National Level Land-Use Changes in Functional Urban Areas in Poland, Slovakia, and Czechia

Land-use and cover change (LUCC) impacts global environmental changes. Therefore, it is crucial to obtain cross-national level LUCC data that represents past and actual LUCC. As urban areas exhibit the most significant dynamics of the changes, accompanied by such processes as urban sprawl, it seems desirable to take into account LUCC information from such areas to acquire national level information. The paper analyses land-use changes (LUCs) in urban areas in Czechia, Poland, and Slovakia. The analysis is based on functional urban area (FUA) data from the European Urban Atlas project for 2006 and 2012. The area of urbanised land grew at the expense of agricultural areas, semi-natural areas, and wetlands over the investigated period in all three countries. The authors determined LUC direction models in urban areas based on the identified land-use change. The proposed LUC direction models for the investigated period and area should offer national level LUC data for such purposes as modelling of future changes or can be the point of reference for planning analyses. The paper proposes the following models: mean model, median model, weighted mean model where the weight is the urbanised to vegetated area ratio, and weighted mean model where the weight is the share of urbanised areas. According to the proposed LUC models, areas considered as urbanised grow in FUAs on average in six years by 5.5900‰ in Czechia, 7.5936‰ in Poland, and 4.0769‰ in Slovakia. Additionally, the change models facilitated determination of a LUC dynamics ratio in each country. It reached the highest values in Poland and the lowest in Slovakia.

Download Full-text

Traditional and Local Ecological Knowledge for Land Use Mapping

Applied Mechanics and Materials ◽

10.4028/www.scientific.net/amm.747.306 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 747 ◽

pp. 306-309 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Norizawati Mohd Ayob ◽

Norhasimah Ismail ◽

Tarmiji Masron

Keyword(s):

Land Use ◽

Cultural Values ◽

Environmental Changes ◽

Local Ecological Knowledge ◽

Land Use Changes ◽

Ecological Knowledge ◽

Way Of Life ◽

Global Environmental ◽

History Of ◽

Global Environmental Changes

Land use changes are a key driver in global environmental changes and had a significant impact on the climate at all scales. Various human activities that took place thousands of years ago have an impact on the earth's surface. Today, with the limited supply and high demand, land use crisis became a big issue for the most countries. Changes in land use are not actually only providing a history of the area, but it also describes the way of life of its local communities. In the interdisciplinary research for land use study, cultural values, knowledge and perceptions of knowledge has been recognized as a major factor in determining the adopted approach applied in land use management in that area. Therefore, this paper tries to evaluate the role and potential of the integration of TLEK and GIS in mapping the series of changes in land use.Keyword: Local knowledge, TLEK, land use mapping & conceptual framework

Download Full-text

The Challenge of Social Vulnerability Assessment in the Context of Land Use Changes for Sustainable Urban Planning—Case Studies: Developing Cities in Romania

Land ◽

10.3390/land11010017 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 (1) ◽

pp. 17

Author(s):

Camelia Sabina Botezan ◽

Andrei Radovici ◽

Iulia Ajtai

Keyword(s):

Land Use ◽

Case Studies ◽

Land Use Planning ◽

Vulnerability Assessment ◽

Social Vulnerability ◽

Urban Areas ◽

Land Use Changes ◽

Residential Areas ◽

Specific Vulnerability ◽

Agricultural Areas

Urban growth triggers massive changes in land use cover, exacerbating extreme natural and technological events. In order for land use planning to be efficient, it requires the integration of comprehensive risk and vulnerability assessment. This paper aims to create a bridge between the existing vulnerability theories and their implementation in land use planning policies and proposes an innovative approach to determine whether the changes in the territorial dynamics of cities draw considerable changes in communities’ social vulnerability. The methodology identifies and selects three case studies from the Urban Atlas inventory, representative of the dynamics of large Romanian cities, taking into consideration the following hazards: earthquakes, floods, and technological hazards. Vulnerability was then assessed by assigning each land use class a specific vulnerability level. The methodology involved assessing the level of vulnerability specific to the situation in 2018 compared to 2006. The results showed that major changes in land use are related to the transition of areas with a low level of vulnerability to areas with a higher level of vulnerability as a result of the urban areas expansion to the detriment of natural and agricultural areas. This is generally translated into a higher degree of vulnerability due to an increased density of artificial elements and of population in the residential areas. The findings of the study of territorial dynamics in the proximity of large industrial operators did not reveal a tendency that differed from the general trend. Although many territorial changes have been observed in the period 2006–2018, it is necessary to extend the analysis, with the issue of the new versions of the Urban Atlas, to confirm the identified trends and to express the up-to-date situation.

