype outputs showed that the relative analysts’ effort saved could be over 95%. The regional model performance evaluation showed that SAFER’s performance depended on the nature of disturbances and availability of cloud-free images relative to the time of disturbances. The accuracy estimates for CONUS were inferred by comparing the 2017 SAFER outputs to the 2017 analyst-reviewed data. As expected, the SAFER outputs had higher accuracies compared to the interim disturbances, and CONUS-wide relative effort saved was over 92%. The regional variation in the accuracies and effort saved are discussed in relation to the vegetation and disturbance type in each region. SAFER is now operationally integrated into the RSLC process, and LANDFIRE is well poised for annual updates, contingent on the availability of data.

CLIMATE RISK OF SHALLOW TOURISTIC LAKES: A CASE STUDY OF LAKE VELENCE (HUNGARY)

The European shallow lakes used primarily for tourism are subjected to a large amount of environmental pressure, and climate change is adding new problems and aspects to them: a complex analysis of processes and connections is necessary to make appropriate decisions and strategies. In this reseach research, using literature review and precedent analysis, it has been reviewed the climate risk of a Central European lake, as well as the natural conditions and landscape change processes determining its sensitivity. It was analysed the ecological and economic effects of the record low water levels of 2021-22, focusing on processes. It was determined which of the current land uses can be considered risky or sensitive in terms of climate change. It was found that natural processes are uniformly leading towards pre-regulation character, low water levels facilitating the regeneration of flora and fauna. However, the dominant land use is dependent on artificially elevated water levels, and therefore serious economic problems have arisen. Beaches, bathing, and angling tourism are the most vulnerable to climate change.

Evaluation of recent land-use and land-cover change in a mountain region.

Mountain regions are vital to the provision of ecosystem services. “Cofre de Perote” volcano is the eighth highest mountain in Mexico and provides various goods and services to the people living in the central region of Veracruz. Despite being a protected area as a national park, it shows processes of landscape change in recent years. We mapped land-use and land-cover changes (LULCC) based on remote sensing data (Sentinel-2) from 2017 and 2021. The best classifier was the support vector machine with an overall accuracy value of 0.908 ± 0.003 and 0.916 ± 0.004 for 2017 and 2021, respectively. We estimated that 21.77% of the area changed in only four years. The main trajectory of change was from forests to agricultural, with an area of ​​1224.81 ha and an annual rate of change of -2.39%. Updating knowledge on the dynamics of LULCC will allow better conservation actions for the mountain ecosystems.

Water Reservoirs as a Driver of Anthropogenic Changes in Landscape and Transport Networks: The Czech Republic Experience

The construction of reservoirs has a major impact on the floodplain landscape, and their existence also affects land use in the hinterland. The aim of this article is to evaluate the influence of artificial lakes on changes in landscape use and transport networks; in this context, an assessment is provided of the significance of this anthropogenic activity as one of the drivers of landscape change. Old topographic maps and archival aerial photographs are used to analyze changes in the use of landscape and road networks, and these materials are complemented with the latest geographic data in digital form. Utilizing geographic information systems, we assessed the landscape changes and processes in the hinterland of those Czech Republic reservoirs that have an area of 100 ha or more. The results of the research show that landscape change processes are more intensive in the hinterland of the lakes than in the surrounding landscape. The predominant utility function of a reservoir emerged as a key factor in landscape use changes and ongoing processes. A different landscape use scenario can be observed in drinking water reservoirs, especially regarding the leisure and irrigation functions that dominate elsewhere. After the completion of reservoirs, the road and railway networks had an impact on, above all, the connection of the nearest villages in the hinterland of the lakes. The information that we found can be employed in projecting future changes in land use and road networks at newly planned dams.

Priority areas for restoration in permanent preservation areas of rural properties in the Brazilian Amazon

Environmental degradation, over the years, has drastically changed landscapes in the Amazon. At the same time, discussion, knowledge, and actions on the conservation of forest remnants and restoration of degraded environments have increased worldwide. The present study, carried out in Paragominas (Brazilian Amazon), aimed: (1) to evaluate the process of landscape change over the last 36 years (1984–2020); (2) to identify degraded environments within legally established permanent preservation areas (PPAs); and (3) to map environmental liabilities in degraded rural properties which, according to environmental regulations, must be recovered. The priority areas for restoration were defined considering (a) the environmental liabilities of each rural property; (b) the remnant forest in each rural property; (c) the rural properties’ boundaries; and (d) the degraded PPAs in each rural property. Deforestation followed by land use change in Paragominas’ territory increased from 12% (2336 km2) in 1984–45% (8783 km2) in 2020. The municipality presented 4416 km of rivers and c.a 6157 springs under pressure (i.e. agriculture, pasture, urban areas and deforested areas). The environmental liabilities identified summed 638.85 km2, which, according to environmental regulations, must be recovered. It is important to consider that when producers protect PPAs in their properties, they also conserve soil and water resources as well as contribute to biodiversity maintenance.

