Unintentional landscapes

The presence of ‘unintentional landscapes’ invites reflection on the difficulties in defining marginal or interstitial spaces, or indeed the concept of landscape itself. In some cases, so-called wastelands or terrain vague have been appropriated as spaces of adventure, creativity or discovery. In other cases, these anomalous spaces have been the focus of anxiety or disdain, or simply erased on account of their putative ‘emptiness’ to make way for more lucrative forms of land use. In recent years, however, fragments of spontaneous nature have been incorporated into landscape design, or even mimicked through the adoption of a ‘wasteland aesthetic’. Marginal spaces appear to transcend existing Eurocentric circuits of landscape discourse by offering multiple meanings and manifestations. Indeed, the cultural and scientific interest in these spaces lies precisely in their complexity and uncertainty.     

城市开发进程中的湿地生态保护研究——厦门五缘湾通屿淡水系防洪与综合整治规划探讨

从为城市建设服务和维护生态安全的角度对城市湿地的防洪、生态保护、岸线整理、景观建设进行规划研究,解决通屿淡水湿地防洪安全与生态保护、景观建设的矛盾,确保防洪安全以及人与自然和谐相处。     

Integrating landscape-based values—Norwegian monitoring of agricultural landscapes

An accumulating body of research identifies the importance of landscape structure for a wide range of countryside interests. Landscape structure reflects the results of policies and practices, and is well-suited as a target for management actions. New landscape metrics represent a potential for indicator-based management, provided such metrics relate consistently to the landscape values of interest. In this paper we propose that aspects of landscape structure, specifically heterogeneity, may be related to landscape-based values such as biodiversity, cultural heritage and human appreciation. Birds and vascular plants correlated well with our index for the heterogeneity of land types, whereas insects did not. Occurrence of prehistoric graves was also associated with land type heterogeneity, though other types of cultural remains were not. Landscape experience seems to be associated with the heterogeneity of landscape space rather than heterogeneity of land types. Different aspects of heterogeneity, scale, and variation over time all contribute to explain how our measures of landscape-based values vary in their relationship to landscape heterogeneity. Successful integration between disciplines in landscape studies depends on having a common operational framework, a shared theoretical basis, and a harmonised approach to data collection.     

Changing landscapes, changing disciplines: seeking to understand interdisciplinarity in landscape ecological change research

Transformation of landscapes worldwide in the 20th century, now continuing into the 21st century, has raised global concerns. Given this circumstance, interdisciplinary landscape change studies are focused on the causes and effects of land-use and land-cover dynamics as well as the ecological and social impacts of alternative design, planning, policy, and management schemes on landscapes and regions. In this paper, we are concerned about a particular type of interdisciplinary landscape change research that uses the principles and theories of landscape ecology as an underlying paradigm for explaining changes in landscapes (called landscape ecological change research, or LEC research, in this paper). While landscape ecological change is the focus of collaborative research efforts, the way in which the collaboration itself is carried out is the subject of debate. We present a framework for public consideration based on Lattuca's continuum of interdisciplinarity (2001) that characterizes the key themes, questions, and issues in the debate about the interdisciplinarity–disciplinarity nature of LEC research that are raised by leading scholars in the peer-reviewed literature. The paper presents this continuum, positions the key literature within this continuum, and then presents recommendations for enhancing future interdisciplinary endeavors.     

Integrating conservation planning and landuse planning in urban landscapes

The rapid growth of cities around the world is now seen as a major contributor to global biodiversity loss and many governments include biodiversity conservation as an explicit policy goal. To help prevent further loss of biodiversity, there is an urgent need for more strategic approaches to conservation planning in urban environments based on a scientific understanding of landscape patterns, species requirements and development pressures. In this study, we demonstrate the use of new conservation planning tools to better integrate information on threatened species into landuse planning. We present a case study in the Greater Melbourne area that utilises the Zonation conservation planning tool with data for 30 threatened fauna species. We perform a multi-species spatial prioritisation that incorporates species-specific connectivity requirements and demonstrate the use of this information in a number of landuse planning contexts. First, we quantitatively assess the differences between Melbourne's current conservation areas with the locations prioritised by Zonation and determine priority areas for their extension. We then show how the prioritisation can be used in decisions regarding Melbourne's Urban Growth Boundary and in rezoning land for development. Finally, we demonstrate how the prioritisation can be used to identify areas of conservation significance within individual developments that account for the wider landscape context. These results demonstrate how conservation planning tools can be better integrated into the different stages of landuse planning for future urban growth.     

