A decision support system for restoration planning of stream valley ecosystems

Despite efforts that have been put into conservation, there is a continuing loss of species and ecosystems in Western Europe. There is a growing awareness that restoration is an essential step to stop this tide. Unfortunately, there is lack of understanding about the multitude of functions and the complexity of spatial interactions in a landscape. The focus of this paper is to demonstrate that an Integrated Decision Support System (IDSS) is indispensable to offer insight in this complexity and to design efficient restoration programmes. The IDSS is applied in a lowland catchment on the border between The Netherlands and Belgium and leads to the following recommendations: (1) The site conditions on the location where restoration is planned must be close to the range that is required for the target ecosystem. (2) The manager has to decide for the most attainable targetecosystem, and accept the inevitable loss of other ecosystems as a result from this choice. (3) Restoration planning involves that the optimal measure for each catchment, subcatchment or region is assessed, being ecological, urban or agricultural. (4) For each ecosystem an optimal set of measures must be selected. An analysis of the restoration efficiency (ecological gain divided by economic costs) is crucial for this selection.     

Park user preferences for establishing a sustainable forest park in Taipei,Taiwan

In Taiwan, urban parks have mainly cared for demands associated with recreational use and landscape aesthetics, while ecological functions have often been neglected. The purpose of this study was to examine park users’ awareness of the functions of urban parks, their attitudes toward Amsterdam Bos Park as well as their preferences and support for a sustainable forest park in Taipei metropolitan area. Moreover, the study intended to inform the decision makers in Taiwan about people's perception of urban parks. The findings suggested that participants were moderately aware of the economic benefit of urban parks, and highly aware of urban parks’ benefits regarding landscape beauty, social values, health and safety, and ecological conservation. Participants moderately agreed with the financial demand, and highly agreed with the development strategy, managerial operation, and design approach of the Bos Park. In addition, participants liked the concept of the Bos Park very much, and strongly supported the establishment of a sustainable forest park in Taipei metropolitan area. Based on the findings, recommendations were made to the Taipei City government for the decision-making in the development of a metropolitan park, as well as to landscape architects in the planning and design of urban parks.     

Maintenance of flying squirrel habitat and timber harvest: a site-specific spatial model in forest planning calculations

Spatial and temporal continuity of resources often benefits both ecological and economic goals in landscape management. Consideration of multiple and conflicting goals is also needed to view the future production possibilities of forests in successful forest management. Our aim was to estimate the production potential of a planning area in Finland by examining different forest management strategies from ecological and economic perspectives using long-term forest planning calculations. Economic objectives referred to timber production, whereas ecological objectives were based on suitable habitats for arboreal Siberian flying squirrel (Pteromys volans). Suitable habitats were defined using an empirical site-specific model, which includes a spatial variable reflecting the availability of habitat within an individual’s activity area. Five alternative forest plans were worked out with different objectives for flying squirrel habitat and timber production. The alternative plans were compared with respect to values of objective variables at the end of the planning period of 60 years and against a production possibility frontier among net present value and flying squirrel habitat. Varying objective values in our analyses resulted from different utilization of production possibilities, and the changes were in line with the objectives used. The formation of flying squirrel habitat clusters in the landscape was enhanced, and it did not always incur severe reductions in harvestable timber volume. Possibilities to combine ecological and economic goals, both spatial and aspatial, in the planning process seems to be an encouraging alternative for the long-term forest management in the future.     

