Landscape ecology development supported by geospatial technologies: A review

Numerous technologies have contributed to the recent development of landscape ecology, especially the geospatial technological advances constitute a revolution in landscape ecology. Extensive applications of geospatial technologies, such as fractal theory, geographic information systems (GIS) and remote sensing (RS) in landscape ecology research, suggest the necessity of such a review of research progress in this field. In this study, a brief introduction to fractal theory, GIS and RS and how they were applied in landscape ecology were provided first. Then, the current state-of-the-art was summarized and analyzed as reference for further promoting the development of landscape ecology science and its applications. Finally, opportunities and challenges of landscape ecology applications using these new technologies were discussed and concluded for future research. It was contended that a combination and integration of these technologies can substantially advance the study of landscape ecology for data acquisition, process modeling, scale transformation, result analysis and visualization. However, as no theoretical framework and application cases of applying an integration of fractal theory, GIS and RS techniques to landscape ecology research have been established, further studies are still much needed.     

北京市域生态敏感性综合评价

区域生态敏感性评价对于制定区域环境政策,有效进行环境管理具有重要作用.在综述当前生态敏感性评价研究的基础上,综合考虑自然和人文两大类影响因子,构建了反映对水土流失、河流水量水质、土地沙化、泥石流、采矿、路网、濒危物种不同敏感程度的7个指标,运用地理信息系统和遥感技术,综合分析和评价了北京市域生态敏感性程度及其空间分布状况.结果表明,高生态敏感区主要有两类,分别分布于北京东北-西南走向的山区-平原过渡地带和永定河、潮白河、北运河、大石河河岸带,此外,大兴南部也有集中分布.中敏感区除分布于上述高敏感区外围以外,还集中分布于怀柔中部的红螺山、云蒙山地区和门头沟妙峰山地区.不敏感区则主要集中在怀柔、延庆的北部山区,其余地区为低敏感区.敏感性程度的空间变化基本规律是:在山区,从平原-山区过渡地带沿西北方向朝低山区和中山区衰减,在平原,则沿河道两侧向外围衰减.在评价的基础上,尝试提出了环境保育和生态建设的相关对策.     

国际蝗虫灾害的防治策略和技术：现状与展望

简要地综述了国际上对蝗虫灾害管理策略与控制技术的发展现状,包括：监测与预警技术、化学防治、生物防治、综合管理对策以及目前的研究热点方向。比较分析了国际、国内蝗虫发生及其治理中存在问题的异同。国际上控制蝗虫灾害的理论、技术、措施、对策,对中国有重要的借鉴作用。一般来说, 控制蝗虫灾害的IPM计划中应该包括：在策略上,强调提前预防压制优于后期灭杀处理;在规律认识上,重视基础生物学和生态学的研究,并将之模型化和标准化;在测报方法上,积极发展和改善监测预警技术水平,将地理信息系统(GIS）和遥感（RS）技术集成引入到防治决策的整体系统中,使信息能够快速、准确地传递;在防治手段上,注意新型防治药剂和施药技术的研究开发和集成,增加用药效果;在天敌利用和环境保护方面,充分认识和评估自然天敌的控制作用,正确地估计防治效益和挽回的损失,重视对环境价值的评价;同时加强多个地区间的联合与协调。     

基于GIS和遥感技术的生态系统服务价值评估研究进展

生态系统服务价值评估是当前生态系统管理领域研究的热点,密切联系着人类的生活福祉.本文系统综述了基于地理信息系统(GIS)和遥感(RS)技术的生态系统服务价值评估的研究进展,归纳为以下3个特征：生态经济学理论作为价值定量计算的核心方法被普遍采纳;GIS和RS在数据获取、时空分析和集成平台方面发挥着关键作用;运用生态系统服务功能机理模型模拟自然现象与人类活动之间的关系.根据目前该领域的研究现状及不足,提出了可扩展、分布式的集成研究框架--“生产线”框架,探讨了GIS和RS技术与生态系统服务价值评估集成研究的未来发展趋势.     

