Small Landscape Research Articles

Uneven Distribution of PM2.5 and Residential Area Planning

The dust haze has posed a serious threat to residents physical and psychological health in China. PM2.5 is the main cause of dust haze. Recent studies on the distribution of PM2.5 points out that the uneven distribution of PM2.5 in city small scale landscape like residential area prevails. The landscape pattern, the maldistribution of pollution sources like motorways, architectural layouts, greening rate, plant community are considered to be the major causes. If residential areas site selection and landscape pattern are optimized, combining road network layout, form design, greening rate and building height are planned following design guidelines, the environment quality can be bettered and the exposure to PM2.5 can be reduced.

SRNAome parsing yields insights into tomato fruit ripening control

Small RNAs have emerged as critical regulators in the expression and function of eukaryotic genomes at the post-transcriptional level. To elucidate the functions of microRNA (miRNAs) and endogenous small-interfering RNAs (siRNAs) in tomato fruit ripening process, the deep sequencing and bioinformatics methods were combined to parse the small RNAs landscape in three fruit-ripening stages (mature green, breaker and red-ripe) on a whole genome. Two species-specific miRNAs and two members of TAS3 family were identified, 590 putative phased small RNAs and 125 cis-natural antisense (nat-siRNAs) were also found in our results which enriched the tomato small RNAs repository and all of them showed differential expression patterns during fruit ripening. A large amount of the targets of the small RNAs were predicted to be involved in fruit ripening and ethylene pathway. Furthermore, the promoters of the conserved and novel miRNAs were found to contain the conserved motifs of TATA-box and CT microsatellites which were also found in Arabidopsis and rice, and several species-specific motifs were found in parallel.

Hazel grouse winter habitat selection and conservation in temperate forest

I investigated the small-scale winter habitat selection of hazel grouse Bonasa bonasia in temperate forest, South Korea. The birds showed a preference for natural deciduous forest, followed by mixed forest, coniferous plantations, and deciduous plantations. The top-ranked model for winter habitat selection by the hazel grouse (ω=0.72, r2=0.81) was 0.42 [understory cover]+0.33 [forest type]+0.24 [distance from the nearest forest road]+0.18 [number of birches]+0.12 [number of alders]. These results suggest that the conservation of natural deciduous forest, dense understory vegetation, and food trees (birches and alders), as well as a reduction in forest road construction, could enhance critical winter habitat for hazel grouse. A multi-scale approach is needed to understand the relative importance of small and large scale landscape factors that influence hazel grouse habitat selection. Future research on habitat selection by the hazel grouse should use a multi-scale approach and should assess the birds’ preferences throughout the year.

Multi-scale assessment of pollination of Lotus corniculatus (L.) in a peri-urban fringe

Background: The plant pollination service provided by pollinators is crucial for ecosystem maintenance, especially in highly fragmented landscapes, such as urban areas. Aims: We assessed at multiple spatial scales the influence of the degree of urbanisation on pollinator communities and pollination success. Methods: Artificial populations of Lotus corniculatus (Fabaceae) were established along an urbanisation gradient in gardens where pollinator communities were surveyed. We described the plant and pollinator composition of gardens (local scale) and measured landscape structure in nested buffers (small and large landscape scales). Results: At the local scale, species richness and abundance of pollinators increased with the number of spontaneous plants and the size of semi-natural areas, while at the large landscape scale pollinators were more diverse and abundant in diversified landscapes with extensive green space and low cover of impervious surfaces. At the small landscape scale, the pollination success was favoured by agricultural areas, and disfavoured by housing density and fragmentation. It was also favoured by green space cover at the large landscape scale. Conclusions: The variables that affect pollination differ across spatial scales. Local and landscape variables have different effects according to spatial scale, suggesting different underlying causes, such as the presence of flower resources or of suitable habitats in the surroundings. Our results emphasise the importance of accounting for all spatial scales when managing pollination services.

