The Influence of Green Space Patterns on Land Surface Temperature in Different Seasons: A Case Study of Fuzhou City, China

Background: Urban green space (UGS) has been shown to play an important role in mitigating urban heat island (UHI) effects. In the context of accelerating urbanization, a better understanding of the landscape pattern mechanisms affecting the thermal environment is important for the improvement of the urban ecological environment. Methods: In this study, the relationship between land surface temperature (LST) and the spatial patterns of green space was analyzed using a bivariate spatial autocorrelation and spatial autoregression model in three seasons (summer, transition season (spring), and winter) with different grid scales in Fuzhou city. Results: Our results indicated that the LST in Fuzhou City has a significant spatial autocorrelation. The percentage of landscape and patch density area were negatively correlated with surface temperature. The results of our indicators differed according to the season, with population density and distance to the water indicators not being significant in the winter. The coefficient of determination was higher at the 510 m grid scale on this study’s scale. Conclusion: This study extends our understanding on the influence of UHI effects after accounting for different seasonal and spatial scale factors. It also provides a reference for urban planners to mitigate heat islands in the future.

THE COOLING INTENSITY DEPENDENT ON LANDSCAPE COMPLEXITY OF GREEN INFRASTRUCTURE IN THE METROPOLITAN AREA

The cooling effect of green infrastructure (GI) is becoming a hot topic on mitigating the urban heat island (UHI) effect. Alterations to the green space are a viable solution for reducing land surface temperature (LST), yet few studies provide specific guidance for landscape planning adapted to the different regions. This paper proposed and defined the landscape complexity and the threshold value of cooling effect (TVoE). Results find that: (1) GI provides a better cooling effect in the densely built-up area than the green belt; (2) GI with a simple form, aggregated configuration, and low patch density had a better cooling intensity; (3) In the densely built-up area, TVoE of the forest area is 4.5 ha, while in the green belt, TVoE of the forest and grassland area is 9 ha and 2.25 ha. These conclusions will help the planners to reduce LST effectively, and employ environmentally sustainable planning.

The Ecosystem Services Value Change and Its Driving Forces Responding to Spatio-Temporal Process of Landscape Pattern in the Co-Urbanized Area

The development of urbanization is still expanding on the earth, and the rapid expansion of cities has changed the regional landscape pattern and significantly affected the value of regional ecosystem services in developing countries such as China. Zhongmu County, as the core area of Zhengzhou-Kaifeng integration, studying the temporal and spatial transformations of its landscape pattern and ecosystem service value (ESV) is of great significance to the region’s sustainable development. Based on remote sensing images and socioeconomic data, this study aims to explore the landscape pattern of Zhongmu County from 2005 to 2018 and its impact on ESV. Research methods include an ESV equivalent factor method, landscape pattern index, spatial autocorrelation, and other methods. The results showed that: (1) During the study period, the patch density and shape complexity, landscape diversity, and fragmentation of the overall landscape in the study area continued to increase while landscape connectivity decreased. (2) The total amount of ESV increased by 10.05 million USD; ESV had certain differences in spatial distribution: high-value clusters were mainly located at the boundary of the Yellow River in the north, while low-value clusters had a significant eastward expansion trend. (3) ESV increased significantly in areas where cultivated land was transferred to waters and forests, and ESV in areas where waters transferred to construction land and cultivated land was significantly reduced. (4) ESV had a significant positive spatial correlation with patch density, edge density, mean patch fractal dimension, mean patch size, and the landscape shape index, and a spatially negative correlation with the contagion index and cohesion index. The spatial and temporal changes in landscape patterns and ESV were all mainly driven by the regional development “Zhengzhou-Kaifeng integration” policy. Therefore, the ESV can be improved, and the ecological security of the urban integration area can be guaranteed through policy measures such as optimizing the layout of construction land and adjusting the uniform distribution of green areas by the land-use policy.

