Spatial Modeling and Habitat Quantification for Two Diadromous Fish in New Zealand Streams: A GIS-Based Approach with Application for Conservation Management

We developed logistic regression models from data on biotic and abiotic variables for 172 sites on Banks Peninsula, New Zealand, to predict the probability of occurrence of two diadromous fish, banded kokopu (Galaxias fasciatus) and koaro (G. brevipinnis). Banded kokopu occurrence was positively associated with small streams and low-intensity land uses (e.g., sheep grazing or forested), whereas intensive land uses (e.g., mixed sheep and cattle farming) and lack of riparian forest cover impacted negatively on occurrence at sampled sites. Also, if forests were positioned predominantly in lowland areas, banded kokopu occurrence declined with increasing distance to stream mouth. Koaro occurrence was positively influenced by catchment forest cover, high stream altitudes, and areas of no farming activity or mixed land uses. Intensive land uses, distance to stream mouth, and presence of banded kokopu negatively influenced koaro occupancy of stream reaches. Banded kokopu and koaro presence was predicted in 86.0% and 83.7% agreement, respectively, with field observations. We used the models to quantify the amount of stream reaches that would be of good, moderate, and poor quality, based on the probability of occurrences of the fish being greater than 0.75, between 0.75 and 0.5, or less than 0.5, respectively. Hindcasting using historical data on vegetation cover undertaken for one catchment, Pigeon Bay, showed they would have occupied most of the waterway before anthropogenic modification. We also modeled potential future scenarios to project potential fish distribution.     

Trajectories of rewilding: A taxonomy of wildland management

Rewilding, though a young term, already has numerous meanings. We use Q-methodology to investigate understandings and practices of rewilding amongst managers of wildland on 17 estates in the Scottish uplands. The estates, covering 207,200 ha, include all the main land ownership types in Scotland. All respondents value wildness and biodiversity highly, but the Q-study reveals significant divergence in the interpretations and practices of rewilding, especially concerning (i) the value of naturalness, (ii) the use of management interventions, (iii) the value of cultural heritage and traditional land uses, and (iv) the place of people within wildland. A tripartite taxonomy of wildland management approaches is developed, identifying three ‘centres of gravity’ along the continuum of viewpoints, emphasising, respectively, nature's autonomy, active restoration, and the maintenance of wildness within cultural landscapes. The taxonomy provides an analytic framework for evaluating the diverse and often conflicting aspirations for the management of wild places.     

Economics at the fringe: Non-market valuation studies and their role in land use plans in the United States

Over the past fifty years, economists have developed methods for estimating the public benefits of green spaces, allowing such information to be incorporated into land use planning. But the extent to which it is ever used is unclear. This paper reviews the literature on public values for lands on urban outskirts, not just to survey their methods or empirical findings, but to evaluate the role they have played – or have the potential to play – in actual US land use plans.Based on interviews with authors and representatives of land trusts and governments, it appears that academic work has had a mixed reception in the policy world. Reasons include a lack of interest in making academic work accessible to policy makers, emphasizing revealed preference methods which ignore important non-use values, and emphasizing average values over distributions of values. Nevertheless, some success stories illustrate how such information can play a role in the design of conservation policies.     

Dueling Land Ethics: Uncovering Agricultural Stakeholder Mental Models to Better Understand Recent Land Use Conversion

The aim of this paper is to investigate how alternative land ethics of agricultural stakeholders may help explain recent land use changes. The paper first explores the historical development of the land ethic concept in the United States and how those ethics have impacted land use policy and use of private lands. Secondly, primary data gathered from semi-structured interviews of farmers, ranchers, and influential stakeholders are then analyzed using stakeholder analysis methods to identify major factors considered in land use decisions, priorities of factors of each group, and to define relevant mental models describing each group’s view of the land ethic concept. Results show that these stakeholder groups prioritize land use factors qualitatively differently and possess strikingly different land ethics. It is concluded that shifts in stakeholder land ethics have contributed to recent land use changes. Lastly, we discuss how current agricultural policy sends mixed signals about preferred land use and the potential ramifications based on the different land ethics we’ve described.     

