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Landscape Ecology for Sustainability
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Landscape Ecology for Sustainability

A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Sustainability, Biodiversity and Conservation".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 June 2022) | Viewed by 19756

Special Issue Editor

Dr. Panteleimon Xofis

E-Mail Website1 Website2
Guest Editor
Department of Forestry and Natural Environment, International Hellenic University, 1st km Drama-Mikrochori, GR66100 Drama, Greece
Interests: Forest Ecology; Landscape Ecology; Applied Remote Sensing; Spatial Analysis; Biodiversity Conservation; Restoration Ecology; Fire Ecology; Urban Landscapes
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear colleagues,

Although the need for the sustainable use and management of natural resources has long been recognized, their implementation poses a great challenge to conservationists, managers, and policy makers. Most environmental issues are of global nature, thus requiring large scale analyses and, most importantly, multidisciplinary approaches for developing effective solutions that would benefit both humanity and the environment. The principles and methods of landscape ecology offer a ground where different disciplines can cooperate for a deeper understanding of the consequences of human-induced impacts on the spatial arrangement of landscape elements and their effect on ecological processes.

Land abandonment, as observed in Europe over the last few decades, is a process driven by socioeconomic factors, often with contradictory effects on biodiversity and ecosystem integrity. Large-scale deforestation, currently mostly observed in the tropics and also driven by socioeconomic factors, forms the opposite extreme with detrimental effects for the natural environment, both locally and globally. Urbanization, the progressive conversion of humans into an urban species, was followed by a rapid development of cities, often without the necessary provision for green infrastructures, presenting another socioenvironmental issue that needs to be urgently addressed.

All the above paradigms stress the need for reconciling socioeconomic development with nature conservation and environmental protection. In this Special Issue, we seek scientifically sound manuscripts with relevance in at least one of the following topics: (1) methods and approaches for creating sustainable landscapes, (2) sustainable urban planning and design, (3) drivers and effects of land use/landcover change, (4) wildlife conservation and socioeconomic development, (5) historical and contemporary ecosystem services in a changing climate, and (6) landscape fragmentation, connectivity, and their effects on ecological processes.

Dr. Panteleimon Xofis
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Sustainability is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • Sustainable landscapes
  • Urban Landscapes
  • Land use/land cover change
  • Landscape scale wildlife conservation
  • Ecosystem services and landscape change
  • Spatial analysis and ecology
  • Human-Wildlife conflicts

Published Papers (7 papers)