Pan-European landscapes

As a supplement to the western European typology from Landscape and Urban Planning, 18 (3–4): 289–352 (Meeus et al., 1990), a survey is made of the landscapes of northern and eastern Europe. Thirty landscapes are identified on a continental scale. This pan-European landscape typology is based on the integration of landscape formation factors. The basis for a regionally differentiated geography, morphology and scenery of the man-made landscape is provided by land form, soil and climate on the one hand and regional culture, habits and history on the other. This typology can be used as a reference for a discussion about the actual appearance of the landscape. The map of European landscapes is only a reconnaissance and is therefore not intended as a blueprint for action, but rather as a way of looking at landscape heterogeneity, a set of principles to stimulate the discussion of landscape development throughout the continent.     

Social, aesthetic and ecological aspects of hedgerows in rural landscapes as a framework for greenways

Hedgerow network landscapes may be considered as greenways, as they provide agronomic, ecological, aesthetic and cultural benefits. They are among the most threatened agricultural landscapes of western Europe. Intensification of agriculture with the conversion of permanent grassland into ploughed land and the use of new machinery leads to the enlargement of fields and the removal of hedgerows surrounding them. There is a growing concern among conservationists, rural managers and the public to maintain these greenways as a framework for landscape sustainability.In France, hedgerow removal may be planned within reallotment programmes that take into account all the land of a municipality. In this planning process, criteria for keeping or clearing woody elements are based on agronomic properties of soil, environmental quality of elements and of the network, and property boundaries. Aesthetic aspects are rarely assessed. As rural landscapes are shifting from an almost unique function of agricultural production toward a multifunction of nature conservation, environmental protection, amenity and production, the conservation of hedgerow networks becomes of greater importance. The goal is now the protection of these greenways to provide not only ecological but also recreational and cultural benefits. In a case study in Brittany, we tried to link these different aspects. Our work is based on interviews and a landscape ecological survey. We found contrasting opinions between farmers and non-farmers concerning the density of the network. Nevertheless, the two groups agree on the necessity to keep greenways as part of their cultural landscape. Most of the people were not aware of the ecological role of hedgerow networks, and perceive them only by their visual properties. We proposed various scenarios based on ecological and aesthetic principles, and defined general guidelines for the design of new landscapes during reallotment programmes. The integration of different points of view by landscape planners is the only way to link visual values to productive or ecological processes, and must be effective in the case of the management of greenways such as hedgerows.     

Sustainable landscapes: contradiction, fiction or utopia?

As landscapes change continuously in a more or less chaotic way, the concept of sustainable landscapes could be viewed as a utopian goal. New landscapes emerge with changing life-styles. Decision making for landscape planning, conservation and management use the concept of sustainability widely. To make it operational, many new associated and more specific concepts have been proposed such as natural and social capital, conservation economy and quality of life capital. Most of these are inspired by economic thinking and rarely refer directly to the landscape. This article reviews the background and meaning of these concepts and shows that landscape is not seen here as an integrating, holistic concept. As landscape changes, also its meaning and significance changes and consequently its management.     

Pesticides in fluvial wetlands catchments under intensive agricultural activities

A survey on pesticides (73 compounds) in the Bay St. Fran?ois wetland and its catchment (part of the wetlands of Lake St. Pierre area [St. Lawrence River, Québec]) was achieved in 2006. The metabolites as well as the active ingredients of pesticides (11 compounds) were detected in the wetland and its catchment. This wetland ecosystem was active in the degradation of agricultural pesticides (e.g., atrazine). The measured pesticides were individually below the criteria for aquatic species in natural water, except chlorpyrifos. Overall, the pesticides lost from agricultural field towards the streams were <1% of the quantity applied. The environmental fates of the pesticides were found to vary according to the size of the watershed. Over large catchments, half-life times were important in terms of global loss from the agricultural lands to wetlands whereas over small catchments, soil organic carbon/water distribution coefficient (Koc) was an important term for pesticides losses to water system since half-life times were not limiting factors.     

Multi-level effects of sulphur-iron interactions in freshwater wetlands in The Netherlands

Although sulphur deposition rates in Europe have considerably decreased over the last decades, sulphate concentrations in freshwater wetlands are still high, as a result of drainage, nitrate pollution, and increased sulphur loads in rivers. High sulphur fluxes may cause sulphide toxicity and eutrophication, and strongly interfere with the biogeochemical cycling of iron and phosphorus. In the present study the ecotoxicological interactions between sulphur, phosphate, iron, and trace metals in freshwater wetlands are reviewed.     

