The environmental significance of the remobilisation of ancient mass movements in the Atbara–Tekeze headwaters, Northern Ethiopia

Old landslides are prominent features in the landscape around Hagere Selam, Tigray Highlands, Ethiopia. The available evidence suggests their Late Pleistocene to Middle Holocene age and conditions of soil humidity. The affected geological layers, often silicified lacustrine deposits prone to sliding, rest upon or above the water holding Amba Aradam sandstone aquifer.Three examples of present-day (remobilisation of old) mass movements are illustrated and discussed. The aims of the study were to unravel the environmental conditions of the present-day remobilisation of ancient flows, as well as those of first-time landslides. The first two mass movements discussed are slumps, located in areas with vigorous regeneration of (grassy) vegetation. Their activation is thought to be the consequence of an increase in infiltration capacity of the soils under regenerating vegetation. One of these slumps had a horizontal movement of the order of 10–20 m in 1 day.The other case is the remobilisation of the May Ntebteb debris flow below the Amba Aradam sandstone cliff. The debris flow presently creeps downslope at a rate of 3–6 cm year⁻¹. Palynological evidence from tufa shows that the reactivation of the flow started 70 years ago. Shear resistance measurements indicate the danger for continuous or prefailure creep. From the soil mechanics point of view, the reactivation of the debris flow is due to the combination of two factors: (1) the reduction of flow confining pressures as a result of gully incision over the last hundred years, and (2) the increase of seepage pressure as a consequence of the cumulative effect of this incision and the increase in infiltration rates on the lobe since grazing and woodcutting have been prohibited 8 years ago. The role of such exclosures as possible landslide triggers is discussed.From the geomorphological point of view, the ancient movements and their present-day reactivation cannot be compared: the ancient movements led to the development of debris flows, whereas the reactivations relate to the dissection of these mass movement deposits.     

Guiding rural landscape change: Current policy approaches and potentials of landscape strategy making as a policy integrating approach

Public policy interventions concerning rural landscapes have grown significantly in recent decades in many developed countries and internationally, in response to a range of imperatives. These include concern for declining biodiversity, heritage and social wellbeing in the face of urbanisation, and structural change in rural economies involving both agricultural intensification and extensification. The public policy response has been a fragmented array of measures, both horizontally (across policy sectors) and vertically (across political-administrative-organisational levels). Against this background, rural landscape policy approaches are analysed in respect to their instrumentality and spatial logic, informed by Hägerstrand's concepts of territorial and spatial competence. A framework for local policy making and policy integration inspired by landscape strategy making approaches is presented and illustrated through four Danish experiments in rural landscapes of various scale and with different policy issues. Results suggest that landscape strategy making represents a promising way to improve policy integration in rural contexts but research is needed to find suitable ways to engage large scale intensive farming with the community based process.     

基于植被净初级生产力和水分利用效率的埃塞俄比亚土地退化趋势及驱动因素分析

土地退化对减缓和适应气候变化有重要影响,并威胁到全世界的可持续发展,造成一系列社会、经济和生态问题,是目前全球面临的最大环境挑战之一。基于2001—2020年埃塞俄比亚的归一化植被指数（NDVI）、气象数据及土地覆盖数据,通过CASA模型计算获得植被净初级生产力（NPP）和水分利用效率（WUE）,并使用Sen+MK趋势分析方法得到土地退化及其恢复趋势,同时采用多元逐步回归方法分析了土地退化及恢复的驱动因素。结果表明：2001—2020年,埃塞俄比亚土地退化整体呈现恢复趋势,恢复区域占全国面积的34.51%,主要分布在埃塞俄比亚西部以及索马里州;退化区域仅占全国面积的1.63%,主要分布在首都亚的斯亚贝巴。土地退化及恢复的主要驱动因素是人为与气候共同因素和人为单因素。土地退化的主要因素为人口的快速增长以及城市的扩张,土地恢复则与20年来实施的森林景观恢复以及可持续土地管理措施和政策有关。     

