Winter Landscape Research Articles

Landscape and its Functions in the Stories of “Christmas Tree” by Mykhailo Kotsiubynskyi and “Pine Tree” by Olena Pchilka

The article proves that the implementation of a comprehensive approach to the aesthetic education of students in NUS involves, along with the traditional teaching of subjects, their integration, in particular in the humanitarian, artistic cycle. “The concept of artistic and aesthetic education of students in secondary schools” indicates the need to take into account interdisciplinary, intersectoral links within modern school education because educational processes provide rational, aesthetic, and emotional understanding of the phenomena of the surrounding reality. The article points out that the concept of landscape is interdisciplinary and is used in various fields of art, including literature, which influences the formation of personality, helps gain some knowledge about the environment, the relationship between people and nature. The article analyzes the functions of landscapes in children's stories “Christmas Tree” by Mykhailo Kotsiubynskyi and “Pine Tree” by Olena Pchilka in detail. Attention is paid to the consonance of the names of works of art. It is proved that titles implicitly outline the time of action and are projected on the plot. The creative style of Olena Pchilka and Mykhailo Kotsiubynskyi is characterized by the “revival” of nature. On the background of winter landscapes, the writers depict the lives of different segments of the population, customs and traditions associated with Christmas. It is indicated that landscapes perform both pictorial and characterological functions. Describing the preparation for Christmas, the writers appeal to the use of contrasts, which helps reveal social issues. In both works, the symbolic marker of wealth/poverty is a Christmas tree/pine tree. Descriptions of the winter elements evoke tragic premonitions. The emotionality of the story emphasizes the rupture of phrases, the accumulation of exclamatory and interrogative constructions. It is shown that landscapes convey the inner experiences of the characters, who successfully overcome all the difficulties and return home. By resorting to the synthesis of arts, using visual materials and musical accompaniment, teachers can develop students' associative thinking and teach to comprehensively analyze information. Analyzing the stories “Christmas Tree” by Mykhailo Kotsiubynskyi and “Pine Tree” by Olena Pchilka, students consider not only the topics and issues, but also comprehend the processes of human interaction with nature, which serves to form a humane attitude to the environment and develops aesthetic feelings.

Exploring human-nature interactions in national parks with social media photographs and computer vision.

Understanding the activities and preferences of visitors is crucial for managing protected areas and planning conservation strategies. Conservation culturomics promotes the use of user-generated online content in conservation science. Geotagged social media content is a unique source of in situ information on human presence and activities in nature. Photographs posted on social media platforms are a promising source of information, but analyzing large volumes of photographs manually remains laborious. We examined the application of state-of-the-art computer-vision methods to studying human-nature interactions. We used semantic clustering, scene classification, and object detection to automatically analyze photographs taken in Finnish national parks by domestic and international visitors. Our results showed that human-nature interactions can be extracted from user-generated photographs with computer vision. The different methods complemented each other by revealing broad visual themes related to level of the data set, landscape photogeneity, and human activities. Geotagged photographs revealed distinct regional profiles for national parks (e.g., preferences in landscapes and activities), which are potentially useful in park management. Photographic content differed between domestic and international visitors, which indicates differences in activities and preferences. Information extracted automatically from photographs can help identify preferences among diverse visitor groups, which can be used to create profiles of national parks for conservation marketing and to support conservation strategies that rely on public acceptance. The application of computer-vision methods to automatic content analysis of photographs should be explored further in conservation culturomics, particularly in combination with rich metadata available on social media platforms.

Field evaluation for playback surveys: species-specific detection probabilities and distance estimation errors in a nocturnal bird community

ABSTRACT Capsule During playback experiments, the distance from the surveyor to the call influences the chances of detection across nocturnal species in farmland and woodland habitats. Aim To evaluate how distance affects surveyor detection capability, expressed as the probability of hearing broadcast calls and of estimating their distances correctly, in a nocturnal bird community. Methods We conducted a playback field experiment in farmland and woodland areas within an agricultural landscape in winter and summer 2020. Vocalizations of five species (Little Owl Athene noctua, Tawny Owl Strix aluco, Long-eared Owl Asio otus, Common Nightingale Luscinia megarhynchos, Water Rail Rallus aquaticus) were broadcast at various distances to a surveyor, who attempted to detect them and, if successful, to classify them into predefined distance zones. Binomial GLMMs were used to estimate detection probability as a function of distance, and the effects of habitat and season on this relationship. Results The distance of the broadcast call from the surveyor had a significant effect on detection probability in both habitats. In woodland, the probability of hearing calls was significantly higher in winter, while estimating distances correctly was generally higher in summer. An increase in field experience improved our detection capability, mainly in terms of distance estimation, for which errors were mostly overestimates. Conclusions The probability of hearing calls and distance estimation accuracy varied between species. Most Little and Tawny Owl calls were detected within a 200 m radius of the surveyor, while this was 100 m for the other species. For a multi-species community-level study, playback surveys are thus likely to be most representative of a 200 m radius surrounding the surveyor where the probability of detection is highest, while estimates of distance from the observer are likely to be inaccurate in most cases. Field evaluations such as this should be implemented prior to actual playback surveys.

