Analyzing landscape changes in the Bafa Lake Nature Park of Turkey using remote sensing and landscape structure metrics

Bafa Lake Nature Park is one of Turkey’s most important legally protected areas. This study aimed at analyzing spatial change in the park environment by using object-based classification technique and landscape structure metrics. SPOT 2X (1994) and ASTER (2005) images are the primary research materials. Results show that artificial surfaces, low maqui, garrigue, and moderately high maqui covers have increased and coniferous forests, arable lands, permanent crop, and high maqui covers have decreased; coniferous forest, high maqui, grassland, and saline areas are in a disappearance stage of the land transformation; and the landscape pattern is more fragmented outside the park boundaries. The management actions should support ongoing vegetation regeneration, mitigate transformation of vegetation structure to less dense and discontinuous cover, control the dynamics at the agricultural–natural landscape interface, and concentrate on relatively low but steady increase of artificial surfaces.     

A Data-Based Conservation Planning Tool for Florida Panthers

Habitat loss and fragmentation are the greatest threats to the endangered Florida panther (Puma concolor coryi). We developed a data-based habitat model and user-friendly interface so that land managers can objectively evaluate Florida panther habitat. We used a geographic information system (GIS) and the Mahalanobis distance statistic (D ²) to develop a model based on broad-scale landscape characteristics associated with panther home ranges. Variables in our model were Euclidean distance to natural land cover, road density, distance to major roads, human density, amount of natural land cover, amount of semi-natural land cover, amount of permanent or semi-permanent flooded area–open water, and a cost–distance variable. We then developed a Florida Panther Habitat Estimator tool, which automates and replicates the GIS processes used to apply the statistical habitat model. The estimator can be used by persons with moderate GIS skills to quantify effects of land-use changes on panther habitat at local and landscape scales. Example applications of the tool are presented.     

Evaluating Habitat as a Surrogate for Population Viability Using a Spatially Explicit Population Model

Because data for conservation planning are always limited, surrogates are often substituted for intractable measurements such as species richness or population viability. We examined the ability of habitat quality to act as a surrogate for population performance for both Red-shouldered Hawks (Buteo lineatus) and Northern Goshawks (Accipiter gentilis). We compared simple measures of habitat quality to estimates of population growth rates obtained from a spatially explicit model of population dynamics. We found that habitat quality was a relatively poor predictor of simulated population growth rates for several reasons. First, a relatively small proportion of the potential habitat for each species served as population sources in our simulations--15% for Red-shouldered Hawks and 2% for Goshawks. Second, when habitat quality correctly predicted demographic sources on the landscape, it consistently underestimated the contribution of these areas to the population. In areas where habitat quality correctly anticipated the presence of demographic sinks, we found no useful quantitative relationship between the two measures. Our simulation model captured the influence of habitat quality on the hawk populations, but it also incorporated interactions between dispersing individuals and landscape patterns. Thus, the discrepancies we observed likely reflected the influence of forest fragmentation and the spatial arrangement of forest patches on the populations. We conclude that simple measures of habitat quality will often be poor surrogates for population persistence, but that spatially explicit population models can help inform the development of better indices.     

Monitoring the urban green spaces and landscape fragmentation using remote sensing: a case study in Osmaniye,Turkey

Urban green spaces play a significant role in management of physical activity, psychological well-being, and public health of urban residents. With the expansion of urban areas in Turkey during the past decades, urban green spaces have been fragmented and dispersed causing impairment and environmental degradation. The purpose of this study is to model urban green space distribution by focusing on the landscape fragmentation in city of Osmaniye using remote sensing and geographic information system technology. Normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) and urban landscape ratio (ULR) were used to assess the proximity and spatial arrangement of urban green spaces within the neighbor landscapes to quantify the urban land use effect. The geospatial analysis results showed that increase in total built-up area and population has significantly decreased the urban green space cover because of high levels of landscape fragmentation in urban city center. Also, due to high levels of landscape fragmentation, approximately 45% of the Osmaniye city is estimated to become urbanized by 2030. This study demonstrated the benefits of directional vegetation index application with geospatial analyses in characterizing the environmental quality for planning and management of urban green spaces. This approach could be used for determining the future urban land development scenarios correlating with regional planning procedures.     

