Landscape metrics and indices : an overview of their use in landscape research

The aim of this overview paper is to analyze the use of various landscape metrics and landscape indices for the characterization of landscape structure and various processes at both landscape and ecosystem level. We analyzed the appearance of the terms landscape metrics/indexes/indices in combination with seven main categories in the field of landscape ecology [1) use/selection and misuse of metrics, 2) biodiversity and habitat analysis; 3) water quality; 4) evaluation of the landscape pattern and its change; 5) urban landscape pattern, road network; 6) aesthetics of landscape; 7) management, planning and monitoring] in the titles, abstracts and/or key words of research papers published in international peer-reviewed scientific journals indexed by the Institute of Science Information (ISI) Web of Science (WoS) from 1994 to October 2008. Most of the landscape metrics and indices are used concerning biodiversity and habitat analysis, and also the evaluation of landscape pattern and its change (up to 25 articles per year). There are only a few articles on the relationships of landscape metrics/indices/indexes to social aspects and landscape perception

Greenhouse gas balance of open peatlands is globally governed by soil water content and archaeal abundance : EGU21-8969

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Increasing fragmentation of forest cover in Brazil’s Legal Amazon from 2001 to 2017

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-020-62591-

Different plant species drive the microbial methane and nitrogen cycles and CH4 and N2O emissions on coasts affected by brackish water

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Remotely Sensed Land Surface Temperature Can Be Used to Estimate Ecosystem Respiration in Intact and Disturbed Northern Peatlands

https://doi.org/10.1029/2021JG006411Remotely sensed land surface temperature (LST) enables global modeling and monitoring of CO2 fluxes from peatlands. We aimed to provide the first overview of the potential for using LST to monitor ecosystem respiration (R-eco) in disturbed (drained and extracted) peatlands. We used chamber-measured data (2017-2020) from five disturbed and two intact northern peatlands and LST data from Landsat 7, 8, and MODIS missions. First, we studied the strength of the relationships between fluxes and their in situ drivers (i.e., thermal and moisture conditions). Second, we examined the association between LST and in situ temperatures. Third, we compared chamber-measured R-eco with the modeled R-eco driven by in situ measured water table depth and (a) in situ measured surface temperature and (b) remotely sensed MODIS LST data. In situ temperatures were a stronger driver of CO2 fluxes in disturbed sites (repeated measures correlation rmR = 0.8-0.9) than in intact ones (rmR = 0.5-0.8). LST had a higher association with in situ measured temperatures in disturbed sites (mean rmR = 0.79 for MODIS) and weaker in the intact (hummocks and hollows) peatlands (mean rmR = 0.38 for Landsat and 0.48 for MODIS). R-eco models driven by MODIS LST and in situ surface temperature yielded similar accuracy: R-2 was 0.27, 0.66, and 0.67 and 0.29, 0.70, and 0.66 for intact and for drained and extracted sites, respectively. Overall, these findings suggest the applicability of LST as a proxy of the thermal regime in R-eco models, particularly for disturbed peatlands.Peer reviewe

Single-chamber microbial electrosynthesis reactor for nitrate reduction from waters with a low-electron donors’ concentration : from design and set-up to the optimal operating potential

Funding Information: This research was supported by the Estonian Research Council (grant numbers PSG631, PSG714, PRG352) and by the European Union (EU) through the European Regional Development Fund: Centre of Excellence EcolChange, TK 141 Advanced materials and high-technology devices for energy recuperation systems (grant number 2014-2020.4.01.15-0011), the University of Tartu Feasibility Fund (grant number PLTOMARENG51), and the European Structural and Investment Funds.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Isotope and microbiome analysis indicates variety of N-cycle processes controlling N2O fluxes in a drained peatland forest soil : EGU21-10809

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Estonian landscape study: contextual history

The history of Estonian landscape research is limited to the twentieth century. The most significant milestone in this process was the appointment of J.G. Granö as Professor of Geography at the University of Tartu who introduced the German systematic and scientific notion of landscape (Landschaft). This has been a dominant trend ever since, but Estonian landscape study has had numerous undercurrents and exiting interactions with other disciplines from both the natural and social sciences, as well as the humanities. This is a first attempt to write a landscape research history with a broader perspective in mind, stressing the wide spectrum of landscape studies by researchers who may not consider themselves primarily as concerned with landscapes but have nevertheless contributed to the discipline and the understanding of landscapes in Estonia.L’étude des paysages en Estonie ne débuta qu’au début du XXe siècle. L’étape la plus importante de ce processus fut l’engagement comme professeur de géographie à l’Université de Tartu de J.G. Granö, qui a introduit la notion allemande de "Landschaft" au sens systématique et scientifique du terme. Cette tendance a depuis lors prédominé en Estonie, marquée, en dépit de certaines tensions sous-jacentes, par de passionnantes interactions avec d’autres disciplines, que ce soit les sciences naturelles ou sociales, ou encore les sciences humaines.Cet article constitue une tentative inédite d’écrire une histoire de la recherche paysagère dans une perspective plus large, en mettant en évidence le vaste éventail d’études paysagères réalisées par des chercheurs qui, sans nécessairement se considérer comme des spécialistes des paysages, ont néanmoins apporté une contribution déterminante à cette discipline et à sa compréhension