Recreational Land Use Research Articles

Acoustic Characterization of Potential Quiet Areas in Dortmund, Germany

German noise action plans aim to reduce negative health outcomes from noise exposure and identify quiet areas free of noise pollution. Quiet area identification in German noise action plans is based primarily on noise mapping and spatial analysis and not empirical or qualitative data about acoustic environments, thus leaving a gap in the understanding of the quality of formally recognized quiet areas in noise action plans. This work presents a comparative empirical case study in Dortmund, Germany, with the aim to describe the diurnal dB(A) and biophonic properties of quiet areas versus noise ‘hot spots’. Sound observations (n = 282,764) were collected in five different natural or recreational land use patch types larger than four acres within 33 proposed quiet areas in Dortmund (n = 70) and 23 noise hot spots between 27 April 2022 and 2 March 2023. We found that quiet areas are on average more than 20 dB(A) quieter than noise hot spots almost every hour of the day. Forests, managed tree stands, cemeteries, and agriculture diel patterns are dominated by dawn dusk chorus in spring and summer, whereas sports and recreation as well as noise hot spots are dominated by traffic and human noise. A novel composite biophony mapping procedure is presented that finds distinct temporal distribution of biophony in forested and agriculture peri-urban locations positively associated with patch size, distance away from LDEN > 55, proximity to water, and the number of vegetation layers in the plant community. Anthrophony distribution dominates urban land uses in all hours of the day but expands during the day and evening and contracts at night and in dusk hours. The procedures presented here illustrate how qualitative information regarding quiet areas can be integrated into German noise action planning.

Understanding the sentiment associated with cultural ecosystem services using images and text from social media

Social media is increasingly being employed to develop Cultural Ecosystem Services (CES) indicators. The image-sharing platform Flickr has been one of the most popular sources of data. Most large-scale studies, however, tend to only use the number of images as a proxy for CES due to the challenges associated with processing large amounts of this data but this does not fully represent the benefit generated by ecosystems in terms of the positive experiences expressed by users in the associated text. To address this gap, we apply several Computer Vision (CV) and natural language processing (NLP) models to link CES estimates for Great Britain based on the content of images to sentiment measures using the accompanying text, and compare our results to a national, geo-referenced survey of recreational well-being in England. We find that the aesthetic quality of the landscape and the presence of particular wildlife results in more positive sentiment. However, we also find that different physical settings correlate with this sentiment and that sentiment is sometimes more strongly related to social activities than many natural factors. Still, we find significant associations between these CES measures, sentiment and survey data. Our findings illustrate that integrating sentiment analysis with CES measurement can capture some of the positive benefits associated with CES using social media. The additional detail provided by these novel techniques can help to develop more meaningful CES indicators for recreational land use management.

Environmental DNA clarifies impacts of combined sewer overflows on the bacteriology of an urban river and resulting risks to public health

There is no reference of microbiological water quality in the European Union's Water Framework Directive, adapted into English law, and consequently microbial water quality is not routinely monitored in English rivers, except for two recently designated bathing water sites. To address this knowledge gap, we developed an innovative monitoring approach for quantitative assessment of combined sewer overflow (CSO) impacts on the bacteriology of receiving rivers. Our approach combines conventional and environmental DNA (eDNA) based methods to generate multiple lines of evidence for assessing risks to public health. We demonstrated this approach by investigating spatiotemporal variation in the bacteriology of the Ouseburn in northeast England for different weather conditions in the summer and early autumn of the year 2021 across eight sampling locations that comprised rural, urban, and recreational land use settings. We characterized pollution source attributes by collecting sewage from treatment works and CSO discharge at the peak of a storm event. CSO discharge was characterized by log10 values per 100 mL (average ± stdev) of 5.12 ± 0.03 and 4.90 ± 0.03 for faecal coliforms and faecal streptococci, and 6.00 ± 0.11 and 7.78 ± 0.04 for rodA and HF183 genetic markers, for E. coli and human host associated Bacteroides, respectively, indicating about 5 % sewage content. SourceTracker analysis of sequencing data attributed 72–77 % of bacteria in the downstream section of the river during a storm event to CSO discharge sources, versus only 4–6 % to rural upstream sources. Data from sixteen summer sampling events in a public park exceeded various guideline values for recreational water quality. Quantitative microbial risk assessment (QMRA) predicted a median and 95th percentile risk of 0.03 and 0.39, respectively, of contracting a bacterial gastrointestinal disease when wading and splashing around in the Ouseburn. We show clearly why microbial water quality should be monitored where rivers flow through public parks, irrespective of their bathing water designation.

