scholarly journals Recent Shrinkage and Fragmentation of Bluegrass Landscape in Kentucky

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (11) ◽  
pp. 1815
Author(s):  
Bo Tao ◽  
Yanjun Yang ◽  
Jia Yang ◽  
Ray Smith ◽  
James Fox ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
Land Cover ◽  
Mesh Size ◽  
Landscape Fragmentation ◽  
Climate Mitigation ◽  
Fragmentation Model ◽  
Cultural Significance ◽  
Effective Mesh Size ◽  
Grassland Conversion ◽  
Bluegrass Region

The Bluegrass Region is an area in north-central Kentucky with unique natural and cultural significance, which possesses some of the most fertile soils in the world. Over recent decades, land use and land cover changes have threatened the protection of the unique natural, scenic, and historic resources in this region. In this study, we applied a fragmentation model and a set of landscape metrics together with the satellite-derived USDA Cropland Data Layer to examine the shrinkage and fragmentation of grassland in the Bluegrass Region, Kentucky during 2008–2018. Our results showed that recent land use change across the Bluegrass Region is characterized by grassland decline, cropland expansion, forest spread, and suburban sprawl. The grassland area decreased by 14.4%, with an interior (or intact) grassland shrinkage of 5%, during the study period. Land conversion from grassland to other land cover types has been widespread, with major grassland shrinkage occurring in the west and northeast of the Outer Bluegrass Region and relatively minor grassland conversion in the Inner Bluegrass Region. The number of patches increased from 108,338 to 126,874. The effective mesh size, which represents the degree of landscape fragmentation in a system, decreased from 6629.84 to 1816.58 for the entire Bluegrass Region. This study is the first attempt to quantify recent grassland shrinkage and fragmentation in the Bluegrass Region. Therefore, we call for more intensive monitoring and further conservation efforts to preserve the ecosystem services provided by the Bluegrass Region, which has both local and regional implications for climate mitigation, carbon sequestration, diversity conservation, and culture protection.

Analysis of Land Use Land Cover in Annapurna Conservation Area in Gandaki Province, Nepal using Vegetation Index and Land Use Land Cover Datasets

2019 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 87-99
Author(s):  
Shiva Pokhrel ◽  
Chungla Sherpa
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
Land Cover ◽  
Vegetation Index ◽  
National Level ◽  
Climate Mitigation ◽  
Land Use Land Cover ◽  
Conservation Area ◽  
Barren Land ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Annapurna Conservation Area

Conservation areas are originally well-known for protecting landscape features and wildlife. They are playing key role in conserving and providing a wide range of ecosystem services, social, economic and cultural benefits as well as vital places for climate mitigation and adaptation. We have analyzed decadal changes in land cover and status of vegetation cover in the conservation area using both national level available data on land use land cover (LULC) changes (1990-2010) and normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) (2010-2018) in Annapurna conservation area. LULC showed the barren land as the most dominant land cover types in all three different time series 1990, 2000 and 2010 with followed by snow cover, grassland, forest, agriculture and water body. The highest NDVI values were observed at Southern, Southwestern and Southeastern part of conservation area consisting of forest area, shrub land and grassland while toward low to negative in the upper middle to the Northern part of the conservation area.

scholarly journals The Use of Geographic Databases for Analyzing Changes in Land Cover—A Case Study of the Region of Warmia and Mazury in Poland

2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (6) ◽  
pp. 358
Author(s):  
Iwona Cieślak ◽  
Andrzej Biłozor ◽  
Anna Źróbek-Sokolnik ◽  
Marek Zagroba
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
Land Cover ◽  
Spatial Data ◽  
Landscape Fragmentation ◽  
Water Bodies ◽  
Corine Land Cover ◽  
Land Cover Data ◽  
Land Use Types ◽  
Over Time

This article analyzes the applicability of spatial data for evaluating and monitoring changes in land use and their impact on the local landscape. The Coordination of Information on the Environment (CORINE) Land Cover database was used to develop a procedure and an indicator for analyzing changes in land cover, and the continuity of different land use types. Changes in land use types were evaluated based on land cover data. The results were analyzed over time to track changes in the evaluated region. The studied area was the Region of Warmia and Mazury in Poland. The preservation of homogeneous land cover plays a particularly important role in areas characterized by high natural value and an abundance of forests and water bodies. The study revealed considerable changes in land cover and landscape fragmentation in the analyzed region.

