Assessment of ecological risks induced by land use and land cover changes in Xiamen City,China

The landscape ecological risk (LER) in Xiamen City, China, from 1990 to 2030 was studied using an urban land use and land cover change (LUCC) model and LER analysis. The LUCC model was used to predict the LUCC of Xiamen from 2020 to 2030. We analyzed the characteristics of LUCC and landscape pattern changes and, finally, evaluated the effect of rapid LUCC on LER. Of the six landscape types investigated, built-up land and farmland demonstrated the most significant changes. The area of built-up land increased by 1.5 times in 2010 and is predicted to increase by 2.7 times in 2030 than that in 1990. The area of farmland increased from 34.5% in 1990 to 24.5% in 2010 and is predicted to decrease to 15.1% in 2030. The number of patches (NP) of built-up land decreased with increasing area, which promoted the dominance of built-up land over other landscape types. Five landscape types, those other than built-up land, increased in NP, landscape fragmentation, segmentation, and disturbance but decreased in dominance. The LER of Xiamen in 2010 was slightly lower than that in 1990. However, with the acceleration of urbanization, the LER in 2020 and 2030 will increase by 7.6% and 12.5% than that in 2010. The LER will significantly increase in areas such as the Huandong sea area, the second urban core of Xiamen, and northern Xiang'an. For the areas, some measures (e.g. optimum urban spatial growth patterns and control of coastal reclamation) must inevitably increase to reduce the LER posed by rapid urbanization.     

Urban forest landscape patterns in Ma'anshan City,China

The landscape pattern of Ma'anshan City was analyzed based on theories and methodologies of landscape ecology, remote sensing, global positioning, and a geographic information system (GIS). The study area encompassed the entire built-up area of 63.88 km²; a north–south transect 3-km wide and 13-km long was established along the long axis of the city. Five major landscape elements were assessed: urban land, urban forest, agriculture, water, and grass. Urban land was the dominant land cover type, and occupied 67% of total land area; while patches of urban forest occupied 16%, with a landscape element dominance of 0.42. Urban forest was classified according to land-use category and location into six types: scenic forest, yard forest, recreational forest, roadside forest, shelter forest, and nurseries. There were 2464 urban forest patches, the largest being 185.1 ha, with an average of 0.43 ha. The low nearest neighbor index and high patch density indicated that urban forest patches tend to be aggregated and have a high degree of fragmentation. This study also demonstrated that the spatial pattern of urbanization could be quantified using a combination of landscape metrics and gradient analysis. Urban forest has distinct spatial characters that are dependent on specific landscape metrics along the urbanization gradient.     

挠力河流域农垦开发中居民地景观生态特征的变化

运用G IS、景观格局分析与聚落分析方法定量分析了挠力河流域在快速农垦开发中居民地分布格局的时空变化,探讨了景观格局形成的机制。景观指数分析表明近50 a来居民地面积和数目激增,居民地斑块面积、聚集度增大,表明人类对挠力河流域景观扰动持续增强。在所有背景地类中,居民地与耕地的邻接比例最高。伴随居民地和耕地迅速扩张,两者邻接比例呈上升趋势,两者相互影响越来越大。不同时期居民地扩张强度高值区分布有所不同,主要分布在早期的耕地新增区,1954—2000年挠力河流域居民地扩张高值区最终主要分布于该流域的西部与中部。虽然居民地数目和面积均激增,各居民地之间的距离亦呈缩短趋势,但居民地最近邻点指数表明,近50 a来挠力河流域居民地分布类型一直为随机分布,农垦经济仍占主导地位,人为规划比城镇发达地区薄弱。     

挠力河流域农垦开发中居民地景观生态特征的变化

运用GIS、景观格局分析与聚落分析方法定量分析了挠力河流域在快速农垦开发中居民地分布格局的时空变化，探讨了景观格局形成的机制。景观指数分析表明近50a来居民地面积和数目激增，居民地斑块面积、聚集度增大，表明人类对挠力河流域景观扰动持续增强。在所有背景地类中，居民地与耕地的邻接比例最高。伴随居民地和耕地迅速扩张，两者邻接比例呈上升趋势，两者相互影响越来越大。不同时期居民地扩张强度高值区分布有所不同，主要分布在早期的耕地新增区，1954-2000年挠力河流域居民地扩张高值区最终主要分布于该流域的西部与中部。虽然居民地数目和面积均激增，各居民地之间的距离亦呈缩短趋势，但居民地最近邻点指数表明，近50a来挠力河流域居民地分布类型一直为随机分布，农垦经济仍占主导地位，人为规划比城镇发达地区薄弱。     

