Density, structure and management of landscape elements on Danish organic farms

Density and management of landscape elements on organic farms were investigated for 345 organic farms in Denmark in 2001, representing approximately 10% of the total number of organic farms. The density of hedgerows, area habitats and ponds was estimated and related to various aspects of farm character, such as size, type and lifestyle/part time/full time farms, as well as region and biophysical context. A large variation in the densities was found, the highest densities were found on the smallest farms. Farm size was the farm parameter that was closest related to the density of landscape elements as well as landscape structural variables. Farm size was related to the other farm characteristics

Landscape Heritage Protection And Perception In Urban Fringe Area: The Case Of The Southern Part Of Warsaw

This article presents two approaches to landscape heritage that can be observed in the southern outskirts of Warsaw. It presents the landscape heritage protection and management policy in those areas, as well as the perception of the elements of this heritage by the local community

Testing the difference between experts\u2019 and lay people\u2019s landscape preferences

The European Landscape Convention, ratified by 40 nations, has placed emphasis on the necessity that the value of the landscape is assessed by the population. However it is standard practice that a few experts decide which areas are of landscape interest and the transformations that are compatible with their conservation. To compare the landscape preferences of experts and lay people a study was done on the Po Delta Natural Park (Italy) using a psychophysical approach. In our case study the average scores of experts and lay people are not very different. However it was also ascertained that the experts evaluate the presence of some elements in a way that differs from lay people. As the responsibility for landscape policies is normally devolved to a few experts it would appear necessary that the preferences and opinions of lay people should always be carefully analysed

How much do we really lose?—Yield losses in the proximity of natural landscape elements in agricultural landscapes

Natural landscape elements (NLEs) in agricultural landscapes contribute to biodiversity and ecosystem services, but are also regarded as an obstacle for large‐scale agricultural production. However, the effects of NLEs on crop yield have rarely been measured. Here, we investigated how different bordering structures, such as agricultural roads, field‐to‐field borders, forests, hedgerows, and kettle holes, influence agricultural yields. We hypothesized that (a) yield values at field borders differ from mid‐field yields and that (b) the extent of this change in yields depends on the bordering structure. We measured winter wheat yields along transects with log‐scaled distances from the border into the agricultural field within two intensively managed agricultural landscapes in Germany (2014 near Göttingen, and 2015–2017 in the Uckermark). We observed a yield loss adjacent to every investigated bordering structure of 11%–38% in comparison with mid‐field yields. However, depending on the bordering structure, this yield loss disappeared at different distances. While the proximity of kettle holes did not affect yields more than neighboring agricultural fields, woody landscape elements had strong effects on winter wheat yields. Notably, 95% of mid‐field yields could already be reached at a distance of 11.3 m from a kettle hole and at a distance of 17.8 m from hedgerows as well as forest borders. Our findings suggest that yield losses are especially relevant directly adjacent to woody landscape elements, but not adjacent to in‐field water bodies. This highlights the potential to simultaneously counteract yield losses close to the field border and enhance biodiversity by combining different NLEs in agricultural landscapes such as creating strips of extensive grassland vegetation between woody landscape elements and agricultural fields. In conclusion, our results can be used to quantify ecocompensations to find optimal solutions for the delivery of productive and regulative ecosystem services in heterogeneous agricultural landscapes

Czech organic farmers’ perception of landscape elements

This paper aims to identify the main aspects of farmers´ motivation to farm organically and their activities relating to changes in landscape composition. Organic farmers’ perceptions of landscape elements were observed through questionnaires completed by 87 farmers in the Czech Republic. The majority of farmers (88.5%) stated that environment-friendly farming practices were the main reason to enter the organic farming system. A large number of farmers (69%) stated that they have problems with some constraining conditions and rules in agri-environmental measures. Regarding the size of farms, small farms were more willing to devote part of their farmland to landscape elements. Respondents who farmed in LFA areas and landscape protected areas mentioned more types of landscape elements than farmers from intensive production areas. At the moment, organic certification is concerned only with monitoring and limiting external inputs in the organic farming system. Therefore, it is necessary to start work on a new certification system which will evaluate particular organic farm achievements with regard to impact on landscape, biodiversity, and the environment. Nearly 82% of respondents in our survey were aware of room for improvement regarding these issues

Citizens contributing in landscape in the Netherlands

With the continuing loss of landscape elements and open space, landscape management is gaining importance in tandem with the design of acceptable private and voluntary financing arrangements. Here, we analyze the awareness, involvement, socio-demographic characteristics and the contribution of citizens regarding the landscape. The contribution of citizens has been classified into three fields of activities. Data analysis is based on a survey among 1.060 inhabitants in and around three designated peri-urban areas in the Netherlands. The results show that these areas are well known, albeit on a limited scale. Most of the stated willingness of the inhabitants to contribute to the landscape has been related with their socio-demographic characteristics and to a less extent with their involvement with the landscape. To increase the willingness of citizens to contribute to the landscape the communication strategy may be improved

The historical dimension as a guide-tool identification and reading wine landscape character of Mendoza, Argentina

The wine landscape of the province of Mendoza is characterized by an integrating heterogeneity and active, own agricultural production activity dynamism. This is considered as a cultural heritage and a provincial collective redress. This has elements that clarify its nature, understood as the formal manifestation of identity, but others contribute to the trivialization of it. In this context, the research carried out, raised the reflection on how the historical dimension to identify and take a reading of the character of the landscape wine. The historical dimension allows detecting the elements of the character of the landscape and those which are trivializing in a dynamic landscape framework and heterogeneity. In response, resulting from the framework of cultural conservation, it was proposed that the historical dimension of landscape can be used as a guide - tool for analysis.Fil: Manzini Marchesi, Lorena Verónica. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mendoza. Instituto de Ciencias Humanas, Sociales y Ambientales; Argentin

Discriminating small wooded elements in rural landscape from aerial photography: a hybrid pixel/object-based analysis approach

While small, fragmented wooded elements do not represent a large surface area in agricultural landscape, their role in the sustainability of ecological processes is recognized widely. Unfortunately, landscape ecology studies suffer from the lack of methods for automatic detection of these elements. We propose a hybrid approach using both aerial photographs and ancillary data of coarser resolution to automatically discriminate small wooded elements. First, a spectral and textural analysis is performed to identify all the planted-tree areas in the digital photograph. Secondly, an object-orientated spatial analysis using the two data sources and including a multi-resolution segmentation is applied to distinguish between large and small woods, copses, hedgerows and scattered trees. The results show the usefulness of the hybrid approach and the prospects for future ecological applications