Precision Farming and Precision Pest Management: The Power of New Crop Production Technologies

The use of new technologies including Geographic Information Systems (GIS), the Global Positioning System (GPS), Variable Rate Technology (VRT), and Remote Sensing (RS) is gaining acceptance in the present high-technology, precision agricultural industry. GIS provides the ability to link multiple data values for the same geo-referenced location, and provides the user with a graphical visualization of such data. When GIS is coupled with GPS and RS, management decisions can be applied in a more precise "micro-managed" manner by using VRT techniques. Such technology holds the potential to reduce agricultural crop production costs as well as crop and environmental damage.     

生态系统健康与生物多样性*

生态系统健康学是一门研究人类活动、社会组织、自然系统及人类健康的整合性学科,主要探讨资源环境管理对策,以及生态系统健康与人类健康的关系。生态系统健康是人类健康的基础,是人类可持续发展的重要前提,维护生态系统健康,保护生物多样性,也就是维护人类生存的机会。人类健康依附于健康的生态系统功能和服务日益为人们所认识,关注和理解生物多样性、生态系统健康、人类健康之间的相互联系已成为全球可持续发展的必要条件。本文着重综述了生态系统健康的研究内容及全球环境变化背景下生物多样性的变化对生态系统健康的影响效应。     

黑河流域中游地区景观变化研究

使用GIS技术和景观结构分析软件FRAGSTATS,分析了黑河流域中游地区近20年间景观结构的变化。结果表明,该地区的各类景观元素在近20年间发生了十分复杂的结构变化和相互转换,但整体景观仍保持荒漠化与绿洲景观强烈分异的鲜明格局。人类有目的性的干扰活动改变了干旱区有限的水资源的分布与分配,加剧了本地区荒化进程与绿洲化进程的对立斗争,而绿洲与荒漠的交错地带是斗争的最敏感部位,香农多样性指数和香农均度指数的下降,充分证明人类对本地区景观改造程度的不断加强,其结果一方面显著提高了本地区的社会和经济效益,另一方面也导致了局部地区生态环境效益的下降,对本论文的研究方法和技术也进行了讨论。     

Environmental vulnerability assessment of eco-development zone of Great Himalayan National Park,Himachal Pradesh,India

The Great Himalayan National Park (GHNP), located in western Himalaya, is a key mountainous ecosystem prone to environmental vulnerability because of anthropogenic stress and the natural disasters, viz., landslide and forest fire. We assessed the environmental vulnerability of the eco-development zone of GHNP using remote sensing (RS) and geographic information system (GIS) technologies. To quantify the environmental vulnerability, a numerical model using spatial principal component analysis (SPCA) was developed. This model considered five factors: land use/land cover, forest canopy density, forest fire risk, landslide susceptibility and human population density. The environmental vulnerability integrated index (EVSI) calculated for the 1990, 2000 and 2010 periods was found to be 2.00, 2.72, and 3.40, respectively. The results showed temporal increase in the environmental vulnerability in the zone. Based on the numerical outputs, the vulnerability of the region was categorized into five classes: potential, slight, medium, high, and severe. The primary factor responsible for the increase in vulnerability overtime was land use/land cover change in the study area due to hydro-electric power projects, construction of roads, and other infrastructure developments. Forest fire and decreased forest canopy density are other major contributing factors responsible for the increase in the environmental vulnerability. Our results indicated that integration of RS, GIS and SPCA can effectively quantify and assess environmental vulnerability.     