Wetland boundary and land-use planning in southern Ontario,Canada

There is a general lack of understanding of wetland processes and a general paucity of scientific research to predict the effects of development on wetland boundary. This paper presents the results of a survey of wetland managers as to how they delineate wetland boundaries, define compatible land uses, and restrict land uses adjacent to wetland boundaries. A major finding from the survey is that 75% of land-use planners and wetland managers failed to identify any compatible land use or restricted land use for development proposals that may affect provincially significant wetlands. The government agencies overwhelmingly lack adequate methodologies and/or criteria to delineate and protect wetland boundaries. The paper closes with a plea to consider dynamic hydrological factors in land-use planning.     

Sustainability speak: Discourse and practice paradigms in subdivision design

In the last decade the concept of sustainable development has been widely embraced as the key to environmentally friendly development. However, in many instances the physical sustainability side of the equation stops at a rhetorical level and the ensuing developments fail to respond to ecological imperatives or to protect existing ecological values. Nowhere is this failure more evident than at the urban fringes of Melbourne, Australia, where residential land estate developments relentlessly engulf degraded agricultural lands that often contain the remnants of vegetative and hydrological ecological systems.

This paper postulates that while landscape design practitioners claim the 'authority of nature' (and, by extension, the land) for their design inspiration, in reality narrow practice foci and instrumental approaches have meant that the design of estates and subdivisions often make only token reference to ecological underpinnings. It is argued that instrumental influences on design decision-making are embedded in landscape-architectural professional culture and glossed over with an elusive rhetoric of care and concern for the environment. It is further postulated that individual expressions of interest in the land and its systems can make a substantive contribution to sustainable design practice and practical outcomes.     

Sustainability speak: Discourse and practice paradigms in subdivision design

Abstract

In the last decade the concept of sustainable development has been widely embraced as the key to environmentally friendly development. However, in many instances the physical sustainability side of the equation stops at a rhetorical level and the ensuing developments fail to respond to ecological imperatives or to protect existing ecological values. Nowhere is this failure more evident than at the urban fringes of Melbourne, Australia, where residential land estate developments relentlessly engulf degraded agricultural lands that often contain the remnants of vegetative and hydrological ecological systems.

This paper postulates that while landscape design practitioners claim the ‘authority of nature’ (and, by extension, the land) for their design inspiration, in reality narrow practice foci and instrumental approaches have meant that the design of estates and subdivisions often make only token reference to ecological underpinnings. It is argued that instrumental influences on design decision-making are embedded in landscape-architectural professional culture and glossed over with an elusive rhetoric of care and concern for the environment. It is further postulated that individual expressions of interest in the land and its systems can make a substantive contribution to sustainable design practice and practical outcomes.     

Impacts of Public Policies and Farmer Preferences on Agroforestry Practices in Kerala,India

Agroforestry systems are fundamental features of the rural landscape of the Indian state of Kerala. Yet these mixed species systems are increasingly being replaced by monocultures. This paper explores how public policies on land tenure, agriculture, forestry and tree growing on private lands have interacted with farmer preferences in shaping land use dynamics and agroforestry practices. It argues that not only is there no specific policy for agroforestry in Kerala, but also that the existing sectoral policies of land tenure, agriculture, and forestry contributed to promoting plantation crops, even among marginal farmers. Forest policies, which impose restrictions on timber extraction from farmers’ fields under the garb of protecting natural forests, have often acted as a disincentive to maintaining tree-based mixed production systems on farmlands. The paper argues that public policies interact with farmers’ preferences in determining land use practices.     

REGIONAL PLANNING FOR LAND DISPOSAL OF WASTEWATER1

ABSTRACT This paper describes the development and use of a mixed integer programming model for the planning of land disposal wastewater treatment facilities. Consideration is given to relevant construction and operating costs for land sites, transmission arteries, land acquisition costs, tangible benefits from land use, controls on aquifers, and various other engineering and technical constraints The model is used to determine which land disposal sites should serve which treatment plants, when initial construction should be initiated and completed, and when capacity expansion should occur. The model's application to the St. Louis Standard Metropolitan Statistical Area is illustrated and discussed.     

