ESTIMATION OF DRAINAGE AREAS IN A HOMOGENEOUS LANDSCAPE1

In areas where there is little or no topographic relief and where soils, vegetation, geologic structure and other factors are essentially uniform, identification of drainage basin boundaries is difficult or impossible. In such a homogeneous landscape, however, assumptions may be made that the hydrologic and geomorphic controls over drainage basin development are constant within the area. If this is true, it is suggested, the drainage area of a stream is related solely to the stream length and factors governing the length-area relationship are also constant. A simple formula based on these assumptions and the gravity model is proposed which can be used to estimate drainage divides in a homogeneous landscape.     

塔里木河下游土地利用格局的景观生态学评价

利用 1 988— 2 0 0 0年新疆塔里木河下游TM影像解译的土地覆盖 (土地利用图 )和景观多样性指数、斑块重要值、破碎度、分维数等景观生态学指标 ,进行了塔里木河下游土地利用格局的空间分布和时间动态分析。     

盐城市湿地园林建设初探

湿地园林是以湿地为对象的园林形式,为现代园林的一个组成部分,是利用现代园林建设和生态学原理,对湿地生态系统的保护、重建和恢复,艺术地再现自然湿地景现.在此,以湿地园林为研究对象,分析国内外湿地园林的发展概况,论述盐城市湿地园林建设的现状以及存在的问题,运用生态学和现代园林建设理论对盐城市湿地园林的建设进行初步的探索,较为详细的阐述其发展的规划目标以及建设的思路与对策,进一步强调湿地园林在建设城市大园林、改善生态环境方面的作用,并对湿地园林的未来进行展望.     

观音坪电站工程评价区景观格局预测分析

以湖北省宣恩县酉水流域观音坪水电工程生态完整性评价报告为基础,采用卫星遥感图片分析,运用GIS技术,完成土地利用结构和景观格局图。通过对工程建成前后各种土地类型的优势度值的变化分析得出:工程建设中会造成林草地减少约3.45hm2,优势度由原来的58.30%下降到57.41%,仅下降0.89%;林地和耕地也分别减少约7.20 hm2和0.84 hm2,优势度下降3.87%和1.92%;而水域增加10.82 hm2,优势度上升1.73%,但是它们之间的比例关系基本与工程建设前的比例相当,草地仍然是景观生态体系中的模地。工程建设后当地景观生态体系不会有很大变化。     

Ecological Conservation Through Aesthetic Landscape Planning: A Case Study of the Lower Wisconsin State Riverway

A consequence of expanding residential development into rural areas is the potential alteration of ecological communities. Certain novel land-use policies seek practical solutions by accommodating social needs for housing while conserving biodiversity. This study investigates whether regulations designed to protect the aesthetic characteristics of a river corridor simultaneously mitigate negative effects of development on avian biodiversity, despite the absence of explicit conservation objectives. Using housing data from the US Census (1990 and 2000) and the Audubon Christmas Bird Count (1987–2000), we examined changes in housing density, avian communities, and the relationship between these two variables in a location that has adopted aesthetic landscape planning, the Lower Wisconsin State Riverway. We found that overall species diversity increased in the Riverway, but remained constant in reference areas, although the relative increase in housing density in the two areas did not differ. We also found that omnivore populations decreased in the Riverway and increased in reference sites. On the whole, our study provides preliminary evidence that aesthetic landscape planning, such as employed in the Lower Wisconsin State Riverway, might constitute a politically viable approach to conserve ecological resources.     

太原城市滨水区建设治理的综合效益 --改善生态环境,增强灾害防御能力

对太原市城市滨水区的建设治理工程在改善城市生态环境和增强城市灾害防御能力方面的重要作用进行了论述.提出在人口集中的城市滨水区进行大面积的生态建设,是社会进步、经济发展的必然要求,也是提高环境质量、推动城市可持续发展的必然趋势.     

西藏才曲塘草地畜牧业的生态旅游景观规划

才曲塘草地畜牧业科技示范区位于西藏自治区那曲镇,目的是通过采用农牧业高新技术,提高农牧业综合开发的经济效益、社会效益和生态效益,其中发展生态旅游是示范区主要开发方向和目标之一.利用景观生态学理论,分析了才曲塘生态旅游景观的形成条件、景观要素、景观结构特点,对进行了生态旅游景观的功能区划分;提出可以通过才曲塘的规划和建设,探索与自然生态环境协调的草地畜牧业景观结构,充分发挥畜牧业发展和生态旅游的功能,对高寒地区草地畜牧业综合开发起示范作用.     

EFFECTS OF PRESCRIPTIVE RIPARIAN BUFFERS ON LANDSCAPE CHARACTERISTICS IN NORTHERN MINNESOTA,USA1

ABSTRACT: Forest buffers adjacent to water bodies are widely prescribed in forest management to protect ecological functions of riparian systems. To date, buffers have been applied on the landscape uniformly without quantifying their effectiveness or the effects they have on landscape characteristics. Our objective was to quantify landscape characteristics (amount of edge and interior forest) when buffers were applied to water bodies in a 100 by 100 km area of northern Minnesota. We used a Landsat classified image in a geographic information system platform to apply two buffer widths ?28.5 m and 57 m — to water bodies, including nonforested wetlands, intermittent or perennial streams, and lakes. A total of 107,141 ha (18.3 percent) of the forest area was adjacent to and within 28.5 m of these water bodies, while 201,457 ha of forest was within 57 m, representing 34.4 percent of the total forest area. Imposing a 28.5 m buffer on water bodies increased the amount of edge and interior forest in the study area. When water bodies were buffered with a 57 m forest strip, we found a slight increase in forest edge from the current condition, and this buffer width resulted in the largest amount of interior forest. Interior forest increased with the 57 m buffer due to the density of water bodies in this region; adjacent water bodies coalesced when buffers were applied and formed isolated forest islands that contained forest interior habitat. Instead of wholesale application of set width riparian buffers, we suggest that ecological conditions of riparian areas be evaluated on a site level and that areas that currently provide important riparian conditions be maintained on the landscape with appropriate management practices.     

INTEGRATING LANDSCAPE ASSESSMENT AND HYDROLOGIC MODELING FOR LAND COVER CHANGE ANALYSIS1

ABSTRACT: Significant land cover changes have occurred in the watersheds that contribute runoff to the upper San Pedro River in Sonora, Mexico, and southeast Arizona. These changes, observed using a series of remotely sensed images taken in the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s, have been implicated in the alteration of the basin hydrologic response. The Cannonsville subwatershed, located in the Catskill/Delaware watershed complex that delivers water to New York City, provides a contrast in land cover change. In this region, the Cannonsville watershed condition has improved over a comparable time period. A landscape assessment tool using a geographic information system (GIS) has been developed that automates the parameterization of the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) and KINEmatic Runoff and EROSion (KINEROS) hydrologic models. The Automated Geospatial Watershed Assessment (AGWA) tool was used to prepare parameter input files for the Upper San Pedro Basin, a subwatershed within the San Pedro undergoing significant changes, and the Cannonsville watershed using historical land cover data. Runoff and sediment yield were simulated using these models. In the Cannonsville watershed, land cover change had a beneficial impact on modeled watershed response due to the transition from agriculture to forest land cover. Simulation results for the San Pedro indicate that increasing urban and agricultural areas and the simultaneous invasion of woody plants and decline of grasslands resulted in increased annual and event runoff volumes, flashier flood response, and decreased water quality due to sediment loading. These results demonstrate the usefulness of integrating remote sensing and distributed hydrologic models through the use of GIS for assessing watershed condition and the relative impacts of land cover transitions on hydrologic response.