Citizens' Perceptions of Landscape Changes and Their Driving Forces: Evidence from Poland.

The main aim of our studies was to explore the driving forces of landscape change and their impact on the landscape as perceived by citizens in our study. We use quantitative tools for unravelling processes of landscape change over time and a qualitative tool aimed at capturing people’s perceptions about those changes. We use the two municipalities of Ostrów Wielkopolski and Kąty Wrocławskie as illustrative examples of urban and urban–rural municipalities in two time periods, 2006–2021 and 2012–2018, in Poland. We apply a three-stage approach: (1) to identify the main landscape changes based on land-cover data, (2) to characterize those changes with the use of orthophoto maps and (3) to identify the driving forces of landscape changes with the use of an online survey and interviews. The results show a large agreement between the perceived and actual level of changes. We identified key landscape change processes in both municipalities, and we conclude that citizens’ perceptions concerning those processes in both municipalities differed depending on the context, the level of changes, and the way this process was planned and implemented. In both municipalities, the respondents pointed out political driving forces of landscape change as key underlying drivers. Future landscape planning should consider citizens’ approaches towards landscape change to achieve better societal approval and improve the quality of life of the inhabitants.

Aspects of rural landscape planning related to abandoned places and objects

The study gives insight into the definition of abandoned places and objects in rural landscape planning. The goal of the study is to identify the essential aspects of rural landscape planning, that are related to abandoned places and objects, to use these findings from the literature review in further research already defining abandoned places and objects and giving guidelines for these kinds of places and object inclusion in planning documents. Rural landscape planning is considered to be the beginning of the development of planning, but planning issues have moved these days in the direction of metropolitan areas. There are still relevant initial planning goals in rural landscape planning - the creation of a quality living environment and job creation. Nowadays the importance of the landscape planning approach at the local level is emphasized. Rural landscape development and change processes are closely linked to the Common Agricultural Policy. Abandoned place/object in the context of planning can be considered as one that is not used for one year or more according to the defined function, or a place/object as abandoned, defined in human perception.

Revisiting the ‘southern mood’? Post-crisis Mediterranean urbanities between economic downturns and land-use change

Economic downturns have shaped the intrinsic mechanisms underlying urban expansion worldwide. Despite strength and pervasiveness of recent recessions, empirical results documenting the aggregate effect of economic downturns on urbanization and land-use change in Southern Europe are rather scarce. By considering a sequence of expansion and recession waves in Greece, our study verifies if land-use change differed in entity and spatial direction at two time intervals (2006–2012, 2012–2018) in the Athens’ metropolitan region. Different processes of urban transformation and landscape change were detected analysing Urban Atlas (1:10,000) change maps. The framework proposed in this study integrates a classical approach of landscape ecology grounded on the analysis of land-use metrics with a broader perspective linking regional science to spatial planning. To discriminate morphological from functional urbanization traits typical of expansions and recessions, our study performs a comparative analysis of seven trajectories of land-use change. Results identify a moderate expansion of residential settlements during 2006–2012, and a more evident growth of industrial settlements during 2012–2018. A significant increase in the number and size of forest patches converted to urban use was observed with recession, highlighting the increased vulnerability of relict natural sites with low economic value and high ecological potential. Crisis dynamics have stimulated an intensive use of fringe spaces for small residential settlements. By exalting local-scale specificities toward settlement densification and extensification on both greenfields and brownfields, economic downturns in metropolitan regions made land-use changes largely dependent on the background socioeconomic local context.

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.