Assessment of Climate Change Effects on Canada's National Park System

To estimate the magnitude of climate change anticipated forCanada's 38 National Parks (NPs) and Park Reserves, seasonaltemperature and precipitation scenarios were constructed for 2050and 2090 using the Canadian Centre for Climate Modelling andAnalysis (CCCma) coupled model (CGCM1). For each park, we assessed impacts on physical systems, species, ecosystems andpeople. Important, widespread changes relate to marine andfreshwater hydrology, glacial balance, waning permafrost, increased natural disturbance, shorter ice season, northern andupward altitudinal species and biome shifts, and changed visitation patterns. Other changes are regional (e.g., combinedEast coast subsidence and sea level rise increase coastal erosionand deposition, whereas, on the Pacific coast, tectonic upliftnegates sea level rise). Further predictions concern individualparks (e.g., Unique fens of Bruce Peninsular NP will migratelakewards with lowered water levels, but structural regulation of Lake Huron for navigation and power generation would destroythe fens). Knowledge gaps are the most important findings. Forexample: we could not form conclusions about glacial massbalance, or its effects on rivers and fjords. Likewise, for theEast Coast Labrador Current we could neither estimate temperature and salinity effects of extra iceberg formation, nor the further effects on marine food chains, and breeding park seabirds. We recommend 1) Research on specific large knowledge gaps; 2) Climate change information exchange with protected area agencies in other northern countries; and 3) incorporating climate uncertainty into park plans and management. We discuss options for a new park management philosophy in the face of massive change and uncertainty.     

Quantification of forest fragmentation in pre- and post-establishment periods,inside and around Apuseni Natural Park,Romania

Protected areas (PAs) represent real cornerstones in the conservation of biodiversity and natural habitats. Their protection must be a priority today for each society. The enhanced socio-economic requirements increase the pressure upon protected areas, and the effect can result in a reduction of biodiversity. The aim of this study is to quantify forest fragmentation in the pre- (1986–2002) and post-establishment (2002–2016) periods, inside and around (buffer 1, buffer 2 and buffer 3) Apuseni Natural Park (ANP), Romania, using a series of classified Landsat satellite images and six landscape metrics. The results show that forest fragmentation occurred both in the pre- and post-establishment periods, inside and around ANP. Inside the park, the deforestation rate increased four times, from 0.03% year^?1 in the pre-establishment period to 0.14% year^?1 in the post-establishment period. Around the park, the deforestation rate decreased from 0.31% year^?1 in the pre-establishment period (buffer 1) to 0.10% year^?1 in the post-establishment period (buffer 1). Forest fragmentation resulted in an increase in the patch density and edge density, and a decrease in the total core area and mean patch size leading to isolation of patches and fragmentation of landscape, especially in ANP in the post-establishment period. Several measures can be taken in order to stop forest fragmentation inside and around ANP, including the education of buffer-zone communities, reforestation, enforcement of park regulations, and forest legislation.     

Designing a graph-based approach to landscape ecological assessment of linear infrastructures

The development of major linear infrastructures contributes to landscape fragmentation and impacts natural habitats and biodiversity in various ways. To anticipate and minimize such impacts, landscape planning needs to be capable of effective strategic environmental assessment (SEA) and of supporting environmental impact assessment (EIA) decisions. To this end, species distribution models (SDMs) are an effective way of making predictive maps of the presence of a given species. In this paper, we propose to combine SDMs and graph-based representation of landscape networks to integrate the potential long-distance effect of infrastructures on species distribution. A diachronic approach, comparing distribution before and after the linear infrastructure is constructed, leads to the design of a species distribution assessment (SDA), taking into account population isolation. The SDA makes it possible (1) to estimate the local variation in probability of presence and (2) to characterize the impact of the infrastructure in terms of global variation in presence and of distance of disturbance. The method is illustrated by assessing the impact of the construction of a high-speed railway line on the distribution of several virtual species in Franche-Comté (France). The study shows the capacity of the SDA to characterize the impact of a linear infrastructure either as a research concern or as a spatial planning challenge. SDAs could be helpful in deciding among several scenarios for linear infrastructure routes or for the location of mitigation measures.     

