GH Griffiths

Spatio-temporal analysis of transitions in land cover is critical to understanding many ecological challenges, especially in environmentally vulnerable regions. For instance, in Sub-Saharan Africa, large-scale cropland expansion is expected due to the increasing demand for fuel, food, and fibre. Clearing land for cropland expansion is a driving factor in the degradation of natural ecosystems. We present a spatio-temporal analysis of land-cover change in Ghana’s Northern, Upper East, and Upper West provinces using Intensity Analysis on the periods from 1992 to 2003 and 2003 to 2015. The objectives of this study were to determine whether the intensity of land-use and land-cover (LULC) change is consistent between the two periods and to investigate the direction and extent of change for different LULC categories in northern Ghana. The methodology measures land-cover changes at the interval, category, and transition levels. The results suggest that the annual rate of land change was hig...

Context The 25th anniversary of the founding of the UK chapter of the International Association for Landscape Ecology (ialeUK) was marked in 2017. Objectives To assess trends in UK landscape ecology research over ialeUK’s first 25 years, to compare these trends to changes elsewhere in the world, and to consider how ialeUK can continue to support landscape ecology research and practice. Methods A database of conference abstracts was compiled and examined in combination with a questionnaire that surveyed existing and former active members of ialeUK. Results Across 1992–2017 we observe noticeable trends including the declining roles of statutory bodies, the development of the ecosystem services concept, and a decrease in use of empirical methods. Analysis of questionnaire results highlighted four key areas: Developing new researchers; Facilitating conferences for networking, learning and discussion; Linking policy with practice; and Driving the continued growth of landscape ecology as ...

In December 1998 English Nature was approached by Steven Warnock, an independent consultant, to set up meeting to discuss 'a character-based approach to integrated rural decision making'. This came not too long after the production of the Joint Countryside Character Map developed by the Countryside Agency, English Heritage and English Nature. At this time English Nature was developing its Natural Area Profiles to support its work on the Biodiversity Action Plan (BAP). The contact with Steve Warnock led to discussions with the Living Landscapes Project, a consortium of interests involving universities, consultants and participating local authorities, which was established to develop and produce Landscape Character Assessments (LCA).

The cornerstone of EU nature conservation, the Natura 2000 (N2K) network is far from complete in many EU countries, including Cyprus, particularly where new datasets have become available. Thus, an important question in conservation biology is how new data can be incorporated in an effort to redesign N2K where appropriate. We analyse the efficacy of the N2K network in Cyprus, a global biodiversity hotspot, for protecting threatened vascular plants. We used 252 species for which detailed distributional data were available and added new records for 168 species. Overlaying a 1 km2 grid map for Cyprus we identified distributional hotspots of threatened species (sensu IUCN) and assessed their representation level within the N2K network. Based on new recorded data we propose IUCN status changes for 15 species. There were 60 hotspots identified (cells with more than 5 threatened species) in the central-west, south, southeast and north parts of the island. GIS analysis demonstrated that 145 out of 252 species (57.5%) occur within the N2K network, ranging from 4 to 100% of their occurrences. Τhe conservation gaps identified are related to 107 threatened species (42.5% of Red Data Book plants) which are either completely outside the N2K network or in those areas where EU legislation is not applicable due to the complex political situation on the island. The most important conservation opportunities are found in the northern part of the island, where the acquis communautaire is suspended and the UK Sovereign Base Areas, which are excluded from the Accession Treaty of Cyprus. In the area under the effective control of the Government of the Republic of Cyprus (CYGCA) there are only two important hotspots found outside the N2K network.

Page 1. Chapter 4 Island Biogeography and Landscape Ecology IN Vogiatzakis1 and GH Griffiths2 1 Centre for Agri-Environmental Research, University of Reading, UK 2 Department of Geography, University of Reading, UK 61 IN Vogiatzakis et al. ...

... along a gradient (eg a moisture or temperature gradient), interpretation of changes in species ... Biotope occupancy is a potentially powerful and objective tool for ecological monitoring and assessment ... In the latter case, future extinction of the species from that square is probable if ...

