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Remote sensing plays an important role for modern geography and environmental science. At the same time, it often stands on a weak epistemological foundation. Remote sensing results are mostly treated as strictly objective, context-independent artifacts. This vastly ignores the human practices that led to these results. Thus, remote sensing data are uncritically incorporated into (environmental) policy decision-making processes without understanding exactly how they were generated. Recent research has been critical of this. In a previous study, I showed that the accuracy of land use results can be increased by class aggregation, while the geographic or environmental meaning of the results suffers. I called this provocatively the "more accurate, less meaningful (MALM)" effect and showed that it exists regardless of the technical level of classification. In this study, I discuss the extent to which MALM can be remedied by choosing an appropriate quality indicator. I show that, to the largest extent conceivable, the quality indicator does not and cannot unveil the effects of socio-technical practices, which are materially inscribed into land use maps. Hence, quality indicators are unable to objectivize the effects of practices and values by the researchers. Consequently, they do not solve the MALM problem. On the contrary, I show that the explicit inclusion of geographic knowledge in quality addresses the MALM effect to the largest extent possible. This reinforces my claim that more attention needs to be paid to considering the values and practices behind remote sensing information. I discuss the results in a broad context and argue that and why critical remote sensing based on critical (physical) geography and science-and-technology studies is vital to better incorporate such results into policymaking. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This document is a review of the journal Progress in Physical Geography: Earth and Environment (PiPG) from 1977 to 2023. The review was conducted by a Geography doctoral student at the University of California, Davis, as part of an introductory seminar. The review examines PiPG's history, its focus on review articles, and its evolution to include original research articles. It also analyzes the journal's theoretical and structural foundation, its current standing, and opportunities for growth. The review highlights PiPG's role in promoting physical geography research and its emphasis on critical and interdisciplinary work. The document includes word frequency analyses of PiPG article titles and discusses PiPG's international coverage and readership. The review concludes that PiPG is a valuable resource for scholars to evaluate physical geography knowledge and advance the field. [Extracted from the article]

This editorial reports on a horizon scan exercise that was undertaken to identify new frontier topics, new or emerging themes/concepts, or new philosophical questions of relevance to physical geography. Researchers with broad geographical and disciplinary scope, all of whom were members of the journal's editorial board or editorial advisory board, were invited to join a horizon scan panel. The horizon scan Chair canvassed panel members for ideas, resulting in an initial 32 independently proposed topics. Similar topics were merged by the Chair, and panel members were then invited to vote on and score anonymously the remaining 28 topics, bearing in mind the perceived importance/relevance and novelty for the discipline. The final ranking and sifting phase produced a list of 12 topics, which were categorised as being either new study areas or new epistemological frameworks for physical geography. In this editorial, we outline these 12 topics, some of which have been inspired by developments outside of the discipline, but we identify how potentially fertile contributions could be added by physical geographers. We discuss how new studies of extreme event geographies, the impacts of compound stressors, cross-system pollution and toxicity, the geomorphological basis of zoonoses, ancient environmental DNA, the projection and visualisation of landscape futures, and planetary sciences can all benefit from additional physical geography perspectives. We then consider the ways in which physical geographers may engage further with new approaches in personalised and internet-of-things monitoring, artificial intelligence, innovative technologies for teaching physical geography, the study of human-climate impacts, and the raising of the profile of physical geography thinking alongside other knowledge forms. We encourage more physical geographers to apply their unique skillsets and ways of thinking to these topics. The journal will welcome new submissions, or proposals for special issues, that address these topics from physical geographers and their colleagues. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Quaternary glaciations in western China have been investigated over the last century with the emphasis on the Tibetan Plateau and its adjacent regions. Earlier studies were mainly based on field observation and interpretation of geomorphic landforms and processes to identify and define past glacial sequences. The advent of absolute dating techniques, such as optically stimulated luminescence dating and cosmogenic radionuclide exposure dating, has revolutionized glacial chronological research in recent decades. Glacial chronologies have been established across various mountains, providing evidence to reject the Tibetan ice sheet hypothesis. Glacial advances generally occurred synchronously in this region, but the detailed timing, extent, and form of past glaciers vary at different locations. This review presents recent progress and challenges on reconstructing the timing and extent of Quaternary glaciations in western China, seeking to promote further studies and a broader interest from the physical geography community in this critical region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Physically, river floodplains have both the subdued morphology of natural terrain created as extreme discharges and sediments pass through catchment drainage systems and, to an increasing extent, the forms that arise from purposeful human constructions. Together, these direct out-of-channel inundation. As defined here, 'territories' and their humanly constructed physical forms have historically consumed or modified naturally created 'terrains' in a collection of actions that we summarize as 'morphophagia'. A