Discourses of Visual Learning in Yuan Painting: The Case of Luo Zhichuan's 'Snowy River'

Discourses of Visual Learning in Yuan Painting:The Case of Luo Zhichuan's 'Snowy River' Shane McCausland A painting by the reclusive Jiangxi master Luo Zhichuan 羅稚川 (c. 1265-c. 1330s), dating to the half century following Khubilai Khan's conquest of the south in 1276-79, entitled Snowy River 《雪江圖》 and mounted as a hanging scroll in the Tokyo National Museum collection, is a stark and desolate vision of a small landscape (Fig. 1). It is a beautiful yet also disturbing painting which defies our expectations about what an early Yuan 'cold forest' 寒林 (hanlin) painting in the Li Cheng-Guo Xi 李成郭熙 mode should be. These discordant characteristics make it all the more rewarding of study today as we look back on the painting of the Song-Jin-Yuan period with fresh eyes in the era of a global field of Chinese art. This work comes to our attention now as it was one of the loans from Japan to the 2010 Qiannian danqing 《千年丹青》 (Masterpieces of Ancient Chinese Paintings) exhibition at the Shanghai Museum, which situated the painting among works by Luo Zhichuan's Yuan peers in China for the first time in centuries. The present study on the painting started out as a contribution to the Shanghai Museum's publication about the exhibition, a volume of essays by art historians from East Asia, North America and Europe. In the revised article which follows below, the aim has been to reconstruct—with the aid of the exhibition list and other Yuan paintings—the visual discourse of which Luo Zhichuan and his painting practice were part, particularly with regard to the idea of rival sources of visual learning.1 [End Page 375] Click for larger view View full resolution Fig. 1. Luo Zhichuan, Snowy River. Hanging scroll; ink and colours on silk, 52 × 77 cm. Tokyo National Museum. In the earlier essay, written primarily for the museum-going audience in China, I reflected on some of the issues that hold our interest in the global discipline of art history today, including artistic innovation, the artist's self and society, and the nature of the artwork as an agent of some kind of social change or stasis. We recognise that the visual culture of a given period is something not necessarily agreed upon by the diverse participants in that culture. Nor [End Page 376] are the formations of culture, which so often lie beyond the familiar order of language, always easy to describe and quantify. The role of the painting historian is to provide, at the outset, an informed and sympathetic interpretation of visual forms. To understand how a particular work of art realised an innovation it is also important to discover how that innovation rippled through society and politics, and to try to discover commonalities and/or differences with the artist's contemporaries. The interpretation of form in painting today thus goes far beyond the traditional connoisseur's work of deciding if an artwork is 'right' or 'wrong', genuine or fake, and can involve exploring the many shades of grey between black and white, as well as travelling down 'blind alleys' or discovering 'blind spots' in our vision. In sum, the reader was alerted to how the role of the art historian only begins with identifying and citing relevant texts such as inscriptions, colophons, catalogue records and biographies, and then moves on, toward close attention to and informed engagement in the visual experience of pictorial form as a site of artistic transformation. If not for this emphasis on form and vision, there would be no difference between the two disciplines, history of art and history. In disciplinary terms, this represents a shift from the study of the history of art to the study of visual culture. The present article sets out to construe the formal language of Luo Zhichuan's Snowy River in terms of the artist's visual learning, based on observations of the natural world, and in contrast with better-known antiquarian learning practices associated with contemporaries such as the pivotal figure of Zhao Mengfu 趙孟頫 (1253-1322). In the argument of this essay, Luo Zhichuan's painting practice was based on a distinctive, yet undervalued brand of visual learning which we...

Genetic Diversity and Population Structure of Busseola segeta Bowden (Lepidoptera; Noctuidae): A Case Study of Host Use Diversification in Guineo-Congolian Rainforest Relic Area, Kenya.

Habitat modification and fragmentation are considered as some of the factors that drive organism distribution and host use diversification. Indigenous African stem borer pests are thought to have diversified their host ranges to include maize [Zea mays L.] and sorghum [Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench] in response to their increased availability through extensive cultivation. However, management efforts have been geared towards reducing pest populations in the cultivated fields with few attempts to understand possible evolution of "new" pest species. Recovery and growing persistence of Busseola segeta Bowden on maize (Zea mays L.) in Kakamega called for studies on the role of wild host plants on the invasion of crops by wild borer species. A two-year survey was carried out in a small agricultural landscape along the edge of Kakamega forest (Kenya) to assess host range and population genetic structure of B. segeta. The larvae of B. segeta were found on nine different plant species with the majority occurring on maize and sorghum. Of forty cytochrome b haplotypes identified, twenty-three occurred in both wild and cultivated habitats. The moths appear to fly long distances across the habitats with genetic analyses revealing weak differentiation between hosts in different habitats (FST = 0.016; p = 0.015). However, there was strong evidence of variation in genetic composition between growing seasons in the wild habitat (FST = 0.060; p < 0.001) with emergence or disappearance of haplotypes between habitats. Busseola segeta is an example of a phytophagous insect that utilizes plants with a human induced distribution range, maize, but does not show evidence of host race formation or reduction of gene flow among populations using different hosts. However, B. segeta is capable of becoming an important pest in the area and the current low densities may be attributed to the general low infestation levels and presence of a wide range of alternative hosts in the area.