WATER QUALITY IN AGRICULTURAL,URBAN, AND MIXED LAND USE WATERSHEDS1

ABSTRACT: Water quality and nonpoint source (NPS) pollution are important issues in many areas of the world, including the Inner Bluegrass Region of Kentucky where urban development is changing formerly rural watersheds into urban and mixed use watersheds. In watersheds where land use is mixed, the relative contributions of NPS pollution from rural and urban land uses can be difficult to separate. To better understand NPS pollution sources in mixed use watersheds, surface water samples were taken at three sites that varied in land use to examine the effect of land use on water quality. Within the group of three watersheds, one was predominately agriculture (Agricultural), one was predominately urban (Urban), and a third had relatively equal representation of both types of land uses (Mixed). Nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), total suspended solids (TSS), turbidity, pH, temperature, and streamflow were measured for one year. Comparisons are made among watersheds for concentration and fluxes of water quality parameters. Nitrate and orthophosphate concentrations were found to be significantly higher in the Agricultural watershed. Total suspended solids, turbidity, temperature, and pH, were found to be generally higher in the Urban and Mixed watersheds. No differences were found for streamflow (per unit area), total phosphorus, and ammonium concentrations among watersheds. Fluxes of orthophosphate were greater in the Agricultural watershed that in the Urban watershed while fluxes of TSS were greater in the Mixed watershed when compared to the Agricultural watershed. Fluxes of nitrate, ammonium, and total phosphorus did not vary among watersheds. It is apparent from the data that Agricultural land uses are generally a greater source of nutrients than the Urban land uses while Urban land uses are generally a greater source of suspended sediment.     

Exploring Land Developer Perspectives on Conservation Subdivision Design and Environmentally Sustainable Land Development

Insight into land developers’ perspectives on alternative residential developments and the barriers they experience in trying to develop them can be crucial in efforts to change environmentally damaging low-density, large-lot, and automobile-dependent residential patterns. Using a semi-structured interview instrument followed by short surveys, I examined the views of 16 developers in Waukesha County, WI, USA, a county that has experienced significant development pressures and widespread implementation of conservation subdivision design. The land developer investigation focused on conservation subdivision design familiarity and implementation, and identified a number of barriers that developers experienced in implementing the design. While the majority of the developers appeared familiar with the design and had experience developing conservation subdivisions, their motivations for developing them varied, as did their on-site conservation practices. The barriers included the lack of land use regulations supporting the design, economic factors, community opposition, and a lack of knowledge about sustainable residential development practices. Strategies to promote more environmentally sustainable residential land development patterns include providing a more supportive institutional environment, enacting different regulations and guidelines for natural resources protection, and offering education on ecologically sound development and planning practices.     

Urban policy and environmental regeneration in two Scottish peripheral housing estates

Summary In the UK, particularly post-Second World War, urban renewal and decongestion programmes created peripheral housing estates. From the beginning these estates were not endowed with any sustaining social and economic life. Moreover, most of the residents were in the lower percentile of the urban poor, as well as being disadvantaged from a multiple perspective. Over the years, these estates have deteriorated socially, environmentally and economically. A number of limited efforts made in the past to improve the general well-being of the residents have not achieved appreciable success.In recent times, it has been recognised that only by a comprehensive approach can the peripheral estates be regenerated (or generated?). The New Life for Urban Scotland programme is aimed at doing this. This paper attempts to evaluate the impact of the programme of environmental improvement in Castlemilk and Ferguslie Park, both peripheral housing estates on the outskirts of Glasgow, Scotland. The impact areas studied are: land-use pattern and environmental quality; retail and shopping facility development; leisure and recreation; roads, streetscape and local transport services; environmental improvement expenditure. Some possible improvements in the programme are proposed for the future.Dr Sam C. Ofori undertook this study as part of a Master's Thesis with the School of Planning at the University of Central England.     

