The change of a satoyama landscape and its causality in Kamiseya,Kyoto Prefecture,Japan between 1970 and 1995

We focused on patterns of land use in a particular satoyama landscape (Japanese traditional rural landscape, comprised of an integral social and ecological network of a village and its surroundings, such as agricultural lands, open forestlands and forests), and the effects of human activities upon them during Japan’s economic growth of the last few decades. Changes of landscape patterns and their probable causes were traced since the beginning of the 1900s to the present, and clarified. Societal, economic and technological changes, especially those that occurred after 1970, were considered the focal points from which major landscape changes developed. We compared the spatial features, patterns of land use and landscape diversities of each land unit, defined in terms of both their natural and man-made conditions for the year 1970, to those of 1995. We found land-use diversity to be strongly related to changes in the patterns of land use, with a decrease in diversity for all land units after 1970. Diversity of forest-age distribution on the other hand, increased. These changes, with the complex, changing patterns of each land unit, could be explained by differences in accessibility from the village and variations in the topography, as well as land ownership of the land units. We selected those land units found to have responded to these factors between 1970 and 1995, and classified them into four types of pattern changes, determined mainly by accessibility and topography.This revised version was published online in May 2005 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

滨水空间景观的生态改造——以水城河景观规划改造项目为例

河流作为城市空间格局和生态系统的重要组成部分,对城市生态环境和市民休闲游憩起着重要的作用。以六盘水市水城河景观改造一期项目为个案,从河道的区位环境等方面入手,分析其景观特点及景观改造的原则,重点关注其对原有沿岸景观的发现、保护和生态改造。尤其是将新景观融入河道周围环境的方法,在营造良好视觉和空间体验的同时,使改造设计具有本土性、地域性和场所性,其场地特点和地域生态得到重新的诠释和展现,使河道景观得到延续并产生综合生态效益。     

标志性建筑的景观设计——以陕西省电信大楼为例

标志性建筑是城市景观的代表性的建筑作品,它作为城市的一种符号和标记,具有文化、科技、形象和所在区域面貌的代表性。它是繁华都市的一角,它的视觉感受应该是强调绿色植物对建筑群的修饰作用,并与周围的环境相辅相成,具有生态补偿、美学和生态服务的功能。文章以陕西省电信大楼的周围环境景观设计为例,阐述环境融合、植物的景观修饰、企业文化特色以及景观小品应用的设计理念,提出标志性建筑群的环境景观设计原则。     

Neutral models for the analysis of broad-scale landscape pattern

The relationship between a landscape process and observed patterns can be rigorously tested only if the expected pattern in the absence of the process is known. We used methods derived from percolation theory to construct neutral landscape models,i.e., models lacking effects due to topography, contagion, disturbance history, and related ecological processes. This paper analyzes the patterns generated by these models, and compares the results with observed landscape patterns. The analysis shows that number, size, and shape of patches changes as a function of p, the fraction of the landscape occupied by the habitat type of interest, and m, the linear dimension of the map. The adaptation of percolation theory to finite scales provides a baseline for statistical comparison with landscape data. When USGS land use data (LUDA) maps are compared to random maps produced by percolation models, significant differences in the number, size distribution, and the area/perimeter (fractal dimension) indices of patches were found. These results make it possible to define the appropriate scales at which disturbance and landscape processes interact to affect landscape patterns.     

Thermal infrared remote sensing for analysis of landscape ecological processes: methods and applications

Thermal infrared (TIR) remote sensing data can provide important measurements of surface energy fluxes and temperatures, which are integral to understanding landscape processes and responses. One example of this is the successful application of TIR remote sensing data to estimate evapotranspiration and soil moisture, where results from a number of studies suggest that satellite-based measurements from TIR remote sensing data can lead to more accurate regional-scale estimates of daily evapotranspiration. With further refinement in analytical techniques and models, the use of TIR data from airborne and satellite sensors could be very useful for parameterizing surface moisture conditions and developing better simulations of landscape energy exchange over a variety of conditions and space and time scales. Thus, TIR remote sensing data can significantly contribute to the observation, measurement, and analysis of energy balance characteristics (i.e., the fluxes and redistribution of thermal energy within and across the land surface) as an implicit and important aspect of landscape dynamics and landscape functioning.The application of TIR remote sensing data in landscape ecological studies has been limited, however, for several fundamental reasons that relate primarily to the perceived difficulty in use and availability of these data by the landscape ecology community, and from the fragmentation of references on TIR remote sensing throughout the scientific literature. It is our purpose here to provide evidence from work that has employed TIR remote sensing for analysis of landscape characteristics to illustrate how these data can provide important data for the improved measurement of landscape energy response and energy flux relationships. We examine the direct or indirect use of TIR remote sensing data to analyze landscape biophysical characteristics, thereby offering some insight on how these data can be used more robustly to further the understanding and modeling of landscape ecological processes.     