Modification of the effective mesh size for measuring landscape fragmentation to solve the boundary problem

2006 ◽  
Vol 22 (3) ◽  
pp. 447-459 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brigitte Moser ◽  
Jochen A. G. Jaeger ◽  
Ulrike Tappeiner ◽  
Erich Tasser ◽  
Beatrice Eiselt
Keyword(s):  
Boundary Problem ◽  
Mesh Size ◽  
Landscape Fragmentation ◽  
Effective Mesh Size

scholarly journals LANDSCAPE STRUCTURE IN THE LANDS OF THE UPPER COURSE OF THE BANABUIÚ RIVER, CEARÁ STATE, BRAZIL

2016 ◽  
Vol 36 ◽  
pp. 121
Author(s):  
Clécia Cristina Barbosa Guimarães ◽  
Gustavo Souza Valladares ◽  
Claudia Miranda Martins ◽  
Veridiana Maria Sayão
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
Land Cover ◽  
Degradation Process ◽  
Landscape Fragmentation ◽  
Natural Vegetation ◽  
Livestock Grazing ◽  
Land Cover Mapping ◽  
Small Areas ◽  
Original Vegetation ◽  
Short Time

The land use and the anthropic occupation of lands are activities directly related to the degradation process of the original vegetation cover because the natural vegetation must be removed so that these activities may take place, which changes the landscape as a whole. In the central hinterland of Ceará State, it is clear that the agriculture and livestock grazing practices are the main factors responsible for the vegetation fragmentation process and landscape changes. Land use and land cover mapping are widely used in the evaluation of natural landscape fragmentation, applying on them, the metrics which quantify the structure of a landscape. Thus, those metrics were used on the land use and land cover mapping of a polygon located in the central hinterland of the Ceará State in order to determine the structure of the landscape and infer how much of its natural vegetation is degraded.  It should be noticed, by the land use and land cover mapping, that the landscape is divided into eight classes, namely: Urban Area, Agriculture, Water Body, Pasture, Exposed Soil, Riparian Vegetation, Open Shrub Caatinga and Dense Shrub Caatinga , and that the region has a significant percentage of natural cover (65%), but It is very fragmented in ecologically unstable patches that have small areas and large perimeters (which gives them a lot of reentrants), vulnerable to edge effects and susceptible to disappear in a very short time.

scholarly journals Ant thermal tolerances under climate, land cover and land use change

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nigel R Andrew ◽  
Cara Miller ◽  
Graham Hall ◽  
Zac Hemmings ◽  
Ian Oliver
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
Land Cover ◽  
Ecosystem Service ◽  
Negative Relationship ◽  
Terrestrial Ecosystem ◽  
Landscape Fragmentation ◽  
Land Use Intensity ◽  
Multiple Use ◽  
Negative Effect ◽  
Terrestrial Biodiversity

Thermal stress is a key issue for species dominant within ecosystems especially those that carry out key ecosystem service roles. When assessing the impacts of climate change it is critical to assess its biotic impacts relative to other anthropogenic changes to landscapes including the reduction of native vegetation cover, landscape fragmentation and changes in land use intensity. Here we integrate the observed phenotypic plasticity of the dominant and ubiqitous meat ant Iridomyrmex purpureus in critical thermal limits across altitudinal, land cover and land use gradients to: (i) predict the adaptive capacity of a key terrestrial ecosystem service provider to changes in climate, land cover and land use, and (ii) assess the ability of multiple use landscapes to confer maximum resilience to terrestrial biodiversity in the face of a changing climate. The research was carried out along a 270km aridity gradient spanning 840m in altitude in northern New South Wales, Australia. When we assessed critical thermal maximum temperatures (CTmax) of meat ants in relation to the environmental variables, and within the model we had critical thermal minimums of meat ants (CTmin) as a random slope and as a fixed effect we detected a negative aridity effect on CTmax, a negative effect of land use intensity, and no overall correlation between CTmax and CTmin. We also found a negative relationship with warming tolerance of I. purpureus and landscape aridity. In conclusion, we expect to see a reduction in the physiological resilience of I. purpureus as land use intensity increases and as the climate becomes more arid. Meat ants are key ecosystem engineers and as they are put under more stress, wider ecological implications may occur if populations decline or disappear.

scholarly journals The Extent of Infrastructure Causing Fragmentation in the Hydrocarbon Basin in the Arid and Semi-Arid Zones of Patagonia (Argentina)

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (21) ◽  
pp. 5956
Author(s):  
Buzzi ◽  
Rueter ◽  
Ghermandi ◽  
Lasaponara
Keyword(s):  
Principal Component ◽  
Mesh Size ◽  
Oil Production ◽  
Landscape Fragmentation ◽  
Arid Zones ◽  
Effective Mesh Size ◽  
The Mean ◽  
Patch Density ◽  
Landscape Units ◽  
Semi Arid