Socio-Ecological Aspects in Geoecological Assessment of Nonmetal Construction Materials Mining in the Oka Riverbed

Abstract—The evaluation of socio-ecological risks of the mining of sand-gravel mixture (SGM) from the riverbed is an important applied aspect of geo-ecological analysis. The article provides an overview of international scientific publications on this issue. The authors bring to light the most discussed, hence, the most relevant socio-ecological problems related to the extraction of SGM: a growing demand and shortage of these materials, deteriorating living conditions in areas adjacent to mining sites, deteriorating road conditions, water supply problems, increasing limitations to recreational land use, labor market distortions, rising crime, etc. The authors demonstrate that optimal management decision-making requires both an investigation of sand-gravel mining conditions and standards, and a socio-ecological assessment of the area, including the population’s environmental awareness regarding this problem; and illustrate this notion with the results of a study (semi-structured interviews in the form of a case study, combined with a quantitative pilot study) on population’s environmental concerns that has been conducted in several cities on the Oka River in the Moscow Region. The study suggests that the population’s awareness regarding the environmental issues of non-metal mineral resources extraction could be described as ranging from moderate to insufficient. The most active part of the population has an understanding of how SGM extraction affects the riverbed. However, the population’s overall appreciation of the importance of water resources for the existence of the region is rather low. The environmental concern levels could be described as moderately wary: there is subjective preoccupation with the issue of deterioration of the ecological state of the river, but there also is an understanding of the economic importance of SGM mining. Based on the conducted study, the authors provide specific recommendations as to how it could be increase the environmental awareness regarding the topic at hand. In addition, the authors stress the environmental importance of observing the regulations regarding the SGM, explain the benefits of informational support of the population and organization of educational events, and suggest conducting regular monitoring of the socio-ecological state of the region. The proposed method for identifying the levels of environmental concern of the population is believed to allow for a reduction of potential social tensions within the region.

Assessing the effectiveness of built environment-based safety measures in urban and rural areas for reducing the non-motorist crashes

IntroductionBuilt environment (BE) has a well-documented impact on non-motorist crashes. Interestingly, the urban-rural distinction of the impacts received scant attention in the literature. Moreover, the combined effect of these elements are less studied than their standalone effects. ObjectiveThis study explores the combined effectiveness of built environment-based safety measures in urban and rural settings. Data and methodThe study uses nine years (2011–2019) of non-motorist (pedestrian and bicyclist) crash data in Florida. It classifies urban and rural areas with the multivariate clustering method and models the crash count with Log-transformed Spatial Error Models. ResultsFindings suggest that urban areas, tracts with low median income, a lower percentage of senior citizens, and a higher percentage of black, white, and Hispanic people are significantly associated with a high number of nonmotorist crashes. The percentage of pedestrian and bicyclist commuters is positively associated with pedestrian and bicycle crash count, respectively. Among BE variables, more crashes are observed in tracts with more commercial land use (LU), less recreational LU, higher LU mix, more traffic, signalized intersection, transit stops, and sidewalks. Having more traffic and fewer transit stops pose lesser risk in urban areas than rural areas. The combined effects suggest that increasing commercial LU where LU entropy is high (or vice-versa) will help to reduce nonmotorist crashes. Also, in high entropy areas, increasing rural traffic is riskier whereas increasing urban traffic is safer. ConclusionThis paper documents the need of considering urban-rural differences and interaction effects among BE elements for nonmotorist safety.

