As Unidades de Paisagem no município de Areado, sul de Minas Gerais: uma proposta de estudo ambiental integrado a partir da concepção geossistêmica

A paisagem se apresenta como uma unidade de investigação de significativa importância no que tange aos estudos ambientais. Dessa forma, o agrupamento de suas variáveis em unidades pode avultar como estratégia metodológica para compreensão das estruturas e dinâmicas espaciais, e nesse sentido a concepção geossistêmica, aqui trabalhada segundo os pressupostos russo-soviéticos, fornece o aporte teórico-metodológico adequado. Desse modo, o presente trabalho tem por objetivo interpretar, classificar, cartografar e discutir os aspectos estruturais da paisagem no município de Areado (sul de Minas Gerais) a partir da abordagem geossistêmica. Para tal, foi necessário por intermédio do Sistema de Informações Geográficas (SIG) reunir um banco de dados com variáveis chave e complementares, que se referem às seguintes variáveis: solo, geologia, unidades geomorfológicas, uso e cobertura da terra. Tais variáveis foram individualizadas em grupos de fácies segundo a proposta de hierarquização dos geossistemas de Sochava (1977,1978). Dessa forma, obteve-se 14 tipologias geossistêmicas que representam em grande parte a estrutura da paisagem, reunidos em duas classes de fácies, que retratam as principais organizações geomorfológicas regionais definidas pelas superfícies altimontanas e intermontanas. Os resultados obtidos podem subsidiar diretamente programas de planejamento territorial e governança do patrimônio ambiental, garantindo a manutenção dos serviços ambientais existentes e orientando da forma mais parcimoniosa possível os usos econômicos do espaço. The Landscape Units in the municipality of Areado, south of Minas Gerais: a proposal for an integrated environmental study from the geosystemic conception A B S T R A C TThe landscape presentes itself as an investigation unity of significant importance with regard to environmental studies. Thus, the grouping of its variables into units can enlarge as a methodological strategy towards the comprehension of the spacial structures and dynamics, and in this sense the geosystemic conception, considereded here according to the Russian-Soviet assumptions, provides the appropriate theoretical and methodological support. Thereby, this present research aims to interpret, classify, map, discuss the structural aspects of the landscape in the municipality of Areado (south of Minas Gerais) from the geosystemic approach. For that purpose, it was necessary through the Geographic Information System (GIS) to gather a database with key and complementary variables, which refer to the following variables: soil, geology, geomorphological units, land use cover. Such variables were individualized in groups of facies according to the geosystems hierarchization proposal of Sochava (1977, 1978). Thus, fourteen geosystemic typologies were obtained, which largely represent the landscape structure, gathered in two classes of facies, that retract the main regional geomorphological organizations defined by the altimontana and intermontana surfaces. The obtained results may directly subsidize programs of territorial planning and governance of environmental heritage, ensuring the maintenance of existing environmental services and guiding in the most parsimonious way possible the economic uses of space.Key words: landscape, geosystem, environmental analysis, management, planning.

Understanding process controls on groundwater recharge variability across Africa through recharge landscapes

Groundwater is critical in supporting current and future reliable water supply throughout Africa. Although continental maps of groundwater storage and recharge have been developed, we currently lack a clear understanding on how the controls on groundwater recharge vary across the entire continent. Reviewing the existing literature, we synthesize information on reported groundwater recharge controls in Africa. We find that 15 out of 22 of these controls can be characterised using global datasets. We develop 11 descriptors of climatic, topographic, vegetation, soil and geologic properties using global datasets, to characterise groundwater recharge controls in Africa. These descriptors cluster Africa into 15 Recharge Landscape Units for which we expect recharge controls to be similar. Over 80% of the continents land area is organized by just nine of these units. We also find that aggregating the Units by similarity into four broader Recharge Landscapes (Desert, Dryland, Wet tropical and Wet tropical forest) provides a suitable level of landscape organisation to explain differences in ground-based long-term mean annual recharge and recharge ratio estimates. Furthermore, wetter Recharge Landscapes are more efficient in converting rainfall to recharge than drier Recharge Landscapes as well as having higher annual recharge rates. In Dryland Recharge Landscapes, we found that annual recharge rates largely varied according to mean annual precipitation, whereas recharge ratio estimates increase with increasing monthly variability in P-PET. However, we were unable to explain why ground-based estimates of recharge signatures vary across other Recharge Landscapes, in which there are fewer ground-based recharge estimates, using global datasets alone. Even in dryland regions, there is still considerable unexplained variability in the estimates of annual recharge and recharge ratio, stressing the limitations of global datasets for investigating ground-based information.

