Context and connectivity in plant metapopulations and landscape mosaics: does the matrix matter?

Recent reviews of evidence for plant metapopulation prevalence in nature have concluded that most species appear not to be arranged as metapopulations – hence other frameworks may be necessary for understanding large‐scale, regional dynamics in plants. Separate but related paradigms from the disciplines of landscape ecology and metapopulation ecology exist for understanding patterns of regional population variation. The major models of both paradigms assume a binary landscape mosaic composed of “suitable habitat” and background “matrix.” An important distinction between the two approaches is that metapopulation models essentially ignore features of the matrix. A binary approach to the landscape seems inappropriate for plants for several reasons. First, plants probably do not have a binary perception of the landscape, but rather respond to gradients of resource quality. Thus properties of patches, or the matrix per se, may be less important than the nature of the landscape mosaic, in particular as this is reflected in terms of connectivity. Secondly, many plants rely on a range of other agents for dispersal of pollen and seed, all of which are also affected by their environment in terms of connectivity. Furthermore the various components of the mosaic, including physical, spatial and functional elements can significantly influence plant movements. We review important effects of the matrix – via composition and configuration of habitat patches, extent of edges, patterns of land use, etc., upon plant populations. We describe evidence supporting a general integration of metapopulation and landscape ecological approaches for understanding regional dynamics in plants, emphasizing notions of connectivity (traditionally measured in very different ways by metapopulation and landscape ecologists), and context, an emerging concept describing components of variability in the landscape from a species‐specific perspective. Finally, we describe a functional landscape mosaic approach that treats structural and functional features of the landscape and show how these interact to determine the fate of plant populations.     

Continuum or discrete patch landscape models for savanna birds? Towards a pluralistic approach

Conceptualising landscapes as a mosaic of discrete habitat patches is fundamental to landscape ecology, metapopulation theory and conservation biology. An emerging question in ecology is: when is the discrete patch model more appropriate than alternative and conceptually appealing models such as the continuum model? There is limited empirical testing of the utility of alternative landscape models compared to the discrete patch model for a range of species. In this paper, we constructed three alternative sets of models for testing the effect of landscape structure on diversity and abundance of a suite of woodland birds in a savanna landscape of northern Australia: the null model (only site‐scale habitat variables, landscape context not important), the continuum model, and the discrete patch model. We utilised high‐spatial resolution satellite images to quantify spatial gradients in tree cover density (the continuum model), and to then aggregate the fine‐scale heterogeneity in tree cover into discrete patches of trees, with grass cover forming the “matrix” (the discrete patch‐model). We then evaluated the relative importance of the alternative models using generalised linear models and an information theoretic approach. We found that the importance of the models varied among species, with no single model dominant. Species that move between open grassy areas and woody shelter responded well to the continuum model, reflecting the importance of gradients in density of forage (grasses) and cover (trees), while the discrete model performed best for species that forage in all vegetation strata, and nest predominantly in dense woody vegetation. This finding supports a pluralistic approach, highlighting the need for adopting and testing more than one landscape model in savanna landscapes, and in other landscapes that do not have a well defined patch structure.     

Metapopulations in multifractal landscapes: on the role of spatial aggregation

The use of fractals in ecology is currently pervasive over many areas. However, very few studies have linked fractal properties of landscapes to generating ecological mechanisms and dynamics. In this study I show that lacunarity (a measure of the landscape texture) is a well suited ecologically scaled landscape index that can be explicitly incorporated in metapopulation models such as the classical Levins equation. I show that the average lacunarity of an aggregated landscape is linearly correlated to the habitat that a species with local spatial processed information may perceive. Lacunarity is a computationally feasible index to measure, and is related to the metapopulation capacity of landscapes. A general approach to multifractal landscapes has been conceived, and some analytical results for self-similar landscapes are outlined, including the specific effect of landscape heterogeneity, decoupled from that of contagion by dispersal. Spatially explicit simulations show agreement with the semi-implicit method presented.     

