徐州城市景观格局对绿地植物多样性的多尺度影响

城市地表景观的变化导致城市生物栖息地的损坏、破碎和丧失,致使城市生物多样性下降.为探讨城市景观格局变化对植物多样性的影响,本研究以徐州市绕城高速公路内的城区为对象,采用布朗布伦奎特(Braun-Blanquet)盖度等级法对36块城市绿地植物群落进行调查,并对不同绿地植物群落的物种多样性进行了分析.同时,以研究区2005和2015年的Landsat ETM遥感影像作为基础数据源,在Erdas、GIS、Fragstats软件的支持下,以每块调查样地为中心,分别建立9个不同半径的缓冲区,计算各缓冲区内表征斑块形状、破碎度和连通性共3类39个景观指数,在此基础上,运用冗余分析(RDA)筛选出不同幅度下对城市绿地植物多样性有显著影响的景观格局指数.结果表明: 植物多样性对景观整体格局和景观要素的响应具有明显的时间和空间尺度效应.2005年,未利用地和农田的破碎度、形状指数在800 m半径的缓冲区内能更好地解释植物多样性,建筑用地的破碎度和连通性指数在800～2000 m范围内对植物多样性有重要影响;2015年,草地和林地景观在800 m缓冲区内可更好地解释植物多样性,而建筑用地和未利用地在1000～2000 m范围内对植物多样性有显著影响;研究区当前植物多样性受2005年类型水平景观指数的影响更显著,说明研究区植物多样性对周边景观格局变化的响应存在一定的时间滞后;景观水平的格局指数与类型水平指数特征较为一致,说明物种与空间尺度的相互作用更多依赖于景观类型.     

Patterns of bird diversity and habitat use in mixed vineyard-matorral landscapes of Central Chile

The Mediterranean climate region of central Chile is rich in biodiversity and contains highly productive agricultural lands, which creates challenges for the preservation of natural habitats and native biodiversity. Ecological data and studies for the region are also limited, making informed conservation in agricultural landscapes difficult. The increasing availability of remotely sensed data provide opportunities to relate species occurrences to measures of landscape heterogeneity even when field measures of habitat structure are lacking. When working with such remotely sensed data, it’s important to select appropriate measures of heterogeneity, including common metrics of landscape composition as well as frequently overlooked shape metrics. In this contribution we combine bird surveys with multispectral satellite imagery to develop boosted regression tree models of avian species richness, and of habitat use for 15 species across a mixed vineyard-matorral landscape in central Chile. We found a range of associations between individual species and land cover types, with the majority of species occurring most frequently in remnant habitats and ecotones rather than the interiors of large vineyard blocks. Models identified both metrics of landscape composition and patch shape as being important predictors of species occurrence, suggesting that shape metrics can complement more commonly used metrics of landscape composition. Vineyards that include corridors or islands of remnant habitat among vine blocks may increase the amount of area available to many species, although some species may still require large tracts of intact natural habitat to persist.     

How does forest landscape structure explain tree species richness in a Mediterranean context?

Although the strong relationship between vegetation and climatic factors is widely accepted, other landscape composition and configuration characteristics could be significantly related with vegetation diversity patterns at different scales. Variation partitioning was conducted in order to analyse to what degree forest landscape structure, compared to other spatial and environmental factors, explained forest tree species richness in 278 UTM 10 × 10 km cells in the Mediterranean region of Catalonia (NE Spain). Tree species richness variation was decomposed through linear regression into three groups of explanatory variables: forest landscape (composition and configuration), environmental (topography and climate) and spatial variables. Additionally, the forest landscape characteristics which significantly contributed to explain richness variation were identified through a multiple regression model. About 60% of tree species richness variation was explained by the whole set of variables, while their joint effects explained nearly 28%. Forest landscape variables were those with a greater pure explanatory power for tree species richness (about 15% of total variation), much larger than the pure effect of environmental or spatial variables (about 2% each). Forest canopy cover, forest area and land cover diversity were the most significant composition variables in the regression model. Landscape configuration metrics had a minor effect on forest tree species richness, with the exception of some shape complexity indices, as indicators of land use intensity and edge effects. Our results highlight the importance of considering the forest landscape structure in order to understand the distribution of vegetation diversity in strongly human-modified regions like the Mediterranean.     