辽河三角洲湿地景观空间格局变化分析

以1988年和2001年2个时相的Landsat-TM/ETM影像为信息源,选取斑块数量、斑块平均面积、边界密度、斑块密度、形态指数和斑块分维数等6个代表性格局指数,对辽河三角洲湿地景观格局变化进行了定量分析。结果表明,1988~2001年,水田、内陆水体和养殖用地呈现明显的增加趋势,苇田、光滩、河口潮间带水域和碱蓬面积呈减少趋势。受人类的区域综合开发活动的影响,研究区斑块数量和边界密度分别增加了32.76%和21.4%,而斑块平均面积减小了30.2%,平均斑块密度由17.43个/km2增加至24.21个/km2,斑块形态指数由84.03增至103.20,斑块分维数由1.057增至1.059。     

厦门环同安湾海岸带景观空间格局动态变化分析

利用遥感和地理信息技术,运用平均斑块面积与分离度指数、多样性指数、破碎度指数、优势度指数和分维数等景观格局指数,以厦门环同安湾区1989年、1997年和2007年3个时期遥感影像解译数据作为基本信息源,对过去18年间环同安湾海岸带的景观格局的时空变化过程和演变趋势进行了研究。结果表明：1989—2007年,农田面积大量...     

广州东进扩张下的萝岗区土地利用与景观动态分析

以研究区1979年MSS1、990年LandsatTM、2000年LandsatETM以及2006年Aster 4个时段的卫星遥感影像为基础数据,运用RS与GIS技术手段,结合FRAGSTATS景观格局分析软件,对萝岗区近30年来的土地利用与景观格局变化进行了定量分析。研究表明：研究区未利用土地、园地及耕地面积大幅减少,林地与城镇用地面积显著增加。1979—2006年期间,2000年是一个分水岭,2000年前景观的连接度下降,破碎程度增加,景观斑块的形状趋于复杂化,景观结构组成的复杂性也趋于增加。2000年后各指数呈现了逆转的趋势,表明萝岗区为建设成为国际化生态型新城区,在后期的城市化进程中特别重视了生态环境的保护及建设。     

Landscape spatial changes associated with rapid urbanization in Shenzhen,China

Rapid urbanization and a building boom in Chinese cities, together with the increase in human disturbances in ecosystems, have resulted in a range of ecological and land-use problems. The formulation of policies relating to urban land use requires adequate understanding of the landscape dynamics. The objective of the study was to describe spatial patterns and dynamic changes of the regional landscape of Shenzhen in the past 20 years. Based on MSS & TM images from 1978, 1986, 1990, 1995 and 1999, a landscape classification map of Shenzhen was constructed. Three kinds of spatial pattern indices, including landscape diversity, spatial configuration and characteristics of patches, as well as a human disturbance index, were examined using models and GIS. In the past two decades, the regional landscape in Shenzhen has changed dramatically, from a typical agricultural landscape to a rapidly urbanizing landscape. The gradual reduction in the cultivated land area and the dramatic increase in the built-up areas illustrate this progress clearly. Indices for the landscape spatial pattern have changed substantially. Some of the changes, reflecting the reasonable control of urban planning on the regional landscape, are the consequence of careful planning, but many of them are the result of disordered human disturbances that have occurred during the rapid urbanization process. These findings are helpful to future landscape development and land-use planning.     

