Testing the Hydrological Landscape Unit Classification System and Other Terrain Analysis Measures for Predicting Low-Flow Nitrate and Chloride in Watersheds

Elevated nitrate concentrations in streamwater are a major environmental management problem. While land use exerts a large control on stream nitrate, hydrology often plays an equally important role. To date, predictions of low-flow nitrate in ungauged watersheds have been poor because of the difficulty in describing the uniqueness of watershed hydrology over large areas. Clearly, hydrologic response varies depending on the states and stocks of water, flow pathways, and residence times. How to capture the dominant hydrological controls that combine with land use to define streamwater nitrate concentration is a major research challenge. This paper tests the new Hydrologic Landscape Regions (HLRs) watershed classification scheme of Wolock and others (Environmental Management 34:S71-S88, 2004) to address the question: Can HLRs be used as a way to predict low-flow nitrate? We also test a number of other indexes including inverse-distance weighting of land use and the well-known topographic index (TI) to address the question: How do other terrain and land use measures compare to HLR in terms of their ability to predict low-flow nitrate concentration? We test this for 76 watersheds in western Oregon using the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Environmental Monitoring and Assessment Program and Regional Environmental Monitoring and Assessment Program data. We found that HLRs did not significantly improve nitrate predictions beyond the standard TI and land-use metrics. Using TI and inverse-distance weighting did not improve nitrate predictions; the best models were the percentage land use—elevation models. We did, however, see an improvement of chloride predictions using HLRs, TI, and inverse-distance weighting; adding HLRs and TI significantly improved model predictions and the best models used inverse-distance weighting and elevation. One interesting result of this study is elevation consistently predicted nitrate better than TI or the hydrologic classification scheme.     

From Forest Landscape to Agricultural Landscape in the Developing Tropical Country of Malaysia: Pattern,Process, and Their Significance on Policy

Agricultural expansion and deforestation are spatial processes of land transformation that impact on landscape pattern. In peninsular Malaysia, the conversion of forested areas into two major cash crops—rubber and oil palm plantations—has been identified as driving significant environmental change. To date, there has been insufficient literature studying the link between changes in landscape patterns and land-related development policies. Therefore, this paper examines: (i) the links between development policies and changes in land use/land cover and landscape pattern and (ii) the significance and implications of these links for future development policies. The objective is to generate insights on the changing process of land use/land cover and landscape pattern as a functional response to development policies and their consequences for environmental conditions. Over the last century, the development of cash crops has changed the country from one dominated by natural landscapes to one dominated by agricultural landscapes. But the last decade of the century saw urbanization beginning to impact significantly. This process aligned with the establishment of various development policies, from land development for agriculture between the mid 1950s and the 1970s to an emphasis on manufacturing from the 1980s onward. Based on a case study in Selangor, peninsular Malaysia, a model of landscape pattern change is presented. It contains three stages according to the relative importance of rubber (first stage: 1900–1950s), oil palm (second stage: 1960s–1970s), and urban (third stage: 1980s–1990s) development that influenced landscape fragmentation and heterogeneity. The environmental consequences of this change have been depicted through loss of biodiversity, geohazard incidences, and the spread of vector-borne diseases. The spatial ecological information can be useful to development policy formulation, allowing diagnosis of the country’s “health” and sustainability. The final section outlines the usefulness of landscape analysis in the policy-making process to prevent further fragmentation of the landscape and forest loss in Malaysia in the face of rapid economic development.

基于遥感和Markov模型的新疆生产建设兵团土地利用变化

通过对兵团土地利用空间格局变化分析,选择合适的土地利用政策保护生态环境。运用RS和GIS技术对兵团近10年土地利用/覆被变化及景观格局空间变化进行分析,并在此基础上运用Markov模型对未来30年土地利用变化进行预测。2000—2010年,新疆生产建设兵团景观多样性升高,连通性增强,形状愈来愈简单,景观格局整体变化不大;草地、灌丛、湿地、荒漠和冰川/永久积雪面积减少,耕地和城镇面积增加,森林保持稳定;人为干扰对土地利用结构的变化具有重要作用,土地利用强度受人为活动影响的同时受土地利用政策影响;在未来30年间耕地和城镇面积继续增加,除森林基本保持不变外其他土地利用类型均减小。兵团城镇用地与草地和耕地之间的矛盾逐渐显现,势必引起兵团生态格局的变化。因此,必须实行合适的土地利用政策保护环境。     

重庆风景名胜区旅游公路滑坡灾害及景观治理方案选择

从滑坡治理结构景观出发,分析重庆风景名胜区旅游公路滑坡灾害成因,针对国家级风景名胜区金佛山西坡旅游公路K9+900滑坡,提出三种滑坡景观治理方案。建立方案优选模型,通过模糊优选理论和熵权决策法联合应用,得到最优治理方案,本联合方法对其他评价工作也有一定的借鉴意义。     

