Heterogeneity Effect of Human Disturbances on Landscape Patterns in the Yellow River Delta Wetland,China

Wetland landscapes have undergone tremendous changes and the spatial heterogeneity of wetlands has increased.It’s a huge challenge to accurately assess the effect of human disturbance on the landscape patterns in such a complex environment.This paper,taking the Yellow River Delta as a case,proposed a new framework to evaluate the heterogeneity effect of human disturbances on landscape patterns.A pixel-based Human Disturbance Index(HDI)with the addition of ecological conditions and the buffer influence is first established to quantify the spatial difference of human disturbances.Besides,Geographically Weighted Regression(GWR)model was introduced to analyze the spatial correlation between HDI and landscape indices,i.e.,Shannon’s Diversity Index(SHDI),Contagion Index(CONTAG),and Area-Weighted Mean Shape Index(SHAPEAM),which strongly correlated with HDI.The results show that HDI in the Yellow River Delta has increased gradually and its spatial heterogeneity has continued to increase in the past 30 years.The increase of human disturbances mainly occurred in coastal areas due to H-level human disturbances in Dongying Port and M-H level human disturbances along the coast.But in most areas inland of study area,the HDI reduced slightly benefit from the wetland conservation measurements.The landscape pattern in the Yellow River Delta wetland has changed tremendously.The spatial heterogeneity of landscapes is enhanced,and the connectivity is reduced.Patches tend to be regularized.Different levels of human disturbance have different effects on the landscape patterns.The M-H level HDI leads to low landscape different and more connected.While the H level HDI leads to stronger landscape heterogeneity,complex patch shapes and decreased spatial connectivity.These implicate the proposed framework is efficient for evaluating the heterogeneity effect of human disturbance and landscape patterns in a complex wetland ecosystem.These methods and findings will provide suggestions and guidance for wetland conservation and 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.

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.

Scale effect of coastal landscape pattern stability and driving forces:a case study of Guangdong Province,China

The long-term dynamic evolution and underlying mechanisms of coastal landscape pattern stability,driven by strong anthropogenic interference and consequently climate change,are topics of major interest in national and international scientific research.Guangdong Province,located in southeastern China,has been undergoing rapid urbanization over several decades.In this study,we quantitatively determined the scale threshold characteristics of coastal landscape pattern stability in Guangdong Province,from the dual perspective of spatial heterogeneity and spatial autocorrelation.An analysis of the spatiotemporal evolution of the coastal landscape was conducted after the optical scale was determined.Then,we applied the geodetector statistical method to quantitatively explore the mechanisms underlying coastal landscape pattern stability.Based on the inflection point of landscape metrics and the maximum value of the MoranⅠindex,the optimal scale for analyzing coastal landscape pattern stability in Guangdong Province was 240 m×240 m.Within the past several decades,coastal landscape pattern stability increased slightly and then decreased,with a turning point around 2005.The most significant variations in coastal landscape pattern stability were observed in the transition zone of rural-urban expansion.A q-statistics analysis showed that the explanatory power of paired factors was greater than that of a single driving factor;the paired factors with the greatest impact on coastal landscape pattern stability in Guangdong Province were the change in gross industrial output and change in average annual precipitation from 2010 to 2015,based on a q value of 0.604.These results will contribute to future efforts to achieve sustainable coastal development and provide a scientific basis and technical support for the rational planning and utilization of resources in large estuarine areas,including marine disaster prevention and seawall ecological restoration.

Strategies and Paths for Constructing Rural Landscape Ecological Security Pattern in the Context of Rural Revitalization

It is one of the fundamental research contents of rural revitalization by constructing a ecological security pattern of rural landscape,providing important basis for scientifically formulating rural spatial planning and sustainable rural development.The research on ecological security patterns of landscape at home and abroad is mainly focused on urban areas.In the context of rural revitalization,the research on strategies and paths for constructing the ecological security pattern of rural landscapes aims to provide important references for the overall planning and design of rural areas and the optimization of rural resource allocation.Using 3S(GPS,RS,GIS)technology methods,this paper systematically analyzes and elaborates on the construction strategies and paths of rural water ecological security pattern,rural biological protection security pattern,rural geological disaster security pattern,and local cultural landscape security pattern.Through the comprehensive superposition of the patterns,a comprehensive ecological security pattern of rural landscape is finally constructed.In the process of constructing and improving the ecological security pattern of rural landscape,emphasis is placed on top-level design,long-term planning,multi-party participation,mechanism improvement,technological innovation,and the strategy of“integrating knowledge with action”.