景观生态学与退化生态系统恢复

退化生态系统的恢复是一项艰巨任务,它需要考虑到所要恢复的退化生态系统的结构,多样性和其动态的整体性和长期性。现在对于退化生态系统恢复研究已经要使生态学家们关注受损生态系统的理论和实际问题。退化生态系统恢复所面临的挑战是理解和利用生态演替理论来完成并加速恢复进程。恢复的主要目标是建立一个自维持的,由不同的群落或生态系统组成的能够满足不同需要如生物保护和粮食生产需要的景观。景观生态学关注于大的空间尺度的生态学问题。景观生态学研究方法可以为退化生态系统恢复实践提供指导。在解决退化生态系统的恢复问题时,景观生态学的方法在理论和实践上是有效的。景观生态学中的核心概念和其一般原理斑块形状、生态系统间相互作用、镶嵌系列等都同退化生态系统的恢复有着密切的关系。如恢复地点的选择和适当的恢复要素的空间配置。在评价退化生态系统的恢复是否取得成功,利用景观生态学也具有重要的意义。景观生态学理论如景观格局与景观异质性理论,干扰理论和尺度理论都能够指导退化生态系统的恢复实践。同样地,退化生态系统的恢复可以为景观生态学的研究提供非常恰当的实验场。寓景观生态学思想于退化生态系统恢复过程是一种新的有效途径。     

景观生态学的学科前沿与发展战略

根据美国景观生态学2001年年会关于景观生态学的关键议题和研究领域特别专题的讨论,综合16位国际知名专家所发表的关于深化理论、整合协调和方法改进等方面的意见,深入论述了景观生态学的6项关键议题和10个优先研究领域。包括通过景观镶嵌体的生态流,土地利用和土地覆被变化的过程、机制,非线性动态和景观复杂性,尺度转换方法论的发展,景观指标与生态过程,人类活动与景观生态,景观格局的优化,景观保育与可持续性,资料获取与准确性评价。并对构建中国景观生态学的理论框架提出了初步的想法,即发展以格局——过程关系为中心的生态空间理论,以人类活动有序化为中心的景观生态建设理论,以发挥景观多重价值为中心的景观规划理论。     

A Framework to Optimize Biodiversity Restoration Efforts Based on Habitat Amount and Landscape Connectivity

The effectiveness of ecological restoration actions toward biodiversity conservation depends on both local and landscape constraints. Extensive information on local constraints is already available, but few studies consider the landscape context when planning restoration actions. We propose a multiscale framework based on the landscape attributes of habitat amount and connectivity to infer landscape resilience and to set priority areas for restoration. Landscapes with intermediate habitat amount and where connectivity remains sufficiently high to favor recolonization were considered to be intermediately resilient, with high possibilities of restoration effectiveness and thus were designated as priority areas for restoration actions. The proposed method consists of three steps: (1) quantifying habitat amount and connectivity; (2) using landscape ecology theory to identify intermediate resilience landscapes based on habitat amount, percolation theory, and landscape connectivity; and (3) ranking landscapes according to their importance as corridors or bottlenecks for biological flows on a broader scale, based on a graph theory approach. We present a case study for the Brazilian Atlantic Forest (approximately 150 million hectares) in order to demonstrate the proposed method. For the Atlantic Forest, landscapes that present high restoration effectiveness represent only 10% of the region, but contain approximately 15 million hectares that could be targeted for restoration actions (an area similar to today's remaining forest extent). The proposed method represents a practical way to both plan restoration actions and optimize biodiversity conservation efforts by focusing on landscapes that would result in greater conservation benefits .     

