Landscape Types Research Articles

Death and life Valley. Environmental memory of the Pomeranian crime of 1939 in Chojnice

This article concerns Chojnice’s Death Valley, Poland – the execution site from the Second World War. We discuss the historical and archaeological contexts related to German mass crimes committed near the town during the war. Next, we outline the theoretical framework of our argument. The key chapters of the text are a case study that shows Death Valley also as a place full of life. Thanks to environmental anthropology, it is possible to identify those elements of mass killing sites that have not yet been included in the mainstream of historical and archaeological research on this type of landscape.

Hedgerows can increase predation rates in wheat fields in homogeneous agricultural landscapes

In agricultural landscapes, semi-natural habitats can support populations of beneficial species, such as natural enemies. Using artificial caterpillars made of plasticine, we compared arthropod and vertebrate predation rates in wheat fields adjacent to hedgerows or spontaneous grass margins in two contrasting agricultural landscapes. Overall, 25.3% of the caterpillars were attacked after 24 h, mainly by arthropods (67.1%). Predation rates in the heterogeneous and homogeneous landscapes were similar (mean ± SE; 24.9% ± 3.0% vs 25.7% ± 3.6%, n = 10 per landscape). However, we found a significant interaction between the margin and landscape type. Total (arthropods + vertebrates) predation rates were significantly higher in wheat fields next to hedgerows than in conventional wheat fields with grass margins in the homogeneous landscape (33.7% ± 4.5% vs 17.7% ± 2.5%, n = 5 per margin type and landscape), while no difference between predation rates in the two margin types was detected in the heterogeneous landscape. Total and vertebrate predation rates were positively affected by plant species richness, which suggest that one of the mechanisms through which hedgerows can support higher predator activity than spontaneous grass margins, particularly in homogeneous agricultural landscapes, is by providing higher plant diversity. Our results suggest that in simple landscapes, hedgerows may act as habitat islands of high conservation value for biodiversity, having a disproportionate value compared to hedgerows in landscapes that include forest fragments and other semi-natural habitats.

Relict stands of Central European oaks: Unravelling autochthony and genetic structure based on a multi-population study

Central European white oaks expanded rapidly after the last glacial period and reached their current distribution range during the early Holocene. They have been an important resource of timber, fuelwood and animal feed for humans, who actively promoted their presence in forests and other landscape types at least since the early historical times. Besides stands with intensive management, putatively relict populations of three native oak species can be found on unproductive sites with restricted accessibility. Here, we apply chloroplast and nuclear microsatellite markers in order to address the autochthony of relict and managed stands and compare the spatial distribution of genetic variation between them. Based on data from more than 150 populations, we demonstrate that oak autochthony was preserved throughout historical times which is likely the result of traditional silvicultural treatment. This is supported by the fact that the spatial pattern of chloroplast haplotype distribution still reflects the post-glacial recolonization in both relict and old managed stands. We observed significant admixture of haplotypes only in stands established after the Second World War, which is attributable to the transfer of reproductive material used for afforestation. In terms of nuclear genetic variation, we observed marked differences among species. Quercus pubescens exhibited a pronounced genetic structure. Genetic drift and limited gene flow among its small and isolated populations in our study area might have contributed to this pattern. Varying extent of genetic introgression with other sympatric oak species could offer an additional explanation. On the contrary, the gene pools of Q. petraea and Q. robur are highly homogenous, displaying only weak isolation-by-distance. We found no significant differences of genetic diversity and differentiation between relict and managed stands. This suggests that seed transfer mostly occurred within our study area, even in those stands established in post-war times, verifying previous findings which point out limited human interference. We recommend consideration of population genetic structure for gene conservation, with a finer resolution of gene conservation units needed for Q. pubescens due to its spatial genetic structure. Both relict and old managed stands, species-pure or mixed, are suitable for conservation, as they host autochthonous gene pools. Coppice-with-standard management could contribute to preservation of autochthony. In the face of climate change, it is also important to maintain the evolutionary potential of the stands, by facilitating generative reproduction and allowing for hybridization in mixed stands.