Recreational land use contributes to the loss of marine biodiversity

Abstract Coastal areas are at the centre of human–nature relationship, shaped by recreation, tourism and aesthetic values. However, socioeconomic drivers of biodiversity change in coastal areas have received less attention. Soft sediment seafloors support diverse species communities and contribute to ecosystem functionality. One of the main threats is dredging, which sweeps resident organisms. Dredgings are commonly done to deepen waterways, but also for the purposes of private housing. The ecological impacts of these small‐sized dredgings are not well known over broad environmental and geographical gradients. We developed a simple approach for spatial integration of ecological and socioeconomic system, to describe how recreational land use change contributes to the loss of marine biodiversity. It shows how human behaviour, such as preference for a location of second home, can be derived from spatial data and coupled with ecological change. We characterize typical locations of second homes based on accessibility, aesthetics and environment, and with the information identified suitable areas for new second homes. We also quantified typical areas of dredging, based on the depth and substrate of the sea floor, and the extent of the reed beds, influencing the access to properties. We then simulate an annual increase of new second homes and expected land‐use change, namely dredging of shores. Finally, we quantified the realized and projected loss of marine biodiversity from dredged sites, based on species distribution models, relying on extensive ecological data collected from over 170,000 underwater sites. We found that small‐sized dredging can be detrimental to coastal biodiversity, as dredging targets shallow, photic bays and lagoons, with diverse algal and aquatic plant communities, with limited recovery potential. Dredgings also had broad impacts on benthic faunal habitats, which maintain ecosystem processes and functions. Our results reveal a significant ecological change driven by recreational land use. Reversing the trend of biodiversity loss requires a holistic understanding of socioecological systems. Our results highlight the need for integrating land–sea interactions into conservation policies and reforming current land‐use regulation for the benefit of marine biodiversity. Read the free Plain Language Summary for this article on the Journal blog.

Features of recreation land use and settlement of suburban areas of large cities

The article highlights theoretical and practical issues of agricultural land use in Ukraine and examines foreign experience. An in-depth scientific analysis of international and domestic literature has been carried out. On this basis the main patterns and trends of land use development, the main factors and consequences of suburbanization, the basics of developing the Concept of state regional policy, the world experience of land lease and the stages of land relations reform in Ukraine have been identified. The main factors influencing suburbanization and the use of suburban territories are considered. The necessity of delimiting suburban areas and developing a project of inter-farm land use, which should take into account the peculiarities of geographical location and socio-economic consequences, environmental factor, is noted. The analysis of statistical data on the use of land areas of Ukraine is carried out. Tasks have been identified, the implementation of which will contribute to the development of socio-economic conditions of settlements in the suburban area. It is indicated the need to conduct land use taking into account environmental requirements, compliance with the rules of environmental protection, land resources. The use of land resources of different countries is investigated. The analysis of the efficiency of land use and methods of farming in developed countries is carried out. Aspects of agricultural production support are considered: The regulatory mechanism in different countries is characterized by a variety of financial and economic instruments that change in accordance with the political and economic situation. The state policy of Ukraine regarding land use and the main provisions of agribusiness support are investigated. The necessity of developing methodological provisions for the implementation of land ownership rights is noted. It is pointed out the importance of ensuring the equivalence of exchange at all stages of the movement of the created value from the field to the final consumer.

Existence of the safety-in-numbers effect in the aspect of injury severity: A macroscopic analysis for bicyclists and pedestrians

Objective: Several studies have confirmed the existence of a safety-in-numbers effect in relation to vulnerable road users. The safety-in-numbers effect refers to a phenomenon wherein the number of bicyclists/pedestrians on a road is higher, and consequently, the risk of each bicyclist/pedestrian being involved in a crash is lower. Nevertheless, the existence of the safety-in-numbers effect in the aspect of injury severity in traffic crashes has not yet been investigated. Thus, this study aimed to explore whether traffic injuries are more (less) severe with fewer (more) pedestrians/bicyclists at the county level. Method: Using two fractional split multinomial logit models, the relationships between the number of bicyclists/pedestrians and the proportion of crashes involving bicyclists/pedestrians based on crash severity were investigated at the county level using crash data from Florida. In other words, we explored whether differing number of bicyclists/pedestrians could change the distribution of traffic injury severity levels. Results: The modeling results clearly revealed a lower proportion of severe injuries caused to bicyclists/pedestrians at a higher level of daily bicycle/pedestrian flows, indicating existence of the safety-in-numbers effect. Several variables (e.g., the percentage of people aged 65 years and older, the percentage of commuters using public transportation, and the proportion of recreational land use) were found to have a significant effect on the distribution of traffic injury severity among bicyclists/pedestrians. Conclusion: This study proves that a safety-in-numbers effect exists in the aspect of injury severity among bicyclists and pedestrians. Practical applications: These findings are expected to provide recommendations for promoting the use of active transportation, which will improve the safety of vulnerable road users in future.

