Changes and continuity of wood-pastures in the lowland landscape in Czechia

The term wood-pastures is usually applied to areas with trees or other woody vegetation, scattered through a mainly grazed grassland area, and reflects one of the oldest land use types in Europe, which plays important ecological, agricultural and socio-cultural roles. However, a rapid decline in their area due to changes in land use and a lack of tree regeneration has recently been observed all over Europe, which has led to the necessity of a deeper understanding of their behaviour in relation to different factors via a detailed analysis of the history of the changes in their distribution over space and time. Despite the recent increase in the number of related studies, information on historic patterns of wood-pastures in many European locations, such as Czechia, remains incomplete. The goal of this study is to assess the habitat continuity of current wood-pastures and to analyse the land-use/land-cover changes of historical and current wood-pastures in lowlands and warm landscapes of hills and basins of Czechia. To achieve this, nine sites covering a total area of 98.6 km² were studied in Czechia. The situation on three time horizons (1820–1840s, the early 1950s and today) was analysed. The results have shown that almost all wood-pastures from the 1st half of the 19th century have now been lost and most of the currently existing ones were formed from the 1950s till today. Most wood-pastures, which were lost by the 1950s, were turned into open habitats, such as arable lands, and the ones lost from 1950 were turned into forest. New wood-pastures are mostly formed from open habitats, often in former military areas.     

Using Web Maps to Analyze the Construction of Global Scale Cognitive Maps

Game-based Web sites and applications are changing the ways in which students learn the world map. In this study, a Web map-based digital learning tool was used as a study aid for a university-level geography course in order to examine the way in which global scale cognitive maps are constructed. A network analysis revealed that clicks were negatively correlated with familiarity, but were positively correlated with area. More significantly, well-known countries did not act as central nodes within network-based mental models, but served a more complex mediating role in structuring the space between subregions.     

湖南省传统聚落景观基因组图谱的空间形态与结构特征

传统聚落保有显著的价值,深入开展相关研究有利于促进经济社会的可持续发展和新型城镇化战略的实施。结合传统聚落景观基因组图谱,本文探讨了湖南省传统聚落景观的空间形态与结构特征。首先,根据传统聚落景观基因组的空间排列特征将湖南省传统聚落的空间形态归结为向心圆环式、扇形扩张式、多向扩张式、条带式、离散式和组团式等5种基本类型,并进一步归纳了各种形态类型的特征。其次,运用空间句法理论,通过构建传统聚落景观基因组的空间轴线模型,系统地剖析了湖南省传统聚落景观的空间结构特征,发现湖南省传统聚落的空间结构具有对称和平行等鲜明的几何特征,存在着“界域”和“街—巷—码头”等典型结构,还具有典型的风水意象特征。因此,结合传统聚落景观基因组图谱从地理学的视角揭示传统聚落的地学特征,有利于完善传统聚落景观基因理论,深化对传统聚落的认识,促进相关保护工作。     

Color map design for visualization in flood risk assessment

Visualizations of flood maps from simulation models are widely used for assessing the likelihood of flood hazards in spatial planning. The choice of a suitable type of visualization as well as efficient color maps is critical to avoid errors or bias when interpreting the data. Based on a review of previous flood uncertainty visualization techniques, this paper identifies areas of improvements and suggests criteria for the design of a task-specific color scale in flood map visualization. We contribute a novel color map design for visualizing probabilities and uncertainties from flood simulation ensembles. A user study encompassing 83 participants was carried out to evaluate the effects of this new color map on user’s decisions in a spatial planning task. We found that the type of visualization makes a difference when it comes to identification of non-hazardous sites in the flood risk map and when accepting risks in more uncertain areas. In comparison with two other existing visualization techniques, we observed that the new design was superior both in terms of task compliance and efficiency. In regions with uncertain flood statuses, users were biased toward accepting less risky locations with our new color map design.     

Assessing the distribution and impacts of Prosopis juliflora through participatory approaches

Invasive species pose global biological and economic challenges. Over the past four decades, Prosopis taxa have emerged as a major invader of the arid and semi-arid regions of the world. Prosopis juliflora, one of the highly invasive Prosopis species, is dominantly present in the Afar region of Ethiopia and continues to spread into the surrounding areas. The objective of this study was to aid the mapping, utilization, and management of the invasive P. juliflora in Afar, by employing participatory research techniques. We assessed the introduction history, impacts, uses, and control strategies of invasive P. juliflora by interviewing 108 pastoralists and agro-pastoralists. In addition, we used Participatory Mapping (PM), Geographic Information Systems (GIS), Global Positioning System (GPS), and remote sensing technologies and approaches to map sites invaded by P. juliflora. Sketch maps were produced by men, women, pastoralist and agro-pastoralist groups. Experts aggregated, scaled and reproduced the sketch maps with support from the Afar communities. We provided GPS and GIS trainings to selected community members who assisted us in collecting the GPS locations of more than 70 key features and landmarks. The sketch maps were digitized and geo-referenced by experts using the 70 GPS records as control points. Geo-referenced community maps were superimposed on pan-sharpened Landsat 8 satellite images and presented to the communities for verification. We overlaid the verified community maps on ancillary land-cover layers, and detected the land-cover classes that were most affected by P. juliflora invasion. Despite its uses as source of fire wood, charcoal, and animal fodder, the species has adverse impacts on native species and livestock resources. Afar communities mapped P. juliflora infestations, particularly those that occurred near their villages, using high and moderate density classes. The two highly invaded land-cover categories were dense grassland, and exposed sand & soils. Participants collaborated in creating the produced maps, suggesting that participatory research approaches are another tool for early detection of invasive species and guiding fine-scale management strategies.     

