Two-Scaled Identification of Landscape Character Types and Areas: A Case Study of the Yunnan–Vietnam Railway (Yunnan Section), China
Round 1
Reviewer 1 Report
The abstract is not clear and needs more elaboration on the research hypotheses and questions.
The objective of the paper, stated at the end of the introduction, is not further developed in the results and in the conclusion.
In the conclusion part of the paper, it is stated that the results of the research have relevant implications for landscape conservation and policy-making. However, there is no specification on how these results could be effectively and practically used.
The paper looks like a report on how the process of LCA has been conducted at the level of the region and the railway. It would be important to let the reader understand why and how the results could be of interest for landscape protection and conservation of a linear heritage landscape.
There is a need for editing the English in the abstract, introduction, and conclusion.
Author Response
Response letter
Dear Reviewer，
We gratefully appreciate for your valuable suggestion and comment. These opinions definitely helped us to improve the quality of the manuscript. In the following, we include a point-by-point response to your suggestion and comment. In the revised manuscript, all the changes have been marked up using the “Track Changes” function. Display Marked is Balloon.
Comment1: The abstract is not clear and needs more elaboration on the research hypotheses and questions.
Response: Thanks for your suggestion. We have rewritten the abstract. The research hypotheses and questions have been revised in the abstract (line10-25, page1).
The abstract has been rewritten as follow:
In recent decades, the roles of heritage railways are gradually shifting from transportation, economy and trade to tourism, culture and ecology. The heritage railway landscapes are experiencing multiple changes and value ambiguity problem. There is a need to comprehensively recognize the landscape to promote its transformation and monitor the change. Inspired by the Landscape Character Assessment (LCA), this paper adopted a two-scaled identification framework of landscape character types and areas of the Yunnan-Vietnam Railway (the Yun-nan section) by integrating holistic and parametric methods. At the regional scale, the landscape character was divided by five natural variables—landform, vegetation, hydrology, soil, and geology. At the corridor scale, the landscape character was classified by six natural and cultural variables: altitude, relief, slope, aspect, land use, and heritage density. At these two scales, k-prototypes cluster analysis and multiresolution segmentation tool were used to identify landscape character types and areas. The results showed that there were 11 different landscape character types and 80 landscape character areas at the regional scale, and 12 different land-scape character types and 58 landscape character areas at the corridor scale. Furthermore, the composition, area and distribution of these landscape character types and areas were de-scribed. The results of the study can form a database for planning, management, and evaluation to the railway.
Comment2: The objective of the paper, stated at the end of the introduction, is not further developed in the results and in the conclusion.
Response: Thank you for pointing out our shortcomings. The objective of the paper stated at the end of the introduction has been revised (line 407-554, page 2). The objective has been developed further in the results (line 406-557, page 7-16). The objective has been developed further in the conclusion (line 696-712, page16).
The objective of the paper has been revised as follow:
The main objective of this study is to provide a more efficient and flexible framework of LCA to recognize the railway landscape characteristics. Specific objectives are: (i) to describe a two-scaled identification of landscape character types and areas for the railway by integrating holistic and parametric methods, which can provide a reference for other heritage railway or linear heritage research; (ii)to identify the natural and cultural characteristics of the heritage railway at two scales to provide a basic data-base for future planning, management and evaluation.
Comment3: In the conclusion part of the paper, it is stated that the results of the research have relevant implications for landscape conservation and policy-making. However, there is no specification on how these results could be effectively and practically used.
Response: Thank you for suggestion. The conclusion of the paper has been revised as your suggestion (line 694-712, page16).