Analysis of the Scroll “Ba Bridge in the Snow”: The Results of the Creative Journey of Shen Zhou (1427–1509)

Shen Zhou is the founder of the Wumen-Pai movement, which was prominent in southern China in the XV–XVI centuries. Shen Zhou became famous as a poet, painter, and calligrapher. In the article, the late stage of his creative work is investigated by the example of the vertical scroll “Ba bridge in the snow”. The technique of monochrome writing and the composition of the winter landscape are analyzed. The article examines the influence of biographical and social factors, Confucian teachings and Taoist practices on Shen Zhou’s painting. A comprehensive study of the scroll makes it possible to reveal the master’s worldview. The scroll, without any topographical accuracy, depicts an imaginary view of the bridge on the Bashui River. The study of the poetic inscription demonstrates the discrepancy between the poetic rhyme and the rhythm of calligraphic forms. The gradations of ink tone in calligraphy combine it with the color of painting. Shen Zhou transfers the calligraphic technique of working with the wrist and holding the brush to painting. The scroll uses the composition type “one river three banks”, in which the elements mirror each other upside down. The artist creates a dynamic balance of empty and filled spaces. The most valuable quality of Shen Zhou painting is considered by Chinese experts to be its “desalination” (tribute), which implies a balanced mental attitude, sublime clarity of thoughts and heartfelt sincerity of their expression. Behind the simplicity and naturalness of Shen Zhou’s painting are effective energetic practices and a high mastery of hidden stylistic quotations from masterpieces of previous eras. By the end of his life, Shen Zhou realized the utopian ideal of unlimited longevity and, as the analysis of the scroll shows, found humility before the inevitability of death. Shen Zhou’s art has made his name famous for centuries.

Evaluation of the winter landscape of the plant community of urban park green spaces based on the scenic beauty esitimation method in Yangzhou, China.

Plant landscapes are fundamental components of the green space of urban parks and are often dynamic, changing throughout the year. Winter is a season with poor plant landscape effects in urban park green spaces. However, plant community landscapes in the winter in urban park green spaces could be further optimized. Here, we conducted scenic beauty estimation (SBE) of the landscape factors in 29 winter plant communities in four typical urban parks in Yangzhou, China using partial correlation analysis and multiple linear regression. The standard SBE values of the 29 plant communities ranged from -0.981 to 1.209. Complex plant community landscapes with abundant plant species, beautiful plant community morphology and obvious seasonal changes generally received high scenic beauty scores. Six landscape factors, including the diversity of plant species, the proportion of evergreen tree species, the morphological characteristics of plants, the ground cover rate, the overall sense of harmony and the color composition, greatly influenced the scenic beauty of the plant landscape in the winter. Generally, the results of this study provide insight into how the plant community landscape in urban parks could be improved.

The Landscapes of Eco-NoirReimagining Norwegian eco-exceptionalism in Occupied

Abstract This article examines the Norwegian climate fiction television series Okkupert [Occupied] (2015–), focusing on the ways in which it reveals the complicity of Nordic subjects in an ecological dystopia. I argue that in illuminating this complicity, the series reimagines the Norwegian national self-conception rooted in a discourse of Norway's exceptionalist relation to nature. I show how Norway's green (self-)image is expressed through what I call “white ecology” – an aesthetics of whiteness encoded in neoromantic mountainous winter landscapes widely associated with the North, but also in the figure of the Norwegian white male polar explorer. I argue in this article that Occupied challenges this white-ecological masculine discourse through “dark ecology” (Morton, 2007), embodied by Russia and expressed by the avoidance of spectacular landscape aesthetics as well as by the strategy of “enmeshment”, facilitated by the medium of televisual long-form storytelling and the eco-noir aesthetics.