Fragmentation Typology of Sumatran Tropical Lowland Forest, Labuhanbatu Selatan - Indonesia

Forest land cover experienced changes caused by various factors. Deforestation and forest degradation decreased forest structure and size that produce forest fragmentation. This study aimed to determine spatial distribution patterns and typology of forest fragmentation in the Labuhanbatu Selatan district. The study uses land cover image analysis, forest fragmentation analysis, correlation analysis, and typology analysis. Forest fragmentation is determined based on patch area (CA), patch density (PD), contiguity index (CONTIG), and proximity index (PROX). The study analyzes the correlation between variable factors and the degrees of forest fragmentation to develop a typology of fragmentation forest. The variables used to construct the typology of forest fragmentation are population density, productive age ratio, income, and slope. The classification of forest fragmentation has been completed to create a forest fragmentation typology. To determine the typology of forest fragmentation, the K-Means Cluster analysis method is used. Typology of forests fragmentation of Labuhanbatu Selatan district is three typologies. Typology 1 is the low forest fragmentation of Torgamba, Silangkitang, and Kota Pinang sub-district, typology 2 is moderate forest fragmentation are the Kampung Rakyat, and Typology 3 is high forest fragmentation of Sungai Kanan sub-district.

Possible environmental and meteorological factors underlying scaly-breasted munia Lonchura punctulata (L.) mass mortality events in Southeast Asia urban and rural areas in September 2021

Mass bird mortality is a rare event. This event could be happened and could be a combination of numerous factors. It could be something that's still completely unknown to us. In September 2021 in SE Asia, there were 2 mass bird mortality events of Lonchura punctulata. The first event happens on 9 September in rural area at 08.00 AM and second happens on 14 September at 12.00 PM in urban area. The results show that precipitation combined with the wind gust might be correlated with mass mortality. The results showed precipitation factors have contributed 71.18% (R2 = 0.714, P = 0.008) to the mortality and followed by wind gust with 28.81% contribution (R2 = 0.41, P = 0.08). The meteorological parameter was not the only factors affecting the mortality events. The landscapes in urban and rural areas have experienced fragmentations. Urban areas have severe fragmentation of vegetation covers with remaining vegetation covers were only 17.4% and patch density indices of 0.29. In contrast rural areas still have higher vegetation cover remnants about 21.12% and patch density indices of 0.93. Then severe meteorological events combined with the fragmented habitats of L. punctulata may explain the mass mortality of this bird species.

The Imprint of Built-Up Land Expansion on Cropland Distribution and Productivity in Shandong Province

Grain self-sufficiency is a national food security target of China. The way that built-up land expansion impacts upon cropland loss and food provision needs to be explored in the major grain producing areas. Shandong Province is an important agricultural food production region, which is also experiencing rapidly urbanizing. Here we assessed the spatiotemporal distribution of cropland loss due to built-up land expansion and landscape dynamics of cropland during 2000–2020, by using 30 m resolution land cover data. We also analyzed the potential yield change influenced by cropland loss. The results showed that the area of built-up land expanded by 5199 km2 from 2000–2010, and 11,949 km2 from 2010–2020. Approximately 95% of the new built-up land was from cropland during the two stages, and the primary mode of built-up land expansion was the edge expansion. The patch density and the patch size of cropland kept increasing and decreasing, respectively, and the aggregation index kept decreasing from 2000 to 2020, indicating increased cropland fragmentation. The proportion of occupied cropland with potential yield greater than 7500 kg/ha was 25% and 37% during the former and the latter period. Thus, higher quality cropland was encroached in the recent period. The findings could provide meaningful implications for making sustainable land use development strategies in the study area and other similar regions.

Assessment of Tuscany Landscape Structure According to the Regional Landscape Plan Partition

The landscape is considered a strategic asset by the Tuscan regional government, also for its economic role, meaning that a specific Landscape Plan has been developed, dividing the region into 20 Landscape Units and representing the main planning instrument at the regional level. Following the aims of the Landscape Plan and the guidelines of the European Landscape Convention, it is necessary to develop an adequate assessment of the landscape, evaluating the main typologies and their characteristics. The aim of this research is to carry out an assessment of the landscape diversity in Tuscany based on 20 study areas, analyzing land uses and landscape mosaic structures through the application of landscape metrics: number of land uses, mean patch size (MPS), Hill’s diversity number, edge density (ED), patch density (PD), land use diversity (LUD). The results highlight a correlation between the landscape typologies (forest, agricultural, mixed, periurban) and the complexity of the landscape structure, especially in relation to MPS and PD, while the combination of PD and LUD calculated on the basis of a hexagonal grid allows obtaining landscape complexity maps. Despite the phenomena of reforestation and urban sprawl of recent decades, Tuscany still preserves different landscape typologies characterized by a good level of complexity. This is particularly evident in mixed landscapes, while agricultural landscapes have a larger variability because of different historical land organization forms. The methodology applied in this study provided a large amount of data about land uses and the landscape mosaic structure and complexity and proved to be effective in assessing the landscape structure and in creating a database that can represent a baseline for future monitoring.

