Identification of landscape preferences for integration in decision support system : Contributions to the management of the montado as a multifunctional system

O objetivo principal desta tese é contribuir para o conhecimento científico sobre a atractividade de sistema de uso de terra tradicional na região de Alentejo, o Montado, para funções de não-produção exigidas pela sociedade actual. Correspondente aos principais objectivos do estudo, a tese é construída por cinco artigos científicos que tratam (1) o desenvolvimento e aplicação de uma metodologia conveniente para a avaliação de preferências de paisagem e expectativas de diferentes grupos de utilizadores do Montado; (2) a avaliação de preferências de utilizadores do Montado entre este e outras ocupações do solo características da região de Alentejo; (3) a avaliação de situação atual das funções culturais e amenidades no Montado de perspectivas de utilizadores; (4) a avaliação das preferências de diferentes utilizadores da paisagem por diferentes padrões da paisagem no Montado do Sobro; e (5) a integração de preferências de utilizadores de paisagem no sistema sistema do apoio à decisão do Montado do Sobro como um sistema multifuncional. ⓿⓿⓿ ABSTRACT: The main purpose of this thesis is to contribute to scientific knowledge about the attraction of traditional land-use systems in the region of Alentejo, Montado, for the non-production functions demanded by today's society from rural landscapes. Corresponding to the aims of the study, the thesis comprises five scientific papers dealing with (1) development and application of a methodology suitable for evaluation of landscape preferences and expectations of diverse user groups in the Montado land- use system; (2) assessment of land users' preferences for the Montado amongst other land uses in the region of Alentejo; (3) assessment of the current situation of cultural and amenity functions in the Montado ,from land users' perspectives; (4) assessment of land users' preferences for cork oak Montado landscape patterns by different user groups; and (5) integration of land users' preferences in decision support systems for management of the cork oak Montado as a multifunctional system

The fuzziness of Montado landscapes: progress in assessing user preferences through photo-based surveys

The European Landscape Convention (2000) states that landscape is an important contributor to the quality of life for people everywhere and that landscape is a complex of natural and cultural factors, as they are seen by the observer. Landscape preference, i.e. the degree to which people like a landscape and variations in the same type of landscape pattern, is an emerging field of knowledge, still under development. Moreover, knowing how preferences of rural landscapes differ among stakeholders can help define and support management responses to the changing demands of modern society. There is a need to understand this demand for new uses and activities, such as hunting, leisure, recreation, life quality support, and aesthetic appreciation. In Mediterranean extensive land use systems, such as the Montado, where agricultural production is under threat, but where the demand for amenity functions is increasing, assessing preferences and thus what the public is looking for, is particularly relevant. This papers demonstrates how photo based surveys can be an suitable tool for assessing landscape preferences in Montado landscapes, and also that, in order to cope with the underlying fuzziness of these landscapes, the images need to be edited (manipulated) so that the variations shown to respondents are adequately controlled in the study. The methodological approach as well as the results, of two different studies on the users preferences for Montado landscapes, applied to case-study areas in the region of Alentejo, Portugal, are presented. The issues concerned with photo manipulation are a particular focus of discussion

Integrating differentiated landscape preferences in a decision support model for the multifunctional management of the Montado

A great part of the Alentejo region in Southern Portugal is covered by an agro-silvo pastoral system, the Montado. This traditional landuse system is specific, inter alia, in its ability to join production with favorable conditions for non-production functions. At the present time, as society positively evaluates and even demands cultural and amenity functions from the countryside, the Montado management faces the challenge of integrating production with non-production functions in a way which will result in suitable multifunctionality, and a more sound viability of the whole system. The decision support tool (DST) for the cork oak Montado management, the CORKFITS, based on the singletree growth model and working at the stand level, is oriented primarily to the management of the production functions, but it is able to integrate also other data that can contribute for a more multifunctionality oriented management. In this exploratory study, the integration in the DST, of the preference distribution, as expressed by landscape users is investigated. The aim was to test a more comprehensive functioning of this tool, where non-production functions are also integrated. The described integration intended to communicate to decision-makers how the change in management practices at tree and under cover level, might alter the satisfaction of expectations of different user groups, as such changes affect the composition of the Montado, at both levels. The users considered are those practicing non-production functions in the Montado. Preferences were assessed through a questionnaire survey applied in the region of Alentejo, in the area of dominance of the cork oak, in the Montado system. The non-production functions are, in this context, related particularly to hunting, aesthetic appreciation related to walking and other leisure activities, to life quality, and to tradition and identity, as well as bee-keeping and mushroom picking. This paper focuses on the description of the specific methodological steps applied for the successful integration of the landscape preferences of different user groups into the DST for the cork oak Montado. Integration has proved to be possible, even if some methodological challenges still need to be faced for a more consistent use of the proposed tool

