Landscape and Ecological Engineering最新文献

The mangrove ecosystem is one of the most prolific ecosystems on this earth with significant social, economic, environmental, and biological influence. They provide a wide range of products and services, some of which have direct value while others can have indirect benefits. Mangroves protect nearby areas from storms, winds, and surges by slowing the production of powerful tidal waves and preventing erosion by keeping sediments intact with their complex network of roots. Mangroves provide several ecosystem services that may be represented in various ways. In this study, Remote Sensing (RS) with Geographic Information Systems (GIS) is used to analyze Landsat images and to observe changes in the Mangrove area and other relevant land use land cover (LULC) patterns in the study area of Andaman Island. Land use and land cover analysis are carried out to study environmental changes and their effects. The results revealed that, during the course of 29 years, from 1989 to 2018, the mangrove forests were reduced from 467 to 377 km², representing a 19.3% overall reduction in the mangrove forests and the extent of water bodies and evergreen forest has also been reduced by 27% and 42% respectively. The total economic value of ecosystem services provided by Andaman’s Mangroves, including both use and non-use values, is estimated to be about INR 47 million per square kilometer per year. The findings of this study revealed that ecosystem services are an integral part of mangrove management, with ecosystem services offering a large number of direct-use and non-use ecosystem services to the citizens of Andaman Island.

Pomacea canaliculata, a freshwater snail native to South America, has become widely naturalised in many countries, causing serious damage to agricultural and native ecosystems. Although climate warming is likely to expand the distribution of this species, limited information exists regarding its impact on feeding activities. In this study, we examined the effects of temperature on the feeding activity of this species and estimated the impact of climate warming on its feeding potential. The feeding activity was determined by measuring the amount of standard food (Japanese mustard spinach, komatsuna) ingested at different temperatures. It tended to increase from 15 to 25 °C but became almost stable from 25 to 35 °C. The respiration rate determined by the O₂ consumption rate, showed a similar response to temperature. Based on these findings, we constructed a simple model to estimate the relative feeding activity using climatic data recorded at meteorological stations throughout the Japanese Archipelago. The model estimated that, with warming of + 2 °C, annual feeding potential (relative value) increased by 21.1% at the present northern distribution limit of this species. The effect of warming on percentage increase in feeding potential was estimated to be smaller at the southern distribution limit (9.9%), although the absolute feeding potential was larger than that at the northern sites. The model also suggested that if this species expanded its northern distribution range as a result of climate warming, it would have a high feeding potential comparable to that of the southern regions.

Coastal tourism is crucial for the development of sustainable coastal cities, since it depends on the interaction of natural resources and critical infrastructure. However, handling the complex issues brought on by changing coastal ecosystems and increased visitor expectations calls for a thorough grasp. The Sungai Karang area in Pahang, Malaysia, is used in this paper as a case study to analyze the development phases and transformational effects of coastal resort expansion. Our goal is a detailed assessment of land-use changes brought on by the growing coastline tourist industry. We examine data from 1966 to 2013 using a thorough technique that combines Geographic Information Systems (GIS) with patch analysis. The main findings show dramatic changes in land-use dynamics, with built-up areas increasing by 23.76% and forest cover increasing by 19.35%. Along with an increase in recreational places, utilities and infrastructure also saw a rise of 18.57%. Contrastingly, agricultural regions had a significant decline of 15.43%. These discoveries highlight the significant alteration of the local environment related to beach tourism. Planning effectively and developing coastal cities sustainably need careful observation of the wide-ranging effects that tourist expansion has on the environment, the economy, and society. In conclusion, our study promotes a comprehensive strategy for coastal city government that smoothly integrates with regional goals. This strategy emphasizes quantifiable goals, active community involvement, and preserving both natural and cultural heritage. It highlights the crucial part that careful planning plays in preventing environmental degradation while also acknowledging the difficulties brought on by the tourist industry's explosive growth. In the end, our research highlights the unavoidable necessity of supporting sustainable coastal city development among the varied effects of coastal tourism.

The aim of this study was to determine whether the heavy-metal levels in the soils collected from five types of rainwater-harvesting green spaces in Beijing posed ecological risks. The heavy-metal levels (Cd, Pb, Cu, Cr, Zn, Ni) of the collected soils were determined. The mean concentrations of Cd, Pb, Cr, Cu, Zn, and Ni were 0.22, 35.61, 59.34, 32.87, 87.30, and 25.15 mg/kg, respectively, and, apart from the Ni mean concentration, were higher than the background values in Beijing. The Zn and Ni concentrations were significantly higher in the soils from the commercial green space than in the other soil types, while the Zn and Cr concentrations were highest in the soils from the park green space and the traffic green space, respectively. The Nemerow integrated indices for soils from all the green-space types were between 1 and 2, indicating light pollution. The indices of the potential ecological risk, at less than 150 for all the soils, indicated a slight ecological risk. The results from wheat-seed (Triticum aestivum L.) germination tests to determine the possible phytotoxicity of the soils showed that plant growth in the soils from the rainwater-harvesting green spaces might be adversely affected. Assessments of the leaching toxicity showed that the heavy metal concentrations in all the leachates were below the allowable national standard. The results demonstrate that the heavy metals were present in the soils from rain-harvesting green spaces in Beijing at levels that posed a minimal ecological risk.