Download Full-text

Global assessment of land cover changes and rural-urban interface in Portugal

10.5194/nhess-2017-359 ◽

2017 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Marj Tonini ◽

Joana Parente ◽

Mario Pereira

Keyword(s):

Land Use ◽

Land Cover ◽

Urban Areas ◽

Global Assessment ◽

Fire Regime ◽

Land Use Changes ◽

Population Increase ◽

Burnt Area ◽

Agricultural Areas ◽

The Impact

Abstract. The wildland-/rural-urban interface (WUI/RUI) is a particularly important aspect of the fire regime. In Mediterranean basin most of the fires in this pyro region are caused by humans and the risk and consequences are particularly high due to the close proximity to population, human infrastructures and urban areas. Population increase, urban growth and the rapid changes in land use incurred in Europe over the last 30 years has been unprecedented, especially nearby the metropolitan areas, and some of these trends are expected to continue. Associated to high socioeconomic development, Portugal experienced in the last decades significant land cover/land use changes (LCLUC), population dynamics and demographic trends in response to migration, rural abandonment, and ageing of rural population. This study aims to assess the evolution of RUI in Portugal, from 1990 to 2012, based on LCLUC providing also a quantitative characterization of forest fires dynamics in relation to the burnt area. Obtained results disclose important LCLUC which spatial distribution is far from uniform within the territory. A significant increase in artificial surfaces is registered nearby the main metropolitan communities of the northwest and littoral-central and southern regions, whilst the abandonment of agricultural land nearby the inland urban areas leads to an increase of uncultivated semi-natural and forest areas. Within agricultural areas, heterogeneous patches suffered the greatest changes and are the main contributors to the increase of urban areas. Moreover these are among the LCLU classes with higher burnt area, reasons why heterogeneous agricultural areas have been included in the definition of RUI. Finally, the mapped RUI’s area, burnt area and burnt area within RUI allow to conclude that, form 1990 to 2012 in Portugal, RUI increased more than two thirds and total burnt area decreased one third. Nevertheless, burnt area within RUI doubled, which emphasize the significance of RUI for land and fire managers. This research provides a first quantitative global assessment of RUI in Portugal and presents an innovative analysis on the impact of land use changes on burnt areas.

Download Full-text

Differential Responses to Climate and Land-Use Changes in Threatened Chinese Taxus Species

Forests ◽

10.3390/f10090766 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 10 (9) ◽

pp. 766 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Jianming Wang ◽

Yin Wang ◽

Jianmeng Feng ◽

Chen Chen ◽

Jie Chen ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Land Use ◽

Threatened Species ◽

Environmental Changes ◽

Higher Plants ◽

Land Use Changes ◽

Species Conservation ◽

Distribution Range ◽

Habitat Characteristics ◽

The Face ◽

Global Environmental Changes

Rapid climate and land-use changes have been considered as the foremost threat to global biodiversity. China contains more than 3500 threatened higher plants, whereas the relative influence of climate and land-use changes on these endangered plants have not been explored simultaneously under topographical constraints. Here, using Taxus plants as the case study genus, we simulated the distribution range of threatened species under three scenarios of current and future climate and land-use conditions under topographical constraints. We also measured the associated difference in the responses of Taxus species to climate and land-use changes. Our results demonstrated the substantial influence of climate and land-use changes on the distributions of Taxus species. However, we observed different responses of Taxus species to these environmental changes. The distribution range of T. cuspidate Siebold & Zuccarini and T. mairei Lemee & H. Léveillé would substantially shrink, whereas the habitat range of T. fuana Nan Li & R. R. Mill would sharply expand under RCP 8.5(Representative Concentration Pathway scenarios) scenario. Meanwhile, T. wallichiana Zuccarini and T. chinensis (Pilger) Florin would experience apparent range shifts. Furthermore, topographical factors played non-negligible roles in shaping species distributions, and modifying the influence of climate and land-use changes. Together, these results provide robust evidence that even threatened species will have multiple responses to climate and land-use changes (e.g., shrinking, expanding, shifting). Our findings highlight that taking species ecological traits, habitat characteristics, and topographical constraints into account might provide valuable insights into threatened species conservation in the face of global environmental changes.

Download Full-text

A Framework to Assess the Reliability of a Multipurpose Reservoir under Uncertainty in Land Use

Water ◽

10.3390/w13030287 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 13 (3) ◽

pp. 287

Author(s):

Anh Nguyen ◽

Thomas A. Cochrane ◽

Markus Pahlow

Keyword(s):

Land Use ◽

Water Supply ◽

Urban Areas ◽

Socioeconomic Development ◽

Land Use Changes ◽

Modelling Framework ◽

Agricultural Areas ◽

The Impact ◽

Supply Reliability

Socioeconomic development in watersheds lead to land-use changes, which can alter water and sediment inflows into reservoirs, leading to uncertainty in water supply reliability. A modelling framework coupling the Soil and Water Assessments Tool (SWAT) and the @RISK genetic algorithm optimisation tool was developed to optimise water allocation and estimate water supply reliability under uncertainty in future land-use. The multi-purpose Nuicoc reservoir in Vietnam was used as a case study. Modelling results showed that an expansion of the urban areas by 10% and conversion of 5% of the forest to agricultural areas produced the highest water releases for downstream demands of all simulated scenarios, with 5 Mcm/year greater water releases than the baseline for the case where sedimentation was not considered. However, when sedimentation was considered, it generated the greatest decrease in water releases, with 6.25 Mcm/year less than the baseline. Additionally, it was determined that spatial distribution of land-use significantly affect sediment inflows into the reservoir, highlighting the importance of targeted sediment management. This demonstrates the usefulness of the proposed framework for decision-makers in assessing the impact of possible land-use changes on the reservoir operation.