Long-term patterns of change in a vanishing cultural landscape: A GIS-based assessment

The specific patterns of land use change that can be observed in many economically developed countries have fundamental implications on landscape structure and geomorphological processes. Areas characterized by widespread erosion such as badlands are often sensitive to anthropic modifications and of large interest in the analysis of the topographic determinants of land use change. This work aims to analyse the land use and landscape structure changes occurred in a Mediterranean landscape by analysing historical maps and infer the underlying processes that contribute to the pattern of change. First we carried out a comparative examination of three historical image datasets (1820, 1954, 2005) through overlay image processing and cross-classification analysis. Then we analysed the relationships between the detected land-use transformations and topographic parameters. Finally we determined the landscape structure change patterns through the use of GIS-based landscape metrics. The results showed how the study areas have experienced significant land use changes, mainly due to the abandonment of traditional rural systems. We found semi-natural areas distribution to be closely connected with terrain-shaping processes. The processes that underlie the multi-temporal landscape structure change have produced an overall increase of the landscape complexity. The work is one of the first attempts to use historical cartographic data to quantitatively assess changes in land use and landscape structure in the Mediterranean area. The proposed integrated methodology can support decision-making in landscape planning and may represent a useful tool to define effective strategies for biodiversity conservation.     

Landscape metrics indicate differences in patterns and dominant controls of ribbon forests in the Rocky Mountains,USA

Question: Do landscape metrics reflect differences in dominant factors controlling ribbon forest patterns among sites? Location: West Flattop Mountain, Glacier National Park, Montana (Flattop); Medicine Bow Mountains, Wyoming (Medicine Bow); Park Range, Colorado (Park Range). Methods: High-resolution aerial photography was used to delineate ribbon forest patches, and to calculate landscape metrics to distinguish between long, narrow, regular patterns expected from strong microtopographic control, and smaller, more compact, and variable patterns expected from wind-snowdrift interactions. Results: All but two metrics were significantly different (P<0.05) among the three sites. The rank and magnitude of differences indicated that ribbons at Flattop and Park Range are more similar to each other than to those at Medicine Bow. Flattop ribbons were also more elongated, narrower and less variable than those at Park Range, suggesting differences in the type and strength of structural control. Previous research showed that Flattop ribbons occupy regular lithologic ridges, while our observations of ribbons and analysis of geologic maps suggests weaker and less consistent microtopographic control at Park Range, and dominant wind-snowdrift interactions with little to no microtopographic influence at Medicine Bow. Conclusions: Landscape metrics indicate differences in pattern among sites that reflect differences in dominant factors influencing ribbon forest development and maintenance. Explanations of ribbon forest dynamics are site-specific and are more complex than is currently recognized. The sites vary in the level of endogenous versus exogenous control of ribbon patterns, and consequently in the sensitivity of this phenomenon to climate.     

Assessing the impact of reforestation on the diversity of Mediterranean terrestrial Gastropoda

In the Mediterranean basin, pine tree reforestation has been the most common management tool in restoring degraded and burnt areas, as well as for economic purposes. However, the quality of the biodiversity of these habitats has undergone little assessment. Terrestrial gastropods are suitable indicators of forest quality and long-term stability because of their strict dependence on microhabitat conditions and their slow dispersal rate. We sampled the gastropod population in a protected Mediterranean area in order to compare the species richness in seven main habitats. Holm oak wood and mixed-pine forests were the habitats with the lowest species density, and areas with a high level of heterogeneity exhibited the richest communities. In recent decades however, land abandonment and pine reforestation are leading to landscape homogeneity, which is perhaps the cause of the extinction of six open-habitat gastropod species in the Park. These results provide park authorities with insights into how to adapt management plans to enhance habitat quality for land snail and slug assemblages. More specifically, our results stress the need to create habitat heterogeneity to increase land mollusc diversity in large and continuous areas of mixed-pine forests.     

