News

Authors: Antonio Gómez Sal and Asunción Saldaña-López

Dear Colleagues,

Changes in land use are leading to a global polarization process. On the one hand, the urbanization trend does not stop: more than 55% of people are city dwellers and large cities are becoming the most evident manifestation of global change. On the other hand, the declaration of protected natural areas is increasing, with a general target of covering 20% of the land in each country. Between both extremes lies a vast space that often lacks clear development goals and adequate planning. Trends range from abandonment and depopulation to super-intensive agriculture. Within it there is a growing tendency for human uses to decouple from land conditions and dynamics, thus increasing exposure to risks caused by natural and anthropic events. This is also the space where competition between high-impact uses (e.g., energy, intensive agriculture) and (agro)biodiversity-based development (i.e., cultural landscapes, not urban life options) is being raised. Therefore, there is a need for planning and clear development goals.

The objective of this special issue is to analyze the trends taking place in this in-between space of uncertain destiny, to identify win-win actions and policies already underway and offer a set of considerations to drive changes towards sustainability and human wellbeing goals.

Find more information here.

The (last!) Landscape Ecology MOOC organised by ETHzürich is starting September 6th 2022. The course features theory, methods and tools to solve landscape-related environmental problems. Building on introductory theory units, leading Landscape Ecology professors present case studies from around the world, highlighting innovative and collaborative approaches.

Enroll here: https://www.edx.org/course/landscape-ecology

The IALE Diversity and Inclusion Committee would like to better understand member experiences within IALE and gather input on what our committee can do to facilitate a more inclusive IALE.

We need your feedback! Please take a few minutes to complete our survey on diversity and inclusion by 26 August. All responses are optional and will be critical for informing our committee's efforts and improving IALE as a global society.

Sincerely,

Committee Members:

Jennifer Costanza (Chair), USA, IALE-North America

Dolors Armenteras, IALE Vice President and IALE-Colombia

Monika Egerer, Germany, IALE-Germany

Sima Fakheran, IALE Iran

Amy Frazier, USA, IALE-North America

Somayeh Mohammadi Hamidi, IALE-Germany

Anita Morzillo, USA, IALE-North America

Joy Obando, Africa-IALE

Marketa Santruckova, Czech Republic, IALE-CZ

Robert Scheller, USA, IALE President

A special issue, “Modeling the Effects of Land-Use Change on Forest Dynamics at Regional to Global Extents” will be published in the journal Land. We encourage IALE members and others to submit relevant manuscripts. See the link for more details about the scope of the issue.

Though the deadline is 10 October, for IALE members, the journal has agreed to accept tentative abstracts and titles as placeholders by that date. Please contact Jen Costanza (jennifer.costanza@usda.gov) with a tentative title, list of authors, and abstract by 10 October prior to submitting to the journal. We are also able to waive all publication fees for a limited number of submitted manuscripts. To request a fee waiver, send your statement of financial need to Jen Costanza along with your title and abstract.

Sincerely,

Jen Costanza, Kurt Riitters, Karen Schleeweis, and Kristen Emmett, Guest Editors

 More details about the journal and submission:

Land (ISSN 2073-445X, impact factor 3.905) is an international and cross-disciplinary, peer-reviewed, and open access journal of land system science, landscape, soil–sediment–water systems, urban study, land–climate interactions, water–energy–land–food (WELF) nexuses, biodiversity research and health nexuses, land modelling and data processing, ecosystem services, multifunctionality and sustainability, etc., published monthly, online, by MDPI. The International Association for Landscape Ecology (IALE), European Land-use Institute (ELI), and Landscape Institute (LI) are affiliated with Land, and their members receive a discount on the article processing charge.

For further details on the submission process, please see the instructions for authors at the journal website.

The 12th issues of PANORAMA - the  Newsletter of the Indian Regional Association for Landscape Ecology (IRALE) - is online.

Download IRALE News #12 here.

To the Landscape Ecologists of the World:

We are incredibly excited to invite everyone to Nairobi for our 2023 World Congress! Whether you are a long-time member of
the International Association for Landscape Ecology (IALE) or you were invited to give a talk or you are simply passionate about
landscapes and landscape change, all are welcome to learn and to connect and to share with us. As the pace and scale of global change continues to accelerate, the world needs landscape ecology more than ever. We are proud of our history bridging disciplines, seeking applied solutions, and connecting scientists and practitioners from across the globe. Our host committee and host city epitomize this commitment. Africa generally, and Kenya specifically, contain some of the most diverse landscapes in the world and truly represent our shared future with global changes expressed as local management challenges. No longer can we consider our landscapes - and their management needs, including for food security, biodiversity, and climate mitigation - as independent or isolated problems.All are connected by our global culture, economy, and climate. Therefore we need to learn and respond as a global community. Our solutions and adaptations must be global as well.

Please join us for this exciting exchange of energy and information and reward yourself with the opportunity to explore and witness the incredible landscapes that Kenya provides!

Rob Scheller
IALE World President

The lastest IALE Bulletin - Volume 40 No. 2 | July 2022 - is online.

Download the Bulletin here.

The 11th issues of PANORAMA - the  Newsletter of the Indian Regional Association for Landscape Ecology (IRALE) - is online.

• Download IRALE News #11 here.

Irene Petrosillo is the editor of a new Special Issue in sustainability on the topic Landscape Management Impact on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Serviceshttps://www.mdpi.com/journal/sustainability/special_issues/Landscape_Management_Biodiversity. Please find more information attached.

SI_sustainability_LandscapeManagementImpactOnBiodiversityAndEcosystemServices.pdf

The IALE affiliated open access journal Land has received a new impact factor. According to the Journal Citation Reports/®/ in June 2022, the Impact Factor of Land is now 3.905. IALE congratulates the editorial board for their successful work in developing a journal on landscape ecological themes.

Land (ISSN 2073-445X)  is an international and cross-disciplinary, peer-reviewed, open access journal of land system science, landscape, soil–sediment–water systems, urban study, land–climate interactions, water–energy–land–food (WELF) nexus, biodiversity research and health nexus, land modelling and data processing, ecosystem services, and multifunctionality and sustainability etc., published monthly online by MDPI.

Land is affiliated to the International Association for Landscape Ecology (IALE) and their members receive a discount on the article processing charges (APCs).