The Application of PPGIS to Telecoupling Research: A Case Study of the Agricultural Landscape Transformation in an Indigenous Village in Taiwan

Abstract

Telecoupling theory studies how land use is affected by human–environmental systems in different ways and avoids a binary opposition at local and global scales. The current study attempts to use the PPGIS approach in telecoupling research, taking the Kalibuan village in Taiwan’s high mountains as a case study; defining the scope of telecoupling systems from a local perspective; and analyzing the effect and significance of PPGIS research methods. The study observed that researchers were able to collect the various perspectives and information obtained through public participation methods, including social relations, historical and cultural contexts, and ecological conditions, and improves the quality of the data through mutual discussions and data verifications. We can obtain historical data, social-nature coupled data, and cross-scale data via the contribution of GIS visualization, storage, and zoom in/out functions, as well as by facilitating telecoupling research.

1. Introduction

In recent years, a land-system science researcher developed a telecoupling theory to analyze land-use impacts across different scales, exploring multi-scale socio-economic–environmental impacts [1]. Telecoupling research explores social and environmental structures and the interaction process, which can capture the dynamic response of long-distance driving forces [2]. The telecoupling research framework not only grasps the interaction of the socio-economic and ecological environment, but also links the local impact of land use at regional, national, and global scales. However, telecoupling researchers who have discussed multi-scale socio-economic and ecological environments could not actually collect important local, contextual information regarding land-use decision makers, including power relations, social and cultural institutions, and normative and miniature environmental characteristics [3,4]. Mountain or indigenous areas are usually environmentally sensitive places or biologically important habitats, but are also usually studied less frequently in the literature or research. In addition, telecoupling research addresses complex socio-ecological issues, which require a more in-depth and detailed discussion of geographic space, ecology, and socio-cultural knowledge, and such issues usually involve specific locations and are affected by different spatial and temporal scales, so interpretation with appropriate geospatial data is required [5,6]. As telecoupling research faces the challenges of residents interpreting information and actual spatial information, we should seek new research methods to solve it, especially using geospatial technology.

The public participation approach is rapidly gaining in popularity in various fields, especially environmental protection or sustainability science. Some studies have highlighted that the public participation approach contributes to our understanding of the coupling relationship between humans and nature [7,8,9,10]. It can obtain practical knowledge from local perspectives, and is an important tool used for surveys or decision-making processes [11,12]. We understand that the residents and farmers inhabiting mountain areas can provide important information regarding social and ecological interactions and promote telecoupling research. The public participation geographic information system (PPGIS) is a public participation-oriented approach. It uses GIS as a platform for public-opinion communication, and allows the information obtained from the participants to be clearly displayed on a digital map. GIS provides the capability to relate different information through the use of location, include historical aerial photos, land survey data, and socio-economic statistics. PPGIS is informed by spatially oriented values and expressed through multiple worldviews. At present, it is usually applied at the social level, and many issues are related to the village [13,14]. The current study aims to understand the long-term land-use change occurring in Taiwan’s indigenous mountain areas through the telecoupling framework and PPGIS approach, and demonstrates the effect and significance of PPGIS in telecoupling research.

2. Telecoupling

The telecoupling theory is commonly used to discuss the interaction between human–environment systems from different distances and focus on the feedback on social processes and land use under multiple systems [3,15,16]. A telecoupling researcher’s hypothesis suggests that land-use change presents the mutual restraints and effects concerning natural environment conditions, politics, economy, culture, technology, and norms in terms of different spaces. The telecoupling framework is an integrated framework that enables researchers to understand the process of how one or more systems leads to changes in other systems, and concerns the agents and flows operating within each system [4,15,17,18].

The telecoupling framework consists of five components: system, flow, agent, cause, and effect. The system can be divided into sending, receiving, and spill-over, which refer to the source and receiver of the flow, and the systems are a byproduct of the connections between sending and receiving systems. The agents promote or hinder the flow of material/energy or information among the systems, which can be conducted by individuals or organizations. Flows refer to the exchanges of material/energy or information between the systems. Causes are factors that generate the dynamics involved in telecoupling, such as economic, political, technological, cultural, and ecological causes. Effects refer to the ecological environment and socio-economic consequences and impacts caused by telecoupling [4,18].