基于主成分分析法的中国土地市场发育成熟度评价

构建了基于土地市场土地交易情况、土地金融情况、土地市场竞争情况和政府宏观调控的土地市场发育成熟度评价指标体系,并以2003-2007年31个省（市）的统计数据为基础,采用主成分分析法测算了我国东、中、西部三大区域土地市场的发育成熟度。研究结果表明,与经济发展相对应,我国土地市场发育程度也存在显著的区域梯度差异,东部土地市场发育成熟度远远高于中部和西部;三大地域内部省（市）之间土地市场发育程度也存在差异,西部地区尤为明显。     

The costs to farmers and estate owners of public access to the countryside

This paper considers the external costs of public access on privately‐owned farm and estate land in Scotland. The increased costs and reductions in income associated with public access are found to be highly variable and site‐specific, with the main effects on land in areas of high population density or high scenic quality, or with recreational attributes. Although costs were on average higher for estates, reflecting their larger area and recreational potential, on a per‐hectare basis the costs of access were greater for the farm sector. Whilst much of the public access exists through de facto rights on open‐access land, there was evidence for an increasing commercialization of open‐air recreation, particularly with respect to more specialized activities. The discussion considers the extent to which the costs of access for land managers are reflected in policies determining the public provision of countryside access.     

Occurrence and bioavailability of pyrethroids in a mixed land use watershed

The shift in land use patterns within many urban areas has the potential to influence the magnitude and nature of nonpoint-source pollution. The presence of pyrethroid insecticides in urban surface streams is of particular concern due to the broad spectrum toxicity of pyrethroids to aquatic organisms and the widespread use of pyrethroid products for agricultural and urban pest control. Sediment samples were collected throughout a mixed land use watershed in southern California during two sampling periods and analyzed for a suite of pyrethroids. Bifenthrin and fenpropathrin were found most frequently in the sediment samples, with the highest concentrations associated with sites adjacent to large commercial nurseries. Sediments from residential areas or residential-commercial mixed areas had fewer detections and significantly lower concentrations than the nursery runoff sediments. No apparent difference was found between wet and dry season concentrations, which may be attributed to the fact that the lack of flow under dry weather conditions rendered pyrethroid residues immobile. Organic carbon-normalized sediment concentrations were poorly correlated with the freely dissolved pore water concentrations measured by solid phase microextraction (SPME), suggesting factors other than sediment organic carbon content should be considered when relating concentrations to potential toxicities.     

The dimensions of land use change in rural landscapes: lessons learnt from the GB Countryside Surveys

Rural landscapes are highly dynamic and their change impacts on a number of ecological processes such as the dynamics of biodiversity. Although a substantial amount of research has focused on quantifying these changes and their impact on biodiversity, most studies have focused on single dimensions of land use change. This lack of integration in land use change studies can be explained by the fact that data on the spatial, temporal, and ecological dimensions of land use are seldom available for the same geographical location. In this paper, the benefits of taking into account these three dimensions are illustrated with results derived from the Great Britain Countryside Surveys (CS), a large-scale monitoring programme designed to assess change in the extent and ecological condition of British habitats. The overview of CS results presented in this paper shows that (1) changes in land use composition will translate into a variety of spatial patterns; (2) the temporal stability of land use is often lower than can be expected; and (3) there can be large-scale shifts in the ecological condition of the land use types that form our rural landscapes. The benefits of integrated rural landscape studies are discussed in the context of other national monitoring programmes.     

Applying the Ecosystem Approach to Select Priority Areas for Forest Landscape Restoration in the Yungas, Northwestern Argentina

