Spatio-temporal analysis of alpine ecotones: A spatial explicit model targeting altitudinal vegetation shifts

There is general agreement in literature that Alpine vegetation belt ecotones have shown a trend of upward migration in the last few decades. Despite the potential of such shifts as indicators of global change effects in mountain ecosystems, there are relatively few works focused on their assessment in a systematic and spatially explicit way. In this work our aim is to quantify the altitudinal shifts and analyse the spatial pattern dynamics of mountain ecotones. We developed a novel procedure to delineate the current and former state of three characteristic mountain ecotones, which we formalised as forest, tree and tundra lines. Our approach is based on the recognition of altitudinal extreme outposts identified with ecotone locations at a slope scale. The integration of multi-temporal datasets allows the identification and quantification of altitudinal advances and retreats in the outpost locations for a given period. We tested the method in a section of the Italian Alps for the period 1957-2003. Results show a general trend of an increase in altitude for the three ecotones, despite the occurrence of occasional decreases. We estimate decadal altitude increments of 25 m for forest line, 13 m for treeline and 11 m for tundra line. We also identified changes in ecotone spatial morphology between the two dates, with significant implications in connectivity and colonisation dynamics.     

An early warning method of landscape ecological security in rapid urbanizing coastal areas and its application in Xiamen, China

Based on the Pressure-State-Response (P-S-R) approach, an index system for landscape ecological security (LES) was suggested using three dimensions, six factors, and three weights. The indicators in the system were divided into two groups: spatial interpolation (acquired by the remote sensing data) and non-spatial interpolation (acquired by consultation with experts). According to data of 2003 and 2006, coupled with current tendencies, the early warning method was classified into four categories: security and degradation, sub-security and slow degradation, sub-security and rapid degradation, and insecurity. Our research with early warning method finds three interesting phenomena: (1) mean value of LES in 2003 was 0.586, indicating medium security; while in 2006 it was 0.650, an upper medium security. The LES level within each districts of Xiamen in 2006 was better than the level in 2003. In terms of LES, the comprehensive condition within each district of Xiamen in 2006 was enhanced compared with 2003. Overall, there was improvement in 80.5% of areas from 2003 to 2006, showing promising signs of positive development. (2) The LES of Xiang’an District and Jimei District were in stages of high early warning given that the percentage of land in these districts that showed symptoms of insecurity and degradation was 41.03 and 34.89%, respectively. (3) On the whole, the areas that showed notable signs of insecurity and rapid landscape, and which can already be identified as early warning areas requiring immediate attention, correspond closely with the distribution of coastal industrial parks in these regions. In conclusion, the consequences of rapid industrialization and urbanization are far reaching and affect local and regional ecological security.     

Landscape fires as social disasters: An overview of ‘the bushfire problem’

The ‘landscape’, ‘bushfire’ or ‘forest-fire’ problem is exemplified by the destruction of homes and human lives by landscape fires raging out of control. The ‘problem’ involves a series of landscapes (e.g. wildland and suburb), a series of systems (e.g. biophysical system and environmental-effects system), and a series of time phases (e.g. planning phase). It is a multi-stakeholder, multi-variable, multi-scale problem. Land uses, like ‘farmland’, imply a set of specific assets and, therefore, particular perceptions of losses. In all land-use designations, at any one point, fire-proneness may be seen as a function of exposure to ignition sources (embers, burning brands or flame radiation and flame contact) and the ease of ignition. The landscape-fire problem has multiple partial ‘solutions’, not just one overall solution, and these involve social governance, land management (public and private), suppression capacity and personal preparedness. The problem needs to be addressed at multiple temporal and spatial scales in an integrated fashion for the outcome to be of maximal benefit. There will always be a residual risk of severe fire occurrence. Minimisation of residual risk requires effective land management, recurrent funding and the perpetual vigilance of all parties.     