Study on the Spatiotemporal Evolution of the Ecological Landscape and Construction of an Ecological Network: A Case Study of Hebei Province

Research on the establishment of a regional ecological network can provide a scientific basis and valuable guidance for the protection of regional animals and plants, water conservation, sustainable resource utilization, and optimization of land use patterns. This study investigated the impacts of land use changes on the ecological security pattern using morphological spatial pattern analysis (MSPA), the minimum cumulative resistance (MCR) model, and the analysis of spatiotemporal changes and fragmentation of land use types. The results indicate that from 2000 to 2020, the dominant trend in land use types was the expansion of cultivated land, grass land, and wood land. Although the proportion of cultivated land was the largest and was concentrated in the southern part of Hebei Province, the total area of cultivated land showed a decline. Landscape index calculations revealed an increase in fragmentation of the overall landscape ecological patches, while the spatial and quantitative distribution of landscape types gradually became more uniform. Furthermore, 52 patches with the highest landscape index were identified as ecological sources, mainly located in northern Hebei Province in 2020. MSPA calculations showed that elevation, slope, and land use type contributed significantly to the comprehensive resistance surface. Using the MCR model, an ecological network for Hebei Province was constructed, consisting of 114 ecological corridors and 28 ecological nodes. The ecological corridors exhibited a distribution pattern of high density in the north and low density in the south, while the ecological nodes enhanced overall ecological connectivity in the region. Based on the current ecological environment, it is recommended to increase the number of ecological corridors and ecological nodes to enhance ecosystem stability.

The effects of a moderate severity hurricane on gap characteristics in a longleaf pine (Pinus palustris Mill.) woodland

Modern forestry research emphasizes infusing management practices with an understanding of natural disturbance regimes—often called ecological forestry. Forestry practices that emulate aspects of natural disturbance regimes are considered an effective approach to balance silvicultural and ecological objectives. Silvicultural research is often available to guide successful regeneration in many forest types, but little information is available about gap patterns from common disturbances in the eastern U.S. like hurricanes. We examined the size, shape, and spatial distribution of canopy gaps formed in a longleaf pine woodland by Hurricane Michael across multiple landscape factors including stand size, composition, and soil types. We found high variation in many gap characteristics but no significant differences in gap size or shape among landscape factors. However, spatial distribution of gaps differed among landscape types in nuanced ways. We also found that stand size complexity may prevent the formation of very large gaps that can disrupt fire continuity in systems managed with frequent fire. The results highlight the ecological importance of hurricane events and provide insight into hurricane gap formation at the landscape scale. The implementation of silviculture practices that emulate a large, rapid, single disturbance event may be more practically applied than management based on disturbances such as lightning or insects which occur over longer timeframes.

Sourcing albedo data for bifacial PV systems in complex landscapes

Bifacial photovoltaic (PV) systems harvest additional light reflected from the ground. The proportion of light reflected from the ground (albedo) is a critical parameter in estimating the expected performance of these systems. It is important that albedo data are available at the system design stage are accurate and relevant, and that the confidence in these data can be quantified. This work investigates the challenges of different albedo data sources and proposes solutions towards more reliable datasets. Satellite sources, such as the NASA Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectrometer (MODIS) products, provide data that can be used to model effective albedo anywhere in the world. Nevertheless, there are numerous sources of error that can add uncertainty in bifacial gain, reducing confidence and increasing financial risk. For smaller sites (<∼10 MW) located in varied landscapes, the scaling error caused by the low spatial resolution can be large. By analysing case studies in complex agricultural landscapes, we investigate the accuracy of different albedo measurement approaches. Monitoring stations with reference cells and pyranometers were deployed to validate satellite data and to realise a site measurement campaign for albedo measurements. Since these sites are much smaller than a MODIS pixel, we have evaluated alternative approaches, including “typical landscapes” with adjustments for local latitude and weather, and a novel method of combining MODIS data with higher resolution satellite data. The latter offers a practical solution with good agreement with the ground-based station.