The telecoupling framework is applied in fields related to sustainable science to explore the coupling relationship between nature and human beings involved in various topics, including agriculture and agro-food systems [19,20,21,22], fish and animal husbandry [23,24], water resources [25,26], tourism [27,28], energy and minerals [29,30], environmental governance and ecosystem services [1,31,32,33], and environmental justice [34]. There has also been progress in the development of methodologies for telecoupling research. In 2019, the book “Telecoupling: Exploring Land-Use Change in a Globalized World” edited by Friis and Nielsen [35] mentioned four types of methodological toolboxes for telecoupling research in recent years, including: flow analysis, network analysis, spatial analysis and modeling, and qualitative ethnographic research. Flow analysis research mainly uses material flow accounting and resource allocation paths to track cross-scale social-ecological interactions, dependencies, and impacts [34,35,36]. Network analysis uses nodes and links to analyze the relationship status of different scales, or to visualize the network map to carry out local, regional and global influence relations [35,37,38,39]. Spatial analysis and modeling is the establishment of spatial analysis or spatial statistical frameworks or models of land cover changes to clarify telecoupled land systems [35,40,41]. The development of qualitative ethnographic research mainly uses qualitative research methods to grasp the local context and globalization process of land use [36]. This study combined qualitative research and visual spatial analysis to explore agricultural telecoupling systems.

Each telecoupling researcher does not use all the above components to develop a study but focuses on some components to explain the actual situation. According to the literature, we observed different social implications for a system, flow, or agent (Figure 1). System-oriented researchers analyze the relationship between the political economy’s structure and the environment of land use, including international trade, international initiatives and agreements, and national policies. These studies explore how environmental management is affected by the political and economic conditions in different regions [18,42,43,44,45]. Flow-oriented researchers perceive flow situations as a network and discuss this relationship through the existing network analysis [37,46]. Agent-oriented researchers mainly explore the characteristics of the agents and roles in telecoupling systems [46,47].

A telecoupling framework can avoid the binary opposition between local and global scales, as well as the infinite subjects in the range of research. The system’s interaction is not only caused by absolute distance, but also institutional and interactive social distances that are a measure of the “strength” of the social ties [48]. Telecoupling researchers not only consider the environmental factors involved, but also thoroughly understand the social systems, cultural habits, and human interactions associated with the utilization of natural resources. This framework is particularly important in indigenous areas with special institutions and customs. Additionally, the systems, flows, and agents involved in the telecoupling framework precisely correspond to the political–economic structure, network relations, and acting characteristics. This expansion of the telecoupling framework facilitated our analysis of the transformation of the agricultural landscape in the indigenous village.

3. Research Methods

3.1. Case Study

The focus of the study was mountainous, agricultural land use in Kalibuan. The countryside is mainly located in the highland areas of central Taiwan. The village has a large temperature difference between day and night, with an average temperature of approximately 18 °C and average annual rainfall of approximately 2000 mm. The streams surrounding the village have been stable for many years, consolidating residents’ access to agricultural water. The soil properties of the village are slightly acidic sandy soil, which is suitable for the growth of most crops, especially beans and tomatoes. The sandy soils are well drained and well ventilated, making them very convenient for farming purposes. Regardless of the climatic conditions, water sources, and soil characteristics, the village has favorable environmental conditions for agricultural production. However, earthquakes and typhoons often cause road damage and land loss in the region, directly affecting residents’ product delivery and tourism industries.

The village residents are the Bunun tribe of Taiwan. In 1937, the Japanese government forced them to migrate from higher-altitude planes to this area. The residents changed their original agricultural habits and crop selection, resulting in changes in the agricultural land. From 1940 to 2015, Kalibuan grew an important export crop and is one of the few rural areas with an increasing population. This study attempted to use the PPGIS method to collect telecoupling data from 1937 to 2015 in Kalibuan, to clarify the factors of land-use transition, and to explore the process of residents’ adjustments.

