Socio-ecological niche: a conceptual framework for integration of legumes in smallholder farming systems

There are numerous examples of technologies with great potential that have not been accepted by smallholder farmers. Quite often, these technologies do not fit well into smallholder systems due to the inherent high level of heterogeneity of these systems. For example, despite their great potential, the adoption of legumes by smallholder farmers in many parts of sub-Saharan Africa has remained poor. A wide range of biophysical (e.g. climate, soil fertility, etc.) and socio-economic variables (e.g. preferences, prices, production objectives etc.) influence the use of legumes in smallholder systems. While some of these variables constrain the adoption of some legumes, others offer opportunities for beneficial use of other legumes in the same system. Therefore, widespread adoption of legumes in smallholder systems can only be achieved if all of the major biophysical and socio-economic constraints are simultaneously identified and addressed. The ‘socio-ecological niche’ concept proposed in this paper provides the framework through which this might be achieved. The socio-ecological niche, in any given region of agricultural activity, is created by the convergence of agro-ecological, socio-cultural, economic and ecological factors, to describe a multidimensional environment for which compatible technologies can be predicted. The socio-ecological niche concept can be applied in many different contexts in technology development. However, this paper discusses its use with respect to the development of legume technologies. Two case studies are presented to illustrate the concept and to demonstrate its practical significance. The concept is being used in on-going research on legumes in smallholder farming systems in western Kenya.     

Landscape services as boundary concept in landscape governance: Building social capital in collaboration and adapting the landscape

The landscape services concept provides a lens to study relations within the social-ecological networks that landscapes are, and to identify stakeholders as either providers or beneficiaries. However, landscape services can also be used as a boundary concept in collaborative landscape governance. We demonstrate this by analysing the case of Gouwe Wiericke in the rural west of the Netherlands. Here, a collaborative landscape governance process started off with low levels of trust between farmers and regional governments, as a result of previous processes. The introduction of the landscape services concept helped to bridge social boundaries, which eventually resulted in collective action: farmers and governments reached an agreement on adapted management of ditches and shores to improve water quality and biodiversity. However, we propose that bridging the social boundaries was achieved not merely due to the landscape services concept, but also due to the fact that multiple boundaries were managed simultaneously, and additional arrangements were used in boundary management.     

Is land cover an important asset for addressing the subjective landscape dimensions?

This paper explores which physical landscape components relate to subjective landscape dimensions. The ways in which people describe their surrounding cultural landscape was analyzed through an assessment of their representations of it. A special focus was placed on assessing the role of land cover as a means to communicate landscape meanings regarding a specific geographical region. The methodological framework was built on the basis of a questionnaire survey, multivariate statistical analysis and mapping approaches. This research shows that there is a set of physical landscape components that relate to subjective landscape dimensions which can be disclosed through the assessment of social representations. Enhancing and safeguarding those physical landscape components associated with the subjective landscape dimensions are important aspects in both framing and targeting land cover/use policies and decision making. Results also suggest that land cover can be understood as an important asset for describing landscapes as more than 30% of respondents referred to it when asked to represent the case study region of Alentejo in southern Portugal. This might mean that in addition to objective ecological and biological functions, land cover is also an important asset for evaluating subjective landscape dimensions in line with place attachment and landscape identity. Finally, the ways in which the empirical material gathered here can be used to inform policy and planning are explored.     

中药区划研究进展

在分析过去中药区划研究工作的基础上,对中药区划的类型和研究方法进行了归纳和总结。中药区划类型,按照区划对象可分为中药资源区划和外部环境因素区划。中药资源区划按照区划地域的大小可分为全国中药资源区划和地区中药资源区划,外部环境因素区划按照区划要素的构成可划分为中药生态区划和中药生产区划。中药区划方法包括:定性描述法、模糊数学方法、构建模板法、构建模型法和基于遥感图像的区划方法。     

区域生态补偿与土地生态安全

研究目的:划定中国土地生态补偿分区方案,并提出相关的政策建议。研究方法:格局空间统计分析与生态地理区划。研究结果:中国土地生态安全表现为下降趋势,西部地区为高生态安全区,东部地区为低生态安全区,是生态服务功能空间传递的受益区,可将中国划分为生态补偿受体区(主要分布于西部)和生态补偿主体区(主要分布于东部)两个一级大区。研究结论:设立全国性的土地生态补偿专门机构,构建土地生态补偿的法律体系,建立科学高效的土地生态补偿监管体系,完善土地生态补偿的政策导引。     

