Development of a landscape index to link landscape pattern to runoff and sediment

Linking landscape indexes to ecological processes is the key topic of landscape ecology.However,traditional landscape metrics based on the Patch-Mosaic Model have no ecological significance.In this study,the runoff-sediment landscape index coupling land use,topography,soil,and vegetation factors was constructed to link landscape patterns to runoff and sediment.In the study area,the runoffsediment landscape index at the class scale showed an increasing trend from 0.10 in 1995 to 0.26 in 2015.Cropland had a higher runoff-sediment landscape index compared to grassland or forestland.At the landscape scale,the runoff-sediment landscape index showed a decreasing trend since 1995;furthermore,it decreased by 36.24%in 2015 compared with the index in 1990.The runoff-sediment landscape index had higher correlations with runoff and sediment compared with traditional landscape metrics.Redundancy analysis showed that the runoffsediment landscape index had a higher contribution to runoff and sediment compared to traditional landscape metrics,explaining 90.1%of the variability.The soil erosion risk assessed by the runoff-sediment landscape index showed an increasing trend upstream of the Dali River watershed.More attention should be paid to this area in future vegetation restoration attempts,as exploring the impact of landscape pattern changes on ecological processes,especially hydrological processes,plays an important role in comprehensive watershed management.

Spatio-temporal evolution analysis of landscape pattern and habitat quality in the Qinghai Province section of the Yellow River Basin from 2000 to 2022 based on InVEST model

Habitat quality is an important indicator for evaluating the quality of ecosystem.The Qinghai Province section of the Yellow River Basin plays an important role in the ecological protection of the upper reaches of the Yellow River Basin.To comprehensively analysis the alterations of habitat quality in the Qinghai Province section of the Yellow River Basin,this study utilized the Integrated Valuation of Ecosystem Services and Tradeoffs(InVEST)model to calculate the habitat quality index and analyze the spatio-temporal variation characteristics of habitat quality in the study area from 2000 to 2022,and calculated seven landscape pattern indices(number of patches,patch density,largest patch index(LPI),landscape shape index(LSI),contagion index(CONTAG),Shannon diversity index,and Shannon evenness index)to research the variation of landscape pattern in the study area.The results showed that the number of patches,patch density,LPI,LSI,Shannon diversity index,and Shannon evenness index increased from 2000 to 2022,while the CONTAG decreased,indicating that the landscape pattern in the Qinghai Province section of the Yellow River Basin changed in the direction of distribution fragmentation,shape complexity,and heterogeneity.The average value of the habitat quality index in the Qinghai Province section of the Yellow River Basin from 2000 to 2022 was 0.90.Based on the value of habitat quality index,we divided the level of habitat quality into five categories:lower(0.00-0.20),low(0.20-0.40),moderate(0.40-0.60),high(0.60-0.80),and higher(0.80-1.00).Most areas were at the higher habitat quality level.The lower habitat quality patches were mainly distributed in Longyang Gorge and Yellow River-Huangshui River Valley.From 2000 to 2022,the habitat quality in most areas was stable;the increase areas were mainly distributed in Guinan County,while the decrease areas were mainly distributed in Xining City,Maqen County,Xinghai County,Qumarleb County,and Darlag County.To show the extent of habitat quality variation,we calculated Sen index.The results showed that the higher habitat quality area had a decrease trending,while other categories had an increasing tendency,and the decreasing was faster than increasing.The research results provide scientific guidance for promoting ecological protection and high-quality development in the Qinghai Province section of the Yellow River Basin.

Spatio-temporal Evolution and Optimization of Landscape Ecological Risk in Karst Mountainous Areas

[Objective]The ecological vulnerability and landscape ecological risk of karst mountainous areas have increased as a result of enhanced disturbance of natural resources by human activities.This paper aimed to explore the characteristics of ecological risk evolution under different landscape patterns in the region,with a view to providing reference for land classification protection,sustainable use of resources and regional ecological risk optimization in karst mountainous areas.[Method]Taking Huangping County,a typical karst mountainous area,as an example,eight evaluation factors of natural and landscape patterns were selected to construct a landscape ecological risk evaluation model,to quantitatively explore the spatio-temporal evolution of landscape ecological risk and the trend of risk level transfer in the study area from^(2)010-2018,and to reveal the complex relationship between ecological risk and topography in karst mountainous areas.[Result]①From 2010 to 2018,land use types changed to different degrees,with the most amount of woodland transferred out(1627.37 hm^(2))and the most amount of construction land transferred in(1303.93 hm^(2));a total of 3552.31 hm^(2) of land was transferred,with a change ratio of 2.13%,and there was a significant conversion between construction land,arable land,and woodland.②From 2010 to 2018,the landscape ecological risk in the study area changed significantly,and the landscape ecological risk index decreased from 0.3441 to 0.1733,showing an upward and then downward trend;the landscape ecological risk of the whole region was dominated by low-risk and lower-risk zones,and the ecological risk level generally shifted from a high level to a low level,and the ecological environment was improved.③There was a negative correlation between ecological risk and topographic position,and high-risk zones were mainly distributed among low topographic zones;with the change of time,the advantage of risk level for the selection of topography was gradually weakened,and the influence of anthropogenic factors on the ecological risk of the landscape was becoming more and more prominent.[Conclusion]This paper can provide theoretical basis for land use optimization and ecological protection in karst mountainous areas.

