scholarly journals Ecological corridors and landscape planning: A study to develop a regional network of protected areas in Sardinia (Italy)

2022 ◽  
Author(s):  
Isola Federica ◽  
Leone Federica ◽  
Zoppi Corrado
Keyword(s):  
Protected Areas ◽  
Landscape Planning ◽  
Regional Network ◽  
Ecological Corridors

scholarly journals The assessment of ecological connectivity of the Chojnowski Landscape Park – the regional approach

2018 ◽  
Vol 50 (1) ◽  
pp. 19-31 ◽  
Author(s):  
Agata Pawłat-Zawrzykraj ◽  
Maciej Brzank
Keyword(s):  
Protected Areas ◽  
Biological Diversity ◽  
Large City ◽  
Landscape Fragmentation ◽  
Ecological Connectivity ◽  
Ecological Corridors ◽  
Functional Zone ◽  
Core Areas ◽  
Surrounding Landscape ◽  
River Valleys

Abstract Maintaining ecological connectivity is crucial especially for protected areas located in proximity of a large city. That sort of areas are threatened by urban sprawl which cause natural and semi-natural area loss, landscape fragmentation and isolation. Ecosystem services and biological diversity could be maintained by linking not yet protected areas and treat them as a part of ecological network. The Chojnowski Landscape Park is an example of such protected area which is located in the functional zone of Warsaw. The scope of the study was to delimitate potential ecological corridors linking the Chojnowski Landscape Park with other core areas, assess their functionality and point spots endangered by the ecological connectivity loss. Data from national institutions and the Corine land cover 2012 were used to make GIS analyses. Application of buffering and re-buffering methods allowed to indicate potential expansion zones and helped to delimitate ecological corridors linking the Chojnowski Landscape Park with surrounding landscape parks and national ecological corridors. The strongest and the most numerous connections were indicated towards Mazowiecki Landscape Park. Other potential ecological corridors were assessed as highly endangered, mostly because of infrastructural barriers. Despite the existence of areas of landscape protection as another form of the nature conservation of terrains located between parks, law regulations allow to efficiently protect only the ecological corridors along river valleys. The local spatial planning actions are needed, because that will be the most efficient way of preserving ecological corridors of Chojnowski Landscape Park.

scholarly journals Diversity of Insects in Nature protected Areas (DINA): an interdisciplinary German research project

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gerlind U. C. Lehmann ◽  
Nikita Bakanov ◽  
Martin Behnisch ◽  
Sarah J. Bourlat ◽  
Carsten A. Brühl ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Protected Areas ◽  
Landscape Planning ◽  
Arable Land ◽  
Agricultural Practices ◽  
Biodiversity Loss ◽  
Conservation Strategies ◽  
Contributing Factors ◽  
Insect Communities ◽  
Research Project ◽  
Vegetation Surveys

AbstractInsect declines and biodiversity loss have attracted much attention in recent years, but lack of comprehensive data, conflicting interests among stakeholders and insufficient policy guidance hinder progress in preserving biodiversity. The project DINA (Diversity of Insects in Nature protected Areas) investigates insect communities in 21 nature reserves in Germany. All selected conservation sites border arable land, with agricultural practices assumed to influence insect populations. We taught citizen scientists how to manage Malaise traps for insect collection, and subsequently used a DNA metabarcoding approach for species identification. Vegetation surveys, plant metabarcoding as well as geospatial and ecotoxicological analyses will help to unravel contributing factors for the deterioration of insect communities. As a pioneering research project in this field, DINA includes a transdisciplinary dialogue involving relevant stakeholders such as local authorities, policymakers, and farmers, which aims at a shared understanding of conservation goals and action pathways. Stakeholder engagement combined with scientific results will support the development of sound policy recommendations to improve legal frameworks, landscape planning, land use, and conservation strategies. With this transdisciplinary approach, we aim to provide the background knowledge to implement policy strategies that will halt further decline of insects in German protected areas.