A spatial regression modeling framework for examining relationships between the built environment and pedestrian crash occurrences at macroscopic level: A study in a developing country context

Researchers have been trying to identify the contributory factors behind pedestrian crash occurrences through studies at both microscopic and macroscopic levels. However, built environment-related factors have primarily been examined in developed countries, resulting in a limited understanding of the phenomenon in the context of developing countries. Methodologically, these studies mostly used global regression models, which failed to incorporate spatial autocorrelation and spatial heterogeneity. Additionally, some of these studies applied spatial regression models randomly without following a comprehensive logical framework behind their selections. Our study aimed to develop a comprehensive spatial regression modeling framework to examine the relationships between pedestrian crash occurrences and the built environment at the macroscopic level in a megacity, Dhaka, the capital of a developing country: Bangladesh. Using secondary pedestrian crash data, the study applied one global non-spatial model, two global spatial regression models, and two local spatial regression models following a comprehensive spatial regression modeling framework. The factors which significantly contributed to pedestrian crash occurrences in Dhaka were employed person density, mixed and recreational land use density, primary road density, major intersection density, and share of non-motorized modes. Except for the last factor, all the other ones were positively related to pedestrian crash density. Among the five models used in this study, the multiscale geographically weighted regression (MGWR) performed the best as it calibrated each local relationship with a distant spatial scale parameter. The findings and recommendations presented in this study would be useful for reducing pedestrian crashes and choosing the appropriate modeling technique for crash analysis.

A global synthesis of the effectiveness of sedimentation-enhancing strategies for river deltas and estuaries

Deltas worldwide are at risk of elevation loss and drowning due to relative sea-level rise. Management strategies to restore or enhance sedimentation on delta plains, Sedimentation-Enhancing Strategies (hereafter SES), are now being pursued in many deltas but there has been limited cross-disciplinary and cross-delta review. Here we compare 21 existing and planned SES, synthesizing their physical characteristics, funding, governance arrangements, stakeholder engagement, process of implementation, environmental impact, land use change, and potential for upscaling. Strategies exist at various scales, from ~0.05 km 2 - 500 km 2 . 79% of strategies are capable of outpacing high rates of sea-level rise. Cheaper strategies are limited to short term impacts and small spatial scales, while more expensive strategies can have longer lifetimes. Most strategies create wetlands and flood water storage. Some create opportunities for agriculture, aquaculture, housing, or recreational land use. Combinations of SES will likely be the most effective and sustainable method for maintaining elevation in river deltas. • River deltas require sediment to maintain their elevation • Several management strategies exist in river deltas to enhance sedimentation • Strategies vary in lifetime and size (from 10–100 years & ~0.05 km 2 - 500 km 2 ) • Nearly all strategies outpace projected future rates of sea-level rise • Combinations of strategies can effectively and sustainably maintain some delta area • Prompt implementation is desired to increase chances of long-term delta sustainability

The unequal gender effects of the suburban built environment on perceptions of security

IntroductionStudies have shown that perceived security discourages pedestrians from walking, which in turn reduces physical activities and associated health benefits. However, there is a dearth of research about what elements of the built environment contribute to perceived security among pedestrians and, in particular, how the perception varies amongst women and amongst men in suburban environments. The present study aims to address this gap in the literature. MethodsA range of scenarios (i.e. more/less diversity of land use, presence/absence of trees) were presented in an online experiment to 995 participants in Brisbane (Australia). Participants reported their perceptions of being assaulted/robbed/harassed in each scenario. Random effects ordered probit models were estimated for men and women to identify the association between perceived security and built environment factors, controlling for other confounders such as age and attitudes. ResultsWomen have a higher perceived risk of being assaulted/robbed/harassed compared with men in all scenarios tested in the present study. Importantly, the results indicated that while residential, commercial, and mixed land use provide a sense of security for pedestrians compared to vacant land, the effect was larger for women compared to men. There were no significant differences between vacant and recreational land use in terms of perceived security. At night, pedestrians perceived suburban environments as insecure, and the change in the level of security was higher for women than men. Also, night time security varied over different land-use types between men and women. ConclusionsThe findings suggest that targeted urban design practices (e.g., functional use of vacant land, increasing diversity of land use, adequate street lights) could be used to improve perceived security and also reduce gender inequality in security perceptions. In turn, improved perceptions of security can help to increase walking as a mode of transport.