Development of a New Index for Integrating Landscape Patterns with Ecological Processes at Watershed Scale

Understanding the relationship between landscape pattems and ecological processes has been a central yet challenging research theme in landscape ecology. Over the past decades, many landscape metrics have been proposed but few directly incorporated ecological processes. In this paper, we developed a landscape index, namely, location-weighted landscape index （LWLI） to highlight the role of landscape type in ecological processes, such as nutrient losses and soil erosion. Within the framework of the Lorenz curve theory, we develop this index by integrating land- scape pattern and point-based measurements at a watershed scale. The index can be used to characterize the contribution of landscape pattern to ecological processes （e.g. nutrient losses） with respect to a specific monitoring point in a watershed. Through a case study on nutrient losses in an agricultural area in northeastern China, we found that nutrient losses tended to be higher for a watershed with a higher LWLI value, and vice versa. It implied that LWLI can be used to evaluate the potential risk of nutrient losses or soil erosion by comparing their values across watersheds. In addition, this index can be extended to characterize ecological processes, such as the effect of landscape pattern on wildlife inhabitation and urban heat island effect. Finally, we discuss several problems that should be paid attention to when applying this index to a heterogeneous landscape site.

Development of a location-weighted landscape contrast index based on the minimum hydrological response unit

The changing patterns of watersheds in a landscape, driven by human activities, play an important role in non-point source pollution processes. This paper aims to improve the location-weighted landscape contrast index using remote sensing and GIS technology to account for the effects of scale and ecological processes. The hydrological response unit(HRU) with a single land use and soil type was used as the smallest unit. The relationship between the landscape index and typical ecological processes was established by describing the influence of the landscape pattern on non-point source pollution. To verify the research method, this paper used the Yanshi River basin as a study area. The results showed that the relative intensity of non-point source pollution in different regions of the watershed and the location-weighted landscape contrast index based on the minimum HRU can qualitatively reflect the risk of regional nutrient loss.

Study on Landscape Pattern Index-based Connectivity Analysis of the Primary Farmland Protection Zones

Farmland and primary farmland protection are important contents of land management and land use planning of China. In the new round of land use planning and database construction, primary farmland protection zones are required to have high integrity and connectivity. Using landscape pattern indexes, the integrity and connectivity of primary farmland protection zones was studied in Licheng District of Jinan City. The results showed that, except patch area standard deviation, the other indexes including average patch area, patch area variation coefficient, patch edge density, largest patch index, and mean euclidean nearest-neighbor, all indicate high connectivity of primary farmland protection zones after layout adjustment. A simple and convenient method for identifying the integrity and connectivity of primary farmland protection zones was supplied.

Landscape ecological characteristics in temporal changes of riverside open space in urbanized area

The aim of this paper is to clarify the pattern and process of changes of landscape in riverside open spaces in urbanized area.The area between the old banks of the Furukawa River in Hiroshima City was examined in this research.The land use maps of the study area were drawn at seven different times were analyzed,and the number,sizes and perimeters of all patches of all land use types were measured.In these areas,temporal patterns of land use change over the past 30 years were divided to three stages:19661976,19761988 and 19881997.As a result of human disturbance,the riparian forest patches in urbanized areas have decreased in average size and have also become longer and narrower.

Landscape Pattern Analysis of International Livable Communities Based on Satellite Images of Wenjiang District, Chengdu City

This paper used Google Earth satellite maps of Wenjiang District, Chengdu City in 2008, 2012 and 2015 as basic data sources, and field investigation data in recent years, and employed Photoshop and Auto CAD to analyze landscape pattern of urban and suburban areas of Wenjiang District—the international livable communities. The results showed that urban forest patches accounted for the absolute dominance in the study area, the overall landscape fragmentation index in 2008 was 0.0054, landscape diversity index 1.3603, landscape dominance index 0.2937, and evenness index 0.8452. From 2008 to 2012, patch density index reduced by 7.04, landscape fragmentation index increased by 0.0014, diversity index reduced by 0.043, evenness index reduced by 0.0269, landscape dominance index increased by 0.0027. From 2012 to 2015, patch density index increased by 1.22, landscape fragmentation index kept stable, diversity index reduced by 0.024, evenness index reduced by 0.0149, landscape dominance index increased by 0.0196. Through analyzing quantitative indexes of urban landscape pattern, and exploring basic features of the international livable communities from the perspective of landscape eco-pattern, this paper put forward suggestions for city management and green space system protection of Wenjiang as the references for the future researches on maintenance and operation of landscape eco-pattern.

