peer reviewed | Migration and the dependence of rural communities on forest resources for subsistence have profoundly altered the composition and spatial structure of the landscapes of the border municipality of Kasenga in the southeast of DR Congo. The spatio-temporal dynamics of anthropogenic effects on forest ecosystems were mapped and quantified in the municipality of Kasenga using Landsat image classification from 1989 to 2022, combined with landscape ecology metrics to analyze spatial patterns. Our results show that the landscape has undergone profound disturbances. The area of large patches of forest that used to dominate the landscape has been reduced by a factor of 4 from 1989 to 2022, thus indicating the anthropogenic impact on the fragmentation of forest ecosystems. If in 33 years (from 1989 to 2022) forest has lost more than a third of their coverage through the dissection, fragmentation and attrition of patches, agriculture, grassland and wetland, and built-up and bare land have recorded a progressive dynamic resulting from the creation and aggregation of patches. These anthropogenic transformations, coupled with a lack of land management planning, will compromise the future of forest ecosystems since the level of landscape disturbance has quintupled from 1.1 to 5.5 in 33 years. There is then an urgent need to develop an integrated and participatory land management strategy to preserve forest resources and guarantee their resilience.

peer reviewed | Although much has been published on land use-change models (LUCMs), no study has comprehensively dealt with the evolution of land use models based on schools of knowledge. The primary objective of this paper is an explanation of the progress and growth of LUCMs concerning their main ontological, epistemological, and methodological origins. Five main paradigms, i.e., positivism, post-positivism, constructivism, participatory, and pragmatism approaches, are discussed in order to assess the current orientations of LUCMs. Given the complexities of LUCM components, the study concludes that one paradigm cannot adequately address all methodological aspects. Accordingly, it is necessary to combine quantitative and qualitative paradigms to create mixed-method approaches within a systemic framework. Such systemic approaches could shape the most probable future generations of LUCMs, which would be able to cope with the complexity of various subsystems, including biophysical and socioeconomic ones.

The central Iberian Peninsula has one of the highest densities of roe deer populations in Spain. A new motorway is planned to pass through the middle of the distribution of roe deer, thus making it necessary to conduct a connectivity analysis. A map of resistance to roe deer dispersal movements was obtained based on the literature and expert judgment. Three factors were selected: land use (defined by the ability to hide movements, food source, and degree of naturalness), landforms, and influence due to proximity to elements that increase (such as roads and urban areas) or decrease (water resources and proximity to optimal habitat patches) resistance at the local level. Different combinations of factors derived using the analytical hierarchy and fuzzy logic processes were analysed and compared with the real distribution of the species. More realistic resistance (cost) values were obtained for gamma values close to 0.9. This highlights the greater predominance of the fuzzy sum over the fuzzy product in modelling the cost surface. Better results were obtained in scenarios where the predominant factors were either land use and landforms or land use and proximity to humanmodified areas. This indicates that roe deer will readily range far from their optimal patches if the land use provides partial cover. These movements appear to be conditioned by steep terrain. Our case study offers a good example of building a cost resistance matrix to help locate areas where the expansion of the species may be curbed or encouraged

The purpose of this study is to assess the resilience of agricultural landscapes and associated ecosystem services at multiple scales (a farm and landscape) in Kyrenia Region of Northern Cyprus. In doing so, the key objectives of the study were (a) to design a conceptual framework for identifying the key linkages between the resilience of the agricultural landscape and farming systems, (b) to determine the major suitable resilience assessment principles and relevant indicators for both systems, and (c) to measure the resilience of the systems as well as to assess their cross-scale linkages. The suitable resilience assessment indicators for both systems were developed by reviewing the relevant literature. Two social valuation techniques (e.g. a multiple-choice questionnaire) were employed to assess the resilience of both systems. The participants rated the resilience of the systems and their components on a 1–5 scale. The results showed that the ecological resilience of the farming system is medium with 3.23 points. The resilience of the agricultural landscape system was evaluated within the context of three dimensions: agro-ecosystem, the agricultural, and human systems. Their resilience was found to be low and ranged between 2.40 and 2.90 points. The system’s resilience was estimated to be low with 2.68 points. The outcomes of this study are significant in terms of helping policy-makers and resource managers to better understand the cross-scale linkages between the resilience of the agricultural landscape and farming systems to achieve the sustainability of natural resources, food production, and community livelihoods in Kyrenia Region and elsewhere.

