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- Integrated analysis of land suitability of rural areas in the aim of planning and management of border regions of PortugalPublication . Quinta-Nova, L.C.; Castanho, R.A.Biophysical land planning aims to choose the land uses according to soil suitability, contributing to integrated and economically sustainable land use. The unprecedented expansion of the human need for resources requires an approach to decisions regarding land use that would ensure the maintenance of biodiversity and sustainable natural resource utilization for the continued delivery of ecosystem services. Suitability is a measure of how well the qualities of a land unit match the requirements of a particular form of land use. The process of land suitability classification is the evaluation and grouping of specific land areas in terms of their suitability for a defined benefit. There are different methodologies for determining the soil suitability for agricultural systems or natural and seminatural ecosystems, including agricultural uses, forest plantations, agroforestry areas, and priority areas for nature conservation. Many of these methods rely on decision support systems based on multicriteria spatial analysis. In the proposed chapter, we intended to determine the different levels of suitability for land use in the subregion of Beira Baixa, located in the center of Portugal, near the border with Spain. To this effect, we present a land suitability model based on the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) that incorporates a set of climate, soil, and topographic variables. Implementing this spatial data analysis approach could be valuable for stakeholders in land use planning and management.
- Tendencies in land use and land cover in Serbia towards sustainable development in 1990-2018Publication . Vulevic, Ana; Castanho, Rui Alexandre; Naranjo Gómez, José Manuel; Quinta-Nova, L.C.The overuse of natural resources by humanity in recent decades has resulted in noticeable changes in environment quality. Global environmental research is particularly interested in the topics of land use change and land cover. The Republic of Serbia has a diverse spectrum of landforms, with agricultural use taking up the largest portions, followed by forestry, water, and building land. Significant anthropogenic pressures (such as mining, deforestation, urbanization, and uncontrolled land use, among other things) have harmed Serbia's natural resources over the past two decades. This study examines the causes of specific trends in land-use change in Serbia, utilizing the CORINE Land Cover (CLC) database to track temporal and spatial changes in the major categories of land use and land cover from 1990 to 2018. The authors explained that focusing on the rational use of natural resources is the only way to promote sustainable development, legal alignment with EU law, and prompt adoption of harmonized laws and planning documents across all sectors.
- Relationship between landscape pattern and human disturbance in Serbia from 2000 to 2018Publication . Quinta-Nova, L.C.; Naranjo Gómez, José Manuel; Vulevic, Ana; Castanho, Rui Alexandre; Loures, LuísThis study intends to verify how the alteration of the landscape configuration, represented by different metrics of configuration and diversity, is related to the intensity of human disturbance. The objectives of the study are: (1) to quantify the change in land use/land cover (LULC) patterns and the degree of human disturbance in Serbia between 2000 and 2018, and (2) to study the relationship between LULC configuration and the impact resulting from human disturbance under different levels of intensity, to understand how changing trends in landscape pattern can serve as indicators to estimate landscape changes resulting from human actions. The Hemeroby Index (HI) was calculated to quantify the impacts on ecosystems resulting from disturbance caused by human actions. Based on the analysis of the variation in the value corresponding to the HI for the period between 2000 and 2018, the level of naturalness increased by only 5% of the territory of Serbia, with this change being verified mainly in SE Serbia. The landscape pattern was quantified using a set of LULC metrics. We used the Spearman method to identify the existing statistical correlations between the geometric parameters of the landscape and the HIs values. At the landscape level, the Mean Shape Index, Edge Density, Mean Patch Fractal Dimension, and Shannon Diversity Index show a strong negative correlation with HI. This correlation suggests that landscapes with greater structural complexity are good indicators of low levels of hemeroby. At the class level, Edge Density and Mean Patch Size correlate significantly with the HI for artificial surfaces, agricultural areas, forests, and semi-natural areas.