more inclusive physical geography is presented, adding-in explanations for the evolutionary phasing of humanly-generated, but environmentally functioning, physical forms in the UK in the Modern Era (since c.1500 CE). Floodplain developments here took place in five main episodes of historically-contingent accumulation: the Early Modern (c.1500–1780 CE) started with a framework of purposeful owned land, and then followed periods that can be related to Kondratieff global economic phases (c.1790–1840,1840–1900,1900–1947,1947–2000 CE). Three different groups of forcings operated: (1) the compartmentalizing and patched infill patterns set by territorial units, rights and developer ownerships; (2) the availability, motivations and timings for capital and labour investment; and (3) the evolving technical possibilities exploited by entrepreneurs and agents. Epistemic frameworks for broadening the analysis of coupled terrain and territory systems, exploring actuating social forces as much as their symptomatic physical outcomes, are discussed. Globally, there have been different forcings, timings and emplacement layouts operating at scales from local river reaches to city expansion and economic regions. As perceptions of environmental stasis now disintegrate, enthusiasm for reinvigorating economic growth, with further population increase and sprawling construction may, as in the past, discount the hazards of floodplain occupation. When and why risky anthropo-physical floodplain emplacements occur needs greater systematic understanding as social and economic initiatives are being considered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Scientific knowledge advances by the discussions on hypotheses, methods, and results, wherein the contradictory plays a positive role developing new theoretical-methodological approaches. In a positive debate to the progress of the science, the agreements and disagreements must only permeate the scientific scope and based on ethics to be away from the conflicts of interest. From this perspective, after knowing the submission titled Comments on Souza et al. (2022) "Recent geomorphological changes in the Paraiba do Sul delta, South America East Coast" to the journal Progress in Physical Geography: Earth and Environment (PPG), which addressed several issues concerning the results published in that article, we wrote this response to clarify the doubts related to the original paper. The comment's authors focus mainly on da Rocha et al. (2019), a locally published article that did not fully encompass the complexity of processes and geomorphological dynamics related to the delta evolution. Furthermore, it did not present the parameters used in the geochronological analyses in accordance with the international literature. Finally, the discussions presented in the original article contribute to advances in knowledge about the responses of the Paraíba do Sul delta to the Little Ice Age. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Brenner considers the impacts of this paper, in light of subsequent Maya paleoclimate/paleoenvironmental studies published in the last four decades. This special issue considers physical geography in the Maya Lowlands, a tropical, mostly low-lying carbonate platform in the Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico, Belize, Guatemala, and parts of Honduras and El Salvador. Indeed, much of what we know about this region's environments (i.e., its physical geography and paleoenvironment) derives from work sponsored by archaeology projects funded by the National Geographic Society, the National Science Foundation, the UK Overseas Development Agency, and many other entities, including early support from the Carnegie Institution. Garrison and colleagues overview the use of lidar survey methods in the Maya region, highlighting how Maya archaeology has aided progress in physical geography. [Extracted from the article]

Sound is produced by many geomorphic and hydrological processes, such as rockfalls and landslides, ocean waves, fluvial flood flows and collisions among moving bedload clasts. In these and other areas of study, acoustic methods have found useful application to detect and quantify the operation of important landscape processes. In some, such as the recording of river discharge, the occurrence of rare events such as exfoliation or the presence and movement of dust devils (willy-willies), the use of acoustic methods is still in a relatively early stage of development and testing. The use of acoustic methods in the recording of rainfall occurrence and intensity is also developing and has the capacity to yield data with higher temporal resolution than can be achieved using conventional rain gauges. Novel acoustic methods include the analysis of the sound recorded by security cameras, which potentially form a vast network of observing stations. The frequencies of sound generated by land-surface processes include audible sound, ultrasound and infrasound at frequencies below the human hearing range. All appear to provide opportunities for further development of useful research tools and methodologies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This special issue is expected to share the new findings of progress of physical geography in China within selected topics, as well as promote global attentions on the scientific questions in China's physical geography. Physical geography focuses on the Earth surface system and is dedicated to revealing how people affect the environment and how the environment reacts to people ([14]). [Extracted from the article]