Open green spaces have significant contributions to the city, urban residents and ecosystem. However, these contributions could not be fully reflected on the urban space due to rapid urbanization. Furthermore, studies on this reflection have focused only on a specific function of open green spaces without a holistic approach. Also, there is no common framework for the definition, classification and standardization of open green spaces or a comprehensive analysis of these domains. The present study aimed to propose a guideline that included five criteria to serve as a baseline to plan open green space systems. In the study, open green spaces and the city were considered as a subsystem of the landscape. Thus, open green space objectives and strategies were proposed based on the landscape functions, urban character and urbanization level (urban density). Furthermore, the study reconsidered the definition and classification of open green spaces and recommended standards. These standards were categorized in two groups based on recreational standards and natural disasters. Thus, the open green spaces were analyzed based on qualitative, quantitative, connectivity and location selection criteria with a holistic approach and a multi-dimensional framework was developed based on ecological, recreational and disaster criteria.

The decline of freshwater flora due to alteration, reclamation and trophic perturbation of lowland wetlands is among the most relevant issues in biological conservation. The contribution of heavily modified water bodies (HMWBs) in preserving plant diversity is notable, but the underlying ecological mechanisms are not completely explored. To contribute to this debate and expand the knowledge on the role of HMWBs in maintaining wetland biodiversity in overexploited agroecosystems, a canal network of about 1150 km (SE Po valley, N-Italy) was analysed to study the geographical patterns of riparian flora and plant communities, and their land use and hydrochemical drivers. A systematic sampling procedure was adopted by randomly selecting 96 transects (10 m²) along 79 drainage canals. Additionally, 22 transects were sampled for water quality evaluation. Flora was characterised based on species richness and presence of threatened, alien and invasive species. We also studied the contribution of land use and water quality in explaining plant richness and composition. Slope and aspect of canals do not significantly affect plant species composition, whereas the «proximity to protected areas» seems to have a negative influence. Both threatened and alien plants richness decrease approaching protected areas. Among land use types, only agro-zootechnical settlements influence plant species composition, favoring nitrophilous species, as demonstrated by water parameters (the spatial patterns of nitrophilous species mirrored the progressive worsening of canal waters). This work confirms the key role of HMWBs in sustaining plant species diversity in oversimplified landscapes, highlighting complex regulation mechanisms that need further investigations.

Urban greenspaces are public spaces, fulfilling multiple city functions, such as improvement of public health. They are also ecosystems which provide biodiversity as part of the green infrastructure. To evaluate greenspaces as ecosystems, seventeen urban greenspaces in Yokohama, Japan, were selected to conduct surveys of flora and construct a vegetation table. The present study investigated the number of woody plant species; their growth form (tree, shrub, or liana); the ratio of evergreen to deciduous plants; and whether plant species were native, exotic, wild, or planted. The greenspaces were compared with the control area, Enkaizan, a suburban greenspace within Yokohama and representative of Satoyama (a traditional landscape model with sustainable living space). The comparison used cluster analysis to match the correlation of identified species in each greenspace and split them into four groups: (1) natural, (2) quasi-natural, (3) quasi-artificial, and (4) artificial. The study found the natural greenspace group to have an intact hierarchical forest structure with trees, shrubs, and lianas; whereas artificial greenspaces missed either tree or shrub layers and had few lianas. The more artificial greenspaces had higher proportions of exotic and evergreen species.