Postglacial sedimentary and geomorphological evolution of a small sub-Antarctic fjord landscape, Stromness Bay, South Georgia

AbstractA detailed stratigraphical, palaeoecological and geomorphological reconstruction of a fjord head on South Georgia (Husvik, Stromness Bay) is presented. Six sites were chosen to reconstruct the lithostratigraphy of the area by means of coring. A maximum depth of 11 m was attained and the sediments encountered vary from coarse gravel over sands to fine silts with, in some cases, intercalated peat layers. Diatom analysis allowed determination of whether the sedimentological units were deposited in a marine or freshwater environment. Six radiocarbon dates constrain the chronology. Deglaciation of the area was completed in the early Holocene and the postglacial geomorphological evolution of Husdal (unofficial name) was controlled by fluvio-deltaic deposition and sea level changes. Relative sea level rise was faster than, or kept pace with the isostatic rebound of the land. Our results challenge the presence of Late Glacial and Holocene raised beach deposits in the area as reported in earlier geomorphological studies.

콘크리트 폐도의 생태복원 방안 모색에 관한 연구 - 경부선 영동군 황간지역 시험시공지를 중심으로(경부고속도로 227.24~229.04km 지점) -

The unmanaged abandoned concrete roads are vulnerable toward the issues on soil and water pollution, which requires flexible managing method such as eco-corridor after the process of ecological restoration. Among various alternations of abandoned concrete-paved roads, ecological restoration technique may be the most suitable method in sites including high quality of natural environment. Therefore, as in Young dong province, GyungBu express highway (227.24~229.04km), which is near to Hwang-gan IC, the survey to measure its effect of soil under the paving and water pollution by abandoned concrete roads was discussed. Then, the restoration method of plantings of landscape trees and hydro-seeding methods of artificial soil media was appraised through consecutive monitoring. The soil adequacy analysis shows lower percentage of heavy metal substance in each depth level compared to standard limit stated by the Ministry of Environment, along with low concerns raised after the analysis on heavy metal content of the spilled water on the concrete roads. Meanwhile, Korean Weigela (Weigela subsessilis L.H. Baily) was found to be withered in small-scale landscape trees planting sites. Among the seeding plants. the family of leguminosae, Silene armeria, Dendranthema boreale, Caryopteris incana and Aster yomena show good establishment results. Overall studies on planting of small and large landscape trees, planting method of container plants, planting method of ground cover plants, and germination and development trend of seeding plants of the experimental restoration site on abandoned concrete roads are revealing specific trends in the way landscape woody plants establishment and growth. Finally, this study suggests further studies and survey on varied plant restoration methods on abandoned concrete-roads for developed design guidelines of their methods.

Physical development trend and green space destruction in developing cities: a GIS approach

Green spaces considered natural remnants in urban environments play a key role in promoting environmental quality and forming a sustainable city. Nowadays, development of urban spaces has taken a hasty growth. In the meanwhile, the natural green spaces are severely damaged. The current study aims at investigating the trend of changes in green space of Tabriz City, the second large industrial city in Iran, on the basis of landscape ecology principles. In order to prepare the land-cover maps, Landsat TM and IRS LISS-III of the years 1989 and 2006 were applied. Alongside, landscape percentage metrics, the largest patch index, number of patches, patch density, edge density, total edge, class area and landscape shape index were also used to analyse the changes. Metric analysis of the landscape within the studied years revealed that a large part of the region has enjoyed a rapid growth (equivalent to 64.5 %) in constructions. As the obtained results showed, the smallest landscape percentage (3.9 %) in the study area is belonged to the municipal green space, while the largest landscape percentage (66 %) is allocated to the barren land. This shows that the constructions have not balanced with creation of new green spaces, and the lack of green space per capita continues to be felt.