Habitat-Suitability Model for the Yellow Rail (Coturnicops noveboracensis) in the Northern Gulf Coast of Alabama and Mississippi, USA

The yellow rail (Coturnicops noveboracensis) is a migratory bird of high conservation priority throughout its range and winters across the Atlantic and Gulf Coastal Plains regions of the southeastern United States. Although the winter ecology of this species has been recently explored, no studies have addressed their distribution and abundance in relation to suitable habitat capable of supporting this species during winter along the northern Gulf Coast of Alabama and Mississippi. The objectives of this study were to develop a habitat-suitability model for yellow rail wintering in the northern Gulf Coast of Alabama and Mississippi. We then used this model to evaluate the distribution of habitat suitable for supporting yellow rail in this geographic area. Using a multivariate approach that makes use of presence-only data through a maximum entropy framework we compared the distribution of where the focal species was observed to a reference set of the whole study area. Of the 784,657 ha over which our model was applied, only 1% (8643 ha) of this area was predicted suitable in its present condition, for supporting yellow rail in winter. Our analysis indicates that the yellow rail along the northern Gulf Coast of Alabama and Mississippi occupy a very narrow range of environmental conditions highlighting need for specific management actions to maintain and conserve suitable winter landscapes for this habitat-restricted species.

The Frigid Golden Age: Climate Change, the Little Ice Age, and the Dutch Republic, 1560–1720 by Dagomar Degroot

Reviewed by: The Frigid Golden Age: Climate Change, the Little Ice Age, and the Dutch Republic, 1560–1720 by Dagomar Degroot Thomas Wozniak The Frigid Golden Age: Climate Change, the Little Ice Age, and the Dutch Republic, 1560–1720. By dagomar degroot. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2019. ISBN 978-1-108-41041-0. $29.99 (paper). “Earth’s climate is a fantastically complex jigsaw puzzle, and every part contributes to the whole” (p. 26). In his book “The Frigid Golden Age,” Dagomar Degroot, associate professor of environmental history at Georgetown University, offers a detailed analysis of the relations between the period called the “Little Ice Age” and the rise of the Dutch Republic. Degroot is one of the co-founders of the Climate History Network, an organization of scholars who study past climate changes. His book starts with the long-term focus of previous scholarship on the Low Countries and offers an overview of the current state of research. The volume is subdivided in three parts with the keywords commerce, conflict, and culture. After a short and insightful introduction about “Crisis and Opportunity in a Changing Climate” (pp. 1–21), in chapter 1, Degroot defines his understanding of “The Little Ice Age” (pp. 22–51). Therefore he describes the key engines of atmospheric and oceanic circulations such as North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO), Atlantic meridional overturning circulation (AMOC), El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) etc., and their influence on the atmosphere, hydrosphere, cryosphere, and biosphere. Having thus clarified the preconditions, he turns to the consequences [End Page 630] of climatic changes in the three areas mentioned above: commerce, conflicts, and culture. One of the most important sources of this book are ship’s logbooks as these contain a remarkable amount of information on weather conditions. In part I “Commerce and Climate Change,” Degroot describes in two chapters the influence of the climate on trade connections. In chapter 2 “Reaching Asia in a Stormy, Chilly Climate” (pp. 55–108), he shows that traveling by sea was more important to the Dutch republic’s coastal provinces than to most other European regions. In chapter 3 “Sailing, Floating, Riding, and Skating through a Cooler Europe” (pp. 109–151), Degroot gives an impressive overview on how diverse the Dutch transportation system was, using different kinds of waterborne travel and road nets. The Dutch farmers, engineers, sailors, and laborers found creative solutions to travel even in harsh weather conditions, since movement was essential to their economy and culture. The second part of the book deals with “Conflict and Climate Change” especially during the Eighty Years’ War, when different periods of Cooling and Warming affected the Wars of Independence (pp. 154–195). Degroot is able to show that climate change was a catalyst but rarely a cause of military victories and defeats. During the Anglo-Dutch Antagonism in the years 1652–1688 (pp. 196–249) frequent westerlies allowed English warships of unprecedented size to win more than twice as many battles, yet after a change in environmental conditions easterly gales and winds (“the Protestant wind”) helped the Dutch invasions across the English Channel. Nevertheless “no wars were ever won or lost solely because of climate change” (p. 247), but forecasts of wind directions were useful for choosing times for sea battles. In the third part, Degroot describes the consequences of single extreme events induced through climate change and their cultural expressions in painting, technology, and text production. In chapter 6 “Tracing and Painting the Little Ice Age” (pp. 253–276), he states that Dutch winter landscapes were not quite the straightforward representation of the Little Ice Age that they appear to us nowadays, however they reveal how Dutch artists thought about weather and how they perceived the consequences of climate change. In the last chapter “Texts, Technologies, and Climate Change” (pp. 277–299), Degroot stresses that relationships between climate change and culture can be difficult to pin down. In his “Lessons from Ice and Gold” (pp. 300–309) he concludes that the Golden Age of the Dutch Republic was framed by the Grindelwald [End Page 631] Fluctuation and the Maunder Minimum, two severe cold phases. The reasons why the Dutch prospered in this time were complex, and...