Bridging the gap between ecology and spatial planning in landscape ecology

Landscapes are studied by pattern (the geographical approach) and by process (the ecological approach within landscape ecology). The future of landscape ecology depends on whether the two approaches can be integrated. We present an approach to bridge the gap between the many detailed process studies on species, and applied activities such as landscape evaluation and design, which require integrated knowledge. The approach consists of four components: 1) Empirical case studies of different scales, organisms and processes. 2) Modeling studies to extrapolate empirical studies across space and time. 3) Modeling studies to produce guidelines and standards for landscape conditions. 4) Methods and tools for integration to the landscape level, which can be built into multidisciplinary tools for design and evaluation. We conclude that in the landscape ecological literature, the steps 1 and 2 are well represented, whereas the steps 3 and 4 are mostly neglected. We challenge landscape ecologists to push landscape ecology to a higher level of maturation and to further develop its profile as a problem-oriented science.This revised version was published online in May 2005 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Can landscape indices predict ecological processes consistently?

The ecological interpretation of landscape patterns is one of the major objectives in landscape ecology. Both landscape patterns and ecological processes need to be quantified before statistical relationships between these variables can be examined. Landscape indices provide quantitative information about landscape pattern. Response variables or process rates quantify the outcome of ecological processes (e.g., dispersal success for landscape connectivity or Morisita's index for the spatial distribution of individuals). While the principal potential of this approach has been demonstrated in several studies, the robustness of the statistical relationships against variations in landscape structure or against variations of the ecological process itself has never been explicitly investigated. This paper investigates the consistency of correlations between a set of landscape indices (calculated with Fragstats) and three response variables from a simulated dispersal process across heterogeneous landscapes (cell immigration, dispersal success and search time) against variation in three experimental treatments (control variables): habitat amount, habitat fragmentation and dispersal behavior. I found strong correlations between some landscape indices and all three response variables. However, 68% of the statistical relationships were highly inconsistent and sometimes ambiguous for different landscape structures and for differences in dispersal behavior. Correlations between one landscape index and one response variable could range from highly positive to highly negative when derived from different spatial patterns. I furthermore compared correlation coefficients obtained from artificially generated (neutral) landscape models with those obtained from Landsat TM images. Both landscape representations produced equally strong and weak statistical relationships between landscape indices and response variables. This result supports the use of neutral landscape models in theoretical analyses of pattern-process relationships.     

城市滨水景观设计方法探析——以新绛新城区滨水景观设计为例

城市滨水景观区是反映城市独特风貌的区域之一,滨水区景观设计是城市生态规划和城市空间系统规划的重要部分。本文以山西新绛新城区滨水景观设计为例,旨在研究有关滨水景观设计的原则和方法,打造具有地方特色及人性化的景观环境。     

Dispersal of woody plants in forest edges and hedgerows in a Southern Swedish agricultural area: the role of site and landscape structure

The distribution of woody vegetation was studied in forest edges and hedgerows in a 28 km² southern Swedish agricultural area, characterised by species-rich edge zones. The occurrence of 21 selected woody species (taxa) was related to differences in both edge structure and landscape structure. All the species studied were represented in both edge types, but a higher frequency of animal-dispersed species was found in hedgerows.Animal dispersed species were more affected by edge width and density than wind dispersed species. A higher number of wind-dispersed species were more frequent in forest edges, in hedgerows near to forest, or with a high proportion of forest within 500 m. A clear relationship was found between the number of physically connected elements in hedgerow networks and increasing frequency of occurrence for Corylus avellana, Crataegus spp., Euonymus europaeus, and Quercus robur; which indicate the ecological significance of connectedness for certain animal dispersed species. The study supports the general principle that woody species distribution and landscape structure are linked in a positive feedback loop. The results match findings from studies in other countries and are interpreted in the context of landscape processes and the ecological characteristics of woody plant species. We emphasise the importance of understanding dispersal mechanisms of woody species for the design and improvement of edge habitats in agricultural landscapes.     