Abstract Mitigation of climate change (CC) is a regulating ecosystem service provided by priority habitats that is often co-delivered alongside their conservation of biodiversity. Carefully planned conservation management is thought necessary to support biodiversity adaptation to CC, but could also contribute to CC mitigation. This paper presents a methodology for assessing direct emissions of greenhouse gases (GHG: CO2, CH4 and N2O) from 12 UK priority habitats in 26 Special Areas of Conservation (SAC) using readily available data. Background emissions are estimated on the basis of published field research. The contribution of conservation management to GHG emission reduction is estimated using the IPCC GHG accounting methodology and other methods. Management Data Acquisition surveys carried out at selected SACs provided data on management practises for Scotland and Wales. Climate change mitigation actions identified in this study for priority habitats included livestock removal or change in stocking density, with GHG reduction potential of up to 3 tCO2e/animal/year, afforestation of acid grasslands—up to 19.4 tCO2e/ha/year, wetland restoration—0.3–0.8 tCO2e/ha/year and cessation of moorland burning—6.9 tCO2e/ha/year. Estimated GHG emissions from priority habitats can be used to identify win:win management options that co-deliver GHG mitigation, climate adaptation and conservation benefits for consideration by policy makers and conservation managers.

Quercus suber L. is a species confined to the centre and western Mediterranean basin. On the island of Sardinia its distribution is limited mainly by soils. Apart from its economic significance to local communities, cork oak habitats are recognised as having both cultural and biodiversity value at a European level. Although traditionally associated with human activities these habitats are today under increasing threat. Among the problems that affect cork oak habitats on the island are soil erosion and loss of organic matter due to ploughing and seeding for pasture. Stock numbers have increased while grazing cattle have been replaced by sheep and are proven to be particularly damaging especially to cork oak regeneration. Although the species is a passive pyrophyte, frequent fires render the trees susceptible to fungal and defoliator attacks and destroy the understory leading to soil degradation and erosion. This paper provides a review of these threats and explores their link to the ...

Vogiatzakis, I. N., Griffiths, G. H. & Bacchetta, G. 2005: Human impacts on Quercus suber habitats in Sardinia: Past and present. Bot. Chron. 18(1): 293-300. Quercus suber L. is a species confined to the centre and western Mediterranean basin. On the island of Sardinia its distribution is limited mainly by soils. Apart from its economic significance to local communities, cork oak habitats are recognised as having both cultural and biodiversity value at a European level. Although traditionally associated with human activities these habitats are today under increasing threat. Among the problems that affect cork oak habitats on the island are soil erosion and loss of organic matter due to ploughing and seeding for pasture. Stock numbers have increased while grazing cattle have been replaced by sheep and are proven to be particularly damaging especially to cork oak regeneration. Although the species is a passive pyrophyte, frequent fires render the trees susceptible to fungal and defoli...

The aim of this three year project funded by the Countryside Council for Wales (CCW) is to develop techniques firstly, to refine and update existing targets for habitat restoration and re-creation at the landscape scale and secondly, to develop a GIS-based model for the implementation of those targets at the local scale. Landscape Character Assessment (LCA) is being used to map Landscape Types across the whole of Wales as the first stage towards setting strategic habitat targets. The GIS habitat model uses data from the digital Phase I Habitat Survey for Wales to determine the suitability of individual sites for restoration to specific habitat types, including broadleaf woodland. The long-term aim is to develop a system that strengthens the character of Welsh landscapes and provides real biodiversity benefits based upon realistic targets given limited resources for habitat restoration and re-creation.

Circular to oval enclosed depressions in soft sediments of Pleistocene age are normally interpreted as being either glacial or periglacial in origin. Where these features are developed in glacial sediments, a glacial (and specifically 'kettle hole') genesis is considered most likely. Some have been re-interpreted as periglacial in origin and are thought to be the remains of cryogenic mounds (former pingos or palsas/lithalsas). A group of enclosed depressions in the Letton area of Herefordshire within the Last Glacial Maximum ice limit have been investigated by electrical resistivity tomography and ground probing radar. Their morphology and internal structure, and their existence in glacio-lacustrine sediments of Late Devensian age suggests that they are kettle holes resulting from ice block discharge into shallow lakes. The lack of any ramparts and the fact that they do not overlap also indicate that they are not the remains of cryogenic mounds. There are numerous groups of ...

