Spatiotemporal landscape pattern changes and their effects on land surface temperature in greenbelt with semi-arid climate:A case study of the Erbil City,Iraq

Urban expansion of cities has caused changes in land use and land cover(LULC)in addition to transformations in the spatial characteristics of landscape structure.These alterations have generated heat islands and rise of land surface temperature(LST),which consequently have caused a variety of environmental issues and threated the sustainable development of urban areas.Greenbelts are employed as an urban planning containment policy to regulate urban expansion,safeguard natural open spaces,and serve adaptation and mitigation functions.And they are regarded as a powerful measure for enhancing urban environmental sustainability.Despite the fact that,the relation between landscape structure change and variation of LST has been examined thoroughly in many studies,but there is a limitation concerning this relation in semi-arid climate and in greenbelts as well,with the lacking of comprehensive research combing both aspects.Accordingly,this study investigated the spatiotemporal changes of landscape pattern of LULC and their relationship with variation of LST within an inner greenbelt in the semi-arid Erbil City of northern Iraq.The study utilized remote sensing data to retrieve LST,classified LULC,and calculated landscape metrics for analyzing spatial changes during the study period.The results indicated that both composition and configuration of LULC had an impact on the variation of LST in the study area.The Pearson's correlation showed the significant effect of Vegetation 1 type(VH),cultivated land(CU),and bare soil(BS)on LST,as increase of LST was related to the decrease of VH and the increases of CU and BS,while,neither Vegetation 2 type(VL)nor built-up(BU)had any effects.Additionally,the spatial distribution of LULC also exhibited significant effects on LST,as LST was strongly correlated with landscape indices for VH,CU,and BS.However,for BU,only aggregation index metric affected LST,while none of VL metrics had a relation.The study provides insights for landscape planners and policymakers to not only develop more green spaces in greenbelt but also optimize the spatial landscape patterns to reduce the influence of LST on the urban environment,and further promote sustainable development and enhance well-being in the cities with semi-arid climate.

RS and GIS-based Analysis on Dynamic Changes of Landscape Pattern on Urban-rural Fringe——A Case Study of Licheng District, Jinan City of China

By using GIS, RS and landscape ecology, LandsatTM (1993 and 2009) and ETM (2001) remote sensing images of Licheng District of Ji’nan City, Shandong Province were interpreted, and dynamic changes of landscape pattern in the district were analyzed at the levels of class and landscape. The results showed that during the 16 years the landscape pattern in the district had changed significantly. (a) From the perspective of patch category, areas of arable land, woodland and grassland decreased unceasingly, and arable land accounted for the largest reduction from 488.15 km 2 in 1993 down to 324.37 km 2 in 2009, witnessing a reduction rate of 33.56%. But the patch quantity and fragmentation increased, patch connectivity reduced. Spatial pattern of construction land expanded and its area witnessed a significant increase of 147.05%. Patch cohesion index increased and connectivity grew better. (b) From the perspective of overall landscape, patch quantity, contagion and perimeter-area fractal dimension decreased, patch shape became simple, the Shannon’s diversity index, Shannon’s evenness index and splitting index increased, landscape heterogeneity rose. With the rapid social and economic development, landscape pattern will be more and more influenced by human behaviors

Analysis and Simulation for Landscape Pattern Changes of Land Use in Wuzhong District, Suzhou City

Based on analyzing the changes of land use in Wuzhong District, Suzhou City from 2005 to 2008, temporal and spatial changes of land use from 2008 to 2020 were analyzed by using the model CLUE-S and, from the perspective of landscape ecology, future landscape pattern changes of land use in Wuzhong District were also quantitatively discussed by utilizing landscape indices. The results indicated that there was a large variation range of land use in Wuzhong District from 2005 to 2008 and massive farmland and woodland were transformed into construction land and gardens. Guided by the policy of saving intensive land and protecting farmland, future variation range of land use will get smaller obviously. The fragmentation degree for farmland, woodland and water area will get decreased but will get increased relatively for construction land. In general, all landscapes tend to a balanced development.