Landscape Diversity and the Directions of Its Protection in Poland Illustrated with an Example of Wielkopolskie Voivodeship

As part of the implementation of the provisions of the European Landscape Convention, a landscape audit of the provinces has been underway in Poland for a few years. The main objectives of the audit are the delimitation of landscape units, assessment of their values, and identification of the priority of landscapes to be protected. This study presents the results of research on the landscape division of the Wielkopolskie voivodeship and a geostatistical analysis of the differentiation of ecological units. With reference to legal regulations in force in Poland, the landscape diversity of the province was characterized using two divisions: geophysical regionalization and landscape typology. In the case of regional division, the meso- and microregions of physical and geographical rank are referenced. The proposed microregional division is the first example in Poland of such a detailed landscape analysis completed for the area of the voivodeship. In the case of typological division, the study conducted in cooperation with the Wielkopolska Bureau of Spatial Planning in Poznań was used. The statistical analysis included metrics to quantitatively characterize landscape composition, including the landscape division index (DIVISION), Shannon’s diversity index (SHDI), and Simpson’s diversity index (SIDI). The results of the study were then compared with the distribution of areas associated with different forms of landscape protection such as national parks, landscape parks, and protected landscape areas. The applied methodology and the results obtained indicate the important role of physical and geographical microregions in the complex analyses of landscape diversity and their broad application in procedures connected with landscape planning and environmental protection.

Nunatsiavut, ‘Our beautiful land’: Inuit landscape ethnoecology in Labrador, Canada

For Inuit in the subarctic transition zone of northeastern Canada, an intimate knowledge of the environment and local biodiversity is crucial for successful traditional activities. This study examines what kinds of landscape features and habitats Inuit of Nunatsiavut recognize and name. During interviews, community members (mostly Elders) were shown photographs from the region, and were asked to describe and name salient types of places in Labrador Inuttitut. The most frequently reported geographical units dealt with the region’s topography (e.g., ‘mountain’, ‘island’, ‘flat-place’), hydrology (e.g., ‘river’, ‘bay’), and superficial characteristics (e.g., ‘bedrock’, ‘permanent snow patch’). Ecological considerations were also prominent, such as plant associations and animal habitats (e.g., ‘shrubby-place’, wetland’, ‘caribou-return-to-place’). Areas were often characterized by a dominant species or substrate type, being named using the plural form of the species/substrate (e.g., napâttuk ‘tree’/ napâttuit ‘forest’, siugak ‘sand’/siugalak ‘sandy-area’). Some types of places reported by Inuit were significant mainly for traditional activities (e.g., ‘berry-patch’, ‘seal-place’, ‘dry-wood-place’, ‘danger-place’), aiding navigation and resource finding. Integrating Inuit conceptions of ecosystems and their component landscape units with those of contemporary science can improve our understanding of subarctic ecology, benefit climate change adaptation strategies and Inuit language/culture conservation initiatives.

MAPPING MULTI-SCALED LANDSCAPE TYPOLOGY OF LANG SON PROVINCE

The landscape of a territory is generated by natural components, and it is also influenced by human activities. The complexity of factors making up landscape and the relationship between them with humans has created a diverse and complex differentiation of landscape in Lang Son province. Three factors reflecting typical characteristics of Lang Son landscape: Digital Elevation Model (DEM), soil, and land cover have been selected in this study. The concept of multiscaled landscape classification based on the European Landscape Convention (ELC) is applied for combining the holistic with parametric approaches and combining typological with multi-scaled landscape classifications. A number of possible combinations between 9 land cover variables, 9 soil combination variables, and 5 topographic variables have yielded 40 landscape units for Lang Son province. The obtained results are basic documents for contributing to modern and practical landscape research on the one hand, and to territory planning for sustainable development of Lang Son on the other hand.