江南水乡区域景观体系特征与整体保护机制

20世纪80年代江南六大水乡古镇被发现、保护,并且进行旅游开发之后,该区以其独有的水乡风貌特色和丰厚的文化底蕴,成为华东地区重要的旅游目的地。旅游为古镇带来了显著的经济、社会和文化效益,形成了古镇独特的发展模式。然而在发展的同时,因受城市化、工业化、商业化和现代化的冲击,该区域不仅呈现出商业化过度、现代化过快、空心化明显、克隆化普遍和超载化突出的严重问题,而且其赖以存在的江南水乡区域景观体系也遭受到前所未有的破坏,使江南六镇的保护出现孤岛化现象。依托江南水乡文化遗存的区域景观整体的研究,探讨了古镇及区域景观体系保护与持续利用的内在机制。     

基于GIS的四川岷江上游杂谷脑流域农林复合景观格局优化

随着景观格局、生态过程与生态功能关系研究的深入,景观格局优化成为景观生态学研究中的前沿问题。景观格局优化的方法和判别准则随研究区的特点而异,从方法上进行景观格局优化探讨,在遥感和地理信息系统技术支持下建立了包括景观分类图(1974和2000年)、温度、降雨、地形图、土壤类型图等数据的空间数据库,利用地理信息系统强大的空间数据管理和空间分析与运算能力,以土地综合利用和土壤侵蚀为判别准则,引入了潜在土壤侵蚀强度这一概念,在地理信息系统环境中运用空间模拟和土地利用优先级规定,对岷江上游杂谷脑流域进行景观优化。结果显示优化后的景观格局显著改善土壤侵蚀问题     

光伏太阳能仿生水草景观水体净化系统

针对景观水体污染问题,基于绿色能源、环境相容、便于实施的理念,构建光伏太阳能仿生水草景观水体净化系统,其中以太阳能电池板为气泵提供动力,通过盘组释放出微气泡,提升水体溶解氧水平;以绿色环保玄武岩纤维材料为基材,编制仿生水草填料,为水体净化微生物提供栖息地;以适生水生景观植物为浮床植物,附加基质材料和定植篮,组成具有景观效应的生态浮床。利用系统对实际景观湖泊水体运行一个月,结果表明,系统充氧性能强,充氧速度快,水体最大DO质量浓度能达到7.88 mg/L;水体水质净化效率高,处理水质稳定,试验水体COD指标维持在《地表水环境质量标准》(GB 3838—2002)Ⅲ类水平,氨氮、TP维持在《地表水环境质量标准》(GB 3838—2002)Ⅱ类水平,总体水质基本提升一个等级。     

不同地貌类型区城镇扩展对土地利用景观格局的影响

基于RS和GIS的支持,以名山县为研究案例,分析与探讨西部经济以农业为主地区城镇扩展的时空特征和不同地貌类型下土地利用景观格局,以期为城镇规划及区域城镇可持续发展提供决策支持。结果显示：1975 ~ 1999 年土地利用类型在不同地貌区的分布格局变化显著。林地面积大幅减少,分布区域向海拔较高地区收缩。居民及建设用地在低丘区增长较快,城镇用地大幅增加,成为影响研究区景观格局的重要要素。农业生产活动向地势较高的区域扩展,中丘区成为农业生产的主要场所,水田和旱地成其主要土地利用方式。高丘区旱地分布面积占首位;园地在低山区分布面积有所增加。1999~2005 年基本维持1999年景观格局,居民及建设用地继续增长,尤其在低丘区表现明显;低丘和中丘区斑块总数减少,各景观要素平均斑块面积增加,形状指数和分维数降低;高丘、低山区水田、旱地减少,园地面积增加.     

洞庭湖区湿地景观指数选取与格局分析

在遥感与地理信息系统的支持下,从2000年的LANDSAT TM影像中提取洞庭湖湿地信息,结合景观结构分析软件FRAGSTATS计算湿地景观指数,采用主成分分析法与方差矩阵分析法选取最能表征湿地结构及功能的核心景观指数,分析洞庭湖区湿地的景观结构特征及功能状态。研究表明：Shannon多样性指数、斑块面积标准差、斑块丰富度密度与景观类型平均分维度最能反应湿地景观的信息及特征;研究区景观格局的空间差异性与组织结构状态具有明显的不均衡性,湿地景观类型比例不均,水田与湖泊景观优势显著;以洞庭湖核心区滨湖的县市和远离湿地核心区的县市为两大群体,在景观格局复杂性和多样性状态中表现出两大群体相似的特征。     

高速公路中央分隔带景观设计——以焦新高速公路为例

中央分隔带是高速公路中对视觉景观影响最重要的一部分,在对其具体的生念、环境、景观和安全要求进行分析的基础上,提出景观设计的方法。根据笔者在焦新高速公路种植设计中的体验,从植物配置、生态要求等方面对中央分隔带的绿化景观设计进行了总结。