Evaluation of urban forest landscape health: a case study of the Nanguo Peach Garden, China

Abstract

Urban forests are important as they provide recreation areas and offer ecological services. Both functions determine the status of an urban forest and reflect contradictory aspects of forest tourism development and environment conservation. However, assessment of urban forest health status at a landscape scale remains scarce. Here, we selected the Nanguo Peach Garden, China, as the study area. Urban forest health status at the landscape scale were classified into recreation and eco-conservation services. Sustainability was quantified using the principal component analysis and the Kriging method to map the landscape classification in the study area. With regard to landscape recreation sustainability, some 18.9% of the total study region was classified as "very good". They were mainly distributed in the north, southwest, and southeast parts of the study area. The central and southeast regions, accounting for 9.5% of the total area, were classified as "very good" for eco-conservation sustainability. Regarding landscape health, the region classified as "very good" accounted for 11.1% of the total study area, and it was mainly distributed in the southern part of the area; the region classified as "very poor" accounted for 16.4% of the total area, and it was located in the northwestern and eastern parts of the study area. With improved landscape health status, the forest/non-forest patch area ratio was increased and the patch number ratio was decreased. A landscape was considered the healthiest when the forest/ non-forest area ratio was 0.65 and the patch number was 0.48. The spatial distribution of landscape recreation sustainability and eco-conservation sustainability differed in the Nanguo Peach Garden, and a close relationship was observed between the landscape health and forest landscape internal structure. Forest/non-forest patch area ratios and patch number ratios were relatively stable and constant, suggesting the urban forest landscapes were healthy. The healthiest forest landscapes were mainly distributed in the forest/non-forest transition zone and the unhealthiest forest landscape was mainly located in a single natural forest.

Landscape Health Assessment of Suburban Forest Park: A Case Study Based on Multiple Sampling Units and Functional Characteristics

“…However, the overlapping areas with landscape health grades for both functions rated as "very good" and "good" are all below 0.10%. Similar to previous research findings [10], ecological conservation and recreational landscape health are both interdependent and coexist in terms of their spatial distribution. This emphasizes the importance of achieving a balance and synergy between various functions in the actual construction and development of suburban forest parks [40] to effectively enhance landscape health.…”

“…Therefore, utilizing the largest fundamental sampling unit of 54 m × 54 m to partition the park area is adequate for accurately assessing the park's landscape health. In prior landscape health studies conducted in parks with areas ranging from 10 to 15 km 2 [10,32], the dimensions of their sampling units were determined based on the average area of park patches and corridors. However, the resulting sampling unit sizes were all larger than 300 m × 300 m, with a grid count of fewer than 150 sampling units.…”

“…In the 1990s, owing to in-depth research on ecosystem-scale health, landscape-scale health research advances were made, and many researchers have investigated landscape health from conceptual, content, and method perspectives [8,9]. Landscape health assessments are pivotal in harmonizing the relationship between eco-conservation and development [10]. Conducting a scientific landscape health assessment of suburban forest parks is beneficial in achieving the dual goals of preserving forest resources and providing recreational services.…”

“…For example, using individual grids or grids of varying sizes as the basic sampling units aids the evaluation of landscape ecological risks within various landscape types, such as forests, grasslands, and water bodies, at regional and urban scales [29][30][31]. Alternatively, 100 m 2 grids can be used to delineate study areas, such as urban wetland parks [32] and suburban scenic areas [10], which facilitates landscape health assessments at the landscape scale from the perspectives of ecological and recreational functions. However, research focused on suburban forest parks is notably scarce at a landscape scale.…”

The Effect of Informal Tourist Trails on the Abiotic Conditions and Floristic Composition of Deciduous Forest Undergrowth in an Urban Area

“…Good communication with the city centre makes them attractive places for active rest and recreation, ensuring the well-being and health of residents and tourists [1,2]. The importance of urban forests for recreation has been confirmed by many authors [3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11].…”