The article presents the platform "Pimp your landscape" (PYL), which aims firstly at the support of planners by simulating alternative land-use scenarios and by an evaluation of benefits or risks for regionally important ecosystem services. Second, PYL supports an integration of information on environmental and landscape conditions into impact assessment. Third, PYL supports the integration of impacts of planning measures on ecosystem services. PYL is a modified 2-D cellular automaton with GIS features. The cells have the major attribute "land-use type" and can be supplemented with additional information, such as specifics regarding geology, topography and climate. The GIS features support the delineation of non-cellular infrastructural elements, such as roads or water bodies. An evaluation matrix represents the core element of the system. In this matrix, values in a relative scale from 0 (lowest value) to 100 (highest value) are assigned to the land-use types and infrastructural elements depending on their effect on ecosystem services. The option to configure rules for describing the impact of environmental attributes and proximity effects on cell values and land-use transition probabilities is of particular importance. User interface and usage of the platform are demonstrated by an application case. Constraints and limits of the recent version are discussed, including the need to consider in the evaluation, landscape-structure aspects such as patch size, fragmentation and spatial connectivity. Regarding the further development, it is planned to include the impact of land management practices to support climate change adaptation and mitigation strategies in regional planning.
Micro-trajectories of scientific thinking and collaboration in elementary students interacting with a videogame Título: Micro-trayectorias de pensamiento científico y colaboración en estudiantes de primaria interactuando con un videojuego Alt Title / Título alternativo: [en]: Micro-trajectories of scientific thinking and collaboration in elementary students interacting with a videogame [es]: Micro-trayectorias de pensamiento científico y colaboración en estudiantes de primaria interactuando con un videojuego
This paper presents, by means of a case study, an approach for how to make use of sectoral planning information on forestry in regional planning. Exemplary issues addressed in this study were, first, how to evaluate the conversion of existing forests and, second, afforestation on agricultural sites, regarding the impact of these strategies on the provision of ecosystem services at a regional scale. We demonstrate that the conversion scenarios planned by the state forest administration have only a minor impact at the regional scale because the proportion of forests is too small. As a consequence, recommendations for regional planning were to: (a) considerably increase the planned afforestation areas under consideration of the locally suitable future forest ecosystem types; and (b) concentrate preference areas for afforestation along corridors, which augment, at most, the additional benefits provided by connecting the biotopes at the landscape level.
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