土地利用类型的分维值和稳定性指数空间变异分析

土地利用类型是一种在自然和人类活动双重作用下的产物,具有不规则、相对不稳定性和复杂性特征,可以利用分形方法进行探讨;分形理论在土地结构研究中的应用涉及土地利用类型分数维的计算、土地利用结构分形研究方法、土地利用结构及其动态变化的分形描述、区域景观结构的分形模型等方面;但土地利用类型的分形机制的空间差异研究少见报道。综合考虑广东省的自然地理环境和社会经济发展状况,文章选择韶关、潮州、汕头、广州作为不同类型区域的代表,基于分形理论计算了耕地、园地、林地、草地、居民点及工矿用地、道路用地、水体和未利用土地8种地类分维值(D)和稳定性指数(Si)以及平均分维值和稳定性指数,从影响土地利用结构的地貌和人文因素两个方面出发,对比和分析了地域之间的D值、Si值的关系,并从中得到了D值和Si值的变化规律。结果表明:(1)复杂的地貌类型是影响土地利用类型D值和Si值的最主要因素;(2)社会经济发展水平一定程度上影响土地利用类型的分维值和稳定性指数;(3)区域土地利用类型的平均分维值、稳定性指数的大小是土地利用结构的综合反映。     

基于景观生态学的广州城镇建设用地扩张模式分析

在遥感和GIS技术支持下,提取了广州市老八区（以2000年行政区划为准）1978—2005年四个时段的建设用地面积,结合景观指数,从建设用地变化的数量、速度和时空扩张模式几个方面探讨了1978—2005年间三个不同阶段的城市扩张规律。结果表明：（1）广州市建设用地快速扩张,在1978—2005年期间,总面积增加了47158.94,其中1978—1990、1990—2000、2000—2005三个时期的建设用地年扩张速度一直呈上升趋势,分别为：1395.42hm2·a-1、1699.92hm2·a-1、2682.93hm2·a-1。（2）三种扩展类型中,蔓延式扩张是广州市建设用地扩张的主要类型,各时期所占扩展总面积的比例分别为：71.2%、60.5%、47.7%,呈下降的趋势;与此相反的是填充式扩张,随着城市化的发展呈上升趋势,所占比例分别为：9.3%、31.7%、46.4%;跳跃式扩张仅在第一时段较高为19.7%,而后两个时段较低,分别为7.8%和5.9%。通过研究为城市模式研究提供了详细且准确的数据,为寻求优良扩张模式奠定了一定的基础。     

嘉峪关市中心城区扩张过程及其景观特征变化

以中国干旱区嘉峪关市1986、1996、2006和2010年Landsat TM/ETM＋影像为数据源,采用道路扩展和城市建设用地扩张强度反映城区建设扩张过程,同时分析了城市景观类型的斑块特征和结构特征,研究结果表明：1）嘉峪关市中心城区主干道路扩展显著,城市面积增加明显。1986—2010年间嘉峪关市道路长度增加了100.20 km,城市面积从1986年的2 220.03hm^2增加到2010年的5 048.22hm^2,年均扩张强度指数达5.10%。2）城市景观格局变化显著,建设用地、城市绿地和水体分别增加了2 003.74hm^2、655.30hm^2和169.15hm^2,未利用地则减少2 828.19hm^2。建设用地和城市绿地破碎度增加,未利用地破碎度减少。3）城市景观斑块类型更趋均衡化,整体景观和异质性多样性增加。4）城市扩张是嘉峪关城市绿地和水体明显增加的重要原因,人类活动对城市生态环境的影响逐渐增强。     

Evaluating the eco-environment benefit of land reclamation in the dump of an opencast coal mine

Land reclamation significantly affects the ecological and environmental conditions of mining areas. However, quantifying the exact effects is difficult because of the lack of reliable data. The estimation of eco-environment benefit contributes to clarify the ecological and environmental changes caused by land reclamation and to provide useful information for policy-makers concerned with sustainable development. The aim of this study is to investigate variations in eco-environment benefit in response to land use changes during land reclamation. The West dump, one of the earliest regions to implement ecological restoration in Liaoning Province, is selected as the study area. The widely used methods for eco-environment benefits based on the land use change were proposed and applied to the West dump in 2004, 2009, and 2014. The total eco-environment benefits in study areas were 0.98 million dollars in 2004, 1.39 million dollars in 2009, and 1.43 million dollars in 2014, with an increase of 0.41 million dollars from 2004 to 2009 mainly because of the increasing areas of artificial woodland and reclaimed cropland. The combined eco-environment benefits of artificial woodland, improved grassland, and reclaimed cropland were over 90% of the total benefits. Soil formation and protection, biodiversity protection, and gas regulation were the top three functions with high eco-environment benefits, contributing about half of the total eco-environment benefits. The results suggest that future studies estimating eco-environment benefits should pay more attention to ecosystems in fragile ecological regions where various human interferences happen frequently. All of the abovementioned results made the techniques of estimation of the eco-environment benefit of land reclamation are more meaningful in guiding the future exploitation and reclamation of mining areas.     