Landscape Pattern Optimization of Chengdu Based on Modern Garden City

TOptimization of regional landscape pattern is significant for improving function and value of ecosystem,and restraining the expansion of urban layout.Taking Chengdu City for example,this paper applied RS and GIS techniques,landscape indexes and ecological service function evaluation to further analyze the temporal and spatial characteristics of landscape pattern and spatial differences of regional ecological functions,and on this basis,identified the spatial distribution of ecological source lands.Based on the long-term objective of building Chengdu into a modem garden city,this paper applied the accumulative cost distance model and introduced garden city theory to construct regional ecological corridors and ecological nodes,and explored the approaches of optimizing landscape pattern of modem garden city.The results showed that a great deal of arable land has been transferred to construction land in the urbanization;intensity of regional ecological functions showed obvious spatial differences;ecological source lands were mainly distributed in the Longmen Mountain,the Qionglai Mountain,the Changqiu Mountain and the Longquan Mountain;according to actual conditions of the study area,the road ecological corridors,river corridors and agricultural corridors in the layout of "four rings and six radial corridors" were constructed;ecological nodes dominated by intersection,wetland and forest park were formed.This research method and results are significant references for building Chengdu into a modem garden

Dynamic Change of Landscape Pattern at Jilin Province from 1980 to 2000

By using remote sensing images from three periods (1980, 1995, 2000) and with the support of GIS and RS, the spatial information of landscape elements of Jilin Province from 1980 to 2000 was interpreted and extracted. Using models of landscape indices such as diversity, fragmentation, and mean patch fractal dimension, dynamic spatio-temporal changes of landscape patterns of the province were analyzed. The results: ① cropland and forestland were the main landscape types, and forestland became a landscape matrix; ② in the study area, landscapes were distributed unevenly, and there was low heterogeneity, a simple ecosystem structure and a tendency of irrational landscape patterns. There were also simple spatial shapes of patches and strong self-similarities, and in terms of dynamic change analysis, patch shapes tended to be more simple; ③ from 1980 to 2000, holistic landscape fragmentation was low and changed slightly. As far as landscape elements were concerned, the fragmentation of grassland, water area, land for residential area and factory facilities was relatively low; land distribution for residential areas and factory facilities was dispersed; and cropland and forestland were most concentrated-an indication that the trend will continue. Comprehensive effects among human activity, local policy, regional climate and environmental change led to the results.

Analysis of Landscape Pattern Changes and Driving Forces in Nanling National Nature Reserve

The spatial and temporal changes of landscape pattern and their driving forces in each functional zone of Nanling National Nature Reserve were analyzed based on the GIS and RS platform. The results showed that from 1988 to 2009, in respect of changes of Jandscape area, the main forest landscape accounted about 95% of the total area, of which evergreen broad-leaved forest had the largest area, accounting for more than 50% of the total area. The dominant landscape was coniferous forest. In respect of landscape fragmentation, the density index of land- scape in the whole area increased, and the degree of landscape fragmentation also increased. In the core area, the patch density decreased slightly, and the average patch area of each type of landscape increased; the degree of landscape fragmen- tation increased slightly. In the buffer area and the experimental area, the degree of landscape fragmentation increased. In terms of landscape diversity, the landscape pattern in the whole area became complex, and the diversity index of landscape in- creased and the degree of heterogeneity increased. In the core area, the diversity index of landscape increased slightly. In the buffer area, it increased significantly. In the experiment area, the diversity index reduced, and the degree of landscape het- erogeneity reduced. In the whole study area, the landscape tended to be diversified. The landscape pattern of the experimental area was consistent with that of the whole study area, and there was no obvious change in the buffer zone, while the landscape pattern in the core area developed towards the single direction.