Use of object-oriented classification and fragmentation analysis (1985�C2008) to identify important areas for conservation in Cockpit Country, Jamaica

Forest fragmentation is one of the most important threats to global biodiversity, particularly in tropical developing countries. Identifying priority areas for conservation within these forests is essential to their effective management. However, this requires current, accurate environmental information that is often lacking in developing countries. The Cockpit Country, Jamaica, contains forests of international importance in terms of levels of endemism and overall diversity. These forests are under severe threat from the prospect of bauxite mining and other anthropogenic disturbances. In the absence of adequate, up-to-date ecological information, we used satellite remote sensing data and fragmentation analysis to identify interior forested areas that have experienced little or no change as priority conservation sites. We classified Landsat images from 1985, 1989, 1995, 2002, and 2008, using an object-oriented method, which allowed for the inclusion of roads. We conducted our fragmentation analysis using metrics to quantify changes in forest patch number, area, shape, and aggregation. Deforestation and fragmentation fluctuated within the 23-year period but were mostly confined to the periphery of the forest, close to roads and access trails. An area of core forest that remained intact over the period of study was identified within the largest forest patch, most of which was located within the boundaries of a forest reserve and included the last remaining patches of closed-broadleaf forest. These areas should be given highest priority for conservation, as they constitute important refuges for endemic or threatened biodiversity. Minimizing and controlling access will be important in maintaining this core.     

Characterizing the forest fragmentation of Canada’s national parks

Characterizing the amount and configuration of forests can provide insights into habitat quality, biodiversity, and land use. The establishment of protected areas can be a mechanism for maintaining large, contiguous areas of forests, and the loss and fragmentation of forest habitat is a potential threat to Canada’s national park system. Using the Earth Observation for Sustainable Development of Forests (EOSD) land cover product (EOSD LC 2000), we characterize the circa 2000 forest patterns in 26 of Canada’s national parks and compare these to forest patterns in the ecological units surrounding these parks, referred to as the greater park ecosystem (GPE). Five landscape pattern metrics were analyzed: number of forest patches, mean forest patch size (hectare), standard deviation of forest patch size (hectare), mean forest patch perimeter-to-area ratio (meters per hectare), and edge density of forest patches (meters per hectare). An assumption is often made that forests within park boundaries are less fragmented than the surrounding GPE, as indicated by fewer forest patches, a larger mean forest patch size, less variability in forest patch size, a lower perimeter-to-area ratio, and lower forest edge density. Of the 26 national parks we analyzed, 58% had significantly fewer patches, 46% had a significantly larger mean forest patch size (23% were not significantly different), and 46% had a significantly smaller standard deviation of forest patch size (31% were not significantly different), relative to their GPEs. For forest patch perimeter-to-area ratio and forest edge density, equal proportions of parks had values that were significantly larger or smaller than their respective GPEs and no clear trend emerged. In summary, all the national parks we analyzed, with the exception of the Georgian Bay Islands, were found to be significantly different from their corresponding GPE for at least one of the five metrics assessed, and 50% of the 26 parks were significantly different from their respective GPEs for all of the metrics assessed. The EOSD LC 2000 provides a heretofore unavailable dataset for characterizing broad trends in forest fragmentation in Canada’s national parks and in their surrounding GPEs. The interpretation of forest fragmentation metrics must be guided by the underlying land cover context, as many forested ecosystems in Canada are naturally fragmented due to wetlands and topography. Furthermore, interpretation must also consider the management context, as some parks are designed to preserve fragmented habitats. An analysis of forest pattern such as that described herein provides a baseline, from which changes in fragmentation patterns over time could be monitored, enabled by earth observation data.     