Impact of water level change on shifts in subsistence regimes revealed by anthropogenic fire in the lower Yangtze basin during the Mid-Holocene

The lower Yangtze is one of the regions of origin of rice agriculture but it is unclear if environmental change drove the transition from hunting-gathering to agriculture. Long-term and continuous lacustrine records of anthropogenic fire are a more effective means of addressing this problem than the fragmentary terrestrial records available for the lower Yangtze region. We constructed a Holocene fire history revealed by records of black carbon content (BCC) and grain size of the sediments of Lake Nanyi in the lower Yangtze. Our results show the following: 1) Peaks in fire activity occurred during ∼8400–6500 (fire peak P1) and ∼ 1100–0 cal BP (fire peak P2), while weaker fire activity occurred during ∼6500–1100 cal BP (S2). 2) This temporal pattern of fire activity, with a double peak (P1-S2-P2), was asynchronous from east to west across the lower Yangtze. The warm and humid climate would not have caused intense fires and the reduction of forest during ∼8400–6500 and ∼ 1100–0 cal BP. Therefore, we suggest that anthropogenic ignitions, corresponding to pronounced population fluctuations after 8400 cal BP, dominated the regional fire activity. Combined with archaeological evidence, the inverse relationship between the agricultural and population levels and fire intensity during the mid-Holocene suggests that fire intensity at this time was the result of the diversity of landscape types associated with prehistoric subsistence patterns, rather than the magnitude of anthropogenic activity. Combined with sea level, rainfall and archaeological evidence, we propose a mechanism whereby asynchronous water-level rise during ∼8400–6500 cal BP forced the migration of humans to the foothills where they often used fire to modify the landscape as part of a broad-spectrum subsistence pattern. Whereas, water-level fall after 6500 cal BP expanded the area of open ground for human settlement, and in this less diverse landscape, less use was made of fire in agricultural subsistence. Overall, our study reveals how regional water-level, driven by sea-level rise and extreme rainfall, delayed the transition from hunting-gathering to agriculture in the lower Yangtze region.

Effects of forest spatial types, element compositions and forest stands on restorative potential and aesthetic preference

IntroductionAs global urbanization intensifies, the physical and mental stressors of modern life have led to the growing prevalence of suboptimal health conditions. Spending time in a forest benefits human health and well-being. In this context, based on the forest spatial types (forest interior and forest edge spaces), landscape elements (architecture, water and roads) and forest stands (coniferous, broadleaf and bamboo forests), this study investigated the effects of different forest spatial landscape characteristics on the restorative potential for college students, aesthetic preference and eye movement behavior (total fixation duration and fixation count).MethodsIn this study, a total of 60 subjects were exposed to 42 photographs depicting typical forest landscapes acquired through field studies. The Short-version Revised Restoration and Preference Scale and eye-tracking technology, were employed to study the recovery efficiency and visual attraction of forest spatial of different forest spatial types, element compositions and forest stands.Results(1) The restorative potential and aesthetic preference score of forest edge spaces were significantly higher than those of forest interior spaces. (2) The restorative potential of bamboo forests was significantly higher than those of coniferous and broadleaf forests. (3) In terms of forest interior space, the restorative potential of “forest + 1 element” composition and “forest + 2 elements” composition was significantly higher than that of pure forest, and the restorative potential of interior space of bamboo forest was significantly higher than those of coniferous and broadleaf forests. (4) In terms of forest edge space, the restorative potential of “forest + 2 elements” composition was significantly higher than that of pure forest, and the restorative potential of pure forests was significantly higher than that of the “forest + 1 element” composition. (5) The restorative potential of forest spatial landscape characteristics positively correlated with aesthetic preference and negatively correlated with total fixation duration and fixation count. These results can provide a reference for future forest landscape research, construction and management.

Linkages between the concept of nature-based solutions and the notion of landscape.

As the effects of Nature-based solutions (NBS) application are usually much broader than onlythe area under the project implementation, it is necessary to capture the impact on these actions of landscape as well as the influence of landscape type on the NBS effectiveness.The main aim of this study was to detect linkages between the operational of NBS and the landscape dimention,based on a systematic literaturereview. The results showed the existence of seven linkages: (1, 2) 'input' and 'output' resulting from the consideration of landscape as a scale of NBS implementation; (3, 4) 'stimulator' and 'inspiration' based on the contribution of landscape-based management to the implementation of NBS; (5) 'co-beneficiary' since the implementation of NBS affects aesthetic dimensions of landscape; (6) 'tool' aslandscape-based indicators are usedto assess the impacts of NBS; and (7) 'foundation' as health-supporting landscapes may be considered as a type of NBS action.