The conclusion has been revised as follow:
This paper adopted a two-scaled identification framework of landscape character types and areas in the Yunnan-Vietnam Railway (the Yunnan section) by integrating holistic and parametric methods. The framework can effectively identify the natural and cultural characteristics of the railway. Due to the flexibility of the method and da-ta sources, it can be applied to other heritage railway or linear heritage. Additionally, we identified 11 landscape character types and 80 landscape character areas at the regional scale and 12 landscape character types and 58 landscape character areas at the corridor scale. Identified landscape character types and areas help to explain characteristics that provide a locality its ‘sense of place’ and pinpointing the heterogeneity of adjacent areas, which is of great significance for landscape management, planning and evaluation. Thirdly, the indicator composition, area and distribution of these land-scape character types and areas were described. The ratios of the landscape indicators to the variables were closely related to the landscape character types. The higher the ratios, the more likely they were to be prominent or typical landscape types. The spatial distribution of the landscape character areas indicated that the landscape character areas were more distributed when closer to an urban area and vice versa. The analysis results are helpful to recognize the overall landscape characteristics as well as the dominant, typical and general characteristics in different types. It is helpful for planners, managers and stakeholders to quickly grasp landscape type characteristics and regional distribution rules These analysis results can help planners, managers and stakeholders to scientifically understand the overall and individual characteristics of the types and the distribution rules of the areas.
Comment4: The paper looks like a report on how the process of LCA has been conducted at the level of the region and the railway. It would be important to let the reader understand why and how the results could be of interest for landscape protection and conservation of a linear heritage landscape.
Response: Thanks for your comment and suggestion. The main objective of this study is to provide a more efficient and flexible framework of LCA to recognize the railway landscape characteristics. The description of landscape character types and areas in the result section may lead to the paper similar to a research report. Therefore, we have further analyzed and summarized the results. In the future, we will also carry out landscape character changes and surface based on landscape character.
This paper adopted a two-scaled identification framework of landscape character types and areas in the Yunnan-Vietnam Railway (the Yunnan section) by integrating holistic and parametric methods. The framework can effectively identify the natural and cultural characteristics of the railway. Due to the flexibility of the method and da-ta sources, it can be applied to other heritage railway or linear heritage. Firstly, heritage railway is an important type of linear heritage. The two-scaled identification framework of the paper can effectively identify the natural and cultural characteristics of the railway. Due to the flexibility of the method and data sources, it can be applied to other heritage railway or linear heritage. Secondly, identified landscape character types and areas help to explain characteristics that provide a locality its ‘sense of place’ and pinpointing the heterogeneity of adjacent areas, which is of great significance for landscape protection and conservation of a linear heritage landscape.
Comment5: There is a need for editing the English in the abstract, introduction, and conclusion.
Response: Thank you for suggestion. The article has been edited the English by MDPI.
Author Response File: 
Author Response.pdf
Reviewer 2 Report
Manuscript ID: sustainability-2228936-peer-review
Title: Two-scaled identification of Landscape character types and areas: a case of the Yunnan-Vietnam Railway (the Yunnan section), China
Journal: Sustainability
The article addresses a topic of interest and relevance, but presents some methodological problems. The submitted manuscript covers an interesting and up-to-date topic. But there are some shortcomings in this paper. I recommend minor revisions for this study based on my comments below. After the improvement, this manuscript could be published.
Ø The abstract is too generic. Please give the numerical results in this section. The abstract should consist of an easy to understand summary of the study, its methodology and obtained results. It is difficult to understand the research questions and what is expected from the study. How do these studies set up the context for this? Given the number of studies in this research area; what gap will this study fill in the literature?
Ø The introduction lacks a deep clarification and focuses on the research problem. For example, what is the contribution/novelty of this study? What kind of local and global knowledge the authors want to improve?
* Figure 3's color scale is mixed.
* What is landscape area surface temperature, please explain it in detail? Although there has been a literature review on the subject, the expressions and structuring are insufficient. Please look at these references:
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apgeog.2020.102359
https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-022-24341-6
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2021.113970
* Linear scale should be added for figure 1 (for the left)
* The shapes are beautifully crafted Especially A1 and A2
Ø Materials and Methods are descriptive and provide any information related to the input data and the methodology used in the study. Method description is sufficient.
Ø Results can be argued a little more strongly. Research findings should be discussed with other studies. This part is very important. Discussed references can be increased.
Ø Discussion- Compare your own results in the discussion. It is not correct to give only literature information
Ø The conclusion section contains study result expressions.
The current study could be interesting for land surface temperature for sustainable cities. But this research has minor methodological flaws. Results should also be explained in clear terms. Relevant literatures should be consulted and discussed. What will be the effect on the surface temperature of the landscape area? How planners will use this data? How will results affect planner design and planning? please answer these questions? At this point, the paper will need to have revisions restructuring.