Download Full-text

Geo-Environmental Estimation of Land Use Changes and Its Effects on Egyptian Temples at Luxor City

10.20944/preprints201711.0056.v1 ◽

2017 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Abdelaziz Elfadaly ◽

Osama Wafa ◽

Mohamed. A. R. Abouarab ◽

Antonella Guida ◽

Pier Giorgio Spanu ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Remote Sensing ◽

Land Use ◽

Environmental Changes ◽

Land Use Changes ◽

Environmental Problems ◽

Remote Sensing And Gis ◽

Mitigation Strategies ◽

Rapid Changes ◽

Historical Database ◽

Agricultural Areas

Over the years, the Egyptian temples at Luxor city have been intensely investigated, but most of these studies just focused on the classical sides of the archaeological and historical descriptions. Many of the environmental problems are inevitable results of the unplanned urban crawling around the monuments temples. This paper aims at assessing the environmental changes around some temples of Luxor City using Remote sensing and GIS techniques. In particular, a historical database made up of Corona and Landsat TM data have been investigated along with the new acquisitions of Quickbird2 and Sentinel2. Results from our investigation highlighted rapid changes in urban and agricultural areas, which adversely affected the Egyptian monumental temples causing serious degradation phenomena. Using the information obtained from our RS&GIS based analysis, mitigation strategies have been also identified for supporting the preservation of the archaeological area.

Download Full-text

Twenty-Three Years of Land-Use Changes Induced Considerable Threats to the Main Wetlands of Sardinia and Sicily (Italy) along the Mediterranean Bird Flyways

Diversity ◽

10.3390/d13060240 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 13 (6) ◽

pp. 240

Author(s):

Alessandro Ferrarini ◽

Marco Gustin ◽

Claudio Celada

Keyword(s):

Land Use ◽

Habitat Degradation ◽

Land Use Changes ◽

Biodiversity Loss ◽

Natura 2000 ◽

Global Level ◽

Natura 2000 Network ◽

Stopover Sites ◽

The Mediterranean ◽

Agricultural Areas

Biodiversity loss has multiple causes, but habitat degradation through land-use change is the predominant driver. We investigated the effectiveness of the Natura 2000 network in preserving the main wetlands of the two largest islands of the Mediterranean region, whose conservation is critical for many avian species at European and global level, in a 23-year period (1990–2012). In Sardinia, the surroundings of 22 wetlands were affected by an increase in artificial areas (+64 ha/year) and decrease in agricultural (−54 ha/year) and natural (−17 ha/year) ones. In Sicily, the surroundings of 16 wetlands were impacted by an increase in agricultural areas (+50 ha/year) and decrease in natural and semi-natural ones (−62 ha/year). Results show that the Natura 2000 policies were effective in preserving wetlands (no shrinkages detected in both regions), but their surroundings experienced intense processes of degradation and artificialization in all the sub-periods considered (1990–2000, 2000–2006, 2006–2012), whose effects are now threatening waterbirds and wetland integrity. The enlargement of the existing Natura 2000 sites, the creation of new ones and the speedup of the application of the rules of the Habitats and Birds Directives seem necessary to counteract the rapid land-use changes around these important stopover sites.

Download Full-text

Analyzing the Patterns, Trends and Dynamics of the Land-Use Changes in Azores Region: From 1990 to 2018

Sustainability ◽

10.3390/su13105433 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 13 (10) ◽

pp. 5433

Author(s):

Rui Alexandre Castanho ◽

José Manuel Naranjo Gómez ◽

Gualter Couto ◽

Pedro Pimentel ◽

Áurea Sousa ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Land Use ◽

Development Strategy ◽

Land Use Changes ◽

Regional Government ◽

Land Uses ◽

Comprehensive Planning ◽

Sustainability Planning ◽

The Enlightenment ◽

Planning Strategies ◽

Agricultural Areas

The remarkable richness and singularity of the Azorean Region (located 38° North) and its landscapes require a sharp, well-defined, and comprehensive planning policy. Bearing in mind the significance of this issue in the enlightenment of sustainability, planning strategies should be based and supported by different studies and thematic domains to understand the problem thoroughly. Using GIS (Geographic Information Systems), the present article enables us to identify the dynamics and patterns of the evolution of the Land-Use Changes in the Azores Region from 1990 to 2018. In aggregate, the Azores islands showed growth in artificial surfaces and forest and seminatural land-uses by essentially decreasing agricultural areas—most resulting from the economic and social development strategy pursued by several Azorean governments. Moreover, this study permits us to reinforce that the Azores Archipelago’s land-uses has undergone multiple changes—marked by increasing and decreasing periods. In fact, some of these reducing dynamics are disturbing. They require closer monitorization by regional government actors to give protection, preservation, and conservation to these incomparable ultra-peripheral landscapes, environments, ecosystems, and the region as a whole.

Download Full-text