With increasing demands for biodiversity monitoring, the integration of camera trapping (CT) and deep learning automation holds significant promise. However, few studies have addressed the application potential of this approach in urban areas in Asia. 4064 CT images targeting 18 species of urban wildlife in South Korea were collected and used to fine-tune a pre-trained object detection model. The performance of the custom model was evaluated across three levels: animal filtering, mammal and bird classification, and species classification, to assess its applicability. A comparison with existing universal models was conducted to test the utility of the custom model. The custom model demonstrated approximately 94% and 85% accuracy in animal filtering and species classification, respectively, outperforming universal models in some aspects. In addition, recommendations regarding CT installation distances and the acquisition of nighttime data were provided. Importantly, these results have practical implications for terrestrial monitoring, especially focusing on the analysis of local species. Automating image filtering and species classification facilitates efficient analysis of large CT datasets and enables broader participation in wildlife monitoring.

Exposure to nature has been linked to improved mental health. This raises an interesting question of whether incorporating natural features, such as bodies of water, into the built environment can also improve mental health. This study determined whether the presence or absence of bodies of water in leisure areas in the natural and built environment impacts people’s direct attention, preference for certain types of landscapes, feelings of restorativeness when in those landscapes, and physiological indicators, such as heart rate and electromyographic readings. The study included 136 participants. The results showed that in their resting state, participants were substantially less physiologically stressed when they were in the presence of bodies of water in natural settings than in their absence in the built environment. However, when the built environment included bodies of water, people’s heart rates were lower when viewing, feeling, and reporting on the atmosphere of these environments. The results showed that people can reduce tension and stress by spending time around bodies of water in the natural areas of leisure settings. Furthermore, natural environments, with or without bodies of water, can help alleviate direct attention fatigue and are preferred to the built environment. However, leisure areas in the built environment that incorporate bodies of water can generate positive emotions. Our study demonstrated that leisure areas with waterscapes in both built and natural environments may enhance physiological and psychological well-being.

In this study, we investigated the sensitivity of landscape metrics to varying grain sizes in a rural, forested landscape in Japan, contributing to a broader understanding of landscape metric behavior across different scales. We analyzed six class-level and two landscape-level metrics on a land use map at grain sizes of 5, 10, 20, 30, 40, 50, 75, and 100 m. Our results indicate that the effect of increasing grain size on landscape metrics varies depending on the specific metric and land use type. Key metrics, such as the percentage of land use types in a landscape, and two landscape-level metrics showed minimal change across the range of grain sizes. Conversely, patch density and cohesion decreased, whereas Euclidean nearest neighbor distance increased. In addition, the patch area and radius of gyration showed variable responses across different land use types, influenced by their characteristic dimensions. This study highlights the limitations of using coarse-resolution data for detailed landscape analysis, as it may not fully capture landscape change or the relationship between landscape patterns and ecological processes. We propose an optimal grain size of 5–50 m for analyzing rural forested landscapes in Japan, which effectively captures fine-scale elements critical for biodiversity conservation. This range allows accurate comparisons between different regions and land use plans, especially in satoyama landscapes. This research highlights the importance of selecting appropriate grain size in landscape analysis and interpretation of landscape metrics as well as urges researchers and policymakers to ensure accurate ecological assessments and informed decision-making.

Waterscapes are a valuable resource for aesthetic appreciation and human health, the majority of previous literature, however, generally explored these benefits by treating waterscapes as homogenous, limiting our understanding of the relationship between waterscape features and well-being. To address these knowledge gaps 16 videos were produced to represent waterscapes with different desired variables, and mental restoration, preference and perceived safety of these videos were measured by 53 respondents. The results indicate that: (1) within 20 m, the further away the visitors are from water bodies, the better the benefits will be; (2) in terms of mental restoration and preference, lakes are better than rivers, and fast water movement is more efficient than slow movement; (3) a protective fence along the water only enhance perceived safety; (4) females and postgraduate students obtain more restorative benefits from waterscapes than males and undergraduate students, respectively. These results can aid designers in enhancing the efficiency of waterscapes on the promotion of health and well-being.