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Research

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16 pages, 9598 KiB  
Article
Fine-Scale Classification of Urban Land Use and Land Cover with PlanetScope Imagery and Machine Learning Strategies in the City of Cape Town, South Africa
by Bosiu E. Lefulebe, Adriaan Van der Walt and Sifiso Xulu
Sustainability 2022, 14(15), 9139; https://doi.org/10.3390/su14159139 - 26 Jul 2022
Cited by 7 | Viewed by 2836
Abstract
Urban land use and land cover (LULC) change can be efficiently monitored with high-resolution satellite products for a variety of purposes, including sustainable planning. These, together with machine learning strategies, have great potential to detect even subtle changes with satisfactory accuracy. In this [...] Read more.
Urban land use and land cover (LULC) change can be efficiently monitored with high-resolution satellite products for a variety of purposes, including sustainable planning. These, together with machine learning strategies, have great potential to detect even subtle changes with satisfactory accuracy. In this study, we used PlaneScope Imagery and machine learning strategies (Random Forests, Support Vector Machines, Naïve Bayes and K-Nearest Neighbour) to classify and detect LULC changes over the City of Cape Town between 2016 and 2021. Our results showed that K-Nearest Neighbour outperformed other classifiers by achieving the highest overall classification of accuracy (96.54% with 0.95 kappa), followed by Random Forests (94.8% with 0.92 kappa), Naïve Bayes (93.71% with 0.91 kappa) and Support Vector Machines classifiers with relatively low accuracy values (92.28% with 0.88 kappa). However, the performance of all classifiers was acceptable, exceeding the overall accuracy of more than 90%. Furthermore, the results of change detection from 2016 to 2021 showed that the high-resolution PlanetScope imagery could be used to track changes in LULC over a desired period accurately. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Landscape Ecology for Sustainability)
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15 pages, 6460 KiB  
Article
Modelling Multi-Species Connectivity at the Kafue-Zambezi Interface: Implications for Transboundary Carnivore Conservation
by Robin Lines, Dimitrios Bormpoudakis, Panteleimon Xofis and Joseph Tzanopoulos
Sustainability 2021, 13(22), 12886; https://doi.org/10.3390/su132212886 - 21 Nov 2021
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2051
Abstract
Linking wildlife areas with corridors facilitating species dispersal between core habitats is a key intervention to reduce the deleterious effects of population isolation. Large heterogeneous networks of areas managed for wildlife protection present site- and species-scale complexity underpinning the scope and performance of [...] Read more.
Linking wildlife areas with corridors facilitating species dispersal between core habitats is a key intervention to reduce the deleterious effects of population isolation. Large heterogeneous networks of areas managed for wildlife protection present site- and species-scale complexity underpinning the scope and performance of proposed corridors. In Southern Africa, the Kavango-Zambezi Transfrontier Conservation Area seeks to link Kafue National Park to a cluster of wildlife areas centered in Namibia and Botswana. To assess and identify potential linkages on the Zambian side, we generated a high-resolution land cover map and combined empirical occurrence data for Lions (Panthera leo), Leopards (Panthera pardus) and Spotted Hyena (Crocuta crocuta) to build habitat suitability maps. We then developed four connectivity models to map potential single and multi-species corridors between Kafue and the Zambezi River border with Namibia. Single and multi-species connectivity models selected corridors follow broadly similar pathways narrowing significantly in central-southern areas of the Kafue-Zambezi interface, indicating a potential connectivity bottleneck. Capturing the full extent of human disturbance and barriers to connectivity remains challenging, suggesting increased risk to corridor integrity than modelled here. Notwithstanding model limitations, these data provide important results for land use planners at the Kafue-Zambezi Interface, removing much speculations from existing connectivity narratives. Failure to control human disturbance and secure corridors will leave Kafue National Park, Zambia’s majority component in the Kavango-Zambezi Transfrontier Conservation Area, isolated. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Landscape Ecology for Sustainability)
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12 pages, 663 KiB  
Article
The Predictive Ability of Wildlife Value Orientations for Mammal Management Varies with Species Conservation Status and Provenance
by Vasileios J. Kontsiotis, Archimidis Triantafyllidis, Stylianos Telidis, Ioanna Eleftheriadou and Vasilios Liordos
Sustainability 2021, 13(20), 11335; https://doi.org/10.3390/su132011335 - 14 Oct 2021
Cited by 7 | Viewed by 1464
Abstract
Wildlife value orientations (WVOs) can predict consensus or controversy over wildlife-related issues and are therefore important for their successful management. We carried out on-site face-to-face interviews with Greek people (n = 2392) to study two basic WVOs, i.e., domination (prioritize human well-being over [...] Read more.
Wildlife value orientations (WVOs) can predict consensus or controversy over wildlife-related issues and are therefore important for their successful management. We carried out on-site face-to-face interviews with Greek people (n = 2392) to study two basic WVOs, i.e., domination (prioritize human well-being over wildlife) and mutualism (wildlife has rights just as humans). Our sample was more mutualism-oriented than domination-oriented; however, domination was a better predictor of management acceptability than mutualism. WVOs were better predictors of the acceptability of lethal strategies (shooting, destruction at breeding sites, 11–36% of variance explained) relative to taking no action (9–18%) and non-lethal strategies (e.g., compensation, fencing, trapping, and relocating, 0–13%). In addition, the predictive ability of WVOs, mostly for accepting lethal strategies, increased with the increasing severity of the conflict (crop damage, attacking domestic animals, 11–29%; disease transmission, 17–36%) and depending on species conservation status and provenance (endangered native brown bear (Ursus arctos), 11–20%; common native red fox (Vulpes vulpes), 12–31%; common exotic coypu (Myocastor coypus), 17–36%). Managers should consider these findings for developing education and outreach programs, especially when they intend to raise support for lethal strategies. In doing so, they would be able to subsequently implement effective wildlife management plans. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Landscape Ecology for Sustainability)
