Predicting modes of spatial change from state-and-transition models

State-and-transition models (STMs) can represent many different types of landscape change, from simple gradient-driven transitions to complex, (pseudo-) random patterns. While previous applications of STMs have focused on individual states and transitions, this study addresses broader-scale modes of spatial change based on the entire network of states and transitions. STMs are treated as mathematical graphs, and several metrics from algebraic graph theory are applied—spectral radius, algebraic connectivity, and the S-metric. These indicate, respectively, the amplification of environmental change by state transitions, the relative rate of propagation of state changes through the landscape, and the degree of system structural constraints on the spatial propagation of state transitions. The analysis is illustrated by application to the Gualalupe/San Antonio River delta, Texas, with soil types as representations of system states. Concepts of change in deltaic environments are typically based on successional patterns in response to forcings such as sea level change or river inflows. However, results indicate more complex modes of change associated with amplification of changes in system states, relatively rapid spatial propagation of state transitions, and some structural constraints within the system. The implications are that complex, spatially variable state transitions are likely, constrained by local (within-delta) environmental gradients and initial conditions. As in most applications, the STM used in this study is a representation of observed state transitions. While the usual predictive application of STMs is identification of local state changes associated with, e.g., management strategies, the methods presented here show how STMs can be used at a broader scale to identify landscape scale modes of spatial change.     

基于景观中性模型的不同竞争力外来种入侵对栖息地毁坏的响应

栖息地毁坏和生物入侵被认为是全球物种多样性的两大威胁,也是当前研究的热点。同时,两者的共同作用将比单独作用所带来的物种多样性丧失更大。本文基于竞争-扩散均衡机制,考虑了外来种的不同竞争力,结合景观中性模型和元胞自动机模型,模拟了外来种入侵对栖息地毁坏（栖息地破碎和面积丧失）的响应。研究结果表明：1）外来种入侵成功将首先威胁竞争力与其相邻的弱物种;2）栖息地毁坏与种间竞争共同决定着外来种入侵的成功与否。当栖息地破碎促进了与外来种竞争力相邻的本地强物种时,将会抑制入侵;当其抑制了与外来种竞争力相邻的本地强物种时,则会促进入侵。当栖息地丧失促进了外来种相邻的本地强物种时,将会抑制入侵;当栖息地丧失抑制了外来种相邻的本地强物种,将一定程度地促进入侵,但随着丧失面积的增加,则转为抑制。因此,为了抑制不同竞争力的外来种入侵,应采取不同的栖息地保护策略,并保护和促进其竞争力相邻的本地强物种。     

基于RS/GIS的大辽河口湿地景观格局时空变化研究

基于1988、1995、2001和2007年的四期TM数据,应用GIS/RS技术与景观格局分析软件FRAGSTATS,定量分析大辽河口地区湿地景观格局的动态变化。结果表明,自1988年以来,大辽河口地区的湿地面积逐年增加,湿地景观多样性指数和均匀度指数呈现先降后升的趋势,景观破碎化程度增强。湿地类型变化主要表现在大量的自然湿地转化为人工湿地或人工景观,具体表现在转化为建筑用地、水稻田、养殖区。1988~1995年期间,大辽河口地区的环境质量下降,该地区生物生活环境的多样性降低,造成了一些物种种群数量的减少甚至消失;但是自1995年以后,该地区的景观多样性和均匀性升高,抗干扰能力增强,环境质量有所提高。研究区湿地景观格局的动态变化主要是受自然条件和人为活动干扰共同作用的结果。     

Does the risk of encountering lions influence African herbivore behaviour at waterholes?

A central question in the study of predator–prey relationships is to what extent prey behaviour is determined by avoidance of predators. Here, we test whether the long-term risk of encountering lions and the presence of lions in the vicinity influence the behaviour of large African herbivores at waterholes through avoidance of high-risk areas, increases in group size, changes in temporal niche or changes in the time spent in waterhole areas. In Hwange National Park, Zimbabwe, we monitored waterholes to study the behaviour of nine herbivore species under different risks of encountering lions. We radio-collared 26 lions in the study area which provided the opportunity to monitor whether lions were present during observation sessions and to map longer-term seasonal landscapes of risk of encountering lions. Our results show that the preferred prey species for lions (buffalo, kudu and giraffe) avoided risky waterholes. Group size increased as encounter risk increased for only two species (wildebeest and zebra), but this effect was not strong. Interestingly, buffalo avoided the hours of the day which are dangerous when the long-term and short-term risks of encountering lions were high, and all species showed avoidance of waterhole use at night times when lions were in the vicinity. This illustrates well how prey can make temporal adjustments to avoid dangerous periods coinciding with predator hunting. Additionally, many herbivores spent more time accessing water to drink when the long- and short-term risks of encountering lions were high, and they showed longer potential drinking time when the long-term risk of encountering lions was high, suggesting higher levels of vigilance. This study illustrates the diversity of behavioural adjustments to the risk of encountering a predator and how prey respond differently to temporal variations in this risk.     