浙江天童国家森林公园景观的遥感分类与制图

利用Landsat-TM多时相数据,采用非监督分类方法,对浙江省天童国家森林公园的景观进行分类。并利用野外实地调查的数据进行检验和校正。结果表明,天童国家森林公园范围内的景观可分为常绿阔叶林、成熟常绿阔叶林、次生常绿-落叶阔叶林、山脊常绿-落叶阔叶林、谷地常绿-落叶阔叶林、林缘灌丛、次生灌丛、针叶林(杉木)、竹林、生长作物的农田／菜园地、旱地、裸土、居住区、水体14个类型,这14个景观类型,根据植物群落学分类的群落复合体(cammunity complex)和群落复合体的地-综合群落学(Geo-synsociology)的方法,归并为山坡常绿阔叶林、常绿落叶阔叶混交林、人工林(针叶林、竹林)、农田、水体、居住区6个景观单元。在景观分类和合并的基础上,对天童国家森林公园的景观进行了制图。     

Signals of Climate Change in Butterfly Communities in a Mediterranean Protected Area

The European protected-area network will cease to be efficient for biodiversity conservation, particularly in the Mediterranean region, if species are driven out of protected areas by climate warming. Yet, no empirical evidence of how climate change influences ecological communities in Mediterranean nature reserves really exists. Here, we examine long-term (1998–2011/2012) and short-term (2011–2012) changes in the butterfly fauna of Dadia National Park (Greece) by revisiting 21 and 18 transects in 2011 and 2012 respectively, that were initially surveyed in 1998. We evaluate the temperature trend for the study area for a 22-year-period (1990–2012) in which all three butterfly surveys are included. We also assess changes in community composition and species richness in butterfly communities using information on (a) species’ elevational distributions in Greece and (b) Community Temperature Index (calculated from the average temperature of species'' geographical ranges in Europe, weighted by species'' abundance per transect and year). Despite the protected status of Dadia NP and the subsequent stability of land use regimes, we found a marked change in butterfly community composition over a 13 year period, concomitant with an increase of annual average temperature of 0.95°C. Our analysis gave no evidence of significant year-to-year (2011–2012) variability in butterfly community composition, suggesting that the community composition change we recorded is likely the consequence of long-term environmental change, such as climate warming. We observe an increased abundance of low-elevation species whereas species mainly occurring at higher elevations in the region declined. The Community Temperature Index was found to increase in all habitats except agricultural areas. If equivalent changes occur in other protected areas and taxonomic groups across Mediterranean Europe, new conservation options and approaches for increasing species’ resilience may have to be devised.     

基于生态系统服务价值和景观生态风险的生态分区识别与优化策略——以祁连山国家公园青海片区为例

生态空间分区识别是支撑自然保护地生态资产管理的前提性和基础性工作。以祁连山国家公园青海片区(以下简称为“园区”)为例,集成遥感技术、地理信息模型方法、景观生态学方法、GIS格网法,分析了园区1998—2018年土地利用、生态系统服务价值、景观生态风险的时空演变特征,选用Z-score标准化构建了四类生态分区。结果表明：(1)草地占园区面积的55.00%以上,30年间(1998—2018年)园区土地利用之间转移总面积为102.49 km²。(2)3个时期(1998年、2008年、2018年)园区生态系统服务价值(ESV)约为274亿元/a,单位面积ESV为172.94万元/km²。不同ESV等级呈现“大分散、小集聚”的镶嵌交错分布格局,高寒河源湿地区和寒温带针叶林区为ESV的高值区。(3)3个时期园区景观生态风险指数(ERI)分别为0.2287、0.2286和0.2310,生态安全状态整体较好,景观生态风险以低生态风险等级和较低生态风险等级占主导地位,占园区面积的90.00%左右。人工牧草地、旱地、建设用地的景观生态风险等级较高。(4)结合生态...     