In this paper, the legacy of Kenneth Mason (1887–1976) in the geography of the Himalaya-Karakoram (H-K) region has been thoroughly examined. Mason was a distinguished British geographer, surveyor, soldier, and mountaineer. He led the Indo-Russian Triangulation Connection and pioneered the use of stereoscopic photography in the Pamirs, laying the groundwork for precise geographical records. His detailed surveys and mappings of the Shaksgam Valley and Aghil Ranges corrected longstanding cartographic inaccuracies and presented accurate topographical details through terrestrial stereo photogrammetry. Mason critically assessed and recommended improvements for the depiction of glaciers and geomorphic features on Survey of India maps, encouraging the training of surveyors in glacial morphology. He contributed significantly to standardising geographical terms and nomenclature within the Karakoram Range. Mason also played a crucial role in founding the Himalayan Club and the Himalayan Journal. His studies on glacier movements and advocacy for monitoring systems to prevent natural disasters exhibit his profound commitment to minimising human life and infrastructure loss. Mason’s comprehensive work boosted scientific investigation in the H-K region and laid a foundation for ongoing and future research in these remote regions, paving the way for future generations of explorers, researchers, and enthusiasts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Approaching 30 years since its publication in Progress in Physical Geography, Nordstrom's work from 1994 reads like an uncannily current synopsis of grand challenges in interdisciplinary coastal science. The article is a playbook of testable hypotheses for emerging and future empirical coastal research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This progress report discusses the lineage of atmospheric rivers (ARs) research, focusing on the transformation of the topic from an important regional atmospheric feature along the U.S. West Coast to a globally relevant driver of extreme hydrometeorological events. As the AR literature has advanced, so has the regional expanse covered, initially expanding into the Central U.S. and Europe. Recently, new, emerging regions are being explored in the AR literature such as the high latitudes, New Zealand, China, North Africa, and the Middle East. The literature on the impact of AR-driven hydrometeorological events on land surface processes (e.g., landslides and avalanches) and water resources is also rapidly developing. This progress report seeks to expose the broader physical geography discipline to the global relevance of ARs and promote new applied research frontiers at the intersection of ARs and those processes studied by physical geographers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Global environmental change is one of the most pressing issues facing future generations. Equipping schoolchildren with a clear understanding of physical geography is therefore a key educational priority. Effectively engaging schoolchildren with complex scientific ideas can be challenging, but with the appropriate tools, scientists can play a valuable role in developing meaningful science communication experiences. Climate Explorers addressed these issues by forging a collaboration between physical geography and social science academics, and 320 UK school students and their teachers in seven primary (elementary) schools. Using insights from co-production techniques and storytelling, the project aimed to 1) produce new open access, online climate science education resources, and 2) test co-production and storytelling approaches to physical geography science engagement. Our findings demonstrated that school children responded especially well to working with 'real life' scientists, where meaningful and memorable educational interactions were forged through the use of narratives, personal experiences and tailored language. Here we summarise our approach, and provide templates that can be readily applied by scientists working across the physical geography spectrum anywhere in the world. The flexibility of the templates means that they can be adapted and developed for a range of formats, from small-scale community workshops to national-scale educational initiatives, for delivery both in-person or online. We hope that our approach will provide a springboard to transform and enhance physical geography science communication more broadly. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Land-use and land-cover analyses based on satellite image classification are used in most, if not all, sub-disciplines of physical geography. Data availability and increasingly simple image classification techniques -- nowadays, even implemented in simple geographic information systems -- increase the use of such analyses. To assess the quality of such land-use analyses, accuracy metrics are applied. The results are considered to have sufficient quality, exceeding thresholds published in the literature. A typical practice in many studies is to confuse accuracy in remote sensing with quality, as required by physical geography. However, notions such as quality are subject to normative considerations and performative practices, which differ between scientific domains. Recent calls for critical physical geography have stressed that scientific results cannot be understood separately from the values and practices underlying them. This article critically discusses the specific understanding of quality in remote sensing, outlining norms and practices shaping it and their relation to physical geography. It points out that, as a seeming paradox, results considered more accurate in remote sensing terms can be less informative -- or meaningful -- in geographical terms. Finally, a roadmap of how to apply remote sensing land-use analyses more constructively in physical geography is proposed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Physical geographer Konrad "Koni" Steffen, lost 8 August 2020 in a crevasse on the Greenland ice sheet, was a pioneer in satellite remote sensing and field observations of the Greenland ice sheet. This Classics Revisited piece honors the memory of Koni Steffen and examines the impact of a work which laid the foundation for numerous studies that made the Greenland ice sheet and the man global icons of climate change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The critical zone is the earth's surface layer in which the geological environment interacts with human society and the economy ([1]). The karst critical zone, which is characterized by its special lithology, for example, the easily dissolved limestone, has a complex three-dimensional structure with well-developed crevice networks that alter soil distribution and facilitate soil erosion. In this special issue focusing on karst ecosystem process and services, six articles about the determinants of ecosystem processes and services in the karst critical zone in south-west China have been collected together: one article reviews the lithology-related three-dimensional structure and ecological processes in the karst critical zone, whereas the other five papers address the determinants of different ecosystem services. [Extracted from the article]

