Special Issue "Landscape and Nature Conservation Issues in Human-Altered Environments"

A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Environmental Sustainability and Applications".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 September 2021.

Special Issue Editor

Dr. Ákos Malatinszky
E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Nature Conservation and Landscape Management, Hungarian University of Agriculture and Life Sciences, 2100 Gödöllő, Hungary
Interests: nature conservation; conservation management; high nature value (HNV) grasslands; Hungarian flora; landscape history

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Landscapes all over the world are at a growing rate affected by agricultural intensification, forest management activities, industry, transport, water regulation, and urbanisation, as well as the abandonment of rural areas. Intensive management, especially during the past century, has seriously altered human‐dominated landscapes and caused severe biodiversity loss. Exploring historical management reasons and their various consequences is inevitable for developing and implementing conservation efforts. In this special issue, we invite case studies to describe some top issues on the potential drivers of landscape change that provide evidence to underpin future policy development and conservation management.

An approach through landscape history is crucial and should respond to how we proceed to sustain landscape and biological diversity. Although recent papers refer to several human-induced landscape changes that have resulted in the transformation of natural habitats which still preserve outstanding botanical and zoological values, studies that provide a perspective on the required land management and/or necessary interventions in order to maintain them sustainably are scarce. With this Special Issue, we call for contributions to fill these gaps.

Dr. Ákos Malatinszky
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 papers will be 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 1900 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

  • biodiversity
  • conservation management
  • historical land uses
  • human interventions
  • lanscape history
  • land management
  • land use change

Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

Article
Toward a High Spatial Resolution Aerial Monitoring Network for Nature Conservation—How Can Remote Sensing Help Protect Natural Areas?
Sustainability 2021, 13(16), 8807; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13168807 - 06 Aug 2021
Viewed by 446
Abstract
Aerial surveys have always significantly contributed to the accurate mapping of certain geographical phenomena. Remote sensing opened up new perspectives in nature monitoring with state-of-the-art technical solutions using modern onboard recording equipment. We developed the technical background and the methodology that supports detailed [...] Read more.
Aerial surveys have always significantly contributed to the accurate mapping of certain geographical phenomena. Remote sensing opened up new perspectives in nature monitoring with state-of-the-art technical solutions using modern onboard recording equipment. We developed the technical background and the methodology that supports detailed and cost-effective monitoring of a network of natural areas, thereby detecting temporal changes in the spatial pattern of land cover, species, biodiversity, and other natural features. In this article, we share our experiences of the technical background, geometric accuracy and results of comparisons with selected Copernicus Land Monitoring products and an Ecosystem Map based on the testing of our methodology at 25 sites in Hungary. We combined a high-spatial-resolution aerial remote sensing service with field studies to support an efficient nature conservation monitoring network at 25 permanent sites. By analyzing annually (or more frequently) orthophotos taken with a range of 0.5–5 cm spatial resolution and 3D surface models of aerial surveys, it is possible to map the upper canopy of vegetation species. Furthermore, it allows us to accurately follow the changes in the dynamics at the forest edge and upper canopy, or the changes in species’ dominance in meadows. Additionally, spatial data obtained from aerial surveys and field studies can expand the knowledge base of the High-Resolution Aerial Monitoring Network (HRAMN) and support conservation and restoration management. A well-conducted high-resolution survey can reveal the impacts of land interventions and habitat regeneration. By building the HRAMN network, nature conservation could have an up-to-date database that could prompt legal processes, establish protection designation procedures and make environmental habitat management more cost-effective. Landscape protection could also utilize the services of HRAMN in planning and risk reduction interventions through more reliable inputs to environmental models. Full article
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