Roxana Cuculici

Understanding landscape change using historical maps. Case study Sinaia, Romania

Abstract Please click here to download the map associated with this article. The aim of this study is to produce a long term analysis of land cover change in Sinaia (Romanian Southern Carpathians), based on a time series of five maps, realised in the years 1790, 1912, 1970, 1990 and 2009. The maps were digitised and for each of the corresponding time periods, the binary change map and the trajectory of change were generated. The maps were produced within a Geographical Information System (GIS) based on a land cover change derived from cartographic digitisation. The scale of the maps created is 1:100,000 and the area is 5727 ha. The comparison of the maps was completed by using appropriate quantitative techniques and documentary sources or subsequent studies. At a historical scale, the main phenomenon was that of forestation, which mainly occurred during the 19th century. In the first part of the 20th century, Sinaia developed as an elegant tourist location and during the second part of the century it became an urban centre, and this evolution left its mark on the landscape structure. Today, an increasing urban pressure can be identified, due to residential expansion and mass-tourism.

Assessment of Agricultural Land Fragmentation in Romania, A Case Study: Izvoarele Commune, Olt County

Agricultural land fragmentation is a common phenomenon in developing countries in general and for Romanian agriculture in particular. The aim of this study was to analyze the degree of fragmentation of Romania’s agricultural land, which is considered a major obstacle in the development of a modern agriculture. The analysis undertaken has shown that the degree of land fragmentation is high in the study area; the most fragmented are the big farms, while the small ones are more compact. At the same time, due to the scattered distribution of plots and the long distances between holdings, many fields have been turned into fallow land and consequently productivity has dropped. Under the circumstances, half of the owners are against the proposed process of merging plots because they are afraid of losing their properties again, as occurred during the communist regime.

Geometric approaches to computing 3D-landscape metrics

The relationships between patterns and processes lie at the core of modern landscape ecology. These dependences can be quantified by using indices related to the patch-corridor-matrix model. This model conceptualizes landscapes as planar mosaics consisting of discrete patches. On the other hand, relief variability is a key factor for many ecological processes, and therefore these processes can be better modeled by integrating information concerning the third dimension of landscapes. This can be done by generating a triangle mesh which approximates the original terrain. The aim of this methodological paper is to introduce two new constructions of triangulations which replace a digital elevation model. These approximation methods are compared with the method which was already used in the computation of 3D-landscape metrics (firstly for parameterized surfaces and secondly for two landscape mosaics). The statistical analysis shows that all three methods are of almost equal sensitivity in reflecting the relationship between terrain ruggedness and the patches areas and perimeters. In particular, either of the methods can be used for approximating the real values of these basic metrics. However, the two methods introduced in this paper have the advantage of yielding continuous approximations of the terrain, and this fact could be useful for further developments.