Climate, fire disturbance regime, and vegetation response of the past 2500 years for central Nova Scotia

AbstractThe interaction between climate change and disturbances affects forest composition and dynamics, but most of our empirical knowledge comes from short‐term studies of the past century. Pollen and charcoal analyses of lake sediment cores retrieved from three sites in Nova Scotia were used to produce a landscape‐level analysis of long‐term forest cover dynamics and fire disturbances of the past ~2500 years. The present‐day forests had been established by that time, although a long‐term increase in Picea at the expense of northern hardwoods was seen at all sites, consistent with other pollen records found across New England and Eastern Canada. The driving influences of forest change prior to European settlement were a combination of climate and disturbance, acting on site characteristics of each region. Fires were relatively infrequent in this region and did not have a major impact on the evolution of the forests of central Nova Scotia. Changes in the relative abundances of the tree taxa occurred in response to long‐term cooling during the past 3000 years and century‐scale climate variability such as the Little Ice Age (ce 1450–1850) and Medieval Warm Period (ce 800–1300). The impact of climate variability on the fire regime depends on the landscape and vegetation type. “Borealization” of the Acadian Forest, noted during the period of European colonization, has been occurring for millennia.

Benggang segmentation via deep exchanging of digital orthophoto map and digital surface model features

Benggang is a typical fragmented erosional landscape in southern and southeastern China, posing significant risk to the local residents and economic development. Therefore, an efficient and accurate fine-grained segmentation method is crucial for monitoring the Benggang areas. In this paper, we propose a deep learning-based automatic segmentation method for Benggang by integrating high-resolution Digital Orthophoto Map (DOM) and Digital Surface Model (DSM) data. The DSM data is used to extract slope maps, aiming to capture primary morphological features. The proposed method consists of a dual-stream convolutional encoder-decoder network in which multiple cascaded convolutional layers and a skip connection scheme are used to extract morphological and visual features of the Benggang areas. The rich discriminative information in the DOM and slope data is fused by a channel exchanging mechanism that dynamically exchanges the most discriminative features from either the DOM or DSM stream according to their importance at the channel level. Evaluation experiments were conducted on a challenging dataset collected from Guangdong Province, China, and the results show that the proposed channel exchanging network based deep fusion method achieves 84.62% IoU in Benggang segmentation, outperforming several existing unimodal or multimodal baselines. The proposed multimodal segmentation method greatly improves the efficiency of large-scale discovery of Benggang, and thus is important for the management and restoration of Benggang in southern and southeastern China, as well as the monitoring of other similar erosional landscapes.

Art and Reconstruction: A Study on Village Landscape type and Sustainable Design

Art and Reconstruction: A Study on Village Landscape type and Sustainable Design

Features of architectural landscape fragmentation in traditional villages in Western Hunan, China

With rapid industrialization and urbanization in China, inadequate preservation of traditional architecture coupled with natural deterioration have led to the fragmentation of architectural landscapes. Drawing from ecological fragmentation research in landscape ecology, we consider the cultural landscape as our research object, viewing buildings as landscape patches, and determine a system for measuring architectural landscape fragmentation in traditional villages. The study shows the degree of landscape fragmentation can reveal the characteristics of traditional villages and the process of regional modernization. The results are as follows: (1) From the perspective of landscape diversity, the study area was rich in landscape types in all dimensions, and the relative evenness index was high, signifying evident or severe fragmentation. (2) The index of landscape heterogeneity in the dimensions of building quality, height, and landscape appearance is low in the study area, with mild levels of landscape fragmentation caused by heterogeneity in the aforementioned dimensions. (3) Mild fragmentation suggests the integrity and homogeneity of architectural landscape types, reflecting a lagging level of economic development, whereas high fragmentation signifies rapid economic development, leading to a substantial deterioration in the integrity and homogeneity of architectural landscape types. Therefore, efforts to preserve and develop traditional villages should not solely aim for low fragmentation as it could potentially constrain sustainable development.

