Landscape Spatial Analysis for Natural Capital Enhancement

A special issue of Land (ISSN 2073-445X). This special issue belongs to the section "Landscape Ecology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (15 April 2024) | Viewed by 1739

Special Issue Editor


E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences and Technologies, University of Salento, Lecce, Italy
Interests: ecological indicators; ecosystem services; landscape metrics; biodiversity conservation
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Landscape fragmentation caused by urban sprawl leads to profound changes in the landscape matrix, with land loss and altered natural capital flow as the main consequences. In particular, land use/cover change (LUCC), generally induced by human activities, can alter the configuration and composition of landscape elements, ecological processes, and, ultimately, the flow of natural capital. Land-use/land-cover classes can be seen as spatially interacting landscape components that can result in landscape heterogeneity, which is determined by the complexity and variability of a landscape's properties in space and time; therefore, both properties influence how landscape services are provided.

The goal of this Special Issue is to collect papers (original research articles and review papers) to provide insight into assessment methods, landscape metrics, and suitable indicators that can help to differentiate between different management strategies in terms of natural capital enhancement.

The topic of the Special Issue can be used as a proposal for identifying sustainable strategic planning choices to counter the reduction of natural capital flow. The combination of geospatial tools and modeling can be of help in solving research issues such as analyzing LUCC from the perspective of assessing landscape fragmentation or quantifying the spatial relationship between landscape fragmentation and natural capital flow. This will allow for the enhancement of scientific knowledge by promoting multi-temporal landscape spatial analysis (land-use/land-cover maps, land consumption maps, and landscape metrics) and landscape services’ flow assessment, as well as the identification of areas at risk of losing natural capital flow that can support urban and landscape sustainable planning.

This Special Issue will welcome manuscripts that link the following themes:

  • Land consumption;
  • Landscape metrics;
  • Landscape dynamics;
  • Landscape patterns;
  • Urban sprawl;
  • Natural capital flow.

We look forward to receiving your submissions.

Dr. Donatella Valente
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. Land is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly 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 2600 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

  • ecosystem services
  • landscape planning
  • land use planning
  • landscape approach
  • natural capital
  • GIS technologies

Benefits of Publishing in a Special Issue

  • Ease of navigation: Grouping papers by topic helps scholars navigate broad scope journals more efficiently.
  • Greater discoverability: Special Issues support the reach and impact of scientific research. Articles in Special Issues are more discoverable and cited more frequently.
  • Expansion of research network: Special Issues facilitate connections among authors, fostering scientific collaborations.
  • External promotion: Articles in Special Issues are often promoted through the journal's social media, increasing their visibility.
  • e-Book format: Special Issues with more than 10 articles can be published as dedicated e-books, ensuring wide and rapid dissemination.

Further information on MDPI's Special Issue polices can be found here.

Published Papers (1 paper)

Order results
Result details
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:

Research

16 pages, 3335 KiB  
Article
Participatory Landscape Conservation: A Case Study of a Seasonally Dry Tropical Forest in Michoacan, Mexico
by Neyra Sosa, Alejandro Torres, Valerio Castro-Lopez and Alejandro Velazquez
Land 2023, 12(11), 2016; https://doi.org/10.3390/land12112016 - 4 Nov 2023
Viewed by 1338
Abstract
Participatory landscape conservation is an innovative approach that weaves together theoretical models and practical applications. Intertropical regions, such as Mexico, face challenges to conciliate regional governability, social justice, and nature conservation. The State of Michoacan is one of these regions where such challenges [...] Read more.
Participatory landscape conservation is an innovative approach that weaves together theoretical models and practical applications. Intertropical regions, such as Mexico, face challenges to conciliate regional governability, social justice, and nature conservation. The State of Michoacan is one of these regions where such challenges are exacerbated, particularly nature conservation, due to ongoing territorial disputes. We implemented the participatory landscape conservation approach by creating a complementary form of protected area to deal with ongoing conflicts, drought conditions, and extreme poverty. We conducted participatory mapping and landcover/use analyses as the main methodological tools to reach consensus among stakeholders. We integrated, macro, micro, and social scales to provide sound arguments to integrate local, scholar, and policy makers’ perceptions. The outcomes of the participatory mapping analyses were assessed. The present paper provides evidence of the positive outcome of using The Participatory Landscape Conservation Approach to establish a Biosphere Reserve, safeguarding one of the most biologically diverse and delicate ecosystems consisting of seasonally dry tropical forests within a rather disputed region. We discussed the relevance of our findings and compared them to ongoing regional and global trends in light of other forms of establishing long-term multistakeholder agreements, as is the case for protected areas. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Landscape Spatial Analysis for Natural Capital Enhancement)
Show Figures

Figure 1

Back to TopTop