Peculiarities of formation of recreational land use in the suburban zone of the megapolis

The article highlights the scientific principles of the formation of environmental land use in Ukraine. The components of suburban areas of megacities and the process of their development in modern society are studied. The article reflects the impact of urbanization on land use and the environment. Emphasis is placed on the fact that the development of urbanization is accompanied by the disappearance of valuable natural and recreational complexes, the loss of cultural and historical heritage, increasing social tensions. The study was carried out on the basis of statistical and analytical data of the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources of Ukraine, the State Geocadastre of Ukraine, the State Statistics Service of Ukraine, the Ministry of Economy of Ukraine, materials of scientific conferences, seminars, the author's own calculations. The article substantiates the need to create recreational land use in the suburban area of the metropolis. The conceptual apparatus in terms of interpretation of the concepts "recreational areas", "recreational land use", "recreational lands" is studied. An assessment of the peculiarities of the creation, use and maintenance of recreational land use in the suburban area of the metropolis. The procedure of formation of lands of recreational purpose, significance of these territories is revealed. As a result, it is established that the most important problems of recreational land use in Ukraine are ensuring high quality recreation, expanding the diversity of opportunities for recreational lands and resources closely related to them, meeting people's needs to communicate with wildlife and restoring public health. However, the radical transformation of landscapes and the large-scale development of urbanization have led to a decrease in the recreational value of landscapes and thus to the formation of recreational areas on lands unsuitable for other economic uses. All this negatively affects the quality of recreation, the diversity of recreational activities and the ability to remain in the recreational sphere of landscapes that meet the needs of the population in recreation. Key words: recreational land use, suburban area of the metropolis, recreational territories, lands of recreational purpose.

Methodical approaches of land registration formation of recreational land use of water protection zones and coastal protective strips

Today, in the conditions of transformational transformations, the recreational potential of reservoirs is used only partially, in connection with the priority of development of other branches of activity (health-improving). This is despite the fact that the value of water resources is involved in the processes of all areas of activity. That is why the issue of land management formation of recreational land use of water protection zones and coastal protection strips requires an integrated approach. Which is carried out through the assessment of recreational and tourist potential of territories and settlements to emphasize the characteristics and features that are important in the implementation of recreational activities and have a direct impact on the planning organization of land use. For the purpose of verifying the set of general intelligence, the author schematically presents the concept of "structural components that form the land use of cultural landscapes ". It has been established that in a city, the assessment of the attractiveness of land use of landscapes for recreational activities should determine the originality of recreational land use in accordance with regional and local specifics and landscape diversity. It has been seen that as a result of using various methodological approaches to assessing the recreational potential of land use of the water protection zone and the coastal protection strips, the following should be established: the recreational capacity of land use of the territory; permissible recreational load; recreational digression. In addition, according to the results of the assessment, it is proposed to divide the recreational land use of the territories of water protection zones and coastal protection strips by popularity rating, in particular, with high, medium and low potential values. As an example, the state of recreational potential in Kyiv was considered and it was established that the land management arrangement of the city needs an immediate solution for further development of recreational land use. Also, the author, due to the lack of established boundaries of water protection zones, presents a characteristic of acute social and environmental problems of land use of water bodies in Kyiv. It has been established that if there are restrictions on the use of land and other natural resources, but there is no information about them, then there is a possibility of the occurrence of various types of damage to the land use of water protection zones and coastal strips. That is why, it is proposed to allocate functional land use zones of the coastal protection strips by types of development, which will allow more efficient use of the existing potential of recreational land use of water protection zones and coastal protection strips within Kyiv and its greening and generally increase capitalization. Keywords: recreational land use, water protection zones, coastal protection strips, functional areas

Pedological characteristics of artificialized soils: A snapshot

The onset of industrialization entailed the increase in soil artificialization worldwide. Soils from artificialized zones (SAZ) are the result of urban, industrial, traffic, mining or recreational land use. Knowledge of their characteristics is a prerequisite for evaluating the ability of SAZ to perform key functions and provide soil ecosystem services. Based on a selection of 102 papers published between 1991 and 2017, this article aims at providing a quantitative vision of the pedological characteristics of the different categories of SAZs as a function of the land use and soil type (natural profile, soil developed on allochthonous material). We show that, overall, the inherent characteristics of SAZ topsoil generally depend on the soil type - soil of allochthonous material being more stony and poorer in the < 2 µm fraction - while manageable characteristics are a function of both the soil type and the land use, with the exception of pH that is mainly driven by the land use. However, a good characterization of SAZs requires a more systematic description, sampling and analysis to obtain comprehensive knowledge of their characteristics as several features are still too rarely measured such as cationic exchange capacity, electrical conductivity, soil depth, and nutrient concentrations. Sealed soils are still too rarely considered despite their large surface area. Such a characterization would allow a better management of the ecosystem services that SAZs fulfill.