Концепт вода в метафоричному полі творів Назара Федорака

The article analyzes the concept of water in the poetic works of Nazar Fedorak. The study has revealed and described the most efficient productive verbalizators, delineated semantic spheres that form the meanings of the concept, and documented unique author’s personal elements in the content development of the concept. The case study of the poetic works elucidated a distinct predominance of the negative emotional and social background in the image of water, and its strong correlation with danger, degradation, and death. Both traditional symbolic elements of the image content and the author’s individual elements are used in the image creation.
 The concept of water is highly productive in the imagery system used by Nazar Fedorak. The frequency of this image usage in the poet's idiolect, revealed in the collections issued with an interval of 17 years, underpins this conclusion. The semantic potential of the image of water is obviously quite powerful, but when compared to the ethnolect imagery system, it is somewhat narrowed. The analysis of the concept in the works of Nazar Fedorak has identified some peculiarities in the reproduction of reality based on the metaphoric image of water. Most images of water are marked with a wailful emotional background. Most often, the poet refers to the concept, correlating it with troubles, anxiety, danger. The concept of water often conveys the meaning of transience of time, decline, death, destruction, and oblivion. Modeling the figurative meaning of water-element, the author emphasizes its primordiality, eternity, variability, and destructive nature. These images are traditional associations with water power, including autumn and winter landscapes. In addition, the poet links the meteorological realizations of the poetic image of water with the concepts of pairing and love, which are among symbolic meanings of water in the folklore. It is worth mentioning that due to the productivity of the anthropo-zoomorphic metaphors, primarily related to the phenomena of nature, the concept of water acquires the meanings of a creature, human, and animal. The study sheds light on the author’s rethinking of water as a victory (a hint of the text “The Tale of Igor's Campaign”) and water (snow) as lyrical hero (individual author’s images).
 Further research is suggested to determine the concept of water in the idiolects of contemporary authors representing the postmodern trend in the Ukrainian literature.

‘Winter children’: an ethnographically inspired study of children being-and-becoming well-versed in snow and ice

ABSTRACT For many children living in Northern and mountainous regions of the world, playing in snow is enticing and connotes childhood for many adults. Even so, researchers have paid little attention to children’s play in/with snow and ice. This paper aims to contribute to the growing knowledge on children’s competencies and child-nature relationships by exploring how a group of children build their understanding of themselves and their environment during playful explorations in demanding winter landscapes. The study is framed by (1) a phenomenological-hermeneutic approach, (2) an analysis of selected evocative empirical examples of ways children play in/with winter materials, and (3) perspectives on ‘Bildung’ as dialectical processes of being-and-becoming. Data were generated through ethnographically inspired fieldwork, including 20 children aged four to six, in a Norwegian Nature Kindergarten, emphasizing children’s self-initiated outdoor play as educationally important. The fieldwork was conducted in 2018 during the coldest time of the year and draws on participant observation, children’s photographs and on-site conversations. The study is inspired by the work of [Ingold, T. (2011). Being alive. Oxon: Routledge], [Merleau-Ponty, M. (2012). Phenomenology of perception. London: Routledge], [Gibson, J. J. (1979). The ecological approach to visual perception. NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates], and the Continental European philosophy of Bildung [Biesta, G. (2002). Bildung and modernity: The future of Bildung in a world of difference. Studies in Philosophy and Education, 21(4–5), 343–351] and applies Ingold’s concepts of ‘lines’, ‘knots’ and ‘dwelling’, to explore children’s playful movements and experiences along lines in an ever-evolving meshwork. Three themes are analyzed. First, the ever-transforming qualities of snow and ice are discussed as existential materials and cultural conditions in the children’s dialectical process of being-and-becoming. Second, the kindergarten’s snow-covered playground is seen as attractive and challenging from the children’s perspective. Third, as the children increase their competence in the dynamic winter environment through movement, they embody existential knowledge and skills about the socio-material context of which they are a part. Thus, they familiarize themselves with their environment as being-and-becoming winter children.