Thus, an accurate representation of landform in a given area plays an essential role in revealing the formation mechanisms and indicating the landform evolution process. It presents the most recent and updated global set of landscape variables, describing the spatial properties (dimensions, slope, curvature, relief) of landforms (morphometry) for the whole globe. The dataset comprises 26 layers, organized into three categories of metrics, able to describe the rate of change (Figure 1(a), (d)), the heterogeneity (Figure 1(b), (d)) and geomorphology (Figure 1(c), (e)) of the landscape globally, for a variety of environments. [Extracted from the article]

The two major regional climatology textbooks at the dawn of the quantitative revolution took very different approaches to regionalization. Kendrew's The Climates of the Continents follows a grand tour of the continents approach, whereas Rumney's Climatology and the World's Climates uses major plant associations to define regions. Each approach has advantages and their impact is still visible today, although neither remains current. Today, physical geography and general climatology textbooks have reverted to a modified Köppen Classification System for organizing their regional climatology chapters. Regional climatology as a subject has been mostly displaced by synoptic or dynamic analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Antony R. "Tony" Orme passed away on 30 May 2020. Professor Orme was one of the US' most distinguished geomorphologists and physical geographers. This Classics Revisited piece honors the memory of Professor Tony Orme and examines his classic book Ireland, an outstanding example of a regional geography book with a strong foundation in physical geography. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Clarence King's Mountaineering in the Sierra Nevada, based on exploration and mountaineering exploits undertaken in the 1860s and 1870s, is a somewhat forgotten piece of literature that is worthy of rediscovery. The book provides still-accurate general descriptions of the physical geography of the Sierra Nevada as well as Mount Shasta in the US state of California. This "from the archive" piece examines this book as well as the life and career of its author, Clarence King. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Physical geography is a process, conducted by people, of integration and synthesis of ideas and observations to advance scientific understanding of Earth's surface and atmosphere and to apply this knowledge to the greater good of the planet and its people. Therefore, physical geography matters; that is, physical geography makes a difference to people and contributes to environmental decision making at various scales. Based upon presentations and discussion at the 2019 AAG Annual Meeting (see editorial above in this issue), we provide here a historical perspective and distillation of how and why, in our opinions, physical geography matters. Although we provide several specific examples, these represent only a small portion of the large body of excellent and relevant physical geography research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Physical geography focuses on the Earth surface system and is dedicated to revealing how people affect the environment and how the environment reacts to people. Based on its characteristic spatial cognitive perspective, the inductive–deductive combined approach, and the comprehensive research paradigm that integrates multiple elements, processes, and scales, physical geography always provides an important scientific basis for understanding human–nature interactions and solving sustainable development issues in different eras. Putting theory into practice, physical geography plays a pivotal role in realizing the UN Sustainable Development Goals and China's goal of ecological civilization. At present, China is in a stage of rapid socio-economic development and global conditions are changing more quickly than ever. Based on its disciplinary characteristics and traditional advantages, physical geography in China should always develop around social needs and play an increasing role in resource- and environment-related policies and outreach. Future development of physical geography as a discipline in China is expected, taking spatial cognition as the basic perspective and human–nature interaction as the core content, along with the combination of deductive and inductive approaches and the strengthening of interregional integration, all under the goal of sustainability. Considering the shared environmental challenges and the complexity of interconnections between countries in the context of globalization, the academic exploration and practice of physical geography in China have been providing scientific support for the sustainable development of China and beyond. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The recent publication of several books on the history and ecology of beavers (Castor canadensis and Castor fiber) illustrates a renewed interest in the construction activities of beavers and their impacts on landscapes. Over one hundred years ago, two popular books on these same topics were published, In Beaver World and The Romance of the Beaver. These books, their authors, and their legacies can still inform today's readers interested in beavers, ecosystem engineering, and zoogeomorphology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climatology was for long a Cinderella specialism within physical geography. Many of its pioneers' research was in descriptive climatology, set in the regionalism paradigm that dominated geography until the 1960s. As such, much of their work is now only rarely cited. One of those pioneers was Percy Crowe, who sought to change the nature of that descriptive work through a more robust and systematic application of statistical methods. Indeed, he was one of the very first geographers to apply standard statistical techniques and his applications – in three main projects – were the stimulus for one of his students who played a major role in promoting the use of statistical methods more widely in geography from the late 1950s on: Crowe's influence was much wider and more influential than the citations to his climatological studies suggests. He was also prescient regarding the need for methodological/philosophical changes in human geography. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The authors provides updates on the journal "Progress in Physical Geography" as of June 2019, including the use of the contents of more than 800 papers in the journal between 1993 and 2007 as the supporting database for the analysis of physical geography, the burgeoning of contemporary data sources and data availability from remotely-sensed sources and applications, and expansion of coverage.