Ecosystem services in changing landscapes: An introduction

The concept of ecosystem services from landscapes is rapidly gaining momentum as a language to communicate values and benefits to scientists and lay alike. Landscape ecology has an enormous contribution to make to this field, and one could argue, uniquely so. Tools developed or adapted for landscape ecology are being increasingly used to assist with the quantification, modelling, mapping, and valuing of ecosystem services. Several of these tools and methods encased therein are described among the eleven papers presented in this special issue, and their application has the potential to facilitate the management and promotion of services within ecosystems. Papers are associated with each of the four key categories of services that ecosystems provide to humans: supporting, provisioning, regulating, and cultural. The papers represent work conducted in eleven different countries, especially from South America. Each carries a unique approach to address a particular question pertaining to a particular set of ecosystem services. These studies are designed to inform and improve the economic, environmental and social values of the ecosystem services. This knowledge should help to develop new management alternatives for sustaining and planning ecosystems and the services they provide at different scales in space and time. We believe that these papers will create interest and inform management of some potential methods to evaluate ecosystem services at the landscape level with an integrative approach, offering new tools for management and conservation.     

城市河道景观生态设计初探

随着经济的快速发展,城市现代化的不断加快,人们对环境的要求也越来越高,对城市中的河道建设也相应的提出新的要求和新的内容;如今生态建设是社会经济发展不可或缺的重要因素,在现代城市河道景观建设突出景色的同时,维持河流的原生态也显得尤为重要。文章在阐述生态河道的基础上,分析当前河道建设存在的生态问题,通过景观规划原理和景观生态学理论,对生态河道的景观设计做一定的总结和进一步探讨。     

Application of a dynamic model using agronomic and economic data to evaluate the sustainability of the olive grove landscape of Estepa (Andalusia,Spain)

Context

In the Andalusia region (Spain), olive grove agro-systems cover a wide area, forming social-ecological landscapes. Recent socioeconomic changes have increased the vulnerability of these landscapes, resulting in the abandonment and intensification of farms. The provision of the main ecosystem services of these landscapes have thus been degraded.

Objectives

To analyse the sustainability of an olive grove social-ecological landscape in Andalusia. Specifically, to develop a quantitative model proposing land planning and management scenarios, considering abandonment, production and economic benefits of olive crops in different conditions of erosion and management.

Methods

We applied a dynamic model using agronomic and economic data, to evaluate different types of olive management. We considered different levels of erosion, the loss of production related to this erosion, and useful life spans for each type of management. We simulated scenarios for the long-term assessment of dynamics of crops, abandonment rate, production and benefits.

Results

(a) There was a loss of productive lands and benefits in the medium term in the more intensive crops. (b) Scenarios that partially incorporated ecological management proved to be more sustainable without economic subsidies. (c) The spatial combination of integrated, intensive and ecological plots was sustainable, and was well balanced from an economic, productive and ecological point of view.

Conclusions

Scenarios that partially incorporate ecological management allowed the best economic and environmental balance. However, to ensure the sustainability of olive landscapes, farmers should be financially rewarded for their role in the conservation of ecosystem services through landscape stewardship and direct environmental payments.

     

Public perceptions of ecosystem services and preferences for design scenarios of the flooded bank along the Three Gorges Reservoir: Implications for sustainable management of novel ecosystems

The newly formed extensive flooded land associated with the Three Gorges Reservoir hold great potentials to provide ecosystem services (ESs) for surrounding cities and communities. Conflicting values and conventional management strategies may complicate and inhibit broad-scale decision-making for this novel ecosystem. Public attitudes are a crucial influence in the way this process plays out. This study was conducted to assess how the reservoir bank is perceived by the general public of Chongqing Municipality in terms of importance of riparian ESs, and preference for corresponding landscape design styles through photo-questionnaire interviewing. Although Chongqing citizens know little of the “ecosystem services” concept, they do recognise riparian environmental and ecological benefits especially the bank protection and pollution interception functions, while benefits of habitats for wildlife and flood attenuation were of less concern. Recreational values were least appreciated, which is inconsistent with other studies. This may be attributed to a wider, intensive environmental education in various social media in today’s China. But publicity has been dominated by toxic air, water and soil pollution control rather than the benefits of nature conservation and personal contact with nature. In line with recognition of ESs, there is quite strong preference for the forested design scenario and particularly vegetation components across the socio-demographic spectrum. Overall, socio-demographic variables have very low explanatory power for the perceptual responses. Our study also revealed misunderstandings around riparian functions and a gap between public expectations and special abiotic and biotic prerequisites in restoring novel ecosystems. Finally, we discuss the relevance of this research to urban novel ecosystems in general, and implications for raising public awareness, engaging appropriate public values in sustainable design and management of such ecosystems.     

