Integrated Approach to Land Use Change Assessment

Dear Colleagues,

Changes in land use are reflected not only in changes of land cover; they are also the cause of changes in landscape structure and are the main initiator of many environmental problems – qualitative and quantitative degradation of natural resources, decline in natural ecosystems, increasing anthropization of the landscape, negative impacts from deserted agricultural fields on landscape biodiversity, desertion of land, increase in synanthropic species, etc. From this perspective, it is important to modify landscape–ecological research is conducted. It is no longer possible to focus only on studying land use forms and land cover but to also study relations in landscape (e.g., cause–consequence). Identifying the causes and casualties of these changes is crucial for the implementation of rational landscape utilization. It is essential to apply an integrated approach to the assessment of land use change. The scientific basis of this approach is the understanding of landscape as a geosystem and, in particular, the proper interpretation of the mutual relations of primary, secondary, and tertiary landscape structure and their role in assessing conflicts of interest. It is also necessary to implement landscape–ecological principles in spatial planning, which represents the main tool for sustainable utilization of resources and potentials of the territory.

The purpose of this Special Issue is to invite researchers to submit proposals for papers that deal with sustainable landscape management. Potential topics include, but are not limited to:

• Land use changes induced by human activities and its environmental impacts
• Conflicts of interest in land use
• Multifunctional use of landscape
• Landscape ecosystem services
• Integrated assessment of land use
• Utilization of new progressive information and communication technologies in spatial planning
• Implementation of landscape ecological principles in spatial planning processes
• Decision support tools for sustainable landscape management and planning
• Role of stakeholders and decision-makers in territorial planning
• Case studies—examples of good practice in the landscape management

Dr. Olaf Bastian
Prof. Dr. František Petrovič
Prof. Dr. Zita Izakovičová
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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