The proportion of independent to dependent trips: A new measure to understand the effects of the built environment on children independent mobility

IntroductionThe research on the link between the Built Environment (BE) and Children Independent Mobility (CIM) is on the rise due to CIM's multiple health and other policy benefits. These studies have conceptualised and measured CIM using various indicators, such as mobility licence, independent time spent outdoor, and territorial range. A major problem with these indicators is that they do not indicate the extent of CIM behaviour. For example, a child is labelled as independent irrespective of whether they are independent for all trips or for a single trip or the amount of time spent independently compared to time spent with someone. This weakness of previous studies suggests applying proportionate measures to understand the relationship between the BE and CIM behaviour. MethodsThis research uses the proportion of trips made independently as an indicator of CIM and investigates the BE-CIM link stratified by discretionary and non-discretionary CIM. A two-day activity-travel diary data were collected from 151 children aged between 10 and 14 years from Dhaka, Bangladesh. BE data were generated through a virtual BE audit and spatial analysis using ArcGIS and Space Syntax. Three fractional regression models were estimated, one for each of the overall, discretionary, and non-discretionary trips. One Poisson regression model was also estimated for the count of overall CIM to identify if the proportionate measure unlocked new findings. ResultsResults show that: a) the proportion of CIM is higher for discretionary trips; b) the frequently visited locations do not necessarily attract more independent trips; c) proportionate measure unlocks new insights for CIM, and d) BE affects discretionary and non-discretionary CIM differently, e.g. the presence of recreational land use is associated with discretionary CIM but not with non-discretionary CIM. ConclusionsThe findings suggest that the proportionate measure can effectively be applied to measure the extent of CIM, and BE needs to be designed in tandem with the type of CIM to be promoted.

Transition from subsistence grazing to nature-based recreation: A nuanced view of land abandonment in a mountain social-ecological system, southwestern Cape, South Africa

Over the last 50 years, studies have shown a decline in the use of mountain lands, a phenomenon termed land abandonment. We investigate the causal mechanisms of land use change in a mountain catchment important for regional water supplies in the southwestern Cape of South Africa. Uniquely, we include nature-based recreational land use types typically excluded from land abandonment studies. We repeated a structured questionnaire originally conducted with landowners 38 years previously and analysed orthoimages from 1948, 1972 and 2014. To identify and contextualise causal mechanisms of change we used thematic analysis and generated narratives from in-depth interviews with landowners. The land use system in 1948 and 1972 was dominated by livestock-based, subsistence agriculture and small-scale farming. This transitioned to agricultural intensification on the lowlands and small portions of the mountains and the utilisation of mountains for non-economic nature-based recreation and ecotourism. The use of frequent small, low intensity-controlled fires was prevalent in the past. More recently, fires have been actively suppressed resulting in the build-up of biomass and the development of infrequent, extensive, high-intensity wildfires. Land use change in the mountains was driven primarily by socio-economic drivers, including socio-economic benefits related to globalisation and economic growth, and not by concerns over land degradation or resource depletion. Our findings support evidence that shows that people’s responses to economic opportunities drive local determinants of land use change and highlights the importance of perceptions in driving land use transitions. We show that existing models of land abandonment are likely overly deterministic in that they do not consider social and cultural factors that may cause a landowner to continue using their land for semi-economic or non-economic reasons. While there is merit in large-scale remote sensing studies, we emphasise the importance of using mixed remote sensing and social science methods for informing models of land use change.

The current state of mountain meadow soils of subalpine pasture ecosystems of the Central Caucasus (elbrus altitudinal zonality)

Intensive recreational, agricultural and logistics land use in uplands leads to their transformation and degradation. Subalpine meadow ecosystems of Central Caucasus are traditionally used for grazing and mowing. The work determined the current state of soils on pastures (mountain meadow-steppe subalpine soil and mountain meadow subalpine soil) and the level of changes of their properties under different stages of pasture degradation were defined. The efficacy of 4-stage assessment system for evaluating the pasture degradation of grasslands dominated by Bromus variegatus M. Bieb. was shown for the assessment of soil cover condition. The reduce of estimated soil indicators and degradation of soils under pastures with maximal degradation stage (DS3) of meadow ecosystems was statistically significant.