3.2. Data Collection

This study analyzed political and economic structures, the network relationship, and actor–trait forces that caused agricultural land-use changes through the telecoupling framework. This study provided a diachronic analysis of the natural resource use and social relationships exhibited by the residents of Kalibuan in agricultural development to understand the coupling relationship between social and natural systems. According to the telecoupling framework, we defined the system components as local production, market, and policy, and understood the political and economic conditions of land use in Kalibuan through the system components. We defined flows as the exchange of capital, technology, information, and labor that affected agricultural development, which can form the social network of various agricultural types. We defined agents as individuals and organizations connected by flows, focusing on analyzing the characteristics of agents in local production systems and exploring local energy use within the village (Figure 2).

This study collected the data using the PPGIS method, which can capture deep and critical information. Through PPGIS, researchers can obtain information about local perspectives from key stakeholders and can also import data from relevant official spatial statistics and the literature into GIS. PPGIS effectively integrates the data of different types and scales and uses GIS as a platform for villagers to exchange their opinions, so that the information provided by villagers can be clearly displayed on the digital platform, and it also promotes data collection in a telecoupling structure.

The research team conducted research in the village from 2012 to 2015, participating in the village’s agricultural-product marketing and community development plans. We conducted a total of 16 PPGIS workshops in the study. We divided the study into two stages for collecting the components of the telecoupling framework. First, we confirmed the land-use properties and distribution of the village from 1937 to 2015 and determined the major crop that was grown. We then imported aerial photos obtained from different periods into Google Earth software. Residents could identify the distribution of land use during different periods of time through actual images and could also discuss the results with each other using the images as a medium. According to the land-use patterns in Kalibuan from 1935 to 2015, we divided the data into several different periods.

Second, focusing on the major crops, we clarified the five components of the telecoupling framework and cross-validated them. We subdivided this stage into three steps. First, some residents were invited to collect information regarding the farming conditions during each period. Second, elderly individuals, farmers, and agricultural institutions were invited to collect information regarding the actual farming conditions and the interaction between people for specific stages and types of crops. Finally, the researchers compared the information provided by the local residents with real aerial photographs, historical documents, and statistics, and invited the residents to discuss the conflicting data. This research can be used to ensure the correctness of the information through multiple and different groups of public discussions cross-checked with the real images.

4. Results

This study conducted 16 PPGIS workshops and collected group interview data from 73 participants. The aerial photographs were obtained from national research institutions and aerial survey agencies, including historical aerial photographs of 1945, 1962, 1973, 1986, 1993, 2001, and 2011. The Taiwan government conducted national land-use surveys in 1995, 2006, and 2015, which also provided an important reference for this study. Using PPGIS combined with focus group interviews, aerial photos, and land survey data, we clarified the land use of the Kalibuan community from 1937 to 2015 and divided it into five stages according to the degree of land use change (

Table 1. The area ratio of main crops at each period in Kalibuan. We used PPGIS to map the diachronic land use of the Kalibuan from 1937 to 2015 and divided it into five periods by the degree of land use change. Then, we used the spatial statistics function of GIS to calculate the proportion of the area occupied by all agricultural land in each stage.

	Crops	Indigenous Food Crops	Rice	Bananas and Plums	Cabbages (Out-of-Season)	Sweet Pepper (Greenhouse)	Fieldsize (m2)
Period
1937–1950		85%	15%	0%	0%	0%	566,147
1950–1960		12%	88%	0%	0%	0%	774,337
1960–1980		0%	21%	69%	13%	0%	702,718
1980–2000		0%	0%	24%	50%	0%	1,032,230
2000–2015		0%	0%	8%	13%	51%	775,380

). Then, through the telecoupling framework and PPGIS approach, we combined focus group interviews, literature, and socioeconomic statistics to complete the five elements of the telecoupling framework. We observed how land use in Kalibuan was influenced by political and economic conditions, social networks, and the characteristics of village organization (

Table 2. The agricultural telecoupling framework for Kalibuan in various periods.

