The Application of PPGIS to Telecoupling Research: A Case Study of the Agricultural Landscape Transformation in an Indigenous Village in Taiwan
Round 1
Reviewer 1 Report (Previous Reviewer 1)
The paper has been greatly improved, but there are some figures that need to be revised, for example, the compass and scale should be added in Figure 4.
Author Response
Point 1: The paper has been greatly improved, but there are some figures that need to be revised, for example, the compass and scale should be added in Figure 4.
Response 1: Figure 4 has been modified according to reviewer’s comments, adding scale bar, compass and legend.
Reviewer 2 Report (Previous Reviewer 2)
Dear authors, thank you for your reactions to my comments. Unfortunatly I asked for your revised paper and received nothing. So I am not forced normtivly or morally to change my opinion for the first variant of your paper and everything what I said then now is in power.
Author Response
Point 1: Dear authors, thank you for your reactions to my comments. Unfortunatly I asked for your revised paper and received nothing. So I am not forced normtivly or morally to change my opinion for the first variant of your paper and everything what I said then now is in power.
Response 1: We show the details of the collected data in line 192-196.This study conducted 16 PPGIS workshops, and collected group interview data from 73 participants. The aerial photo are obtained from national research institutions and aerial survey agencies, including historical aerial photo of 1945, 1962, 1973, 1986, 1993, 2001, and 2011. The Taiwan government conducted national land use surveys in 1995, 2006, and 2015, which also provide an important reference for this study.
Reviewer 3 Report (Previous Reviewer 3)
After the changes, the paper gained clarity and a better understanding of the whole paper. Also, by adding relevant literature, a better understanding of the problem can be seen. In the chapter Results after changes, the results of the extensive research are more clearly visible and presented more clearly and give a better insight into the essence of the research. Figure 4 also contributes to a better visualization of the investigated problem.
Author Response
Point 1: After the changes, the paper gained clarity and a better understanding of the whole paper. Also, by adding relevant literature, a better understanding of the problem can be seen. In the chapter Results after changes, the results of the extensive research are more clearly visible and presented more clearly and give a better insight into the essence of the research. Figure 4 also contributes to a better visualization of the investigated problem.
Response 1: Thank you for your approval of the article
Round 2
Reviewer 2 Report (Previous Reviewer 2)
I do not have new quetins to the authors.
This manuscript is a resubmission of an earlier submission. The following is a list of the peer review reports and author responses from that submission.
Round 1
Reviewer 1 Report
The paper combines PPGIS and telecoupling methods to analyze regional land use change， the topic is interesting. However, the organization of the paper is unprofessional.
1、 The introduction does not propose a clear research question. Generally, the application of the method is in service of solving the research problem. The introduction should summarize the research question from the content to highlight the value of the method.
2、 A separate chapter on Telecoupling is introduced, but it only focuses on the description of what telecoupling is, the literature review about the research progress of telecoupling is far from sufficient.
3、 The authors introduced the data collection method theoretically, but do not show the details of the collected data, and lack quantitative description of the data, so the reviewers cannot judge the reasonableness of the data. Moreover, the data sources and access descriptions are not clear. Also what is the specific basis for dividing the data into 5 periods?
4、 In the results section, the description of the results is too brief, and an in-depth analysis needs to be developed on how land use in the study area is influenced by political and economic conditions, social networks, and village organizational characteristics through telecoupling and PPGIS methods.
5、 The article keeps repeating the significance of PPGIS and telecouping, but the empirical studies are too weak. The organization of the paper is poor
6、 There are 37 references, of which too few are from the last five years.
Author Response
Point 1: The introduction does not propose a clear research question. Generally, the application of the method is in service of solving the research problem. The introduction should summarize the research question from the content to highlight the value of the method.
Response 1: Telecoupling research facing the challenges of local interpreting information and actual spatial information. PPGIS is usually used in environmental decision-making. This research attempts to solve the current dilemma of telecoupling by extracting the characteristics of PPGIS such as focus group interviewing and space technology. Thanks to the reviewer for reminding, I corrected lines 32 to 38 and lines 48 to 54 to emphasize the importance of PPGIS in telecoupling research, and to highlight the purpose of this study.
Point 2: A separate chapter on Telecoupling is introduced, but it only focuses on the description of what telecoupling is, the literature review about the research progress of telecoupling is far from sufficient
Response 2: I humbly accept Reviewer's criticism. We have added lines 70 to 90 to discuss research topics and methods developed of telecoupling research in recent years.