Impacts of multi-scenario land use change on ecosystem services and ecological security pattern: A case study of the Yellow River Delta

The Yellow River Delta(YRD), a critical economic zone along China's eastern coast, also functions as a vital ecological reserve in the lower Yellow River. Amidst rapid industrialization and urbanization, the region has witnessed significant land use/cover changes(LUCC), impacting ecosystem services(ES) and ecological security patterns(ESP). Investigating LUCC's effects on ES and ESP in the YRD is crucial for ecological security and sustainable development. This study utilized the PLUS model to simulate 2030 land use scenarios, including natural development(NDS), economic development(EDS), and ecological protection scenarios(EPS). Subsequently, the InVEST model and circuit theory were applied to assess ES and ESP under varying LUCC scenarios from 2010 to 2030. Findings indicate:(1) Notable LUCC from 2010 to 2030, marked by decreasing cropland and increasing construction land and water bodies.(2) From 2010 to 2020, improvements were observed in carbon storage,water yield, soil retention, and habitat quality, whereas 2020–2030 saw increases in water yield and soil retention but declines in habitat quality and carbon storage. Among the scenarios, EPS showed superior performance in all four ES.(3) Between 2010 and 2030, ecological sources, corridors, and pinchpoints expanded, displaying significant spatial heterogeneity. The EPS scenario yielded the most substantial increases in ecological sources,corridors, and pinchpoints, totaling 582.89 km^(2), 645.03 km^(2),and 64.43 km^(2), respectively. This study highlights the importance of EPS, offering insightful scientific guidance for the YRD's sustainable development.

Changes of coastline and tidal flat and its implication for ecological protection under human activities: Take China’s Bohai Bay as an example

The change processes and trends of shoreline and tidal flat forced by human activities are essential issues for the sustainability of coastal area,which is also of great significance for understanding coastal ecological environment changes and even global changes.Based on field measurements,combined with Linear Regression(LR)model and Inverse Distance Weighing(IDW)method,this paper presents detailed analysis on the change history and trend of the shoreline and tidal flat in Bohai Bay.The shoreline faces a high erosion chance under the action of natural factors,while the tidal flat faces a different erosion and deposition patterns in Bohai Bay due to the impact of human activities.The implication of change rule for ecological protection and recovery is also discussed.Measures should be taken to protect the coastal ecological environment.The models used in this paper show a high correlation coefficient between observed and modeling data,which means that this method can be used to predict the changing trend of shoreline and tidal flat.The research results of present study can provide scientific supports for future coastal protection and management.

Eternal Climate Change Patterns and the Causes and Countermeasures of Global Climate Change

It is an objective fact that the weather is unpredictable.Even the famous meteorologist,Academician Chu Ko Chen,has only a partial understanding of the changing laws of wind and rain.Even though ancient people summarized the 24 solar terms by observing the annual activities of the sun for a long time,because they ignored the impact of the activities of the moon on the Earth’s climate change on a small scale,the 24 solar terms they summarized often could not accurately predict the change of the Earth’s climate.Therefore,the author studied the influence of lunar activities on the Earth’s climate change,finds out the law of the influence of lunar activities on the Earth’s climate change on a small scale,and summarizes the eternal climate change pattern determined by the activities of the sun and the moon.In addition,the author also reveals the causes and countermeasures of global warming and the frequent occurrence of extreme weather as well as environmental change.