Contributions of Iberian Silvo-Pastoral Landscapes to the Well-Being of Contemporary Society

Assessments of society’s perceptions of rangeland systems offer insights into the motivations, cultural beliefs, and values that can support landscape conservation and the everyday decisions of landowners. Silvo-pastoral landscapes, the grazed oak woodlands known as montado in Portugal and dehesa in Spain, are the main rangelands of southwestern Iberia. At the interface of complex interactions between natural processes and human activities, they have potential to deliver multiple services at the ecosystem level. However, the actual rendering of their potential to the well-being of contemporary society has not been comprehensively documented. This paper aims to enrich research perspectives and identify benefits and challenging aspects of silvo-pastoral landscapes through the lens of society well-being. An integrated socioecological perspective is used to examine one case study in Portugal and one in Spain. To better understand their context, montado and dehesa are assessed relative to other landscape types in the studied areas. A qualitative approach assesses tangible but also intangible aspects. The interviewed stakeholders include members of rural communities, public authorities, land managers, and researchers. Results reveal similar benefits and challenges in montado and dehesa. Interviewees considered them to have numerous sociocultural and environmental benefits. These were mainly regulatory services but also intangible benefits such as cultural identity, aesthetic qualities, and local knowledge. Nevertheless, a rendering of their full potential to society well-being has numerous challenges. These systems were believed to struggle economically, due to the low prices for the goods produced and a high dependence on subsidies. Their environmental vulnerability was also highlighted. Critical challenges for future research and policy interventions are identified for both case studies. Moreover, we encourage the wider application of approaches to rangelands focusing on well-being, as they provide a complement to ecological and economic perspectives that can improve understanding of social-ecological systems

Defining Priority Land Covers that Secure the Livelihoods of Urban and Rural People in Ethiopia: a Case Study Based on Citizens' Preferences

Securing land management systems that maintain land covers is important for sustaining human livelihoods in Africa; however, simultaneously maintaining a viable natural environment is a serious challenge. Aggravated by rapid population growth and biodiversity loss, Ethiopia is an illustrative example of this issue. Stressing the need for a bottom-up stakeholder perspective, we identify and map land covers that deliver multiple ecosystem services that are important for the livelihoods of rural and urban citizens in the southern part of Ethiopia's Rift Valley. First, we interviewed 400 urban and rural residents to identify the land covers that deliver desired ecosystem services in three agroecological zones, representing a steep gradient in the livelihood conditions. Second, to support the inclusion of priority land covers in spatial planning, we located spatial concentrations of individual land covers providing bundles of desired ecosystem services. The majority of urban respondents selected homegarden agroforestry (92% of respondents from this group), freshwater lake (82%), river (70%), agroforestry shade-grown coffee (65%), natural old-growth forest (59%), rural settlement (52%), Afromontane undifferentiated forest (52%), and urban areas (73%) as important for their livelihood. In contrast, the majority of rural respondents selected three land covers: homegarden agroforestry (80% of respondents from this group), agroforestry shade-grown coffee (58%), and urban areas (65%). To maintain the identified natural and semi-natural priority land covers, at least two land management strategies are crucial to sustain the provision of ecosystem services for the livelihoods of both urban and rural people, and biodiversity conservation: (1) maintaining traditional agroforestry land-use practices, and (2) enhancing the protection and sustainable management of natural forest ecosystems. Additionally, integrated spatial planning is needed that considers both rural local community-based resource management that focuses on local needs for employment and products, and global demands to conserve biodiversity