In 2015, the journal Science invited me to comment on the start of anthropogenic change. That request was likely related to the fact that the Anthropocene Working Group (AWG) of the International Commission of Stratigraphy was thinking of choosing a formal start date for the Anthropocene at or after 1950. Joined by three co-authors (Ruddiman et al., 2015), we emphasized the many near-global anthropogenic changes that preceded 1950 by centuries to millennia. Early in 2018, Progress in Physical Geography (PiPG) published a more extended critique of mine regarding this possible AWG action. I noted three flaws in choosing 1950 as the formal start date. In response to this challenge, the AWG recently submitted two draft papers to PiPG, one rebutting my 2018 paper (Zalasiewicz et al.), and one supporting and extending it (Edgeworth et al.). The first part of this reply elaborates on the flaws cited in my 2018 PiPG paper, incorporating comments from Edgeworth et al. The second part addresses the criticisms in Zalasiewicz et al. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

"The Anthropocene" currently serves as a framework to acknowledge global human influences on the earth systems. Different prominent authors call for geographers and especially physical geographers to intensify their involvement in the discussions on the theme. A bibliometric analysis shows that geographers are already one of the leading contributors to the keyword Anthropocene in journal articles. While we generally support the standpoint of increased engagement with the topic, we want to emphasize that we need to do more than only attaching the "Anthropocene" label to our daily research practice. A critical engagement with and reflection of the research questions and contexts is needed to play a vital role as discussant in the debate. We should take advantage of the diverse themes, topics and viewpoints of our subject by actively following a more critical approach to our research practices in order to find those geographic ties that join us and our discipline and that enable us to contribute more substantially to the Anthropocene debate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The word concept is widely used in physical geography but seldom defined. Developing from an earlier proposal of concept types in geomorphology, this paper considers a structure for categorising concepts in physical geography in the light of sciences and philosophy more generally. It reviews where our concepts derive from, and their relation to kinds, universals and categories, whilst also indicating the lack of an agreed clear distinction between them. Because an unstructured diversity of concepts has previously been proposed in physical geography by different authors, a new provisional hierarchy is constructed. This is cognisant of specific developments in a range of disciplines, including formal concept analysis, lattice theory and hierarchy theory. A 'concept of concepts' hierarchy of six categories is proposed in which multidisciplinary (superordinate, contextual meta-concepts) and fundamental, operational and ancillary categories provide a 6 × 5 framework. This enables attention to be focused on stimulating conceptual underpinnings that can be tested at different levels in future learning, teaching and research. This can support the formation of knowledge structures and monitoring procedures that keep in step with ways that are characterising other disciplines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this introduction to the special issue on necrogeography and physical geography, a focus on landforms and landscapes is presented and applied to subdisciplinary areas, including geomorphology, climatology, biogeography, and soil science. The primary aim is to present past directions taken in the field by physical geographers and provide further areas for their potential engagement. The seven papers contained in this special issue are lastly conveyed in terms of their contribution to necrogeography as an applied physical geography in cemeteries, although not exclusively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This Classics Revisited paper examines the contribution of Geikie’s seminal paper, presented to The Royal Society of Edinburgh in 1880, to physical geography as part of geomorphology, weathering, and necrogeography. From this standpoint, physical geography is approached as interdisciplinary, housing geomorphology and cross-disciplinary and applied research in the areas of climate and the environment affecting urban settings. Mortuary evidence is specifically addressed here, as Geikie presented observations and discussion of older churchyards situated in Edinburgh, Scotland. His emphasis permitted a focus on rock-air interactions of funerary remains carved from calcareous materials, sandstones and flagstones, and granites. The former (marbles and limestones) represent the main content of the paper, with an emphasis on superficial solution, internal disintegration, and curvature and fracture affecting calcareous rocks. Geikie’s areas of research interest are still prevalent in the literature today and can be construed as a pioneering work, representing a formative part of rock weathering affected by both climatic and environmental geomorphology in an urban setting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is easy to talk of improving river condition. It is more difficult to pin down exactly what this means. Emerging from ecology, the concept of river health presented an attempt to provide a broad framework for freshwater management incorporating both natural and human values. Initially criticised as subjective and unscientific, river health was nevertheless mainstreamed through being rendered quantifiable. Tracing the (re)definition of river health from a holistic but hazy ethic of environmental care to prescriptive indicators for intervention, I examine how common-sense understandings of river condition were first challenged by, and then incorporated within, the scholarly and political project of river health. Arguing that the search for objectivity entrenched assumptions that naturalness was both desirable and attainable, I explore the potential value of a reimagined, revitalised river health as a constructive platform for renegotiating and broadening what matters for freshwater. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Wignall, Paul B. Extinction: A Very Short Introduction, Oxford University Press: Oxford, 2019; 124 pp.: ISBN 9780198807285, £8.99 (pbk) The expansion of Oxford University Press's "Very Short Introduction" series continues apace, now covering over 600 topics, with quite a few of them relevant to the multifaceted discipline of physical geography. We also have very useful discussion on disaster taxa, zombie taxa, Lazarus taxa, the Lilliput effect and changes in dominant species and evolutionary history as a result of extinction events. I very much enjoyed this chapter though, despite it being a reminder that we I Homo sapiens i are a ruthless species given to murdering whichever species we please, even our closest relations (most poignantly I Homo neanderthalensis i ). [Extracted from the article]

Thus, while the book's ~15 page chapters are effectively self-contained and can be dipped in and out of, there is benefit in reading the book in sequence, as the early chapters address core principles that find more sophisticated expression in later chapters. Chapter 2 addresses how science has been defined against other forms of knowledge, and how science itself seeks to catalogue and value its own diversity. While Turnhout, Tuinstra and Halffman are the principal authors of the book, any given chapter is authored by one to three of these authors, in various orders, and sometimes including external co-authors. [Extracted from the article]

Information retrieval (IR) methods seek to locate meaningful documents in large collections of textual and other data. Few studies apply these techniques to discover descriptions in historical documents for physical geography applications. This absence is noteworthy given the use of qualitative historical descriptions in physical geography and the amount of historical documentation online. This study, therefore, introduces an IR approach for finding meaningful and geographically resolved historical descriptions in large digital collections of historical documents. Presenting a biogeography application, it develops a ‘search engine’ using a boosted regression trees (BRT) model to assist in finding forest compositional descriptions (FCDs) based on textual features in a collection of county histories. The study then investigates whether FCDs corroborate existing estimates of relative abundances and spatial distributions of tree taxa from presettlement land survey records (PLSRs) and existing range maps. The BRT model is trained using portions of text from 458 US county histories. Evaluating the model’s performance upon a spatially independent test dataset, the model helps discover 97.5% of FCDs while reducing the amount of text to search through to 0.3% of total. The prevalence rank of taxa in FCDs (i.e. the number of times a taxon is mentioned at least once in an FCD, divided by the total number of FCDs, then ranked) is strongly related to the abundance rank in PLSRs. Patterns in species mentions from FCDs generally match relative abundance patterns from PLSRs. However, analyses suggest that FCDs contain biases towards large and economically valuable tree taxa and against smaller taxa. In the end, the study demonstrates the potential of IR approaches for developing novel datasets over large geographic areas, corroborating existing historical datasets, and providing spatial coverage of historic phenomena. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Even as it remains an informal term defining the emergence of humans as a force transforming Earth as a system, the Anthropocene is stimulating novel research and discussion across the academy and well beyond. While geography has always been deeply connected with the coupled human--environment paradigm, physical geographer's embrace of the Anthropocene still appears lukewarm at best. While there are good reasons to hesitate, including the fact that the Anthropocene is not yet, and might never be, formalized in the Geologic Time Scale, physical geographers have much to gain by embracing what is rapidly becoming the most influential scholarly discussion on human--environmental relations in a generation. This editorial was commissioned for the author's debut as Contributing Editor of Progress in Physical Geography. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A fundamental principal of savanna fire ecology is that the fire regime determines vegetation cover, especially as it pertains to trees. A corollary is that late fires are more damaging to trees than early fires. Much evidence in support of this principle has been derived from a series of long-term burning experiments based on the pioneering work of André Aubréville. Eighty years ago, Aubréville devised an experiment to study the impacts of fire on savanna trees in Africa. The design conventions of this study remain highly influential. It is now clear, however, that the dates chosen by Aubréville and his followers do not reflect the burning practices of West African people. Dates that were chosen for "early" and "late" are not representative of actual fire timing; they represent extremes. This study has four goals: (i) to critically review the results of the burning experiments; (ii) to examine them in the context of results from recent savanna fire studies; (iii) to evaluate their limitations based on data for actual burning practices and fires fromWest Africa; and (iv) to critically evaluate the use of the early/late terminology in contemporary fire research. We find the majority of West African fires occur during the ''middle'' of the fire season. Our field studies find that fire temperature and burn completeness are highest in the middle-season. We conclude that the early/late fire dichotomy is not sufficient for understanding the impacts of anthropogenic fires in the region and we make suggestions for rethinking its use more broadly. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the most prominent American geomorphologists, Neil E. Salisbury, passed away in May 2015. This paper examines his legacy in geomorphology over the course of his career, and hopefully will be seen as honoring his memory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sediments are crucial to the understanding of environmental processes and conditions in a variety of systems. The study of sediments often focuses on quantity, but should involve more emphasis on the quality of the organic component, by utilising commonplace techniques employed by other disciplines. We provide a classification scheme that will allow those interested in organic matter quality to decide on appropriate techniques to apply, and discuss a variety of applications of the investigation of organic matter quality in diverse areas of Physical Geography. Firstly, this paper conceptualises organic matter quality by examining how different groups identify with this term, providing a classification scheme that may assist individuals in their exploration of organic matter character. Secondly, it identifies key areas of investigation linked to Physical Geography where research into organic matter quality may provide a necessary or useful component. Finally, it explains and evaluates crucial techniques for characterising organic matter quality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Accurate, precise and rapid acquisition of topographic data is fundamental to many sub-disciplines of physical geography. Technological developments over the past few decades have made fully distributed data sets of centimetric resolution and accuracy commonplace, yet the emergence of Structure from Motion (SfM) with Multi-View Stereo (MVS) in recent years has revolutionised three-dimensional topographic surveys in physical geography by democratising data collection and processing. SfM-MVS originates from the fields of computer vision and photogrammetry, requires minimal expensive equipment or specialist expertise and, under certain conditions, can produce point clouds of comparable quality to existing survey methods (e.g. Terrestrial Laser Scanning). Consequently, applications of SfM-MVS in physical geography have multiplied rapidly. There are many practical options available to physical geographers when planning a SfM-MVS survey (e.g. platforms, cameras, software), yet, many SfM-MVS end-users are uncertain as to the errors associated with each choice and, perhaps most fundamentally, the processes actually taking place as part of the SfM-MVS workflow. This paper details the typical workflow applied by SfM-MVS software packages, reviews practical details of implementing SfM-MVS, combines existing validation studies to assess practically achievable data quality and reviews the range of applications of SfM-MVS in physical geography. The flexibility of the SfM-MVS approach complicates attempts to validate SfM-MVS robustly as each individual validation study will use a different approach (e.g. platform, camera, georeferencing method, etc.). We highlight the need for greater transparency in SfM-MVS processing and enhanced ability to adjust parameters that determine survey quality. Looking forwards, future prospects of SfM-MVS in physical geography are identified through discussion of more recent developments in the fields of image analysis and computer vision. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the article, the author discusses contributions of several scientists to the field of physical geography. Topics discussed include first lecture series on physical geography by Immanuel Kant, William Morris Davis' theory of geomorphology, and introduction of the term 'ecology' by biologists Ernst Heinrich Philipp August Haeckel.

Lorenz (1963) provided the foundation of chaos theory and inspired a fundamental reappraisal of systems’ nonlinearity in many disciplines, including physical geography. I will provide a brief overview of chaos in nonlinear systems as documented in Lorenz (1963), including the major tenants of chaos theory, followed by a discussion of the effects of chaos theory within meteorology and climate sciences, geomorphology, and ecology and biogeography. In general, Lorenz (1963) provided the intellectual framework for reconsidering the predictability of many physical systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study of landscape connectivity in conservation has increased considerably since the early part of the 21st century. While the implications of landscape connectivity are self-evident for conservation, they are also important for physical geography since a proper understanding of landscape patterns and processes allows for better landscape management practices, which are at the core of geography. This paper presents a review of the literature based on 162 publications from 2000 to 2013, in which we evaluated the current state and recent advances in the integration of landscape connectivity in the identification and planning of conservation areas. The literature review and data analysis were based on a database organized into five categories: General information, study areas, research objectives, research methods in connectivity studies, and integration of connectivity with conservation. We found a substantial increase in the number of publications relating to connectivity and conservation from 2008 to 2013. Least cost analysis was the method most commonly applied. We found no implementation of landscape connectivity proposals generated by the studies (e.g. potential corridors) into real landscape elements to ensure the permanence and functionality of ecosystems. We identified four important niches for potential future research projects: a) connectivity and climate change, b) contribution of connectivity studies to restoration planning, c) connectivity and land cover/land use change modeling and planning, d) contribution of connectivity analysis in the provision of ecosystem services across landscapes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An introduction is presented in which the editor discusses various reports within the issue on topics including critical physical geography (CPG), political economic origins of science perception of fencing, transition models for social science data collection, and mycology.