Despite the wide use of Landscape Character Assessment (LCA) as a tool for landscape planning in NW Europe, there are few examples of its application in the Mediterranean. This paper reports on the results from the development of a typology for LCA in a study area of northern Sardinia, Italy to provide a spatial framework for the analysis of current patterns of cork oak distribution and future restoration of this habitat. Landscape units were derived from a visual interpretation of map data stored within a GIS describing the physical and cultural characteristics of the study area. The units were subsequently grouped into Landscape Types according to the similarity of shared attributes using Two Way Indicator Species Analysis (TWINSPAN). The preliminary results showed that the methodology classified distinct Landscape Types but, based on field observations, there is a need for further refinement of the classification. The distribution and properties of two main cork oak habitats type...

L'imposant massif montagneux des Lefka Ori sur l'ile de Crete (Grece), abrite plus d'une centaine de plantes endemiques. L'importance de cette richesse floristique et ecologique est reconnue a l'echelle mondiale. Cependant, peu de choses sont connues en ce qui concerne la distribution des communautes vegetales dans ce massif. Des releves de vegetation ont ete realises sur deux sites d'etude, au niveau des etages montagnard-mediterraneen et oro-mediterraneen, dans le but d'etudier l'influence possible de plusieurs variables environnementales sur la distribution des communautes. Une classification des donnees floristiques a ete etablie a l'aide du logiciel TWINSPAN, et a permis de definir cinq communautes de vegetation distinctes. Une analyse canonique des correspondances (ACC) indique que les deux principaux gradients de composition floristique sont associes a l'altitude, au pH, a la matiere organique et a la pente. Les observations de terrain ont permis d'identifier comme principaux habitats, les pentes rocheuses, les eboulis, et les dolines. Une analyse d'ordination separee a ete menee uniquement sur les deux premiers groupes, car le troisieme ne comptait qu'une seule communaute. Sur les pentes rocheuses, l'altitude et le pourcentage de la roche nue determinent le type de couverture vegetale. Par contre, sur les eboulis, la couverture du sol ainsi que le pH constituent les parametres les plus importants dans la determination du couvert vegetal.

Urban sprawl causes changes in land use and a decline in many ecosystem services. Understanding the spatial patterns of sprawl and exploration of citizens’ perception towards the sporadic urban expansion and its impacts on an ecosystem to deliver services can help to guide land use planning and the conservation of the urban ecosystem. Here, we spatially examined land use changes in Multan, Pakistan, and investigated public perception about urban sprawl and its impacts on the quality and provision of ecosystem services, using a survey instrument. The spatial analysis of the historical land cover of Multan indicated an exponential expansion of the city in the last decade. Large areas of natural vegetation and agricultural land were converted to urban settlements in the past two decades. The citizens of Multan believe that the quality and provision of ecosystem services have declined in the recent past and strongly correlate the deteriorating ecosystem services with urban sprawl. Educa...

The need to map vegetation communities over large areas for nature conservation and to predict the impact of environmental change on vegetation distributions, has stimulated the development of techniques for predictive vegetation mapping. Predictive vegetation studies start with ...

3 2.1 Introduction Landscape is an expression of the complex interrelationship between nature and culture over time and provides the basis for the integrated and sustainable management of natural resources. There is increasing recognition that the spatial structure of landscape elements is a factor of critical significance in determining biodiversity (Turner, 2005) and for achieving sustainable development (Botequilha Leitão and Ahern, 2002). This is also highlighted by European legislation (Council of Europe, 2000) which incorporates measures for the protection of both biological and landscape diversity. The rapid changes of the 20th century and growing concern about their impact on the quality of landscapes has led to a renewed interest in, firstly, the inventory of land cover and land use and, secondly, mapping and understanding landscapes. The shift in ecological thought on the influences of landscape processes on biodiversity (Forman and Godron, 1986) was followed by the notion...

