Landscape Heterogeneity and Disturbance

Norman L. Christensen

doi:10.2307/1938445

Diversity of butterflies in the agricultural landscape: the role of farming system and landscape heterogeneity

Ecography ◽

10.1034/j.1600-0587.2000.230611.x ◽

2000 ◽

Vol 23 (6) ◽

pp. 743-750 ◽

Cited By ~ 19

Author(s):

Ann-Christin Weibull ◽

Jan Bengtsson ◽

Eva Nohlgren

Keyword(s):

Agricultural Landscape ◽

Landscape Heterogeneity ◽

Farming System

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Ecological Connectivity in Agricultural Green Infrastructure: Suggested Criteria for Fine Scale Assessment and Planning

Land ◽

10.3390/land10080807 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 10 (8) ◽

pp. 807

Author(s):

Simone Valeri ◽

Laura Zavattero ◽

Giulia Capotorti

Keyword(s):

Land Cover ◽

Green Infrastructure ◽

Rural Areas ◽

Urban Areas ◽

Landscape Heterogeneity ◽

Agricultural Landscapes ◽

Spatial Pattern Analysis ◽

Fine Scale ◽

Unique Type

In promoting biodiversity conservation and ecosystem service capacity, landscape connectivity is considered a critical feature to counteract the negative effects of fragmentation. Under a Green Infrastructure (GI) perspective, this is especially true in rural and peri-urban areas where a high degree of connectivity may be associated with the enhancement of agriculture multifunctionality and sustainability. With respect to GI planning and connectivity assessment, the role of dispersal traits of tree species is gaining increasing attention. However, little evidence is available on how to select plant species to be primarily favored, as well as on the role of landscape heterogeneity and habitat quality in driving the dispersal success. The present work is aimed at suggesting a methodological approach for addressing these knowledge gaps, at fine scales and for peri-urban agricultural landscapes, by means of a case study in the Metropolitan City of Rome. The study area was stratified into Environmental Units, each supporting a unique type of Potential Natural Vegetation (PNV), and a multi-step procedure was designed for setting priorities aimed at enhancing connectivity. First, GI components were defined based on the selection of the target species to be supported, on a fine scale land cover mapping and on the assessment of land cover type naturalness. Second, the study area was characterized by a Morphological Spatial Pattern Analysis (MSPA) and connectivity was assessed by Number of Components (NC) and functional connectivity metrics. Third, conservation and restoration measures have been prioritized and statistically validated. Notwithstanding the recognized limits, the approach proved to be functional in the considered context and at the adopted level of detail. Therefore, it could give useful methodological hints for the requalification of transitional urban–rural areas and for the achievement of related sustainable development goals in metropolitan regions.

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Landscape heterogeneity buffers biodiversity of simulated meta-food-webs under global change through rescue and drainage effects

Nature Communications ◽

10.1038/s41467-021-24877-0 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 12 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Remo Ryser ◽

Myriam R. Hirt ◽

Johanna Häussler ◽

Dominique Gravel ◽

Ulrich Brose

Keyword(s):

Habitat Fragmentation ◽

Food Web ◽

Food Webs ◽

Landscape Heterogeneity ◽

Landscape Connectivity ◽

Biodiversity Loss ◽

Mechanistic Explanation ◽

Population Densities ◽

Rescue Effect ◽

Drainage Effect

AbstractHabitat fragmentation and eutrophication have strong impacts on biodiversity. Metacommunity research demonstrated that reduction in landscape connectivity may cause biodiversity loss in fragmented landscapes. Food-web research addressed how eutrophication can cause local biodiversity declines. However, there is very limited understanding of their cumulative impacts as they could amplify or cancel each other. Our simulations of meta-food-webs show that dispersal and trophic processes interact through two complementary mechanisms. First, the ‘rescue effect’ maintains local biodiversity by rapid recolonization after a local crash in population densities. Second, the ‘drainage effect’ stabilizes biodiversity by preventing overshooting of population densities on eutrophic patches. In complex food webs on large spatial networks of habitat patches, these effects yield systematically higher biodiversity in heterogeneous than in homogeneous landscapes. Our meta-food-web approach reveals a strong interaction between habitat fragmentation and eutrophication and provides a mechanistic explanation of how landscape heterogeneity promotes biodiversity.

