Volumen 12 (2019): Edición 3 (December 2019)

Thermal comfort in the open spaces is a significant parameter in public mentally and physically healthy. Increased hot days of cities because of the urban heat island is the common phenomenon in cities. This phenomenon effect cites quality by a different aspect such as air quality, Use of fossil fuels etc. therefore, cooling strategies in the urban and urban park’s design is one of the important issues of the designers. Urban parks have a significant effect on heat stress mitigation. Persian garden is known for its microclimate effect on pedestrians, so different patterns of Persian garden is selected to be analyzed in terms of thermal comfort condition on the hottest day of summer so far in the dry hot climate of the Shiraz(12^th of July 1998 with the maximum 42°C Ta). In this paper 8 conditions are simulated by Envi-met3.1 to get environment data of these patterns and also the Rayman model is used to calculate the Physiological Equivalent Temperature (PET) as the proper thermal index for outdoor condition. The results demonstrate that alteration of Shortwave radiation both direct and diffuse conditions and mean radiant temperature are affected by both sky view factor and the orientation of the Persian garden. Pavilion location has an important effect in mitigation of the Tmrt by preventing the afternoon powerful sun rays through to the paths in the End.E-W pattern. Therefore, this pattern has a better condition of PET value than the others in Shiraz setting.

People of different cultural backgrounds show different emotional reactions to different urban areas. Finding out how a constructed environment and emotional aspects are related and influence human behavior can be of a great significance in urban planning. Such studies are rooted in environmental psychology and socials sciences; there is a dearth of proper methods and techniques of evaluation with this regard. Moreover, so far there has been no academic study even a review of the relevant practical methods. Thus, there is a need for finding a valid objective evaluation procedure for emotional responses people make to urban space aiming to improve the design of urban areas and urban plan policymaking. In the present research, initially, a review of the research methodologies in environmental psychology, affect and emotions was done. Then, a qualitative content analysis of 30 of the latest projects and research was done in terms of the methodology and tools. Then, the final model was proposed in five stages based on the methods and tools of operationalizing the measurement of feelings and emotions in urban areas. The proposed model combined different research types and different methods applied in different disciplines and thus contribute greatly to solving urban problems.

Habitats are important indicators of biodiversity in their own right, as well as being linked to species, hence their widespread use in reporting on nature conservation planning and policy. For reporting consistent mapping and monitoring habitat extent and change is important. Remote Sensing techniques are becoming an important tool for this. In this paper we describe four examples of methods of semi-automated mapping using Remote Sensing. Because the most effective way of improving the accuracy of the estimation of habitat area is by increasing the sample number, it is important to develop methods for reducing in situ surveys which are expensive. Remote Sensing has the major advantage of comprehensive coverage and the four examples illustrate the potential of extrapolation from semi-automated habitat classifications. The potential for using these methods at national scales is likely to be limited by the need for validation of the automated images and the subsequent calculation of error terms. Existing major national monitoring programs are described, which still use mainly traditional in situ methods. The selection of relatively small numbers of representative samples from environmental classifications to obtain regional estimates reduces the need for large numbers of in situ survey sites and is therefore discussed. The recent development of the use of drones to acquire detailed imagery to support in situ habitat surveys is also covered. Finally, practical problems linked to the methods described in the paper are considered, as in some cases these will override the theoretical benefits of a particular approach. It is concluded that automated methods can enhance existing monitoring systems and should be considered in any biodiversity monitoring system as they represent an opportunity for reducing costs, if integrated with an in situ program.

Wetland restoration can be measured over time using community vegetation as an effectiveness indicator of restoration actions. Spencer Island Regional Park is part of the tidal freshwater wetlands along the Snohomish river basin. Those wetlands are part of a complex ecosystems, in which they are included as a salmon corridor. This research analyzes the vegetation community changes over time after restored in 1996 on Spencer Island Regional Park, Everett, Washington State, U.S. I analyzed three spectral indices using segmentation and supervised classification of land cover from 1997 to 2018. I found that in the last 21 years, the areas with emergent palustrine vegetation and forests increased, in contrast to diminishing areas of upland and scrub-shrub classes. Those finds can be interpreted that the community vegetation advanced to higher wetland successional stages as upland areas have been colonized by emergent wetland plant communities. A linear regression model predicted that by 2025, the difference between emergent and upland classes should increase. Empirical evidence is presented that support the integration of spectral indices to identify changes in community vegetation. However, it is recommended for future studies to include spectral indices and spatial information for soil and hydrology to deepen these results.

