What are Landscapes?
Landscapes are a result of the interaction between the physical and natural environment (soil, flora, fauna, climate) and present and past social and cultural factors (land use, settlement, other human activities)
How are Landscapes influenced? How would you discribe their structure?
Anthropogenous (Farming, Settlements, Streets, …) -> e.g. From Woodland to Cultural Land
Natural (Wind, Water, Fire, Radiation, Vulcanos,….)
-> Landscapes are heterognous
Explain the Patch-Corridor- Matrix Conzept
Landscape can be considered as spatial mosaic of ecosystems.
Patches: (Inseln) Elements that look like islands in the landscape (settlements, woodland,…)
Corridors: linear elements like roads, railways, streams,…
Matrix: background to the patches and corridors (e.g. farmland)
What are landscapes from a ecologist´s perspective?
Result of natural and anthropogenous processes
are changing (gradually, suddenly or catastrophically)
are open systems
are heterogenous (vertically: atmosphere, hydrosphere, litosphere,… /
horizontally: woodland, fields, urban,…)
superimposed patterns in a temporal perspective (Überlagert)
What is the origin of the term landscape?
Term originally discribed a limited unit of land that is occupied / inhabited by a organized group of people.
What is planning?
Planning is the mental anticipation of future action. Use of knowledge for decicion making.
What does planning require?
clear objectives
reference to concrete action
knowledge
creativity
communication and coordination
systematic approach
What are the tasks of landscape planning?
Information: knowledge about current and planned ecological and aesthetic state of landscape for decicion makers and public (potentials and conflicts)
Conceptualisation: how can certain goals be achieved? measures and strategies
Contribution: contributes to comprehensive spatial planning, what requirements do we have in other sectors (infrastructure, forestry, agriculture)
Coordination: coordinates activities for conserving, managing and developing landscapes
Participation: involves key actors (authorities and public)
What are the current challenges for Landscape Planning in Germany?
Reduce land consumption (goal from 60 to 30 hectares a day by 2020)
Intensive agriculture (pollution, soil erosion and compaction, water consupmtion for irrigation, habitat destruction)
Regenerative energy and renewable raw materials (site selection, …)
Loss of biodiversity
Climate protection, mitigation and adaptation (settlements, urban green spaces, watermanagement and flood protection)
Human health and wellbeing (social, sport, recreation)
Increase social environmental justice (equal distribution and good accessability)
Fill in the general steps of the landscape planning cycle:
Who is involved in landscape planning on a local level?
Municipality (planning authority has the legal mandate to provide general interest services)
Landscape Planner (plan author prepares plan on behalf of municipality)
Citizens and NGO´s (Provide local knowledge and participate inplanning process)
Sector agencies (contribute to specify the planning task and provide needful informations)
What is the difference between formal procedures and informal procedures?
Characteristics of formal procedures:
Public authority needs to involve public by law
results in administrative or political decission
Characteristics of informal procedures:
less top-down -> legitimacy
voluntary participation for wider support
focus on discourse and dialogue with public (may also enhance plan quality)
role shift from decision-maker to discourse leader
can help reduce resistence from public against the measure
What are Wicked problems? What is important to solve them?
In our pluralistic society we have many different groups with many different priorities and interests. This leads to problems in planning processes that seem to be unsolveable.
Stakeholder and public involvement is especially relevant when interests diverge and scientific knowledge regarding the problem is uncertain.
What are the levels of participation. What are the minimum requirements in Germany?
What are potential key benefits of participation:
Outcome Objectives (Ergebnis Orientiert):
Increasing public awareness
More transparent
higher acceptance and commitment
support for action plan
Process Objectives (Prozess Orientiert):
new knowledge and local perspective
improving quality
identify conflicts
reduce (long-term) costs
more effective implementation
What are potential problems with the participation prozess?
time consuming
costly
may increase rather than reduce dissaftisfaction (when final decision can not really be influenced by participants)
can increase the influence of groups that are not necessarily representative
can result in inefficiency
=> It doesn´t solve every problem !!!!!
Explain the term Biodiversity:
Biodiversity is the variability of all living organsims (terrestrial, aquatic, marine,…) and the variability of ecosystems and habitats.
=> The totality of genes, species and ecosystems of a region
Discribe with an example the relationship between landscape funtions and landscape services.
Name the 4 main categories of threats to Biodiversity that result in species decline:
Habitat destruction
Change in kind and/or intensity of agricultural land use (also forests)
biotic factors (intrusion of alien species)
alterations of site conditions (disturbance of natural dynamic due to fertiliser and pesticides)
Explain the term Habitat function:
Habitat function is the capability of a landscape to provide suitable space for living and reproduction of wild plants and animals. Each species should be able to survive indefinitly.
Welche wilden Pflanzen und Tiere gibt es? In welchen Habitaten/Biotopen leben sie?
(Goods and services: Maintainance of biological and genetic diversity)
Discribe the concept of a habitat survey:
1) Delineation (Abgrenzung)
2) Description: habitat type, characteristic species, impacts / conditions, suggestion for management and protection
3) Map
What are the two categories for evaluation criterias? Name 4 criterias each:
On type level (habitat):
Rarity
Threat / Endangerment
Legal Status
Naturalness
On object level (Individual):
Occurrence and abundance of endangered species
Size of populations / habitat area
Habitat continuity (temporal)
Functional connectedness (biotop network)
What is the difficulty with different interests in landscape functions or ecosystem services?