Comments for author File: Comments.pdf
Author Response
Response letter
Dear Reviewer,
We would like to begin with our sincere appreciation for all your valuable comments, insightful suggestions and thoughtful corrections. we include a point-by-point response to your suggestion and comment. In the revised manuscript, all the changes have been marked up using the “Track Changes” function. Display Marked is Balloon.
General comment: The article addresses a topic of interest and relevance, but presents some methodological problems. The submitted manuscript covers an interesting and up-to-date topic. But there are some shortcomings in this paper. I recommend minor revisions for this study based on my comments below. After the improvement, this manuscript could be published.
Comment 1: The abstract is too generic. Please give the numerical results in this section. The abstract should consist of an easy to understand summary of the study, its methodology and obtained results. It is difficult to understand the research questions and what is expected from the study. How do these studies set up the context for this? Given the number of studies in this research area; what gap will this study fill in the literature?
Response: Thanks for your suggestion. We have rewritten the abstract as your suggestion (line10-25, page1). Specifically, we include a point-by-point response to your questions.
Questions1: It is difficult to understand the research questions and what is expected from the study.
Response: The research question of the paper is “In recent decades, the heritage railway landscapes are experiencing multiple changes and value ambiguity problem for the role transformation of the railway”. We expected to comprehensively understanding the natural and cultural landscape features of the Yunnan-Vietnam Railway (the Yunnan section) to promote its transformation and monitor the landscape change. We also want to provide a more comprehensive framework of landscape character assessment for heritage railways from the study.
Questions2: How do these studies set up the context for this?
Response: In recent decades, the heritage railway landscapes are experiencing multiple changes and value ambiguity problem for the role transformation of the railway. There is a need to comprehensively understanding the landscape to promote its transformation and monitor the change. Landscape Character Assessment is a tool for identifying the features that give a locality its ‘sense of place’, and it helps to monitor change in the environment.
Questions3: what gap will this study fill in the literature?
Response: Mixed attributes and variable independence of data are not taken into account in current research on multi-scale landscape character. In addition, despite its widespread use in rural areas and national parks, landscape character assessment has not been extended to railway research.
The abstract of the paper has been rewritten as follow:
In recent decades, the roles of heritage railways are gradually shifting from transportation, economy and trade to tourism, culture and ecology. The heritage railway landscapes are experiencing multiple changes and value ambiguity problem. There is a need to comprehensively recognize the landscape to promote its transformation and monitor the change. Inspired by the Landscape Character Assessment (LCA), this paper adopted a two-scaled identification framework of landscape character types and areas of the Yunnan-Vietnam Railway (the Yun-nan section) by integrating holistic and parametric methods. At the regional scale, the landscape character was divided by five natural variables—landform, vegetation, hydrology, soil, and geology. At the corridor scale, the landscape character was classified by six natural and cultural variables: altitude, relief, slope, aspect, land use, and heritage density. At these two scales, k-prototypes cluster analysis and multiresolution segmentation tool were used to identify landscape character types and areas. The results showed that there were 11 different landscape character types and 80 landscape character areas at the regional scale, and 12 different land-scape character types and 58 landscape character areas at the corridor scale. Furthermore, the composition, area and distribution of these landscape character types and areas were de-scribed. The results of the study can form a database for planning, management, and evaluation to the railway.
Comment2: The introduction lacks a deep clarification and focuses on the research problem. For example, what is the contribution/novelty of this study? What kind of local and global knowledge the authors want to improve?
* Figure 3's color scale is mixed.
* What is landscape area surface temperature, please explain it in detail? Although there has been a literature review on the subject, the expressions and structuring are insufficient. Please look at these references:
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apgeog.2020.102359
https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-022-24341-6
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2021.113970
* Linear scale should be added for figure 1 (for the left)
* The shapes are beautifully crafted Especially A1 and A2
Response: Thanks for your suggestion. We have rewritten the abstract as your suggestion. Specifically, we include a point-by-point response to your questions.
Questions1: The introduction lacks a deep clarification and focuses on the research problem. For example, what is the contribution/novelty of this study? What kind of local and global knowledge the authors want to improve?