中風大鼠腦部梗塞體積比例和萎縮體積比例的計算

According to recent research, stroke is one of the main causes of death as well as a source of massive economic burden that has concerned many researchers to work in the field of stroke research. Stroke is a cerebrovascular disease mainly divided into two types: ischemic stroke and hemorrhagic stroke, which refers to the partial blockage or bleeding inside blood vessels of the brain respectively. Both types of stroke lead to nutrient and oxygen deprivation in the brain, which ultimately cause brain damage or death. This study focused on ischemic stroke by using rats with middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) as experimental subjects, and examining the images of their brains obtained from staining with 2, 3, 5-triphenyl tetrazolium chloride (TTC). The stroke rat brain infarct volume and atrophy volume computation system (SRBIAVC system) segmented the images via methods of background removal, gamma correction, brain center line detection, and genetic algorithm to yield a correct estimate on the volume of brain infarct and atrophy. This way, the SRBIAVC system can provide useful information in the development of new drugs for stroke treatment. In this study, the volume of infarct and atrophy was calculated based on 168 images of brain slices segmented from 28 original images of rat brains. As indicated by the experimental results, the estimates obtained by the SRBIAVC system were better than those by other methods and more closely approximated the estimates by experts.近年來的研究顯示，中風是造成死亡的主要殺手之一，同時也造成很大的經濟負擔，因此已有許多學者投入中風領域的研究。腦中風又稱為腦血管疾病，主要為兩大類，缺血型和出血型，分別是於腦血管內部產生局部性的阻塞或出血，造成腦部缺乏養分及氧氣而導致腦損傷或死亡。 本研究主要以缺血型中風為研究對象，針對中大腦動脈阻塞的大鼠為實驗對象，並以經2，3，5—氯化三苯基四氮唑染色的原始大鼠腦袋影像為研究影像。中風大鼠腦部梗塞和萎縮體積計算系統透過去背、伽碼校正、腦袋中線偵測、基因演算法等方法，來進行影像切割，並在最後正確地估算出梗塞和萎縮體積，讓此系統可以達到輔助中風藥物開發之目的。 本研究由28張的原始大鼠腦袋影像，切割出168張鼠腦切片區塊影像，並由這些影像來計算出梗塞和萎縮體積，實驗結果表明，中風大鼠腦部梗塞和萎縮體積計算系統所計算出梗塞和萎縮體積，比其他方法更來的優秀，且與專家所計算的結果也較為相近。摘要.........................i Abstract....................ii List of Contents............iii List of Figures.............iv List of Tables..............vi Chapter1.Introduction.......1 Chapter2.Related work.......6 2.1 Gamma correction........7 2.2 Local gamma correction..8 2.3 Otsu's threshold method.10 2.4 Mathematical morphology.12 2.4.1 Erosion and dilation..12 2.4.2 Opening and closing...13 2.5 Evaluation methods......14 Chapter3.SRBIAVC system.....15 3.1 Calculating the Infarct and Atrophy Regions in the Rat Brain.....15 3.1.1 Capturing the Brain Slice regions from Rat Brain Images.....15 3.1.2 Detecting the Center Line of RBS Regions..18 3.1.3 Identifying the Infarct Region..23 3.1.4 Identifying the Corpus Callosum...27 3.1.5 Removing the Corpus Callosum from Infarct Region.31 3.1.6 Calculating the Infarct Volume and Atrophy Volume32 3.2 Determining Parameters Based on Genetic Algorithm..33 3.2.1 Genetic Algorithm based Parameters Detector..34 3.2.2 The Parameters for Center line Detection...37 3.2.3 The Parameters for Corpus Callosum...38 Chapter4.Experimental Results...40 4.1 Capturing the Brain Slice regions from Rat Brain Images...40 4.2 Center line Detection...43 4.3 Infarct Region Identification....45 4.4 Corpus Callosum Identification..48 4.5 Infarct Region Identification after Corpus Callosum Removal...50 4.6 Infarct and Atrophy Volume Calculation..55 Chapter5.Conclusions....59 Reference...............6

Perceived benefits from agroforestry landscapes across North-Eastern Europe: What matters and for whom?