Period/Main Crops	System	Agent	Flow	Cause	Effect
1937–1950 Millet and rice	Policy system	Japanese government	Finance, technology	The Japanese government tried to use agriculture to educate the Indigenous people into civilization The Japanese government wanted to stabilize the rule of various places, and conducted land planning and land-use arrangements The government receives rice tax, and the farmers need to achieve a higher grain-production capacity In 1939, the drought in Japan’s rice warehouses in Korea and Northeast China resulted in an increase in the volume of rice exported from Taiwan to Japan The Japanese government tried to use agricultural teaching and residential planning in exchange for the utilization of natural resources in mountains and forests	Indigenous people are forced to change the division of agriculture Indigenous people begin to cultivate with fixed-farm agriculture and change their habits of using natural resources. Utilize water resources through the Irrigation system Start using chemical materials, such as fertilizers
		Government in Taiwan	Finance, technology
		Police post	Finance, technology, information
	Local system	Clan commune	Labor
		Chieftain	Labor, information
		Youth’s group	Labor, information
		Woman’s group	Labor, information
		Farmer	Labor, information
1950–1960 Rice		US aid mechanism	Finance, technology	After World War II, there was a shortage of rice in Taiwan, and the government implemented a rice policy to stabilize rice prices When government nationalize mountain of land, the use of natural resources by the indigenous people are restricted, resulting in changes in their livelihoods Residents see rice farming as Christian doctrine that leads to civilization Compared with the original dry farming, the advantages of rice are its relatively high productivity	The indigenous people gradually convert to Christianity, making the church influential in the village Indigenous people’s collective unit changed from clan to village Increase the value of water resources Reclamation of relatively flat, weedy forest areas for rice cultivation Extensive use of chemical fertilizers
		Taiwan Christian service	Finance, technology
		Presbyterian Church in Taiwan Bunong office	Finance, technology, information
	Policy system	Taiwan government	Finance, technology
		Farmers’ association	Finance, technology, information
		Presbyterian Church in Taiwan Bunong office	Finance, technology, information
	Local system	Presbyterian Church in Kalibuan	Labor, technology, information
		Farmer	Labor
		Clan commune	Labor
1960–1980 Plum and banana	Policy system	Taiwan government	Finance, information	Indigenous people need to use money for transactions Religious organizations seek to spread faith through the agricultural industry The traditional clan system is still influential and has contributed to the collective action of the village Increased demand for bananas and plums in Japan Areas have special environmental conditions that enable specific crops to be grown Environmental conditions in Japan are not suitable for growing tropical crops	Because the locals did not adapt to the new agricultural pattern, they leased their land to the Han Chinese people A large number of residents immigrated to the city Indigenous people need to expand agricultural networks to make a living Commercialization of village agriculture Farmers have become accustomed to chemicals, such as fertilizers and pesticides Scale development of hill slopes and riverbeds
		Farmers’ association	Finance, information
	Market system	Japanese market	Finance, information
		Farmers’ association in township	Finance, labor, technology, information
		Taiwan provincial fruit marketing cooperative	Finance, labor, technology, information
		Retailer	Finance, labor, technology, information
		Agricultural material firm	Technology, information
		Han people	Technology, information
	Local system	Presbyterian Church in Kalibuan	Labor, technology, information
		Agriculture production and marketing groups	Labor
		Credit union	Finance
		Clan commune	Labor
1980–2000 Cabbage	Policy system	Taiwan government	Finance, information	National policy to promote cash crops and slope land development Local organizations formulate a water-resource co-management system Transportation infrastructure causes villages and regions to frequently interact Mountain out-of-season crops have market advantages Agricultural material firm provides accurate agricultural information and technology Alpine environment is suitable for summer fruit and vegetable production Central mountains block typhoons and avoid crop losses	Indigenous and Han people form a special relationship that is both friendly and competitive The new type of agriculture causes a gap between the rich and the poor to widen Extensive development of hillside land Chemicals are already affecting the soil To ensure resource stability, local organizations formulate environmental protection norms
		Farmers’ association in township	Technology, information
	Market system	Taipei market	Finance, information
		Agricultural material firm	Technology, information
		Marketing groups in township	Finance, technology, information
		Retailer	Finance, technology, information
	Local system	Presbyterian Church in Kalibuan	Labor
		Community development association	Finance, labor, technology,
		Credit union	Finance
		Agriculture production and marketing groups	Labor
2000–2015 Sweet pepper	Policy system	Taiwan government	Finance, technology, information	Through the operation of local organizations, the indigenous people decide their own development strategies After the disaster, the government implements the policy of reconstruction and community development The farmer produces high-quality crops at considerable temperature differences between day and night Preservation of natural resources in mountains and forests, helping to promote village’s ecological industries The domestic import and export pesticide-testing system promotes the development of agriculture facilities Singapore needs low-chemical bell peppers and imports high quantities from Taiwan	Because of the stable development of multiple industries in the village, young people return to their hometowns to work Beliefs, clans, and NGO groups form local autonomous decision-making organizations Framer cooperates with the cross-regional industry Residents make a pact to protect tribal habitat and water sources Farmers consider the insecticide residue-testing standards to reduce the use of chemical agents in agricultural production After the typhoon disaster, farmers realize the importance of soil and water conservation, and reduce the cultivation of sloping land, which gradually became a weed forest
		Farmers’ association in township	Finance, technology,
	Market system	Singapore market	Finance, information
		Taipei market	Finance, technology, information
		Agriculture production and marketing groups in township	Finance, technology, information
		Agricultural material firm	Technology, information
		Retailer	Finance, technology, information
	Local system	Presbyterian Church in Kalibuan	Labor
		Kalibuan community development association	Finance, technology, information
		Kalibuan marketing cooperative	Finance, labor, technology, information
		Han people	Technology, information
		Farmer	Labor, technology, information
		Credit union	Finance