动物栖息地结构、场地整治方法论证 溪红点鲑栖息地适宜性指标案例研究

规划师、设计师、环境保护论者、市民以及政府官员都对环境的评估和管理方法感兴趣。其中一种评估和管理野生动物栖息地的方法最先由美国政府机构研发的数值/定量栖息地模型技术。在笔者的研究课题中,调查了美国密歇根州三条河流中溪红点鲑的栖息地适宜性模型。该研究结果表明栖息地适宜性模型的平方乘以系数208.069所预测的每一研究河段...     

Evaluation methods for landscapes with greenery

Recently a number of different methods for assessing landscape have been developed. These have enabled researchers to produce interesting results, particularly when applied to landscapes containing a high proportion of vegetation. These methods are also valuable in assessing how physical variables are perceived. This paper summarizes the results obtained from trials conducted by the author using some of these methods. The results are expressed in graph form where the responses are plotted along a diagonal between a horizontal axis indicating time taken in the perception of the landscape, and a vertical axis indicating the area of landscape perceived. The experiments fall into two main categories. First are those carried out under laboratory conditions. In these experiments the subject, or subjects, were shown landscape images (slides or photographs) for a short period. This was important in assessing how the landscape was perceived in two-dimensional form. The second category comprised on-site tests, and were useful in showing the differences in perception between two-dimensional and three-dimensional characteristics. The on-site tests involved a much longer period of perception, and this could be extended to include the changing perception of the resident.     

An analysis of economic incentives in wetlands policies addressing biodiversity

This paper offers an economic analysis of economic incentives within the Habitat Conservation Plan and Wetlands Mitigation Bank policies. Both policies are relatively new policies for protection and restoration of ecosystems such as wetlands that support biodiversity. The components of the policies such as the measures of success, conversion of biological units into economic units, and timing of the actions by policymakers and landowners influence the incentives to carry out protection and restoration. A stochastic optimal control model is developed which incorporates ecological uncertainty of wetlands restoration. The model helps in examining the decisions of how much to invest in a wetlands mitigation bank or habitat conservation plan. The model is calibrated with data from California bioeconomic parameters. Numerical simulation of the model provides a sensitivity analysis of how model parameters of restoration costs, stochastic biological growth, discount rate, and the market value of credits affect the trajectory of investment and the optimal stopping state of wetlands quality when the investment ends. The analysis reveals that more restoration will occur when there is a reduction in restoration costs, an increase in biological uncertainty or an increase in the value of wetlands credits. Continued restoration is harder to justify at a higher discount rate and cost.     

Patterns of change in two contrasting Norwegian agricultural landscapes

As in many parts of Europe, two opposing forces of change have shaped Norwegian agricultural landscapes during the last decades: intensification of cultivation in favourable areas and abandonment of marginal areas. The resulting landscape changes have a multitude of consequences; for agricultural production, landscape aesthetics, recreational and amenity values of the landscape, and for biodiversity. This paper uses agricultural statistics and aerial photographs to analyse and compare the patterns of change in one typical intensively cultivated area and one traditional mountain-farm landscape during the last half-century. Results show that further intensification of the intensively managed landscape has led to an increasingly homogeneous, large-scale landscape featuring fewer boundaries. In contrast, reduced management in the mountain–farm system has resulted in an increasingly heterogeneous, small-scale landscape. Some probable effects of past and future landscape changes are discussed.     

The role of the spatial dimension within the framework of sustainable landscapes and natural capital

A new paradigm of Natural Capital and Sustainable Landscapes has been suggested. It implies the integration of economic, environmental and social-cultural qualities in a physical setting while focusing on functions in terms of goods and services for people. Due to its anthropocentric perspective it pays less attention to landscape structure and spatial arrangement compared to the widely applied patch-matrix concept. The matrix of land use elements provides the key to understanding land use systems and land use changes and it can play an important role in understanding land use pattern and their dynamics. But one of the remaining constraints for a direct application of landscape ecological concepts in practice is the lack of agreed ways to combine environmental, socio-economic and societal/cultural views. This paper examines both paradigms, asking: does the spatial arrangement of land use types add specific qualities beyond statistical measures of their existence and quantity? For instance, can a landscape be sustainable, as long as 20% of the land use is extensive, 10% is protection area, etc., no matter where the respective patches are, which typical size and shape they have, how connected patches are and how often incompatible land use types are adjacent? This paper elucidates spatial concepts for sustainable landscapes with an emphasis on the role of GIS.     