Assessment of spatio-temporal intra-rural heat island variability based on IoT monitoring

While there has been considerable research on heat island in urban, research on the spatio-temporal variability of intra-rural heat islands is particularly weak. Monitoring such heat island variability requires field measurement solutions with a sufficient level of data granularity at affordable costs. In this study, we tested the Air Temperature Internet of Things (AT-IoT) devices with long measurement duration and monitoring in real-time. A typical rural area in Guangzhou (China) was selected as the study area, and 28 AT-IoTs were installed in five typical landscapes, including town settlement, village, farmland, industrial area, and water body, to collect air temperature from February 3 to August 15, 2021. This study found the proposed AT-IoT provides real-time air temperature data at a low labor and material costs. The AT-IoT could serve as a useful device for obtaining reliable and detailed air temperature with high spatial flexibility in real-time. Heat island exists in rural area, with town settlements and industrial areas experiencing stronger heat island intensity than villages and water body. Heat island changes were generally similar in different climate conditions for the different landscape types. This study provides new insight into real-time air temperature monitoring technology and an in-depth understanding of heat island variability in a rural area.

Transboundary ecological network identification for addressing conservation priorities and landscape ecological risks: Insights from the Altai Mountains

Insufficient conservation measures and intense human disturbances gave rise to severe landscape ecological risks (LERs) in transboundary areas, highlighting the significance of transboundary ecological networks to maintain ecological functions and landscape integrity. However, previous studies mainly concerned ecological networks in inner regions of a country, and various risk factors remain to be incorporated into ecological network identification to clarify the priorities for transboundary conservation. In this study, we took the Altai Mountains in the transboundary areas of China, Kazakhstan, Russia, and Mongolia as the study area, and identified transboundary ecological networks by integrating LER assessment, ecosystem service evaluation and circuit theory. The results showed that the LER was spatially heterogenous with salient risk exposure in China and Mongolia, and risk disturbance was mainly aggregated in Russia. The identified transboundary ecological networks included ecological sources with an area of 1.6 × 105 km2 and ecological corridors with a total length of 1.1 × 104 km, densely distributed in Russia and Kazakhstan. The area proportion of ecological sources not covered by existing protected areas reached 53.8 %, indicating priorities for further conservation. We put forward management zoning in different LER grades to better support conservation actions on ecological sources. Furthermore, suggestions were proposed to conserve ecological corridors in typical landscapes of the Altai Mountains. The results of this study can facilitate transboundary conservation plannings and policies in the Altai Mountains. Simultaneously, it also provides a reference for effective conservation of risked ecosystems and landscapes in other transboundary areas.

How Are Urban Birds Affected by Surrounding Forests and Agricultural Landscapes?

The main objective of this study was to assess the influence of surrounding forest and agricultural landscapes on the bird communities within cities. Using the point count method, we collected data and analyzed the species richness and relative abundance of breeding birds. We found differences in the species richness and relative abundance of breeding birds between urbanized areas surrounded by forests and agricultural landscapes. However, both types of landscapes significantly differed in terms of bird community structure. The highest relative abundances of bird species were observed in city forest parks and cities surrounded by forest landscapes, while the lowest abundances were detected in highly urbanized areas. Cities surrounded by forests exhibited an additional nine species compared to other areas. The ecological grouping of species revealed that cities surrounded by forests had higher relative abundances of typical forest species, such as the Great Tit (Parus major), Eurasian Blue Tit (Cyanistes caeruleus), Common Chaffinch (Fringilla coelebs), and European Pied Flycatcher (Ficedula hypoleuca), whereas cities surrounded by agricultural landscapes were characterized by bird communities adapted to open or semi-open landscapes with specific feeding and nesting behaviors. The presence of specialist forest species in the composition of urban bird communities enhances biological diversity, which is crucial for the stability of both urban ecosystems and bird communities.

Optimising a landscape visual quality protocol. A Method for reducing respondent fatigue and obtaining site-specific indicators

Evaluation of landscape visual quality is crucial for policymaking and planning but is still challenging. A wide range of visual assessment protocols is available, but there is still no consensus on appropriate indicators or approaches. Also, evaluation protocols can encompass many indicators, being exhaustive and complex and making the evaluation lengthy. Furthermore, protocols tend to be catered to a particular type of landscape or site-specific, and it can be tricky to ensure the protocol developed is adequate for the landscape under study. This paper proposes a methodology to optimise the selection of indicators for landscape visual assessments. There are two main goals: i) reduce the evaluation time to avoid respondent fatigue, and ii) make the protocol site-specific, choosing indicators that perform better and avoiding redundant indicators.•The presented method optimises the selection of indicators in expert visual assessments;•Indicators are rated in situ on a 5-point scale and go through a performance and redundancy test;•It helps to adapt complex evaluation protocols to the study landscape and to choose robust indicators in a supported and scientific way.

