Holistic and multi-transdisciplinary approaches, where multiple goals are achieved in order to improve resilience in societies and ecosystems in the short, medium, and long term, are ideal, even ...utopian. Hence, science has come together with practical experiences that highlight the importance of working at a ‘landscape’ level. Landscapes, as socio-ecological systems, are key for sustainability and sustainable development, and they represent a realistic unit to interconnect local, national, and ultimately global scales. International efforts regarding holistic natural resources management approaches are not new; however, they are currently pointing to an Integrated Landscape Approach (ILA). Based on a documentation review and analysis, the present article review aims to promote the disambiguation of the ILA concept and provide an updated synthesis knowledge on the ILA. Especially for the forest sector, the ILA has been identified as particularly beneficial, strongly highlighted by the scientific literature, and with an infrastructure of organizations that are encouraging it. The paper presents the rationale of the science behind the concept, as well as the main principles, we identified a variety of definitions with some significant points of overlap, we highlight the inclusion of ILAs in the current international arena and the relationship of ILA’s and Jurisdictional Approaches, and we make a review of the ILA in a challenging world of rapid change. Our review recognizes ILAs socio-ecological management strategy to reconcile conservation, development, climate change, and human well-being goals. ILAs naturally have a social and idealistic construction behind it, which might be just as necessary andsignificant as the journey toward sustainability itself.
There is fast-growing awareness of the role atmospheres play in architecture. Of equal interest to contemporary architectural practice as it is to aesthetic theory, this ‘atmospheric turn’ owes much ...to the work of the German philosopher Gernot Böhme. Atmospheric Architectures: The Aesthetics of Felt Spaces brings together Böhme’s most seminal writings on the subject, through chapters selected from his classic books and articles, many of which have hitherto only been available in German. This is the only translated version authorised by Böhme himself, and is the first coherent collection deploying a consistent terminology. It is a work which will provide rich references and a theoretical framework for ongoing discussions about atmospheres and their relations to architectural and urban spaces. Combining philosophy with architecture, design, landscape design, scenography, music, art criticism, and visual arts, the essays together provide a key to the concepts that motivate the work of some of the best contemporary architects, artists, and theorists: from Peter Zumthor, Herzog & de Meuron and Juhani Pallasmaa to Olafur Eliasson and James Turrell. With a foreword by Professor Mark Dorrian (Forbes Chair in Architecture, Edinburgh College of Art) and an afterword by Professor David Leatherbarrow, (Chair of the Graduate Group in Architecture, University of Pennsylvania), the volume also includes a general introduction to the topic, including coverage of it history, development, areas of application and conceptual apparatus.
•Fifty-four contemporary landscape characterisation approaches were systematically reviewed.•A major distinction between biophysical and ‘holistic’ approaches was confirmed.•Three substantially ...different methodological strategies were identified.•A trend towards increasing observer-independence over time was identified.
Due to the multidisciplinary nature of landscape research, many different systems and methods for landscape identification and classification exist. This paper provides a systematic review of 54 contemporary landscape characterisation approaches from all over the world, with the aim of identifying major methodological strategies. Multivariate statistical analyses revealed segregation of the approaches according to the landscape concept applied, the degree of observer independence and various other factors involved in the landscape characterisation process. Our review confirmed a major distinction between approaches rooted in the natural sciences and approaches rooted in the arts and the humanities. Three substantially different methodological approaches or strategies were identified: 1) ‘holistic’ landscape character assessment approaches, by which visual perception and socio-cultural aspects of the landscape are emphasised; 2) landscape characterisation methods based on a priori selection of geo-ecological and land-use-related properties of the landscape; and 3) biophysical landscape characterisation approaches which rely strongly on statistical analyses in order to identify gradients of variation in the presence and/or abundance of landscape elements and properties. Assessment of landform and the composition of natural and human landscape elements was a central part of all of the reviewed methods. A trend towards increasing observer-independence over time was identified.
In response to the effects of climate change, many countries are realigning their energy systems to the principle of sustainability. An energy system change will lead to the development of ...substantial renewable energy infrastructure (mostly wind and photovoltaic) in landscapes with effects on perceived landscape quality and socio-political acceptance. Both direct perceptive effects of physical landscape structures and latent meanings associated with those structures potentially affect their acceptance.