The role of local and landscape level measures of greenness in modelling boreal plant species richness

Measurements of primary productivity and its heterogeneity based on satellite images can provide useful estimates of species richness and distribution patterns. However, species richness at a given site may depend not only on local habitat quality and productivity but also on the characteristics of the surrounding landscape. In this study we investigated whether the predictions of species richness of plant families in northern boreal landscape in Finland can be improved by incorporating greenness information from the surrounding landscape, as derived from remotely sensed data (mean, maximum, standard deviation and range values of NDVI derived from Landsat ETM), into local greenness models. Using plant species richness data of 28 plant families from 440 grid cells of 25 ha in size, generalized additive models (GAMs) were fitted into three different sets of explanatory variables: (1) local greenness only, (2) landscape greenness only, and (3) combined local and landscape greenness. The derived richness–greenness relationships were mainly unimodal or positively increasing but varied between different plant families, and depended also on whether greenness was measured as mean or maximum greenness. Incorporation of landscape level greenness variables improved significantly both the explanatory power and cross-validation statistics of the models including only local greenness variables. Landscape greenness information derived from remote sensing data integrated with local information has thus the potentiality to improve predictive assessments of species richness over extensive and inaccessible areas, especially in high-latitude landscapes. Overall, the significant relationship between plants and surrounding landscape quality detected here suggests that landscape factors should be considered in preserving species richness of boreal environments, as well as in conservation planning for biodiversity in other environments.     

Challenges of simulating complex environmental systems at the landscape scale: A controversial dialogue between two cups of espresso

With the advancement of computational systems and the development of model integration concepts, complexity of environmental model systems increased. In contrast to that, theory and knowledge about > environmental systems as well as the capability for environmental systems analyses remained, to a large extent, unchanged. As a consequence, model conceptualization, data gathering, and validation, have faced new challenges that hardly can be tackled by modellers alone. In this discourse-like review, we argue that modelling with reliable simulations of human-environmental interactions necessitate linking modelling and simulation research much stronger to science fields such as landscape ecology, community ecology, eco-hydrology, etc. It thus becomes more and more important to identify the adequate degree of complexity in environmental models (which is not only a technical or methodological question), to ensure data availability, and to test model performance. Even equally important, providing problem specific answers to environmental problems using simulation tools requires addressing end-user and stakeholder requirements during early stages of problem development. In doing so, we avoid modelling and simulation as an end of its own.     

Synergistic Techniques for Better Understanding and Classifying the Environmental Structure of Landscapes

The desire to capture natural regions in the landscape has been a goal of geographic and environmental classification and ecological land classification (ELC) for decades. Since the increased adoption of data-centric, multivariate, computational methods, the search for natural regions has become the search for the best classification that optimally trades off classification complexity for class homogeneity. In this study, three techniques are investigated for their ability to find the best classification of the physical environments of the Mt. Lofty Ranges in South Australia: AutoClass-C (a Bayesian classifier), a Kohonen Self-Organising Map neural network, and a k-means classifier with homogeneity analysis. AutoClass-C is specifically designed to find the classification that optimally trades off classification complexity for class homogeneity. However, AutoClass analysis was not found to be assumption-free because it was very sensitive to the user-specified level of relative error of input data. The AutoClass results suggest that there may be no way of finding the best classification without making critical assumptions as to the level of class heterogeneity acceptable in the classification when using continuous environmental data. Therefore, rather than relying on adjusting abstract parameters to arrive at a classification of suitable complexity, it is better to quantify and visualize the data structure and the relationship between classification complexity and class homogeneity. Individually and when integrated, the Self-Organizing Map and k-means classification with homogeneity analysis techniques also used in this study facilitate this and provide information upon which the decision of the scale of classification can be made. It is argued that instead of searching for the elusive classification of natural regions in the landscape, it is much better to understand and visualize the environmental structure of the landscape and to use this knowledge to select the best ELC at the required scale of analysis.     

Assessing Impacts of Typhoons and the Chi-Chi Earthquake on Chenyulan Watershed Landscape Pattern in Central Taiwan Using Landscape Metrics

The Chi-Chi earthquake (M_L = 7.3) occurred in the central part of Taiwan on September 21, 1999. After the earthquake, typhoons Xangsane and Toraji produced heavy rainfall that fell across the eastern and central parts of Taiwan on November 2000 and July 2001. This study uses remote sensing data, landscape metrics, multivariate statistical analysis, and spatial autocorrelation to assess how earthquake and typhoons affect landscape patterns. It addresses variations of the Chenyulan watershed in Nantou County, near the earthquake’s epicenter and crossed by Typhoon Toraji. The subsequent disturbances have gradually changed landscape of the Chenyulan watershed. Disturbances of various types, sizes, and intensities, following various tracks, have various effects on the landscape patterns and variations of the Chenyulan watershed. The landscape metrics that are obtained by multivariate statistical analyses showed that the disturbances produced variously fragmented patches, interspersed with other patches and isolated from patches of the same type across the entire Chenyulan watershed. The disturbances also affected the isolation, size, and shape-complexity of patches at the landscape and class levels. The disturbances at the class level more strongly affected spatial variations in the landscape as well as patterns of grasslands and bare land, than variations in the watershed farmland and forest. Moreover, the earthquake with high magnitude was a starter to create these landscape variations in space in the Chenyulan watershed. The cumulative impacts of the disturbances on the watershed landscape pattern had existed, especially landslides and grassland in the study area, but were not always evident in space and time in landscape and other class levels.     

城市景观水污染现状及处理技术

城市景观水体由于水质恶化而渐渐影响附近居民的正常生活,要从根本上保证水质需采取一定的水源保护和水处理措施。在景观水处理中,适用于景观水处理的工艺有很多,但工程实施中需要对其进行选择、优化、组合。随着社会不断发展和人们生活质量要求不断提高,景观水处理也必将成为继生活用水处理、工业用水处理后的又一给水处理新领域。     

A landscape ecological approach to countryside planning

Extensive losses of semi‐natural rural biotopes have led to pressures for conservation and habitat creation. Of particular concern is the loss of large‐scale structure and regional distinctiveness. If this is to be regained, planners will require both an effective body of theory relating to large‐scale visual and ecological cohesion, and effective methods of implementation. This study reviews the value of landscape ecology as a theoretical framework and discusses some applications, with particular reference to the re‐forestation of lowland Britain.