Integrating Landscape Analysis and Planning: A Multi-Scale Approach for Oriented Management of Tourist Recreation

Tourism and landscape are interdependent concepts. Nature- and culture-based tourism are now quite well developed activities and can constitute an excellent way of exploiting the natural resources of certain areas, and should therefore be considered as key objectives in landscape planning and management in a growing number of countries. All of this calls for careful evaluation of the effects of tourism on the territory. This article focuses on an integrated spatial method for landscape analysis aimed at quantifying the relationship between preferences of visitors and landscape features. The spatial expression of the model relating types of leisure and recreational preferences to the potential capacity of the landscape to meet them involves a set of maps showing degrees of potential visitor satisfaction. The method constitutes a useful tool for the design of tourism planning and management strategies, with landscape conservation as a reference.     

Assessment of Reclaimed Municipal Wastewater Application on Rice Cultivation

Field research was carried out to assess the effects of the application of reclaimed municipal wastewater on rice cultivation in Thessaloniki, Greece during a 2-year period (1999–2000). Effects on production cost, soil composition, and health risk were examined. A randomized complete block design was used for the paddy field with three treatments and four replicates. The treatments were (1) river irrigation water with N–P fertilization, (2) reclaimed wastewater irrigation with surface N fertilization, and (3) reclaimed wastewater irrigation without fertilization. The results showed that the total production cost decreased 8.8% and 11.9% by applying the second and third treatments, respectively, compared to the first treatment, without significant differences in the agronomic and rice quality traits. Soil composition showed discrepancies between the 2 years and the three treatments, whereas the pathogens of the reclaimed wastewater and rice tissues posed a low human risk when taking the needed precautions.     

Brominated flame retardants and organochlorines in the European environment using great tit eggs as a biomonitoring tool

Large-scale studies are essential to assess the emission patterns and spatial distribution of organohalogenated pollutants (OHPs) in the environment. Bird eggs have several advantages compared to other environmental media which have previously been used to map the distribution of OHPs. In this study, large-scale geographical variation in the occurrence of OHPs, such as polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) and organochlorine pesticides (OCPs), was investigated throughout Europe using eggs of a terrestrial residential passerine species, the great tit (Parus major). Great tit eggs from 22 sampling sites, involving urban, rural and remote areas, in 14 European countries were collected and analysed (5-8 eggs per sampling site). The environmentally most important congeners/compounds of the analysed pollutants were detectable in all sampling locations. For PCBs, PBDEs and OCPs, no clear geographical contamination pattern was found. Sum PCB levels ranged from 143 ng/g lipid weight (lw) to 3660 ng/g lw. As expected, PCB concentrations were significantly higher in the sampled urban compared to the remote locations. However, the urban locations did not show significantly higher concentrations compared to the rural locations. Sum PBDEs ranged from 4.0 ng/g lw to 136 ng/g lw. PBDEs were significantly higher in the urbanized sampling locations compared to the other locations. The significant, positive correlation between PCB and PBDE concentrations suggests similar spatial exposure and/or mechanisms of accumulation. Significantly higher levels of OCPs (sum OCPs ranging from 191 ng/g lw to 7830 ng/g lw) were detected in rural sampling locations. Contamination profiles of PCBs, PBDEs and OCPs differed also among the sampling locations, which may be due to local usage and contamination sources. The higher variance among sampling locations for the PCBs and OCPs, suggests that local contamination sources are more important for the PCBs and OCPs compared to the PBDEs. To our knowledge, this is the first study in which bird eggs were used as a monitoring tool for OHPs on such a large geographical scale.     

