Volumen 12 (2019): Heft 1 (May 2019)

In landscape ecology, forest fragmentation studies with emphasis on effects of scale on fragmentation patch metrics, is an important research area. With increasing availability of satellite data at multiple scales and varied resolutions, it has become important to understand effects of comparing fragmentation metrics acquired from coarse resolution images and those from finer resolution imagery. This is crucial because coarse resolution images such as Landsat imagery, are relatively easier to find because of their cheaper costs, availability and broad coverage, whereas finer resolution imagery is more expensive and therefore, spans only small areas. This paper examines effects of varied spatial resolutions on common fragmentation metrics using Landsat, Sentinel, National Agricultural Imagery Program (NAIP) and Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) imagery obtained in November, 2017 of the Whitethorne area near Blacksburg, Virginia. The images are analyzed using FRAGSTATS and ArcGIS software programs. The results show significant differences in fragmentation metrics despite simultaneous acquisition of all images in the same area. Discussion of results obtained in this study centers on the reasons for this disparity, and examines uses of imagery of different resolutions for forest fragmentation analysis.

In many countries urban green spaces are stated in a set of different administrative regulatory framework. However, their definition and characteristics are inconsistent and developing a systematic classification has been recognized to avoid the inconsistency. Several efforts have been made but the approach mainly based on a few criteria and classified manually according to the types that stated in the regulatory framework. Therefore, this study developed a classification system based on multi-criteria that represents the structure and function of urban green spaces using Kuala Lumpur City, Malaysia as a model. The useful of the systematic classification for urban green spaces planning and management was interpreted through landscape pattern analysis. In this study, land use map of Kuala Lumpur City was used as a based. Through field observation, information from Kuala Lumpur City Hall and satellite image interpretation, seven criteria were identified to develop the classification system. Landscape pattern was based on landscape metrics analyzed using FRAGSTAT 3.3. The analysis defined five categories of urban green spaces: conservation green space, greenway, community green space, residential green space and amenity green space. Landscape pattern analysis has allowed to interpret what category needs attention to improve their quality and quantity as well as to protect them from any land use development. It can be assumed that the multi-criteria approach can be considered as a first step to introduce a more systematic way to categorize urban green spaces and addressing the inconsistency issue which is important for the city to develop sustainably.

To achieve high-quality urban landscape management, it is important to have a proper management system. Some developing countries like Afghanistan are facing a decline of green spaces due to lack of proper management. This is a qualitative study with content analysis which provides a brief review of the management system in three selected countries, namely England, Malaysia and Singapore, by examining their urban landscape management systems. It also highlights the importance of establishing more appropriate programs to achieve the goal of sustainability. The findings show that good and proper planning, as well as programs and activities in the local government system, can enhance and increase urban green space in urban landscape. The contribution of this paper is to increase the local authority’s knowledge of managing the urban landscape and decreasing the deterioration and decline of urban green spaces in urban landscape.

The use of materials for remote sensing of the Earth made it possible to identify a new type of crustal structures and features of their expression in relief. These are ring structures that complicate the structure of the studied structures of a linear type. As a result of the study of the morphology, geological and tectonic structure of ring structures, it was established that they represent formations of various origins: pluton-volcanic, cosmogenic, and anthropogenic. Cosmogenic structures of different ages and differ in various degrees of transformation.

The relief of the identified cosmogenic structures within the limits of the Turan Plains, the Kazakh small hills and mountains of South-Eastern Kazakhstan is transformed by exogenous processes. The defining indicator features of cosmogenic structures include geomorphological, geological, structural tectonic, and also landscape. The degree of change in the initial cosmogenic relief depends on the time of formation, paleogeographic and modern physiographic conditions of the territories. Under the arid conditions of Kazakhstan’s epyhercynian platform, the main factor in the preservation of the “primary” morphology of meteorite craters is the lithologic stratigraphic complexes of the ring shaft. For the studied cosmogenic structures, in particular, the meteorite craters of Saryarka, a distinct geodynamic zoning of the development of exomorphogenesis processes is characteristic. The main exogenous processes include gravity-slope, surface washout, ravine and river erosion, processes of complex denudation and accumulation. The factors and processes of creating a modern crater relief morphology are established.

These studies of cosmogenic ring structures of Kazakhstan have not only theoretical significance, revealing the role of cosmogenic processes of the formation of the Earth as a planet, but also have immediate practical importance. Meteorite craters are indicators of mineral deposits.

Historical gardens established around manors form an integral part of the European cultural landscape. Recent studies have revealed that manor gardens may serve as local hotspots of biodiversity and provide cultural ecosystem services within urban areas but also in rural landscapes. As a consequence of dramatic land-use changes in recent centuries, followed by a significant loss and degradation of natural habitats, manor gardens often serve as refugia for organisms within the cultural landscape. To compare the proportion of natural habitats in manor gardens with the surrounding landscape, intensively used and semi-natural landscapes were distinguished within a grid using Coordinated Information on the Environment (CORINE) land cover data for the Czech Republic. One hundred manor gardens were randomly selected, followed by a grid overlay of data from the Natura 2000 mapping system. Proportions of natural habitats were calculated for each garden in relation to the surrounding landscape. The results confirmed that manor gardens, compared with the surrounding landscape, play an important role in the conservation of natural habitats, especially in areas with a high level of human impact. For the gardens studied, occurrences of the following natural habitat types from the Natura 2000 system were recorded: forests (25.4 % of the garden area), secondary grasslands (4.4 %), streams and water bodies (1.6 %) and wetlands and riverine vegetation (0.5 %). The proportion of natural habitats within the gardens compared to the surrounding areas was significantly higher in the majority of cases.

Climate change impacts are related to the state and land-use of agriculture landscape. Best agriculture practice principles in climate change conditions should be focused on agriculture management maintaining and enhancing the organic matters stocks in the soils. Biogeochemical carbon cycle has a serious role there. The paper deals with sugar beet dominance among agriculture crop in the frame of carbon quantification in the Czech Republic. Modelling of carbon quantification in arable lands and aboveground biomass of agriculture crop indicate importance of sugar beet, which is a dominant kind of agriculture crop for carbon sequestration in the Czech Republic.