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Sustainability
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Transformation Processes in Landscape and Their Impact on Sustainable Development
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Transformation Processes in Landscape and Their Impact on Sustainable Development

A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Sustainability in Geographic Science".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (1 January 2023) | Viewed by 10211

Special Issue Editor

Dr. Jana Vojteková

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Geography and Regional Development, Faculty of Natural Sciences, Constantine the Philosopher University in Nitra, Slovakia
Interests: transformation processes in landscape; natural hazards – landslides, floods; impacts of mining activities on landscape; Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and Remote Sensing (RS); didactics of geography

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues, 

This special issue of the Sustainability journal, which is entitled Transformation Processes in Landscape and Their Impact on Sustainable Development, deals with the impact of socio-economic and natural factors on the landscape and its sustainability. For almost a century, modern science has been analyzing the landscape, characterizing and describing its components, examining its development, revealing the effects of individual landscape factors, modeling and predicting the relationships among individual elements. Landscape development is thus a long-term process influenced by many factors. Landscape changes are mainly influenced by human impacts, which influence is constantly growing and it is also reflected in natural processes. As a result, landscape and, particularly land use/land cover, mapping and changes play an important role in planning a sustainable future.

The authors are encouraged to submit contributions to this special issue in the following priority areas:

Landscape transformation from the past to the present – Mapping, analysis and development of the landscape as well as prediction in compliance with current environmental, economic and social conditions, which can help support policy decisions and guide transformation changes. This can also help to promote sustainable land use, spatial and landscape-ecological planning and development as well as landscape care and management. In addition, stability of the landscape indicates areas without change in its use and the degree of origin of ecosystems, which is useful not only for nature protection.

Impact of socio-economic and natural factors on the landscape –The impact of socio-economic factors on the landscape can be represented, for example, by the surface or subsurface mining activities, deforestation, waste management, urbanization, and the like. On the contrary, natural factors affect the landscape mainly in the form of natural hazards like floods, forest fires, landslides, erosion, and the like. The influence of both types of factors (natural and socio-economic) is also reflected in the landscape transformation processes, but also in other areas, such as forestry, agriculture, water management, and many more. 

Dr. Jana Vojteková
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Sustainability is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • transformation processes in landscape
  • landscape changes
  • land use/land cover changes
  • landscape stability
  • sustainable development
  • GIS and remote sensing
  • natural and socio-economic impacts on landscape

Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

14 pages, 1222 KiB  
Article
Long-Term Landscape Dynamics to Assess Land Degradation Hypotheses—An Exploratory Study of Evidence from Travelers’ Narrations
by Vassilis Detsis, Eleni Gkadolou, Katerina Koutsovoulou and Georgios Tolias
Sustainability 2022, 14(14), 8543; https://doi.org/10.3390/su14148543 - 12 Jul 2022
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1189
Abstract
The present study aims to provide a method for extending the scope of empirical landscape studies into the more distant past and to use it to contribute to the discourse on land degradation in the Mediterranean area. In many areas of the world, [...] Read more.
The present study aims to provide a method for extending the scope of empirical landscape studies into the more distant past and to use it to contribute to the discourse on land degradation in the Mediterranean area. In many areas of the world, the lack of spatially explicit sources, such as historical land cover maps and cadasters, is an obstacle to extending the study of landscape dynamics in the past. Information mined from travelers’ texts can be used to overcome it. Landscape descriptions retrieved from W.M. Leake’s narration of his travels in Peloponnese, Greece, in 1805 and 1806, were georeferenced and used to test for the occurrence of land degradation by comparing historical to current landscapes. A widespread transition of natural vegetation to agricultural areas was found mostly in low altitudes. Limited rewilding occurred on steeper slopes. About a third of the historical Greek fir forests were degraded to open stands. A total of 40% of the locations covered by deciduous oak forests were converted to agricultural areas; most of the rest of these locations were converted to vegetation types characteristic of lower precipitation and soil fertility. Long-term dynamics can be efficiently assessed using narrations as a source of information. The comparison of early 19th century descriptions with the current condition suggests that limited land degradation did take place in the previous centuries in the study area. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Transformation Processes in Landscape and Their Impact on Sustainable Development)
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15 pages, 4261 KiB  
Article
Anthropogenic Actions and Socioenvironmental Changes in Lake of Juá, Brazilian Amazonia
by Marcelia Castro Cardoso, Helionora da Silva Alves, Izaura Cristina Nunes Pereira Costa and Thiago Almeida Vieira
Sustainability 2021, 13(16), 9134; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13169134 - 15 Aug 2021
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 2203
Abstract
The Amazonia rainforest has natural spaces that have undergone extensive and intense transformations, mainly to meet economic demands, camouflaged in biological and social needs. As one of the consequences of this process, the production and expansion of the urban space stand out. In [...] Read more.
The Amazonia rainforest has natural spaces that have undergone extensive and intense transformations, mainly to meet economic demands, camouflaged in biological and social needs. As one of the consequences of this process, the production and expansion of the urban space stand out. In this context, this research describes the historical, spatial, and temporal aspects of land use and occupation in the surroundings of Lake of Juá, located in the municipality of Santarém, west of the State of Pará, Brazil, in order to highlight the main changes in the landscape and socioenvironmental changes arising from this dynamic. The study was conducted based on photographic records, elaboration, and analysis of cartographic data, in addition to the perceptions of residents and fishermen located in the study area, which, together, contributed to the understanding of the historical and spatial changes that led to the current socioenvironmental transformations in the surroundings of the lake. The residents and local fishermen of Lake of Juá, through semi-structured interviews, listed several socioenvironmental overlapping problems that had many impacts on this lake ecosystem, such as deforestation, silting, contamination of water resources and, consequently, fishing resources, loss of biodiversity and conflict of interest. The degradation and decharacterization of the landscape around the lake has compromised the maintenance of this lake ecosystem, as significant and even irreversible transformations have been caused in the community and in the ecological environment, especially when taking into account the absence of public policies or their inefficiency. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Transformation Processes in Landscape and Their Impact on Sustainable Development)
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18 pages, 3470 KiB  
Article
Development Trends in the Crop Production in Slovakia after Accession to the European Union—Case Study, Slovakia
by Jana Némethová and Ľubomír Rybanský
Sustainability 2021, 13(15), 8512; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13158512 - 30 Jul 2021
Cited by 7 | Viewed by 3068
Abstract
The development of agriculture in Slovakia in the last three decades has been influenced by two events: the transformation of agriculture after 1989 and Slovakia’s accession to the European Union in 2004. In this paper, we analyze the effects of Slovakia’s accession to [...] Read more.
The development of agriculture in Slovakia in the last three decades has been influenced by two events: the transformation of agriculture after 1989 and Slovakia’s accession to the European Union in 2004. In this paper, we analyze the effects of Slovakia’s accession to the European Union on the development and structure of crop production. The aim of the paper was to identify connections, parallels and differences between the developments of the sown areas of the most important crops at the level of Slovakia and its regions in the period 2004–2020. Cluster analysis based on the similarity of the development of the sown areas divided the crops into four clusters (cereals; sugar-beet; oilseeds, multiannual fodder crops, maize; legumes, vegetables, potatoes). Multivariate analyses of the time series of sown areas also revealed similarities and differences between the regions of Slovakia. The results of the analysis point to regional differentiation and the identify two clusters. The first cluster comprises the Nitra and Trnava Regions, while the second cluster consists of the remaining six regions. The study has shown that changes in the agrarian sector after 2004, conditioned by Slovakia’s accession to the European Union, have been reflected in changes in the area and structure of cultivated crops, and in the differentiated development of sown areas. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Transformation Processes in Landscape and Their Impact on Sustainable Development)
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24 pages, 1169 KiB  
Article
The Monitoring of Selected Heavy Metals Content and Bioavailability in the Soil-Plant System and Its Impact on Sustainability in Agribusiness Food Chains
by Melánia Feszterová, Lýdia Porubcová and Anna Tirpáková
Sustainability 2021, 13(13), 7021; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13137021 - 22 Jun 2021
Cited by 19 | Viewed by 2801
Abstract
This study assisted in identifying and preventing the increase in heavy metals in soil and winter wheat. Its accumulation can affect cultivated crops, quality and crop yields, and consumers’ health. Selected heavy metals were analyzed using the GTAAS method. They were undertaken on [...] Read more.
This study assisted in identifying and preventing the increase in heavy metals in soil and winter wheat. Its accumulation can affect cultivated crops, quality and crop yields, and consumers’ health. Selected heavy metals were analyzed using the GTAAS method. They were undertaken on selected heavy metals content (Cd, Cu, Pb, and Zn) in arable soils at three sites in Slovakia and their accumulation in parts of cultivated winter wheat. Our study showed that the limit value of Cd in soil samples was exceeded in the monitored arable soils from 2017–2019. The average content values of Cu and Zn did not exceed the limit values, even in Pb values (except for the spring period). The analyses also showed that the heavy metals content for plants bioavailable in soil did not exceed the statutory critical values for Cd, Cu, and Zn’s average content values. However, Pb content exceeded permitted critical values. Heavy metals bioaccumulation (Zn, Cu) was within the limit values in wheat. Analyzed Cd content in wheat roots and Pb content were determined in all parts of wheat except grain. The study showed that grain from cultivated winter wheat in monitored arable soils is not a risk for consumers. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Transformation Processes in Landscape and Their Impact on Sustainable Development)
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