).

From 1937–1950, the drought in Japan’s rice warehouses in Korea and Northeast China resulted in an increase in the volume of rice exported from Taiwan to Japan. The Japanese government tried to use agriculture to educate the indigenous people into civilization. Indigenous people begin to cultivate fixed-farm agriculture and change their habits of using natural resources. From 1950–1960, after World War II, the government implemented a rice policy to stabilize rice prices and used the church system of U.S. aid to educate indigenous people to cultivate rice. The indigenous people gradually converted to Christianity and saw rice farming as a Christian doctrine that leads to civilization. From 1960–1980, the country needed to earn foreign exchange for cash crops, and indigenous people needed to start using currency in their lives. Farmers began to use the hillsides to plant bananas and plum trees, leading to the commercialization of tribal agriculture. From 1980 to 2000, the state promoted the policy of off-season vegetables and hillside development. Farmers were also gradually able to master the agricultural network to obtain technology and information, and to protect water resources through collective norms. From 2000 to 2015, the government promoted community-building policies and developed community-scale sustainable agriculture. Facility agriculture has the advantages of low pesticide dosage or organic production. The sweet peppers of facility agriculture attract some countries that care about the dosage of pesticides and becomes an important crop for local farmers.

In view of the systems, we observed that agricultural production in the village was not only a market-driven practice, but it was also involved in national, agricultural policy discourse and state-to-state linkages. Although Kalibuan is located in a mountainous area, its agricultural development is affected by international trade relationships. Farmers in the region continuously grow trade crops. The national policy encourages the indigenous village to connect with different markets and the government, including the facile exchange of products, capital, technology, and market information. Mountain agriculture may seem to be a remote practice, but it is a vehicle for the state to demonstrate its political power.

Based on the social network presented in the telecoupling framework, we observed that the communities used different types of social networks, and flexibly adjusted the network structure to face the challenges faced at each stage. Their network type included strong ties to maintain village cohesion and collective action, flexible ties to satisfy mutual interests, and an affiliation with government agencies to obtain relevant resources.

We analyzed the agents of the local production system, and the study discovered that the characteristics and discourses of the agents in the village promoted the collective action of individuals inhabiting the village, and the roles of key agents emerged in each period, which could successfully achieve agricultural transformation.