城市湿地公园使用者评价的影响因素及其行为偏好——以宜昌运河公园为例

PDF HTML阅读 XML下载 导出引用 引用提醒 城市湿地公园使用者评价的影响因素及其行为偏好——以宜昌运河公园为例 DOI: 10.5846/stxb201812062670 作者: 作者单位: 北京大学建筑与景观设计学院,北京大学景观设计学研究院 作者简介: 通讯作者: 中图分类号: 基金项目: 国家重点研发计划（2016YFC0401105）；国家自然科学基金面上项目（51678002） Research of the evaluations and the behavioral preferences of park users in Urban Wetland Park: a case study of Yichang Canal Park Author: Affiliation: College of Architecture and Landscape of Peking University,The Graduate School of Landscape Architecture,Peking University Fund Project: 摘要 | 图/表 | 访问统计 | 参考文献 | 相似文献 | 引证文献 | 资源附件 | 文章评论 摘要:城市湿地公园是城市水环境保护和市民活动的共同载体。如何达到保护城市水环境和满足使用者社会需求的平衡是本研究的关键问题。以景观绩效评价为基础，对宜昌运河公园的社会绩效进行了详细量化，并在调查结果上分析研究了影响城市湿地公园使用者评价的原因，以及在城市湿地公园内使用者的行为偏好和季节变化下使用者满意度和行为模式的变化情况，并提出了设计建议。结果表明，城市湿地公园的水环境治理目标与城市居民的公园服务需求是统一的。但是在公园生态和社会效益之间还是存在着冲突关系，如湿地面积和活动空间面积的权衡，消减河流污染物和维持公园水景质量的权衡以及湿地生境冬季景观效果不佳降低使用者满意度的情况。 Abstract:The urban wetland park is a common source of urban water environmental protection and citizen activities. The key research question is how to achieve a balance between protecting the urban water environment and meeting the needs of the users. Based on the landscape performance series, this study quantified the social performances of Yichang Canal Park. The results were used to analyze the reasons for the evaluation by urban wetland park users, the behavioral preferences of park users, and the user satisfaction and behavioral patterns during seasonal changes in the urban wetland park. The study also proposes some design suggestions. The research showed that the water environment management objectives of the urban wetland park are consistent with the users' needs of park service. However, there are still conflicts between the park's environmental and social performances, such as the balance between wetland area and activity space, the trade-off between reducing river pollutants and maintaining the quality of park waterscapes, and the unsightly wetland landscape in winter leading to dissatisfaction among users. 参考文献 相似文献 引证文献

Landscape-interpretation mapping of the air temperature field of the Mondy depression

Air temperature is one of the most important climate characteristics, which is used for climate research, investigation and modeling of vegetation, hydrological parameters and other landscape components as well as geosystems entirely. The goal of this research is investigation and mapping of the seasonal and daily air temperature regime of different landscapes of Mondy valley. For the research we use landscape map of the area on the level of group of facies as well as thermochron devices. For the analysis of air temperature regime of different landscapes we used year-round time air temperature data for 2013 from 12 key areas. For each class of facies of the landscape map monthly air temperature characteristics were calculated, and maps of mean monthly air temperature were made. According to the annual mean air temperature values landscapes of the bottom of the valley are colder than landscapes of slopes. Temperature regimes of landscapes in summer and in winter are different. In winter landscapes of the central part of the valley are characterized by the lowest values of air temperature, and the landscapes of the ridges – by the highest temperature due to winter temperature inversions.

