Assessment of Aesthetic Quality of Urban Landscapes by Integrating Objective and Subjective Factors: A Case Study for Riparian Landscapes

To improve human well-being, there is increasing awareness of elevating aesthetic benefits by landscape design, planning, and management. However, which landscape features and attributes may be associated with aesthetic value of an urban landscape, human aesthetic preference, and landscape practices is still not clear yet. We proposed a comprehensive aesthetic assessment approach to realise the determination of landscape aesthetic indicators, integration of objective indicators and subjective preferences, and validation of estimations. The approach was based on a four-level landscape aesthetic indicator system from the bottom features up to attributes (landscape naturalness, landscape complexity, plant species diversity, water surface, water clarity, and bank naturalness), component qualities, and finally overall quality. Fourteen metrics that could provide objective visual and spatial characters and ecological implications were identified and quantified to indicate landscape aesthetic features. Landscape aesthetic attributes, vegetation and waterbody component qualities, and overall quality were estimated by integrating objective indicators and human subjective preferences. The approach was applied to a case study of four subareas along an artificially restored riparian buffer in Beijing, China. The results showed that the modelled overall aesthetic quality was determined by both vegetation (accounting for 53%) and waterbody. The higher vegetation quality depended on the higher plant abundance, more vegetation patches, and more vegetation patch types; the higher waterbody quality depended on the clearer water and larger water surface. Compared with other features, vertical vegetation configuration, diversity of patch type and patch shape, and shrub species diversity had greater contribution to the attributes of naturalness, complexity, and plant species diversity, respectively. The modelled vegetation aesthetic attributes were directly validated using the surveyed perceptions, and the modelled vegetation and waterbody aesthetic qualities were indirectly validated by correlating with the main recreational activities. The approach is confirmed to be able to address the questions on determination, integration, and validation of landscape aesthetic indicators in some way. Thus, the approach is expected to be used for other landscapes to offer a framework for landscape practices to improve aesthetic value and cultural service.

Comparison of Hospital-Based and Home-Based Obstructive Sleep Apnoea Severity Measurements with a Single-Lead Electrocardiogram Patch

Obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) is a global health concern, and polysomnography (PSG) is the gold standard for assessing OSA severity. However, the sleep parameters of home-based and in-laboratory PSG vary because of environmental factors, and the magnitude of these discrepancies remains unclear. We enrolled 125 Taiwanese patients who underwent PSG while wearing a single-lead electrocardiogram patch (RootiRx). After the PSG, all participants were instructed to continue wearing the RootiRx over three subsequent nights. Scores on OSA indices—namely, the apnoea–hypopnea index, chest effort index (CEI), cyclic variation of heart rate index (CVHRI), and combined CVHRI and CEI (Rx index), were determined. The patients were divided into three groups based on PSG-determined OSA severity. The variables (various severity groups and environmental measurements) were subjected to mean comparisons, and their correlations were examined by Pearson’s correlation coefficient. The hospital-based CVHRI, CEI, and Rx index differed significantly among the severity groups. All three groups exhibited a significantly lower percentage of supine sleep time in the home-based assessment, compared with the hospital-based assessment. The percentage of supine sleep time (∆Supine%) exhibited a significant but weak to moderate positive correlation with each of the OSA indices. A significant but weak-to-moderate correlation between the ∆Supine% and ∆Rx index was still observed among the patients with high sleep efficiency (≥80%), who could reduce the effect of short sleep duration, leading to underestimation of the patients’ OSA severity. The high supine percentage of sleep may cause OSA indices’ overestimation in the hospital-based examination. Sleep recording at home with patch-type wearable devices may aid in accurate OSA diagnosis.

Spatial and temporal characteristics of soil erosion in a typical karst basin in southwest China and its response to the landscape pattern of rock desertification

Soil erosion is a process of migration and redistribution of soil substances in the landscape, which is regulated by topography, vegetation, human activities and their spatial pattern. At the watershed scale, changes in landscape pattern are important factors in determining the degree of soil erosion. Taking Dabang River Basin as the study area, based on the three phases of land use data, remote sensing image data and daily rainfall data from eight stations in the basin in 2010, 2015 and 2020, the rocky desertification factor (D) was introduced into the general soil loss equation RUSLE to calculate the soil erosion in Karst and non-Karst Areas in 2010, 2015 and 2020 respectively. The relationship between landscape pattern and soil erosion was analyzed from two aspects: type level index and landscape level index. The results showed that: 1) From 2010 to 2020, the average soil erosion modulus in The Dabang River Basin decreased first and then increased. The average soil erosion modulus in the non-karst region was about twice that in the karst region, and the average soil erosion modulus in the karst region decreased first and then increased. The mean soil erosion modulus in the non-karst area showed an increasing trend; 2) Under different slope grades, the erosion was mainly slight and mild, and the area of slight erosion was the largest, and the area of very strong and severe erosion increased as the slope increased. the area of strong, very strong and severe erosion increased in the slope zone below 15°, the area of light and moderate erosion decreased, and the area of slight, strong and very strong erosion increased in the slope zone from 15 to 25°, and the area of slight erosion increased in the slope zone above 25° area increased and light, moderate and strong erosion area decreased in the slope zone above 25°; 3) The landscape pattern of the Dadang River Basin changed significantly from 2010 to 2020. At the landscape level, the number of patches increased and the average patch area decreased. At the type level, the area of paddy field, woodland and shrubland decreases and the area of dry land, grassland, construction land and water body increased, and the dominant land type in the watershed changed from woodland to grassland; 4) The amount of soil erosion was positively correlated with patch type area, landscape percentage, maximum patch index and aggregation index, and positively correlated with edge density; 5) There was a linear relationship between soil erosion and Shannon diversity index (SHDI) and Shannon mean index (SHEI) at landscape level. The results can provide reference for land use planning and soil and water conservation measures.