淮北中湖采煤沉陷区治理前后景观格局变化研究

基于淮北中湖采煤沉陷区2005年、2014年和2018年的遥感影像进行地表景观解译,研究治理前后该区景观格局变化特征及生态效应。结果表明:治理前,该区耕地破碎化加剧、景观优势最大并持续减弱,沉陷积水区水体呈聚集化趋势;治理后,景观基质由耕地变为水体,林地、草地面积显著增加且景观优势上升,人工湖泊水体聚集程度高。区域景观破碎化减弱且中部比西北部破碎化程度低,景观蔓延度较稳定,景观多样性增加,边缘正效应增强,生态环境质量上升。在资源枯竭型矿区城市的生态治理中要合理优化水-陆景观格局,改善生态系统结构,减缓城市发展中的景观破碎化。     

A spatially explicit model to predict future landscape composition of aspen woodlands under various management scenarios

Quaking aspen (Populus tremuloides) is declining across the western United States. Aspen habitats are among the most diverse plant communities in this region and loss of these habitats can result in shifts in biodiversity, productivity, and hydrology across a range of spatial scales. Western aspen occurs on the majority of sites seral to conifer species, and long-term maintenance of these aspen woodlands requires periodic fire. Over the past century, fire intervals, extents, and intensities have been insufficient to regenerate aspen stands at historic rates; however the effects of various fire regimes and management scenarios on aspen vegetation dynamics at broad spatial and temporal scales are unexplored. Here we use field data, remotely sensed data, and fire atlas information to develop a spatially explicit landscape simulation model to assess the effects of current and historic wildfire regimes and prescribed burning programs on landscape vegetation composition across two mountain ranges in the Owyhee Plateau, Idaho. Model outputs depict the future structural makeup and species composition of the landscape at selected time steps under simulated management scenarios. We found that under current fire regimes and in the absence of management activities, loss of seral aspen stands will continue to occur over the next two centuries. However, a return to historic fire regimes (burning 12–14% of the modeled landscape per decade) would maintain the majority of aspen stands in early and mid seral woodland stages and minimizes the loss of aspen. A fire rotation of 70–80 years was estimated for the historic fire regime while the current fire regime resulted in a fire rotation of 340–450 years, underscoring the fact that fire is currently lacking in the system. Implementation of prescribed burning programs, treating aspen and young conifer woodlands according to historic fire occurrence probabilities, are predicted to prevent conifer dominance and loss of aspen stands.     

三亚城市景观生态设计初探

为保护三亚热带自然风情,运用景观生态学原理为该市进行了城市景观生态设计。其中控制性组分的设计分为种群源(Speciessource)、廊道(Coridor)和节点(Node)等内容。用来满足生物种群保存的“持久性"和物种流动的“可达性"要求,使城市中的“自然"组分成为环境质量的控制性组分。此外,还进行了非控制性组分中自然组分的设计和景观的美学规划,并进行了景观的生态构架设计,使城市生态系统与外围自然组分进行有效的物质和能量的交流。      

浑太河流域多尺度土地利用/景观格局与水质响应关系初步分析

选取浑太河流域为研究对象,采用GIS、相关性分析、多元线性回归分析等多种数理统计分析技术,从子流域和河岸缓冲区尺度分析了土地利用、景观格局对河流水质的影响。结果表明:农业用地面积比例在子流域和1000m河岸缓冲区尺度与NH4+-N、TN、BOD5和COND呈正相关;林地用地面积比例在子流域尺度和河岸缓冲区尺度均与CODMn呈负相关,在300m、400m、1000m河岸缓冲区尺度与TN呈负相关,在1000m河岸缓冲区尺度与COND呈负相关,在子流域与1000m河岸缓冲区尺度与NO3-呈正相关;草地在子流域尺度与NH4+-N、TN、TP、Chl、CODMn呈正相关;建设用地面积比例在子流域尺度与BOD5、COND、TN呈正相关。CONTAG在河岸带缓冲区尺度与COND、TN呈正相关,在子流域和河岸缓冲区尺度与均CODMn均呈正相关,在河岸缓冲区尺度与NO3-呈负相关;PD在子流域尺度上与TN呈正相关,ED在子流域尺度上与NO3-呈正相关,与NH4+呈负相关;SHDI在子流域与河岸缓冲区尺度与NO3-均呈负相关。相对于河岸缓冲区尺度,土地利用类型在子流域尺度上对水质的影响更为显著,表现在调整判定系数Adjusted R2更大。而景观格局指数中对水质影响最大的是CONTAG,相对于子流域尺度,CONTAG在缓冲区尺度上影响更为显著。