The Ethnography of Landscape: GIS and Remote Sensing in the Study of Forest Change in West African Guinea Savanna

In this paper we explore the application of Amazonian forest change models to the Guinea savanna environment of western Africa. In particular, we examine recent research documenting the growth of peri-village forest islands in the area of Kissidougou, Guinea, which purports to challenge the pervasive view of Guinea savanna deforestation brought about by human activity. As a more systematic approach to the analysis of human/environmental interactions, we propose an "ethnography of landscape," in which the findings of detailed, local ethnographic and ecological case studies are combined with remotely sensed information on what the wider region looks like as it changes over time. In pursuing this research, we employ aerial photography and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) techniques to examine our study area of Kilimi in northwestern Sierra Leone. We show that a Kissidougou-type model of peri-village forest island growth is not applicable to this region, where other environmental change processes are underway. In future work, we propose to employ Landsat satellite image archives to examine, monitor, and compare processes of ecological change throughout the Guinea savanna. [deforestation, ecological anthropology, remote sensing, Sierra Leone, West Africa]     

Perspectives on Global-Change Archaeology

In this article, I explore the characteristics of global-change archaeology as an emerging field of research. Global-change archaeology seeks to document and apply historical knowledge of past human–environmental interactions to the understanding of contemporary environmental problems and management and planning for future sustainability. It takes place within an interdisciplinary research structure and is situated within the explanatory contexts of historical science and humanistic history with close links to historical and political ecology. Both history and agency play important roles in the practice of global-change archaeology. Past human decision making in the context of cultural attitudes and perceptions also has a significant role in the archaeology of global change.     

GIS和遥感技术在生态安全评价与生物多样性保护中的应用

综合近年来国内外生态安全评价和生物多样性保护领域的研究成果:简要总结了地理信息系统(GIS)和遥感(RS)技术在生态学热点领域的应用研究现状和特点;归纳论述了GIS和RS在生态安全评价和生物多样性保护研究中存在的不足;在此基础上,尝试性地提出了可扩展的集成研究框架——"生产线"框架;最后探讨了GIS和RS技术与生态学集成研究的未来发展趋势。     

The Social Dynamics of Mangrove Forests in Guinea-Bissau,West Africa

Using social and GIS/remote sensing techniques, we analysed the historical, social, political, and economic processes underlying mangrove deforestation and afforestation patterns in Guinea-Bissau to explain the increase in the mangrove forest area between 1990 and 2015. By comparing several regions during the same timeframe, we highlight different ecological dynamics and the complex ways in which diverse societies respond to the same social, economic, and political processes. Our results reveal the importance of identifying the most relevant temporal and geographic scales, and the multiple (and sometimes opposing) environmental and social processes working simultaneously in different places, as well as the potential shortcomings of policy decisions or development or conservation interventions relying on broad estimates. Research efforts to assess threats to and the regeneration capacity of mangrove forests in Guinea-Bissau are thus vital.     

广西北部湾红树林生态承载力评价

为了定量分析广西北部湾红树林生态承载力在北部湾经济区开发前后的变化情况,选择珍珠湾、铁山港、钦州湾和廉州湾作为研究区域,利用 RS、GIS技术,通过获取2004年、2006年、2008年和2010年遥感影像中的相关信息,结合状态空间模型以及红树林生态承载力评价指标体系,计算出相应年份的红树林生态承载力并分析其动态变化。同时分析了资源供给能力、生态系统弹性力、环境纳污能力以及人类活动潜力对红树林生态承载力影响的相关性。结果表明:广西北部湾红树林生态承载力整体呈上升趋势,生态系统弹性力和人类活动潜力总体呈上升趋势,资源供给能力和环境纳污能力总体呈下降趋势,说明北部湾经济区的发展主要对红树林的环境纳污能力造成了一定影响,而对红树林生态承载力影响不大。根据相关性分析结果可知,人类活动潜力是影响广西北部湾红树林生态承载力的主要因素。     

浑河太子河流域景观变化及其驱动力

利用GIS、RS技术、景观生态学方法和Logistic回归方法,分析了浑河太子河流域1988-2004年景观变化及驱动力.结果表明:浑河太子河流域的主要景观类型为林地、灌木林、旱地和水田,研究区的景观格局在研究时间内发生了较大的变化,旱地、水田面积减少,而有林地、水域、农村居民点和城镇的面积增加,灌木林面积变化不大;在...     