16~19세기 韓 · 中 雪景畵에 내포된 王維 인식과 표현

This paper traces the origins and background of the snow-scenery paintings of Ming-Qing China and Joseon Korea focusing on the subject matter in parallel with the techniques, themes and styles applied. It also attempts to shed light on the differences in perception and expression of Wang Wei (王維, 699–759) between Korea and China. I began with examining the five different winter landscapes in the painting album entitled Hwawon byeoljip (畵苑別集, Separate Collection of Garden of Paintings), which is believed to have been compiled in the early nineteenth-century Korea. The paintings in the album date back to the early, mid-, and late Joseon periods and display three distinct thematic categories: winter scenery as a part of a representation of the four seasons, visualizing descriptions of literary narratives, and creative copies of Chinese old masters. They prevailed at different times prior to the sixteenth century in China and later formed multilayered thematic phases in East Asian art world, starting in the seventeenth century.BR The production of the winter scenes in the Ming-Qing and Joseon periods can be effected by the taste of Northern Song literati, particularly Su Shi (蘇軾, 1037–1101), which was associated with the preference of Tang poet-painter Wang Wei. Even though almost all of Joseon painters could not realize or understand anything about their surroundings, the trend of revivalism in Ming-Qing paintings and the expansion of art markets at the time made a considerable contribution to establishing the conceptions of the Southern School and its practices, which was believed to have begun by Wang Wei. The socio-cultural current and material culture based on commercial capitalism that were promulgated throughout East Asia from the seventeenth throughout nineteenth centuries, following its emergence in the Jiangnan areas in the late sixteenth century, resulted in the diffusion of these thematic and stylistic phases throughout Korea, China, and Japan. As one component of the eventual results, Joseon painters created these five winter landscapes compiled in Hwawon byeoljip that represent one facet of the traditions of Korean painting.BR Another noteworthy point is that the influence of Wang Wei can be found dispersed throughout these different periods. Painters from succeeding generations venerated Wang Wei as a virtuoso of snowy landscape painting, as a talented literatus interested in composing poems and practicing Zen, and as an exemplary practitioner of the concept of unifying poetry and painting. This appreciation of Wang Wei not only stimulated major technical, iconographical, and stylistic advances in the depiction of snow scenery in Chinese paintings, but also broadened the capability of painting to express an artist’s thoughts, volition, and emotions. It is quite interesting that such recognition of Wang Wei is not based on historic fact, but from a preference of later intellectuals for the poetic Zen contemplations of Chinese literati like Su Shi. What is more, surrounding some creative painters like Wen Zhengming (文徵明, 1470– 1559), Xu Wei (徐渭, 1521–1593), Dong Qichang (董其昌, 1555–1636), and Shitao (石濤, 1642–1707) were at times merchant groups, particularly Huizhou merchants, who could have supported their art in various ways.

The effect of landscape complexity and microclimate on the thermal tolerance of a pest insect

Landscape changes are known to exacerbate the impacts of climate change. As such, understanding the combined effect of climate and landscape on agroecosystems is vital if we are to maintain the function of agroecosystems. This study aimed to elucidate the effects of agricultural landscape complexity on the microclimate and thermal tolerance of an aphid pest to better understand how landscape and climate may interact to affect the thermal tolerance of pest species within the context of global climate change. Meteorological data were measured at the landscape level, and cereal aphids (Sitobion avenae, Metopolophium dirhodum and Rhopalosiphum padi) sampled, from contrasting landscapes (simple and complex) in winter 2013/2014 and spring 2014 in cereal fields of Brittany, France. Aphids were returned to the laboratory and the effect of landscape of origin on aphid cold tolerance (as determined by CTmin ) was investigated. Results revealed that local landscape complexity significantly affected microclimate, with simple homogenous landscapes being on average warmer, but with greater temperature variation. Landscape complexity was shown to impact aphid cold tolerance, with aphids from complex landscapes being more cold tolerant than those from simple landscapes in both winter and spring, but with differences among species. This study highlights that future changes to land use could have implications for the thermal tolerance and adaptability of insects. Furthermore, not all insect species respond in a similar way to microhabitat and microclimate, which could disrupt important predator-prey relationships and the ecosystem service they provide.

The Interchangeability of VFX and Live Action and Its Implications for Realism

FOR THE LAST COUPLE OF DECADES, the distinction between a photo-realistic digital visual effect and a plate has become increasingly difficult to discern. The reason for this phenomenon is that many digital visual effects (VFXs) are used to simulate or imitate ordinary reality, and the present technology is refined enough to hide the artifice. This prompts certain skepticism among scholars and others involved in the industry about the use of the term The skepticism is based on the fact that the industry has developed new venues of entertainment using the latest digital technology to bring about an ultra-realistic visual representation where live-action and as well as true and false are interchangeable terms. This is of singular importance when we consider that a realistic visual representation may not be a complement to the fundamental objective reality but instead may become its substitute. Reality here is defined as that which exists and that to which the artist has access through the senses and intellect. For example, in a forest winter landscape, the physical aspects of the landscape are grasped through the faculty of sight and revealed to the eye by daylight. What transcends the senses is grasped through the intellect. The cinematographer sees vegetative life, now dormant because is winter. This intellectual grasp is not reachable by any technological means.Consequently, the idea that the cinematographer's encounter with reality and the framing of (i.e., subjectivity) contributes something to [the embellishment of] the order of creation instead of providing a substitute for it (Bazin 15) is totally irrelevant given today's digital environment standards. That is, the computer graphic artist, like the cinematographer, establishes reality as the basis for realism; however, the former remains distant from it. This remoteness from reality may not be readily apparent.Let's take Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu's The Revenant (2015). Although the film intends to make the audience believe that the visuals were captured exclusively by the camera, a great portion of them-630 shots-were digitally created or altered by VFX production houses such as Industrial Light Magic, Motion Picture Company (MPC), and Cinesite. The final result is a compendium of computergenerated imagery (animals, trees) and hidden VFXs such as particle effects simulation, lighting, stitching, cleaning, and compositing that make up 122 minutes of the 156 minutes of the entire film's length (Wolf). The intention of all these hidden visual effects is to enhance the visuals of the story as well as present visually a dramatic action that otherwise would be impossible to manage (the elk, the buffalo herd, the wolves, the bear, etc.).Another example is Alfonso Cuaron's Gravity (2013). The impossibility of obtaining outerspace live action with actors forced the production team to create a totally realistic digital VFX environment. A blend of studio live action, CGI, animation, and VFX made the visual trickery invisible and credible and thus difficult for the viewer's eye to detect.What is relevant here is that the veracity of the visuals in The Revenant and Gravity has no other authentic connection with the objective reality than competing with reality itself. The created realistic temporal and visual spectacle is completed, enclosed, and rooted in technology.With this in mind, is the intent of this article to reflect on the consequences of such interchangeability between the natural (that which reflects the spontaneous) and the (that which mimics the spontaneous). In other words, the present technology has the potential to replace a recorded event in the same manner that an artificial flower, in all its perfect imitation of a one, replaces the one to the point that the regular bystander cannot tell the difference.A General Definition of RealismIn order to better discern and reflect upon some of the repercussions brought by digital technology and the consequences of interchangeability between live action and computer-generated imagery, we must formulate a general definition of realism. …

