Context
Forest loss and fragmentation pose extreme threats to biodiversity. Their efficient characterization from remotely sensed data therefore has strong practical implications. Data are often ...separately analyzed for spatial fragmentation and disorder, but no existing metric simultaneously quantifies both the shape and arrangement of fragments.
Objectives
We present a fractal fragmentation and disorder index (FFDI), which advances a previously developed fractal index by merging it with the Rényi information dimension. The FFDI is designed to work across spatial scales, and to efficiently report both the fragmentation of images and their spatial disorder.
Methods
We validate the FFDI with 12,600 synthetic hierarchically structured random map (HRM) multiscale images, as well as several other categories of fractal and non-fractal test images (4880 images). We then apply the FFDI to satellite imagery of forest cover for 10 distinct regions of the Romanian Carpathian Mountains from 2000–2021.
Results
The FFDI outperformed its two individual components (fractal fragmentation index and Rényi information dimension) in resolving spatial patterns of disorder and fragmentation when tested on HRM classes and other image types. The FFDI thus offers a clear advantage when compared to the individual use of fractal fragmentation index and the Information Dimension, and provided good classification performance in an application to real data.
Conclusions
This work improves on previous characterizations of landscape patterns. With the FFDI, scientists will be able to better monitor and understand forest fragmentation from satellite imagery. The FFDI may also find wider applicability in biology wherever image analysis is used.
Abstract
The complexity in the styles of 1200 Byzantine icons painted between 13th and 16th from Greece, Russia and Romania was investigated through the Kolmogorov algorithmic information theory. The ...aim was to identify specific quantitative patterns which define the key characteristics of the three different painting schools. Our novel approach using the artificial surface images generated with Inverse FFT and the Midpoint Displacement (MD) algorithms, was validated by comparison of results with eight fractal and non-fractal indices. From the analyzes performed, normalized Kolmogorov compression complexity (KC) proved to be the best solution because it had the best complexity pattern differentiations, is not sensitive to the image size and the least affected by noise. We conclude that normalized KC methodology does offer capability to differentiate the icons within a School and amongst the three Schools.
The paper explores the distribution of tree cover and deforested areas in the Central Carpathians in the central-east part of Romania, in the context of the anthropogenic forest disturbances and ...sustainable forest management. The study aims to evaluate the spatiotemporal changes in deforested areas due to human pressure in the Carpathian Mountains, a sensitive biodiverse European ecosystem. We used an analysis of satellite imagery with Landsat-7 Enhanced Thematic Mapper Plus (Landsat-7 ETM+) from the University of Maryland (UMD) Global Forest Change (GFC) dataset. The workflow started with the determination of tree cover and deforested areas from 2000–2017, with an overall accuracy of 97%. For the monitoring of forest dynamics, a Gray-Level Co-occurrence Matrix analysis (Entropy) and fractal analysis (Fractal Fragmentation-Compaction Index and Tug-of-War Lacunarity) were utilized. The increased fragmentation of tree cover (annually 2000–2017) was demonstrated by the highest values of the Fractal Fragmentation-Compaction Index, a measure of the degree of disorder (Entropy) and heterogeneity (Lacunarity). The principal outcome of the research reveals the dynamics of disturbance of tree cover and deforested areas expressed by the textural and fractal analysis. The results obtained can be used in the future development and adaptation of forestry management policies to ensure sustainable management of exploited forest areas.
The objective of the study is to identify the urban development pressure exerted upon the limits imposed by the depth of the phreatic level. The territorial systems from the vicinity of Bucharest ...registered a momentous dynamics and it enabled the expanding of urbanized areas beyond the limits imposed by the natural conditions. The present research involved the creation of a database concerning the depth of the phreatic level, as well as the identification of the expansion stages undertaken by the urbanized areas. There were applied questionnaires concerning the degree of knowledge regarding the development restrictions for the beneficiaries of built spaces. The spatial layout of the indicators which were used in the research permitted the discovery of some areas where the decision to build something had been taken without analyzing the low depth of piezometric level.
Tourism activity is complex, it emplies the presence of resources (natural and / or anthropic) to determine the activity itself, to which we can add the presence of the general tourism infrastructure ...at its highest standards. Lastly, it includes also the active participation of the human factor. In the working methodology, we have used statistical data, between the years 2000-2014, for the following indicators: number of companies, number of employees, turnover and profit. The tourism industry sustains the progress of Sighisoara’s economy, indicates the development of society, causing the city to be included on the list of most sought after tourist destinations, both nationally and internationally. At the same time, tourism determines social welfare by generating new jobs, limiting unemployment, balancing labor, which is a surplus in other sectors (primary and secondary). Results are expressed through graphical representations showing the share of total tourism sector indicators above. It also shows how tourism affects local economic activity and its place in relation to other economic activities.
The study aims to examine the applicability of national legal provisions regarding the establishment of new administrative units such as the commune type in the context of ensuring accessibility and ...superior functionality territory. The research was conducted at the level of 3181 administrative units in Romania, based on the indicators of Law 100/2007 such as: the farthest distance from the commune, the average distance between the communes and their center, its population, the population divided by the population of the village Tier 1, population of villages located at a distance of more than 5 kilometers from the commune of residence along with the population under 5 kilometers from the residence. The analysis captures the restrictive nature of the criteria of the national legislation in relation to the current territorial reality, with the certainty that public authorities discourage splitting municipalities. However the results indicate the need to update legislative principles for the establishment of communes and their alignment to the regional development strategies.
The lack of sustainable development strategies of the tourist resorts from Romania caused the structural dynamics of their economy to record large fluctuations under the impact of determinants with ...unpredictable developments. The spectacular dynamics have led to developments difficult to predict, in many situations that generate environmental conflicts, where the economic pressure has exceeded the support capacity of the natural environment. In this study, we aim to analyze the dynamic relationship between tourism and the other components of the economy, from each resort from Romania. The significant growth of tourism in recent years requires new approaches, relevant for understanding the role of tourism in increasing the complexity of the local economy. Measuring the role of tourism in the development of local economy was achieved by building an economic database for all tourist resorts from Romania (according to Government Decision No. 107 of 2018), at the four-digit NACE code level (Classification of National Economy Activities), for the economic indicators considered relevant: number of companies, number of employees, and turnover and profit, for the period 2000–2016, as well as at territorial administrative unit level. Detailed analyses revealed very different structural dynamics, the spectacular dynamics, lacking a coherent strategic framework, led in all situations to the emergence of environmental conflicts. Tourist resorts in which tourism has become an essential component of economic development have based their development on capitalization of local resources, which led to multiplication effects, materialized in a spectacular evolution of the local economy, and an increasing pressure on the natural environment.
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