亚热带山地可持续农业生态-经济带划分

我国亚热带具有特殊的自然环境与农业生产条件,其农业生态一经济带系统与配置格局受到该地带植被生态学特点的制约。文章对我国亚热带山地进行了生态一经济带划分,设计不同地理单元上农业生态景观的优化配置,弥补农业生态系统结构简单造成的生物地化循环不完善,以形成更好的生物一环境关系。     

自然生态空间用途管制分区划定研究——以平潭岛为例

研究目的:在明确自然生态空间内涵和分类的基础上,探讨自然生态空间用途管制分区划定的逻辑框架和技术方法,提出自然生态空间分类、分级管制规则。研究方法:文献综述与GIS空间分析。研究结果:根据不同自然生态系统类型及其空间分布特征将自然生态空间类型划分为森林生态空间、草地生态空间、湿地生态空间和荒地生态空间;基于景观功能识别并按不同管控等级将自然生态空间管制类型区划分为红线区、橙线区和黄线区;同时,依据不同地块主要功能进一步确定自然生态空间用途管制分级,划定用途管制分区结果。研究结论:基于"区域主体功能—景观主导功能—地块主要功能"的自然生态空间管制分区划定逻辑框架,可为构建以功能分类、用途分区、管控分级为导向的自然生态空间用途管制体系提供理论依据和实践借鉴。     

3S技术在景观生态学中的应用研究概述

景观生态学是研究景观尺度上的生态学问题;3S技术是景观生态学的重要技术支撑它为景观生态学研究提供了极为有效的一系列工具,成为资料收集、存储、处理和分析所不可缺少的手段;对当前国内外利用3S技术在景观数据的获取、景观空间格局分析、景观生态监测、评价与管理、景观空间模拟、景观生态规划等方面的应用研究进行了概述,旨在为3S技术在景观生态学中的广泛应用起一定的推动作用。     

Bottom-up design process of agri-environmental measures at a landscape scale: Evidence from case studies on biodiversity conservation and water protection

An Agri-environmental measure (AEM) is a payment to farmers to reduce environmental risks or to preserve cultivated landscapes. The single farm scale that is the basis for the AEM has often inhibited the achievement of the environmental goals since many biophysical processes (e.g. soil erosion, water pollution, biodiversity losses) occur at landscape scale. This creates a spatial scale mismatch between the implementation scale of the measures and the ecological processes controlling the target agri-environmental issues. In this paper, we propose how to address this spatial scale mismatch by analysing nine case studies of AEMs implementation at landscape scale concerning biodiversity conservation and water protection. The analysis highlights that the inclusion of the landscape scale in AEMs depends on the level of the involvement of the local stakeholders (SH) in the building process. When the authorities created the space for the SHs to participate in the defining process of AEMs, the inclusion of local knowledge led to the emergence of new landscape and site-specific AEMs which were not previously considered by the autorities. On the contrary, when the SHs were only allowed to choose among the AEMs predefined by the authorities, many site specificity and acceptance issues arose. The creation of space in Rural Development Programmes for collaborative, bottom-up and landscape scale AEMs and the overcoming of institutional constraints in the design of specific actions are the key ingredients for the successful adoption of measures and for enhancing their effectiveness. In this paper, we explore in depth what made these stories successful and provide a framework for the implementation of site-specific and landscape AEMs.     

Modelling landscape complexity for land use management in Rio de Janeiro,Brazil

Prioritizing land units for environmental management and planning is central in any process aiming at the improvement of urban and environmental conditions. In this study, an algebraic method (lattice theory) was applied to data describing the characteristics of ten land units of a landscape of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Consequently, landscape complexity was modeled and land units were prioritized for land management.While most usual mathematical methods for evaluation involve statistical approaches, the lattice-theoretical approach is a completely different, non-numerical algebraic and qualitative method, offering the advantages of: (a) providing three-dimensional representations of a landscape's complexity; (b) discovering essential structures of data (termed “concepts”) from within landscape data, (c) determining the relative significance (or value) of each criterion and of each land unit for the overall landscape complexity, (d) identifying the land units which are ecologically and geomorphologically more significant for a landscape, (e) mapping landscape complexity and, indeed, mapping total landscape complexity (structural, functional and qualitative) at the land unit level and (f) prioritizing land units in a tropical landscape for strict land management and/or conservation.     