Integration of ecosystem services into a conceptual spatial planning framework based on a landscape ecology perspective

Context

The study of ecosystem services has extended its influence into spatial planning and landscape ecology, the integration of which can offer an opportunity to enhance the saliency, credibility, and legitimacy of landscape ecology in spatial planning issues.

Objectives

This paper presents a conceptual framework suitable for spatial planning in human dominated environments supported by landscape ecological thinking. It seeks to facilitate the integration of ecosystem services into current practice, including landscape metrics as suitable indicators.

Methods

A literature review supported the revision of existing open questions pertaining to ecosystem services as well as their integration into landscape ecology and spatial planning. A posterior reflection of the current state-of-the-art was then used as a basis for developing the spatial planning conceptual framework.

Results and conclusion

The framework is articulated around four phases (characterisation, assessment, design, and monitoring) and three concepts (character, service, and value). It advocates integration of public participation, consideration of “landscape services”, the inclusion of ecosystem disservices, and the use of landscape metrics for qualitative assessment of services. As a result, the framework looks to enhance spatial planning practice by providing: (i) a better consideration of landscape configuration in the supply of services (ii) the integration of anthropogenic services with ecosystem services; (iii) the consideration of costs derived from ecosystems (e.g. disservices); and (iv) an aid to the understanding of ecosystem services terminology for spatial planning professionals and decision makers.

     

Spatial planning of a climate adaptation zone for wetland ecosystems

Here we present a spatial planning approach for the implementation of adaptation measures to climate change in conservation planning for ecological networks. We analyse the wetland ecosystems of the Dutch National Ecological Network for locations where the effectiveness of the network might be weakened because of climate change. We first identify potential dispersal bottlenecks where connectivity might be insufficient to facilitate range expansions. We then identify habitat patches that might have a too low carrying capacity for populations to cope with additional population fluctuations caused by weather extremes. Finally, we describe the spatial planning steps that were followed to determine the best locations for adaptation measures. An essential part of our adaptation strategy is to concentrate adaptation measures in a ‘climate adaptation zone’. Concentrating adaptation measures is a cost-effective planning strategy, rendering the largest benefit per area unit. Measures are taken where abiotic conditions are optimal and measures to enhance the spatial cohesion of the network are taken close to existing areas, thus creating the highest possible connectivity with the lowest area demands. Another benefit of a climate adaptation zone is that it provides a spatial protection zone where activities that will have a negative impact on ecosystem functioning might be avoided or mitigated. The following adaptation measures are proposed within the climate adaptation zone: (1) link habitat networks to enable species to disperse from present to future suitable climate zones, (2) enlarge the carrying capacity by either enlarging the size of natural areas or by improving habitat quality to shorten population recovery after disturbances, (3) increase the heterogeneity of natural areas, preferably by stimulating natural landscape-forming processes, to avoid large synchronised extinctions after extreme weather events. The presented approach can be generalised to develop climate adaptation zones for other ecosystem types inside or outside Europe, where habitat fragmentation is a limiting factor in biodiversity responses to climate change.     