Deciphering a non-glacial/glacial landscape mosaic in the northern Swedish mountains

Relict surfaces contain information on past surface processes and long-term landscape evolution. A detailed investigation of relict non-glacial surfaces in a formerly glaciated mountain landscape of northern Sweden was completed, based on interpretation of colour infrared aerial photographs, analysis in a GIS, and fieldwork. Working backwards from landscape to process, surfaces were classified according to large- and small-scale morphologies that result from the operation of non-glacial processes, the degree of weathering, regolith characteristics, and the style of glacial modification. Surfaces were also compared in the GIS according to elevation, slope angle, and bedrock lithology. The study revealed five types of relict non-glacial surfaces but also two types of extensively weathered glacial surfaces that were transitional to relict non-glacial surfaces, illustrating spatially variable processes and rates of non-glacial and glacial landscape evolution. Rather than being static preglacial remnants, relict non-glacial surfaces are dynamic features that have continued to evolve during the Quaternary. The classification provides hypotheses for landscape evolution that can be field tested through, for example, terrestrial cosmogenic nuclide studies and geochemical analyses of fine matrix materials. The classification may be applicable to relict non-glacial surfaces in other formerly glaciated landscapes.     

Land-cover and land-use change in a Mediterranean landscape: A spatial analysis of driving forces integrating biophysical and human factors

This article develops a spatial analysis applied to examine the main driving forces of land-cover and land-use (LCLU) change in a Mediterranean region. Three different tools have been used in order to differentiate LCLU changes, driving forces and landscape dynamics. LCLU changes have been quantified with remote sensing techniques, driving forces have been analysed with multiple logistic regressions combining biophysical and human variables, whereas landscape dynamics have been quantified using different metrics. Results show the intensification of subsidised herbaceous crops on the coastal agricultural plain, the abandonment of olive trees and vineyards in the transitional area and forest restoration in the mountainous subregion.     

The use of plant water relations to characterize tree species and sites in the drylands of northern Ethiopia

Water relations of four tree species were studied in four sites in the drylands of northern Ethiopia. Predawn water potentials were significantly higher at all sites as compared to midday measurements for Acacia etbaica and Boswellia papyrifera. In contrast, Lannea fruticosa revealed this significant difference only once, while Terminalia brownii at only two of the four sites. An analysis of variance showed that A. etbaica has a wider tolerance range as compared to the other species. There was no significant difference among the four sites in terms of predawn, midday and diurnal ranges of water potential. The study revealed that A. etbaica and B. papyrifera are performing better as compared to T. brownii and L. fruticosa under the current climatic conditions. Understanding the physiological basis of survival, productivity, ability to cope with low moisture availability, and growth potential of indigenous species in the drylands is essential for the utilization and promotion of these and other species.     

An interdisciplinary approach to depict landscape change drivers: A case study of the Ticuiz agrarian community in Michoacan, Mexico

Landscape changes are driven by a combination of physical, ecological and socio-cultural factors. Hence, a large amount of information is necessary to monitor these changes and to develop effective strategies for management and conservation. For this, novel strategies for combining social and environmental data need to be developed. The purpose of this study is to demonstrate the value of an innovative interdisciplinary approach to help in explaining landscape change. We integrated three main sources of information: biophysical landscape attributes, land-use/cover change analysis and social perceptions of land-use change, institutional and policy factors and environmental services. Multivariate statistical analysis was used to develop a weight for each variable described or quantified. Finally we identified proximate causes and underlying driving forces of land transformation in the study area. The study was undertaken in a typical community in Mexico.     

The exploitation of an arid landscape by a pastoral society: the contemporary eastern Badia of Jordan

The paper reconsiders the use of arid landscapes as a resource by pastoral societies in the light of recent socioeconomic developments, using Bedouin livestock herding in the Jordanian Badia as a case study of a pastoral system in transition. The paper argues that in the contemporary Badia context, landscape is exploited by users in a wide variety of ways, and for the acquisition of both tangible and non-tangible resources. The study concludes that the modernization and commercialization of livestock production in the Badia does not necessarily imply a diminishing of ties between herder and land resources, and suggests instead that the process of modernization in livestock production may in fact generate a wider spectrum of options for its exploitation.     