An ArcMap plug-in for calculating landscape metrics of vector data

Landscape metrics are quantitative indices that describe the abundant information about landscape patterns and specific characteristics of the landscape composition and configuration. Landscape metrics have extensive applications such as land evaluation, ecosystem services, forest monitoring, urban sprawl control, and regional biodiversity conservation. Although numerous software packages, such as FragStats, Patch Analyst, etc., are available for calculating the landscape metrics, most of them process only raster data, while those applicable to vector data provide inadequate landscape metrics for calculations, making them insufficient for landscape analysis. The proposed plug-in can solve this task for ArcMap10.2 software called Arc_LIND, which computes the landscape metrics of vector data. This paper presents an overview of Arc_LIND, which can calculate three levels, six groups, and the total of 195 landscape metrics, including 13 ones at the patch level, 87 ones at the class level, and 95 ones at the landscape level. These features make it lucrative for the teaching and scientific research in the landscape ecology and other relevant fields. The comparative study on the scale effect of landscape metrics was performed using data in different formats and different landscapes, which confirms the feasibility and efficiency of Arc_LIND.     

基于多源数据的三江源国家公园土地生态安全综合评价

开展国家公园尺度的土地生态安全综合评价，对优化三江源国家公园土地利用管理规划、加强生态网络建设具有重要借鉴价值。在“压力-状态-响应”(PSR)理论框架中融入草地退化指数、冻土稳定型分布、生态系统服务价值和景观生态脆弱性等指标，分析三江源国家公园土地生态安全状况及其主导因素。研究表明：(1)三江源国家公园景观生态脆弱性整体较低，不同园区景观生态脆弱性指数略有差异，长江源园区为中等脆弱区，黄河源园区脆弱性次之，澜沧江源园区景观生态脆弱性优于其他两园区。(2)三江源国家公园整体土地生态安全状况为较不安全，其中，长江源园区、澜沧江源园区以较不安全区等级为主、临界安全等级次之，黄河源园区临界安全及以上等级的面积比重为93.94%。(3)土地生态较安全区和安全区分布于长江源园区中南部，以及黄河源园区南北两侧边缘区，较不安全区和临界安全区在长江源园区、澜沧江源园区以及黄河源园区交错且连片分布。(4)基于地理探测器模型的自然生态和社会经济影响因素识别结果显示，居民点密度、水网密度和景观生态脆弱性是影响三江源国家公园土地生态安全的主导因素，揭示了人类活动扰动程度与生态系统脆弱性对国家公园土地生态安全状...     

Landscape dynamics and their effect on the functional connectivity of a Mediterranean landscape in Chile