Land-use dynamics and flood risk in the hinterland of the Pearl River Delta: The case of Foshan City

This study examines land-use change and flood risk in the rapidly urbanizing Foshan City, a typical hinterland city in the Pearl River Delta. On the basis of classification of Landsat TM and ETM+ imagery, and further GIS-based spatial analysis, the paper determines that, between 1988–2003, massive land-use and -cover change (LUCC) occurred in this region. During the drastic land-use change, the loss of river area was much lower than that of other land-use types. In this region, appropriately 57.89% of water area was converted to the other land types; 46.65% was converted to new dyke-ponds, farmland, and built-up area, whereas the proportion of the other land types converted to water was only 42.97%. Nearly 15% of total water loss was in land for human use, which represents the degradation of the buffering capacity of the water systems to rainstorms. Further, driven by the pressure of urbanization, drastic changes in land use have resulted in significant alternation of hydrological conditions of the river systems, which, in turn, have potentially caused the higher flood risk in more populous urban areas in the sub-delta plain. Therefore, rational land-use policies should be implemented to give maximum returns while minimizing adverse impacts of flooding.     

Assessment of the state of agroecosystem sustainability using landscape indicators: a comparative study of three rural areas in Greece

The research was based on a comparative study of three representative rural areas (Dovras, Larissa, and Messapia) in Greece. Remote sensing data were collected (maps, aerial photographs) for the landscape analysis and elaborated using GIS linked with economic and social parameters regarding land use. By using a selected core set of landscape indicators, this research aims at providing a useful tool for assessing agroecosystem management at territorial level and hopefully assist decision-making for the promotion of sustainability. The selected tool showed that the study area of Messapia presented the highest level of environmental sustainability, while the area of Dovras showed the best combination of agricultural productivity and landscape management. Results showed that the ecoregions of Dovras, Larissa, and Messapia presented a landscape composed of important ecological function areas in the percentages of 40%, 15%, and 70%, respectively, and of cultivated areas in the percentages of 55%, 71.19%, and 19.75%, respectively.     

A Comparison of Landscapes Occupied by Increasing and Decreasing Populations of Grassland Birds

Abstract:  For several decades, many grassland bird species have been declining in abundance throughout the Midwest and Great Plains regions of the United States, possibly due to loss of natural grassland habitat and increasing urbanization. I used 20 years of data from the North American Breeding Bird Survey to identify increasing, decreasing, and stable populations of 36 grassland-nesting bird species. I characterized the immediate landscape (circle with radius = 30 km) surrounding each population based on data from the National Resources Inventory. For each landscape, I calculated the proportion of eight different land-cover types: restored grassland, rangeland, cultivated cropland, pasture, noncultivated cropland, forest, urban land, and water. Using a null model, I compared landscape composition of increasing, decreasing, and stable populations. As predicted on the basis of the habitat preferences of grassland birds, increasing populations inhabited landscapes that contained significantly more restored grassland and rangeland but significantly less forest land and urban land than landscapes inhabited by decreasing populations. There was no significant difference in the proportion of cropland within the landscapes of increasing and decreasing populations, although cropland composed a large proportion (>30%) of many landscapes. In contrast, restored grassland typically composed a very small proportion (<3.5%) of total land cover, yet it was significantly more common in the landscapes of increasing than decreasing populations. These results suggest that grassland birds may benefit from government initiatives, such as the Conservation Reserve Program, that promote the restoration of grassland at a landscape scale.     