Landscape issues in plant ecology

In the last decade, we have seen the emergence and consolidation of a conceptual framework that recognizes the landscape as an ecological unit of interest. Plant ecologists have long emphasized landscape-scale issues, but there has been no recent attempt to define how landscape concepts are now integrated in vegetation studies. To help define common research paradigms in both landscape and plant ecology, we discuss issues related to three main landscape concepts in vegetation researches, reviewing theoretical influences and emphasizing recent developments. We first focus on environmental relationships, documenting how vegetation patterns emerge from the influence of local abiotic conditions. The landscape is the physical environment. Disturbances are then considered, with a particular attention to human-driven processes that often overrule natural dynamics. The landscape is a dynamic space. As environmental and historical processes generate heterogeneous patterns, we finally move on to stress current evidence relating spatial structure and vegetation dynamics. This relates to the concept of a landscape as a patch-corridor-matrix mosaic. Future challenges involve: 1) the capacity to evaluate the relative importance of multiple controlling processes at broad spatial scale; 2) better assessment of the real importance of the spatial configuration of landscape elements for plant species and finally; 3) the integration of natural and cultural processes and the recognition of their interdependence in relation to vegetation management issues in human landscapes.     

Convolutional neural networks improve species distribution modelling by capturing the spatial structure of the environment

Convolutional Neural Networks (CNNs) are statistical models suited for learning complex visual patterns. In the context of Species Distribution Models (SDM) and in line with predictions of landscape ecology and island biogeography, CNN could grasp how local landscape structure affects prediction of species occurrence in SDMs. The prediction can thus reflect the signatures of entangled ecological processes. Although previous machine-learning based SDMs can learn complex influences of environmental predictors, they cannot acknowledge the influence of environmental structure in local landscapes (hence denoted “punctual models”). In this study, we applied CNNs to a large dataset of plant occurrences in France (GBIF), on a large taxonomical scale, to predict ranked relative probability of species (by joint learning) to any geographical position. We examined the way local environmental landscapes improve prediction by performing alternative CNN models deprived of information on landscape heterogeneity and structure (“ablation experiments”). We found that the landscape structure around location crucially contributed to improve predictive performance of CNN-SDMs. CNN models can classify the predicted distributions of many species, as other joint modelling approaches, but they further prove efficient in identifying the influence of local environmental landscapes. CNN can then represent signatures of spatially structured environmental drivers. The prediction gain is noticeable for rare species, which open promising perspectives for biodiversity monitoring and conservation strategies. Therefore, the approach is of both theoretical and practical interest. We discuss the way to test hypotheses on the patterns learnt by CNN, which should be essential for further interpretation of the ecological processes at play.     

城市河流的景观生态学研究:概念框架

城市河流作为城市景观中一种重要的生态廊道,其功能的正常实现与否关系到整个城市的可持续发展。通过分析当前城市河流的研究概况,发现应用景观生态学原理对城市河流展开多尺度、多学科的综合研究是实现“自然-人类-水体”可持续发展的必然趋势。从景观生态学的角度出发,结合城市河流的特点,提出了更为综合的、景观水平上的城市河流研究的概念框架。特别针对景观生态学研究的核心问题,对城市河流的研究尺度、格局分析、干扰程度等重要方面进行了详细论述,以期在景观水平上构建城市河流的可持续发展预案。     

Linking Restoration and Landscape Ecology

Landscape ecology focuses on questions typically addressed over broad spatial scales. A landscape approach embraces spatial heterogeneity, consisting of a number of ecosystems and/or landscape structures of different types, as a central theme. Such studies may aid restoration efforts in a variety of ways, including (1) provision of better guidance for selecting reference sites and establishing project goals and (2) suggestions for appropriate spatial configurations of restored elements to facilitate recruitment of flora/fauna. Likewise, restoration efforts may assist landscape–level studies, given that restored habitats, possessing various patch arrangements or being established among landscapes of varying diversity and conditions of human alteration, can provide extraordinary opportunities for experimentation over a large spatial scale. Restoration studies can facilitate the rate of information gathering for expected changes in natural landscapes for which introduction of landscape elements may be relatively slow. Moreover, data collected from restoration studies can assist in validation of dynamic models of current interest in landscape ecology. We suggest that restoration and landscape ecology have an unexplored mutualistic relationship that could enhance research and application of both disciplines.     