Land use and cover changes have been identified as a major factor contributing to shape landscape structure and biodiversity patterns, particulary in areas with a long history of human occupation and habitat fragmentation, such as the Mediterranean landscapes. However, the existing studies on landscape change indicators for Mediterranean areas have mostly focused in Europe, while for other Mediterranean zones, and especially for South America, there is a serious lack of knowledge concerning the impact of landscape dynamics on ecological processes. Further research on this topic is urgently needed, given the high biodiversity levels and the rapidly increasing rates of human modification in the Mediterranean landscapes of South America. For this purpose, we investigated the dynamics of a landscape in the semiarid region of the Mediterranean zone of Chile, and measured the effect of those dynamics on functional connectivity, during a period of about four decades (1975–2011). Landscape connectivity indicators were extracted from a series of Landsat images. The Equivalent Connnected Area index (ECA) was used as indicator of connectivity trends, and was evaluated for three representative distances of seed dispersal in the study area (150 m, 500 m and 1000 m). In addition, the patches that most contribute to maintain the present connectivity, and their roles as connectivity providers, were identified through a set of commensurable indicators: betweenness centrality and the fractions (intra, flux connector) of the Integral Index of Connectivity. We found that these indicators were useful to detect and summarize a number of previously unreported trends in these Mediterranean landscapes. First, population growth and economic development were compatible with an increase in functional connectivity for forest habitats, mainly because the abandonment of marginal agricultural lands and their subsequent conversion to espinals (Acacia caven) triggered vegetation succession towards secondary forests. Second, increased forest connectivity was not associated to a decrease in the characteristic heterogeneity of Mediterranean landscapes. Third, many patches of espinal, despite being commonly regarded as of poor conservation value, were crucial to promote connectivity by acting as stepping stones among other patches with higher habitat quality. The approach here presented provides a combined assessment of landscape structure, function and change that should be valuable and applicable to deliver operational indicators in dynamic landscapes in South America and other Mediterranean regions.     

Old rural parks support higher biodiversity than forest remnants

One of the main challenges in biodiversity conservation is to curb a further degradation and loss of high-quality habitats. In agricultural matrix landscapes, the detection of alternative habitats for habitat specialists may be a solution. Historic old parks or landscape gardens around manor houses and castles are cultural heritage of nobles, but their value in harbouring biodiversity is poorly acknowledged. Therefore we evaluated the potential of old rural parks to serve as a habitat for nemoral forest species. We recorded stand structure and the presence of forest biodiversity indicators in 74 closed-canopy stands of historic parks and compared them with 93 neighbouring mature forest remnants on ancient forest land. We estimated the importance of stand structure in relation to habitat type on biodiversity indicators. Finally we suggest single-value indicator-complexes for the cost-efficient assessment of the conservation value of forests and forest-like habitats. Park stands outclassed reference forests in several individual structural characteristics, and in combined indicators of habitat quality and biodiversity. Forests had higher estimates for the combined indicator of dead wood, but large-diameter dead wood types were more abundant in parks. Woodpeckers, several old-growth indicator epiphytes and forest herbs had successfully become established in planted forest-like park fragments. Old rural parks resemble high-conservation-value forests more than the best preserved contemporary forest remnants. After the century needed to overcome immigration delay, old parks do provide a refugium for temperate deciduous forest species. Consequently, biodiversity-targeted management should retain and enhance old-growth attributes in forests and on the peripheries of parks: e.g. preserving old trees to provide service for epiphytes, hollow trees and an understorey mosaic for birds and bats; dead wood elements for saproxylic insects and fungi; limited mowing frequency and increased cutting height for forest herbs. Forestry should enhance the recovery of mixed deciduous stands and avoid conifer plantations.     

Can we measure ecological sustainability? Landscape pattern as an indicator for naturalness and land use intensity at regional,national and European level

European landscapes have been shaped over the centuries by processes related to human land use, which are reflected in regionally distinct landscape patterns. Since landscape pattern has been linked to biodiversity and other ecological values of the landscapes, this paper explores landscape pattern as a tool for ecological sustainability assessments at the regional (Austrian Cultural Landscapes), national (Austria) and European (European Union + Norway, Switzerland) level with focus on agricultural landscapes. A set of landscape metrics served as a basis to assess naturalness and geometrisation of Austrian and European landscapes as a proxy for their sustainability. To achieve an accurate spatially explicit assessment, we applied a spatial reference framework consisting in units that are homogeneous in biophysical and socio-economic contexts, adapted the regional approach for its application at European level, and developed relative sustainability thresholds for the landscape metrics. The analyses revealed that several landscape metrics, particularly the “Number of Shape Characterising Points” showed a high correlation with the degree of naturalness. The sustainability map of Austria based on an ordinal regression model revealed well-known problem regions of ecological sustainability. At the European level, the relative deviation from the average pattern showed clearly the simplification processes in the landscapes. However, a better spatial resolution of land cover data would add to the refinement of pattern analysis in regions and therefore the assessment of sustainability. We recommend the combination of information of different scales for the formulation and implementation of sustainability policies.     