Fragmentation is a disruption in the connectivity of landscapes. The aims of this paper are (i) to quantitatively assess the fragmentation rates in three landscape units located in a hydrocarbon basin, and (ii) to model their behavior between 2001 and 2013 using landscape metrics at different scales of resolution. The following metrics were selected using principal component analysis (PCA): The Clumpiness Index (CLUMPY), patch density (PD), perimeter-area fractal dimension (PAFRAC) and effective mesh size (MESH). Results from our investigations pointed out that hydrocarbon activity increased the fragmentation at the sites. In particular, the CLUMPY index increased in all three landscape units, the average of PD decreased from 60 to 14 patches per 100 hectares, whereas the mean of MESH was quite constant, however, due to oil production, it decreased mainly in the coastal valleys. Finally, the PAFRAC also decreased at sites with oil production, being more evident in the plateau and coastal canyons. As a whole, outputs from our analyses clearly pointed out that the monitoring of landscape fragmentation trends in arid and semi-arid zones can be successfully achieved using metrics derived from satellite spectral information.

scholarly journals Park in the periphery: Land use and land cover change and forest fragmentation in and around Yangoupokpi Lokchao Wildlife Sanctuary, Manipur, India

2020 ◽  
Vol 93 (1) ◽  
pp. 107-120 ◽  
Author(s):  
Khangsembou Bungnamei ◽  
Anup Saikia
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
Land Cover ◽  
Geographical Area ◽  
Landscape Fragmentation ◽  
Wildlife Sanctuary ◽  
Dense Forest ◽  
Land Cover Dynamics ◽  
Total Geographical Area ◽  
Spatio Temporal ◽  
Supervised Image Classification

This study documents the spatio-temporal land use and land cover dynamics of Yangoupokpi Lokchao Wildlife Sanctuary (YLWLS) in Manipur, India. Landsat imageries at three points of time spanning 38 years (1978, 2000 and 2016) were taken into account. Supervised image classification techniques were employed. Fragstats software was used to derive five landscape metrics, namely, class area (CA), number of patches (NP), largest patch index (LPI), percentage of landscape (PLAND) and mean patch size (MPS), to quantitatively assess the level of landscape fragmentation in the YLWLS. Dense and moderately dense forests decreased markedly during 1978-2000 from 46.5% to 40% and 38% to 28% of the total geographical area, respectively. However, between 2000 and 2016, the sanctuary managed to gain 840 ha of dense forest through various afforestation activities. The overall change in YLWLS during 1978-2016 indicates a substantial transition of dense and moderately dense forests.

Spatio-temporal Assessment of Landscape Ecological Risk and Associated Drivers: A Case Study of Delhi

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (1_suppl) ◽  
pp. S85-S106
Author(s):  
Biswajit Mondal ◽  
Pragya Sharma ◽  
Debolina Kundu ◽  
Sarita Bansal
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
Land Cover ◽  
Ecological Risk ◽  
Urban Expansion ◽  
Landscape Fragmentation ◽  
Lulc Changes ◽  
Risk Areas ◽  
Key Drivers ◽  
Spatio Temporal ◽  
Vulnerability Score

Urbanization is considered as the key driver for land use and land cover (LULC) changes across the globe and Delhi is no exception to this phenomenon. The population of Delhi has almost doubled from 8.4 million in 1991 to 16.3 million in 2011. Correspondingly, the built-up area has also increased from 336.82 to 598.22 km 2 during 1999–2018. This urban expansion has led to emergence of serious ecological risk and fragmentation of the landscape. In this context, it is imperative to analyse the level of risks induced by such urban expansion and its underlying associations with other factors. This article quantifies the LULC changes in Delhi during 1999–2018 using Landsat 5 (TM) and Landsat 8 (OLI) data. A spatio-temporal sprawl induced risk assessment index has been developed by combining landscape fragmentation score and land use land cover vulnerability score. The landscape fragmentation score was based on four landscape metrics, whereas the vulnerability score was computed from LULC data. The article also assesses the association between risk areas and economic activities, environmental and infrastructural amenities that are considered key drivers of urban expansion in Delhi. To estimate spatio-temporal variability between risk areas and key drivers, ordinary least square regression and geographical weighted regression (GWR) were used. The GWR results reveal that sprawl-induced ecological risk in Delhi is strongly associated with economic activity, infrastructural accessibility and environmental amenities. This spatial empirical assessment also shows that urban growth incentives or services such as roads, metro rail, schools and hospitals can also create pressure on the landscape if local authorities arbitrarily provide these services across space without considering the associated risks.

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