Landscape changes over time: comparison of land uses, boundaries and mosaics

Changes in the landscape from 1946 to 1999 were studied according to changes in the land uses, boundaries and mosaics therein. The abundances of the different categories of these three landscape elements were calculated using land use maps. Their frequency profiles were compared based on their richness, evenness and diversity. Richness of land uses does not noticeably change. However, these slight changes are spatially perceptible in the landscape when changes in the boundaries and mosaics are considered. For the three landscape elements the least diverse landscapes are obtained in the initial year. The highest landscape diversity is reached, however, in the intermediate years when boundaries or mosaics are considered, whereas the highest value based on land uses occurs in the final period studied. Considering that land uses, boundaries and mosaics provide different information on landscape characteristics and qualities, conditional entropy analyses were conducted in order to ascertain which of the types of landscape elements is most related to landscape change. Boundaries are the element most related to landscape change. Mosaics, however, are the element that best describe each of the years because they integrate the information on land uses and boundaries. From an ecological and management point of view, the three elements should be considered as opposed to just land uses. They compliment each other in the information provided by each one in relation to changes occurring and the effects thereof on landscape structure and functioning.     

国内大学校园生产性景观初探

通过分析大学校园生产性景观建设的生态、教育、产出、审美价值,在探讨解决生产性景观引入大学校园景观建设问题的基础上,对国内几所典型的大学校园生产性景观建设的实践进行分析,进而从生态、地域特色等视角对大学校园生产性景观建设做出科学而合理的前景展望。     

Presettlement landscape heterogeneity: Evaluating grain of resolution using General Land Office Survey data

General Land Office Survey (GLOS) records from the A.D. 1840s provide data for quantitative characterization of presettlement vegetation across western Mackinac County, Michigan, located within the mixed conifer-northern hardwoods forest region. We analyzed data from land survey plat maps and 1958 bearing, witness, and line trees from 162 surveyed section and quarter-section corners in order to map vegatation cover types at a level of spatial resolution appropriate for characterizing landscape heterogeneity using standard landscape ecological metrics. As also demonstrated by a number of both classic and contemporary plant-ecological studies, the distribution of landforms, soils properties, hydrology, and location of fire breaks all contribute to the heterogeneity in vegetation observed at a landscape scale in the region. Through a series of spatial landscape analyses with differing grain of resolution, in this study we determine that a grid cell size of 65 ha (0.5 mi×0.5 mi or 0.25 mi²) to 259 ha (1 mi²) gives a conservative characterization of landscape heterogeneity using standard metrics and is therefore appropriate for use of GLOS data to study historical landscape changes.     

Spectral representation of neutral landscapes

Pattern in ecological landscapes is often the result of different processes operating at different scales. Neutral landscape models were introduced in landscape ecology to differentiate patterns that are the result of simple random processes from patterns that arise from more complex ecological processes. Recent studies have used increasingly complex neutral models that incorporate contagion and other constraints on random patterns, as well as using neutral landscapes as input to spatial simulation models. Here, I consider a common mathematical framework based on spectral transforms that represents all neutral landscape models in terms of sets of spectral basis functions. Fractal and multi-fractal models are considered, as well as models with multiple scaling regions and anisotropy. All of the models considered are shown to be variations on a basic theme: a scaling relation between frequency and amplitude of spectral components. Two example landscapes examined showed long-range correlations (distances up to 1000 km) consistent with fractal scaling.     

The use of remotely-sensed satellite imagery for landscape classification in Wales (U.K.)

Remotely-sensed satellite data from Landsat TM and MSS were processed digitally to make landscape classifications of three study areas of south east Wales. The classifications were constructed by classifying major variations in land cover mosaics within the areas, and using these data to group the 1 km × 1 km cells of the National Grid into landscape classes according to the combination of cover types found within them. The TWINSPAN algorithm, which is a polythetic, divisive classification method, was used as the basis of the study.The results showed that while satellite imagery could only be used to extract information about land cover, the close association betwen landscape, land cover and terrain meant that the major physical divisions in the study area could also be detected in the landscape classification. The landscape types recognised in the study were found to be consistent with those indicated in other independent data which relate to the areas. These data included the ITE Land Classes for Great Britain, and the Agricultural (June) Census statistics for England and Wales.The approach to landscape classification described allows landscape classifications to be made rapidly. These classifications can provide a sampling frameworks for landscape survey in areas where basic map data are lacking or resources for field survey are limited. The landscape classifications can also assist in making landscape evaluations since they allow different landscape types to be compared in respect of such properties such as their typicalness, rarity, naturalness and position on a geographical or ecological gradient.     