Effects of environmental illiteracy and environmental awareness among middle school students on environmental behavior

This study proposes and employs a structural model to examine the effects of environmental literacy, environmental awareness, environmental attitudes, and environmental behavior among middle school students in Eski?ehir on their purchase of environmentally friendly products. In the proposed structural model, environmental illiteracy and environmental awareness were the exogenous latent variables, while pro-environmental attitude, pro-environmental behavior, and the purchase of environmentally friendly products were the endogenous latent variables. The latent variable of environmental illiteracy did not have a statistically significant effect on environmental attitudes and purchase of environmentally friendly products, whereas environmental awareness had a positive effect on pro-environmental attitudes and the purchase of environmentally friendly products. These findings indicate that students with environmental awareness also develop positive attitudes toward the environment, and the presence of a positive attitude toward the environment leads them to display pro-environmental behaviors and adopt a positive attitude toward environmentally friendly products.     

Investigating soils retention ratios and modelling geochemical factors affecting heavy metals retention in soils in a tropical urban watershed

This study aimed at investigating the retention of Pb and Cd in soils and the geochemical factors influencing the adsorption of these pollutants. Soil samples were air-dried and ground to pass through a 2-mm sieve, and different soil extracts were prepared for chemical analysis (organic matter, cation exchange capacity and pH). Total Pb and Cd were extracted with diacid using digestion method and determined by atomic adsorption spectrophotometer (AAS) after filtration. Results revealed that the heavy metals retention ratio (RR) of the Rhodic ferralsol, Xanthic ferralsol and Mollic gleysol (2) were very high for Cd (>80 %) and was relatively low (generally < 60 %) for Pb. In contrast, RRs for the Plinthic gleysol and the Mollic gleysol (1) were relatively low (<60 %), regardless of the heavy metal concerned. Multiple regression equations indicated for Pb and Cd concentrations different linear relationships over simple linear regression, when pH, organic matter, clay percentage and cation exchange capacity (CEC) were used as independent variables. Results indicate that organic matter exerts major influences on the retention of Pb and Cd in soils, while CEC, clay content and pH have a minor influence in this process in the Ntem watershed. From these observations, the application of soil organic matter could be a solution in protecting shallow aquifers from heavy metal pollution and thus insuring that they are not a hazard to public health.     

2014, The “year without a summer” in Italy: news media coverage and implications for the climate change debate

In 2014, there was virtually no summer in northern and central-southern Italy. Storm after storm battered the peninsula, triggering floods and landslides from Veneto to Puglia. We studied the coverage of “the year without a summer” in Italy by analyzing the content of 171 news articles from two influential online newspapers. Our software-based analysis enabled us to observe that the two newspapers hardly ever mentioned climate change in their coverage of the weather anomaly that affected Italy in the summer of 2014. This type of coverage is in line with climate science, according to which there is no evidence of a climate change-related influence on summer precipitation patterns in Southern Europe—whereas such influence has been documented for northern Europe. We compared our results with a recent paper, which documented that the same online dailies chose to represent the particularly hot summer of 2012 in Italy as a direct consequence of climate change. We corroborated this comparison also on the basis of a preliminary analysis we performed on the media coverage of the exceptionally hot and arid summer of 2015 in Italy.     

The impacts of the waterfront development in Iskandar Malaysia

The increasing number of waterfront projects shows that the concept of waterfront development has contributed to the advancement of the Malaysian construction industry. This study seeks to assess the impacts of the implementation of waterfront development in Iskandar Malaysia eliciting the perceived relative importance of these impacts. A comprehensive literature review has been conducted to collate the potential impacts of the waterfront development. A total of 363 sets of questionnaires were distributed to the contractors and developers registered under G7 category of the Construction Industry Development Board in Malaysia. Results show that the most significant influence of the waterfront development is related to economic benefits, while environmental impacts are not considered as a priority for this category of stakeholders. In addition, this study also indicates that the implementation of the waterfront projects has generated numerous job opportunities within the developed region. Moreover, exchanging knowledge in the planning and managing of the waterfront development is imperative to the development of the waterfront projects. Nevertheless, the shortcomings of these developments, such as the negative environmental impact on natural beaches and the coastline (i.e. pollution) as well as human-related issues (i.e. excessive human settlement), should not be taken lightly. This research confirms that the reclamation of land for waterfront development is closely correlated with the destruction of these natural structures.     