纳帕海湿地季节性景观格局动态变化及其驱动

利用纳帕海湿地区2008年冬季SPOT-5和2009年春季Landsat ETM+影像,进行景观解译,结合地面植被和水文情势调查,剖析了纳帕海湿地区的景观格局年内季节动态变化,及其与区域季节性气候和人为扰动的关联。研究发现:研究时段内纳帕海湿地区主要湿地景观都大幅萎缩,湿地类景观之间、湿地类景观与非湿地类景观之间发生显著转换;破坏地景观呈斑块状散布,占纳帕海湿地区总面积15.74%;各类景观向破坏地景观的转换,主要源于季节性气候背景下周边村落家畜放养的破坏;春夏时极端干旱气候和区域人为活动扰动,是纳帕海湿地退化的直接驱动;协调湿地保护与周边农牧民家畜放养、应对极端季节性气候下的流域水资源开发和管理,是纳帕海湿地有效管理的关键。对类似于纳帕海具有显著季节性变化的湿地景观研究,将局地-季节和区域-年际两个尺度相结合,将更深入地阐明其格局-过程-驱动间的关联。     

Impacts of artisanal gold mining systems on soil and woody vegetation in the semi‐arid environment of northern Ethiopia

Gold mining is a tremendously important economic activity in rural districts of Ethiopia. We assessed the impacts of artisanal gold mining on soil and woody vegetation in northern Ethiopia. Estimation of soil loss, plant inventory, group discussions and transect studies were used to address the research questions. We employed t‐test to compare woody species and soil loss between mined and unmined sites. Moreover, we ran one‐way ANOVA to compare the average volume of soil loss among the mining sites. The study shows that gold mining removed colossal volumes of soil from the mining landscape with a significant difference among gold mining sites (P ≤ 0.05). Soil loss between the mined and unmined sites was also significant (P ≤ 0.05). Moreover, gold mining destroyed massive tracts of vegetation. Woody species encountered at plot level decreased from artisanal gold mined to unmined sites (P ≤ 0.05). Moreover, dead trees and exposed tree roots were higher in mined than the unmined areas (P ≤ 0.05). This discouraged regeneration and recruitment of woody vegetation. To conclude, gold mining system converted vegetated sites and farmlands into dysfunctional landscape. Therefore, we suggest that combined rehabilitation efforts are required to overcome the challenges of artisanal gold mining on sustainable land management in northern Ethiopia.     

Temporal change in the landscape erosion pattern in the Yellow River Basin,China

Using Landsat TM data from 1995 and 2000, changes in the landscape erosion pattern of the Yellow River Basin, China were analysed. The aim was to improve our understanding of soil‐erosion change so that sustainable land use could be established. First, a soil‐erosion intensity index model was developed to study soil‐erosion intensity change in the study area. Over the 5 years, the areas of weak erosion, moderate erosion, severe erosion, and very severe erosion all increased. The area of weak erosion increased dramatically by 7.94×10⁵ ha, and areas of slight erosion and acute erosion decreased by 1.93×10⁶ ha and 4.50×10⁴ ha, respectively. The results show that while the intensity of soil erosion has gradually been decreasing as a whole, in some regions the soil erosion is becoming more severe. Based on landscape indices, the pattern of changes in soil erosion over the past 5 years was analysed. The changes in landscape pattern of soil erosion resulted from human activities. Analysis showed that human impact increases fragmentation, having three major effects on landscape pattern, reduction in patch area, variations in patch shape, and changes in spatial pattern. In the study area, population growth, farming, governmental policy and forest degradation are the major factors causing soil erosion change over a 5‐year period.     