UM OLHAR SOBRE AS UNIDADES DE PAISAGEM DA REGIÃO CENTRAL E OESTE DO RIO GRANDE DO NORTE: aspectos importantes da prática de campo na Geografia Física

A LOOK AT LANDSCAPE UNITS IN THE CENTRAL AND WEST REGION OF RIO GRANDE DO NORTE: important aspects of field practice in Physical GeographyUNA MIRADA A LAS UNIDADES DE PAISAJE EN LA REGIÓN CENTRAL Y OESTE DE RIO GRANDE DO NORTE: aspectos importantes de la práctica de campo en Geografía FísicaRESUMOO presente trabalho relata as experiências vivenciadas na região Central e Oeste do estado do Rio Grande do Norte. As atividades em campo ocorreram no âmbito da disciplina Geografia do Rio Grande do Norte, coordenada pelo Prof. Dr. Marco Túlio Mendonça Diniz, na Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte, tendo como objetivo analisar os aspectos geomorfológicos e litológicos das paisagens do estado. Diante do que fora abordado, foi possível obter uma maior compreensão acerca dos aspectos históricos, geológicos, econômicos, físicos, geográficos, geomorfológicos e climatológicos em alguns municípios visitados no Rio Grande do Norte. As áreas visitadas se caracterizaram por serem da depressão sertaneja, planaltos e chapadas, no interior seridoense e oeste, e do litoral setentrional, como as planícies e a Chapada de Serra do Mel. Ademais, cabe salientar que todo o percurso ocorreu seguindo pelos dois principais rios do Estado. No mais, foi relatada a experiência e importância da atividade.Palavras-chave: Atividade de Campo; Geocomplexo; Paisagem.ABSTRACTThe present report describes the experiences lived in the Central and West regions of the state of Rio Grande do Norte. The field activities took place within the scope of the discipline Geography of Rio Grande do Norte, coordinated by Prof. Dr. Marco Túlio Mendonça Diniz, at the Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte, aiming to analyze the geomorphological and lithological aspects of the state's landscapes. Given what was discussed, it was possible to obtain a greater understanding of the historical, geological, economic, physical, geographic, geomorphological and climatological aspects in some municipalities visited in Rio Grande do Norte. The areas visited were characterized by being from the hinterland depression, plateaus and plateaus, in the interior of the seridense and west, and from the northern coast, such as the plains and the Chapada de Serra do Mel. It is also worth noting that the entire route took place following the two main rivers of the State. In addition, the experience and importance of the activity are reported.Keywords: Field Activity; Geocomplex; Landscape.RESUMENEl presente informe describe las experiencias vividas en las regiones Centro y Oeste del estado de Rio Grande do Norte. Las actividades de campo se llevaron a cabo en el ámbito de la disciplina Geografía de Rio Grande do Norte, coordinada por el Prof. Dr. Marco Túlio Mendonça Diniz, de la Universidad Federal de Rio Grande do Norte, con el objetivo de analizar los aspectos geomorfológicos y litológicos de los paisajes del estado. Dado lo discutido, fue posible obtener un mayor conocimiento de los aspectos históricos, geológicos, económicos, físicos, geográficos, geomorfológicos y climatológicos en algunos municipios visitados en Rio Grande do Norte. Las áreas visitadas se caracterizaron por ser de la depresión del interior, mesetas y mesetas, en el interior de la seridense y oeste, y de la costa norte, como los llanos y la Chapada de Serra do Mel. Cabe señalar también que todo el recorrido se realizó siguiendo los dos ríos principales del Estado. Además, se reporta la experiencia e importancia de la actividad.Palabras clave: Actividad de Campo; Geocomplejo; Paisaje.

Multitemporal Analysis of Land Use Changes and Their Effect on the Landscape of the Jerte Valley (Spain) by Remote Sensing

In recent years, the interest of institutions in land use has increased, creating the need to determine the changes in use through spatial-temporal and statistical analysis. This study analyzes the changes over the last 40 years, based on a cartography of landscape units obtained from the study of geo-environmental parameters in the Jerte Valley (Spain) with satellite images, Landsat 5 and 7. Subsequently, through the analysis of spatial patterns and diversity and fragmentation indices, and with the Fragstat software, the landscape was characterized from 1994 to the present. The results show that wooded areas decreased slightly, crops increased in altitude and major environmental disturbances (mainly forest fires) negatively affected the environmental mosaic. Land uses affect the landscape by developing larger tesserae (+5 ha), which are less fragmented (−0.15), but more isolated (0.12). This study demonstrates that landscape metrics can be used to understand changes in spatial pattern, help in decision making to implement appropriate management measures in the conservation of traditional land uses, and allow the maintenance of connecting areas between fragments to avoid the loss of natural corridors to increase landscape quality.

