Tourist preferences for agricultural landscapes:a case study of terraced paddy fields in Noto Peninsula,Japan

Many agricultural landscapes have been formed through the interaction and co-evolution of nature and people, and represent the living landscapes shaped over time through intensive and continuous human cultivation. Terraced paddy fields are being re-evaluated to take into account the multiple functions they fill beyond only rice cultivation, particularly their contribution to the national biodiversity strategy of Japan. Since the 1990 s, terraced paddy fields have been considered a representative cultural landscape of Japan and, at the same time, multi-stakeholder conservation activities have been conducted throughout Japan to reverse the increasing abandonment of terraces. Shiroyone Senmaida is an outstanding cultural landscape and a major tourist attraction in Noto Peninsula, Ishikawa Prefecture, which was designated through an initiative by the Food and Agriculture Organization(FAO) as a Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems(GIAHS) pilot site in 2011. It is important to clarify tourist preference for terraced paddy field landscapes to contribute to future policy making toward improved agricultural landscape conservation. A key finding of this study is that tourists visiting toenjoy the agricultural landscape are also concerned on the sustainability of the farming methods and preferred to maintain the naturalness of the landscape. Respondents with higher educational levels and greater concern for the biological and traditional farming knowledge aspects of the rice terraces were also more inclined to favor sustainable farming practices. Tourists preferred to maintain the naturalness and rurality of the agricultural landscape, and indicated that construction of excessive tourist facilities would cause the landscape to deteriorate. It was suggested that the local community and surroundings, including rural settlements, hills, and forests, should also be conserved together with the scenic terrace.

NATURAL LANDSCAPES AND STRATEGIES OF REGIONAL SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT IN EBINUR LAKE REGION IN XINJIANG

Changes and natural landscape Characteristics in Ebinur lake region are described in this paper. Based on analybog limiting factors to affect sustainable development in Ebinur lake region, strategies of regional protection, resource exploitation , environmetal harnessing and sustainable developmental hamessing and sustainable development in future are put forward.

Have some landscapes in the eastern Canadian boreal forest moved beyond their natural range of variability?

Background: In the contxt of ecosystem management, the present study aims to compare the natural and the present-day forested landscapes of a large territory in Quebec(Canada). Using contemporary and long-term fire cycles, each natural forst landscape is defined according to the variability of its structure and composition, and compared to the present-day landscape. This analysis was conducted to address the question of whether human activities have moved these ecosystems outside the range of natural landscape variability.Methods: The study encompassed a forested area of 175 000 km2 divided into 14 landscapes. Using a framework that integrates fire cycles, age structure and forest dynamics, we characterized the forest composition and age structures that resulted from three historical fire cycles(110,140, and 180 years) representative of the boreal forest of eastern Canada. The modeled natural landscapes were compared with present-day landscapes in regard to the proportion of old-growth forests(landscape level) and the proportion of late-successional forest stands(landscape level and potential vegetation type).Results: Four landscapes(39%) remain within their natural range of variability. In contrast, nine landscapes(54%)show a large gap between natural and present-day landscapes. These nine are located in the southern portion of the study area, and are mainly associated with Abies-Betula vegetation where human activities have contributed to a strong increase in the proportion of Populus tremuloides stands(early-successional stages) and a decrease of oldgrowth forest stands(more than 100 years old). A single landscape(7%), substantially changed from its potential natural state, is a candidate for adaptive-based management.Conclusion: Comparison of corresponding natural(reference conditions) and present-day landscapes showed that ten landscapes reflecting an important shift in forest composition and age structure could be considered beyond the range of their natural variability. The description of a landscape's natural variability at the scale of several millennia can be considered a moving benchmark that can be re-evaluated in the context of climate change.Focusing on regional landscape characteristics and long-term natural variability of vegetation and forest age structure represents a step forward in methodology for defining reference conditions and following shifts in landscape over time.

The Application of Dead Trees or Dying Trees in Landscape Design

In the development of landscape design,plants have always been one of the important elements in the landscape design,and play a very important role in the landscape.In the selection and application of landscape plants,living plants have always occupied a dominant position,but the research and application of dead trees are few.People tend to think that dead plants are no longer valuable,and all dead trees should be removed or replaced.In a sense,this is a waste of resources,and also increases the cost of landscape.In fact,the proper use of dead trees in landscapes design is more likely to display the artistic conception and theme of the landscape.In many natural landscapes,large trees,ancient trees and precious tree die because of natural laws or natural disasters,forming withered trees.This kind of withered tree endows the site with certain historical connotation,which could narrate the history and ecological change of site to people and evoke the imagination of people to the past.In addition,these dead wood still have high economic,ornamental,ecological and cultural values.This study focused on dead trees and dying trees as its subject,analyzing the outstanding dead trees application cases in natural landscape,and discusses the different functions of dead tree,such as ecological function,ornamental function,cultural function and others.In addition,the Beijing Wild Duck Lake National Wetland Park will serve as a special experimental site,dead tree will be designed and applied in the lake of park.And based on these data analyses,the final chapter will return to address the research questions and offer advice on how to apply dead tree to urban landscape and further enhance the value of dead trees in landscape design.

