Search Results (1,367)

Living terraced cultural landscapes (LTCLs) bind together agricultural heritage, ecological function, and local culture. International instruments such as the Guidance and Toolkit for Impact Assessments, Enhancing Our Heritage Toolkit 2.0, and Preparing World Heritage Nominations guide heritage protection, but none integrates all four dimensions, and no LTCL-specific framework exists to diagnose a candidate site before formal nomination. Following PRISMA 2020, this review synthesized 61 peer-reviewed studies from the Web of Science Core Collection (2012–2026; screening Cohen’s κ = 0.82). Keyword co-occurrence mapping in VOSviewer, combined with manual thematic coding, produced six clusters that we consolidated into four analytical dimensions: heritage value, landscape integrity, tourism–heritage balance, and governance and protection. Reading across these dimensions revealed three gaps—no tool integrates all four in an operable form, the balance between tourism and protection lacks an explicit evaluative mechanism, and socioeconomic stressors such as rural labor out-migration fall outside official criteria—together pointing to a fourth, procedural gap: the absence of pre-nomination diagnosis. On this basis we propose IAF-LTCL, a preliminary conceptual framework of four dimensions and 22 elements, designed so that strength in one dimension does not offset weakness in another. The framework is not yet empirically validated; we present it as a structured starting point that heritage managers can use for pre-nomination self-assessment, pending future field validation. Full article

Hand-drawn field maps are an irreplaceable archive of archaeological sites, yet converting scanned images of analog field maps into geospatial data remains a significant bottleneck. Currently, prompt-driven large language models (LLMs) cannot reproduce human heads-up digitizing consistently or affordably at scale. LLMs do, however, allow users to quickly produce custom computer vision (CV) workflows. We describe an example of one such custom Python (3.13.9) pipeline that extracts polygons that represent terraces on maps of fortified settlements (called pā) in Aotearoa New Zealand. It starts with scanned archaeological maps, decides if the map is in a cartographic style it can process, finds shapes, and decides if these shapes are valid based on a model trained on human-annotated examples. It works extremely quickly, outputs clean geospatial datasets, and has excellent spatial and formal accuracy, with a mean intersection-over-union (mIoU) for matched detections of 0.89–0.94. Detection performance, as measured by F1 scores covered an extremely wide range, from 0.800 to 0.00, with a mean of 0.528 (median = 0.588) typical of marginally successful CV studies. In practice, for every four terraces correctly mapped, three are missed, and three false positive are created. Critically, when we did a fit-for-purpose evaluation using an archaeologically meaningful metric (the Gini coefficient), we discovered a sliding scale of reliability. The best results were comparable with human-traced maps (F1 scores > 0.80). Below that, introduced error meant they were reliable in some senses but unreliable in others (F1 0.53 to 0.80). The worst were totally unreliable for quantitative analyses (F1 < 0.53). The lesson for archaeology is this: standard CV benchmarks alone cannot tell us whether an automated output is fit for archaeological inference. Archaeology would benefit from discipline-specific fit-for-purpose metrics, like the example here, as a regularized part of computer vision studies. Full article

Thermal degradation of InGaN quantum dots (QDs) during the temperature ramp for GaN quantum-barrier growth can compromise micro-light-emitting-diode active regions. Five-period InGaN/GaN QD structures with low-temperature-grown GaN (LT-GaN) caps of 0 nm (C0), 2 nm (C2), and 4 nm (C4) were studied. The nominal total GaN quantum barrier was fixed at 10 nm by adjusting the higher-temperature-grown GaN portion to 10, 8, and 6 nm, respectively. The active regions were characterized by high-resolution X-ray diffraction, aberration-corrected transmission electron microscopy, and temperature-dependent photoluminescence; post-ramp surface-reference specimens were examined by atomic force microscopy; and 10 μm × 10 μm micro-LEDs were evaluated by electroluminescence spectroscopy and integrating-sphere external quantum efficiency measurements. Compared with C0 and C2, C4 displayed clearer satellite reflections, more laterally continuous InGaN-rich contrast, and weaker thermal photoluminescence quenching; its surface reference also showed a more continuous terrace-like morphology with fewer fine depressions. The C4 micro-LED reached a peak external quantum efficiency of 4.45% at 20 A cm⁻², compared with 2.58% at 150 A cm⁻² for C0 and 1.80% at 140 A cm⁻² for C2. Together, these results associate more effective thermal protection with a reduced relative contribution from defect-assisted nonradiative recombination and enhanced device efficiency. Full article