Distributed conceptual modelling in a Swedish lowland catchment: a multi-criteria model assessment

Operational management and prediction of water quantity and quality often requires a spatially meaningful simulation of environmental flows and storages at the catchment scale. In this study, the performance of a fully distributed conceptual hydrologic model was evaluated based on the HBV (Hydrologiska Byråns Vattenbalansavdelning) and TACD (Tracer Aided Catchment model – Distributed) model concept in the meso-scale Fyrisån catchment in the Central Swedish lowlands. For a more spatially explicit representation of runoff generation processes of small landscape elements such as wetlands, a new sub-grid parameterization scheme was implemented in the model. In addition, a simple flow distribution and lake retention routine was introduced to better conceptualize the flow routing. During intensive model evaluation and comparison the model underwent conventional split-sample and proxy-basin tests. In this process, shortcomings of the model in the transferability of parameter sets and in the spatial representation of runoff generating processes were found. It was also demonstrated how a detailed comparison with a lumped benchmark model and the additional use of synoptic stream flow measurements allowed further insights into the model performance. It could be concluded that such a thorough model assessment can help to detect shortcomings in the spatial representation of the model and help facilitate model development.

Conservation planning under climate change: accounting for adaptive potential and migration capacity in species distribution models

AbstractAimA number of assumptions underpinning the use of species distribution models to predict biological responses to climate change are violated for temperate and boreal tree species that are widespread, long‐lived and genetically adapted to local climate conditions. To address this situation, we propose a methodology to account for the potential effects of genetic structure, adaptive potential and limited migration capacity.LocationBritish Columbia, Canada.MethodsSimilar to the widely used ‘no migration’ and ‘unlimited migration’ scenarios, we employ more refined biological response scenarios to evaluate the potential effects of genetic adaptation to local environments and the capacity of species to adapt and migrate. These scenarios are realized by two sets of geographic delineations that partition the species range into multiple populations and that subdivide the study area into smaller landscape units.ResultsIn a case study for British Columbia, we demonstrate how the approach can be used to evaluate the adequacy of a reserve system of 906 protected areas to ensure long‐term maintenance of forest genetic resources for 48 tree species. We find that between 35% and 85% of locally adapted populations in protected areas are maintained under a median climate change scenario until the end of the century. A sensitivity analysis shows that assumptions about migration and adaptation capacity of species have a major effect on the projected conservation status.Main conclusionsWe propose that the results of species distribution models have practical value for conservation planning if the focus is on maintenance rather than loss of suitable habitat. Accounting for genetic structure, adaptive potential and migration capacity through best‐case and worst‐case scenarios provide important information to effectively allocate limited resources available for conservation action.

Diversity of bird feeding guilds in relation to habitat heterogeneity and land-use cover in a human-modified landscape in southern Mexico

Abstract:Habitat heterogeneity is an important ecological determinant of species richness. We evaluated the diversity within bird feeding guilds as related to habitat heterogeneity and land-use cover in a human-modified tropical landscape. To quantify this process, fine-scale bird census and habitat heterogeneity data were collected for a bird community in a 22.5-km2fragmented landscape in southern Mexico. Land-use cover data derived from field surveys were used to calculate habitat heterogeneity index values and the extent of each land-use cover type in 239 grid cells of 300 × 300 m. Bird diversity values were obtained based on 1195 point-counts in these cells. Product-moment correlations and linear regression analyses were used to evaluate the relationship between bird-guild diversity values and habitat heterogeneity. A total of 109 resident bird species grouped in six feeding guilds were recorded: insectivores (42%), frugivores (21%), granivores (17%), nectarivores (9%), omnivores (8%) and carnivores (3%). Diversity values for the entire bird community were significantly positively related to habitat heterogeneity, but feeding guilds showed contrasting responses to habitat heterogeneity and the amount of land-use cover: insectivores and frugivores were more diverse and abundant in secondary forests than in any other land-cover. Our findings illustrate the importance of small landscape fragments as potential key refuges for the most diverse and specialized feeding guilds, such as granivores and insectivores.