Agroforestry landscapes are crucial to human wellbeing; however, they are in sharp decline across Europe. Improved understanding of the complexity of agroforestry landscapes within different biophysical, social cultural, economic and governance contexts is essential for designing effective policy and management interventions that are more tightly aligned with societal expectations and aspirations. This paper identifies and compares values that people attribute to agroforestry landscapes across North-Eastern Europe, using case studies in Sweden, Latvia, Belarus, and the Russian Federation. We apply the multiple-value approach developed for the conceptual framework of the Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services to an assessment of agroforestry landscapes. Using data from a total of 1634 face-to-face structured interviews, we (i) analyse and explore the preferences of diverse groups of respondents for agroforestry landscapes; (ii) identify a broad range of nature's contributions to people (NCP) that were attributed to agroforestry landscapes by respondents; and, (iii) analyse values of agroforestry landscapes across different contexts in NorthEastern Europe. We found that a highly heterogenous group of people - broadly irrespective of age, education, gender, place of residence, as well as political, economic, or social-cultural context - perceive agroforestry landscapes to be important to their quality of life. Respondents attributed multiple NCP to agroforestry landscapes, and nonmaterial NCP are the most frequently assigned in all four countries. An absolute majority of respondents across all case studies considered relational values of agroforestry landscapes to be important for their quality of life with identity as the most often associated with agroforestry landscapes. We discuss how relational values might be incorporated in policies and practices related to agroforestry landscapes in North-Eastern Europe

Dealing with landscape fuzziness in user preference studies: Photo-based questionnaires in the Mediterranean context

Mediterranean landscapes reveal extremely adequate conditions for the development of other functions besides production (nature conservation, recreation, life quality, local identity). These functions support the provision of public goods and services increasingly recognized by society. With this goal, the production of knowledge that may support decision is highly needed. In Mediterranean extensively used areas, the analysis of landscape features and related public preferences is complex, as the landscape pattern is highly fuzzy and land cover classes are often mixed. Resulting from multiple research developments, this paper demonstrates how photo-based surveys can be a suitable tool for assessing landscape preferences by specific public groups. Landscape functions addressed are closely linked to land cover patterns, as resulting from land cover systems. Thus using photographs in landscape questionnaires is useful in focusing the discussion on specific aspects, related with the variations in land cover and in their combinations with other specific landscape features. But the photos shown need to be clear and easily perceivable by the respondents. In order to cope with the underlying fuzziness of these landscapes, manipulation of images has been developed as the best solution so that the variations shown to respondents are adequately controlled in the study and landscape features are easily recognized by the respondents. The methodological approach as well as the results of applied approaches, of two studies on the users preferences, applied to a case-study area in Alentejo region, Portugal, are presented. The issues concerned with photo manipulation are a particular focus of discussion

Contributos para a identificação da procura social das paisagens do Alentejo

O projecto ROSA decorreu entre Junho/2009 e Ju- nho/2011, executado por uma equipa do Instituto de Ciências Agrárias e Ambientais Mediterrânicas (ICAAM), da Universidade de Évora, em parceria coma CCDRA e a DRAPAL. O projecto teve como objectivo avaliar a procura social da paisagem na região do Alentejo, através das preferências expressas por vários grupos de utilizadores: caçadores, turistas (incluindo praticantes e turismo mais convencional e eco-turistas), produtores agrícolas, habitantes (incluindo os que sempre aqui viveram e neo-rurais), e visitantes regulares (por laços familiares, razões profissionais ou por aqui possuírem segunda residência). Pretendia-se relacionar esta distri- buição das preferências com a paisagem e as suas trans- formações, tais como resultam das actividades de uso do solo, agrícola e florestal. Para avaliar as preferências foi usado como estímulo visual um conjunto de fotografias dos diferentes tipos de ocupação do solo que ocorrem no Alentejo, e correspondentes às classes consideradas nas estatísticas e na cartografia de ocupação do solo