scholarly journals Spatial structure of grassland patches in Poland: implications for nature conservation

2019 ◽  
Vol 88 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Tomasz Henryk Szymura ◽  
Magdalena Szymura
Keyword(s):  
Protected Areas ◽  
Quality Data ◽  
High Quality Data ◽  
Ecological Corridors ◽  
Average Value ◽  
Irregular Shapes ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Seminatural Grasslands ◽  
Almost All ◽  
Grassland Biodiversity

Grasslands provide wide range of ecosystem services, however, their area and quality are still diminishing in Europe. Nowadays, they often create isolated patches inside “sea” of other habitats. We have examined basic structural landscape metrics of grasslands in Poland using CORINE land use database. Characteristics for both all individual patches as well as average values for 10 × 10-km grid covering Poland were examined. We also assessed the percentage of grasslands within protected areas and ecological corridors. We found that in Poland rather small patches (0.3–1 km<sup>2</sup>) dominate, usually located 200–500 m away from each other. The grasslands had clumped distribution, thus in Poland exist large areas where grasslands patches are separated kilometers from each other. Almost all indices calculated for 10 × 10-km<sup>2</sup> were correlated, i.e., in regions with high percentage of grasslands, the patches were large, more numerous, placed close to each other, and had more irregular shapes. Our results revealed that the percentage of grasslands within protected areas and ecological corridors did not differ from the average value for Poland. On the other hand, forests were significantly over-represented in protected areas and ecological corridors. These findings suggest that there is no planned scheme for grassland protection at the landscape scale in Poland. Development the scheme is urgent and needs high-quality data regarding distribution of seminatural grasslands patches. In practice, nature conservationists and managers should consider spatial processes in their plans in order to maintain grassland biodiversity.

scholarly journals Participatory Mapping of Cultural Ecosystem Services in Madrid: Insights for Landscape Planning

Land ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (8) ◽  
pp. 244 ◽  
Author(s):  
Víctor García-Díez ◽  
Marina García-Llorente ◽  
José A. González
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
Ecosystem Services ◽  
Protected Areas ◽  
Sense Of Place ◽  
Land Use Planning ◽  
Outdoor Recreation ◽  
Landscape Planning ◽  
Cultural Ecosystem Services ◽  
Participatory Gis ◽  
Aesthetic Enjoyment

Cultural ecosystem services are gaining increasing attention in the scientific literature, despite the conceptual and methodological difficulties associated with their assessment. We used a participatory GIS method to map and assess three cultural ecosystem services, namely, (a) outdoor recreation, (b) aesthetic enjoyment, and (c) sense of place, in the Madrid region (Spain). The main goal of the study was to identify cultural ecosystem service hotspots in the region and to explore the relationships among the three ecosystem services mapped. We developed a Maptionnaire online questionnaire asking participants to locate places that they associate with these three ecosystem services and their main reasons for choosing those places on a map. We collected 580 complete questionnaires with 1710 location points (807 for outdoor recreation, 506 for aesthetic enjoyment and 397 for sense of place). We found that the three ecosystem services analysed were spatially correlated, with similar hotspots appearing across the region. Most of the identified hotspots were located in the northern part of the region, which is characterised by mountains and forests. Other hotspots appeared within the city of Madrid, highlighting the importance of urban green areas. Natural protected areas supplied significantly more cultural ecosystem services than non-protected areas. Among CORINE land-use types, forested areas, mountain shrubs and rocky landscapes were more relevant than arable lands for the supply of cultural ecosystem services. Our results highlight the utmost importance of including ecosystem services mapping within land-use planning and policy-making agendas to ensure the conservation of areas supplying cultural services that are critical for societal wellbeing.

scholarly journals Selection principles and focuses of landscape planning of protected areas

2019 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 33-44
Author(s):  
Nodar Elizbarashvili ◽  
Giorgi Dvalashvili ◽  
Nino Sulkhanishvili
Keyword(s):  
Protected Areas ◽  
Landscape Planning ◽  
Selection Principles
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