Dynamics of leaf litter and soil respiration in a complex multistrata agroforestry system,Pernambuco, Brazil

High litter inputs in agroforestry systems contribute to soil microbial activity, soil fertility and productivity. Considering that the cycling of organic matter is essential to the maintenance of physical–chemical and microbiological properties of the soil, the aims of this work were to estimate the production, accumulation and decomposition of litter, and assess soil microbial respiration in a complex multistrata agroforestry system located in the north-east of Brazil. This agroforestry system has three strata formed by forest and fruit trees and species of multiple uses. During 3 years (2011–2013), leaf litter was sampled monthly to account for litterfall and quarterly to account for litter accumulation. The rates of litter decomposition were estimated using the ratio produced-to-accumulated litter, and the correlation between litter fall and rainfall was calculated. Precipitation data were provided by the water and climate agency of Pernambuco (APAC). Soil samples (0–15 cm) were also taken quarterly, simultaneously with the litter accumulation samples, and soil microbial respiration was assessed using the capture, by a KOH solution, of the evolved CO₂. The annual production of leaf litter was stable in the 3 years of study in this agroforestry system, and the monthly input of litter to the soil was influenced by rainfall, being higher in the dry seasons. The accumulated litter on the ground was constant, as was microbial activity (respiration) through time. The estimated litter decomposition rates were 1.49 (first year), 1.33 (second year) and 1.42 (third year), being considered rapid rates of decomposition. This guarantees (to the farmer) that this system is capable of maintaining soil fertility and eliminates the need for chemical fertilizers.     

Entry points for climate-informed planning for the water resources and agriculture sectors in Cambodia

Incorporating climate change concerns into national development planning allows adaptation to happen in harmony with the sustainable development of a country. Cambodia has received international support to enable climate change-resilient development; “mainstreaming climate change” is one of the key recent strategies. This article aims to identify entry points for integrating climate change concerns into national development planning, especially for the water resources and agriculture sectors. The study uses institutional ethnography research methods with informants drawn from government organisations, local academic institutions, and development partners, together with content analysis of key policy documents. It was found that the Cambodian national planning process restricts the involvement of other actors such as researchers, civil society, and private sector; yet flexible, in that it provides opportunities for the inclusion of climate change and other related concerns. The study identified specific entry points in key policy documents, such as the National Strategic Development Plans, and ministries’ plans. Other entry points were identified in the development planning process, for example, in the process of development departments and ministries’ plans, and actors such as department planners, and departments of planning of line ministries. Climate-informed planning is now plausible; more significant integration of concerns with future climate change, however, will require more commitment and stronger connections among national planning stakeholders, adaptation actors, and research communities.     

Scenario-based urban growth allocation in a rapidly developing area: a modeling approach for sustainability analysis of an urban-coastal coupled system

Being located in an urban-coastal coupled system, the Hashtpar City is one of the most attractive areas for urban construction, tourism, agricultural activities and environmental protection in northern Iran. To resolve the issues between land developers and environmental conservation agencies, we conducted a scenario-based urban growth allocation procedure through the SLEUTH model. The scenarios consisted of ‘business as usual’, ‘managed urban growth’ and ‘environmentally sound growth’ that were introduced by modification of model parameters and exclusion layer. The resultant urban growth arrangements were compared for composition and configuration attributes of landscape patterns. According to the results, the pattern of urbanized lands under managed urban growth option demonstrated better connectivity and compactness of urban patches, while the two other scenarios generated a highly fragmented pattern. The managed urban growth can be considered as a compromised solution between other scenarios since it simultaneously takes into accounts both developers and environment protectors points’ of views. On this basis, a combination of centralized and decentralized urban land use planning is a recommended strategy for our urban-coastal environment to fulfill the purposes of a sustainable development process. The findings of the present article suggest that further expansion of the major urban core in the targeted area should be prohibited since it can lead to an urban patch with considerable physical size and noticeable ecological footprint.