Whether (and how) physical and human geography should be integrated is a longstanding debate in our field. I return here to two entries in this debate from the early years of Progress in Physical Geography. While John Thornes’ 1981 progress report on atmospheric science reads like an early call for critical physical geography, the focus of this special issue, Ron Johnston’s 1983 article emphatically asserts that no such synthesis is intellectually or practically necessary. I argue, however, that Johnston’s article, perhaps inadvertently, lays the groundwork for integrated research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper critically appraises the idea and practice of ‘participation’ in scientific environmental research, arguing for the wider uptake by physical geographers of a more radical participatory approach. It proposes participatory action research (PAR), which offers an alternative mode of science, involving collaboration and co-production of research from question definition through to outcomes. We begin with a critical view of public participation in environmental research and policy-making to date. We argue that much rhetoric and practice of participation is shallow, focusing simply on including relevant publics and stakeholders, or having an underlying agenda of building trust in science or policy-making. Both orientations diverge drastically from the radical traditions in which participatory research and planning originate. In the rest of the paper, we illustrate an alternative process of knowledge co-production, reporting on a PAR project on farm slurry pollution conducted with a UK Rivers Trust. We evaluate the knowledge co-produced, the responses of participants and the scientific process. Suggesting that we reframe co-production as the circulation of expertise, we argue that PAR can enrich the learning, knowledge and skills of all those involved and lead to innovation and positive environmental outcomes. A number of structural and institutional barriers to deep participatory processes need to be addressed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Local ecological knowledge (LEK) is increasingly used to provide insights into ecosystem dynamics and to promote stakeholder inclusion. However, research on how to incorporate LEK into ecosystem management rarely discusses taxonomy and nomenclature despite the fact that processes of naming are deeply implicated in what types of knowledge are validated and used. Too often, local names are vetted against and then subsumed under ‘true’ scientific names, producing an oversimplified understanding of local names and perpetuating stereotypes about communities that use them. Ongoing revisions in mycological taxonomy and widespread interest in wild edible fungi make mushrooms an excellent case study for addressing nomenclature as an important part of multi-stakeholder research. We use morel mushrooms collected from the Mid-Atlantic United States to demonstrate a methodological approach to nomenclature – performative method – that focuses both on maintaining culturally meaningful aspects of local names and on recognizing culture and meaning behind scientific names. While recognizing the utility of the Linnaean nomenclatural system, we argue that acknowledging the contextual meanings of names avoids the unequal power relations inherent in integrating local knowledge into scientific discourse, and instead reframes knowledge production around shared interests in environmental questions and challenges. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Critical physical geography (CPG) proposes to bridge the lingering gap between human and physical geographers. To rejuvenate conversations among different corners of the discipline about the possibility of trans-disciplinary collaboration, CPG must provide unique epistemological, methodological, and conceptual frameworks that human and physical geographers alike will find appealing, relevant, and timely. These should help them perceptively characterize, narrate, and anticipate changes in socio-biophysical landscapes. This paper outlines a conceptual framework that can be harnessed in future CPG studies and reflects on what it means to be a critical geographer. To solve the epistemological dilemmas confronting CPG, this paper demonstrates that state-and-transition models (STMs) can provide a unifying framework to address questions about socio-biophysical landscape evolution. Originally developed to account for nonlinear dynamics in rangeland ecosystems, STMs have been used to analyze a variety of ecological, geomorphic, and hydrological transitions in complex biophysical landscapes. STMs have epistemological commonalities with explanatory frameworks pioneered by political ecologists, and while thus far they have been used to account for complex biophysical dynamics, they can be expanded to accommodate critical investigations of the social dynamics underpinning landscape change. By foregrounding the transitional dynamics of socio-biophysical landscape – a theme that has interested physical and critical human geographers – STMs establish a conceptual space in which to holistically interpret the interacting drivers that underwrite socio-biophysical landscape change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]