End-of-life care at home as a therapeutic landscape within a compassionate communities approach

This article argues that a compassionate communities approach towards the end of life is a type of therapeutic landscape with particular characteristics. The emergence of public health approaches within palliative and end-of-life care has gained momentum internationally, with the concept of compassionate communities as one of its components. This qualitative case study explored the lived experiences of compassionate communities towards the end of life from the perspective of key actors at three different research sites providing palliative care, two of which were hospice settings and one a community organisation. The data collection methods included semi-structured interviews, focus groups, and contact diaries of people living towards the end of life (primary participants), their family members, friends, as well as volunteer befrienders and health professionals. Although there were differences in the compassionate communities approach across all three sites this study identified shared characteristics. First, home as the preferred place of care with physical, social, and psychological symbolic meanings; second, formal and informal care interfacing within and across inner and outer circles of care; third, the essential role of volunteer befrienders within the inner circle of care which strengthened the interface between the formal and informal care. The relational aspect between formal and informal care was considered to be significantly important. The characteristics of compassionate communities approaches within a home-based setting, meet the criteria for a type of therapeutic landscape, a place of maintaining well-being towards the end of life.

Ancestral commons: the deep-time emergence of Bronze Age pastoral mobility

During the third millennium BC, new types of anthropogenic landscape emerged across northern Europe: heathlands and pasture. These open landscapes afforded mobile pastoralism and the arena for a new funerary practice: barrow building. Here, the authors define this entanglement of people, animals and landscapes as a literal and figurative ‘ancestral commons’. Focusing on western Jutland, they combine palaeoecological and archaeological evidence to characterise the form and temporal depth of the co-emergent links between pastoralism, barrows and mobility. Conceptualising the ancestral commons as a deep-time entanglement, characterised by rhythms of physical and metaphorical movement, reveals a landscape that afforded shared understanding of the ancestral past and a foundation for the subsequent Nordic Bronze Age.

Identification of Ecological Risk “Source-Sink” Landscape Functions of Resource-Based Region: A Case Study in Liaoning Province, China

Ecological risk assessment plays an important role in ecosystem management and conservation. Conventional landscape-level assessment can only estimate the ecological risk level. It does not define ecological risk types, resulting in a lack of targeted regulation methods. This study establishes a model for identifying ecological risk-related “source-sink” landscape functions according to (1) “source-sink” landscape theory, (2) the responses of landscape types to ecological risks, and (3) the key influences on ecological risk. Four ecological risk “source-sink” landscape functions were mapped as a grid to understand their distribution. Natural and human activity factors were analyzed to determine their effects. After comprehensively considering the ecological risk levels, types of ecological risk, “source-sink” landscape functions, and their influencing factors, six principles and twenty-four targeted regulation strategies were proposed. Take the Liaoning province, China, as an example. The results prove that more than 80% of the grids were affected by the ecological risk “sink” landscape function for different and multiple ecological risks in the study area. Landscapes with the “source” function were mainly located in central cities and coastal areas. About 65% of the grids with “sink” landscape functions had medium, moderate-high, and high ecological risks. More than 75% of the grids with “source” landscape functions had medium, moderate-low, and low ecological risks. Local terrain features, vegetation, and climate were closely related to the “source” or “sink” landscape function of a grid. The land use type converted to artificial surface had the highest driving effects (q value) on multiple ecological risk “source-sink” landscape functions, and had a significant difference between other factors. The driving effects of land use type converted to artificial surface and road network density gradually increased with the risk level. The influences of GDP and population density gradually weakened with the level. The influence of interaction between any two factors was stronger than the influence of a single factor on ecological risk. The proposed assessment model can help to identify specific ecological risk at the grid level, and combined with the regulation strategy, the scientific basis can be provided for the regulation and management of different ecological risks.