Background/Objectives: To evaluate the surgical and functional outcomes of robot-assisted simple prostatectomy (RASP) for men with bothersome lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) secondary to benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH), aiding informed clinical decision-making. Methods: We conducted a prospective study of 69 patients undergoing RASP for BPH-related LUTS or acute urinary retention (AUR). Three high-volume robotic urologists from a single center, utilising a modified Millins technique, performed the RASP procedures. Pre-operative data included demographics (age, prostate-specific antigen (PSA), prostate volume), LUTS measures (International Prostate Symptom Score (IPSS), quality-of-life (QOL), flow rates, pad use), and intraoperative parameters (operative time, blood loss, histology, hospital stay). Postoperative outcomes were collected at 6–8 weeks and included symptom scores, flow rates, pad use, and patient satisfaction. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics and multivariate linear logistic regression; significance was set at 95% confidence. Results: Median patient age was 74 years (interquartile range (IQR) 72–77) with a median prostate volume of 143 cc (IQR 123–195) and preoperative IPSS of 19 (IQR 15.0–23.0). Median console time was 60 min (IQR 50.0–65.0), estimated blood loss was 350.0 mL (IQR 200–500), and specimen weight was 105.5 g (IQR 67.25–132.5). Median hospital stay was 1.0 day; all patients passed their trial of void (TOV) postoperatively, with an IPSS improvement of 78.9% (12 points), QOL improvement of 75% (3 points), maximum flow rate (Qmax) increase of 16.3 mL/s and an overall patient satisfaction of 10 out of 10 (extremely satisfied), independent of specimen size, operative duration, or pad usage. Conclusions: RASP appears to be a safe and effective surgical option for men with high-volume BPH and bothersome LUTS, offering substantial symptom improvement and excellent patient satisfaction. Its advantages may extend to patients with very large prostates or concurrent bladder pathology. However, findings are limited by our modest sample size and short follow-up. Larger prospective and comparative trials are warranted to better define the role of RASP in the treatment algorithm for BPH. Full article

Optimizing outdoor thermal environments is essential for sustainable urban development and spatial resilience. Existing urban microclimate studies generally adopt the 1.5 m pedestrian height to represent outdoor thermal conditions. However, this widely accepted assumption has not been verified in multi-level campus spaces with terrace-induced complex three-dimensional environments, particularly in severe cold climate zones. This study investigates vertical thermal stratification and the relative influences of orientation, surface material, and height in Changchun, China. Field measurements at four levels were integrated with ENVI-met simulations calibrated against six independent validation sites. During summer peak hours, orientation dominates the thermal regime, outweighing both material and height. The peak thermal load shifts vertically from the south at lower elevations to the west at upper levels, generating a maximum air temperature difference of 1.66 °C compared to the consistently coolest east-facing terraces at 14:00. The vertical temperature profile does not follow a simple trend but varies with the surrounding geometry. Mid-level thermal trap appears near 3.5 m in the semi-enclosed building, where air temperature peaks before declining toward the roof. Moreover, an idealized model shows monotonic cooling with height, confirming that local obstructions cause the observed heat accumulation. During summer peak hours, surface material exerts a highly limited direct effect on ambient air temperature within these well-mixed three-dimensional spaces. Differences among concrete, asphalt, wood, and turf stay below 0.1 °C, roughly two orders of magnitude smaller than the orientation-driven contrast, because turbulent mixing and façade radiation overwhelm local surface heat fluxes. The findings highlight the inadequacy of evaluating thermal conditions at a single height, and challenge the conventional assumptions that material substitution is the primary heat mitigation measure in multi-level environments and that building orientation plays only a minor role in microclimate regulation. All quantitative outputs stem from ideal courtyard shapes and cloudless summer scenarios, reflecting mechanistic microclimate patterns instead of globally applicable predictive metrics. Local validation is mandatory before extending these conclusions to other seasons or building typologies. For sustainable summer thermal regulation on multi-level campuses, this work highlights orientation and adaptive shading as primary design measures, while material configuration acts only as auxiliary fine-tuning. Full article