Developing a complementary framework for urban ecology

Cities are characterized by dynamic interactions between socio-economic and biophysical forces. Currently more than half of the global population reside in cities which influence the global biogeochemical cycles and climate change, substantially exacerbating pressures on urban pollution, water quality and food security, as well as operating costs for infrastructure development. Goods and services such as aesthetic values, water purification, nutrient recycling, and biological diversity, that urban ecosystems generate for the society, are critical to sustain. Urban planners are increasingly facing the considerable challenges of management issues for urban ecosystems. Poor understanding of the complementary roles of urban ecology in urban infrastructure, and the functioning of ecosystems and ecological resilience of a complex human-dominated landscape has impeded effective urban planning over time, resulting in social disharmony. Here a complementary framework for urban ecology is proposed, in which ecosystems interact with land use, architecture and urban design – “E-LAUD” – affecting ecosystem and human health, and building on the concept that land uses in urban green areas, road-strips, wetlands, ‘habitat islands’ and urban architecture could synergistically benefit when clustered together in different combinations of urban landscapes. It is proposed that incorporation of the E-LAUD framework in urban planning forms the context of a new interdisciplinary research programme on ecological resilience for urban ecosystems and helps promote ecosystem services.     

Expanding the conservation toolbox: conservation planning of multifunctional landscapes

An area of convergence appears to be emerging between the approaches of conservation planning and the concepts of multifunctional landscapes, which if exploited correctly may assist in overcoming the resource and other constraints faced by biodiversity conservation, while at the same time furthering the aims of multifunctional landscapes to improve production abilities and overall sustainability. Using a multi-zone conservation planning approach, we explore the conservation costs, benefits to biodiversity conservation and possible ecosystem service payments associated with various land-use configurations, in the Little Karoo of South Africa, in order to develop and showcase a multifunctional landscape planning approach and its data requirements, as well as the possible cost savings to conservation agencies. The study uses four conservation planning scenarios, five land-use types, their conservation costs and biodiversity benefits, as well as possible payments from carbon sequestration and tourism. We find that the costs and biodiversity benefits associated with different land-uses varies substantially between land-uses, and also spatially within a land-use type. By incorporating this variation into a multi-zone conservation planning approach land-uses can be allocated in a way that achieves biodiversity targets while at the same time reducing costs by up to 50?% when compared with traditional binary approaches to conservation. Despite some challenges presented by cost and ecosystem service value data and the determination of land-use impacts on biodiversity and ecosystem services, the ability of conservation planning approaches to reflect differential contributions of particular land-uses to biodiversity targets and ecosystem services holds much potential for conservation planning, for multifunctional landscape objectives and for growing the resources and partnerships available to the establishment of sustainable and resilient landscapes.     

景观生态学与风景区旅游规划

景观的结构与功能、生态整体性与空间异质性、景观多样性与稳定性以及景观变化等景观生态学理论,不仅可为风景名胜区的规划设计提供理论和方法,还可以为进一步完善改进规划提供重要的科学依据。文章初步探讨景观生态学在风景区旅游规划中的应用。     

Mapping recreation and aesthetic value of ecosystems in the Bilbao Metropolitan Greenbelt (northern Spain) to support landscape planning

This paper presents a method to quantify cultural ecosystem services (ES) and their spatial distribution in the landscape based on ecological structure and social evaluation approaches. The method aims to provide quantified assessments of ES to support land use planning decisions. A GIS-based approach was used to estimate and map the provision of recreation and aesthetic services supplied by ecosystems in a peri-urban area located in the Basque Country, northern Spain. Data of two different public participation processes (frequency of visits to 25 different sites within the study area and aesthetic value of different landscape units) were used to validate the maps. Three maps were obtained as results: a map showing the provision of recreation services, an aesthetic value map and a map of the correspondences and differences between both services. The data obtained in the participation processes were found useful for the validation of the maps. A weak spatial correlation was found between aesthetic quality and recreation provision services, with an overlap of the highest values for both services only in 7.2 % of the area. A consultation with decision-makers indicated that the results were considered useful to identify areas that can be targeted for improvement of landscape and recreation management.     