Generating confidence intervals for composition-based landscape indexes

Many landscape indexes with ecological relevance have been proposed, including diversity indexes, dominance, fractal dimension, and patch size distribution. Classified land cover data in a geographic information system (GIS) are frequently used to calculate these indexes. However, a lack of methods for quantifying uncertainty in these measures makes it difficult to test hypothesized relations among landscape indexes and ecological processes. One source of uncertainty in landscape indexes is classification error in land cover data, which can be reported in the form of an error matrix. Some researchers have used error matrices to adjust extent estimates derived from classified land cover data. Because landscape diversity indexes depend only on landscape composition – the extent of each cover in a landscape – adjusted extent estimates may be used to calculate diversity indexes. We used a bootstrap procedure to extend this approach and generate confidence intervals for diversity indexes. Bootstrapping is a technique that allows one to estimate sample variability by resampling from the empirical probability distribution defined by a single sample. Using the empirical distribution defined by an error matrix, we generated a bootstrap sample of error matrixes. The sample of error matrixes was used to generate a sample of adjusted diversity indexes from which estimated confidence intervals for the diversity indexes were calculated. We also note that present methods for accuracy assessment are not sufficient for quantifying the uncertainty in landscape indexes that are sensitive to the size, shape, and spatial arrangement of patches. More information about the spatial structure of error is needed to calculate uncertainty for these indexes. Alternative approaches should be considered, including combining traditional accuracy assessments with other probability data generated during the classification procedure.     

Temporal and spatial changes in an area of the New Jersey Pine Barrens landscape

In order to document the extent of landscape fragmentation for a section of the New Jersey Pine Barrens region, we have used satellite image and spatial analysis to monitor landscape change between 1972 and 1988. Land-cover patterns were quantified by mean, number, and size of patches; and amount of edges between land cover types. During the intervening sixteen year period, fractal dimension, diversity, and contagion generally decreased while dominance, disturbance and edges increased, indicating a trend to a more dissected and disturbed landscape. There was an increase in the number of forest patches and a significant decrease in the average size of forest patches. In contrast, the mean patch size for the non-forest category has increased as a result of a coalescence of patches. The landscape fragmentation is shown by a downward shift in the distribution of forest patches by size class. These changes in landscape pattern have implications for many ecological processes and resources. Management practices need to consider landscape fragmentation in the Pinelands National Reserve in order to preserve the essential character of the Pine Barrens landscape.     

生态宜居视角下的蚂螂河村落景观规划设计

随着乡村振兴战略的提出,建设生态宜居的村落景观成为新农村建设的重要任务,该研究在对国内外相关领域研究分析基础上,提出将生态策略介入村落景观建设。选取蚂螂河村景观规划实证案例为研究样本,从村落的地形调整、水体治理、生态堤岸营建,栖息地恢复和村庄绿化5个方面出发,探讨运用生态策略实现蚂螂河村落景观提升的设计目标。由此为当前的生态宜居乡村建设提供参考,实现村落环境的生态功能改善与景观美景度提升的双重效益。     

城市道路绿地景观设计模式及其组合研究

将道路景观设计分成高低间植、图案模纹、地形起伏、生态林带、自然群落、宽带游园和文化主题7个模式,分析了7种模式的设计控制因素,并讨论了这些模式的组合方式及其景观效果。研究道路绿地景观设计模式及其组合可以促进道路景观设计的科学化和规范化,形成生态良好、环境优美、景观多样的道路绿地。     

Landscape structure effects on carabid beetles spatial patterns in western France

Analysis of carabids spatial distribution in a hedgerow network landscape in western France, pinpoints the role of the landscape among other levels of ecological organization.Dispersion of forest species differs among core forest species, peninsula forest species and corridor forest species. Abundance of forest carabid species in a particular hedgerow is related to the positive effect of a dense herbaceous layer and the presence of a tree layer which is enhanced by the presence of two parallel hedgerows, especially along lanes.At the landscape level distance from the largest forest determines abundance of forest species within the first kilometer out of it. Beyond that, abundance is independent of distance from the source forest and the discriminant ecological factors are: hedgerow structure, presence of lanes bordered by two hedgerows.