北京城市发展新区土地利用景观格局分析

以北京南部城市发展新区典型代表———房山、大兴、通州3处作为研究区,运用马尔科夫转移矩阵和景观格局指数的方法,进行土地利用变化和景观格局分析。通过对2001—2006年、2006—2011年两个时段的对比分析,发现2001—2006年研究区存在草地、林地、耕地等非建设用地类型面积下降,建设用地面积上升的趋势,且2006—2011年该趋势更加明显。结果表明研究区自然景观向人文景观变革迅速,并面临着后备土地资源不足等问题,亟需调整土地利用方式并优化景观系统空间格局。     

利用景观梯度法分析张家港市城市景观变化

在遥感与GIS技术平台的支持下,利用景观格局梯度法分析了张家港市各土地利用类型的景观格局及其时空分布特征.研究结果表明,2002-2006年,张家港市城市景观格局总体变化明显,城镇用地增长22.10%,农业用地则减少14.96%.在空间上,呈现出城市一城乡交错带一农业区的变化特征;在时间上,整体样带体现出斑块密度升高、...     

Trends in the development of Estonian coastal land cover and landscapes caused by natural changes and human impact

The structure of coastal land cover in Estonia is intricate and exhibits considerable differences from site to site. The diverse geomorphology of the seashores is one of the key factors affecting the speed and magnitude of land cover changes. Likewise, the history of human inhabitance on the coast has also shaped the character of land cover. The Estonian coastal zone has experienced abrupt and radical changes in land ownership and its related land use during the last century. The main objectives of this paper are: 1) to give an overview of land use and the trends of development of land cover pattern along different parts of the Estonian coast; and 2) to analyze the relationships of natural and human processes and their cumulative impact on the evolution of coastal land cover pattern in Estonia. This study is based on results obtained during fieldwork in the study areas and on the analysis of large-scale (1:10,000) historical maps. In agriculturally dominant coastal areas, the traditional open landscape of fields and grassland at the beginning of the 20th century had been replaced by woodland and grasslands with shrubs by the start of the 21st century. Expansion of reed beds in areas of former seashore grasslands is another striking phenomenon. The structure of land cover on forested coasts has been fairly stable during the last 100 years. Areas of urban sprawl are characterised by dramatic changes in land cover structure. Rapidly increasing population and expanding settlements imposes on the ecological balance of the fragile dune forests in the coastal zone.     

Multi-temporal land use and cover changing analysis: the environmental impact in Mediterranean area

ABSTRACT

Human activity shapes the levels of anthropogenic pressure that depend on the land management method adopted. This has a fundamental role in the transformation of traditional landscapes. This study focuses on a representative region of the Mediterranean area with the objective to analyse the landscape’s dynamics, to detect the spatial arrangement of class patches, to identify the main agroecosystem characters and to provide a framework to assess ecosystems services. In order to assess land use/land cover changes and landscape persistence, the period between 1960 and 2012 was analysed, taking into consideration the years 1960, 2000 and 2012 using comparable land use maps. Land use and land cover analysis show an urban area growth of 24% during 2000–2012 and of 523% over between 1960 and 2012. The very high levels of land abandonment up to the year 2000 (+7216%) have reversed their trend between 2000 and 2012 (?95%). The orchards showed a relevant increase, particularly after 2000, while the vineyards were linked to the highest value of surface erosion (?74%). The outcomes showed that urban settlements can damage the ecological network with negative effects on the landscape’s environmental sustainability in proximity of significant urban centres. Instead, the ecological network is well preserved and highly associated to the agricultural areas when there is the persistence of many land uses and low urban density, despite the presence of dynamic changes.     

Exploration of spatial morphometry and socioeconomic variables in modelling urban land use change

The incorporation of land use (LU) data with socioeconomic data is a main issue in modelling. This is as a result of difference in data model and scale. This study proposed and tested the change–pattern approach, which allows the incorporation of these data sets in modelling LU change. Focusing on LU dynamics for a selected part of the Thames Gateway within the City of London, the approach tested two different methods of input selection for the modelling operations. Variables selected from these two methods serve as inputs into several neural networks tested in order to identify the direction of change for each of the LU types within the study area. The result shows that direction of LU change across the study area could be identified when spatial morphology of the area and socioeconomic variables are considered. Some classes of change could be identified fairly accurately using landscape metrics indicating level of fragmentation, extent of LU patches, shape complexity of LU patches in combination with some socioeconomic variables.