A species‐centered approach for uncovering generalities in organism responses to habitat loss and fragmentation

Theoretical models predict strong influences of habitat loss and fragmentation on species distributions and demography, but empirical studies have shown relatively inconsistent support across species and systems. We argue that species’ responses to landscape‐scale habitat loss and fragmentation are likely to appear less idiosyncratic if it is recognized that species perceive the same landscapes in different ways. We present a new quantitative approach that uses species distribution models (SDMs) to measure landscapes (e.g. patch size, isolation, matrix amount) from the perspective of individual species. First, we briefly summarize the few efforts to date demonstrating that once differences in habitat distributions are controlled, consistencies in species’ responses to landscape structure emerge. Second, we present a detailed example providing step‐by‐step methods for application of a species‐centered approach using freely available land‐cover data and recent statistical modeling approaches. Third, we discuss pitfalls in current applications of the approach and recommend avenues for future developments. We conclude that the species‐centered approach offers considerable promise as a means to test whether sensitivity to habitat loss and fragmentation is mediated by phylogenetic, ecological, and life‐history traits. Cross‐species generalities in responses to habitat loss and fragmentation will be challenging to uncover unless landscape mosaics are defined using models that reflect differing species‐specific distributions, functional connectivity, and domains of scale. The emergence of such generalities would not only enhance scientific understanding of biotic processes driving fragmentation effects, but would allow managers to estimate species sensitivities in new regions.     

基于三维景观指数的城市景观美学特征定量表达——以深圳市为例

城市景观由自然元素与人工元素构成,以建筑为主体,辅以外部空间环境。对城市景观美学价值的研究有利于探讨如何提升城市形象及居民生活环境,为城市规划设计纳入了感性与理性结合的合理途径。景观美学特征以不同方式影响整体景观质量,合理运用景观指数对城市景观美学特征进行量化表达,是评估景观质量的重要前提。在整理借鉴景观美学相关研究的基础上,结合景观生态学理论基础,以城市空间内部审美者的角度将城市景观五大美学特征,包括自然性、开阔性、多样性、奇特性和协调性,转化为可定量表达的二维及三维景观指数。量化指标易使用数据进行快速评估,对于城市规划设计有着积极意义。     

An improved neutral landscape model for recreating real landscapes and generating landscape series for spatial ecological simulations

Many studies have assessed the effect of landscape patterns on spatial ecological processes by simulating these processes in computer‐generated landscapes with varying composition and configuration. To generate such landscapes, various neutral landscape models have been developed. However, the limited set of landscape‐level pattern variables included in these models is often inadequate to generate landscapes that reflect real landscapes. In order to achieve more flexibility and variability in the generated landscapes patterns, a more complete set of class‐ and patch‐level pattern variables should be implemented in these models. These enhancements have been implemented in Landscape Generator (LG), which is a software that uses optimization algorithms to generate landscapes that match user‐defined target values. Developed for participatory spatial planning at small scale, we enhanced the usability of LG and demonstrated how it can be used for larger scale ecological studies. First, we used LG to recreate landscape patterns from a real landscape (i.e., a mountainous region in Switzerland). Second, we generated landscape series with incrementally changing pattern variables, which could be used in ecological simulation studies. We found that LG was able to recreate landscape patterns that approximate those of real landscapes. Furthermore, we successfully generated landscape series that would not have been possible with traditional neutral landscape models. LG is a promising novel approach for generating neutral landscapes and enables testing of new hypotheses regarding the influence of landscape patterns on ecological processes. LG is freely available online.     

At what spatial scales does resource selection vary? A case study of koalas in a semi‐arid region

The conservation of any species requires understanding and predicting the distribution of its habitat and resource use, including the effects of scale‐dependent variation in habitat and resource quality. Consequently, testing for resource selection at the appropriate scales is critical. We investigated how the resource selection process varies across scales, using koalas in a semi‐arid landscape of eastern Australia as a case study. We asked: at what scales does tree selection by koalas vary across regions? We tested the importance of the variation of our ecological predictors at the following scales: (i) the site‐scale (a stand of trees representing an individual koala's perception of local habitat); (ii) the landscape‐scale (10 × 10 km area representing a space within which a population of koalas exists); and (iii) a combination of these scales. We used a mixed‐modelling approach to quantify variation in selection of individual trees by koalas among sites and landscapes within a 1600 km² study area. We found that tree species, and tree height, were the most important factors influencing tree selection, and that their effect did not vary across scales. In contrast, preferences for trees of different condition, which is the state of tree canopy health, did vary across landscapes, indicating spatial variation in the selection of trees with respect to tree condition at the landscape‐scale, but not at the site‐scale. We conclude that resource selection processes can depend on the quality of those resources at different scales and their heterogeneous nature across landscapes, highlighting the consequence of scale‐dependent ecological processes. Designing studies that capture the heterogeneity in habitat and resources used by species that have an extensive distribution is an important prerequisite for effective conservation planning and management.     