Slow Development Towards Park Creation: A History of the Black Forest in Post-War Germany

Abstract Germany is among the more eco-friendly industrialised nations, and since 1945 there has been a remarkable development in the spread of nature/national parks as instruments for large-scale nature conservation. However, its most beloved wooded mountain range, the Black Forest in the state of Baden-Württemberg, lacked these parks for decades: it was not until 1999/2000 that the local municipalities formed two nature parks, and the state government established the Black Forest National Park only in 2014. While recognising that forestry interests and municipality heads were influential opponents of the government's park plans, this article also focuses on other contexts and social groups. Nature parks were intended for the promotion of recreational land use during the post-war boom years, but in Baden-Württemberg the idea of creating parks provoked dissent among conservation officials. In national park debates of the early 1990s and the early 2010s, a circle of hikers asserted that local secondary forests were not an ideal location for a park, and opposing residents also argued against the principle of 'let nature be nature' in terms of maintaining the various environmental functions of forests. This regional history serves as a reminder of the diversity of alternative views about park formation.

Recreational land use: issues of development and assessment of potential

The article is researched and constructed on the basis of the use of general scientific and special methods of scientific cognition, which yielded valuable results. Key theoretical developments of the article are based on modern achievements, provisions and postulates of the environmental economics, applied research of the world and national level on the study of the recreational land use. T he research was carried out on the basis of statistical and analytical data of the Ministry of Environmental Protection, State Geocadastre of Ukraine, State Committee of Statistics of Ukraine, Ministry of Economy of Ukraine, materials of scientific-practical conferences, symposia, seminars, author's own calculations. The assessment of recreational land is central to the natural and recreational potential of the area under investigation. They cover primarily geological and geomorphological recreation resources, climatic conditions, vegetation, water and land recreation resources, recreational resources of wildlife, and resources of educational tourism. The functional model of the cadastral valuation of the value of potentially suitable lands for recreation is developed and the scheme of the methodological process of cadastral valuation of the recreational potential of land and other natural resources is substantiated. The most important problems of recreational land use in Ukraine are ensuring a high quality of recreation, expanding the possibilities to use recreational land and resources that are closely linked to it, meeting the needs of people for communion with wildlife and recovering public health. However, the radical transformation of landscapes and the large-scale urbanization have led to a decrease in the recreational value of landscapes and thus to the formation of recreational zones on land of little use for other economic purposes. All of this has a negative impact on the quality of recreation, the variety of recreational activities and the ability to stay in the recreational sphere of landscapes that meet the need of the population for rest. Key words . Recreational land use, natural resource potential, recreational potential, cadastral valuation, functional use of recreation land .

The impact of topological properties of built environment on children independent mobility: A comparative study between discretionary vs. nondiscretionary trips in Dhaka

Researchers broadly represented the built environment (BE) using geographic and topological indicators. Despite studies have shown that the geographic BE affects children independent mobility (CIM), little is known about the effects of topological BE on CIM. Less so, how the effects vary between discretionary and nondiscretionary CIM trips. The study addresses these gaps using self-reported two-day mobility data of 151 children aged 10–14 years from Dhaka, Bangladesh. Geographic BE data (e.g. land uses, street width, building height) were collected through a virtual BE audit following each route. Topological BE data (e.g. step-depth, integration, choice) were derived in Depthmap X. CIM was measured in a binary scale by checking whether the reported trips were taken independently or not. Three binary logistic regression models (an overall model, a discretionary trip model, and a nondiscretionary trip model) were estimated to determine the effects of geographic and topological BE on CIM, controlling for other confounding effects. The findings demonstrate that both geographic and topological BE affect CIM. However, they affect discretionary and non-discretionary CIM differently – e.g. step-depth, angular connectivity and presence of institutional land use affect only non-discretionary CIM, whereas integration, recreational land use and traffic composition affect only discretionary CIM. The findings highlight that geographical features need to be considered in tandem with topological features of the BE, stratified by destination types, to maximise CIM.