Fundamental causes and spatial heterogeneity of deforestation in Legal Amazon

This study explores the main direct and underlying causes of deforestation in Brazil's Legal Amazon region by considering spatial differences. The computation of localized parameters is based on geographically weighted regression (GWR). The novelty of this paper lies in its incorporation of economic, rather than Euclidean, distances into the GWR. Economic distances are measured by travel time, sourced from Google Inc. A global approach revealed several important factors that affect deforestation, including: rural population, GDP (suggesting a U-shaped environmental Kuznets curve), forest stock, cattle ranching, timber value, and road networks (both official and unofficial). Local analysis uncovered patterns not seen under global models, especially in the state of Pará. Most notably, crop cultivation was found to accelerate deforestation in southeastern Pará and northeastern Mato Grosso, while in some regions (especially in the northeastern corner of Pará), the area covered by crop plantations was negatively associated with deforestation. For Pará, rural credit constraints, larger territories designated as sustainable use areas and indigenous lands, and higher levels of precipitation inhibit deforestation. Further, rural population has a very heterogeneous impact on deforestation across Legal Amazon: it is not a significant factor of deforestation in northern Pará and Amapá, but it has a relatively strong effect in the western parts of Mato Grosso and Rondônia. Also, official and illegal roads create significantly more pressure on forests in remote regions compared to developed areas. Finally, the use of economic distances, as opposed to Euclidean distances, leads to notably different GWR results.     

An Integrated Mapping Approach to Petroleum Exploration on the Pratt Anticline,Pratt County,Kansas

A quantitative map comparison/integration technique to aid in petroleum exploration was applied to an area in south-central Kansas. The visual comparison and integration of maps has become increasingly difficult with the large number and different types of maps necessary to interpret the geology and assess the petroleum potential of an area; therefore, it is desirable to quantify these relationships. The algebraic algorithm used in this application is based on a point-by-point comparison of any number and type of spatial data represented in map form. Ten geological and geophysical maps were compared and integrated, utilizing data from 900 wells located in a nine-township area on the Pratt Anticline in Pratt County, Kansas. Five structure maps, including top of the Lansing Group (Pennsylvanian), Mississippian chert, Mississippian limestone, Viola Limestone (Ordovician), and Arbuckle Group (Cambro-Ordovician), two isopachous maps from top of Mississippian chert to Viola and Lansing to Arbuckle, a Mississippian chert porosity map, Bouguer gravity map, and an aeromagnetic map were processed and interpreted. Before processing, each map was standardized and assigned a relative degree of importance, depending on knowledge of the geology of the area. Once a combination of weights was obtained that most closely resembled the pattern of proved oil fields (target map), a favorability map was constructed based on a coincidence of similarity values and of geological properties of petroleum reservoirs. The resulting favorability maps for the study area indicate location of likely Mississippian chert and lower Paleozoic production.     

第四纪地质图件和生态与环境图系的编制及展望

近２０年来,随着全球水资源,地质灾害,土壤利用及沙漠化等问题的日益严重,国内外不少部门和专家相应地编制了第四纪地质图件和生态瑟环境系列图件,提高一第四纪研究的水平,也为国土整治提供了科学依据。本篇主要通过这些图件来分析当前第四纪地质图和生态与环境系列图编制的动态和问题。     

分布式地震应急救援态势标绘系统

地震现场救援要素众多,部署分散,为了统一管理救援要素,综合展示救援态势,设计一种基于B/S架构的地震应急救援态势标绘系统,采用Google Maps API v3实现前端Web GIS功能,加载谷歌地图,标绘震情灾情和救援要素信息,通过AJAX方式与服务器端进行数据交互,保存要素信息或者获取服务器端数据,系统设计聊天室功能,登录用户可以在线实时交流。本系统对使用环境要求低,支持多种移动终端,适合地震现场人员使用,实现了分布式要素标绘功能,是地震现场救援行动的有效辅助决策工具。     

移动电子地图中伪3D可视化设计

定义了移动电子地图中伪3D可视化概念,提出伪3D可视化模型,并设计了快速的三维投影变换算法。进行了移动电子地图的伪3D可视化实验设计,并给出了可视化性能测试结果。