Ece Aksoy

Today, 52 % of the global population lives in cities, another 33 % in towns and suburbs, a trend that is going to continue. On a European level, around 72 % of the population is already living in cities and towns, also with the expectation to increase. In this context, the main challenge ahead is to find a way to accommodate a greater number of people while at the same time reducing impacts upon and from the environment and improving the quality of life of cities' residents. This report makes an attempt to characterise 385 European cities with respect to their main environmental and socio-economic conditions. To this end, we identified and selected 41 parameters from different thematic domains (urban dimension and land use, urban form and distribution, climate, socio-economics, waste, water, air quality, transport and mobility, as well as governance) and calculated clusters of cities based on those parameters. The resulting typology should help to analyse the characteristics of ...

his report is the outcome of a study that was executed during the past five years by the EEA and ETC/ULS with support from EIONET (NRCs land use and spatial planning) and the European Soil Data Centre of DG JRC. The analysis represents the first attempt to assess land use efficiency at a European scale. Several new data sets relating specifically to soil functions, were published only recently, and this made assessment possible. A key aim of this work was to study land cover changes and their positive or negative impacts on soil functions, and to obtain a disaggregated hotspot analysis and an overall balance of those impacts on soil functions. The report follows a logical flow. Chapter 1 provides an introduction to the context of the study. It lays out a framework by giving information on the status of land and soil in the context of land resource efficiency, listing the most relevant current global and European policies, and introducing the concepts of soil function and land multi-...

There is no universally applicable clustering technique in discovering the variety of structures display in data sets. Also, a single algorithm or approach is not adequate to solve every clustering problem. There are many methods available, the criteria used differ and hence different classifications may be obtained for the same data. While larger and larger amounts of data are collected and stored in databases, there is increasing the need for efficient and effective analysis methods. Grouping or classification of measurements is the key element in these data analysis procedures. There are lots of non-spatial clustering techniques in various areas. However, spatial clustering techniques and software are not so common. This study aims comparing different software in non-spatial and spatial clustering techniques, which can be used for different aims such as forming regional politics, constructing statistical integrity or analyzing distribution of funds, in GIS environment and putting...

Soil organic carbon, the major component of soil organic matter, an important indicator for the soil fertility, is not only extremely important in soil processes but also highly related to the climate change, soil/land degradation and soil ecosystem services. Spatially explicit soil organic carbon information system was a great need for Turkeys’ soils. This study aimed at developing a territorial national geographical database for soil organic carbon of top soils (0-30 cm) in Turkey. In the first stage of project, 7742 top soil samples provided from different research projects for the period of 2008-2009 that represent the national territory and different land uses were analyzed to determine carbon content of soils. In the second stage, digital soil mapping methodology that applies geostatistical processes of geoferenced soil data has been used to produce maps of soil organic carbon. We expect that Geospatial Soil Organic Carbon Information System can serve as an important spatially...

Land, and here in particular soil, is a finite and essentially non-renewable resource. EU-wide, land take, i.e. the increase of settlement area over time, consumes more than 1000 km2 annually of which half is actually sealed and, hence, lost under impermeable surfaces. Land take and in particular soil sealing has already been identified as one of the major soil threats in the 2006 EC Communication “Towards a Thematic Strategy on Soil Protection” (Soil Thematic Strategy), and has been confirmed as such in the report on the implementation of this strategy.

The ARIMNet2 Young Researchers Seminar was a very important initiative for the success of collaborative studies and projects in Mediterranean countries; this experience in Montpellier can indeed be understood as a first step to strengthen the network and friendship between the partners / stakeholders / scientists of the programme. Similarly, the key issue of stakeholders’ engagement in research has been addressed, underlining the importance for them to feel part of the project, believe in it and especially on its expected outputs/outcomes. Discussions helped us to experience the possible issues which might be showing up when working with multiple partners and stakeholders, and the complexity that working with different disciplines, cultures and needs actually implies. The seminar was also very helpful to understand better the different problems faced in the north and south of the Mediterranean, and consequently to define more precisely research and innovation priorities and topics. ...

Soil is important as a critical component for the functioning of terrestrial ecosystems. The largest part of the terrestrial biodiversity relies, directly or indirectly, on soil. Furthermore, soil itself is habitat to a great diversity of organisms. The suitability of soil to host such a diversity is strongly related to its physico-chemical features and environmental properties. However, due to the complexity of both soil and biodiversity, it is difficult to identify a clear and unambiguous relationship between environmental parameters and soil biota. Nevertheless, the increasing diffusion of a more integrated view of ecosystems, and in particular the development of the concept of ecosystem services, highlights the need for a better comprehension of the role played by soils in offering these services, including the habitat provision. An assessment of the capability of soils to host biodiversity would contribute to evaluate the quality of soils in order to help policy makers with the...

Soil is important as a critical component for the functioning of terrestrial ecosystems. The largest part of the terrestrial biodiversity relies, directly or indirectly, on soil. Furthermore, soil itself is habitat to a great diversity of organisms. The suitability of soil to host such a diversity is strongly related to its physico-chemical features and environmental properties. However, due to the complexity of both soil and biodiversity, it is difficult to identify a clear and unambiguous relationship between environmental parameters and soil biota. Nevertheless, the increasing diffusion of a more integrated view of ecosystems, and in particular the development of the concept of ecosystem services, highlights the need for a better comprehension of the role played by soils in offering these services, including the habitat provision. An assessment of the capability of soils to host biodiversity would contribute to evaluate the quality of soils in order to help policy makers with the...

Accuracy in assessing the distribution of soil organic carbon (SOC) is an important issue because SOC is an important soil component that plays key roles in the functions of both natural ecosystems and agricultural systems. The SOC content varies from place to place and it is strongly related with climate variables (temperature and rainfall), terrain features, soil texture, parent material, vegetation, land-use types, and human management (management and degradation) at different spatial scales. Geostatistical techniques allow for the prediction of soil properties using soil information and environmental covariates. In this study, assessment of SOC distribution has been predicted using combination of LUCAS soil samples with local soil data and ten spatio-temporal predictors (slope, aspect, elevation, CTI, CORINE land-cover classification, parent material, texture, WRB soil classification, average temperature and precipitation) with Regression-Kriging method in Europe scale. Signific...

... N. Kemal SÖNMEZ1 a Mustafa SARI2 Ece AKSOY2 ... Organize Sera İşletmeciliğine tahsis edilmesi gereken araziler (III, IV, VI ve VII. sınıf araziler), derin köklü bahçe bitkileri ve klasik tarla bitkileri üretimine ekonomik ve teknik anlamda izin vermeyecek niteliktedir. ...