Socioeconomic Dimensions of Changes in the Agricultural Landscape of the Mediterranean Basin: A Case Study of the Abandonment of Cultivation Terraces on Nisyros Island,Greece

Agricultural landscapes illustrate the impact of human actions on physical settings, and differential human pressures cause these landscapes to change with time. Our study explored changes in the terraced landscapes of Nisyros Island, Greece, focusing on the socioeconomic aspects during two time periods using field data, cadastral research, local documents, and published literature, as well as surveys of the islanders. Population increases during the late 19^th to early 20^th centuries marked a significant escalation of terrace and dry stone wall construction, which facilitated cultivation on 58.4% of the island. By the mid-20^th century, the economic collapse of agricultural activities and consequent emigration caused the abandonment of cultivated land and traditional management practices, dramatically reducing farm and field numbers. Terrace abandonment continued in recent decades, with increased livestock grazing becoming the main land management tool; as a result, both farm and pasture sizes increased. Neglect and changing land use has led to deterioration and destruction of many terraces on the island. We discuss the socioeconomic and political backgrounds responsible for the land-use change before World War II (annexation of Nisyros Island by the Ottoman Empire, Italy, and Greece; overseas migration opportunities; and world transportation changes) and after the war (social changes in peasant societies; worldwide changes in agricultural production practices). The adverse landscape changes documented for Nisyros Island appear to be inevitable for modern Mediterranean rural societies, including those on other islands in this region. The island’s unique terraced landscapes may qualify Nisyros to become an archive or repository of old agricultural management techniques to be used by future generations and a living resource for sustainable management.     

Incentives for low-input land-use types and their influence on the attractiveness of landscapes

Changes in agricultural policy have traceable effects on landscape aesthetics. For the catchment area of Lake Greifensee, an economic land-use model predicted land-use changes caused by agricultural policy. Three scenarios implementing different direct payment schemes show that land-use intensity will decrease by 2011 compared with the ‘reference status’ 2000.The output of the economic land-use model is explicit in space. It was assessed by the ‘naturalness’ perception factor of the method proposed by Hoisl et al. [1989. Landschaftsästhetik in der Flurbereinigung. Materialien zur Flurbereinigung—Heft 17. Bayerisches Staatsministerium für Ernährung, Landwirtschaft und Forsten, München] with regard to landscape aesthetics. Even though lower land-use intensity is generally predicted by 2011, the values of the ‘naturalness’ perception factor do not significantly improve if the payment scheme remains unchanged, or if the payment scheme is amended by incentives for specific location of the ecological compensation areas (ECAs). A significant reduction in the values of the ‘naturalness’ perception factor was found when subsidies for ECA's were cancelled. This leads us to the conclusion that in order to keep Swiss landscapes as attractive as they are at present, policy must sustain incentives for low-intensity land-use types.     

An examination of ecological risk assessment and management practices

Ecological risk assessment has grown and evolved since the 1980s, as have new challenges (e.g. global climate change, loss of habitat and biodiversity and the effects of multiple anthropogenic chemicals on ecological systems) that need to be factored into the risk assessment processes. There is also an on-going shift from evaluating adverse health impacts on particular, often small scale, environments to undertaking more complex ecological assessments of whole populations and communities across ecologically meaningful landscapes. These trends are generating an increased demand for much more complex ecological assessments, making it increasingly clear that to achieve its potential as a management tool, methods must be developed to apply ecological risk assessment to larger and more complex scales. This paper reviews the development of the ecological risk assessment paradigm in the United States, identifies ways it is being applied and adapted in other countries, explores future research needs and practice improvements, and examines current issues that need to be considered in taking forward the scientific development of ecological risk assessment as a useful environmental management tool.     

Smaller farm size and ruminant animals are associated with increased supply of non-provisioning ecosystem services

To balance trade-offs between livestock’s negative environmental impacts and their positive contributions (e.g. maintaining semi-natural grasslands, varied agricultural landscapes and crop rotations), a better understanding is needed of how the supply of ecosystem services differs across farms. We analysed a suite of indicators for non-provisioning ecosystem services on a large subset of Swedish farms (71% of farms, covering 82% of agricultural land) and related these to farm type, farm size and livestock density. The analysed indicators exhibited clear geographical patterns with hotspots especially in less productive regions. Controlling for this spatial variation we still found that small-scale and ruminant farms were associated with more varied landscapes, small-scale habitats, semi-natural grasslands and better crop sequences compared to nearby farms specialised in crop production, while farms specialising in monogastric livestock were associated with less varied landscapes and inferior crop sequences. Results for cultural ecosystem services indicated that farms with more semi-natural grassland were associated with more visitors and more likely located within designated recreation or nature conservation areas.Supplementary InformationThe online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s13280-022-01726-y.     