Small Towns the Street Landscape Design Research - Take Jiangxi Province Ganzhou City Dayu County Nanan Avenue as an Example

This paper analyses the small city street view of the present situation and existing problems of small towns and the idea of the street landscape made some tentative research, quoted ganzhou city DaYuXian nanan avenue facade the example, the hope can through the street landscape systematic design of small towns and discussed, the small town street landscape regulation design provide some of the feasibility of reference.

Human‐impacted landscapes facilitate hybridization between a native and an introduced tree

Spatial and temporal dynamics of hybridization, in particular the influence of local environmental conditions, are well studied for sympatric species but less is known for native-introduced systems, especially for long-lived species. We used microsatellite and chloroplast DNA markers to characterize the influence of anthropogenic landscapes on the extent, direction, and spatial distribution of hybridization between a native North American tree Juglans cinerea (butternut) and an introduced tree Juglans ailantifolia (Japanese walnut) for 1363 trees at 48 locations across the native range of butternut. Remarkably, admixture in anthropogenic sites reached nearly 70%, while fragmented and continuous forests showed minimal admixture (<8%). Furthermore, more hybrids in anthropogenic sites had J. ailantifolia seed parents (95%) than hybrids in fragmented and continuous forests (69% and 59%, respectively). Our results show a strong influence of landscape type on rate and direction of realized gene flow. While hybrids are common in anthropogenic landscapes, our results suggest that even small forested landscapes serve as substantial barriers to hybrid establishment, a key consideration for butternut conservation planning, a species already exhibiting severe decline, and for other North American forest trees that hybridize with introduced congeners.

Foliar nutrients shape fungal endophyte communities in Western white pine (Pinus monticola) with implications for white-tailed deer herbivory

Asymptomatic fungal endophytes colonize tissues of woody plants worldwide, with largely unknown ecological effects. Using culture-based methods and ITS1-5.8S-ITS2 rDNA sequence analysis, we investigated differences between foliar endophyte communities in disease-resistant hybrid and wild-type Pinus monticola (Western white pine) trees with observed variation in tree growth, vigor, and browsing damage by white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus). We isolated 69 phylotypes of endophytic fungi in at least 39 genera, including 26 that have not previously been reported in P. monticola. Principal components analysis revealed that endophyte communities differed between browsed seedlings, unbrowsed seedlings, and unbrowsed adult trees. Sulfur, nitrate and calcium concentrations correlated with endophyte community differences among tree groups based on a distance-based redundancy analysis. Our results indicate that foliar nutrient variation influences endophyte community assembly and deer herbivory in P. monticola on a small landscape scale (80 hectares).

Seasonal variations in small mammal-landscape associations in temperate agroecosystems: a study case in Buenos Aires province, central Argentina

We studied the associations between small mammal assemblages and patterns of land use and land- scape structure, and their seasonal variations in temperate agroecosystems. We collected barn owl, Tyto alba , pellets from nest sites located in the Pampean region included in Buenos Aires province (36 sites in winter and 29 in summer). We used Google Earth and SAC-C imagery classification to describe land use and landscape structure around pellet collection sites. In winter, we found a significant relation between the relative abundances of small mammal species and landscape variables. Landscape accounted for 33.2 % of variance in species data. Calomys spp. were relatively more abundant in sites with higher winter crops cover, while Akodon azarae and Oligoryzomys flavescens increased their relative abundances in sites with more grassland cover. The commensal rodents Mus musculus and Rattus spp. were rela- tively more abundant in sites with higher urban cover, or near households and grain storage facilities. We found no signifi- cant small mammal-landscape association in summer. Our results are in agreement with previous studies showing that land use patterns may influence small mammal assemblages. Moreover, our results also show that seasonality plays a major role modulating the intensity of these small mammal- landscape associations in temperate agroecosystems.

Side Activities of Non-Farmers in Rural Areas in the Netherlands

In many rural areas, not only in The Netherlands but also elsewhere in Europe, has been observed a variety of employment opportunities for rural populations, following the decline in traditional agricultural employment. This contributes to the fact that the countryside is changing and rural areas can be viewed as new spaces of work. As a result, rural economy is no longer dominated by agricultural activities, but by activities such as small scale industrial production, service provision, landscape management, and residential use. To a certain extent these activities have the form of side-activities next to primary income sources. Most attention in both scientific literature and policies is focused on side-activities by farmers, such as agro-tourism and direct marketing. However, according to empirical data from The Netherlands, most side-activities are developed by non-farmers. In this paper the focus is on this last group. The amounts and types of non-farmers’ and farmers side-activities will be deployed, together with their motives to start new entrepreneurship endeavors and the impact on the local community. It will be argued that this type of activities will stimulate rural economic development offering new job opportunities for income generation to the rural inhabitants and create new economic spaces in rural geographical contexts transforming the rural economy.