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.

Forest landscape patterns dynamics of Yihe-Luohe river basin

Based on the information from forest resources distribution maps of Luoning County of 1983 and 1999, six indices were used to analyze spatial patterns and dynamics of forest landscapes of the typical region in the middle of the Yihe-Luohe river basin. These indices include patch number, mean patch area, fragment index, patch extension index, etc. The results showed that: (1) There was a rapid increase in the number of patch and total area from 1983 to 1999 in the study area. The fragment degree became very high. (2) The area of all the forest patch types had witnessed great changes. The fractal degree of each forest patch type became big from 1983 to 1999. The mean extension index of Robinia pseudoacacia forest, non-forest, shrub forest, sparse forest, and Quercus species forest increased rapidly, but that of economic forest became zero. The fractal dimension each showed that forest coverage has been promoted. (3) The changes of landscape patterns were different in different geomorphic regions. From 1983 to 1999 the vegetation cover area, the gross number and the density of patch, diversity and evenness of landscape were all reduced greatly in gullies and ravines, but the maximum area and the mean area of patch types were increased. In hilly region, both the forest cover area and the number of patch increased from 1983 to 1999, but the mean area of patch was reduced greatly. In mountain region, even though the area under forest canopy reduced from 1983 to 1999, the patch number was increased greatly, the mean area of all patch types was reduced, the extension index, diversity index and evenness index of landscape were all increased. Furthermore, because of different types of land use, human activity and terrain, the vegetation changes on northern and southern mountain slopes were different. According to these analyses, the main driving forces, such as the policies of management, market economy, influence of human activities etc. are brought out.

Impacts of land use change on landscape patterns in mountain human settlement:The case study of Hantai District(Shaanxi,China)

Mountain area is an important geographical unit of land,and its ecology is sensitive and fragile.Over the past few decades,human activities have caused dramatic changes in land use in mountainous areas,which caused changes in landscape patterns and impacts on the ecological environment.It is unknown how the mechanism of land use affects the landscape pattern at different scales.The Hantai District,a typical human settlement in the mountain area in Shaanxi,China,was chosen as the study area.Based on the remote sensing images,the mathematical models and landscape indexes were adopted to evaluate the impact of land use change from 1998 to 2017 on the landscape pattern at different scales,and its main driving forces were analyzed.The results showed that the urbanized land expanded largest from 15.39%to 24.30%,and cultivated land experienced the largest decline from 43.54%to 35.35%.Changes in land use have made the patch morphology of most land types developed from a natural random to a sawtooth shape,and its spatial pattern evolved from a ruleset to a fragmented expansion.This reflects the continuous strengthening of human intervention in the process of regional development.Under the jurisdiction of Hantai District,the biggest change in landscape pattern is in Hanzhong City and Qili Town.The improved economy and increasing population and urbanization rate were the main factors that cause these changes.This research could provide necessary information for understanding the evolution mechanism of land resources in mountainous human settlements for mountainous areas with significant geomorphic differentiation.

Road Centrality and Landscape Spatial Patterns in Wuhan Metropolitan Area,China

Road network is a corridor system that interacts with surrounding landscapes,and understanding their interaction helps to develop an optimal plan for sustainable transportation and land use.This study investigates the relationships between road centrality and landscape patterns in the Wuhan Metropolitan Area,China.The densities of centrality measures,including closeness,betweenness,and straightness,are calculated by kernel density estimation(KDE).The landscape patterns are characterized by four landscape metrics,including percentage of landscape(PLAND),Shannon′s diversity index(SHDI),mean patch size(MPS),and mean shape index(MSI).Spearman rank correlation analysis is then used to quantify their relationships at both landscape and class levels.The results show that the centrality measures can reflect the hierarchy of road network as they associate with road grade.Further analysis exhibit that as centrality densities increase,the whole landscape becomes more fragmented and regular.At the class level,the forest gradually decreases and becomes fragmented,while the construction land increases and turns to more compact.Therefore,these findings indicate that the ability and potential applications of centrality densities estimated by KDE in quantifying the relationships between roads and landscapes,can provide detailed information and valuable guidance for transportation and land-use planning as well as a new insight into ecological effects of roads.