基于LUCC的露天矿区景观格局研究一以黑岱沟露天煤矿为例

露天矿区开发活动主要是在景观层次上进行,其直接导致土地利用／覆被变化（LandUse／Cover Change,LUCC）。本文以黑岱沟大型露天煤矿1987年、1990年、2000年及2010年4期遥感影像的土地利用数据为基础,基于GIS空间分析功能,以破碎度、分离度和优势度景观格局指数和景观类型脆弱度为指标,分析景观格局现状。研究显示：开发初期,耕地和草地虽有所减少,但所占面积保持在80％以上;生态恢复开始后,土地类型向林地和草地转移的面积逐渐增多。景观水平上分析显示,景观上破碎化程度加大,煤矿建设用地斑块面积逐年增大。从景观指数看,耕地、草地、未利用地的破碎度、分离度指数变化呈上升或不稳定状态,建设用地的破碎度和分离度指数有所减小;优势景观类型有所改变,建设用地对于区域景观的控制作用逐渐加强。     

基于干扰梯度的钦江流域底栖动物完整性指数候选参数筛选

候选参数的科学筛选是构建底栖动物完整性指数的关键步骤.在缺乏足够参照样点的情况下,生物参数与环境梯度的响应关系是重要依据.以广西钦江流域冬季枯水期22个样点的环境和底栖动物数据为例,应用主成分分析法提取研究流域的环境梯度,进而采用多重回归分析确定对环境干扰敏感且预测性强的构成参数.相关性分析表明,38个候选参数中有12个参数与其他参数间的信息冗余性很高(|r|>0.80,P<0.05);余下的26个生物参数与环境梯度主成分Ⅰ(PCⅠ)、主成分Ⅱ(PCⅡ)和栖境质量参数的多重回归分析表明,有13个参数能和环境胁迫较好地响应(P<0.05).参考各指数的代表性和实用性,提出了适于构建该区域底栖动物完整性指数的8个生物参数:科级丰度、蜉蝣目丰度、鞘翅目丰度,EPT多度、优势种百分比,捕食者百分比,属级香农多样性指数和BI指数.本研究为类似情况下底栖动物完整性指数的构建提供了一个较好的解决途径.     

景观多样性及其保护对策

景观多样性是生物多样性的重要组成，具有十分重要的自然历史，生态，社会和文化价值。人类活动的强烈干扰，对景观多样性产生了严重的威胁，一些有较高价值的景观正濒于退化，消失，保护景观多样性已成为环境保护的紧迫任务。     

The ethics of Google Earth: crossing thresholds from spatial data to landscape visualisation

‘Virtual globe’ software systems such as Google Earth are growing rapidly in popularity as a way to visualise and share 3D environmental data. Scientists and environmental professionals, many of whom are new to 3D modeling and visual communications, are beginning routinely to use such techniques in their work. While the appeal of these techniques is evident, with unprecedented opportunities for public access to data and collaborative engagement over the web, are there nonetheless risks in their widespread usage when applied in areas of the public interest such as planning and policy-making?     

How does agricultural intensification modulate changes in plant community composition?

Agricultural intensification, at local and landscape scales, has caused a decrease in plant diversity and changes in species composition in cereal fields. To better understand the role of landscape complexity and farming systems in shaping plant assemblages, it is of interest to focus on functional traits rather than on floristic composition, which may help to highlight trends in vegetation patterns. We analysed the relative abundance of various functional attributes (different life forms, growth forms, wind-pollinated species and wind-dispersed species) at three contrasted field positions (boundary, edge and centre) of 29 organic and 29 conventional cereal fields distributed in 15 agrarian localities of NE Spain. Agricultural intensification affected the biological attributes of the vegetation in dryland Mediterranean cereal fields; local factors (farming system and position) had a more prominent role in affecting plant functional composition than the surrounding landscape. Local factors were important for life form distribution, growth form and pollination type, whereas landscape complexity mainly affected the proportion of wind-dispersed species. Therefore, depending on the objective of the study, it is important to select functional attributes sensitive to the different scales of agricultural intensification, especially because landscape complexity and land-use intensity are commonly related.     

农业源头流域景观异质性与溪流水质耦合关系

以丹江口库区胡家山流域为研究区域,分析了溪流枯、丰水期的水质变化特征,结合流域和河岸缓冲带景观类型及其格局,运用Spearman秩相关分析筛选了影响溪流水质的景观指数,利用逐步回归和冗余排序法定量描述景观格局与溪流水质的耦合关系.结果表明：溪流水质指标中氨氮和总磷浓度时空变化较大,其标准变异系数范围分别为69.8%~207.6%和52.0%~146.1%.景观类型中耕地和居民地是溪流水体污染的重要来源,两者在100m河岸缓冲带尺度上对氨氮的解释程度为58.6%,高于流域尺度;景观格局指数中蔓延度、林地和居民地斑块密度、林地和居民地最大斑块指数以及林地和耕地聚集度指数等显著影响溪流水质（P<0.05）,流域尺度上各景观类型的景观指数对总氮和总磷的解释程度分别介于71.1%~81.6%和74.5%~83.8%,均高于100m河岸缓冲带尺度,其中蔓延度对总氮和总磷均有显著影响（P<0.05）.无显著因子进入高锰酸盐指数模型中,其浓度变化是各景观指数共同作用的结果.此外,景观格局季节变化也显著影响溪流水质.枯水期景观指数能够更好的解释总氮和总磷变化,而丰水期对氨氮的解释程度要好于枯水期.