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Forests
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Urban Forests in Landscape Structure and Processes
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Urban Forests in Landscape Structure and Processes

A special issue of Forests (ISSN 1999-4907). This special issue belongs to the section "Urban Forestry".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (15 December 2021) | Viewed by 3822

Special Issue Editor

Dr. David Hladnik

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Forestry and Renewable Forest Resources, Biotechnical Faculty, University of Ljubljana, Vecna pot 83, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia
Interests: forest inventory; stand structure; landscape ecology; urban forestry; GIS; remote sensing

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

A landscape approach can be regarded as a considerable step forward to offering urban forestry an alternative active role in collaborative planning, shaping and management of urban green spaces. By linking landscape ecology and urban forestry, it is possible to establish the concepts of landscape structure and the preservation of connectivity between forest patches of urban and suburban forests in order to support the conservation of biodiversity and the adaptation of the local environment to climate change, promoting a green economy and increasing social cohesion for the well-being of the general populace. In recent decades, the process of urban expansion and infrastructure-driven development has been affecting cultural landscapes worldwide. Urbanization processes were most strongly affected by the construction of transportation infrastructure and the expansion of commercial and industrial centers in peri-urban areas, while residential urban areas seem to increase regardless of population changes. Analyses of landscape structure and fragmentation due to urban development can provide the landscape ecological reference points, important for the preservation of urban and suburban forests and for the design of urban systems adapted to changing environmental factors and threats.

Dr. David Hladnik
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Forests is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • landscape structure
  • fragmentation
  • urban expansion
  • urban and suburban forest patches
  • spatial distribution and connectivity
  • forest continuum

Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

14 pages, 2143 KiB  
Article
Electroencephalography (EEG)-Based Neural Emotional Response to the Vegetation Density and Integrated Sound Environment in a Green Space
by Chengcheng Zeng, Wei Lin, Nian Li, Ya Wen, Yanxin Wang, Wenyuan Jiang, Jialing Zhang, Haolin Zhong, Xin Chen, Wenhao Luo and Qibing Chen
Forests 2021, 12(10), 1380; https://doi.org/10.3390/f12101380 - 10 Oct 2021
Cited by 18 | Viewed by 3305
Abstract
Emotion plays an important role in physical and mental health. Green space is an environment conducive to physical and mental recovery and influences human emotions through visual and auditory stimulation. Both the visual environment and sound environment of a green space are important [...] Read more.
Emotion plays an important role in physical and mental health. Green space is an environment conducive to physical and mental recovery and influences human emotions through visual and auditory stimulation. Both the visual environment and sound environment of a green space are important factors affecting its quality. Most of the previous relevant studies have focused solely on the visual or sound environment of green spaces and its impacts. This study focused on the combination of vegetation density (VD) and integrated sound environment (ISE) based on neural emotional evaluation criteria. VD was used as the visual variable, with three levels: high (H), moderate (M) and low (L). ISE was used as the sound variable, with four levels: low-decibel natural and low-decibel artificial sounds (LL), low-decibel natural and high-decibel artificial sounds (LH), high-decibel natural and low-decibel artificial sounds (HL) and high-decibel natural and high-decibel artificial sounds (HH). These two variables were combined into 12 unique groups. A total of 360 volunteer college students were recruited and randomly assigned to the 12 groups (N = 30). All 12 groups underwent the same 5 min high-pressure learning task (pretest baseline), followed by a 5 min audio-visual recovery (posttest). Six indicators of neural emotion (engagement, excitement, focus, interest, relaxation and stress) were dynamically measured by an Emotiv EPOC X device during the pretest and posttest. Analysis of covariance was used to determine the main and coupled effects of the variables. (1) VD and ISE have significant effects on human neural emotions. In moderate- and high-VD spaces, artificial sound levels may have a positive effect on excitement. (2) A higher VD is more likely to result in excitatory neural emotion expression. (3) Low-VD and high-VD spaces have a higher degree of visual continuity. Both extremely low and extremely high VDs result in a higher expression of stressful emotions than observed for a moderate VD. (4) High-decibel artificial sounds are more likely to attract attention, possibly because artificial sounds are easier to recognize than natural sounds. However, when both the natural and artificial sounds are low, it is difficult to induce higher tones, and the lower the artificial sound decibel level, the easier it is to relax. Additionally, under the influence of an ISE, attention recovery and stress recovery may be negatively correlated. The results show that an appropriate combination of VD and ISE can improve the health benefits of a green space and thus the well-being of visitors. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Urban Forests in Landscape Structure and Processes)
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