scholarly journals Ecological Environment Assessment in World Natural Heritage Site Based on Remote-Sensing Data. A Case Study from the Bayinbuluke

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (22) ◽  
pp. 6385 ◽  
Author(s):  
Qin Liu ◽  
Zhaoping Yang ◽  
Fang Han ◽  
Hui Shi ◽  
Zhi Wang ◽  
...  

Ecological environment assessment would be helpful for a rapid and systematic understanding of ecological status and would contribute to formulate appropriate strategies for the sustainability of heritage sites. A procedure based on spatial principle component analysis was employed to measure the ecological status in Bayinbuluke; exploratory spatial data analysis and geo-detector model were introduced to assess the spatio-temporal distribution characteristics and detect the driving factors of the ecological environment. Five results are presented: (1) During 2007–2018, the average values of moisture, greenness, and heat increased by 51.72%, 23.10%, and 4.99% respectively, and the average values of dryness decreased by 56.70%. However, the fluctuation of each indicator increased. (2) The ecological environment of Bayinbuluke was improved from 2007 to 2018, and presented a distribution pattern that the heritage site was better than the buffer zone, and the southeast area was better than the northwest area. (3) The ecological environment presented a significant spatial clustering characteristic, and four types of spatial associations were proposed for assessing spatial dependence among the samples. (4) Elevation, protection partition, temperature, river, road, tourism, precipitation, community resident, and slope were statistically significant with respect to the changes in ecological status, and the interaction of any two factors was higher than the effect of one factor alone. (5) The remote-sensing ecological index (RSEI) could reflect the vegetation growth to a certain extent, but has limited ability to respond to species structure. Overall, the framework presented in this paper realized a visual and measurable approach for a detailed monitoring of the ecological environment and provided valuable information for the protection and management of heritage sites.

2016 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 63-77 ◽  
Author(s):  

Abstract Remote sensing and Geographical Information System (GIS) are the most effective tools in spatial data analysis. Natural resources like land, forest and water, these techniques have proved a valuable source of information generation as well as in the management and planning purposes. This study aims to suggest possible land and forest management strategies in Chakia tahsil based on land use and land cover analysis and the changing pattern observed during the last ten years. The population of Chakia tahsil is mainly rural in nature. The study has revealed that the northern part of the region, which offers for the settlement and all the agricultural practices constitutes nearly 23.48% and is a dead level plain, whereas the southern part, which constitute nearly 76.6% of the region is characterized by plateau and is covered with forest. The southern plateau rises abruptly from the northern alluvial plain with a number of escarpments. The contour line of 100 m mainly demarcates the boundary between plateau and plain. The plateau zone is deeply dissected and highly rugged terrain. The resultant topography comprises of a number of mesas and isolated hillocks showing elevation differences from 150 m to 385 m above mean sea level. Being rugged terrain in the southern part, nowadays human encroachment are taking place for more land for the cultivation. The changes were well observed in the land use and land cover in the study region. A large part of fallow land and open forest were converted into cultivated land.


2019 ◽  
Vol 19 (8) ◽  
pp. 1881-1893 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ahangama Kankanamge Rasika Nishamanie Ranasinghe ◽  
Ranmalee Bandara ◽  
Udeni Gnanapriya Anuruddha Puswewala ◽  
Thilantha Lakmal Dammalage

Abstract. Through the recent technological developments of radar and optical remote sensing in (i) the areas of temporal, spectral, spatial, and global coverage; (ii) the availability of such images either at a low cost or free of charge; and (iii) the advancement of tools developed in image analysis techniques and GIS for spatial data analysis, there is a vast potential for landslide studies using remote sensing and GIS as tools. Hence, this study aimed to assess the efficacy of using radar-derived factors (RDFs) in identifying landslide susceptibility using the bivariate information value method (InfoVal method) and the multivariate multi-criteria decision analysis based on the analytic hierarchy process statistical analysis. Using identified landslide causative factors, four landslide prediction models – bivariate with and without RDFs as well as multivariate with and without RDFs – were generated. Twelve factors such as topographical, hydrological, geological, land cover and soil plus three RDFs are considered. The weight of index for landslide susceptibility is calculated by using the landslide failure map, and susceptibility regions are categorized into four classes as very low, low, moderate, and high susceptibility to landslides. With the integration of RDFs, boundary detection between high- and very-low-susceptibility regions are increased by 7 % and 4 % respectively.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jonathan S. Lim ◽  
Gonzalo José Linares Matás