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15 pages, 3339 KiB  
Article
Resistance-Based Connectivity Model to Construct Corridors of the Przewalski’s Gazelle (Procapra Przewalskii) in Fragmented Landscape
by Jingjie Zhang, Feng Jiang, Zhenyuan Cai, Yunchuan Dai, Daoxin Liu, Pengfei Song, Yuansheng Hou, Hongmei Gao and Tongzuo Zhang
Sustainability 2021, 13(4), 1656; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13041656 - 04 Feb 2021
Cited by 12 | Viewed by 3485
Abstract
Habitat connectivity is indispensable for the survival of species that occupy a small habitat area and have isolated habitat patches from each other. At present, the development of human economy squeezes the living space of wildlife and interferes and hinders the dispersal of [...] Read more.
Habitat connectivity is indispensable for the survival of species that occupy a small habitat area and have isolated habitat patches from each other. At present, the development of human economy squeezes the living space of wildlife and interferes and hinders the dispersal of species. The Przewalski’s gazelle (Procapra przewalskii) is one of the most endangered ungulates, which has experienced a significant reduction in population and severe habitat shrinkage. Although the population of this species has recovered to a certain extent, human infrastructure severely hinders the gene flow between several patches of this species. Therefore, we used the maximum entropy (MaxEnt) model to simulate the habitat suitability of the Przewalski’s gazelle. In addition, we combined habitat suitability and ecological characteristics of the species to obtain eight habitat patches. Finally, we used the least-cost path (LCP) and circuit theory based on the resistance model to simulate the landscape network of this species. The results showed that habitat patches and connectivity in the east of the Qinghai Lake were crucial to the communication between populations of the Przewalski gazelle, and our study provided important reference for the distribution of important habitats and the construction of corridor between patches. Our study aimed to provide habitat networks and maintain landscape connectivity for achieving the fundamental goal of protecting and revitalizing populations of the Przewalski’s gazelle. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Landscape Ecology for Sustainability)
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19 pages, 8421 KiB  
Article
Landscape Management through Change Processes Monitoring in Iran
by Mohsen Zabihi, Hamidreza Moradi, Mehdi Gholamalifard, Abdulvahed Khaledi Darvishan and Christine Fürst
Sustainability 2020, 12(5), 1753; https://doi.org/10.3390/su12051753 - 26 Feb 2020
Cited by 8 | Viewed by 2588
Abstract
The presented research investigated and predicted landscape change processes (LCPs) in the Talar watershed, northern Iran. The Land Change Modeler was used for change analysis, transition potential modeling, and prediction of land use/land cover (LULC) map. The evaluation of projected LULC map was [...] Read more.
The presented research investigated and predicted landscape change processes (LCPs) in the Talar watershed, northern Iran. The Land Change Modeler was used for change analysis, transition potential modeling, and prediction of land use/land cover (LULC) map. The evaluation of projected LULC map was performed by comparing the real and predicted LULC maps for the reference year, 2014. Landscape metrics and change processes were investigated for the period 1989–2014 and for exploring the situation in 2030. Results illustrated that the increase in agricultural land and residential areas took place at the expense of forest and rangeland. The distance from forests was the most sensitive parameter for modeling the transition potentials. The modelling of the LULC change projected the number of patches, the landscape shape index, interspersion and juxtaposition index, and edge density, Euclidean nearest-neighbor distance, and area-weighted shape index will amount to 65.3, 7.63, 20.1, 8.77, −1.35, and 0.61% as compared to 2014, respectively. Our findings indicated that the type of change processes that occurred was not entirely the same in 1989–2000 and 2000–2014. In addition, change processes in the creation of dry farming, orchard, and residential classes, attrition of forest and rangeland categories, and dissection in irrigated farming are projected. The dynamics of landscape metrics and change processes combined in one analytical framework can facilitate understanding and detection of the relationship between ecological processes and landscape pattern. The finding of current research will provide a roadmap for improved LULC management and planning in the Talar watershed, southern coast of the Caspian Sea. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Landscape Ecology for Sustainability)
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14 pages, 1959 KiB  
Article
Impact of Energy Landscapes on the Abundance of Eurasian Skylark (Alauda arvensis), an Example from North Germany
by Nándor Csikós and Péter Szilassi
Sustainability 2020, 12(2), 664; https://doi.org/10.3390/su12020664 - 16 Jan 2020
Cited by 10 | Viewed by 3035
Abstract
The increasing use of biomass for energy production is reshaping landscapes into energy landscapes. Our study aims to analyze the impact of the biogas energy landscape on the abundance of Eurasian skylark. The biogas power plants have a high impact on the landscape, [...] Read more.
The increasing use of biomass for energy production is reshaping landscapes into energy landscapes. Our study aims to analyze the impact of the biogas energy landscape on the abundance of Eurasian skylark. The biogas power plants have a high impact on the landscape, because of the energy crops like silage maize and rape. We analyze land-use and land-cover heterogeneity in connection with this bird species in the Federal State of Schleswig-Holstein. Three databases are used: abundance data of a typical farmland bird (Eurasian skylark), Corine land cover, and statistical land-use data from the German Agricultural Structure Survey. Several spatial analyses and statistical analyses were conducted. Generalized linear models are used with model averaging and predicted marginal effects were calculated. We estimate the changes in individuals per km2 by considering six crop types and the Shannon Diversity Index (SDI). The Eurasian skylark abundance has a significant negative correlation with the area of the inland wetlands, the Shannon Diversity Index (SDI), permanent crops, silage maize, and rape. We found significant positive correlation with the pasture, potato, and wheat. The replacement of pastures, Eurasian skylarks’ preferred habitat, with energy crops, mostly silage maize, and the ongoing homogenization of the landscape, negatively affected this species’ distribution in the study area. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Landscape Ecology for Sustainability)
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Review