This work evaluates the role of landscape-technology fit (derived from place-technology fit) representing the extent to which alternatives within each of these two components “fit” together (e.g., does a given type of renewable energy infrastructure fit well within some landscapes but not others?). It also evaluates the role of latent meanings ascribed to landscapes and renewable energy infrastructure within that mentioned “fit” decision as well as the role of prior experience (exposure) to both.
The study is based on a survey of Swiss citizens in a representative online panel (n = 1062). To estimate preferences for diverse renewable energy infrastructure scenarios across landscape types, a discrete choice model was implemented. Meanings ascribed to landscapes and renewable energy infrastructure were included in a second component of the survey. An innovative hybrid choice model approach facilitated integration of latent and observed variables in a hierarchy of predictors.
Results show that most effects were statistically significant. Landscape-technology fit functioned as a moderator between choice attributes and preferences; in turn, it is predicted by landscape and renewable energy meanings, which are predicted by relevant prior experience (exposure).
•Landscape-technology fit (LTF) moderates public preferences across energy scenarios.•Meanings ascribed to landscapes and renewable energy infrastructure predict LTF.•Exposure (landscape, renewable energy infrastructure) predicts ascribed meanings.•Renewable energy in natural landscapes triggers passive place-protective behavior.•The hybrid choice model enhances understanding of landscape transformation preferences.
CONTEXT: The sustainability of urban areas is essential to the sustainability of regions, nations, and the world as a whole. Urban sustainability indicators (USIs) can play an important role in ...advancing the science and practice of sustaining urban systems. OBJECTIVES: We review the key concepts of urban sustainability and commonly used indicators for gauging the state and progress of urban sustainability, and discuss how USIs can be further improved from a landscape ecology perspective. METHODS: This review is based primarily on peer-reviewed journal papers, as well as books, and documents published by international organizations, governmental agencies, and research institutions. We systematically examine what USIs actually measure and whether they are adequate for gauging urban sustainability, and then discuss major problems and challenges as well as ways forward in developing and applying USIs. RESULTS: Numerous USIs have been developed, including single composite indices and indicator sets. This paper focuses on three indicator sets and ten composite indices. Eight of them cover all the three dimensions of sustainability (environment, economy, and society), and five cover two of the three. Five of them measure strong sustainability, and eight only indicate weak sustainability. CONCLUSIONS: Urban sustainability indicators abound, and so do problems with them. These include technical issues of normalization, weighting, and aggregation (upscaling), as well as conceptual issues of indicator selection, boundary delineation, heterogeneity, scale, and strong versus weak sustainability. To overcome these problems, principles and methods in landscape ecology—particularly those of landscape metrics, spatial scaling, and landscape sustainability—have much to offer, and this represents a challenging and fruitful research direction for both landscape and urban scientists in the coming decades.
Understanding how landscape characteristics affect biodiversity patterns and ecological processes at local and landscape scales is critical for mitigating effects of global environmental change. In ...this review, we use knowledge gained from human-modified landscapes to suggest eight hypotheses, which we hope will encourage more systematic research on the role of landscape composition and configuration in determining the structure of ecological communities, ecosystem functioning and services. We organize the eight hypotheses under four overarching themes. Section A: ‘landscape moderation of biodiversity patterns' includes (1) the landscape species pool hypothesis—the size of the landscape-wide species pool moderates local (alpha) biodiversity, and (2) the dominance of beta diversity hypothesis—landscape-moderated dissimilarity of local communities determines landscape-wide biodiversity and overrides negative local effects of habitat fragmentation on biodiversity. Section B: ‘landscape moderation of population dynamics' includes (3) the cross-habitat spillover hypothesis—landscape-moderated spillover of energy, resources and organisms across habitats, including between managed and natural ecosystems, influences landscape-wide community structure and associated processes and (4) the landscape-moderated concentration and dilution hypothesis—spatial and temporal changes in landscape composition can cause transient concentration or dilution of populations with functional consequences. Section C: ‘landscape moderation of functional trait selection’ includes (5) the landscape-moderated functional trait selection hypothesis—landscape moderation of species trait selection shapes the functional role and trajectory of community assembly, and (6) the landscape-moderated insurance hypothesis—landscape complexity provides spatial and temporal insurance, i.e. high resilience and stability of ecological processes in changing environments. Section D: ‘landscape constraints on conservation management' includes (7) the intermediate landscape-complexity hypothesis—landscape-moderated effectiveness of local conservation management is highest in structurally simple, rather than in cleared (i.e. extremely simplified) or in complex landscapes, and (8) the landscape-moderated biodiversity versus ecosystem service management.