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Rolling pits of Hartmann’s mountain zebra ( Zebra equus hartmannae ) increase vegetation diversity and landscape heterogeneity in the Pre‐Namib

Ecology and Evolution ◽

10.1002/ece3.7983 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Thomas C. Wagner ◽

Kenneth Uiseb ◽

Christina Fischer

Keyword(s):

Landscape Heterogeneity ◽

Vegetation Diversity

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Spatiotemporal Variation in Ecosystem Services and Their Drivers among Different Landscape Heterogeneity Units and Terrain Gradients in the Southern Hill and Mountain Belt, China

Remote Sensing ◽

10.3390/rs13071375 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 13 (7) ◽

pp. 1375

Author(s):

Liang-Jie Wang ◽

Shuai Ma ◽

Jiang Jiang ◽

Yu-Guo Zhao ◽

Jin-Chi Zhang

Keyword(s):

Ecosystem Services ◽

Soil Conservation ◽

Net Primary Productivity ◽

Landscape Heterogeneity ◽

Driving Factors ◽

Water Yield ◽

Invest Model ◽

Casa Model ◽

Mountain Belt ◽

Integrated Valuation

Understanding the spatiotemporal heterogeneity of ecosystem services (ESs) and their drivers in mountainous areas is important for sustainable ecosystem management. However, the effective construction of landscape heterogeneous units (LHUs) to reflect the spatial characteristics of ESs remains to be studied. The southern hill and mountain belt (SHMB) is a typical mountainous region in China, with undulating terrain and obvious spatial heterogeneity of ESs, and was selected as the study area. In this study, we used the fuzzy k-means (FKM) algorithm to establish LHUs. Three major ESs (water yield, net primary productivity (NPP), and soil conservation) in 2000 and 2015 were quantified using the Integrated Valuation of Ecosystem Services and Tradeoffs (InVEST) model and Carnegie Ames-Stanford approach (CASA) model. Then, we explored the spatial variation in ESs along terrain gradients and LHUs. Correlation analysis was used to analyze the driving factors of ESs in each terrain region and LHU. The results showed that altitude and terrain niche increased along LHUs. Water yield and soil conservation increased from 696.86 mm and 3920.19 t/km2 to 1061.12 mm and 5117.90 t/km2, respectively, while NPP decreased from 666.95 gC/m2 to 648.86 gC/m2. The ESs in different LHUs differed greatly. ESs increased first and then decreased along LHUs in 2000. In 2015, water yield decreased along LHUs, while NPP and soil conservation showed a fluctuating trend. Water yield was mainly affected by precipitation, temperature and NDVI were the main drivers of NPP, and soil conservation was greatly affected by precipitation and slope. The driving factors of the same ES were different in different terrain areas and LHUs. The variation and driving factors of ESs in LHUs were similar to some terrain gradients. To some extent, LHUs can represent multiple terrain features. This study can provide important support for mountain ecosystem zoning management and decision-making.

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Landscape heterogeneity and the biodiversity of Arctic stream communities: a habitat template analysis

Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences ◽

10.1139/f05-100 ◽

2005 ◽

Vol 62 (8) ◽

pp. 1905-1919 ◽

Cited By ~ 35

Author(s):

Alexander D Huryn ◽

Karie A Slavik ◽

Rex L Lowe ◽

Stephanie M Parker ◽

Dennis S Anderson ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Landscape Heterogeneity ◽

Detrended Correspondence Analysis ◽

Functional Feeding Groups ◽

Mountain Glacier ◽

Stream Communities ◽

Stream Community ◽

Arctic Alaska ◽

Template Analysis ◽

Habitat Template ◽

And Function

We predicted that substratum freezing and instability are major determinants of the variability of stream community structure in Arctic Alaska. Their effects were conceptualized as a two-dimensional habitat template that was assessed using a natural experiment based on five stream types (mountain-spring, tundra-spring, tundra, mountain, glacier). Detrended correspondence analysis (DCA) indicated distinct macroinvertebrate assemblages for each stream type. The contribution of functional feeding groups to assemblage biomass varied systematically among stream types, indicating that structure and function are linked. Assemblage position within a DCA biplot was used to assess factors controlling its structure. Springs separated from other stream types along a gradient of nutrient concentration and freezing probability. Glacier and mountain streams separated from springs and tundra streams along a gradient of substratum instability and freezing probability. Owing to differences in sources of discharge to streams, the effects of nutrients and substratum stability could not be separated from freezing. Although many factors likely contribute to the variability of Arctic stream communities, the major determinants may be conceptualized as a template structured by gradients in (i) nutrient supply and substratum freezing and (ii) substratum instability and substratum freezing. This template provides a basis for predicting the response of Arctic stream communities to climate change.