Accurate mapping of terraces is important for farmland protection, food security, and the management of terrace abandonment. However, extracting terraces from high-resolution remote sensing imagery remains challenging because of complex backgrounds, fragmented ridge structures, weak boundary contrast, and high similarity between terraces and surrounding land-cover types. This study proposes AMF-Deep, an Attention Multi-scale Fusion DeepLabv3+ model, for binary terrace extraction across representative terrace regions and morphologies. AMF-Deep was evaluated using 0.61 m high-resolution remote-sensing imagery from five representative terrace regions in China, encompassing diverse terrace morphologies and background conditions. In the proposed model, MobileNetV2 is adopted as the backbone to reduce computational cost, a modified multi-scale ASPP module is used to capture terrace morphology at different spatial scales, CBAM enhances low-level boundary and texture features, ECA refines high-level channel responses before ASPP, and NAM recalibrates semantic features after ASPP. A residual decoder is further introduced to support low-level feature transfer and boundary recovery. Experimental results show that AMF-Deep achieved the highest regional performance in Huangling, with mIoU, mPA, Accuracy, Recall, and Precision of 89.47%, 95.17%, 96.70%, 94.99%, and 93.68%, respectively. Stepwise ablation experiments further indicated that the modified ASPP module, the differentiated attention arrangement, and the residual decoder contributed to the final performance. Qualitative seasonal visualization suggests that winter images and dryland terraces in Shexian remain more challenging because of weak texture contrast and high background similarity. These results indicate that AMF-Deep has potential for terrace extraction across representative regions, although further quantitative seasonal evaluation and cross-region validation are still needed. Full article

Ferdinandea Island, part of a shallow-water submarine volcanic field, emerged in the Sicily Channel between Italy and Tunisia in July 1831 and was eroded below sea level within months; its submerged remnant forms the shallowest water depth region of Graham Bank. Here, we review nearly two centuries of historical accounts, geological interpretations and geomorphological data analysis and reassess them against high-resolution multibeam bathymetry, sub-bottom profiles (CHIRP) and published multichannel seismic data. The field comprises six volcanic edifices (V1–V6), 100–170 m high, located along structural trends characteristic of the Sicily Channel Rift. V3, the shallowest edifice, is the remnant of Ferdinandea Island formed during the 1831 Surtseyan eruption. Its flat summit, wave-reworked terrace and steep flanks record rapid post-eruptive modification. Historical observations and hydrographic surveys document the destruction of the emergent island and a further ~6 m lowering of its shallowest point between 1883 and 2012–2015; the separate contributions of wave erosion, subsidence and gravitational adjustment cannot be resolved from the available data. The same regional structural framework appears to have governed the distribution of the other volcanic centres, pockmarks, erosional escarpments and mass-transport deposits of the study area. Seventeen pockmarks, up to ~540 m wide and 22 m deep, occur as isolated, clustered and locally aligned depressions; they are associated with subsurface concave-upward reflectors and local water-column acoustic anomalies, consistent with focused fluid escape. Failures of volcanic and sedimentary slopes are widespread, with the largest debris-avalanche deposit covering ~2.2 km². Taken together, these observations indicate that tectonics, volcanism, fluid migration, wave- and bottom-current reworking, and gravitational instability have operated over different timescales to shape Graham Bank. Ferdinandea thus offers a rare historical and geological reference for investigating the rapid construction, degradation and long-term evolution of shallow-water volcanic edifices and highlights the still-open questions regarding the evolution and fate of ephemeral volcanic islands. Full article

The formation and disappearance of paleolakes are sensitive indicators of environmental evolution in arid and semi-arid regions. Their disappearance records comprehensive information on regional hydrological conditions, climatic changes, and tectonic activities, thereby offering unique research value for elucidating the environmental driving mechanisms behind water resource changes in historical human settlements and the concomitant rise and fall of civilizations. This study analyzed the contact interface between extensively distributed lacustrine deposits and the overlying aeolian dune sands around Tongwan City using optically stimulated luminescence (OSL), and combined with relevant documentary evidence to elucidate the relationship between paleolake disappearance and the abandonment of the ancient city. The OSL dating results demonstrated that the disappearance of paleolakes and the initiation of desertification around Tongwan City were mainly concentrated between about 1200 and 900 years before present, closely corresponding to the abandonment of Tongwan City in AD 994. Field investigations additionally revealed that well-developed fluvial erosion surfaces are pervasively present at the top of lacustrine deposits around Tongwan City, while multiple fluvial terraces are exposed along the Wuding River. These features collectively indicate that regional crustal uplift event led to fluvial incision. The results indicated that the abandonment of Tongwan City was not attributable solely to climatic aridification, but instead resulted from the combined influences of favorable hydrothermal conditions during the High-Temperature Period of the Northern Song (HTNS, AD 994–1094) and regional tectonic uplift. Tectonic uplift facilitated deep incision of the Wuding River valley, while increased precipitation during the warm period enhanced surface water infiltration and drainage, resulting in a significant decline in groundwater levels, the disappearance of paleolakes, and ultimately the depletion of water resources upon which the ancient city relied. These findings provide new evidence from an environmental geological perspective and present a key scientific explanation for the paradox that Tongwan City was abandoned during a relatively warm climatic interval. Furthermore, the coupled mechanism of tectonic uplift, fluvial incision, sharp groundwater decline, and societal collapse revealed in this study not only provides a valuable reference for investigating the abandonment of ancient cities in arid and semi-arid regions during historical periods, but also offers important implications for assessing water resource vulnerability of ancient settlements on analogous geomorphic units under global climate change, and may serve as a geological–historical warning and reference for water security management in human habitations under current and future warm-climate conditions. Full article