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17 pages, 5999 KiB  
Review
Research Progress on Soil Seed Bank: A Bibliometrics Analysis
by Zhaoji Shi, Jiaen Zhang and Hui Wei
Sustainability 2020, 12(12), 4888; https://doi.org/10.3390/su12124888 - 15 Jun 2020
Cited by 9 | Viewed by 3071
Abstract
The soil seed bank (SSB) is a natural bank of viable seeds in the soil or on its surface. Researches on SSB have accumulated extensively worldwide, but have seldom been visualized and quantitatively analyzed. In this paper, publications related to SSB from 1900 [...] Read more.
The soil seed bank (SSB) is a natural bank of viable seeds in the soil or on its surface. Researches on SSB have accumulated extensively worldwide, but have seldom been visualized and quantitatively analyzed. In this paper, publications related to SSB from 1900 to 2019 were collected from the Web of Science Core Collection database, and reviewed and analyzed using CiteSpace. Annual publications distribution, co-occurrence analysis, collaboration network analysis, co-citation analysis and burst detection were all conducted. The results showed that (1) the number of SSB publications had increased rapidly and is still a hotspot; (2) SSB study is an interdisciplinary field mainly concentrated in ecology, environmental science, and plant science; (3) close research cooperation occurred among European countries which were more influential, whereas the USA was the most active country; (4) soil seed genetic diversity, seed persistence, seed trait, restoration potential and restoration projects, and spatial and temporal variation were the main research areas. (5) R language and linear mixed effects models are currently popular in SSB research. Invasive species, weed control, restoration potential and restoration projects, seed traits (especially seed longevity and dormancy), and SSB responses to environment changes (especially climate change and fire) are newly emerging trends in the research. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Landscape Ecology for Sustainability)
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