A GIS-based methodological framework to characterize the Resource Management Domain (RMD): A case study of Mewat district,Haryana, India

Resource Management Domains (RMD) represent a way to characterize land units, based on biophysical and socioeconomic characteristics. This concept has been applied to delineate and characterize sustainable land units for agricultural use in the Mewat District of Haryana, India. A GIS-based framework was conceptualized to characterize RMD and appropriate biophysical and socioeconomic parameters were identified based on local conditions and expert opinion. The biophysical characteristics of the region were represented by soil (soil erosion and fertility) and groundwater (groundwater quality, potential and vulnerability) parameters. Population density, landholding, cropping pattern, irrigation source, fertilizer type, sprinkler density, tubewell type and tractor density were considered for socioeconomic characterization. Each of these parameters was modelled and mapped using well established methods The biophysical and socioeconomic parameters were integrated using a multivariate clustering method. The integration modelling results in the delineation of the region into seven RMDs, which were validated with two focus group discussions (FGD) in each of the RMD’s. The correlation between the RMD modelling results and the FGD was found to be more than 90% in five RMDs and 65% and 39% in the remaining two RMDs respectively. The result was also validated with feedback from the local administrative authorities. The study charts a sound basis for policy makers for taking the necessary steps to address location-specific differential agricultural needs in any region.     

Accounting for farmers’ production responses to environmental restrictions within landscape planning

Environmental planning aims to safeguard and foster the ecological functionality of agricultural landscapes. In order to reach a sustainable development of agricultural landscapes, in addition to ecological objectives socio-economic ones also need to be considered. In this context, the authors draw attention to three points. First, whenever ecologically sensitive areas (“ecological sites”) are used for agricultural production, it is necessary to take account of the fact that farmers tend to adapt to environmental requirements by production responses outside the ecological site itself. Second, in order to identify the socially most “desirable” land-use responses it is necessary to supplement the above-mentioned environmental objectives by socio-economic ones. Third, when choosing an appropriate model for such multi-criteria decision analysis, the question of substitutability between criteria is of utmost importance. The paper discusses the above-mentioned issues against the background of a case study of environmental planning for an ecologically very valuable agricultural landscape in Germany, the Bayerisches Donauried. Two models of multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA) are applied, one based on the “single synthesizing criterion” method, and the other one based on the “synthesis by outranking” method. The models serve to evaluate four different land-use options, using criteria mainly derived from landscape functions and weights gained from interviews with major stakeholders. The paper presents the models’ results concerning the ranking of the different land-use options and discusses the implications for agri-environmental policies and rural development planning.     

Current agri-environmental policies dismiss varied perceptions and discourses on management of traditional rural biotopes

Traditional rural biotopes (TRBs) are threatened habitats that host significant biodiversity and several ecosystem services, and depend on active management such as low-intensity grazing. The current study explores private landowners’ decision-making on TRB management and abandonment within a social-ecological system framework. We provide insight into supporting resilience of TRB systems in the face of agricultural modernization. Using a mixed methods approach with content analysis and Q analysis, we demonstrate that TRB management fosters cultural, biological, aesthetic, and utilitarian values. These are reflected in different ways through conservationist’s, profit-oriented farmer’s, landscape manager’s, and landscape admirer’s discourses on TRB management. Overall, management reinforces landowners’ place attachment, and reflects an approach to landscapes as spatial representations of cultural heritage and identity over multiple generations. Landowners consider TRB pasturage and its social-ecological outcomes motivating and rewarding. Giving up grazing cattle and perceived bureaucracy of national agri-environment scheme contribute to TRB abandonment. Landowners point out that current policies detach TRB management from what is seen as “regular agriculture”, and the focus on monetary compensation bypasses the multiple values tied to TRB management. Based on our results, we suggest that promoting TRBs requires reconfiguring the current arrangement of remedial management payments and adopting a more participatory governance approach. Locally, resilience of TRB systems relies on the connections between landowners and landscapes that foster sense of place and landscape identity, which can be supported by knowledge sharing and collaborative grazing efforts among landowners.     

Land use transitions: Socio-ecological feedback versus socio-economic change

The concept of land use transition highlights that land use change is non-linear and is associated with other societal and biophysical system changes. A transition in land use is not a fixed pattern, nor is it deterministic. Land use transitions can be caused by negative socio-ecological feedbacks that arise from a depletion of key resources or from socio-economic change and innovation that take place rather independently from the ecological system. Here, we explore whether the sources of land use transitions are mostly endogenous socio-ecological forces or exogenous socio-economic factors. We first review a few generic pathways of forest transition as identified in national case studies, and evaluate the varying ecological quality of expanding forests associated with these pathways. We then discuss possible explanatory frameworks of land use transitions. We use the case of the recent forest transition in Vietnam as an illustration. Socio-ecological feedbacks seem to better explain a slowing down of deforestation and stabilization of forest cover, while exogenous socio-economic factors better account for reforestation. We conclude by discussing the prospects of accelerating land use transitions in tropical forest countries.     