The history of human activity in Southwest Alaska is inextricably linked to the exploitation of its many species of salmonid fish. Alaskan salmonids are anadromous, meaning they live most of their lives at sea, only to return to the river in which they were spawned to reproduce— this makes them a reliable seasonal resource in this environmentally marginal subarctic landscape. Salmonids form a major part of the subsistence lifestyle of modern Native Alaskans, and archaeological evidence suggests that their ancestors experienced population booms and cultural shifts coinciding with the adoption of mass fishing techniques. This was done primarily in response to climate changes, and to sustain burgeoning populations. Analyses of salmonid behavioural patterns are therefore crucial for understanding the lifeways of past peoples in Southwest Alaska. This work outlines a GIS-based methodology for processing an open spatial dataset— the Alaska Department of Fish and Game’s Anadromous Waters Catalog (AWC)— to make it suitable for use in archaeological and anthropological research. AWC shapefiles converted in this manner may be used to identify the most ecologically diverse (and, therefore, productive) anadromous waterways, and the relationship between heritage site distribution and salmon activity along the length of rivers. As a pilot study, we discuss the cultural landscape of the Yup’ik community of Quinhagak in the Yukon-Kuskokwim (Y-K) Delta, and its two active salmon streams— the Agalig (Arolik) and Qanirtuuq (Kanektok) Rivers. There appears to be a strong relationship between the presence of cultural sites associated with fishing (both historic and archaeological) near the mouths of both rivers where the salmon runs begin (the “initial lower course”, or, “ILC”). It also highlights the importance of such rivers as highways to access non-salmonid resources further inland, including hunting and plant harvesting areas. This methodology has a strong potential for assisting in the survey and characterisation of heritage sites elsewhere in Southwest Alaska.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martin Wegmann ◽  
Jakob Schwalb-Willmann ◽  
Stefan Dech

This is a book about how ecologists can integrate remote sensing and GIS in their research. It will allow readers to get started with the application of remote sensing and to understand its potential and limitations. Using practical examples, the book covers all necessary steps from planning field campaigns to deriving ecologically relevant information through remote sensing and modelling of species distributions. An Introduction to Spatial Data Analysis introduces spatial data handling using the open source software Quantum GIS (QGIS). In addition, readers will be guided through their first steps in the R programming language. The authors explain the fundamentals of spatial data handling and analysis, empowering the reader to turn data acquired in the field into actual spatial data. Readers will learn to process and analyse spatial data of different types and interpret the data and results. After finishing this book, readers will be able to address questions such as “What is the distance to the border of the protected area?”, “Which points are located close to a road?”, “Which fraction of land cover types exist in my study area?” using different software and techniques. This book is for novice spatial data users and does not assume any prior knowledge of spatial data itself or practical experience working with such data sets. Readers will likely include student and professional ecologists, geographers and any environmental scientists or practitioners who need to collect, visualize and analyse spatial data. The software used is the widely applied open source scientific programs QGIS and R. All scripts and data sets used in the book will be provided online at book.ecosens.org. This book covers specific methods including: what to consider before collecting in situ data how to work with spatial data collected in situ the difference between raster and vector data how to acquire further vector and raster data how to create relevant environmental information how to combine and analyse in situ and remote sensing data how to create useful maps for field work and presentations how to use QGIS and R for spatial analysis how to develop analysis scripts


Author(s):  
K. Laze

Abstract. The coastlands are changing in the Southeastern European countries. Yet, temporal and spatial changes in natural-vegetated land, urban-vegetated land and agriculture-vegetated land use on coastal surfaces, respectively, are missing. The aim is to understand the changes in vegetated land on the coastal surface by retrieving spatial data from remote sensing using a new approach by reducing errors in data processed and by collecting data using surveys to understand the driving (abiotic and biotic) factors of vegetated land changes and land dynamics at regional level. These spatial and survey data are then to be employed at spatially explicit analysis to define driving factors, plausibly explaining spatial and temporal changes of vegetated land on coastal surfaces in the Southeastern European study region including Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, and Montenegro and Slovenia for the last fifty years. The expected main result is a new methodological approach of remote sensing spatial data analysis by reducing data errors and by identifying driving factors of the changes in vegetated land. The findings may serve to understand the effects of land management and land use on the changes in vegetated land-use on coastal surfaces, and to potentially uncover the least disturbed vegetated land areas by human intervention for vegetation conservation.


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