Spatial connectivity and distribution of landscape type in the natural secondary forests of eastern mountainous region,northeast China——a case study of Mao'ershan region in Heilongjiang Province

Mao'ershan region is representative in the natural secondary forested region of the eastern mountainous region, northeast China. The landscape nearest neighbor index and landscape connectivity index were calculated with ARC/INFO software for Mao'ershan region. The spatial distribution of the landscape of the region was analyzed. The results showed that the landscape connectivity index of non-woodland was significantly higher than that of woodland. The landscape connectivity index of natural forest was nearly equal to zero, which means its fragmentation degree is high. The nearest neighbor index of plantation was lower than that of natural forest and non-forestland. Among the man-made forests, the distance index of the coniferous mixed plantation is the lowest, and its pattern is nearly glomeration. The landscape pattern of natural forest presented nearly random distribution. Among non-forest land, the distance index of cut blank was the lowest, and its pattern was also nearly glomeration. Keywords Landscape type - Landscape pattern - Nearest neighbor index - Landscape connectivity index - Natural secondary forest - Northeast China CLC number S759.92 Document code A Foundation item: This paper was supported by the Key Project of State Department of Science Technology (2002BA515B040).Biography: LI SHu-juan (1977), female. Lecture in Ocean University of China, Qingdao 266003, P. R. China.Responsible editor: Zhu Hong

Study on Landscape Pattern Based on Landsat-8 in the Center of Chengdu City, China

Study on landscape spatial pattern in the center of Chengdu City is based on the Landsat-8 image by using 3S technique and spatial pattern analysis software Fragstats 3.3. The results showed that there covered an area of 193.92 km2 in the center of Chengdu City. 55.24% of the total area was made up of buildings, covering an area of 107.12 km2, and the overall landscape of impervious ground-based. There were 22,666 patches;29.67% of the patches were roads. The human interference of buildings, roads and green space was a maximum;fragmentation of the highest was green space. The fragmentation of overall urban landscape was high;the diversity was low;the value of Shannon’s diversity index was 0.63;the value of Shannon’s evenness index was 0.70. All kinds of landscape distribution were not balanced, and lack of connectivity. This research puts important reference for creating good urban landscape space and restoring the natural ecological environment in the western regions of China.

Spatiotemporal Differentiation of Urban Spatial Form and Carbon Emissions in Poyang Lake City Group

In response to the inherent requirements of low-carbon land spatial planning in Jiangxi Province and the lack of existing research,this paper explored the mechanism of spatial form elements of Poyang Lake urban agglomeration on urban carbon emissions.Based on generalized linear regression and geographically weighted regression models,this paper analyzed the spatiotemporal distribution characteristics of carbon emissions,the spatiotemporal relationship between urban form index and carbon emissions,and the spatial differentiation of the intensity of dominant factors from 63 county-level administrative units in the Poyang Lake city group from 2005 to 2020.The results showed that:①The carbon emissions of urban agglomerations around Poyang Lake are generally increasing,and the spatial distribution of carbon emissions is characterized by high-value concentration in the middle and low-value agglomeration in pieces;②The main driving factor for the spatial heterogeneity of carbon emissions was the expansion of built-up area;③Improving urban compactness and optimizing urban form could effectively reduce urban carbon emissions.The results showcased the correlation between urban spatial landscape pattern and the spatiotemporal distribution of carbon emissions,which could make the low-carbon land spatial planning in the Poyang Lake city group more reasonable and practical.

Landscape pattern change of a typical region in the Kubuqi Desert, Northwestern China

Spatial pattern analysis is the core component in landscape ecology research.We analyzed the landscape pattern and dynamic process of the Kubuqi Desert by using a typical region as a study area.This study area includes four towns;ShuLinZhao,WangAiZhao,BaiNiJing and JiGeSiTai.The area of cropland,fixed sand dune,woodland,residential area and wetland increased and centralized gradually,while the area of semi-fixed sand dune,drifting sand dune,meadow and washland decreased and dispersed gradually from 1987 to 2003.On the landscape level,the patch shape tended to be regular,and the landscape pattern tended to be simple,causing the fragmentation degree,heterogeneity and diversity of the landscape to decrease.Fixed sand dune.Semi-fixed sand dune,drifting sand dune,meadow and river flood plains were the five main export classes,and residential area,cropland and wetland were the three main import classes.The classes that had a relatively large total area and large average patch area had a smaller extent of gravity center migration,whereas the classes with small total area and small average patch area had a larger extent of gravity center migration;this is because the small patches are easily influenced by human activities or natural factors.In addition,the desertification area and desertification degree reduced gradually in the study area during the period from 1987 to 2003.

