Trudie Dockerty

Rural landscape visualisation from GIS databases: a comparison of approaches, options and problems

As public participation in environmental decision-making becomes more prevalent, there is a growing need to communicate effectively with a non-expert audience. Visual presentation has been identified as an effective means of communicating landscape-related information, particularly due to the increasing ease with which computer visualisation techniques can utilise GIS data. Such data are already widely used when assessing environmental and landscape issues, and there are several different ways in which visualisations may be produced; this paper sets out a typology encompassing the most popular techniques, and, using a common GIS database, proceeds to assesses a number of different visualisation software packages. Three primary issues are considered: data needs; ease of use; and quality of output. Examples of visualisations produced in each software package are provided for comparison.

Visualising the potential impacts of climate change on rural landscapes

Climate change is an issue that will increasingly require policy consideration, but for which knowledge and information at the local or landscape scale is either lacking or largely inaccessible. This paper explores the possibility of reinterpreting climate impacts information and presenting it through GIS-based visualisations in a manner that might assist decision-making at the local level. A GIS database was constructed for an agricultural landscape in Norfolk. Future land-use changes under climate change scenario for the 2020s, provided by a land use allocation model at 1 km grid-square resolution, were downscaled to the field-level database using a series of decision rules. The predicted land use changes were then visualised using photorealistic image rendering software. As a technical exercise this work illustrates the extent of recent advances in GIS-based visualisation, but it is also recognised that there needs to be further work on a range of topics (including impact assessment methodologies, the representation of uncertainty and design guidelines) if such images are to be widely used as a information provision and decision support tool in relation to climate change.

The availability of land for perennial energy crops in Great Britain

This paper defines the potentially available land for perennial energy crops across Great Britain as the first component of a broader appraisal undertaken by the ‘Spatial Modelling of Bioenergy in Great Britain to 2050’ project. Combining data on seven primary constraints in a GIS reduced the available area to just over 9 M ha (40% of GB). Adding other restrictions based on land cover naturalness scores to represent landscape considerations resulted in a final area of 8.5 M ha (37% of GB). This distribution was compared with the locations of Miscanthus and SRC willow established under the English Energy Crop Scheme during 2001–2011 and it was found that 83% of the planting fell within the defined available land. Such a correspondence provides confidence that the factors considered in the analysis were broadly consistent with previous planting decisions.

Climate change and nature reserves: Examining the potential impacts, with examples from Great Britain

A climate change trend analysis (CCTA) was carried out on selected plant species from 66 nature reserves. The CCTA indicates trend in probability of presence under various climate change scenarios. The results demonstrate the potential of the approach to identify locations that might become less suitable for particular species as the climate warms, and sites where certain species might become more vigorous. The approach also offers the potential to identify (a) locations where changes in plant populations may provide an indicator of climate change (b) whether conservation strategies currently in place will remain feasible as climate changes.

Public opinion on energy crops in the landscape: considerations for the expansion of renewable energy from biomass.

Public attitudes were assessed towards two dedicated biomass crops – Miscanthus and Short Rotation Coppice (SRC), particularly regarding their visual impacts in the landscape. Results are based on responses to photographic and computer-generated images as the crops are still relatively scarce in the landscape. A questionnaire survey indicated little public concern about potential landscape aesthetics but more concern about attendant built infrastructure. Focus group meetings and interviews indicated support for biomass end uses that bring direct benefits to local communities. Questions arise as to how well the imagery used was able to portray the true nature of these tall, dense, perennial plants but based on the responses obtained and given the caveat that there was limited personal experience of the crops, it appears unlikely that wide-scale planting of biomass crops will give rise to substantial public concern in relation to their visual impact in the landscape.

Modelling land-use scenarios to reduce groundwater nitrate pollution: the European Water4All project

The Water4All project funded by the EU InterregIIIB programme aimed to demonstrate groundwater protection in the context of spatial planning and the implementation of the EU Water Framework Directive. Through a series of workshops, the four partner countries (Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and the UK) developed a handbook containing an approach for risk-based land and water management to reduce diffuse pollution of groundwater from agricultural sources. Best practice guidelines were catalogued as a matrix of compensated and non-compensated ‘soft’ to ‘hard’ measures and were supported by illustrative case studies. The Water4All project also showed that spatially targeted measures can have wider benefits as part of a ‘whole landscape’ approach to planning and management. As an example, this paper explores a set of theoretical land-use scenarios, developed in consultation with stakeholders, which could potentially decrease nitrate concentrations in the regionally important Lincolnshire Limestone aquifer in eastern England. The results of a combined export coefficient and numerical groundwater modelling approach showed that a decrease in groundwater nitrate concentrations can be achieved over several decades with the implementation of a groundwater protection zone in which there is a significant element of land conversion from arable to woodland and grass. Hence, a long-term commitment to land management is required if the alternative and expensive end-of-pipe water treatment is to be avoided.

Why don’t patients take their analgesics? A meta-ethnography assessing the perceptions of medication adherence in patients with osteoarthritis

Whilst analgesics and medications have demonstrated efficacy for people with osteoarthritis, their effectiveness is dependent on adherence. This has previously been reported as particularly low in this population. The purpose of this meta-ethnography was to explore possible perceptions for this. A systematic review of published and unpublished literature was undertaken. All qualitative studies assessing the attitudes or perceptions of people with osteoarthritis towards medication adherence were eligible. Study quality was assessed using the Critical Appraisal Skills Programme qualitative tool. Analysis was undertaken using a meta-ethnography approach, distilling to a third-order construct and developing a line of argument. From 881 citations, five studies met the eligibility criteria. The meta-ethnography generated a model where medication adherence for people with osteoarthritis is perceived as a balance between the willingness and preference to take medications with the alterative being toleration of symptoms. Motivators to influence this ‘balance’ may fluctuate and change over time but include: severity of symptoms, education and understanding of osteoarthritis and current medications, or general health which may raise issues for poly-pharmacy as other medications are added or substituted into the patient’s formulary. Medicine adherence in people with osteoarthritis is complex, involving motivators which will fluctuate in impact on individuals at different points along the disease progression. Awareness of each motivator may better inform clinicians as to what education, support or change in prescription practice should be adopted to ensure that medicine adherence is individualised to better promote long-term behaviour change.