Review: A Year in Rock Creek Park: The Wild, Wooded Heart of Washington, DC

Choukas-Bradley, Melanie. A Year in Rock Creek Park: The Wild, Wooded Heart of Washington, DC Staunton, VA: George F. Thompson Publishing, 2014. 240 pp., illus., maps, photographs. ISBN: 9781938086243, US$29.95, paper. Photographs by Susan Austin Roth.When walk through the bottomland forest and into the upland woods, may be deep in solitary reverie but am never alone (p. 7). Naturalist Melanie ChoukasBradley (with beautiful photographs by Susan Austin Roth) presents a colourful ode to Rock Creek Park, ...a welcoming sanctuary for millions of city-dwellers who feel the need to commune with Nature (p.7). Through vivid descriptions and poetic musings, Choukas-Bradley documents the 'natural events' of a year in the park. The detailed daily entries are divided into four seasons and record the changes that take place over the course of the year in this crucial urban habitat for birds, wildflowers, trees, and those seeking solace from the bustle of the Washington, DC area. While the author describes the physical and aesthetic as well as emotional refuge in lyrical detail, what sets this book apart is the undertone of the imminent threat to the habitat from global climate change.In Part 1, Winter, the author begins with her reluctant move from their rural family home in Comus, Maryland to be closer to the city, and how she initially felt exiled from Nature (p. 13) until discovering Washington's Boundary Bridge Trail Network- named for the border between D.C. and Maryland-and Rock Creek Park. Quoting from Thoreau's 1854 Walden, I went to the woods because wished to live deliberately., (p. 17) the author explains that she wished to do the same thing but had to remain in the city both for work and her family. Yet she is able to live my life in communion with Nature, here in Rock Creek Park, where.I feel have lived in the woods all along (p. 17). She describes both the personal significance of the sanctuary through its whitened winter landscape, the storms and sleet, different paw prints in the snow, and the melting of the creek ice at the beginning of spring.With its rich descriptions but clear warnings about the fragility of the author's beloved sanctuary, the book serves as homage to an ecosystem, while demonstrating its fragility. Choukas-Bradley writes:What is winter if not the chance to rest in a state of semi-hibernation, the stillness and cold serving as antidote to the industry of all the other seasons. .the stillness that is not death but the incubating prelude to exuberant rebirth. (p. 27)In Part 2, Spring, Choukas-Bradley tells us: .I want to be out of the cave and into the day and the night, especially the fertile night (51). Spring brings with it new life, birds repopulating the wooded areas, and first leaves on plants and trees bringing new hope and rebirth from the winter hibernation. …

Assessing common birds' ecological requirements to address nature conservation in permanent crops: Lessons from Italian vineyards