内生驱动因素对景感意愿度差异的影响——从城市公园斑块-廊道-基质景观角度

城市绿色空间与人的健康息息相关,新发展阶段人们对城市绿色空间建设提出了更高要求,来满足日益增长的美好生活需要。优化城市绿色空间,维持、提升和增加城市生态系统服务,是景感生态学研究的使命之一,然而以往研究鲜有从人自身的人格属性角度探讨内生驱动因素在景观感知和景观评价中的影响。以景感意愿度作为衡量景观感知和需求的指标,探究内生驱动因素对人的景观感知和行为偏好选择的影响,提出内生驱动因素对人在不同景观类型中的感受存在差异,而且这种差异影响到个体的行为偏好这一假设。以杭州市主城区5座城市公园的"斑块-廊道-基质"景观作为研究对象,以MBTI量表所得的人格类型作为内生驱动因素,将内生驱动因素与景观和行为偏好选择进行有序回归分析,探讨其对景感意愿度的影响。结果表明：基质景观中受访者景感意愿度最强烈,其次为斑块景观,廊道景观中景感意愿度最低;在斑块景观中,ESFP （外向-感官-感性-自然）型、ENFP （外向-畅想-感性-自然）型、ESFJ （外向-感官-感性-控制）型和INFP （内向-畅想-感性-自然）型的人格类型对景感意愿度具有显著相关关系;在廊道景观中,有14种人格类型对景感意愿度具有显著相关关系;在基质景观中,有9种人格类型对景感意愿度具有显著相关关系。研究结果证实了内生驱动因素影响着人们的景感意愿度。在城市景观生态评价、规划和景感营造,以及生态系统服务研究中,不仅需要考虑生态环境因素和人的社会属性,还应考虑到人的内在属性特征,将景感意愿度和内生驱动因素纳入生态规划中。     

Source-sink landscape theory and its ecological significance

Exploring the relatiouships between landscape pattern and ecological processes is the key topic of landscape ecology,for which,a large number of indices as well as landscape pattern analysis model were developed.However,one problem faced by landscape ecologists is that it is hard to link the landscape indices with a specific ecological process.Linking landscape pattern and ecological processes has become a challenge for landscape ecologists."Source" and "sink" are common concepts used in air pollution research,by which the movement direction and pattern of different pollutants in air can be clearly identified.In fact,for any ecological process,the research can be considered as a balance between the source and the sink in space.Thus,the concepts of "source" and "sink" could be implemented to the research of landscape pattern and ecological processes.In this paper,a theory of sourcesink landscape was proposed,which include:(1) In the research of landscape pattern and ecological process,all landscape types can be divided into two groups,"source"landscape and "sink" landscape."Source" landscape contributes positively to the ecological process,while "sink" landscape is unhelpful to the ecological process.(2) Both landscapes are recognized with regard to the specific ecological process."Source" landscape in a target ecological process may change into a "sink"landscape as in another ecological process.Therefore,the ecological process should be determined before "source"or "sink" landscape were defined.(3) The key point to distinguish "source" landscape from "sink" landscape is to quantify the effect of landscape on ecological process.The positive effect is made by "source" landscape,and the negative effect by "sink" landscape.(4) For the same ecological process,the contribution of "source" landscapes may vary,and it is the same to the "sink"landscapes.It is required to determine the weight of each landscape type on ecological processes.(5) The sourcesink principle can be applied to non-point source pollution control,biologic diversity protection,urban heat island effect mitigation,etc.However,the landscape evaluation models need to be calibrated respectively,because different ecological processes correspond with different source-sink landscapes and evaluation models for the different study areas.This theory is helpful to further study landscape pattern and ecological process,and offers a basis for new landscape index design.     