RS和GIS在植被生态学中的应用及其前景

近年来,随着遥感和计算机软、硬件技术的发展与完善,利用遥感数据所进行的生态学研究已经深入到生态学的许多领域,取得了丰富的研究成果,并将继续在区域和全球尺度上的生态学研究中起着极为重要的作用。利用遥感所进行的生态学研究主要是基于植物的反射光谱特征来实现的。植物的反射光谱曲线具有显著特征。在可见光谱段,绿色植物的平均光谱反射率低于干土,而高于或接近于水体。在近红外谱段,植物的平均光谱反射率比土壤或水体高,以水体为最低。在中红外谱段,植物的平均光谱反射率比水体略高（或相近）,但明显高于干土。在０．３５…     

Spatial modelling of agrarian subsidy payments as an input for evaluating changes of ecosystem services

The only constant in landscapes is change. Among other influences, such as climate change, these changes are driven by political decisions affecting ecosystem services. The overall research objective is to define how the European Union's political strategies implemented through Rural Development Programmes and the Common Agricultural Policy might influence or change ecosystem goods and services in the future. This paper aims at outlining the research framework and especially focuses on spatially explicit modelling the distribution of subsidy cash flows on farm and parcel level. Experiments with changing political strategies and incentive payments were carried out in the Mondsee catchment (Austria) using Geographic Information Systems (GIS). The results were visualised and show the dominant (inter-)national and regional funding programmes of this area. They further display the likely effects of changing political strategies on the monetary value of certain parcels and the overall farm–parcel balance. The validation of an aggregated set of funding measures reveals 15% deviation between the model framework and real subsidy payments. This approach is suitable for both (a) estimating the impact of changed funding strategies at EU level and (b) supporting farmers in identifying the best economic income sources on parcel and farm level. Embedded in the overall research objective the results constitute the basis for opening a discussion on how ecosystem services might change with political intervention strategies in rural areas and resulting landscape changes in the future.     

A research agenda for helminth diseases of humans: social ecology, environmental determinants, and health systems

In this paper, the Disease Reference Group on Helminth Infections (DRG4), established in 2009 by the Special Programme for Research and Training in Tropical Diseases (TDR), with the mandate to review helminthiases research and identify research priorities and gaps, focuses on the environmental, social, behavioural, and political determinants of human helminth infections and outlines a research and development agenda for the socioeconomic and health systems research required for the development of sustainable control programmes. Using Stockols' social-ecological approach, we describe the role of various social (poverty, policy, stigma, culture, and migration) and environmental determinants (the home environment, water resources development, and climate change) in the perpetuation of helminthic diseases, as well as their impact as contextual factors on health promotion interventions through both the regular and community-based health systems. We examine these interactions in regard to community participation, intersectoral collaboration, gender, and possibilities for upscaling helminthic disease control and elimination programmes within the context of integrated and interdisciplinary approaches. The research agenda summarises major gaps that need to be addressed.     

Remote Sensing and Geographic Information Systems and risk of American visceral leishmaniasis in Bahia, Brazil

The spatial distribution of American visceral leishmaniasis (VL) was studied within the context of the environmental characteristics of northwest Bahia State in Brazil during an epidemic year. Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and Remote Sensing (RS) were used to characterize the landscape epidemiology of VL in order to identify and map high risk areas and endemic zones in a northwestern Bahia study area. Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) was shown to be one of the most important risk factors in the area of study. Low NDVI values were related to high numbers of sand flies and high numbers of human and canine VL positive cases. Caatinga vegetation type was the dominant vegetation type in the endemic area. The use of RS and GIS allowed the identification of classes of VL risk that may be useful information to guide control program interventions.