滋賀県南東部の水田地帯におけるハルリンドウ生育地の環境条件

Gentiana thunbergii (G. Don) Griseb. is a small winter annual plant that flowers in early spring. Because of habitat development and over collection for horticulture, this plant has become an endangered grassland species. Semi-natural grasslands established on small landscape components, such as levees of paddy fields and agricultural reservoirs, are important alternative habitats for this species. The purpose of this study is to determine the optimal environmental conditions of the alternative habitats of this species in semi-natural grasslands maintained by agricultural practices. The mean soil volumetric water content of the study sites was 50.4%, while there was a significant moderate negative partial correlation between plant population density and soil water content. These findings indicate that although a moderately wet environment is necessary for species growth, excessive wetness is unsuitable. A significant moderate positive partial correlation between number of individuals and relative photosynthetically active radiation (PAR) was found, and relative PAR had a significant fairly strong negative correlation with the height of the surrounding plants. It is considered that the well-lighted environment, maintained by agricultural activities such as regular mowing management contributes to survival of the G. thunbergii population in the levees of paddy fields and the other landscape components in paddy-field areas.

Diversity and community structure of soil Oribatida (Acari) in an arable field with alluvial soils

A small-scale field study was carried out in the floodplain area of the Ondava River in the East-Slovak Lowland, Slovakia. The study aims were to compare soil oribatid mite diversity at sites within agricultural land and to assess the role of different land components as potential diversity sources. An arable field was sampled weekly on 12 sampling occasions at five sites along a transect line from a drainage ditch with a willow tree belt (hedgerow at field margin) and across the field, which had a terrain depression without water outflow. A spring-time investigation period was chosen when the field depression and the drainage ditch would have been waterlogged. Oribatid abundances at the uncultivated willow hedgerow and the depression were significantly different, not only from the rest of field sites but also from each other. The euryvalent species Oppiella nova, Oppiella obsoleta and Tectocepheus velatus dominated in the arable soils beyond the depression. The community species spectrum at the bottom of the depression, which had considerably higher soil moisture was similar to other field sites but hygro- and halotolerant Oxyoppia europaea, Microppia minus prevailed in this community. Low competitive ability and wide tolerance to environmental changes is probably the reason for the distribution pattern of these species. In the hedgerow a different community was established, with the dominant species Dissorhina ornata, Ramusella insculpta and Hermaniella dolosa being abundant usually in forest and meadow habitats rich in organic matter. Distinct environmental conditions at this site (no cultivation, leaf litter layer on the soil surface) enabled a more diverse oribatid community to establish itself, which was comprised of more specialized (less tolerant) species. We observed a high turnover rate of accidental species in field sites and more stable communities in hedgerow and depression sites. The results document that even small landscape units may serve as important diversity sources (corridors) for restitution of local microarthropod communities in arable fields (α-diversity), provided that management practices avoid drastic changes leading to the disturbance and degradation of arable soils.

Community changes in carabid beetles (Coleoptera: Carabidae) through ecological succession in abandoned paddy fields

Carabid beetle community changes in paddy fields, abandoned paddy fields, and mountains were investigated to un derstand differences in species diversity and composition of different habitat types in small agricultural landscapes in South Korea. A total of 2,938 individuals from 37 species were identified and classified from the studied habitats. Di versity in the mountains was higher than that in abandoned paddy fields. As the number of years since abandonment increased, the diversity and stability of the carabid beetle community also increased. Abandoned paddy fields in some paddy field areas and adjoining mountainous areas, left with preconditions for management and control, have provided the opportunity to improve the diversity and habitat of small agricultural landscapes. Species composition changed continuously from the paddy fields to the mountains, in accordance with individual species habitat preferences. Aban doned paddy fields in small agricultural landscapes are believed to play an important role as transitional buffer zones between paddy fields and the adjacent mountainous areas.