At the Crossroads of European Landscape Changes: Major Processes of Landscape Change in Czechia since the Middle of the 19th Century and Their Driving Forces

Changes in the cultural landscape provide essential evidence about the manner and intensity of the interactions between humans and nature. Czechia has a specific location in Central Europe. It is positioned at the crossroads of European landscape changes. These changes can be documented based on a unique database that shows the development of land use since the middle of the 19th century. In this study, we aimed to address the major processes of landscape change that occurred during four periods over the past 165 years, at the cadastral level on the territory of present-day Czechia. Further we identify and discuss proximate and underlying driving forces of the landscape changes. We used land use data from the year 1845, 1896, 1948, 1990, and 2010 that correspond to key events in Czech history. The major processes and intensity of landscape change were evaluated based on calculations of increases and decreases in land use classes between the first and last year of each examined period. The period 1845–1896 was the only period in which arable land increased, and the most recent period, 1990–2010, was the only period during which a grassing over process was recorded. Afforestation was recorded in all periods. The communist period was characterized by unified changes—urbanization, afforestation, arable land decrease, and landscape devastation. The post-communist period was, in some respects, beneficial to the landscape (e.g., grassing over and afforestation, particularly in mountain areas), but it also led to negative processes, such as strong urbanization and land abandonment. Such changes lead to landscape polarization. The landscape changes in Czechia during the period 1845–2010 reflect many important historical events in Europe. In our analysis, we demonstrate the essential impact of underlying drivers and also identify driving forces specific to the development of the Czech territory.

Migration, Landscape Dynamics, and Fishermen Livelihood: A Case Study At East Kalimantan

This paper argues for the interrelationship between migration process, dynamics of landscape structure, and sustainable livelihood based on an in-depth study in East Kalimantan, known as a hub of oil and gas and mining industry as well as plantation and housing area for fishing communities. Using anthropological approach, data was collected using a range of methods including observation, GIS-based spatial mapping, household survey, focus group discussion (FGD), and in-depth interviews.Findings of this study showed that the long process of landscape change has affected community livelihood due to differential resource allocation. Intensive migration occurring alongside rapid industrialization has not only increased competition between different interest groups, but has also changed local spatial configuration. Nonetheless, findings also highlighted integration between differentinterest groups which has also influenced livelihood. Such process is a form of ‘smart’ response in showing community resilience and ability to share living space by minimizing conflicts.

Characterising three decades of evolution of forest spatial pattern in a major coal-energy province in northern China using annual Landsat time series

The analysis of change processes in relation to spatial patterns is gaining increasing attention in landscape ecology. Forest spatial pattern change is a critical process in landscape dynamics, and has a significant impact on the biodiversity, habitat quality, and ultimately, variation in the overall function of a forest ecosystem. The purpose of this study is to characterise the forest spatial pattern evolution over a 1 × 1 km2 landscape units covering Shanxi, which is a major coal-energy province in northern China. Four landscape metrics, i.e., aggregation index (AI), largest patch index (LPI), patch density (PD), and shape index (SI), were derived based upon annual forest distribution maps (1987–2018). These metrics were used to identify three spatially heterogeneous pattern types: severely fragmentised pattern (SFP), incompletely fragmentised pattern (IFP), and relatively intact pattern (RIP), based on the integration of the self-organising map (SOM) with k-means algorithms. Post-classification change detection was conducted to analyse the change process of the forest spatial patterns. Results indicate that:(i) the average proportion of forest area with the RIP was approximately 50%, making it the dominant spatial pattern type; whereas forest areas with the SFP and IFP gradually approached each other in value; (ii) 80.7% landscape units experienced a pattern change, wherein the area with the SFP was always more likely to disappear during transition; (iii) Therein, the change times primarily concentrated between 2 and 4 for 66% of these units and the change duration was primarily in the range of 7–17 years. A relatively high proportion of pattern change occurred for sequential periods (2002–2005), and that the IFP interacts with the other pattern types most frequently. We concluded that the evaluation of multiple landscape metrics is effective in identifying spatial patterns through the combined use of the SOM with the k-means cluster. The spatial pattern and landscape change processes are mutually restricted, and the forest spatial pattern has its own internal dynamics that has a different effect on the change processes.

Application of Artificial Neural Network in Landscape Change Process in Gharesou Watershed, Golestan Province

Application of Artificial Neural Network in Landscape Change Process in Gharesou Watershed, Golestan Province

The development of historic field systems in northern England: a case study at Wallington, Northumberland