This paper proposes a method to select forest restoration priority areas consistently with the key principles of the Ecosystem Approach (EA) and the Forest Landscape Restoration (FLR) framework. The methodology is based on the principles shared by the two approaches: acting at ecosystem scale, involving stakeholders, and evaluating alternatives. It proposes the involvement of social actors which have a stake in forest management through multicriteria analysis sessions aimed at identifying the most suitable forest restoration intervention. The method was applied to a study area in the native forests of Northern Argentina (the Yungas). Stakeholders were asked to identify alternative restoration actions, i.e. potential areas implementing FLR. Ten alternative fincas—estates derived from the Spanish land tenure system—differing in relation to ownership, management, land use, land tenure, and size were evaluated. Twenty criteria were selected and classified into four groups: biophysical, social, economic and political. Finca Ledesma was the closest to the economic, social, environmental and political goals, according to the values and views of the actors involved in the decision. This study represented the first attempt to apply EA principles to forest restoration at landscape scale in the Yungas region. The benefits obtained by the application of the method were twofold: on one hand, researchers and local actors were forced to conceive the Yungas as a complex net of rights rather than as a sum of personal interests. On the other hand, the participatory multicriteria approach provided a structured process for collective decision-making in an area where it has never been implemented.     

Can David and Goliath Get Along? Federal Land in Local Places

It is often unclear what the role of a local jurisdiction is with regard to land use management on nearby federal properties. Yet federal lands clearly impact nearby local communities. The US Department of Energy (DOE), with over 100 sites across the United States with varying degrees of environmental contamination, may be in a very difficult position with regard to relationships with local government about land use. Yet few, if any, studies have examined DOE land use issues. This study asks: (1) In general, how do local planners feel about federal government relationships with them? (2) Do local planners feel differently about the DOE than they do about other federal agencies? (3) What reasons explain any differences observed in answer to the second question? To answer these questions, local planners were interviewed from communities adjacent to non-DOE federal properties, and their responses compared to those of planners located near DOE facilities in the same regions. Findings showed that compared to other federal agencies that own land in the same regions, the DOE is relatively poorer at actively involving local officials in land use decisions at its sites. Primary reasons are the historic legacy of a culture of secrecy, focus on mission, and especially the lack of experience, training, or mandates in local planning cooperation. Findings also suggest that this attitude is markedly stronger in areas west of the Rocky Mountains. Recommendations for improved federal–local communications include the development of a vision for local government involvement that is supported by top levels of management and filtered effectively to the site level.     

Hydrologic Sensitivity to Climate and Land Use Changes in the Santiam River Basin,Oregon

Future changes in water supply are likely to vary across catchments due to a river basin's sensitivity to climate and land use changes. In the Santiam River Basin (SRB), Oregon, we examined the role elevation, intensity of water demands, and apparent intensity of groundwater interactions, as characteristics that influence sensitivity to climate and land use changes, on the future availability of water resources. In the context of water scarcity, we compared the relative impacts of changes in water supply resulting from climate and land use changes to the impacts of spatially distributed but steady water demand. Results highlight how seasonal runoff responses to climate and land use changes vary across subbasins with differences in hydrogeology, land use, and elevation. Across the entire SRB, water demand exerts the strongest influence on basin sensitivity to water scarcity, regardless of hydrogeology, with the highest demand located in the lower reaches dominated by agricultural and urban land uses. Results also indicate that our catchment with mixed rain‐snow hydrology and with mixed surface‐groundwater may be more sensitive to climate and land use changes, relative to the catchment with snowmelt‐dominated runoff and substantial groundwater interactions. Results highlight the importance of evaluating basin sensitivity to change in planning for planning water resources storage and allocation across basins in variable hydrogeologic settings.     

From land cover change to land function dynamics: a major challenge to improve land characterization

Land cover change has always had a central role in land change science. This central role is largely the result of the possibilities to map and characterize land cover based on observations and remote sensing. This paper argues that more attention should be given to land use and land functions and linkages between these. Consideration of land functions that provide a wide range of goods and services makes more integrated assessments of land change possible. The increasing attention to multifunctional land use is another incentive to develop methods to assess changes in land functions. A number of methods to quantify and map the spatial extent of land use and land functions are discussed and the implications for modeling are identified based on recent model approaches in land change science. The mixed use of land cover, land use and land function in maps and models leads to inconsistencies in land change assessments. Explicit attention to the non-linear relations between land cover, land use and land function is essential to consistently address land change. New methods to map and quantify land function dynamics will enhance our ability to understand and model land system change and adequately inform policies and planning.