5. The Meaning and Effect of PPGIS

This study determined that PPGIS contributed to the public participation approach, and the effect of GIS, including visualization, data storage functions, and scaling technology enabled citizens to provide effective information and caused data collection for the telecoupling framework to be more advantageous. Subsequently, we illustrated the significance of PPGIS from three aspects of telecoupling research.

5.1. Coupling of Social and Natural Data

Telecoupling research needs to collect coupling data from social and natural systems. Visual presentation is an important feature of GIS. The visual representation of the landscape aids the participant to provide information on the coupling of society and nature. Researchers can also instantly compare participant information with geographic information and ask further questions. Whether this includes aerial photos or 3D terrain images, they actually illustrate a complete landscape that includes forests, weeds, rivers, roads, and settlements. Although we used agricultural land as the main subject, the landscape presented by the image was not solely agricultural land but the entire landscape. Participants not only discussed agricultural production through digital maps, but also the role of the surrounding environment. In comparison to oral discussions, map visualization can help participants to explore a greater amount of social and natural information. In our case, when farmers discussed cultivation through the digital map, they also attended the surrounding environment. When the residents were discussing the development of cabbage agriculture in the 1980s, a farmer pointed to the planting area marked on the historical aerial photo map and said: “You see, this hillside used to be a jungle. This location has abundant water, and the soil is suitable for growing vegetables. The mountains also block strong winds to avoid typhoons. The government promoted the cultivation of cabbage here at that time. After a landslide occurred in our community, we regulated planting rules and no longer planted on some hillsides “. The farmer compared their own memory of the landscape with information, such as environmental conditions and factors, and provided the researchers with further information regarding the coupling of society and nature. Based on this information, we can then investigate the policy of slope land development, and related spatial attribute data for analysis, such as soil and topography.

GIS presents geographical information by combining spatial coordinates with various attributed data, which were obtained from social and environmental surveys. This research analyzed land-use practices obtained from indigenous mapping and official spatial data, including data for topography, geology, terrain, hydrology, soil, and socio-economic statistics. PPGIS integrates traditional ecological and scientific knowledge and can also accommodate qualitative and quantitative research results. We can understand the complexities and connections between individuals, communities, and long-distance locations within socio-ecological systems. At present, two sets of software programs combining GIS and the telecoupling framework have been developed, ArcGIS Toolbox (Telecoupling Toolbox) and Telecoupling GeoApp, both of which were designed using the GIS software environment to identify and analyze the five components of the telecoupling framework [49,50]. It can be observed that the basic function of GIS is to accommodate the five components of telecoupling. If the telecoupling model, quantitative data, and qualitative data can be compared through GIS functions in the future, the potential to develop opportunities for interdisciplinary dialogues exists.

5.2. Diverse Spatial Scale Data

Telecoupling research evaluates distant interactions between human and natural systems. It needs to collect both local and global information. Researchers do not only need to apprehend the causes and impacts of small-scale local events or social ecology but must also trace the flow network to clarify the international trade or agreements that affect the flow or trace the network to determine the events and causes in other locations. The method, used to efficiently and rapidly collect these big data, is an important issue.

Telecoupling research is a way of shifting perspectives along the network, allowing researchers to zoom in on the actual event space when analyzing land use, and zoom out of the overall network to understand that a larger scale affects factors [51]. Telecoupling research can choose a scale of major concern according to the theme. When the researcher observes the impact of a large-scale phenomenon, they choose to use real-life import and export data, literature data, or policy reports. When the researcher analyzes smaller-scale land-use patterns and pays attention to social components, it is necessary to adopt micro-research methods. The application of scaling technology is necessary to telecoupling research [51]. Scaling technology is not only the literal meaning of the action of zooming in and out, but also the social science’s view of the actual phenomena. Nicolina explained that phenomena are still necessary to consider the interaction of large-scale network relationships and small-scale practices or events [52].