Regional agricultural landscape pattern changes along the Yellow River in Henan Province from 1987 to 2002

Agricultural landscape along the riparian zones is designated as important landscape components for partly controlling water quality, biodiversity, as well as for their aesthetic role in landscapes. Therefore, the change of agricultural landscape along the riparian zones is at the top of the agenda for many policy makers and landscape planners. As a basis for conservation management, sufficient information about landscape structure should be provided. In the present study, we reconstructed the former landscape structure and elucidated the changes in landscape patterns during a period of about 15 years. Two sets of maps were used： a landsat-5 TM image （1987） and landsat-7 ETM image （2002）. The frequency index, landscape diversity index and landscape fragmentation index were calculated for analyses. The results showed that： （1） the areas of the irrigated land, river, forest and beach landscape classes presented a decreasing trend while the areas of landscape classes of pool, paddy fields, dry land and construction land increased. （2） Disturbed by human activity, landscape diversity index increased but landscape fragmentation index decreased. In short, Human activities have had important influences on agricultural landscape of the riparian zones along the Yellow River in Henan Province.

Numerical simulation of flow focusing pattern and morphological changes in two-phase flow inside nozzle

The flow focusing nozzle is a new type of nozzle that performs effective atomization of the discrete phase by means of high-speed motion of the continuous phase.The flow pattern and its morphological changes have a significant effect on the atomization, but the influence of different parameters on the morphological change of the flow pattern remains unclear.The flow focusing pattern and morphological changes in the two-phase flow inside the nozzle were simulated numerically, based on the volume of fluid method.The results demonstrate that the ratio of the nozzle-to-capillary distance and capillary diameter, the gas–liquid velocity ratio, and capillary diameter have significant effects on the flow pattern.When the ratio of the nozzle-to-capillary distance H and capillary diameter D increases, or the capillary diameter D increases, the flow pattern tends to transform into a laminar form; however, when the gas–liquid velocity ratio V increases, the flow pattern tends to transform into a turbulence form.Furthermore, we define the cone-shaped expansion rate, cone-shaped focusing rate,and cone angle in order to study the morphological changes in the cone shape inside the nozzle.The results indicate that the morphological change of the cone shape and flow pattern transformation is interrelated.When the cone shape tends to be unstable, the flow pattern changes towards flow blurring, whereas, a stable cone indicates that the flow tends to exhibit a droplet pattern.

URBAN COMPETITIVE PATTERN AND ITS CHANGES IN CHINA

With the national economy’s transition from a planning one to a market one, the factors affecting regional economic pattern has changed greatly. In this paper we first construct an index system for evaluating competitiveness of Chinese cities based on modern competitive advantage theory. With principal component analysis and cluster analysis methods, we compare the factors affecling cities’ integrated competitiveness in 1990 and 1997. We find that four major factors are capital (including investment, FDI and urban financial revenue ), urban ithestructure (transporiation and communication, urbanization level, education etc. ), industrial performance and structure, degree of market openness and that these factors have become more advanced and complicated since 1990. Most Chinese cities are transforming from productive factors-oriented type to investment-oriented type and a few are becoming innovation oriented. The integrated competitiveness is closely related to cities’ scale, urban function, regional policy and degree of market openness and displays an uneven spatial pattern. The difference between the south and the north and the difference between the west and the east co-exist bul the former has been more larger. Finally, we discuss the mechanism behind the pattern and attribute the unevenness to change of factors dominating the cities’ compehtiveness regional innovation capacity and geographical differenceof traditional culture.

RS and GIS-based Analysis of Landscape Pattern Changes in Urban-rural Ecotone:A Case Study of Daiyue District,Tai' an City,China

Based on RS data of Daiyue District,Tai'an City in 2000,2005 and 2010,changes of land use types in urban-rural ecotone of Tai'an City from 2000 to 2010 were analyzed.Ecological theories,ArcGIS techniques and landscape structure analysis software Fragstats were applied to select relevant landscape pattern indexes and analyze changes of landscape structure,and compare changes in two durations(2000-2005,2005-2010).The results showed that area of natural landscapes in the study area declined from 2000 to 2010,construction land expanded,land use types were mainly transferred from natural landscapes to man-made landscapes.In terms of landscape level,number of patches(NP),patch density(PD),patch shape index(SHAPE),Shannon's diversity index(SHDI) and Shannon's evenness index(SHEI) increased,the largest patch index(LPI) declined.In terms of type level,arable land were influenced by the most human interventions,large-scale patches turned fragmented,and landscape dominance degraded;woodland landscapes were concentrated in mountainous areas,waterscape indexes showed slight changes.Dominance of regional dominant landscape types degraded,landscape fragmentation and landscape heterogeneity increased,and landscape stability declined.