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Swift Foxes and Ideal Free Distribution: Relative Influence of Vegetation and Rodent Prey Base on Swift Fox Survival, Density, and Home Range Size

ISRN Zoology ◽

10.5402/2012/197356 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 2012 ◽

pp. 1-8 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Craig M. Thompson ◽

Eric M. Gese

Keyword(s):

Home Range ◽

Landscape Heterogeneity ◽

Ideal Free Distribution ◽

Survival Rates ◽

Home Range Size ◽

Range Size ◽

Distribution Model ◽

Free Distribution ◽

Swift Fox ◽

Ideal Free

Swift foxes (Vulpes velox) are an endemic mesocarnivore of North America subject to resource and predation-based pressures. While swift fox demographics have been documented, there is little information on the importance of top-down versus bottom-up pressures or the effect of landscape heterogeneity. Using a consumable resource-based ideal free distribution model as a conceptual framework, we isolated the effects of resource-based habitat selection on fox population ecology. We hypothesized if swift fox ecology is predominantly resource dependant, distribution, survival, and space use would match predictions made under ideal free distribution theory. We monitored survival and home range use of 47 swift foxes in southeastern Colorado from 2001 to 2004. Annual home range size was 15.4 km2, and seasonal home range size was 10.1 km2. At the individual level, annual home range size was unrelated to survival. Estimates of fox density ranged from 0.03 to 0.18 foxes/km2. Seasonal survival rates were 0.73 and 1.0 and did not differ seasonally. Foxes conformed to the predictions of the ideal free distribution model during winter, indicating foxes are food stressed and their behavior governed by resource acquisition. During the rest of the year, behavior was not resource driven and was governed by security from intraguild predation.

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Remote Sensing-Based Analysis of Urban Landscape Change in the City of Bucharest, Romania

Remote Sensing ◽

10.3390/rs13122323 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 13 (12) ◽

pp. 2323

Author(s):

Constantin Nistor ◽

Marina Vîrghileanu ◽

Irina Cârlan ◽

Bogdan-Andrei Mihai ◽

Liviu Toma ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Policy Development ◽

Urban Policy ◽

Urban Landscape ◽

Landscape Heterogeneity ◽

Real Estate Market ◽

Capital City ◽

Urban Structure ◽

Change Analysis ◽

Complex Structural ◽

The City

The paper investigates the urban landscape changes for the last 50 years in Bucharest, the capital city of Romania. Bucharest shows a complex structural transformation driven by the socialist urban policy, followed by an intensive real-estate market development. Our analysis is based on a diachronic set of high-resolution satellite imagery: declassified CORONA KH-4B from 1968, SPOT-1 from 1989, and multisensor stacked layers from Sentinel-1 SAR together with Sentinel-2MSI from 2018. Three different datasets of land cover/use are extracted for the reference years. Each dataset reveals its own urban structure pattern. The first one illustrates a radiography of the city in the second part of the 20th century, where rural patterns meet the modern ones, while the second one reveals the frame of a city in a full process of transformation with multiple constructions sites, based on the socialist model. The third one presents an image of a cosmopolitan city during an expansion process, with a high degree of landscape heterogeneity. All the datasets are included in a built-up change analysis in order to map and assess the spatial transformations of the city pattern over 5 decades. In order to quantify and map the changes, the Built-up Change Index (BCI) is introduced. The results highlight a particular situation linked to the policy development visions for each decade, with major changes of about 50% for different built-up classes. The GIS analysis illustrates two major landscape transformations: from the old semirural structures with houses surrounded by gardens from 1968, to a compact pattern with large districts of blocks of flats in 1989, and a contemporary city defined by an uncontrolled urban sprawl process in 2018.

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