Evaluation of Landscape Ecology and Urban Ecosystems

Dear Colleagues,

Landscapes are weighted against different criteria, traditionally we mean economic value, but recently the definition of the value of landscapes has expanded to include both the tangible and intangible. In an ecological context, value is interpreted as the value of the preservation of biodiversity and ecosystem functions.

Landscape ecology provides important frameworks for understanding and conserving biodiversity within cities and has played an important role in the development of a substantial and expanding body of knowledge about urban landscapes and communities. Urbanized landscapes covering cities may encompass a range of human-dominated land uses, from highly compact urban centers to low-density suburbs or agricultural landscapes on the peri-urban fringe, and urban areas can contain even higher diversity and abundance than the agricultural hinterland. The creation of landscapes that promote human well-being and urban resilience to climate change, and that address both inequalities and biodiversity loss, requires a green infrastructure approach which considers a range of social and ecological outcomes.

The quantification of urban ecosystem components is necessary to assess the culturally, ecologically and landscape ecologically important impacts of development and land use policy and strategic planning. The aim of this Special Issue is to demonstrate that urban areas can host many landscape functions despite their predominantly built-up character, such as urban open spaces, urban green areas, and urban forestry and woodlands. In this Special Issue, original research articles and reviews are welcome. Research areas may include, but need not be limited to, the following:

• Nature-based solutions in cities;
• Resilient cities;
• Integrated landscape management;
• Biodiversity in urban areas and beyond;
• Mapping of landscape ecology;
• Quantification of urban ecosystem components;
• Urban green spaces and forestry.

We look forward to receiving your contributions.

Dr. Barbara Prus
Dr. Stanisław Bacior
Dr. Adam Senetra
Guest Editors

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. Sustainability is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly 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 2400 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.

• cultural landscapes
• land management
• land use/land cover
• nature-based solutions
• sight-aesthetic value
• landscape valuation
• underwater landscapes
• soundscapes