Multifaceted Analysis of Patch-Level Plant Diversity in Response to Landscape Spatial Pattern and History on Mediterranean Dunes

Landscape structure is known to critically affect biodiversity. However, although the multi-facetted character of biodiversity is widely recognized, few studies have linked landscape spatial pattern and history simultaneously to multiple facets (taxonomic, functional, and phylogenetic) and spatial components (α, β, and γ) of plant diversity. We set out to reveal whether landscape parameters have specific effects on the separate diversity facets and components of plant diversity at a patch scale on coastal dune landscapes of Central Italy. For each landscape patch, we computed a set of patch-based metrics relying on multi-temporal land-cover maps. Based on a database of plant community plots, on functional traits from field measurements and on a dated phylogenetic tree, we calculated taxonomic (TD), functional (FD), and phylogenetic diversity (PD) within each patch at α, β, and γ level. Diversity measures were then related to the landscape metrics via linear mixed-effect models. Landscape pattern and transformations affected TD only moderately in coastal dune ecosystems. We found much stronger and contrasted effects on FD and PD. FD increased in patches surrounded by human-dominated habitats; PD was higher in fragmented patches, particularly in the Mediterranean macchia. Moreover, landscape pattern affected differently the single communities, the turnover among communities and the pool of species within the patch (α, β, and γ components). Our results call for the combined inclusion of FD and PD and their partitions into ecological analyses, being TD too crude to capture the comprehensive and contrasted response of plant diversity to landscape spatial pattern.     

Conservation strategy of a nature reserve in Mediterranean ecosystems: the effects of protection from grazing on biodiversity

Protection of natural areas has caused the elimination of traditional grazing activity on many occasions. As a result, in Mediterranean ecosystems a loss of biodiversity is usually related to a decrease of grassland and grassland–bush mosaic areas. In order to establish relationships between land use and the relative importance of each type of habitat in terms of species richness and endemicity, the Font Roja Natural Park in Alicante Province (SE Iberian Peninsula) was studied. Four sites were selected representing the four different existing habitats: a wooded area (holm-oak forest), a dense shrubland, a dense grassland, and a grassland–shrubland mosaic area. In each site, the species composition of vegetation and dung beetle fauna were analysed. The results showed that the highest diversity and endemicity, for plants and beetles, were concentrated in the dense grasslands and the grassland–shrubland mosaic. Thus, controlled grazing activity of sheep and goats which maintained a diverse variegated landscape would favour the historical sustenance of the biodiversity of Mediterranean ecosystems, as that would allow a remarkable diversity of habitats with higher conservation levels of existing species richness and endemicity. Therefore, we propose a reintroduction of traditional grazing of sheep and goats throughout ecological, cultural and economical measures, which would include guidelines and regulations, set out to boost an integrated rural policy.     

Avalanches creating high structural and floristic diversity in mountain mixed forests in the Alps

On January 18, 1986 a snow avalanche fell down from the steep slope of Mount Watzmann, Berchtesgaden National Park, Germany, into a mountain mixed forest reaching an elevation of only 610 m asl. The trees were bent to the ground, but they survived, forming a dense canopy pressed to the ground. Although on the landscape scale the avalanche marked a strong visual impact we hypothesized that the species composition of the forest ground layer would not change significantly. To test this we established a set of permanent plots. In the following years new avalanches over and adjacent to the former avalanche track occurred. The established permanent plots allow us to evaluate a second hypothesis, namely that not only structural diversity has been enhanced by the avalanches, but also a sequence of different succession pathways initiated which all together will keep diversity at a high level in the affected area. Our analysis of forest patches which were affected only by the first avalanche shows that, although a strong change in forest structure has taken place, the species composition here remained to a large extent unchanged. This suggests that beneath the dense crown canopy built up by the bent trees the microclimate shows little change, mechanical soil disturbances are rare, and therefore species of open land have no chance to establish. In contrast, if the avalanche uproots and kills the trees a clear change in species composition is the result. On our permanent plots we were able to identify eight different succession pathways initiated by the different disturbance events, causing at various points of time a set of different development phases of the forest ecosystem on the avalanche track.     