The scaling function of GIS guides participants to propose cross-scale events, and also assists researchers in approaching problems with cross-scale thinking. When we surveyed the banana industry in the 1960s, we zoomed into the map according to the content of the participants and focused on their personal farmland to describe deep farming and management experiences. When they mentioned the relationship operator or product-sales channel, we zoomed the map out so that the participant expressed the marketing path of the crop. When the participants mentioned the banana export port in Kaohsiung City, we then zoomed into the map with Kaohsiung City as the center to facilitate the participants to discuss how the development of bananas there replaced the original banana production area and led to the depression of high-mountain banana agriculture. GIS zooming capabilities also improve the analysis. The researchers store field records, literature materials, and data in the software in the form of points, lines, and surfaces. The researchers can follow the agricultural-product sales chain to continuously scale and superimpose related attribute data, and can finally present the structural-surface, network-line, and agent-point data. By switching theoretical lenses, researchers can conduct microscopic research on the dynamics and events that occur, and they can also grasp the macroscopic network’s structure.

Social science researchers criticize the lack of land-use perspectives in land-system research, and also reflect that community competition, power relations, and discourse are often overlooked in the research, but these factors all have important impacts on land use [53,54,55,56]. PPGIS creates a research approach that can define the system’s scope and boundaries in the telecoupling framework from a civic perspective. Citizens or farmers are important stakeholders in local agricultural development, and their perspective can avoid the deterritorialization of the research results [8]. Public participation and digital-map zoom functions help researchers grasp information at different scales and effectively define the scope of telecoupling research.

5.3. Historical Data

This study collected historical aerial photographs at different stages and performed geo-referencing by means of rivers and obvious buildings in advance. The PPGIS workshop drew on the actual life experience of local residents, allowing the residents to identify the crops and real-life scenes on the historical map. The researchers can remember the year of the photo, so that the participant can better organize their memories and verify whether the memory timing is correct, and then express the scenes and interactions they remember. The interactions of various components establish human memory. When this study investigated rice in the 1950s, Figure 3a using a map of the cultivated area drawn by a current aerial photo. When we used the aerial photo of the 1950s to conduct investigations, the participants modified the original map of the cultivated area (Figure 3b). Residents said that because the current landscape has changed from the past, the aerial photos of the 1950s can more accurately recall the farming conditions, and they can more accurately discuss the selection of planting areas based on the environmental conditions. Memory is retrieved through several trigger points and interfaces, prompting individuals to return to the events or experiences in their memory [57,58]. PPGIS uses historical photos and 3D images as triggers for people’s memories and returns individuals to the scenes of the past that they remember. Therefore, researchers can use PPGIS to collect more accurate historical data, especially for the content that is lacking in official documents.

Visualization also enhances public discussions better than oral interviews. Images are a more convenient communication medium. The researcher can express the purpose of the interview through the map and image and can directly conduct demonstrations and operation drills on the map so that the participant can better understand the methods of the workshop. Someone can directly visualize the results of the consensus of several participants, including land-use types, crop categories, and themes of events stated, so that participants can directly modify or adjust them. Visual data and oral explanations can present easy-to-understand information, achieve effective communication with the masses, and facilitate group discussions among participants [59,60]. PPGIS allows participants to fully verify and discuss the data with each other, which can improve the quality and authenticity of the historical data.

6. Conclusions

This study was the first to use PPGIS in a telecoupling framework. The research proved that PPGIS can effectively collect historical data across time scales and long-distance data across space, and simultaneously obtain more detailed social and natural coupling data through public participation. The application of PPGIS reduced human and capital costs of the telecoupling research and solved the challenges of telecoupling methods. Moreover, researchers can organize diverse information obtained from the public with GIS functions and telecoupling architecture, and actually contribute to the research on land-use and social ecology systems. However, researchers need to understand that participants possess different perceptions and cognitions of maps due to the differences of their experiences. They need to select a more suitable presentation form and attempt to establish the issues that participants have or care about in advance [14,61].

Finally, we believe that telecoupling is an appropriate research framework for land use and sustainable development in order to develop a feasible governance model. This study attempted to apply PPGIS to telecoupling research, aiming to grasp more diverse influencing factors as the basis for the formulation of environmental governance strategies. At the same time, through the participation of stakeholders, it can prompt decision makers to consider land-use users’ demands and environmental contexts, and then achieve the vision of sustainable utilization of this land.