The problem that occurs is, that we can only implement on plan for on landscpae.
Often this plan is not a win in every aspect. Different animals/people/plants/… have different needs and some may interact with each other.
Therefore its necessary to identify all synergies and trad-offs/conflict and find the best possible solution!
To do so, individual plans can be made and combined. -> VIsualisation of possible conflicts
But a priority setting is needed!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Explain the concept of multifunctional landscapes:
4 different environments:
1) Protective environment: natural, self-regulating development, regeneration of recources, aesthetic and recreational qualities
2) Productive environment: human creation for max. production, needs maintainance, may disturb ecosystems
3) Urban-Industrial environment
4) Compromise environment
Problem: Protective and Productive can not really be mixed in one ecosystem
Solutions:
Seperate land into highly productive or protective ecosystems (Segregation)
Compromise between production rate and environmental quality (Integration)
Explain the concept of differntiated land us at the hand of an example:
What are ecosystem services and how are they related to biodiversity at different levels?
Ecosystem services are any positive benefits that wildlife or ecosystems provide to people.
The higher the biodiversity, the higher the ecosystem services.
e.g. more plants -> more transpiration -> more cooling
e.g. monoculture -> less deep roots -> soil erosion
e.g. one year cows on a field -> more nutrients -> higher yield
Explain the Mitigation Hierachy:
Explain the no net loss (NNL) principle:
When is no net loss impact mitigation achieved?
What factors need to be considered for the assessment of impact significance while planning a wind park?
Type of development project and its characteristics: (e.g. wind park):
hight, size and speed of the rotors -> collision risk?
Blade visibility (dependant on speed)
Position lights (might attract birds)
Arrangement of turbines respecting flight paths (dense arangement appears like solid obstacle)
constructional and operational effects
Impacts on the animals (e.g. birds):
Collision (Rotors, Tower, Associated structures)
Displacement due to disturbance (Noise, Vision, Vibration)
Habitat changes and losses
Barrier effects
Site characteristics (Kind and sensitivity of affected site)
What species do we have, what are their breeding and migration periodes?
Flight paths
habitats and interruptions
visual aesthetic quality
Explain the impact cascade:
What is important for a good impact mitigation?
start from the very beginning (construction phase)
focus on significant impacts
involve local communities and other stakeholders
Environmental Management Plan
should be linked to follow-up management (someone needs to take care about the compensations areas)
Give 5 examples of significant impacts:
Excavations / landfills
Mineral extraction
Masts
Construction of buildings and traffic areas outside of settlement areas
Drainage of wetlands
Removal of hedgerows
Advertising outside settlement areas
Which species specific factors for negative impacts of wind farms on birds do you know?
Morphology (size, wingloading,…)
Sensorial perception (field of view)
Behavior and sesonal variations (Breeding and mitigation periods)
How would you try to avoid negative impacts of wind farms on birds? How would you compensate for unavoidable megative impacts?
Avoid:
increase visibility
increase density
Ground devices to raise birds awareness
scare birds away with noise
Compensation:
enhancing bird population (no net loss) with habitat management, predator control,…
What are the problems related to urban sprawl?
Loss of highly productive farming land
Destruction or fragmentation of habitats
Increase of car dependancy
less open space -> longer distances to recreational areas
decay of inner city areas, social segegation
How high was the spatial expansion in europe while the population between 1950 and 1990 increased by 33 %?
78 % more space
New 3 environmental challenges for the 21st century:
Ecological footprint
quality of life
climate change
A City is a mosaic of land-use-structures.
When talking about urbanisation, what atributes would you assess to a Compact vs. a Green city structure?
Compact -> Energy efficient (A/V Verhältnis)
Green -> Climate resilient (Urban-Heat_Island, Sponge-City)
How much of munichs surface is sealed? How much is covered with trees and shrubs?
Sealed 34 %
Trees and shrubs 17%
A city is not a forest, but the biodiversity is not as bad as expected.
How many percent of bavarian species are repesented in munich?
30 - 60%
more than 9000 animal and plant species
What kind of green and blue spaces do we have in munich?
Blue spaces e.g. Isar
Riverbank green
Community gardens e.g. Kleingarten
Building greens e.g balcony, facades, roofs,…
parks and recreational areas e.g Englischer Garten
aggricultural land
private, commercial, industrial and insitutional green spaces
Natural, semi-natural and feral areas e.g. Perlacher Forst
What has the higher biodiversity?
A city park or a farming plot with the use of pestizides?
City park
What ecosystem services are provided by a 80 year old, 19 meter high tree?
89 l of oxygen production
33 kWh cooling due to transpiration
160 kg carbon storrage
…
Name and explain the 4 principles of UGI planning:
Connectivity:
spatial connectivity
functional connectivity (social, ecological, abiotic)
Multifunctionality:
wide range of ecosystem services (ecological, socio-cultural, economical)
combining different functions to enhance the capacity of urban greenery
Relationships need to be known!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (synergies and conflicts)
Green-Grey-Integration:
we do not want to return back to nature, we need to finde an compromise
Social inclusion:
Convince private land owners -> important for making changes
Open planning processes that includes all (enhancement and acceptance)
Including vulnerable groups
Try to make everyone happy
What is the conclusion for UGI planning?
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