ABSTRACT Wallington in central Northumberland is a late seventeenth- and early eighteenth-century country house with associated pleasure grounds. Much of the surrounding estate is agricultural land, though there are also expanses of moorland and conifer plantation. The character of Wallington’s landscape, now divided into fifteen separate farm holdings, was to a large extent shaped by estate management practices and improvements in the eighteenth– nineteenth centuries. Today’s settlement pattern is made up largely of dispersed farmsteads, with field systems which reflect the orderly rectilinear layout of planned enclosure, being separated mainly by long and fairly straight stonefaced banks. In medieval and early modern times, by contrast, the landscape is thought to have been quite different, with nucleated villages set amidst irregular open fields which were farmed collectively. The process of long-term landscape change from open to enclosed field systems has been inferred across the whole of Northumberland but it can be difficult to understand in detail. Absolute dating evidence for field systems before the eighteenth century is generally lacking and the origins and development of historic earthworks including boundary banks and the remains of arable farming are poorly understood. This paper presents results of research which used retrogressive landscape analysis (based on documentary evidence, archaeological data, aerial photographs, and historic cartography) to identify five areas for detailed geoarchaeological investigation and sampling with optically stimulated luminescence profiling and dating (OSL-PD). The results provide new perspectives on the development of landscape character at Wallington which have wider relevance for north-east England and beyond.

Landscape Management through Change Processes Monitoring in Iran

The presented research investigated and predicted landscape change processes (LCPs) in the Talar watershed, northern Iran. The Land Change Modeler was used for change analysis, transition potential modeling, and prediction of land use/land cover (LULC) map. The evaluation of projected LULC map was performed by comparing the real and predicted LULC maps for the reference year, 2014. Landscape metrics and change processes were investigated for the period 1989–2014 and for exploring the situation in 2030. Results illustrated that the increase in agricultural land and residential areas took place at the expense of forest and rangeland. The distance from forests was the most sensitive parameter for modeling the transition potentials. The modelling of the LULC change projected the number of patches, the landscape shape index, interspersion and juxtaposition index, and edge density, Euclidean nearest-neighbor distance, and area-weighted shape index will amount to 65.3, 7.63, 20.1, 8.77, −1.35, and 0.61% as compared to 2014, respectively. Our findings indicated that the type of change processes that occurred was not entirely the same in 1989–2000 and 2000–2014. In addition, change processes in the creation of dry farming, orchard, and residential classes, attrition of forest and rangeland categories, and dissection in irrigated farming are projected. The dynamics of landscape metrics and change processes combined in one analytical framework can facilitate understanding and detection of the relationship between ecological processes and landscape pattern. The finding of current research will provide a roadmap for improved LULC management and planning in the Talar watershed, southern coast of the Caspian Sea.

Satellite Image-Based Monitoring of Urban Land Use Change and Assessing the Driving Factors in Pokhara and Bharatpur Metropolitan Cities, Gandaki Basin, Nepal

Urban growth is a key indicator of economic development. At the same time, haphazard urban growth creates serious socioeconomic, environmental and urban land management problems. In this context, understanding the process of urban landscape change is important for guiding the sustainable growth of urban areas. This study analyzes the urban land changes during 1990–2018 in two metropolitan cities of Gandaki basin: Pokhara and Bharatpur. Landsat satellite images were analyzed using supervised classification methods. The results revealed that the built-up area has increased significantly by 300% in Pokhara and by nearly 500% in the Bharatpur during the past 28 years. Population growth, migration from surrounding areas due to urban facilities and the easy lifestyle in cities were found to be major determinants of urban growth within the study area. In addition, the changing urban definition and expansion of municipal boundaries are key factors for rapid urban growth. Both cities are likely to grow in the future as they are both located in areas that encompass the high levels of commercial activity and modern service facilities. The haphazard urban growth should be minimized through planning and policies for sustainable urban development.

Implications of urban expansion on land use and land cover: towards sustainable development of Mega Manila, Philippines

Planning of land use and infrastructure in advance for a population that is projected to grow rapidly is highly important for its sustainable development. A correlative approach of land use shifts and infrastructure design is perhaps the best sustainable urban development option that can be made at present. This paper is aimed at suggesting policy foresight, in terms of infrastructure and land use management of Mega Manila. Using Land Change Modeller, this study assessed landscape pattern, change process and future scenario of land changes in the study area. The land use/landscape change pattern, with vulnerability analysis and predicting 2030 land use maps, enabled us to understand impacts of urban expansion on different land use sectors. Overall analysis of gains and losses in different land use categories across different sectors between 1989 and 2010 indicated that built-up area experienced the highest net gain of 90.96%. Two future scenario maps were projected to indicate the potential effects of urban expansion on forested areas near study area. Urban expansion was predicted to expand by 897.16 sq. km (36% gain) with protected area scenario. Contributions to this gain were projected to come from agricultural land of 274.94 sq. km, identified as one of the major contributors to urban expansion. Following the analysis, the paper argues that land use management plan should be revised in the Mega Manila city to reduce the loss of protected areas and anthropogenic impacts.

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.