Changes of local agricultural landscape patterns induced by land consolidation in hilly and mountainous Southwestern China

Land consolidation (LC), as a type of human disturbance, improves land production efficiency and changes landscape distribution through land parcel reallocation. The objective of this study was to comparatively analyze the changes of landscape patches before and after a land consolidation project (LCP) and the effects of land levelling, irrigation and drainage work and road engineering on the landscape structure. FRAGSTAT3.3 and buffer zone analysis were used to investigate those changes. The results suggest that the heterogeneity of landscape depressed, and tended to simplification after LC. Dry land was the most highly variable land use pattern, and the change of forestland was least due to its locations at a gradient larger than 25°. LC resulted in a more rational use of land, and could be an important step in promoting rural development in depressed and fragmented agricultural areas through unused land exploitation, small-patch combination, irrigation and water conservancy, and road construction. Land levelling leveled off the gradient field surface and decreased the slope. The fragmentized patches were much more incorporated with increasing slope. On the other hand, the ridge of a field became longer so that the length of field surface and area of patch were increased. Land levelling regulated, simplified and combined patches, so that the complexity degree was reduced. It is found that the buffer distance of 35 m was a turning point of human disturbance by irrigation and drainage systems, and patches presented flaky distribution when the buffer distance was smaller than 35 m. Meanwhile, the distance range between 25 m to 50 m was an impressible area for road engineering, which was sensitive to human actions, and the changes of all landscape metrics were larger than those in other buffer zones. In general, LC not only reallocated fragmented parcels, but also improved agricultural conditions.

Analysis of Landscape Patterns in the Urban-Rural Integrated Area Based on Moving Window: A Case Study of Sanshui District in Foshan City

The urban-rural integrated area in Sanshui District of Foshan City was selected for research, and the impact of landscape pattern around the No.269 provincial highway was analyzed based on the land-use data in 2014 using the spatial analysis in GIS and the moving window method. The results showed that:(1) within the scope of a 2 km-range buffer zone, with a low degree of heterogeneity, land for construction use and water area were the dominant land-use types, while with a high degree of fragmentation, cultivated land, wooded land, grassland, garden land, land for other farm uses, and land unused were scattered;(2) the 250-m square moving window could well detect the change characteristics of landscape pattern on both sides of the road;(3) the gradient analysis of landscape pattern in urban-rural integrated area, which was conducted with the aid of a 750-m transect on both sides of the road, indicated that there were significant differences between landscape indexes both in the urban-rural integrated area and on both sides of the road;(4) the road that had an obvious cutting and fragmentation impact on the landscape was an important factor leading to the increasing fragmentation and heterogeneity to regional landscapes.

Landscape patterns and their evolutions in the suburban ecotone──A case study of the eastern suburb of Beijing

The characteristics and evolutions of the landscape patterns in the suburban ecotone are studied on the basis of landscape-ecological maps of different years derived from the corresponding aerial photos The relationship between landscape patterns and urban economical development is ana- lyzed. The diversity index is used to characterize the features of the landscape patterns in the ecotone and define the location of Sharp change.

Analysis of Landscape Patterns and the Trend of Forest Resources in the Three Gorges Reservoir Area

In this paper, first, based on landscape ecology theories, we respectively selected indexes from 4 aspects, area, edge, shape, and density, of the landscape type to describe the status of forest landscape patterns, and we established the stability index of landscape pattern (LSBI). Then, based on geo-statistical theories, we divided the forest in the reservoir area into 3990 grids of 4 km × 4 km using network technology and employing ordinary Kriging modelling to make trend surface analyses of the forest resources in the reservoir area. Finally, based on statistics principles, we used sampling theory to systematically extract 227 samples to obtain 7 periods of remote-sensing data from 1990a to 2012a. Then, we classified and extracted the forest in the sampling area using remote sensing, and we analysed each result with an Autoregressive Integrated Moving Average Model (ARIMA) time-series model. The results indicated the following: 1) the landscape structure of the reservoir area was primarily needle-leaved forest, broad-leaved forest and bush forest, and the mixed stands and bamboo stands were secondary;2) the difference of the forest landscape pattern stability in the reservoir area, in all directions, was not significant, but the southern region was slightly more stable;and 3) the stability of the forest landscape pattern in the reservoir area increased from 1990a to 2012a. It kept increasing until 2016a. This study provides a theoretical basis for the reasonable management and decisions about the forest resources in the Three Gorges Reservoir Area. Meanwhile, it also explores methods for relevant research and has practical significance.