Point 3: The authors introduced the data collection method theoretically, but do not show the details of the collected data, and lack quantitative description of the data, so the reviewers cannot judge the reasonableness of the data. Moreover, the data sources and access descriptions are not clear. Also what is the specific basis for dividing the data into 5 periods?
Response 3: This research used PPGIS combined with focus group interviews, aerial photos, and land survey data, and map the diachronic land use of the Kalibuan from 1937 to 2015. We then distinguish 5 periods according to the degree of land use change. We explained the reasons for distinguishing the 5 periods in line 175-181 and presented the area ratio of main crops at each period in table 1.
Point 4: In the results section, the description of the results is too brief, and an in-depth analysis needs to be developed on how land use in the study area is influenced by political and economic conditions, social networks, and village organizational characteristics through telecoupling and PPGIS methods.
Response 4: I humbly accept criticism from the Reviewer. This article mainly discusses the advantages and characteristics of PPGIS application in telecoupling research. Due to the length of the article, I only express the socioeconomic situation and the interweaving of social networks in each period in Table 2. In order to let readers know more clearly the content of the analyzed data. This article adds lines 175 to 198 to explain the important information of the five periods.
Point 5: The article keeps repeating the significance of PPGIS and telecouping, but the empirical studies are too weak. The organization of the paper is poor
Response 5: We agree with the Reviewer's understanding of empirical research. PPGIS belongs to qualitative GIS, and it mainly uses GIS to stack different attribute data visually to allow researchers and the public to analyze and discuss and store it in the form of spatial information to supplement contemporary telecoupling research. Therefore, this study is not a quantitative empirical study, nor does use statistical data for analysis. We showed some research data in part 5 to emphasize the meaning and contribution of PPGIS in this study(line 246-255, 289-296, 318-328 and Figure 4).
Point 6: There are 37 references, of which too few are from the last five years.
Response 6: After being reminded by the Reviewer, we added 25 relevant literature on telecoupling research in the past five years, and explained the important contemporary issues and research methods.
Reviewer 2 Report
1. What is the article for?
2. Put the table contents in the text- in conclusions.
Author Response
Point 1: What is the article for?
Response 1: Telecoupling research facing the challenges of local interpreting information and actual spatial information. PPGIS is usually used in environmental decision-making. This research attempts to solve the current dilemma of telecoupling by extracting the characteristics of PPGIS such as focus group interviewing and space technology. Thanks to the reviewer for reminding, I corrected lines 32 to 38 and lines 48 to 54 to emphasize the importance of PPGIS in telecoupling research, and to highlight the purpose of this study. We showed some research data in part 5 to emphasize the meaning and contribution of PPGIS in this study( line 246-255, 289-296, 318-328 and Figure 4).
Point 2: Put the table contents in the text- in conclusions
Response 2: Based on the Reviewer's suggestion, we presented the contents of Table 2 in the text in a narrative manner, and explained the reasons for distinguishing the five periods and the important information of five periods in line 175 to 198.
Reviewer 3 Report
The introduction is relevant and theory based. In the introduction and second chapter, the goals and objectives are formulated, the subject of the research is described, the theoretical and methodological methods of studying the PPGIS approach in telecoupling are indicated, and the reasons for the relevance of the topic under consideration are explained. Result chapter reveals and analyzes the practical aspects of the PPGIS approach in telecoupling. The conclusion contains a information that correspond to the tasks. The recommendations and suggestions of the author of the paper are original and deserve more detailed consideration. The list of used literature is correctly compiled, it contains both fundamental works of distinguished scientists and publications of contemporary experts in scientific journals.
Author Response
Point 1: The introduction is relevant and theory based. In the introduction and second chapter, the goals and objectives are formulated, the subject of the research is described, the theoretical and methodological methods of studying the PPGIS approach in telecoupling are indicated, and the reasons for the relevance of the topic under consideration are explained. Result chapter reveals and analyzes the practical aspects of the PPGIS approach in telecoupling. The conclusion contains a information that correspond to the tasks. The recommendations and suggestions of the author of the paper are original and deserve more detailed consideration. The list of used literature is correctly compiled, it contains both fundamental works of distinguished scientists and publications of contemporary experts in scientific journals.
Response 1: Thanks to the Reviewer for clearly pointing out the value of this research and for encouraging us. In order to highlight the exposition of this study, we add to explain the purpose of this study in lines 32 to 38 and 48 to 54, discuss development of telecoupling research in recent years in the literature section, and report the important information of each period in lines 175 and 198. Last, in order to let readers better understand the contribution of PPGIS in telecoupling research, we presented some research data as illustrations in the 5th part( line 246-255, 289-296, 318-328 and Figure 4).