Analysis of Land Cover and Landscape Pattern Change in Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Region Based on Globeland30 Data

With the rapid economic development and urbanization process in Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, land use and landscape pattern have been changed. In order to reveal the temporal and spatial changes and provide scientific basis for the local land use planning and landscape pattern optimization made by government, based on the classification results of Globeland 30 land cover data in 2000 and 2010, this paper quantitatively analyzed the land use transfer status and the dynamic change of landscape pattern in Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei by adopting the method of land use transfer matrix and landscape index. The results show that the land use and landscape patterns in Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei have been changed significantly from 2000 to 2010. Overall, land use in Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region has been changed greatly, which shows that the cultivated land area has been decreased by 3721.67 km2, while the artificial surface area and grassland area have increased by 2721.29 km2 and 657.09 km2, respectively. From the six partitions of Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei, it can be seen that the subareas with significant changes are Sand Control Farmland Protection Zone in Yellow River Flood Plain, Water Conservation Area for Sand Control in Mountain and Hilly Areas of Northwest Taihang Mountains, and Human Settlement Environment Maintenance and Farmland Protection Zone of Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Urban Agglomeration. The arable land area of these three zones has decreased 572.77 km2, 1553.94 km2 and 1359.53 km2, respectively. From the perspective of landscape pattern change, patch density and fragmentation degree in the southeast and northwest of Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region increase;and the dominant patches in the southeast of Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region have formed a good connectivity;the whole Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region shows irregular shape and discontinuous enhancement of landscape types, the landscape patch types increase and enrich, and the dominance shows a downward trend.

Land use and landscape pattern change: a linkage to the construction of the Qinghai-Xizang Highway

Based on digital land use data from 1995 to 2000 and road data, the land use and landscape changes of Golmud, Qumaleb and Zhidoi are studied on a macro-scale. Land use and landscape changes in highway buffer zones and city expansion are special subjects. A new formula is used to define the exact degree of dynamic land use. To adequately define land use and landscape pattern changes, the buffer zones, illustrating the changes at different distances from the road, are recognized with ArcGIS 8.1 software. Prominent changes took place in land use and landscape patterns from 1995 to 2000, and the area of built-up land increased by 323.8%. The comprehensive degree of dynamic land use is 2.25, and the degree of dynamic land use of built-up land is the highest, followed by cultivated land. Woodland has the lowest value. The used degree index of land resources declined by 38.8 from 1995 to 2000. Landscape changed dramatically which influenced ecological processes immensely. Different from the corridor effect of other traffic routes, the corridor effect of this section of road is not obvious and its “point” radiation effect can be easily seen. The expanding range of Golmud City is confined to a 3 km buffer, while for Wudaoliang, it is 1 km. No land use change happened in the Nanshankou buffer.

Digital Ecological Design of River Landscapes in Urbanization

By comparing landscape patterns of suburban and urban rivers in the same flow path, and analyzing patch indexes of urban river landscapes, corresponding sustainable eco-design strategies were proposed, ecodesign theory system and eco-restoration design techniques were coupled, so as to explore new digital eco-design means of urban river landscapes by targeting at regional ecological consistency.

Analysis of Temporal and Spatial Changes of Cultivated Land in Karst Areas of Southwest Guangxi Based on Landscape Pattern Indices

Affected by topographical conditions,the distribution of cultivated land in karst areas is relatively fragmented.More effective cultivated land protection measures can be taken in a targeted manner by grasping the spatial and temporal distribution characteristics of regional cultivated land.In this study,with the cultivated land of four county-level administrative regions(Debao County,Jingxi City,Daxin County,and Tiancheng County)in typical karst landform areas in southwestern Guangxi as the research object,combining with the spatial analysis function of the GIS software platform,the spatial distribution characteristics and temporal and spatial changes of cultivated land in the study area were investigated from 2009 to 2020 using the quantitative analysis method of landscape pattern indices,revealing the main problems of cultivated land utilization,and the multi-dimensional management ideas of cultivated land protection in karst areas under the background of rural revitalization strategy were proposed.

Application of UAV Image in Quantitative Analysis of Landscape Pattern of Railway

Taking Beijing–Shanghai High-speed Railway(the section of Zhenjiangnan Station) for example,this paper applied UAV remote sensing data and GIS spatial analysis to analyze current land use types in this section,on this basis used landscape pattern indices that showed high correlation with land use changes for the quantitative analysis and evaluation of ecosystem structure in the study area and also landscape pattern after the construction of high-speed railway.The results showed that UAV images performed well in the evaluation of railway landscape ecological environment,landscape structure and features represented by the selected landscape pattern indices in this paper were applicable,and capable of ensuring scientific evaluation of ecological environmental impact;the overall landscape pattern of the Zhenjiangnan Station section(Beijing–Shanghai High-speed Railway) after completion was moderate,and local ecosystem was damaged,thus scientific and reasonable ecological planning was required to design and change landscape structure.