ABSTRACT The development of Landscape Typologies in Europe relies upon advances in geospatial tools and increasing availability of digital datasets. Landscape Character Assessment (LCA) is a technique used to classify, describe and understand the combined physical, ecological and cultural characteristics of a landscape. LCA uses a range of data sources to identify and describe areas of common character and can operate at a range of scales i.e.national and regional and local. The paper describes the steps taken to develop an island wide landscape typology for Cyprus, based on the use of GIS and remote sensing tools. The methodology involved integrating physiographical, ecological and cultural information about the Cypriot landscape. Datasets on the cultural attributes (e.g. settlement and field patterns) were not available, so they were created de novo based on information from topographical maps (for settlement dispersion and density) and medium resolution satellite imagery from Google Earth, from which a number of distinctive field patterns could be distinguished. The mapping work is carried out on two levels using a hierarchical approach. The first level at a 1:100, 000 scale has been completed resulting in a map with 17 distinct landscape types. The second level is under way with the view of producing a more detailed landscape typology at 1:50, 000 scale which will incorporate the cultural aspects of the island. This is the first time that such a typology has been produced for Cyprus and it is expected to provide an invaluable tool for landscape planning and management.

Mediterranean ecosystems rival tropical ecosystems in terms of plant biodiversity. The Mediterranean Basin (MB) itself hosts 25 000 plant species, half of which are endemic. This rich biodiversity and the complex biogeographical and political issues make conservation a difficult task in the region. Species, habitat, ecosystem and landscape approaches have been used to identify conservation targets at various scales: ie, European, national, regional and local. Conservation decisions require adequate information at the species, community and habitat level. Nevertheless and despite recent improvements/efforts, this information is still incomplete, fragmented and varies from one country to another. This paper reviews the biogeographic data, the problems arising from current conservation efforts and methods for the conservation assessment and prioritization using GIS. GIS has an important role to play for managing spatial and attribute information on the ecosystems of the MB and to facil...

The stone curlew is a nocturnal bird which nests and forages on sparsely vegetated ground. Its population and geographical range in Britain have declined throughout the 20th century. Estimates of the size of a sub-population in the Breckland region of eastern England show that a decline which began in the 1940s or earlier continued up to the mid-1980s, but that the population was stable from 1985 onwards. A survey in 1987 indicated that stone curlews nested at the highest densities on fragments of formerly much more extensive short semi-natural dry grasslands and heaths (referred to throughout as heathland). However, most pairs bred at much lower density on spring-sown tilled farmland. An important part of the decline in the Breckland stone curlew population between 1968 and 1991 is attributable to a decline in the number of pairs nesting on heathland. Observations of stone curlews marked individually with colour rings showed that individuals did not nest exclusively on heathland or arable farmland. Some birds nested in both habitats in the same year and there were frequent moves between habitats from one year to the next. Year-to-year changes in the number of pairs of stone curlews nesting on heathland during a period of population stability were associated with variation in both the rate of return to heathland of ringed birds which previously nested on heathland and the proportion of surviving young adults with no previous breeding experience which nested on heathland. Some of the birds which were displaced from, or failed to recruit to, heathland nesting sites nested on arable land, but there was also evidence that a proportion of them did not attempt to breed. Measurements of sward height at heathland sites with a recent history of occupation by nesting stone curlews show that those sites which had been abandoned had taller swards than those where the birds remained. An index of the biomass of green vegetation was derived from satellite imagery obtained before and after a sharp decline in the number of heathland nesting stone curlews. It was found that the index had increased significantly more at heathland sites which had ceased to be used by stone curlews than at sites which continued to be used for nesting. The long-term decline in the number of stone curlews nesting on heathland is believed to have begun with the conversion of large areas of heathland for arable agriculture and forestry. However, it has continued during a period when little heathland was lost. Changes in vegetation structure and species composition associated with a reduction in grazing by rabbits and livestock are the most likely cause. Since 1985 breeding success has been enhanced by protection of eggs and chicks in arable crops from destruction by farming operations. Beginning in 1989 efforts have also been made to change the management of Breckland heaths. These include shallow ploughing and increased grazing by livestock, supported by payments from government under the Environmentally Sensitive Areas scheme. The number and proportion of stone curlews nesting on heathland has increased and the decline in the total population size has ceased. The relative contribution of different management factors to this change is not yet clear.