Sub-Mediterranean ecosystems along the northeastern Black Sea coast remain insufficiently studied despite their importance for the regional carbon cycle and their sensitivity to human disturbance. This study presents an exploratory case study of aboveground biomass carbon stocks in two contrasting plant communities at the carbon-monitoring supersite of the Southern Branch of the Shirshov Institute of Oceanology RAS in Gelendzhik, Russia. The aboveground observations were interpreted together with soil carbon stocks and greenhouse gas fluxes previously reported for the same permanent plots. The investigated communities comprised a terraced pine–oak plantation (SP1) and a natural pubescent-oak shiblyak (SP2). Vegetation was surveyed using the Braun-Blanquet approach. Tree biomass was estimated using the generalized allometric equation of Chave et al., while aboveground biomass was converted to carbon using carbon concentrations determined by elemental analysis of sampled plant tissues. Herbaceous vegetation and forest-floor material were quantified by elemental analysis. Within-plot spatial heterogeneity was visualized using Python-based radial-basis-function (RBF) interpolation for exploratory mapping of local carbon distribution. Because each vegetation type was represented by a single 400 m² plot, all comparisons are site-specific and exploratory and should not be extrapolated beyond the investigated communities. The aboveground carbon density was 64.1 t C ha⁻¹ in the terraced pine–oak stand and 16.1 t C ha⁻¹ in the natural shiblyak. Woody biomass dominated the plantation, whereas litter and herbaceous vegetation contributed proportionally more to the carbon pool in the shiblyak. Previously published soil organic carbon stocks at the terraced site exceeded the measured aboveground carbon pool, whereas the natural rendzinas were characterized by substantial carbonate-associated inorganic carbon stocks. C/N ratios of organic substrates ranged from 11 to 100, indicating a pronounced variation in substrate quality: higher C/N values in woody and coniferous fractions were consistent with slower decomposition, whereas lower C/N values in herbaceous material were consistent with faster mineralization. Exploratory spatial mapping revealed within-plot variation in aboveground carbon of up to two orders of magnitude. Together, these site-specific observations provide the first integrated description of aboveground biomass carbon together with previously reported soil carbon pools for contrasting sub-Mediterranean vegetation on the northeastern Black Sea coast. Despite its exploratory nature, this study establishes a baseline for future replicated, spatially explicit investigations of ecosystem carbon dynamics in sub-Mediterranean ecosystems along the northeastern Black Sea coast. Full article

The southern coast of Java, Indonesia, is situated along the active Sunda subduction margin where raised coastal landforms may record the combined influence of relative sea-level change, wave processes, sedimentation, and vertical land motion. This study presents field-based RTK-GNSS topographic profiles from four coastal sites: Pantai Ajah, Kalijali, Kulon Progo, and Wingko. Profiles were used to locate terrace treads, risers, slope breaks, residual topographic highs, and possible raised coastal surfaces. The results show spatially varying coastal morphology. Pantai Ajah has a marked riser and probable terrace tread at about 7–8.5 m elevation. Kalijali shows a lower terrace-like surface at about 4–5 m, an upper surface at about 7–9 m, and a higher local topographic high at about 12–13 m. Kulon Progo is characterized by a low-elevation coastal surface that is only weakly expressed in the topography, whereas Wingko contains a distinct slope break and a broad landward surface at approximately 5–6.5 m elevation. Across the four profiles, broad low-gradient surfaces recur within two elevation ranges, approximately 4–6.5 m and 7–9 m. These ranges are treated as provisional morphometric groupings rather than correlated or coeval terrace levels. Higher isolated elevations are described as ridge-like or residual topographic highs whose origin and age remain unresolved. No direct chronological or sedimentological constraints are currently available, so correlations with Holocene or older sea-level highstands are only tentative. The results show the usefulness of RTK-GNSS profiling for the documentation of local coastal terrace morphology and for the identification of priority sites for future dating, sedimentological analysis, and coastal-hazard assessment. Full article