The Evolution of Landscape Patterns of and Optimization Measures for Urban Core Areas Against the Background of Urbanization: A Case Study of Yangling Demonstration Zone

Studying tiie urban landscape pattern plays a crucial role in scientific land use and management and in improving the urban ecological environment In this paper, AutoCAD, ArcGIS, Fragstats, and other software were used to analyse the data of the fourth phase of land use in the core atea of Yangling Demonstration Zone. The results showed that： ① in the core area, the percentage of construction land incteased from 18.22% to 61.72%, and the percentage of agricultufal land decreased from 58.36% to 11.14%. And the fafm land was fragmented, and traffic connectivily was strengthened. The afea of garden land was reduced from 251.89 hm2 to 50.38 hm^2, and the landscape metric of forest land showed an inverted V-shaped curve. ②The year 2009 in four phases witnessed the greatest landscape fragmentation, both Edge Density （ED） and Ingest Patch Index （LPI） increased, and human interference enhanced the overall landscape complexity. Measures were fotmulated in terms of deaf development goals, optimized allocation of land resoutces, effective protection of ecological ted lines, and definite ecological responsibility, so as to optimize the urban landscape pattern.

Landscape Characteristics and Spatial Patterns of Tujia Traditional Villages in Southwest Hubei

The traditional villages in the Tujia area of southwest Hubei are comprehensive carriers of historical culture,architectural skills and landscape patterns.The traditional villages have formed a unique village landscape,which is an important part of China's national culture and landscape resources.Based on the classification of landscape characteristics of 86 traditional Tujia villages in southwest Hubei,the study explored the landscape spatial pattern characteristics of traditional villages by GIS spatial analysis method.

Study on Decorative Patterns of Ceramic Landscape Paintings in Qing Dynasty

Compared with the previous generation,the ceramic art of the Qing Dynasty made a great breakthrough in modeling and decoration,reaching the peak of Chinese ceramic production.At this time,the ceramic decorative patterns continued to innovate in inheritance and add new themes.Among them,the emergence of landscape painting decorative patterns reflected the unique artistic charm of ceramics in the Qing Dynasty,which not only found a new space for Chinese landscape painting,but also added new vitality to Chinese ceramic art.This paper makes a preliminary introduction to the development of ceramic landscape decoration in the Qing Dynasty.

Study on the Vegetation Landscape Pattern of Ganzi Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture in Sichuan Province

This study aimed to provide theoretical bases for optimized land use in minority settlements at high altitude. On the basis of forest form map and land use type map (1∶250 000) of Ganzi Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture in Sichuan Province in 2007, this study carried out further analysis and assessment on the landscape pattern and fragmentation degree of Ganzi from the perspective of overall landscape characteristics, area and perimeter of patches, quantity and fractal dimension of patches and so on with the support of geo-info systematical software ArcCIS and landscape structure analysis software Fragstats. The results showed that among all landscape elements alpine meadow and evergreen broad-leaved shrubs take up a larger part as temperate and cool temperate grassland and marsh are scattered with small areas; deciduous and broad-leaved as well as their mixed forest have higher landscape fragmentation degree, on the whole, the fragmentation degree of forest type is higher than that of meadow and shrub; fractal dimensions of landscape components are all small and tend to 1, which indicates that the folded degree of all landscape boundaries are small.

Analysis of Changing Landscape Pattern in Baiyangdian before and after Ecological Water Supplement Project Based on RS and GIS

By using TM remote sensing images of Baiyangdian Wetland in 1989,1999,2003 and 2004,taking the water area between Anxin County and Cangzhou where most of Baiyangdian Wetland water body lies for landscape classification,changes in landscape pattern of Baiyangdian before and after the water supplement were analyzed with landscape indexes calculated by Fragstats3.3. The results showed that after the water supplement,from the perspective of landscape cell index,fractal dimension of major ecosystems in Baiyangdian decreased to some extent;from the perspective of landscape diversity index,diversity index of the study region also decreased,which demonstrated that ecosystem diversity in this region reduced,land cover grew to simplification;and the decreasing evenness degree of the study region also showed the uneven development of its ecosystems. That is to say,water supplement has brought favorable ecological changes to the eco-environment of Baiyangdian,which has further optimized the health condition of ecosystems in this region.

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