Parallel Calculation Method of Patch Area Landscape Art Index Based on Surface Coverage Data

Aiming at the problem of slow convergence in the parallel calculation of patch area landscape art index, a parallel calculation method of patch area landscape art index based on land cover data was proposed. Firstly, patch type area index, patch connectivity index, patch number index, and fragmentation index were selected as patch area landscape art spatial staggered pattern indexes to conduct characteristic analysis and establish a 3D visual reconstruction model with actual colors. Then, the coordinate points of the landscape space staggered pattern are transformed into three-dimensional visual coordinate points to realize the reconstruction of landscape art space staggered pattern in patch area. The aerial landscape image of patch area is preprocessed and input into GPU to build a Gaussian difference pyramid model. The feature points of the patch area in the aerial landscape image are calculated by the parallel computing process, and the patch boundary in the aerial landscape image is determined. The landscape perimeter of the patch area was calculated according to the boundary. The experimental results show that the complete convergence time of the horizontal axis error and the vertical axis error is 2.13 s and 1.81 s, respectively, and the absolute error and relative error of the perimeter measurement are controlled below 0.60 m and 1.00%, respectively.

The role of ecosystem engineers in shaping the diversity and function of arid soil bacterial communities

Ecosystem engineers (EEs) are present in every environment and are known to strongly influence ecological processes and thus shape the distribution of species and resources. In this study, we assessed the direct and indirect effect of two EEs (perennial shrubs and ant nests), individually and combined, on the composition and function of arid soil bacterial communities. To that end, topsoil samples were collected in the Negev desert highlands during the dry season from four patch types: (1) barren soil; (2) under shrubs; (3) near ant nests; or (4) near ant nests situated under shrubs. The bacterial community composition and potential functionality were evaluated in the soil samples (14 replicates per patch type) using 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing together with physico-chemical measures of the soil. We have found that the EEs affected the community composition differently. Barren patches supported a soil microbiome, dominated by Rubrobacter and Proteobacteria, while in EE patches Deinococcus-Thermus dominated. The presence of the EEs similarly enhanced the abundance of phototrophic, nitrogen cycle, and stress-related genes. In addition, the soil characteristics were altered only when both EEs were combined. Our results suggest that arid landscapes foster unique communities selected by patches created by each EE(s), solo or in combination. Although the communities' composition differs, they support similar potential functions that may have a role in surviving the harsh arid conditions. The combined effect of the EEs on soil microbial communities is a good example of the hard-to-predict non-additive features of arid ecosystems that merit further research.

Landscape Pattern Evolution and Its Response to Human Disturbance in a Newly Metropolitan Area: A Case Study in Jin-Yi Metropolitan Area

The impact of human interference on the ecological environment has attracted a significant amount of attention. In this study, hemeroby index (HI) was constructed to quantify the degree of human disturbance, and the relationship between HI and landscape pattern index was explored in a newly metropolitan area. The main objectives of this study were to analyze the temporal and spatial characteristics of landscape pattern and human disturbance in the process of urbanization of county-level cities in China, and to explore the relationship between the landscape pattern index and human disturbance under different disturbance intensity. The conclusions showed that: (1) the degree of human interference in the new area is on the rise, with a slow increase from 1980 to 2010, but since 2010, human interference has increased significantly. The diffusion of human disturbance intensity has obvious spatial directivity, spreading from east to west. (2) The impact of human activities on landscape pattern is shown as increasing fragmentation and increasing number of landscape types. With the enhancement of human activities, the heterogeneity and fragmentation of landscape types in the region reach their highest points. With the continuous increase of human activities, on a certain scale, the landscape types will gradually tend to be the same, and the same type of landscape patches will become one piece and tend to be integrated. This phenomenon is particularly obvious at the patch type level. (3) There is an inflection point value between human disturbance and landscape pattern index in landscape or patch type. On both sides of the inflection point value, the landscape pattern parameters and human disturbance have obvious opposite trends. (4) In the low interference range (1 ≤ HI < 4), with the increase of human interference, more heterogeneous structures (shown in the increase of SHDI) are brought to the landscape, there is more landscape fragmentation (shown in the decrease of LPI, CONTRACT, and AI), and the patch shape and landscape structure tend to be complex (shown in the increase of LSI, SQP, ED, and other indexes); in the high interference range (4 ≤ HI ≤ 7), due to human intervention, the increase of LPI, contract, and AI indicates that intense human activities turn the landscape into a broken and scattered structure and tend to be consistent and homogeneous. LSI, SQP, and ED were negatively correlated with HI at this stage, indicating that with the enhancement of human activities, the complexity of landscape shape decreased.