The driving force of water resource stress change based on the STIRPAT model: take Zhangye City as a case study

A prominent contradiction between supply and demand of water resources has restricted local development in social and economic aspects of Zhangye City, located in a typical arid region of China. Our study quantified the Water Resource Stress Index(WRSI) from 2003 to 2017 and examined the factors of population, urbanization level, GDP per capita, Engel coefficient, and water consumption per unit of GDP by using the extended stochastic impact by regression on population,affluence and technology(STIRPAT) model to find the key factors that impact WRSI of Zhangye City to relieve the pressure on water resources. The ridge regression method is applied to improve this model to eliminate multicollinearity problems. The WRSI system was developed from the following three aspects: water resources utilization(WR), regional economic development water use(WU), and water environment stress(WE). Results show that the WRSI index has fallen from 0.81(2003) to 0.17(2017), with an average annual decreased rate of 9.8%. Moreover, the absolute values of normalized coefficients demonstrate that the Engel coefficient has the largest positive contribution to increase WRSI with an elastic coefficient of 0.2709, followed by water consumption per unit of GDP and population with elastic coefficients of 0.0971 and 0.0387, respectively. In contrast, the urbanization level and GDP per capita can decrease WRSI by-0.2449 and-0.089, respectively. The decline of WRSI was attributed to water-saving society construction which included the improvement of water saving technology and the adjustment of agricultural planting structures. Furthermore, this study demonstrated the feasibility of evaluating the driving forces affecting WRSI by using the STIRPAT model and ridge regression analysis.     

The Mai Maikden sedimentary sequence: a reference point for the environmental evolution of the Highlands of Northern Ethiopia

This paper presents a geomorphologic–stratigraphic analysis of a travertine dammed lacustrine–swampy sedimentary sequence, composed of clay, peaty layers and phytoclastic travertine sands, deeply incised by the Mai Maikden river, on the Highlands of Tigray (Northern Ethiopia). Radiocarbon datings of peaty deposits allow us to establish that the travertine dams have developed at least between 7310±90 yr B.P. and 5160±80 yr B.P. In the upper part of the sequence, palaeochannels filled with travertine and limestone coarse gravels and blocks, indicate the activation of concentrated erosion on the surrounding slopes. Later, both the travertine dam and the lacustrine–swampy deposits were buried by alluvial and colluvial sediments, still mixed with large amounts of organic matter, testifying to generalized slope erosion processes. The end of travertine deposition may be connected with a progressive reduction of vegetation cover and the subsequent decrease of CO₂ in groundwater. The occurrence of the latter phenomena may be related to the onset of drier climatic conditions even though the finding of a large prehistoric settlement in the area, also indicates some influence of human impact.     

Wetland sustainability and the evolution of indigenous knowledge in Ethiopia

Much research in recent years has addressed the contribution of indigenous knowledge (IK) to development initiatives in developing countries. An IK system that continuously evolves and adapts in response to environmental and socio-economic change is often considered to be at the core of sustainable natural resource management practices and rural livelihoods. In the context of indigenous wetland management in western Ethiopia, this paper examines the relationship between IK and wetland sustainability, focusing on the mechanisms through which IK evolves and how local adaptive capacity is built up. A series of participatory research activities undertaken in four wetland communities revealed spatial variations in the degree of innovation and communication taking place. The paper argues that these mechanisms are key factors influencing adaptive capacity, suggesting a key link between wetland sustainability and the occurrence of innovation and communication among communities.     

Landscape pattern change and driving force of blowout distribution in the Hulun Buir Sandy Grassland

The land coverage pattern changes for the past 50 years in a typical region of the Hulun Buir Sandy Grassland were interpreted and analyzed based on a series of remote sensing images in 1959, 2002, 2004 and 2009. The temporal and spatial changes of landscape patterns were revealed and the driving forces were analyzed. The results show that all land coverage types had large variable amplitudes. The grassland area decreased, whereas other areas increased. Owing to implementation of artificial sand fixation from 2004 to 2009, the areas of flowing blowouts and depositional area decreased by 71,369 and 128,835 m², respectively. The average patch area reduced, but the number of blowouts increased, fractal dimension increased, and blowout structure became complex. The fragmentation index increased, whereas contagion index decreased. Driving force analysis shows that human factors such as overgrazing are slightly larger than natural factors of increased temperature and decreased precipitation.     