Summary To ensure the long-term future of NATURA 2000 sites across Europe, effective techniques are required for evaluating and monitoring their conservation significance. This paper describes a GIS-based method that uses multi-criteria evaluation (MCE) to determine the conservation significance of vegetation communities and habitats for a case study of a proposed NATURA 2000 site on the northwest coast of Crete, Greece. The method uses the most frequently used criteria for the selection of priority areas for nature conservation—species and habitat diversity, rarity of species and habitats, naturalness, threat of human disturbance and replaceability. For each community and corresponding habitat type, each criterion was scored according to field data and expert knowledge using a numerical scale. The final conservation score for each community was derived using MCE within a GIS and mapped. The results demonstrated that the method is an effective tool for evaluating and comparing conservation significance and could be applied to other sites across Europe and to monitor change.

The majority of papers in this Special Issue were Ž rst presented at the third in the series of Terra Meetings. This meeting, ‘Understanding the Terrestrial Environment—Landscape Patterns and Landscape Change’, was held at University College, Chester, on 7–8 April 1997. It was a collaborative meeting between the Remote Sensing Society and the International Association for Landscape Ecology (UK), thus fulŽ lling the objectives of the Terra Meetings to encourage dialogue and interaction between researchers in remote sensing and terrestrial science. The focus of this meeting was to explore the use of remote sensing data to characterize landscape patterns at diŒerent spatial scales and to detect, locate and describe the type and direction of change. Fourteen papers were presented in four sessions: Scale in the Landscape; Pattern in the Landscape; Landscape Dynamics; Protected Landscapes. The meeting was attended by about 40 researchers and practitioners in both remote sensing and landscape ecology. A few other relevant papers not presented at the Terra Meeting have been included. These papers had been submitted to the Journal in the ordinary course of events. They are identiŽ ed with a footnote and they carry received dates. An overview of remote sensing and landscape ecology is provided in the keynote paper by Hubert Gulinck and co-workers. This paper draws upon the experience of the remote sensing group at the Catholic University of Leuven, Belgium, to review the application of remote sensing data to landscape research and policy in Europe. The central thesis of the paper is that, given the right remote sensing product (georeferenced and classiŽ ed into land cover within a Geographic Information System (GIS) environment), the large area coverage, repeat viewing and digital nature of satellite imagery can itself be an important stimulus to the development of landscape scale planning and research. A number of papers discuss critical issues of measuring pattern at diŒerent scales

Concern about the future of biodiversity in the wider countryside is stimulating the development of methods for species and ecosystem monitoring over large areas. The objective of this paper is to explore the potential of remotely sensed data for measuring landscape structure as an important determinant of species diversity. Data from the satellite Land Cover Map of Great Britain, a land cover classification of Landsat Thematic Mapper scenes, were used to derive a set of simple measures of landscape structure within 2km x 2km tetrads for three vascular plant families. Results from a model to predict plant diversity from landscape structure alone proved difficult to interpret ecologically and highlighted the need to obtain data on both landscape quality and landscape structure.

Multi-temporal synthetic aperture radar (SAR) imagery from the European Remote Sensing Satellite (ERS-1) was evaluated for monitoring soil moisture at the Romney Marsh test site as part of the UK SAR Calibration and Crop Backscatter Experiment. A total of 18 C-band (5.3 GHz) ERS-1 SAR images were acquired during the three day orbit and co-registered. Accurate calibration of the backscatter measurements was achieved using calibration constants derived from an analysis of corner reflector target responses. Mean backscatter measurements were recorded for each field and compared with field data on soil moisture, surface roughness and rainfall patterns. A comparison of daily and hourly rainfall and soil moisture measurements with backscatter for different cover types showed that the observed trends in backscatter are dominated by moisture effects. A high positive correlation between volumetric soil moisture in the range 10-40% was observed for bare soil fields. A much weaker positive relationship between soil moisture and backscatter was observed for grassland fields.