城市景观功能的区域协调规划——以深圳市为例

城市景观功能的完善是城市可持续发展的重要保障之一,其与区域景观功能的相互协调是城市规划的重要组成部分,有利于城市和区域的整体持续发展。在分析城市景观基本特征的基础上,探讨了城市景观功能区域协调规划的基本思路,以城市景观为规划对象,以人类社会的功能需求为立足点,依据景观生态学理论,将城市景观的功能划分为生物生产功能、环境服务功能、文化支持功能和信息输运功能,对体现这些基本功能的景观类型进行区域协调规划。以深圳市为例,实证分析了其景观功能在珠江三角洲地区的协调规划。     

国际景观生态学研究新进展

20世纪90年代中期以来,国际景观生态学发展迅速.景观生态学研究最为活跃的地区集中在北美、欧洲、大洋洲(澳大利亚)、东亚(中国),表明景观生态学理论、方法和应用的广泛性和越来越高的认知度.从研究内容上看,景观生态评价、规划和模拟一直占居主导地位,其次是景观生态保护与生态恢复、景观生态学的理论探讨.随着景观生态学研究的深入,以科学和实践问题为导向的学科交叉与融合不断加强,促进了景观生态学新的学科生长点的形成和发展,主要包括水域景观生态学、景观遗传学、多功能景观研究、景观综合模拟、景观生态与可持续性科学.在全球化背景下,中国的景观生态学研究也已经取得了长足进展,国际同行开始关注并在重要学术刊物上评介中国的景观生态学研究,标志着中国景观生态学已逐步走上国际舞台.然而,中国景观生态学进一步发展的挑战和机遇并存.中国科学家需要抓住人类对可持续发展和可持续性科学的共同夙求,放眼国际前沿、服务本土需求,从中国自身的特色出发,关注受人类干扰的和以人为主导的景观,以景观格局与生态过程的多尺度、多维度耦合研究为核心,区域综合与区内分异并重,推动综合整体性景观生态学的建立和完善.     

农业景观的生态规划与设计

从景观生态学的基本理论出发,探讨农业景观的生态规划与设计原理及方法,认为因涉及问题的宏观空间性、关联性及综合性等特点,使农业景观的生态规划与设计成为景观生态学的重要应用领域,进而以地处我国半干旱半湿润地带冀西北涿盆地进行了案实践。     

景观资源美学评价的理论与方法

随着自然环境的不断破坏,景观已经不再是取之不尽,用之不竭的资源,人类开始把它放到与其它资源同等重要的战略地位.景观资源评价是其可持续利用和保护的前提.在论述美学、审美及景观内涵的基础上,阐述了审美心理学机制和审美途径,比较了传统与现代景观审美研究的方法,讨论了景观审美的重要理论(如柏拉图主义、康德学说、移情论、格式塔学派、马克思美学理论、Appleton理论),研究了景观评价方法的四大学派两大阵营(专家学派、心理物理学派、认知学派、经验学派、景观环境科学及景园文化),分析了国内外景观评价的成功实践.研究表明,景观评价历史发展以专家学派与感知学派竞争为特色,专家学派在景观管理中居于主导地位,而心理感知学派在研究领域处于支配地位,它们都认为景观质量决定于景观生物物理特性与人的感知判断;未来的景观资源评价仍表现出专家学派和感知学派共同主导、各自探索的特点;景观资源信息化与视觉时空动态模拟将冲击传统景观评价,而现代科技的发展将帮助迎接这些挑战.作者提出了21世纪景观评价的新特征: ①学派兼容并蓄,不断走向融合;②多学科交叉,注重量化评价;③强调环境信息,重视生态价值;④现代科技普遍应用,景观信息动态智能化;⑤景观模拟逼真化,主观感受现场化;⑥关注历史内涵,景观文化地位上升.