基于“压力-状态-潜力”框架的生态修复分区与修正研究

以唐山市为例，将生态安全格局与修复分区相结合，实现点线面共同指导分区。首先基于“压力—状态—潜力”框架，利用z-score标准化，在乡镇尺度上进行国土空间生态修复分区；其次构建生态安全格局，采用形态学空间格局分析与景观连通性提取生态源地，利用最小累积阻力模型识别生态廊道；最终通过生态安全格局对生态修复分区进行修正。结果表明：(1)研究区高退化压力区主要位于城市中部及各县区中心，并向四周递减；生态系统服务状态分布为北高中低，且高值区向低值区存在明显过渡；恢复潜力为由北向南先减少后增多。(2)修正后生态修复分区划分为生态保育区、生态潜在恢复区、生态优先修复区、生态修复治理区、生态修复利用区5大类型区，其中生态保育区依据生态源地与廊道所在位置划为一级保育区、二级保育区。     

Incorporating biological information in local land-use decision making: designing a system for conservation planning

Human settlement is a formidable agent of change affecting fundamental ecological processes. Decisions governing these land-use changes occur almost exclusively at the local level and, as a result, they are made at many different locations and times. Consequently, it is difficult for ecologists to provide needed scientific support for these choices. We built an information system designed to support conservation decisions at local scales by offering data over the Internet. We collaborated with local stakeholders (e.g., developers, planners, politicians, land owners, environmental activists) to design the system. This collaboration produced several generalizations about effective design of information systems to support conservation. The most important of these is the idea that ecological data and analysis must be understood by those who will be affected by the decisions. Also, planning for conservation is a process that uses scientific data, but that ultimately depends on the expression of human values. A major challenge landscape ecologists face is to extend general landscape principles to provide specific scientific information needed for local land-use planning.     

The multifunctionality concept in urban green infrastructure planning: A systematic literature review

Urban green infrastructure is critical for providing a wide range of ecosystem goods and services that benefit the urban population. Past studies have suggested that multifunctionality concerning urban infrastructure services and functions is a prerequisite for targeting effective and impactful urban green infrastructure. Moreover, urban green infrastructure with multiple functions can offer socio-economic and environmental benefits. However, there has been a knowledge gap in the planning literature to elaborate multiple ecosystem functions in urban green infrastructure. In particular, existing methods and approaches are lacking for quantifying and monitoring such ecological services and biodiversity in urban green infrastructures at different spatial scales. Therefore, this research aims to review studies focusing on the multifunctionality concept in urban green infrastructure planning. The study highlights the current status and knowledge gaps through a systematic review. Our analysis revealed that current studies on green infrastructure multifunctionality have focused on five main themes: 1) planning methods for urban green infrastructure, 2) assessment approaches of urban green infrastructure, 3) ecosystem services and their benefits, 4) sustainability and climate adaptation, and 5) urban agriculture. The study found that the five themes are somewhat connected to each other. The study has revealed a knowledge gap regarding incorporating multifunctional green infrastructure in the planning principle. The results suggest at least five critical elements to ensure multiple functions in urban infrastructure. The elements are spatial distribution, optimal distance, integrated network, accessibility, and public participation and engagement. The study further recommends research directions for future analysis on green infrastructure multifunctionality that are critical for urban planning.     

Resilience, experimentation, and scale mismatches in social-ecological landscapes

Growing a resilient landscape depends heavily on finding an appropriate match between the scales of demands on ecosystems by human societies and the scales at which ecosystems are capable of meeting these demands. While the dynamics of environmental change and ecosystem service provision form the basis of many landscape ecology studies, enhancing landscape resilience is, in many ways, a problem of establishing relevant institutions that act at appropriate scales to modify and moderate demand for ecosystem services and the resulting exploitation of ecosystems. It is also of central importance for landscape sustainability that institutions are flexible enough to adapt to changes in the external environment. The model provided by natural ecosystems suggests that it is only by encouraging and testing a diversity of approaches that we will be able to build landscapes that are resilient to future change. We advocate an approach to landscape planning that involves growing learning institutions on the one hand, and on the other, developing solutions to current problems through deliberate experimentation coupled with social learning processes.     

