Aesthetic preferences of non-farmers and farmers for different land-use types and proportions of ecological compensation areas in the Swiss lowlands

Beyond its traditional function of food production, agricultural land offers public amenities such as the protection of natural resources and landscape scenery. This study investigates the preferences of non-farmers and farmers for nine landscape scenarios in the Swiss lowlands. The nine landscapes were the result of a photo editing process combining three land-use types (arable crops, grassland and a mixture of both) and three proportions of ecological compensation areas (0%, 10% and 30%). The landscape photographs were randomly arranged on one page of a paper-based questionnaire which was sent to a random sample of 4000 Swiss households (non-farmers) and 500 farmers. The respondents (1376 non-farmers and 276 farmers) rated each landscape by attractiveness. Both non-farmers and farmers preferred a mixed land-use type or one dominated by arable crops over one dominated by grassland. Non-farmers’ preference ratings were highly influenced by the proportion of ecological compensation areas (ECAs) in the rated landscape: Non-farmers rated a landscape with a mixed land-use type and 30% ECAs highest, whereas farmers rated a landscape dominated by arable crops and 10% ECAs highest. The results indicate that heterogeneous landscapes (mixed land use, high proportion of ECAs) influence scenic beauty positively. Thus, farming practices and agro-environment schemes such as ECAs can have an impact on the visual attractiveness of a landscape.     

Potential impacts of changing agricultural activities on scenic beauty – a prototypical technique for automated rapid assessment

As a result of the liberalisation of the agricultural market, mountain regions in Central Europe are at great risk of experiencing increasing land abandonment and spontaneous reforestation. Prior to taking measures for landscape maintenance, the ecological and landscape-aesthetic consequences of land abandonment should be analysed. This paper addresses the aesthetic component of such analyses: we investigated whether lay people perceive land abandonment and spontaneous reforestation as a loss or a gain and developed a prototypical technique for rapid aesthetic assessment of reforestation scenarios for vast regions.First, we conducted image experiments to assess the respondents' reactions to increasing levels of reforestation. Based on these experiments we concluded that a medium degree of reforestation is most desirable. Second, we analysed the relationship between scenic beauty and landscape patterns and found that landscape preference values correlate significantly with various quantitative measures of the landscape pattern (e.g., diversity and contagion indices of grey- tone and colour images). Third, we applied a GIS-assisted moving- window technique to transform spatially explicit remote-sensing data (in particular orthophotos) of a test region to spatially explicit data of landscape-pattern indices. Thanks to the significant positive correlation between pattern indices and landscape preference values, the resulting maps can preliminarily be interpreted as beauty-maps of the test-region.     

Induction of high affinity nitrate and ammonium uptake systems in wheat

Abstract

The ability of 7 day old wheat seedlings to take up nitrate or ammonium from hydroponic solution was measured. Seedlings were grown under fully aerated hydroponic conditions. The growth solution consisted of either 0.5 mM CaSO₄ alone or in combination with high nitrate (5 mM NO₃ ^‐ ), high ammonium (2 mM NH₄ ⁺) or modified 1/10 Hoaglands solution with nitrate N only (14 mM) or ammonium N only (2 mM). After washing the roots for one hour in CaSO₄, nitrate or ammonium uptake was measured with an ion selective electrode. Plants grown in high nitrate were unable to take up nitrate from a 0.1 mM external solution. Those grown in CaSO₄ were able to take up nitrate at the same external concentration (flux = 10.2 +/‐ 3.0 μmol nitrate/g dry wtlbh). The same result was seen for plants grown in high ammonium vs those grown in CaSO₄ (flux = 21.0 +/‐ 10.0 μmol/g dry wtlbh). Similar results were obtained when modified Hoagland's solution was substituted for the high N solutions. These data indicate that wheat roots possess both high and low affinity nitrate and ammonium uptake systems. The data further indicate that, for a given ion, the high and low affinity systems do not operate simultaneously under high N conditions. The high affinity system is switched off in the range of 1 mM for both ionic forms of N. Developmental studies show that the expression of the high affinity trait is reversible and may be induced (repressed) by conditioning for 24 h in low (high) N media. Plants grown in high N solutions showed efflux of the ion under assay conditions. Neither ion interfered with the induction/repression of the high affinity trait for the other under the conditions used in this study.     