Response: Thanks for your suggestion. The introduction has been improved in the revised manuscript (line29-1149, page1-2). The contributions of this study are to divide the two-scaled landscape character of the Yunnan-Vietnam Railway (the Yunnan section) by considering the correlations, dimensional differences, and data mixture attributes of the landscape variables, and introduce LCA to heritage railway research. The aim of this paper is to provide a more efficient and flexible framework of LCA for other heritage railway or linear heritage research, as well as provide a basic database for future planning, management and development of heritage railways.
Questions2: Figure 3's color scale is mixed.
Response: Thank you for pointing out our mistake. Figure 3's mixed color have been corrected.
Questions3: * What is landscape area surface temperature, please explain it in detail? Although there has been a literature review on the subject, the expressions and structuring are insufficient. Please look at these references:
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apgeog.2020.102359
https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-022-24341-6
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2021.113970
Response: Thank you for your suggestion. We have carefully read the references. In this paper, we classified and described the landscape character types and areas of the Yunnan-Vietnam Railway (the Yunnan section). Furthermore, the composition, area and distribution of these landscape character types and areas were described. In the future, we may carry out more in-depth research on landscape area surface temperature based on landscape character, but this paper may not cover surface temperature. Landscape characteristic surfaces may contain a lot of information in this paper. For instance, at the regional scale, the ratios of the landscape indicators to the landscape character types indicated the common feature of the railway that landform was prominent in or typical of a plateau lake basin subregion and karst middle mountain platform subregion. The vegetation included various types of was dominated by needleleaf forests in the subtropical zone, and it included grasslands and steppes in both the subtropical and tropical zones. The hydrology was characterized by plateau lakes and natural rivers where the soil dominated by red earths, while the geology included various typologies of the Triassic system, Cambrian system, Devonian system, Nanhua system, Mesoproterozoic erathem, Quaternary system, and Jurassic system
Questions4: * Linear scale should be added for figure 1 (for the left)
Response: Thank you for pointing out our mistake. Linear scale has been added for figure 1 (for the left).
Questions5: * The shapes are beautifully crafted Especially A1 and A2
Response: We would like to begin with our sincere appreciation for your encouragement.
Comment 3: Materials and Methods are descriptive and provide any information related to the input data and the methodology used in the study. Method description is sufficient.
Response: Thank you for your comment.
Comment 4: Results can be argued a little more strongly. Research findings should be discussed with other studies. This part is very important. Discussed references can be increased.
Comment 5: Discussion- Compare your own results in the discussion. It is not correct to give only literature information.
Response: Thank you for your suggestions. In this article, the argument and discussion of the results is mainly in the discussion section. We have made these corrections in the discussion as your suggestion (line 579-620, page15).
Comment 6: The conclusion section contains study result expressions.
The current study could be interesting for land surface temperature for sustainable cities. But this research has minor methodological flaws. Results should also be explained in clear terms. Relevant literatures should be consulted and discussed. What will be the effect on the surface temperature of the landscape area? How planners will use this data? How will results affect planner design and planning? please answer these questions? At this point, the paper will need to have revisions restructuring.
Response: Thank you for your suggestions. We have made these corrections in the conclusion as your suggestion (line 695-712, page16).
Questions1: What will be the effect on the surface temperature of the landscape area?
Response: Thank you for your question. Landscape characteristic variables such as elevation, slope, vegetation and land use may affect the seasonal temperature changes. In the future, we may carry out more in-depth research on landscape area surface temperature based on landscape character, but this paper may not cover surface temperature.
Questions2: How planners will use this data? How will results affect planner design and planning?
Planners can use the results (this data) as a database for planners to plan, manage and make judgment. This paper adopted a two-scaled identification framework of landscape character types and areas in the Yunnan-Vietnam Railway (the Yunnan section) by integrating holistic and parametric methods. The framework can effectively identify the natural and cultural characteristics of the railway. Additionally, identified landscape character types and areas help to explain characteristics that provide a locality its ‘sense of place’ and pinpointing the heterogeneity of adjacent areas. Thirdly, the analysis results of composition, area and distribution of these land-scape character types and areas can help planners, managers and stakeholders to scientifically understand the overall and individual characteristics of the types and the distribution rules of the areas. In a word, our results can help planners make their planning and design more effective and scientific.