Soundscape conservation

We argue that soundscapes possess both ecological and social value and that they should be considered natural resources worthy of management and conservation. In this paper we bring together diverse bodies of literature that identify the human and ecological benefits provided by soundscapes. Sense of place, cultural significance, interactions with landscape perceptions, and wildlife wellbeing are a few of the values ascribed to soundscapes. The values and benefits of soundscapes are motivation to advance soundscape conservation and management. Given that soundscape conservation is new, we present a summary of conservation principles that need to be considered in soundscape conservation planning. These include the need to set goals, identify targets, assess condition, identify and manage threats, and conduct monitoring of the soundscape. We also argue that soundscape conservation needs to consider the soundscape within the larger mosaic of the landscape that is occupied by humans—a perspective provided by landscape ecology. We describe several different kinds of soundscapes that need to be conserved, such as natural quiet, sensitive, threatened, and unique soundscapes, and the ways that conservation planning can protect these for the future.     

Application of the diminishing returns concept in the hydroecologic restoration of riverscapes

Increasing our knowledge of unplanned anthropogenic synergies, which have affected ecosystems since prehistory, may facilitate ecological restoration. Predictive relationships between spatial pattern and ecosystem processes and functions in riverscapes have the potential to inform applied ecosystem restoration planning and design, where principles are needed for large-scale river reconnections. Although synergistic, additive, and antagonistic interactions affect ecosystems, the role of such interactions in restoration rarely has been evaluated. Using hydrodynamic modeling, we experimentally examine the aggregate effects of reestablishing hydrologic connections in a tidal freshwater tributary on the floodplain of the Columbia River, USA, which is currently undergoing dike breaching to restore juvenile salmon habitat. Sets of dike breaches yielded average wetted floodplain areas conforming to a two-parameter hyperbola (r ² = 0.93). These findings demonstrate that the yield of inundated floodplain habitat area from dike breaching can conform to the well-established “law of the diminishing increment,” developed in the study of agriculture and economics. Furthermore, the influence of spatial configuration on yield was strong, with midstream breaches yielding 63% and upstream breaches 2% of the wetted area produced by downstream breaches, although conditions of extreme high river flow were not studied. Opening the dike at 26% of the historically present channel outlets provided the maximum return on investment for the study riverscape. Verification of this relationship elsewhere in tidal areas of the Columbia River and on other large river floodplains would contribute to cost-benefit analyses in ecological restoration program planning and have implications for effects on biota.     

Natural forest expansion into suburban countryside: Gained ground for a green infrastructure?

Understanding patterns of natural forest expansion in rural regions under the influence of urbanization processes is crucial for integrated spatial planning across the urban-to-rural gradient. As a matter of fact, forest expansion is the only natural process that may counteract the consumption of the ecosystem capital and ecosystems services of rural lands due to uncontrolled urban sprawl. The paper addresses this topic in the paradigmatic case study of the countryside of Rome (Italy), characterized by counter dynamics of forest expansion and suburbanization. Morphological Spatial Pattern Analysis (MSPA) is applied to classify the forest landscape structure twice (1974 and 2008) according to seven categories (core, islet, perforation, edge, loop, bridge, branch) with different potential functional role as elements of a green infrastructure. Main findings are: (i) forest cover increased from 11% to 16% between 1974 and 2008; forest land uptake exceeds 4% of total study area, but shows a slower pace than the growth of built-up areas (10%); (ii) forest expansion has been to a large extent achieved by “sprawling” of islets (1.6% of the study area) along the stream network; (iii) more compact forest expansion has taken place on 0.2% of the study area in the form of additions to existing core areas or creation of new ones and (iv) the establishment of a network of protected areas nearby Rome has played a key role for the conservation and further expansion of core areas; yet, local loss of 1974 core areas stocks in a few protected areas indicates need of further law enforcement to ensure effective protection of the natural capital from degradation processes or even land conversion into built-up areas.Results calls for future in-depth investigations on the quality of newly created or maintained forest resource stocks associated to different spatial pattern structures. Integrated spatial planning strategies are outlined for the conservation of ecosystem capital and ecosystems services provided by forests, as major components of Rome's green infrastructure.