Low-rise terraced housing constitutes a major segment of Taiwan’s residential market, yet stakeholder perception differences during residential development planning remain insufficiently understood, particularly regarding sustainability considerations. In this study, we investigate cognitive gaps among developers, homebuyers, and construction professionals across six planning dimensions, including site selection, housing price, capital capacity, construction risk, building planning, and sustainability. A structured questionnaire survey was conducted in Changhua County, Taiwan, yielding 176 valid responses (37 developers, 92 homebuyers, and 47 construction professionals). Data were analyzed using Cronbach’s α reliability analysis, exploratory factor analysis (EFA), chi-square tests, one-way ANOVA, Fisher’s LSD post hoc comparisons, and robustness analyses using ANCOVA and Tukey’s HSD. Significant stakeholder perception differences were identified for 15 of the 19 planning factors (p < 0.05). Supply-side stakeholders consistently prioritized construction cost, financing capacity, and construction risk, whereas homebuyers placed greater emphasis on transportation convenience, living amenities, spatial quality, and sustainability-related attributes, particularly green building certification and energy efficiency. Construction risk exhibited the largest cognitive gaps, with large effect sizes for construction difficulty (η² = 0.450) and government regulation (η² = 0.454). Within the sustainability dimension, governance transparency remained non-significant, suggesting that governance awareness has not yet matured into a differentiated stakeholder concern. Based on these findings, we propose the Stakeholder Cognitive Gap Framework (SCGF) as a conceptual and diagnostic framework for organizing stakeholder perception patterns. The findings contribute to understanding stakeholder cognitive divergence in residential development planning and provide practical implications for sustainable housing policy, developer decision-making, and participatory planning in non-metropolitan housing markets. Full article

Introduction: Congenital heart defects (CHD) occur in 1% of live births, with an estimated at least 33% of affected infants having genetic defects. It has become standard to screen children with CHD for genetic findings that could aid clinical decision-making, yet modern testing yields large volumes of information without understanding clinical utility. Genome-wide studies have identified associations between large copy number variants and neurocognitive outcomes in patients with CHD. Still, little research exists on the prognostic power of screening tests such as microarrays. The goal of this study was to determine if abnormal microarray results in infants with CHD were associated with worse clinical outcomes in the cardiac intensive care unit (CICU). Method: This was a single-center retrospective cohort study. The Society of Thoracic Surgery (STS) and Pediatric Cardiac Critical Care (PCICU) registries (PC4) were queried for all surgical admissions of neonates and infants between 1 January 2014 and 31 December 2019. Patient demographics, surgical details, and post-operative outcomes were collected for surgical admissions related to the patient’s index operation. A chart review was performed to ascertain microarray results, further genetic testing, and longitudinal outcomes. Patients without microarray results or long-term institutional follow-up were excluded. Wilcoxon rank-sum and chi-square tests were used to compare outcomes defined and collected in the PC4 registry between patients with normal and abnormal microarray results. Subgroup analysis was then performed using the same outcome measures to compare normal and abnormal microarray groups in children who required cardiac surgeries within 30 days of life and in children who presented with ventricular septal defect (VSD), atrioventricular septal defect (AVSD), aortic stenosis (AS), or Tetralogy of Fallot (TOF). Results: Of the 412 infants with surgical admissions to the CICU between 2014 and 2019, 43 infants had no longitudinal follow-up, and 65 infants had no microarray results. Three hundred and four infants were included in this study, of which 196 children had normal microarrays and 108 infants had abnormal microarrays. Both groups had similar distributions of gestational age and birth weight, but fundamental diagnoses and primary procedures differed significantly between groups (p < 0.005). STS score, deep hypothermic circulatory arrest (DHCA) time, and bypass time were each significantly lower in children with abnormal microarrays than in those with normal microarrays across the study. The patients with abnormal microarrays had a higher incidence of gastrostomy (G)-tube placement during their lifetime than infants with normal microarrays. On subgroup analysis, despite the differences in fundamental diagnoses and the fact that primary procedures differed significantly between normal and abnormal microarray groups that required cardiac surgery within 30 days of life, there were no detectable differences in the surgical and PCICU outcomes. DHCA time was once again significantly lower in the abnormal microarray subgroup in the second subgroup analysis. Conclusions: Our data indicate that microarray results have limited value in predicting immediate post-operative outcomes, but children with copy number variants should be included in future CHD research. Full article