Exploring a combination of objective and subjective assessment in landscape classification: Side case from Turkey

Landscape is a product of interactions between human and nature that bring multiple characteristics to discrete geographic settings. Landscape character assessment (LCA) is a process of describing, mapping and evaluating distinct characters in the landscape. The aim of this study is to integrate objective and subjective assessment in landscape classification in the case of Side district in Antalya, Turkey. The methodology of the study is based on a holistic approach to combine map-based biophysical information and on-site visual landscape characteristics into the LCA process. Principal component and cluster analysis were used to understand relationships and spatial patterns between 29 landscape character areas and types which were previously defined by previous work. The main source of data was landscape characters, and 35 character attributes was processed as variables. Cluster analysis showed that landscape character areas and types in Side were gathered into two main cluster groups and five sub clusters. The majority of landscape character areas tended to constitute separate subclusters, while character types appeared to form large groups of clusters in which recognisable land-use patterns were the main activity. According to the cluster dendrogram, it was possible to interpret spatial linkages between the clusters of character areas and types and to delineate geographic classification of the main landscapes in Side. Scaling relations for LCA in a pattern-process-product framework provided an explicit understanding of the data layers in landscape classification and where the clustering can function. Biophysical characteristics comprised the pattern of the landscape, while visual characteristics demonstrated the condition of the landscape as a product. The process depends upon transformation between the objective and the subjective as a link between pattern and product. Further steps would be to conduct semistructured surveys to assess local perceptions and preferences about landscape characters for landscape quality objectives.     

Understanding Agriculture Production and Food Security in Ethiopia from the Perspective of China

Food security and sustainable agricultural development are the hot issues of scientific research, especially after the population affected by hunger surprisingly increased in 2016. Long-lasting and recurrent famines caused by natural disasters and wars have afflicted Ethiopia. Unlike Ethiopia, which is still struggling to achieve food self-sufficiency, China managed to quickly become food self-sufficient at a rapid speed, despite the fact that it also faced the same challenges of famine over the last century. In the backdrop of differing environmental and socio-political challenges the two countries face, comparing the similarities and differences between the two countries will yield important lessons and insights for Ethiopia to follow to achieve food self-sufficiency. Here, the progress towards food security in Ethiopia and China is presented to quantitatively compare the gap of agricultural production between both countries. We found that food production in Ethiopia is heavily constrained by drought, soil degradation, climate change, out-dated agricultural production technologies, and poverty. According to these challenges, we examined corresponding responses in China to propose solutions for achieving food self-sufficiency in Ethiopia, given the realities of its unique national situation.     

Variability and management patterns of range resources in the Baro River plain, Ethiopia

The biophysical environment of rangelands in the arid and semi-arid lowland parts of Africa is customarily viewed as a homogenous entity. Such notion has encouraged employing a blanket management approach. However, there are perceptible variations within them which necessitate site-specific range management. This study has attempted to identify the variability of soil and forage attributes and assess the existing management practices of those resources in the Baro River plain, Ethiopia. Sample transects, representing pre- and post-fire conditions, were used to collect composite soil samples and vegetation attributes. Alongside the physical survey, a household survey was undertaken to validate the laboratory-generated information. The result showed significant differences of soil and forage attributes among different management regimes, distances from river course and dominant cover types. In general, the distribution of soil nutrients showed a 'distance decay effect', while the distribution of pH showed the reverse pattern. Application of heavy fire load and congested grazing are the principal range management related factors. About 80 per cent of sample pastoralists employ heavy fire without due consideration for the sustainability of the range resource and without considering the local variability. Recognition of site-specific information is the key to effective management of range resources in the study area.