Historical gardens in Egypt witnessed and narrated not only stories of momentous events and influencing dignitaries, but also they hosted rare plants and astonishing architecture. Nowadays, such rich history is losing its identity, which is pragmatic to retain, especially with high rates of urbanization and globalization. Thus, this research focuses on the issue of place identity, as it investigates the impact of socio-economic, political, and spatial forces on formulating the identity of historic gardens in metropolitan cities. Additionally, the research addresses the debate between preserving the garden identity versus approving its evolving.. “Orman Garden” is selected, a historic botanical garden in Cairo City, Egypt, to examine the transformation of its identity starting from 1873 till 2019. Research methods include historical researches, a field survey, and interviews with the garden administration staff, current users, and users from old generations. Results declare that the socio-economic forces are the most profound forces behind identity reconfiguring / transformation. Furthermore, the study differentiated between components that were subjected to disfiguration or evolution. The research concludes with recommendations to conserve and revive the lost historical identity while facing current challenges and embracing new demands and trends.

The aim of this study is to differentiate old-field plant communities along the abandonment time and/or environmental gradient in the landscape surrounded villages with established Czech settlers in Romanian Banat area conserving traditional agriculture, and to identify site factors which cause plant diversity of particular vegetation types. Study area: Wider territory centered by the village Sfânta Elena, southern Romania ((44°40’ N; 21°43’ E). Methods: We collected 97 phytosociological relevés covered the same number of old-fields in the area and the following habitat parameters were measured: soil pH, available phosphorus, total carbon and nitrogen, Heat Load Index. Software TURBOVEG / JUICE was used to collect and elaborate the data set of relevés. Old-field vegetation was classified into five basic plant communities using TWINSPAN (all the botanical material includes 291 plant species). For each community, we detected diagnostic species according to their fidelity index. The presence of mowing, grazing or burning was registered for recorded stands. Ecological preferences of each community were examined using one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA). Vegetation-environment relationships were analysed using ordination method – Cannonical correspondence analysis (CCA) in CANOCO for Windows (version 4.5) to find the main variability gradients within the dataset. Scatter plot relationships between variables were constructed. Main results and conclusions: Dependence of number of species (alpha diversity) on the abandoned field’s age exhibits an unimodal shape of this relationship with the maximum peak of species diversity in plant stands aged approximately 13 years. The most importnat ecological factors and/or type of management in the relationship to the old-field plant composition show the following significance order: available phosphorus content in the soil (P), total nitrogen content in the soil (N), presence of burning, length of abandonment (old-field age), carbon/nitrogen ratio in the soil (C/N). Other parameters (grazing, mowing, zero management) do not demonstrate effective impact according to our dataset and seem to be equal to the absence of burning.

Land use Land cover have significance in relation to Land, the most vital and fundamental resource pertaining to the urban development. Unprecedented urban growth has a noteworthy impact on natural landscape by converting natural land-cover in Haryana. Hisar, an area recognized for rapid urban growth is less explored in terms of research. The present research has shown a significant change in land use in terms of expansion of built-up area from 3.7 % (1991) to 5.0 % (2001) and 6.2 % (2011) by encroaching into agricultural land. Despite the clear difference between average land surface temperature for built up and non-built up area, grazing land and sandy waste, bare land in the rural surrounding possess higher temperature compared to the city core which contradicts the reported impact of urbanization earlier. Such contrary pertains to sparse vegetation cover leading to reduced evaporative cooling during dry pre-monsoon summer in the rural surrounding. On the other side, green parks and plantation in the city contribute to lower mean temperature because of high rates of evapotranspiration and produce ‘oasis effect’ in the present study area located in semi-arid climatic zone. Regression analysis between temperature and Normalized Difference Vegetation Index, Normalized Difference Built-up Index exhibited a strong negative and positive correlation respectively (Pearson’s r: between -0.79 to -0.87 and between 0.79 to 0.84 respectively). Future land use prediction project an increase (1.3 %) in built-up area from 2011 to 2021. This study recommends urban plantation and prohibition to overgrazing to check the heat effect.