A Brief Analysis Of"Wild and Exquisite"British Natural Landscape Garden

Thanks for the opportunity that sent students to attend the short-term academic class at University of Wales Trinity Saint David at the end of 2019,the author took this opportunity to deeply experience the local customs,cultural customs and landscape of Britain.At the same time,as a landscape design researcher,the author elaborated the design methods and elements of the British natural landscape garden.Through literature reviewing and field feeling,and compared with classical Chinese gardens,the author analyzed their similarities and differences."Wild and exquisite"means"natural and worth thinking".The author analyzed the characteristics of several modern natural landscape garden visited and found out the moment of"wild and exquisite"in British natural landscape garden.

Natural heritage values and comparative analyses of Kanas,China

Kanas is a National Nature Reserve and National 5A Scenic Area,and it is also high on China’s National Natural Heritage List. In this paper,with an integrated analysis and comparative geo-graphical approach,the genesis and current features of the Kanas landscape are analyzed systematically according to the criteria for outstanding universal values that must be met for designation by the United Nations as World Natural Heritage. It is concluded that Kanas has outstanding universal values in geosciences,biology and aesthetics. Through comparison with other World Natural Heritage sites of the same geological types,in the same biogeographic zone and in the same latitude,it is concluded that Kanas meets criteria vii,viii,ix and x for designation as World Natural Heritage. Thus,this work establishes a scientific foundation for nomination of Kanas for such a status.

Current climate change effects on the ground thermal regime in Central Yakutia

The evolution of ground thermal state has been studied to assess impacts of current climatic warming on permafrost in Central Yakutia. The analysis of long-term data of regional weather stations has revealed one of the highest increasing trends in mean annual air temperature in northern Russia. A forecast of surface air temperature fluctuations has been made by applying a frequency analysis method. Monitoring of ground thermal conditions allows us to identify inter-annual and long-term variability among a wide range of natural conditions. Experimental research has indicated a long-term dynamics of ground thermal state evolution： ground temperatures at the depth of zero annual amplitude and seasonally thawed layer depth. Long-term variability of thaw depth shows near-zero to weak positive trends in small valleys in contrast to weak negative trends on slopes. With significant climatic warming, the thermal state of near-surface layers of permafrost demonstrates steadiness. Anthropogenic impacts on ground thermal regime in various terrain types have been qualitatively evaluated. Clear-cutting, ground cover stripping, and post-fire deforestation in inter-alas type terrains result in a significant increase of temperature and seasonal ground thaw depth, as well as adverse cryogenic processes. The dynamics of mean annual ground temperature in slash and burn sites have been evaluated in reference to stages of successive vegetation recovery.

Evaluation and reasonable exploitation on the natural view resources of Lushan Mountain scenic spot

The paper carried on the classified and rating evaluation primarily on natural landscape resources in Lushan Mountain. According to the evaluation, exploiting and utilizing the situation of scenic spot natural landscape resources, some reasonable advices were given on further exploiting Lushan Mountain natural scenic spot, expecting that it could supply some theoretical references for the natural landscape resources sustainable development in Lushan Mountain in the future.

Impact of urban landscape and environmental externalities on spatial differentiation of housing prices in Yangzhou City

In this study, housing prices data for residential quarters from the period 2001-2012 were used and Global Differentiation Index （GDI） was established to measure the overall differentiation trend in housing prices in Yangzhou City, eastern China. Then the influence of the natural landscape and environment on prices of global housing market and housing submarkets was evaluated by the hedonic price model. The results are shown as follows. （1） There have been increasing gaps among housing prices since 2001. In this period, the differentiation trend has shown an upward fluctuation, which has been coupled with the annual growth rate of housing prices. （2） The spatial distribution of residential quarters of homogenous prices has changed from clustered in 2001 into dispersed in 2012. （3） Natural landscape and environmental externalities clearly influence spatial differentiation of housing prices. （4） In different housing submarkets, the influence of natural landscape and environmental eternalities are varied. Natural landscape characteristics have significant impact on housing prices of ordinary commercial houses and indemnificatory houses, while the impact of environmental characteristics have obvious influence on housing prices of cottages and villas.

Born of geographical environment, coloring for regional context： Concept and progress of geo-architecture

In today＇s world, where re-examination has been given to cultural globalization, the relationship between architectures and specific regions is one of many specific issues. At this time, the study of architecture from the perspective of geography has significant meaning for treasuring regional characteristics and protecting the essence of ethnic culture. The study of geo-architecture includes two aspects： the influence of geographical environment upon architecture and reflexively, architectural responses to geographical environment. In ＂Geo-Architecture and Landscape in China＇s Geographic and Historic Context Series＂（4 volumes）, published by Springer Nature in 2016, the contents of ＂geo-architecture＂ has been interpreted from various angles as form, function, semantics and symbol. This book is the first to be entitled ＂Geo-Architecture＂, which studies the relationship between geography and architecture from the perspective of geographical environment and historical context in China. The book＇s research reveals the influences of different geographical scales, such as zone（macro）, region（middle） and site（micro） scales, on architecture; it discusses dynamic and systematic thought, including such research elements as ＂Object-Subject-Time＂, and it reflects views on pattern and process of cultural landscape. Research on geo-architecture aims to help construct the security pattern of the cultural landscape for the new requirements of a new era, which is used to optimize spacial structure, stimulate heritage conservation and renewal, respect the geographical environment, pay attention to historical culture and sustain emotional memory.