Changes in cortical activation patterns accompanying somatosensory recovery in a stroke patient: a functional magnetic resonance imaging study

The somatosensory system plays a crucial role in executing precise movements by providing sensory feedback （Farrer et al., 2003; Rabin and Gordon, 2004）. Somatosensory dys- function is a common problem following stroke. In partic- ular, somatosensory impairments, such as impairment in touch, proprioception, light touch, and vibration have been frequently observed （Carey et al., 1993; Sullivan and Hed- man, 2008; Tyson et al., 2008）. Patients with somatosensory dysfunction show negative effects on motor control, and it sometimes becomes difficult to perform daily activities independently.

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.

GIS-Based Empirical Research on Changes of Wuhan’s Lakeside Pattern

There is often a close spatial relationship between urban development and water bodies.Functionally,the relationship can also be in many forms:from water supply for human and industrial use to purely aesthetic functions.These relationships are all,in their own way,critical elements of the sustainability of urban development,making the careful management for water bodies and riparian areas of fundamental importance.This study quantifies the historical changes of urban development pattern in lakesides of 27 lakes located in Wuhan’s main urban area.Image data from 1989-2009 is used to analyze the spatial changes in a GIS environment.The study shows how the land development,such as urban construction,transportation and agricultural development have affected the riparian areas of these water bodies.It discloses objective laws governing the historical changes of Wuhan’s lakeside pattern,and the correlations among the laws to provide strong technical support and theoretical reference for the future integrated development and protection of Wuhan’s lakes and to present decision-making support for urban construction and management.

Study on Coastal Landscape Pattern Change Based on GIS

Based on GIS technology,from the perspective of landscape ecology and by taking Dianbai County for example,the paper had made landscape layout division according to land use types and studied dynamic change of local land use through indexes' change.The result showed that coastal mudflat in Diantai County had increased obviously while water area had decreased substantially and other lands also decreased in a way from 2005 to 2009.The number of land use patches increased,fractal dimension and isolating degree appeared to be in increasing trend,and diversity and evenness degree presented to be in decreasing trend.Spatial heterogeneity of landscape layout reduced,and dominance and fragmentation degree of it increased.Human activity made larger interference on landscape layout.

The change of Chinese students＇ cultural patterns and its roots in the process of globalization

One of the most important characteristics of culture is that it is subject to change. The theory of cultural patterns in intercultural communication is used to study the change of Chinese students＇ living pattern, communication pattern and thinking pattern because of globalization. The factors and reasons of both change and the unchanged are analyzed and summarized.

Pattern Change and Regional Disparity Tendency of Cultivated Land Use in Jiangsu Province

The study has examined the tempo-spatial patterns of cultivated land use change in Jiangsu province. A principal component analysis （PCA） of 18 selected indicators of cultivated land use during the period 1970-2010 identified 2 main pat- terns of change in planting productivity and economic efficiency. A major shift from production-centered pattern to profit-oriented one occurred in 1984, the time of grain yield surplus and the mitigation of population pressure. In response to the impending Opened Market System, there was a notable tendency of higher efficiency and less productivity since 1997, as well as remarkable regional disparity of cultivated land use change spatially. It revealed a relative decrease in grain cropping share, crop- ping scale and cultivation intensity in South Jiangsu, especially in Tai-Lake region, and the reverse in North Jiangsu. Some suggestions for the future were finally dis- cussed from the above findings.