闽南高校湿地在校园给排水设计中的应用研究

闽南高校湿地的水体、水渠、植被等,是校园给排水设计中可利用资源。与建筑、规划等专业共同设计好湿地中的水体、水渠等,可充分利用湿地资源,达到节能、节水、节地、改善环境的作用。     

Integrating information on river networks, catchments and major forest types: towards the characterisation and analysis of European landscapes

Recent developments in European environmental policies ask for European-wide and harmonised information on the state of our environment as well as on pressures and impacts thereon. The fulfilment of this requirement demands for a holistic analysis of the landscape and the interactions between its various components, including the development of suitable data for the whole area of interest. Forests and water bodies are important entities in this context. In this paper we, therefore, report on the development of European-wide databases for forests, river networks and catchments. Examples of how such data can be combined for analysing specific landscape characteristics such as the percentage of rivers running through forested areas or the distribution of forest categories according to relief characteristics are given for the whole of Italy as well as for three selected catchments.     

Upland landscapes and the landscape image

In my brief for the state‐of‐the‐art review, 1 was asked to provide a summary of research which addressed the question of what role the mass media were playing in influencing people's attitudes and values towards landscapes and nature. This paper is not, however, an edited version of my original submission. There are two reasons why I have taken the opportunity to write a new essay. First, much of the work I reviewed formed a substantial part of my paper in the edition of Landscape Research which focused on Landscapes as television and popular culture(Burgess, 1987). Second, in the last eighteen months there has been new work I would like to discuss.     

Landscape planning to reduce coastal eutrophication: agricultural practices and constructed wetlands

Southern Sweden suffers from coastal eutrophication and one reason is the high nitrogen load through rivers. The major part of this load originates from diffuse land-based sources, e.g. arable soil leaching. Effective reduction of load from such sources demand careful landscape analysis, combined with changed behaviour of the stakeholders. This study describes a chain of methods to achieve trustworthy management plans that are based on numerical modelling and stakeholders participation and acceptance. The effect of some measures was unexpected when modelling their impact on the catchment scale.Management scenarios to reduce riverine nitrogen load were constructed in an actor game (i.e. role-play) for the Genevadsån catchment in southern Sweden. The game included stakeholders for implementation of a loading standard for maximum nitrogen transport at the river mouth. Scenarios were defined after negotiation among involved actors and included changes in agricultural practices, improved wastewater treatment, and establishment of wetlands. Numerical models were used to calculate the nitrogen reduction for different measures in each scenario. An index model (STANK) calculated the root zone leaching of nitrogen from crops at four type farms. This generated input to a catchment scale model (HBV-N) and farm economics. The economic impact of different sets of remedial measures was evaluated for each type farm and then extrapolated to the catchment.The results from scenario modelling show that possible changes in agricultural practices (such as tuning, timing of fertilisation and ploughing, changed crop cultivation) could reduce the nitrogen load to the sea by some 30%, while wetland construction only reduced the original load by some 5%. In the most cost-effective scenario agricultural practices could reduce the riverine load by 86 t per year at a cost of 1.0 million SEK, while constructed wetlands only reduced the load by 14 t per year at a cost of 1.7 million SEK. Thus, changed agricultural practices can be the most effective and less expensive way to reduce nitrogen transport from land to the sea, while constructed wetlands with realistic allocations and sizes may only have small impact on riverine nitrogen transport from land to sea. The overall experience is that actor games and numerical modelling are useful tools in landscape planning for analysing stakeholders’ behaviour and the impact of measures to reduce coastal eutrophication.     

Landscape ecological planning process for wetland, waterfowl, and farmland conservation

A landscape ecological planning process (LEP process) is described that addresses the issues of rice production and wetland habitat conservation on privately owned rice farms in Texas. The LEP process was used to evaluate proposed land-use management plans based on alternative policies for the next US Farm Bill, which would be in effect from 2003 to 2009. A system simulation model, geographic information systems (GIS) model based on expert knowledge, as well as expert opinion, were used to evaluate uncertainty about the effects of these plans and policies on different types of farms and the quality of winter habitat of lesser snow geese. The models simulated shifts in land-use, rice and cattle production, farm profitability, and use of habitat by geese. Simulation results suggested that the level of federal subsidies for all policies influenced the continuation of rice production from 2003 to 2009. In addition, the size of the farm influenced whether rice production continued until 2009. The smaller farms were more sensitive to decreases in federal subsidies than larger farms because smaller farms received less income from goose hunting leases. Winter habitat for lesser snow geese was reduced in terms of patch size and nearest neighbor distance when rice production was discontinued by 2009 for all policies. Agricultural policy experts, who were familiar with the study sites, selected the modified version of the conservation policy as the example that would most benefit farmers and geese. The experts emphasized that their policy would offer farmers more flexibility to manage their farms, to diversify their incomes, and to be good land stewards.