Evaluation of potential habitat with an integrated analysis of a spatial conservation strategy for David's deer, Elaphurus davidians

How to assess the potential habitat integrating landscape dynamics and population research, and how to reintroduce animals to potential habitats in environments highly human disturbed are still questions to be answered in conservation biology. According to behavioral research on Elaphurus davidians, we have developed a suitability index and a risk index to evaluate the potential habitats for the deer. With these indices, we conducted two transect assessments to evaluate the gradient change of the target region. Then, taking rivers as border lines, we tabulated the forest areas, high grassland area and total area and then compared the forest and high grassland area in each subregion. Furthermore, we computed the land use transfer matrix for the whole Yancheng coast during 1987-2000. We also computed human modified index (HMI) in six subregions. Lastly with a geographical information system support we obtained the spatial distribution of the indices and evaluation of the whole potential habitats from a neighborhood analysis. The transect assessment showed that the suitability of the coastal area was higher than that of the inland area for the deer, while the southern area was higher than the northern. Landscape metrics and HMI analysis showed that different landscape patterns and different anthropogenic disturbance existed within the region, and the increasing human disturbance was the key factor causing the pattern dynamics. The evaluation of potential habitats showed that there was an estimated carrying capacity of no more than 10,000 for David's deer reintroduction into the natural area. Also the reintroduction strategy was discussed. This integrated approach linked the population research and the landscape metrics, and the dataset with different scale; thus, it is an approach likely to be useful for the protection of other large animal in a landscape highly disturbed by humans.     

Lead forms in urban turfgrass and forest soils as related to organic matter content and pH

Identification of reference streams and human disturbance gradients are crucial steps in assessing the effects of human disturbances on stream health. We describe a process for identifying reference stream reaches and assessing disturbance gradients using readily available, geo-referenced stream and human disturbance databases. We demonstrate the utility of this process by applying it to wadeable streams in Michigan, USA, and use it to identify which human disturbances have the greatest impact on streams. Approximately 38% of cold-water and 16% of warm-water streams in Michigan were identified as being in least-disturbed condition. Conversely, approximately 3% of cold-water and 4% of warm-water streams were moderately to severely disturbed by landscape human disturbances. Anthropogenic disturbances that had the greatest impact on moderately to severely disturbed streams were nutrient loading and percent urban land use within network watersheds. Our process for assessing stream health represents a significant advantage over other routinely used methods. It uses inter-confluence stream reaches as an assessment unit, permits the evaluation of stream health across large regions, and yields an overall disturbance index that is a weighted sum of multiple disturbance factors. The robustness of our approach is linked to the scale of disturbances that affect a stream; it will be less robust for identifying less degraded or reference streams with localized human disturbances. With improved availability of high-resolution disturbance datasets, this approach will provide a more complete picture of reference stream reaches and factors contributing to degradation of stream health.     

Modeling the Hydroclimatic Disturbance of Soil Landscapes in the Southern Canadian Plains: The Problems of Scale and Place

The sensitivity of soil landscapes to climatic variability andhydroclimatic events can be expressed as a landscape change safety factor, the ratio of potential disturbance to resistance to change. The use of a geographic information system (GIS) enables the spatially-explicit modeling of landscape sensitivity, but also raises the risk of violating the characteristic scales of disturbance and resistance, because the GIS technically simplifies the extrapolation of models, and associated concepts, to landscapes and scales notrepresented by the digital data base. Embedding landscape sensitivity into hierarchy theory, the formal analysis of the hierarchical structure of complex systems, provides a conceptual framework for the transfer of models and variablesamong landscape scales. In the subhumid southern Canadian plains, major hydroclimatic events (strong winds, intense rain,rapid snow melt) cause much of the physical disturbance of soillandscapes and terrestrial ecosystems. Prolonged dry or wet weather influences the resistance of soil and vegetation to these events. The potential disturbance of soil landscapes therefore can be derived from the probabilities of extreme events and seasonal conditions, as recorded in instrumental and proxy climate records. This time series analysis can belinked to the modeling of landscape sensitivity by establishingthe probabilities of hydroclimatic events and climatic conditions which may exceed or lower the resistance of individual soil landscapes.     