Author Response File: Author Response.pdf
Reviewer 3 Report
It is a work correctly approached and presented. Although it is not scientifically very new. The authors should explain the significance of their work clearly in the abstract and introduction sections.
Here are my specific comments:
Please rewrite the abstract by focusing on your main findings and their significance instead of writing a description of the geography of the study area.
In line 46, please use the abbreviation of GIS.
There should be some reference literature citations in the study area section.
In lines 95 and 112, you should mention the name of DEM whether it is ASTER GDEM or SRTM DEM or some other source for replication your study in some other area.
There is no need to discuss the name of the Software (e.g., SPSS, eCognition) again and again. You just need to write the name of the process used for processing and analysis.
In line 167, the authors will need to explain briefly why you are using multi-resolution segmentation and how it works for object creation.
Author Response
Response letter
Dear reviewer,
Thank you for offering us an opportunity to improve the quality of our submitted manuscript. We appreciated very much the constructive and insightful comments. we include a point-by-point response to your suggestion and comment. In the revised manuscript, all the changes have been marked up using the “Track Changes” function. Display Marked is Balloon.
General comment: It is a work correctly approached and presented. Although it is not scientifically very new. The authors should explain the significance of their work clearly in the abstract and introduction sections.
Comment1: Please rewrite the abstract by focusing on your main findings and their significance instead of writing a description of the geography of the study area.
Response: Thanks for your suggestion. We have rewritten the abstract (line 10-25, page1).
The abstract of the paper has been rewritten as follow:
In recent decades, the roles of heritage railways are gradually shifting from transportation, economy and trade to tourism, culture and ecology. The heritage railway landscapes are expe-riencing multiple changes and value ambiguity problem. There is a need to comprehensively recognize the landscape to promote its transformation and monitor the change. Inspired by the Landscape Character Assessment (LCA), this paper adopted a two-scaled identification framework of landscape character types and areas of the Yunnan-Vietnam Railway (the Yun-nan section) by integrating holistic and parametric methods. At the regional scale, the landscape character was divided by five natural variables—landform, vegetation, hydrology, soil, and geology. At the corridor scale, the landscape character was classified by six natural and cultural variables: altitude, relief, slope, aspect, land use, and heritage density. At these two scales, k-prototypes cluster analysis and multiresolution segmentation tool were used to identify landscape character types and areas. The results showed that there were 11 different landscape character types and 80 landscape character areas at the regional scale, and 12 different landscape character types and 58 landscape character areas at the corridor scale. Furthermore, the composition, area and distribution of these landscape character types and areas were de-scribed. The results of the study can form a database for planning, management, and evaluation to the railway.
Comment2: In line 46, please use the abbreviation of GIS.
Response: Thanks for pointing out our mistakes. We have modified the abbreviation from GIS to ArcGIS (line 289, page 3; line339, page6).
Comment3: There should be some reference literature citations in the study area section.
Response: Thanks for your suggestion. We have added some reference literature to the study area section (line 156, line160, page 2).
Comment4: In lines 95 and 112, you should mention the name of DEM whether it is ASTER GDEM or SRTM DEM or some other source for replication your study in some other area.
Response: Thanks for pointing out our mistakes. The DEM is ASTER GDEM at the regional scale, and it is ALOS M DEM at the corridor scale. (line285, page4; line312, page5)
Comment5: There is no need to discuss the name of the Software (e.g., SPSS, eCognition) again and again. You just need to write the name of the process used for processing and analysis.
Response: Thanks for your suggestion. We have removed some unnecessary software names (e.g., SPSS, eCognition, ArcGIS, Python).
Comment6: In line 167, the authors will need to explain briefly why you are using multi-resolution segmentation and how it works for object creation.
Response: Thanks for your suggestion. The explain have been added to the analysis methods (line 389-391, page 8). Multi-resolution segmentation (MRS) a bottom up region merging technique, which has been commonly used for the image classification objects, it has been commonly applied to image processing and classification. The control variable method was used to set the parameters of MRS. After setting the parameters, MRS can perform automatic cutting automatic segmentation.
Author Response File: Author Response.pdf
Round 2
Reviewer 3 Report
The authors have addressed my comments. I think now manuscript is in good form.