Viticulture has contributed to shaping cultural landscapes in several regions across all continents. Recent farming intensification is causing landscape homogenization and biodiversity loss in several of those areas, but knowledge about the impacts on biodiversity in vineyards is still scarce.Simplified agro-ecosystems resulting from intensification host mainly generalist and common species, which still play a key role in the regulation of ecosystems and in the provision of ecosystem services.We assessed the abundance of 11 common bird species at 47 linear transects in a vineyard-dominated landscape in Trentino (NE Italy), in both spring and winter, and analysed abundance variation in relation to three independent groups of predictors: landscape, management, and topographic-climatic variables.In the majority of species (7), abundance was primarily or considerably affected by landscape attributes. However, an additional 5 species were largely affected by management practices, often with conspicuous seasonal differences. Overall, landscape and management heterogeneity positively affected the abundance of 6 species.Vineyard cover (and in particular the new spalliera trellising system) was negatively related with the abundance of 6 species, with the strongest impacts occurring in winter. On the contrary, the cover of marginal habitats had major positive effects over 8 species.Hedgerows, tree rows, and dry stone walls, as well as traditional pergola vineyards and landscape and management heterogeneity should be conserved or restored in viticultural landscapes to promote the abundance of common bird species. This strategy would ensure the maintenance of the ecosystem services they provide, while promoting the general sustainability of the agroecosystem.

Using drones as a monitoring tool to detect evidence of winter sports activities in a protected mountain area

The capercaillie (Tetrao urogallus) is a mountain grouse species listed in the Red Lists of Switzerland and other countries of Europe. As a consequence of its conservation status, human activities are restricted in most of its remaining habitats. One sub-population of the capercaillie is located in the Entlebuch UNESCO Biosphere Reserve. The margins of one of its territories are increasingly used by snowshoe hikers and ski tourers at the capercaillie’s most vulnerable time, during winter. In order to identify and monitor possible interferences, we tested whether drones can help to detect snowshoe and ski tourer tracks in the winter landscape and whether there is any reaction of wildlife to the drones. Results indicate that certain environmental conditions are needed to carry out accurate drone flights, but that with optimal technical and aeronautical settings, it is possible to gain aerial images that allow winter activities by humans to be identified, and even quantified. No disturbances to wildlife were identified. The findings indicate that drones can be used as a low-cost monitoring tool for detecting human winter activities in remote places, which represent a fast-growing threat to wildlife in mountain areas.

A Loud Winter's Nap by Katy Hudson

Reviewed by: A Loud Winter's Nap by Katy Hudson Sarah Sahn Hudson, Katy A Loud Winter's Nap; written and illus. by Katy Hudson. Capstone, 2017 [32p] ISBN 978-1-62370-869-6 $15.95 Reviewed from galleys R 4-7 yrs Tortoise is ready to hibernate for the winter, but his friends keep waking him up. First, Robin holds a singing class right next door. Then, there's the tap-tap-tapping of Rabbit's ice-sculpting, followed by a snowball fight, and Beaver chops down the tree Tortoise has decided to sleep in to build a sled. Tortoise finally thinks he's found the perfect place to sleep for the winter, but as soon as he settles in on the flat bit of wood he found at the top of a hill, it starts to slide down the slope and . . . he can't help but shout with glee. Hudson's winter landscapes invite the viewer right in with their rich brown branches and evergreens against pale pillowy snow drifts, and kids will be eager to join in with Tortoise's grumpy refrain every time one of his friends asks him why tortoises don't like winter: "They just don't." Bold sound-effect lettering heightens both Tortoise's annoyance at his friends' activities and his own delight when he discovers the pleasures of winter. Tortoise is adorably cranky in his resistance to winter activities, and his friends are encouraging without being pushy. Tortoise finally joins them of his own accord, and when it finally comes time to sleep, he stares wistfully out the window at the falling snow—a posture familiar to all children called inside before they're ready to stop playing. [End Page 75] Copyright © 2017 The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois

Effect of the season and forest management on the visual quality of the nature-based tourism environment: a case from Finnish Lapland

ABSTRACTThe growth of nature-based tourism has raised the need to better understand tourists’ expectations towards outdoor recreation environments. There is little knowledge, however, of international tourists’ attitudes towards forest management practises or of their effect during winter. This study investigated how commercial forests correspond to the environmental expectations of international nature-based tourists and how the season affects tourists’ landscape preferences. Altogether 750 foreign visitors to Finnish Lapland responded to a survey and evaluated photographs presenting various types of forest landscapes in summer and winter. Beautiful scenery was the most important motive for the choice of travel destination and for participating in outdoor recreation. The results highlight the strong impact of seasons on the perceived quality of the landscape in commercial forests. Seasonal differences are largest in regeneration areas as snow cover mitigates the effects of forestry operations. Even-aged, middle-aged and mature forest stands were considered to be suitable for tourism in both summer and winter. There is a demand for adapted management regimes in commercial forests targeting year-round nature-based tourism. In conclusion, forestry and tourism can coexist in the same area with good planning and with management actions that take visual quality and recreational values of the environment into account.