The stone curlew is a nocturnal bird which nests and forages on sparsely vegetated ground. Its population and geographical range in Britain have declined throughout the 20th century. Estimates of the size of a sub-population in the Breckland region of eastern England show that a decline which began in the 1940s or earlier continued up to the mid-1980s, but that the population was stable from 1985 onwards. A survey in 1987 indicated that stone curlews nested at the highest densities on fragments of formerly much more extensive short semi-natural dry grasslands and heaths (referred to throughout as heathland). However, most pairs bred at much lower density on spring-sown tilled farmland. An important part of the decline in the Breckland stone curlew population between 1968 and 1991 is attributable to a decline in the number of pairs nesting on heathland. Observations of stone curlews marked individually with colour rings showed that individuals did not nest exclusively on heathland or arable farmland. Some birds nested in both habitats in the same year and there were frequent moves between habitats from one year to the next. Year-to-year changes in the number of pairs of stone curlews nesting on heathland during a period of population stability were associated with variation in both the rate of return to heathland of ringed birds which previously nested on heathland and the proportion of surviving young adults with no previous breeding experience which nested on heathland. Some of the birds which were displaced from, or failed to recruit to, heathland nesting sites nested on arable land, but there was also evidence that a proportion of them did not attempt to breed. Measurements of sward height at heathland sites with a recent history of occupation by nesting stone curlews show that those sites which had been abandoned had taller swards than those where the birds remained. An index of the biomass of green vegetation was derived from satellite imagery obtained before and after a sharp decline in the number of heathland nesting stone curlews. It was found that the index had increased significantly more at heathland sites which had ceased to be used by stone curlews than at sites which continued to be used for nesting. The long-term decline in the number of stone curlews nesting on heathland is believed to have begun with the conversion of large areas of heathland for arable agriculture and forestry. However, it has continued during a period when little heathland was lost. Changes in vegetation structure and species composition associated with a reduction in grazing by rabbits and livestock are the most likely cause. Since 1985 breeding success has been enhanced by protection of eggs and chicks in arable crops from destruction by farming operations. Beginning in 1989 efforts have also been made to change the management of Breckland heaths. These include shallow ploughing and increased grazing by livestock, supported by payments from government under the Environmentally Sensitive Areas scheme. The number and proportion of stone curlews nesting on heathland has increased and the decline in the total population size has ceased. The relative contribution of different management factors to this change is not yet clear.

Results One hundred and twenty-five species were recorded from 120 plots located within the two study areas. Forty-seven of the recorded species are endemic, belonging to 35 families. Hemicryptophytes and chamaephytes were the most frequent, suggesting a typical oro-...

The need to map vegetation communities over large areas for nature conservation and to predict the impact of environmental change on vegetation distributions, has stimulated the development of techniques for predictive vegetation mapping. Predictive vegetation studies start with ...

I Introduction Mediterranean-type ecosystems occur between 31 and 40 north and south of the equator (Figure 1). They are so defined because of climatic characteristics, notably ... IN Vogiatzakis,1* AM Mannion2 and GH Griffiths2 ... 1Centre for Agri-Environmental ...

Results One hundred and twenty-five species were recorded from 120 plots located within the two study areas. Forty-seven of the recorded species are endemic, belonging to 35 families. Hemicryptophytes and chamaephytes were the most frequent, suggesting a typical oro-...

... along a gradient (eg a moisture or temperature gradient), interpretation of changes in species ... Biotope occupancy is a potentially powerful and objective tool for ecological monitoring and assessment ... In the latter case, future extinction of the species from that square is probable if ...

The aim of this study is to explore the environmental factors that determine plant community distribution in northeast Algeria. This paper provides a quantitative analysis of the vegetation–environment relationships for a study site in the Chott El Beida wetland, a RAMSAR site in Setif, ...