Spatial patterns and driving forces of land use change in China during the early 21st century

Land use and land cover change as the core of coupled human-environment systems has become a potential field of land change science （LCS） in the study of global environmental change. Based on remotely sensed data of land use change with a spatial resolution of 1 km × 1 km on national scale among every 5 years, this paper designed a new dynamic regionalization according to the comprehensive characteristics of land use change including regional differentiation, physical, economic, and macro-policy factors as well. Spatial pattern of land use change and its driving forces were investigated in China in the early 21 st century. To sum up, land use change pattern of this period was characterized by rapid changes in the whole country. Over the agricultural zones, e.g., Huang-Huai-Hai Plain, the southeast coastal areas and Sichuan Basin, a great proportion of fine arable land were engrossed owing to considerable expansion of the built-up and residential areas, resulting in decrease of paddy land area in southern China. The development of oasis agriculture in Northwest China and the reclamation in Northeast China led to a slight increase in arable land area in northern China. Due to the ＂Grain for Green＂ policy, forest area was significantly increased in the middle and western developing regions, where the vegetation coverage was substantially enlarged, likewise. This paper argued the main driving forces as the implementation of the strategy on land use and regional development, such as policies of ＂Western Development＂, ＂Revitalization of Northeast＂, coupled with rapidly economic development during this period.

Prevalence of vegetation browning in China’s drylands under climate change

Vegetation greening has long been acknowledged,but recent studies have pointed out that vegetation greening is possibly stalled or even reversed.However,detailed analyses about greening reversal or increased browning of vegetation remain scarce.In this study,we utilized the normalized difference vegetation index(NDVI)as an indicator of vegetation to investigate the trends of vegetation greening and browning(monotonic,interruption,and reversal)through the breaks for the additive season and trend(BFAST)method across China’s drylands from 1982 to 2022.It also reveals the impacts of ecological restoration programs(ERPs)and climate change on these vegetation trends.We find that the vegetation displays an obvious pattern of east-greening and west-browning in China’s drylands.Greening trends mainly exhibits monotonic greening(29.8%)and greening with setback(36.8%),whereas browning shows a greening to browning reversal(19.2%).The increase rate of greening to browning reversal is 0.0342/yr,which is apparently greater than that of greening with setback,0.0078/yr.This research highlights that,under the background of widespread vegetation greening,vegetation browning is pro-gressively increasing due to the effects of climate change.Furthermore,the ERPs have significantly increased vegetation coverage,with the increase rate in 2000-2022 being twice as much as that of 1982-1999 in reveg-etation regions.Vegetation browning in southwestern Qingzang Plateau is primarily driven by adverse climatic factors and anthropogenic disturbances,which offset the efforts of ERPs.

The role of landscape pattern analysis in understanding concepts of land cover change

Landscape ecology and landscape pattern analysis are important components of national-scale programs to identify trends in land cover change because: 1) Statistics on changes in land cover proportions are not spatial. A change matrix derived from GIS provides useful information, but it does not show the spatial form of change in the landscape. Landscape pattern metrics reveal spatial pattern. 2) A growing body of literature has shown that a change in landscape pattern might indicate important changes in ecological functions: forest connectivity and species movements, number and size of farm patches, effects on water quality. Spatial pattern is important in structuring ecological communities and in maintaining existence of competitors. Spatial pattern may be determined by disturbance and may in turn, determine how disturbances propagate through the system. 3) Sometimes landscape pattern may not significantly change, even though land cover proportions do change. Or, vice-versa, sometimes landscape pattern can significantly change, even though land cover proportions don't significantly change. 4) Landscape pattern is an inherent and important part of describing landscapes: based on the literature, one of the most important descriptive characteristics of a landscape is its texture. The objectives of this paper are to: 1) Explain the importance of the role of landscape ecology and landscape pattern analysis in land cover change studies; 2) Review the literature that specifically incorporates landscape ecology into land cover change studies; and 3) List the theoretical and technical issues involved and suggest solutions for them.