平顶山地区景观格局动态特征及驱动力分析

以平顶山地区为研究对象,利用平顶山地区1992年Landsat-TM影像和2006年中巴资源卫星遥感影像,运用景观生态学原理,借助遥感和GIS技术,选取景观多样性、景观优势度、景观均匀度、景观破碎度等指标指数进行分析,揭示平顶山地区近14 a来城市景观格局演变及其驱动力。研究结果表明:交通用地、工矿及居民点和耕地用地显著增加,林地、水域显著减少;除工矿及居民点外,该地区各类型斑块数量均有增加,其中林地增加最为显著;交通用地、工矿及居民点的破碎度降低,水域、林地、耕地的景观类型破碎度增高;耕地的分维数、形状指数呈下降趋势,而林地的分维数和形状指数呈上升趋势;平顶山地区景观多样性和均匀度都呈下降趋势,而优势度和破碎度增加;景观格局变化受人为因素影响较大,人口增加、经济发展、城镇化和工业发展是平顶山地区景观格局演变的主要驱动力。     

A Spatial Model to Estimate Habitat Fragmentation and Its Consequences on Long-Term Persistence of Animal Populations

The increasing use of the landscape by humans has led to important diminutions of natural surfaces. The remaining patches of wild habitat are small and isolated from each other among a matrix of inhospitable land-uses. This habitat fragmentation, by disabling population movements and stopping their spread to new habitats, is a major threat to the survival of numerous plant and animal species. We developed a general model, adaptable for specific species, capable of identifying suitable habitat patches within fragmented landscapes and investigating the capacity of populations to move between these patches. This approach combines GIS analysis of a landscape, with spatial dynamic modeling. Suitable habitat is identified using a threshold area to perimeter ratio. Potential movement pathways of species between habitat patches are modeled using a cellular automaton. Habitat connectivity is estimated by overlaying habitat patches with movement pathways. The maximum potential population is calculated within and between connected habitat patches and potential risk of inbreeding within meta-populations is considered. The model was tested on a sample map and applied to scenario maps of predicted land-use change in the Peoria Tri-county region (IL). It (1) showed area of natural area alone was insufficient to estimate the consequences on animal populations; (2) underscored the necessity to use approaches investigating the effect of land-use change spatially through the landscape and the importance of considering species-specific life history characteristics; and (3) highlighted the model's potential utility as an indicator of species likelihood to be affected negatively by land-use scenarios and therefore requiring detailed investigation.     

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...     

Assessing post-industrial land cover change at the Pine Point Mine,NWT, Canada using multi-temporal Landsat analysis and landscape metrics

This study investigates land cover change near the abandoned Pine Point Mine in Canada’s Northwest Territories. Industrial mineral development transforms local environments, and the effects of such disturbances are often long-lasting, particularly in subarctic, boreal environments where vegetation conversion can take decades. Located in the Boreal Plains Ecozone, the Pine Point Mine was an extensive open pit operation that underwent little reclamation when it shut down in 1988. We apply remote sensing and landscape ecology methods to quantify land cover change in the 20 years following the mine’s closure. Using a time series of near-anniversary Landsat images, we performed a supervised classification to differentiate seven land cover classes. We used raster algebra and landscape metrics to track changes in land cover composition and configuration in the 20 years since the mine shut down. We compared our results with a site in Wood Buffalo National Park that was never subjected to extensive anthropogenic disturbance. This space-for-time substitution provided an analog for how the ecosystem in the Pine Point region might have developed in the absence of industrial mineral development. We found that the dense conifer class was dominant in the park and exhibited larger and more contiguous patches than at the mine site. Bare land at the mine site showed little conversion through time. While the combination of raster algebra and landscape metrics allowed us to track broad changes in land cover composition and configuration, improved access to affordable, high-resolution imagery is necessary to effectively monitor land cover dynamics at abandoned mines.     

Reserve Design to Maximize Species Persistence

We develop a reserve design strategy to maximize the probability of species persistence predicted by a stochastic, individual-based, metapopulation model. Because the population model does not fit exact optimization procedures, our strategy involves deriving promising solutions from theory, obtaining promising solutions from a simulation optimization heuristic, and determining the best of the promising solutions using a multiple-comparison statistical test. We use the strategy to address a problem of allocating limited resources to new and existing reserves. The best reserve design depends on emigration, dispersal mortality, and probabilities of movement between reserves. When movement probabilities are symmetric, the best design is to expand a subset of reserves to equal size to exhaust the habitat budget. When movement probabilities are not symmetric, the best design does not expand reserves to equal size and is strongly affected by movement probabilities and emigration rates. We use commercial simulation software to obtain our results.     