基于低碳理念的新农村景观规划研究——以河南省为例

农村传统景观规划没有充分利用生态低碳技术,且在土地利用上忽视了可持续发展战略。文章以河南省为例,分析了新农村规划存在缺少合理有效的生态景观规划及缺乏对自然景观资源的均衡开发等问题;并提出了低碳理念下新农村景观规划及基质与斑块景观规划思路,对基于低碳理念的新农村景观规划展开深入研究。最后该文将低碳理念融入景观规划设计,分别从新农村道路、绿化、照明等3个方面入手,提出道路分级、利用乡土树种进行植物配置、使用新型照明布置模式等新农村景观规划建议,以加快河南省新农村建设进程。     

A pragmatic approach for soil erosion risk assessment within policy hierarchies

This paper presents a methodological framework for scale-specific assessment of soil erosion by water. The framework enables the definition of hierarchical, functional and modular nested reference units which result from the integrated consideration of policy, process and model hierarchies. The framework is applied on three planning levels: at first, large scale zones are designated that show a defined risk potential for soil erosion (first level: catchments and drainage areas in the German Federal State of Saxony-Anhalt, ca. 20,000 km²). By both increasing model complexity and spatio-temporal resolution of input data, the results are locally specified within these risk zones (second level: designated farms and fields in a study area of 141 km²). This is the basis for the prediction of soil erosion areas and sediment transport to hydrologic drainage networks as well as for small scale management and measure planning (third level: designated field blocks in the study area). On this level, the mitigation of soil erosion and sediment entry to the river system is demonstrated by simulating the introduction of conservation management practices, vegetation and riparian buffer strips.     

Urban–rural ecological networks for landscape planning

Urban–rural landscape planning research is nowadays focusing on strategies and tools that support practitioners to design local areas where human and natural pressures interfere. A prominent framework is provided by ecological network studies, whose design regards the combination of a set of green areas and patches (nodes) interconnected through environmental corridors (edges). Ecological networks are key for biodiversity protection and enhancement, as they are able to counteract fragmentation, and to create and strengthen relations and exchanges among otherwise isolated elements. Biodiversity evolution, indeed, depends on the quantity and quality of spatial cohesion of natural areas. In this paper, we propose a methodological framework based on network modelling for the study and modelling of ecological networks. We use network properties and centrality measures (degree, clustering coefficient, and betweenness centrality) and take into account the intensity of the dispersal capacity by introducing the corresponding weighted centrality measures. We simulate the dynamics of ecological networks by monitoring the residual dispersal capacity and the number of connected components from three perspectives: random attacks, deterministic attacks according to decreasing betweenness centrality and influence of master plans. We demonstrate that spatial network analysis is useful to monitor the performance of ecological networks and support decision-making, management, and planning.The proposed methodology is applied to the case study of the peri-urban and urban areas of the town of Nuoro (Italy). Patches (nodes) have been selected among the ecosystems with target vegetal species Holm oak and cultivated and wild Olive while the connecting corridors (links) enable for seed dispersal.     

景观设计的“反规划”理念对土地 利用总体规划的借鉴初探

探讨了城市景观设计中的"反规划"理念对于土地利用总体规划的借鉴意义,提出在土地利用总体规划中适当揉入"反规划"理念的基本应用思路,并从规划概念、规划原则以及与传统规划的区别的角度进行了分析,阐述了以城乡区域生态安全格局、粮食安全格局、建设用地合理布局的构建为核心的土地利用总体规划内容。     

滨海区域生态区划研究——以北戴河新区为例

滨海区域生态系统不稳定,沿海城市的生态环境问题已经成为全球关注的重点。滨海地区生态区划是根据滨海区域区位、自然资源、环境条件及开发利用要求,选取相应的生态环境指标对区域状态进行评价,并划分为不同类型的生态单元的过程。文章以北戴河新区为例,从生态敏感性、建设用地适宜性和景观格局安全性等3个生态要素中共选取14个指标建立生态区划指标体系,运用GIS技术进行生态要素的空间分析,最终将北戴河新区分为生态涵养、生态旅游、生态服务和生态农业等4个生态主区以及15个生态亚区,并针对4个区分别给出了未来发展方向和保护对策。