Relating landscape ecological metrics with public survey data on perceived landscape quality and place attachment

Landscape Ecology - It is essential for policy-making and planning that we understand landscapes not only in terms of landscape ecological patterns, but also in terms of their contribution to...     

Proteopolymersomes: in vitro production of a membrane protein in polymersome membranes

Polymersomes are stable self-assembled architectures which mimic cell membranes. For characterization, membrane proteins can be incorporated into such bio-mimetic membranes by reconstitution methods, leading to so-called proteopolymersomes. In this work, we demonstrate the direct incorporation of a membrane protein into polymersome membranes by a cell-free expression system. Firstly, we demonstrate pore formation in the preformed polymersome membrane using α-hemolysin. Secondly, we use claudin-2, a protein involved in cell-cell interactions, to demonstrate the in vitro expression of a membrane protein into these polymersomes. Surface plasmon resonance (Biacore) binding studies with the claudin-2 proteopolymersomes and claudin-2 specific antibodies are performed to show the presence of the in vitro expressed protein in polymersome membranes.     

Generating meaningful landscapes for globalized mobile societies: pushing an international research agenda

Context

People’s well-being is influenced by the ability to establish a bond with a place and attach meanings to it. Many studies show that the longer people reside in a place, the stronger their place attachment becomes. In today’s global societies, the length of residency is vastly reduced because of, e.g., individualistic lifestyles, global workplaces and forced migration (e.g., caused by war or climate change). This trend challenges landscape science: people increasingly need places (landscapes) that can be appropriated easily and quickly by many cultural groups. At the same time, however, these places should not simply become trivial and exchangeable.

Objectives

Place attachment/place making studies have become popular in landscape science. However, we have identified a deficit in both the development and application of theory. The research agenda proposed here shall initiate a fundamental discourse on balancing the demands of a global society with the requirements for sustainable landscapes.

Methods

Literature review.

Results/conclusions

We propose a research agenda with the following pillars: (1) to expand theories and concepts of place attachment, to accommodate the new and unprecedented drivers generated by 21st century mobile societies, (2) to improve the understanding of how landscapes afford place attachment and identity-building in both long- and short-term resident and migrant groups, and (3) to establish scientific knowledge on the inclusive role of landscapes. Proposed research methods range from qualitative social science studies, in situ interviews and psychological experiments to the use of social media data and 3D landscape visualization tools.

     

Haematology, blood chemistry and urine parameters of free-ranging plains viscachas (Lagostomus maximus) in Argentina determined by use of a portable blood analyser (i-STAT) and conventional laboratory methods

Haematology, blood chemistry and urine values were determined for 44 adult free-ranging plains viscachas (Lagostomus maximus; Rodentia, Chinchillidae) in their pampas habitat in central Argentina. The study animals were captured in the wild and anaesthetized with a ketamine-xylazine combination for physical examination and sampling. Blood was obtained by venipuncture of the saphenous vein. Results for many of the blood parameters fall within the reference ranges for pet chinchillas. Differentiation of white blood cells revealed a predominantly neutrophil count for plains viscachas, while chinchillas have predominantly lymphocytes. Mean values for blood urea nitrogen, creatinine, aspartate aminotransferase and sodium were higher than the upper limit of the reference range for pet chinchillas. The results of seven analytes (haematocrit, haemoglobin, glucose, blood urea nitrogen, sodium, potassium, chloride) were compared by using both a portable blood analyser (i-STAT) in the field and conventional laboratory methods. In general, correlation and agreement between the two methods were low for most parameters.