Framework for assessing impacts of pile-driving noise from offshore wind farm construction on a harbour seal population

Offshore wind farm developments may impact protected marine mammal populations, requiring appropriate assessment under the EU Habitats Directive. We describe a framework developed to assess population level impacts of disturbance from piling noise on a protected harbour seal population in the vicinity of proposed wind farm developments in NE Scotland. Spatial patterns of seal distribution and received noise levels are integrated with available data on the potential impacts of noise to predict how many individuals are displaced or experience auditory injury. Expert judgement is used to link these impacts to changes in vital rates and applied to population models that compare population changes under baseline and construction scenarios over a 25 year period. We use published data and hypothetical piling scenarios to illustrate how the assessment framework has been used to support environmental assessments, explore the sensitivity of the framework to key assumptions, and discuss its potential application to other populations of marine mammals.     

Directional Connectivity of Wolf (Canis lupus) Populations in Northwest Spain and Anthropogenic Effects on Dispersal Patterns

In view of the extensive information available on wolf ecology and habitat suitability, and on the fragmentation of wolf populations by motorways and similar infrastructures, a key factor in their conservation, the aim of the present study was to model the directional connectivity of wolf populations in the region of Galicia in northwest Spain, and to quantify anthropogenic effects on wolf dispersal patterns. To this end, we map the probability of wolf movement by means of known relationships between wolf movement and anthropogenic, vegetation and topographic factors. The relative importance of each factor was quantified by sensitivity analyses. Three types of cost surface were constructed: (a) isotropic surfaces, (b) anisotropic cost surfaces taking into account terrain slope effects in the movement, and (c) surfaces obtained by combining the isotropic and anisotropic surfaces. The results obtained by approaches (a) and (c) indicate that one of the region’s motorways (the AP-9) probably acts as a significant barrier to wolf movement, possibly isolating two subpopulations, while the remaining motorways probably do not have major effects on dispersal. Estimation of lowest-cost routes for wolf displacement allowed identification of areas critical for connectivity, in which it would be of interest to perform detailed studies with more precise input data on motorway course and the location of drainage channels and underpasses, etc. (these being the factors identified by sensitivity analysis to be those with the most marked effects on the cost surfaces). The visualization of connectivity enabled by this approach will allow wolf management and conservation efforts to be focused on critical areas: such efforts might include measures aimed to encourage wolf dispersal through areas in which conflict with human activity is minimized, thus contributing positively to the management of a socially conflictive species. Finally, evaluation of the different cost surfaces suggests that it would be of interest to introduce two modifications to the anisotropic algorithm, to allow the user to weigh the importance of the different input factors, and to allow the inclusion of more than one anisotropic factor in the model.     

Natural and anthropogenic influences on a red-crowned crane habitat in the Yellow River Delta Natural Reserve, 1992–2008

This study aims to assess the relative importance of natural and anthropogenic variables on the change of the red-crowned crane habitat in the Yellow River Nature Reserve, East China using multitempopral remote sensing and geographic information system. Satellite images were used to detect the change in potential crane habitat, from which suitable crane habitat was determined by excluding fragmented habitat. In this study, a principal component analysis (PCA) with seven variables (channel flow, rainfall, temperature, sediment discharge, number of oil wells, total length of roads, and area of settlements) and linear regression analyses of potential and suitable habitat against the retained principal components were applied to explore the influences of natural and anthropogenic factors on the change of the red-crowned crane habitat. The experimental results indicate that suitable habitat decreased by 5,935 ha despite an increase of 1,409 ha in potential habitat from 1992 to 2008. The area of crane habitat changed caused by natural drivers such as progressive succession, retrogressive succession, and physical fragmentation is almost the same as that caused by anthropogenic forces such as land use change and behavioral fragmentation. The PCA and regression analyses revealed that natural factors (e.g., channel flow, rainfall, temperature, and sediment discharge) play an important role in the crane potential habitat change and human disturbances (e.g., oil wells, roads, and settlements) jointly explain 51.8 % of the variations in suitable habitat area, higher than 48.2 % contributed by natural factors. Thus, it is vital to reduce anthropogenic influences within the reserve in order to reverse the decline in the suitable crane habitat.