Vegetation survey of the Khomas Hochland in central-western Namibia: syntaxonomical descriptions

Background: The Great Escarpment of southern Africa takes the form of an extended mountainous highland in central-western Namibia, commonly referred to as the ‘Khomas Hochland’. It is regarded as an area of high botanical diversity. Yet only few localised studies on the vegetation composition are available. The Khomas Hochland is formed on the southern part of the Damara Orogen and dominated by metamorphosed sediments. Climatically it forms a transition between the hot desert of the Namib and the slightly cooler hot steppe in the inland.Objectives: To classify and provide syntaxonomical descriptions of the vegetation of the Khomas Hochland.Methods: A dataset comprising 1151 relevés and 914 species was compiled from various surveys, mostly collected under, and to the standards of, the umbrella project ‘Vegetation Survey of Namibia’. For first classifications, the data set was reduced to a synusial set consisting of trees, shrubs, dwarf shrubs and grasses only.Results: The classification resulted in four major landscape units, being the Pre-Namib and Escarpment zone, the Khomas Hochland proper, riverine habitats as well as surrounding lowlands. The classification was further refined using Cocktail procedures to produce 30 associations, one with four sub-associations. These are described in this paper.Conclusion: A classification of synoptic data grouped the associations into five orders and one undefined cluster of associations on specialised desert habitats. Four of these orders correspond to the habitat types identified in the first classification. The fifth order, the Senegalio hereroensis–Tarchonanthoetalia camphorathi, represents high mountains of the central Khomas Hochland, which link biogeographically to the grassland biome in South Africa.

Assessment of Landscape Character and Absorptivity Based on Digital Terrain Model Analysis—Case Study of Jelenia Góra City in Poland

In an era of significant growth in the availability of spatial data and continued advances in computing technologies, opportunities for new interpretations and solutions to the landscape research problems posed worldwide are emerging. This paper presents different possibilities of applying digital terrain model (DTM) data in research of various aspects of landscape. For this purpose, two different methods were proposed. The first was to identify a set of components of the Jelenia Góra city landscape character on the basis of the topographic position index and spatial distribution of land cover, while the second was to assess the landscape of Jelenia Góra city in terms of the possibility of adopting new elements, using the author’s scenic absorptivity method. The results indicate the structure of the components of the landscape character of Jelenia Góra city together with its spatial distribution, which also allowed for the delineation of landscape units. The scenic absorptivity analysis showed that there are isolated areas within Jelenia Góra city that are capable of accommodating significant size elements that would not adversely affect the city landscape. In conclusion, DTM data are able to significantly improve research methods in landscape studies.

Mapping the social values of ecosystem services to support better decision making

<p><b>Social values of ecosystem services are the perceived benefits of natural ecosystems for the well-being of people. For sustainable land management, social values and preferences need to be integrated into land-use decision-making. Existing methods of social value capture commonly use participatory mapping and deliberative mapping. However, social media data has recently contributed to the gathering of spatial social value data. By reducing the time and cost of mapping, social media may be effective in social value mapping. However, the credibility of this data source has rarely been assessed for land planning.</b></p> <p>This thesis critically analysed the results of social media-based mapping (passive Volunteered Geographic Information (VGI)) and deliberative mapping (expert-based evaluation) methods into providing credible social value data (recreation, aesthetics, and historical/cultural values) for recreation planning. We analysed the content of 4642 photographs uploaded to Flickr as passive VGI and the results of an online survey and face to face interview for expert-based evaluation. This thesis found both the passive VGI and expert-based evaluation could identify all three types of relevant social values for ecosystem services (recreation, aesthetics, and historical/cultural). </p> <p>Passive VGI can provide reasonably reliable information on the recreational preferences of people at the time that data is provided. Although social values identified in expert-based evaluation included useful information about current public preferences and a potential supply of recreation ecosystem services, it only captured a general view of the study area. Large areas of interest were provided by each of the experts participating in the online survey. Several landscape units were missed by passive VGI while expert-based dataset overrepresented a majority of landscape units. </p> <p>The results of this research demonstrated that spatial social value data are limited when a single method is applied. Potential users of such data need to understand their limitations. Applying several mapping methods (PPGIS, expert-based evaluation, passive VGI, etc.) may create a more useful and credible social value dataset to appropriately support recreational planning.</p>