Landscapes have long been viewed as ‘multifunctional’, integrating ecological, economic, sociocultural, historical, and aesthetic dimensions. Landscape science and public awareness in Europe have ...been progressing in leaps and bounds. The challenges involved in landscape-related issues and fields, however, are multiple and refer to landscape stewardship and protection, as well as to the development of comprehensive theoretical and methodological approaches, in tandem with public sensitization and participatory governance and in coordination with appropriate top-down planning and policy instruments. Landscape-scale approaches are fundamental to the understanding of past and present cultural evolution, and are now considered to be an appropriate spatial framework for the analysis of sustainability. Methods and tools of landscape analysis and intervention have also gone a long way since their early development in Europe and the United States. Although significant progress has been made, there remain many issues which are understudied or not investigated at all—at least in a Mediterranean context. This Special Issue addresses the application of landscape theory and practice in the Eastern Mediterranean and mainly, but not exclusively, reports on the outcomes of an international conference held in Jordan, in December 2015, with the title “Landscapes of Eastern Mediterranean: Challenges, Opportunities, Prospects and Accomplishments”. The focus of this Special Issue, landscapes of the Eastern Mediterranean region, thus constitutes a timely area of research interest, not only because these landscapes have so far been understudied, but also as a rich site of strikingly variegated, long-standing multicultural human–environmental interactions. These interactions, resting on and taking shape through millennia of continuity in tradition, have been striving to adapt to technological advances, while currently juggling with manifold and multilayered socioeconomic and climate–environmental crises.
Context
Naturally recovering secondary forests are frequently re-cleared before they can recover to pre-disturbance conditions. Identifying landscape factors associated with persistence success will ...help planning cost-efficient and effective forest restoration.
Objectives
The ability of secondary forest to persist is an often undervalued requisite for long-term ecosystem restoration. Here we identify the landscape context for naturally regenerated forests to persist through time within central Panama.
Methods
We developed a random forest classification (RFC) calibration method to identify areas with high (≥ 90%) and low (< 90%) likelihood of forest persistence success based on their spatial relation with nine landscape explanatory variables.
Results
The RFC model discriminated between secondary forests areas that persisted and did not persisted with an error rate of 2%. By tuning, we obtained a precision of 0.94 (94%) in the validation test. The two most important explanatory variables involved in the persistence dynamic were elevation and distance to the nearest rural area. Naturally regenerated forests lasted longer in patches that were closer to both Gatun and Alajuela Lakes as to protected areas, but further from rural communities, roads, urban areas and in patches with higher elevation and steeper slopes.
Conclusion
By tracking remote sensed, landscape context metrics of easy collection, we developed a prediction map of central Panama areas with high (≥ 90%) and low (> 90%) probability of natural forest regeneration and persistence success within the next 30 years. This map represents a basis for management decisions and future investigations for effective, long-term forest-landscape restoration.
Context
Human–nature interactions are reflected in the values people assign to landscapes. These values shape our understanding and actions as landscape co-creators, and need to be taken into account ...to achieve an integrated management of the landscape that involves civil society.
Objectives
The aim of this research was to increase the current knowledge on the most and least common landscape values perceived by local stakeholders, the patterns in the spatial distribution of values, and their connection to different socio-economic backgrounds and landscape characteristics across Europe.
Methods
The research consisted of a cross-site comparison study on how landscape values are perceived in six areas of Europe using Public Participation GIS surveys. Answers were analysed combining contingency tables, spatial autocorrelation and bivariate correlation methods, kernel densities, land cover ratios, and viewshed analyses. Results were discussed in the light of findings derived from other European participatory mapping studies.
Results
We identified shared patterns in the perception of landscape values across Europe. Recreation, aesthetics, and social fulfilment were the most common values. Landscape values showed common spatial patterns mainly related to accessibility and the presence of water, settlements, and cultural heritage. However, respondents in each study site had their own preferences connected to the intrinsic characteristics of the local landscape and culture.
Conclusions
The results encourage land planners and researchers to approach landscape values in relation to socio-cultural and bio-physical land characteristics comprehensibly, acknowledging the complexity in the relationship between people’s perception and the landscape, to foster more effective and inclusive landscape management strategies.
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