This study investigates hydrogen-assisted fatigue crack growth (FCG) in vintage pipeline steels to quantify grade-dependent degradation under hydrogen–natural gas blending conditions. Fatigue behavior was evaluated using compact-tension specimens extracted from API X52 and X70 pipeline steels and tested in natural gas–hydrogen mixtures at a total pressure of 6.9 MPa and ambient temperature. Hydrogen concentration was systematically varied from 0% to 100% H₂ to assess its influence on crack-length evolution, fatigue crack growth rate, and fracture morphology. Crack propagation was characterized as a function of the stress-intensity-factor range, and scanning electron microscopy was used to examine hydrogen-induced changes in fracture mechanisms. The results demonstrate that FCG accelerates as hydrogen concentration increases, with a strong dependence on steel grade. X70 exhibited substantially greater hydrogen-induced FCG acceleration than X52, despite showing better fatigue resistance under hydrogen-free conditions. Fatigue life reductions approached 60% for X70 at 100% hydrogen, compared with approximately 30% for X52 under the same conditions. Significant early-life sensitivity was observed in X70 even at low hydrogen concentrations, whereas X52 showed more pronounced acceleration during later stages of crack growth. The influence of hydrogen was nonlinear and tended to stabilize at elevated blend fractions, indicating a saturation-type response once hydrogen-assisted crack growth became dominant. Fractographic analyses revealed a transition from ductile tearing in natural gas environments to terrace- and facet-controlled crack propagation in hydrogen-rich environments, accompanied by secondary cracking and river-pattern features. These findings demonstrate that hydrogen–natural gas blending can significantly alter fatigue crack growth behavior and relative material performance in pipeline steels, highlighting the need for grade-specific integrity assessment of existing pipeline infrastructure. Full article

Residential buildings are central to decarbonisation because existing dwellings combine long service lives, high heating demand and heterogeneous constraints for retrofitting. This study investigates some retrofit strategies for a terraced house in Oxford, UK, to achieve the winter indoor air temperature set-point while reducing energy use, costs and CO₂ emissions. A calibrated dynamic simulation model was developed from on-site inspections, monitored temperatures, occupant schedules and energy-bill data. The analysis compares baseline configuration with scenarios including radiator power upgrading, envelope insulation, increased internal thermal mass and replacement of the condensing boiler with a high-temperature ground-source heat pump (GSHP). The results show that radiator upgrading enables the most critical rooms to reach the 20 °C set-point, while envelope insulation reduces heating energy and costs. Increased thermal mass improves night-time temperature stability, although its effect on annual energy demand is limited. The GSHP provides the largest primary energy reduction, lowering operational primary energy by 66.3% compared to the reference case and by 70.4% when combined with envelope and thermal-mass measures. Operational CO₂ emissions are reduced by 35.0–84.3%. The study highlights the need to evaluate the capacity of heat emitters, building envelope performance, thermal inertia and heat generator efficiency within a dynamic framework. Full article

This study examines the urban–rural interface of Loja, Ecuador, as a differentiated socio-ecological system shaped by environmental structure, the persistence of productive land, reliance on infrastructure, and terrain-adaptive settlement patterns. An integrated territorial taxonomy was developed using a four-phase methodological framework that combined morphological analysis, socio-territorial characterization, adaptive tectonic interpretation, and multivariate synthesis. Ten representative polygons located within Loja’s Andean periphery were evaluated using indicators of Biotic Porosity (BP), Degree of Hybridity (DH), Infrastructure Dependency (ID), and Alimentary Autonomy Extent (AAE), complemented by spatial analysis, field verification, and exploratory correlation assessment. The results revealed strong positive associations between socio-territorial hybridity and alimentary autonomy (ρ = 0.92), and strong negative associations between hybridity and infrastructure dependency (ρ = −0.88). A moderate positive relationship was identified between biotic porosity and hybridity (ρ = 0.67). The analysis also identified three adaptive tectonic typologies—Terracing, Cantilever, and Platform Urbanization—and a territorial taxonomy composed of Resilient, Adaptive, and Consolidating Edges. These findings demonstrate that the Andean urban periphery operates as a heterogeneous continuum rather than a homogeneous expansion zone. Although the statistical relationships should be interpreted as exploratory due to the limited sample size, the framework provides a useful basis for comparative research and resilience-oriented planning in intermediate mountain cities undergoing rapid territorial transformation. Full article