Landscape heterogeneity metrics as indicators of bird diversity: Determining the optimal spatial scales in different landscapes

Species distribution models are often used to study the biodiversity of ecosystems. The modelling process uses a number of parameters to predict others, such as the occurrence of determinate species, population size, habitat suitability or biodiversity. It is well known that the heterogeneity of landscapes can lead to changes in species’ abundance and biodiversity. However, landscape metrics depend on maps and spatial scales when it comes to undertaking a GIS analysis.We explored the goodness of fit of several models using the metrics of landscape heterogeneity and altitude as predictors of bird diversity in different landscapes and spatial scales. Two variables were used to describe biodiversity: bird richness and trophic level diversity, both of which were obtained from a breeding bird survey by means of point counts. The relationships between biodiversity and landscape metrics were compared using multiple linear regressions. All of the analyses were repeated for 14 different spatial scales and for cultivated, forest and grassland environments to determine the optimal spatial scale for each landscape typology.Our results revealed that the relationships between species’ richness and landscape heterogeneity using 1:10,000 land cover maps were strongest when working on a spatial scale up to a radius of 125–250 m around the sampled point (circa 4.9–19.6 ha). Furthermore, the correlation between measures of landscape heterogeneity and bird diversity was greater in grasslands than in cultivated or forested areas. The multi-spatial scale approach is useful for (a) assessing the accuracy of surrogates of bird diversity in different landscapes and (b) optimizing spatial model procedures for biodiversity mapping, mainly over extensive areas.     

Patterns of Land Cover Change in and Around Madidi National Park, Bolivia

This study examines how human land uses and biophysical factors serve as predictors of land cover change in and around Madidi National Park in Bolivia. The Greater Madidi Landscape ranges over an elevational gradient from < 200 m in the Amazon basin to 6000 m in the high Andes, contains more than ten major ecosystem types, and several protected areas and sustainable use zones. In this study, Landsat Thematic Mapper satellite images collected over the study area at the beginning of the 1990s and then the 2000s were classified according to broad land cover types. Below elevations of 3000 m, the landscape experienced equal rates of deforestation and secondary forest increases of approximately 0.63 percent annually, resulting in no significant net change. Below elevations of 1000 m, however, we found an annual net loss in forest cover of 0.11 percent. Across the landscape, land cover change was most likely to occur near areas previously deforested, near roads and population centers, and at low elevations. We found net deforestation rates to be inversely related to strength of natural resource protection laws in protected areas and other jurisdictions. Results suggest little net change for the landscape as a whole, but that local scale changes may be significant, particularly near roads. Management policies favorable for biodiversity conservation in this landscape should limit the building of new roads and immigration to biologically sensitive areas and continue to support protected areas, which are achieving a positive result for forest conservation.     

Landscape management and landscape changes towards more naturalness and wilderness: Effects on scenic qualities—The case of the Müritz National Park in Germany

This paper analyses the consequences and effects of management towards more naturalness and wilderness, using the case of the Müritz National Park as an example. Planned management actions for enhancing naturalness and providing space for wilderness are examined. The scenic qualities of the national park landscape are analysed in terms of the management objectives and with the appropriate tools. For open landscapes, we applied the Delphi survey method to forecast their appearances in 2020 and 2035. A forest growth simulator was used to describe the change in forest tree species composition over the coming decades, and well into the 22nd century. These forecasts are compared with the goals set in the National Park Plan.