Farmland Use Transition in a Typical Farming Area: The Case of Sihong County in the Huang-Huai-Hai Plain of China

An in-depth exploration of the dynamics and existing problems in farmland morphology is crucial to formulate targeted protection policies. In this study, we constructed a morphological evaluation index system to identify the characteristics of farmland use transition in Sihong County of the Huang-Huai-Hai Plain, China. The dominant morphology in terms of area and landscape pattern and the recessive morphology focusing on function were considered in this work. Based on this information, the driving factors of farmland use transition were quantitatively analyzed via the mixed regression model. The following major findings were determined: (1) The area showed a U-shaped change trend during 2009–2018. The patch density (PD) showed an upward trend, and the mean patch size (MPS) showed a downward trend, indicating that the degree of farmland fragmentation increased. The implementation of land consolidation projects increased the area and aggregation of farmland, while urbanization and road construction occupied and divided the farmland, leading to a reduction in area and increase in the degree of fragmentation. (2) The crop production, living security, and eco-environmental function of farmland showed a trend of first decreasing and then increasing. Urbanization increased the demand for agricultural products and the degree of large-scale agricultural production and had a positive impact on the crop production and eco-environmental function of farmland. Our research highlights that increasing farmland fragmentation should be addressed in the farming area. Therefore, the government should formulate efficient policies to curb farmland occupation for urban and traffic utilization.

Quantifying how urban landscape heterogeneity affects land surface temperature: A comparison of discrete and continuous approaches

The present study examines the efficiency of discrete and continuous approaches to measuring urban heterogeneity effects on land surface temperature (LST). In the discrete approach, landscape metrics have been widely applied to quantifying the relationship between land surface temperature and urban spatial patterns and have received acceptable verification from landscape ecologists but some studies have shown their inaccurate results. The objective of the study is to compare landscape metrics and alternative approaches to measuring urban heterogeneity effects on LST. We compared landscape metrics results with nine texture-based measures, and two local spatial autocorrelation indices (local Moran’s I and Gi statistics) applied to NDVI and BAI indices as a proxy of the spatial patterns of Tehran vegetation and built-up classes. The statistical results showed that urban landscape heterogeneity had significant impacts on the LST variations, and there was a compatibility between landscape metrics and alternative measures results. Overall results showed that the less-fragmented, the more complex, larger, and the higher number of patches, the lower LST. The most significant relationship was between patch density (PD) and LST (r= -0.71). Higher values of PD have mostly been interpreted to show higher fragmentation, but other landscape metrics and alternative measures declined this conclusion. Our study demonstrated that PD was not a reliable metric and presented no information about the spatial distribution of landscape elements. This study confirms alternative measures for overcoming landscape metrics shortcomings in estimating the effects of landscape heterogeneity on LST variations and gives land managers and urban planners new insights into the urban design.

An initial assessment of bed destabilization risk past vegetation patches using instrumented particles

<p>Instream vegetation may alter the mean and turbukent flow fields leading to destabilizing riverbed surface, under certain flow conditions. In particular, recent research on instream vegetation hydrodynamics and ecohydrogeomorphology has focused on how energetic flow structures and bulk flow parameters downstream a vegetation may result in riverbed destabilization. This study, demonstrated the application of a 20mm novel instrumented particle in recording entrainment rates downstream simulated vegetation patches of distinct densities, at various distances downstream these. A patch of 6mm acrilic cylinders is used to simulate the emergent vegetation having the same diameter (12cm) and different porosities or densities (void volume equal to 1.25%, 3.15%, 6.25%, 11.25%, and 17.25%). The flow velocity near the instrumented particle is recorded using acoustic Doppler velocimetry (ADV) with appropriate seeding, under clear water conditions. Preliminary results are presented with focus on the effect of vegetation patch density on the flow field and subsequent effects on particle entrainment rates and implications for bed surface destabilisation.</p>