Nigel Walford - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

Papers by Nigel Walford

Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research), Apr 2, 2022

Research into ecological range shift has increased exponentially in recent years as ecologists at... more Research into ecological range shift has increased exponentially in recent years as ecologists attempt to understand responses to global change drivers. To our knowledge, we produced one of the first global systematic maps investigating terrestrial plant range shift studies. After screening >7,000 articles, we used "EviAtlas" to synthesise 294 studies into an open-source web map database. The results highlight Sub-Saharan Africa and Central America as understudied Hotspot regions. Studies are predominantly predictive in nature, highlighting difficulties in establishing long-term monitoring to measure empirical range shift on the ground. Moreover, most studies opt for correlative species distribution modelling techniques, rather than process-based (mechanistic) models. The application of most studies is to supply evidence on the impacts of climate change, for conservation and invasion management purposes. Adopting a research strategy that emphasises use of demographic, physiological, and species-or-genera-specific data is paramount for constructing models capable of accurately predicting future range shift.

The Geographical Journal, Apr 12, 2023

Land use/land cover sits alongside other basic types of information about a country, such as its ... more Land use/land cover sits alongside other basic types of information about a country, such as its population and economy. However, in contrast with population data, which have been supplied by the decennial British Population Census since 1801 (apart from 1941), the routine and periodic collection of land‐use/land‐cover data has proved more challenging. Notable exceptions include the First and Second Land Utilisation surveys of the 1930s and 1960s, and the Countryside Surveys using a stratified sample of 1‐km grid squares undertaken periodically since 1984. The focus here is on the land‐use/land‐cover data collected by the Ordnance Survey from the 1850s to 1880s as part of the cadastral mapping of the country at 1:2500 scale. This information was published in Parish Books of Reference. These documents for parishes covering the South Downs, a National Character Area and National Park, in East and West Sussex provide the attribute data for the land parcels that have been joined to digitised polygons in order map land use/land cover across this area for the mid‐1870s. Classification of these data into 20 land‐use/land‐cover types enabled visual assessment and quantitative analysis using statistical techniques and spatial indices to explore the complexity of the landscape. Having shown the feasibility of mapping land‐use/land‐cover data for the South Downs, the paper concludes by considering issues involved in extending this work to other counties for which the Books of Reference were published.

The characterisation of urban and rural landscapes can take many forms. Neighbourhood classificat... more The characterisation of urban and rural landscapes can take many forms. Neighbourhood classification provides one approach to describing changing social characteristics of urban landscapes, and thus can be used to examine social aspects of gentrification. However, gentrification usually also involves changes to the physical landscape. Current neighbourhood classifications of residential areas, from the academic, governmental and commercial sectors, tend to ignore the physical environment and are based almost exclusively on demographic and socio-economic indicators or variables. This paper seeks to explore the extension of a neighbourhood classification to incorporate environmental and landscape variables, thereby offering the potential of examining gentrification in terms of both physical and social changes. In this initial exploration, the physical aspect of the landscape is characterised in terms of land cover/land use variables. We examine gentrification in respect of two contrasting local authorities, Colchester Borough Council in north-east Essex which has the potential to be benefit from the social and economic development derived from its commutable proximity to London, and Salford to the west of Manchester City, where urban affluence rubs shoulders with more disadvantaged communities. Using the environmentally enhanced neighbourhood classification for different time periods we seek to explore gentrification in the two contrasting study areas.

The use of area-based neighbourhood classifications to characterise and interpret spatial pattern... more The use of area-based neighbourhood classifications to characterise and interpret spatial patterns in population is now common place, with both commercial and open data products being available. However, current data products focus on characterising areas based on mainly socio-economic variables, which effectively separates the human and physical components of the environment. Much research has indicated that physical environment has an impact on an individual and group’s quality of life. The aim of the research on which this paper is based is to investigate the impacts of introducing different forms of environmental (land cover) and landscape indicators into area classification systems. It seeks to determine whether the inclusion of such indicators enhances the results of existing area classifications and potentially contributes to the continuing debate relating to the experience of environmental justice amongst different sections of modern society. The approach adopted is to derive a series of environmental variables from digital mapping and remotely sensed sources, and combine these with socio-economic variables. The variables in these combined environmental and socio-economic datasets are then subjected to the multivariate classification techniques hitherto applied to one of these types of data in the absence of the others. Comparison of results obtained from these joint analyses with those from the separate datasets enables the ‘added value’ of combining these data to be assessed.

Routledge eBooks, Mar 9, 2016

The London Journal, 2020

Part-funded by Kingston Town Centre Management Ltd (KingstonFirst) and its stakeholders.

Applied Geography, 2020

National small area classifications in Britain were first produced over 40 years ago using statis... more National small area classifications in Britain were first produced over 40 years ago using statistics from 1971 Population Census and have now become a regular feature of governmental, academic and commercial analysis of census information. These classifications aim to encapsulate the aggregate demographic and socioeconomic character of small areas by means of a simple thumbnail description. However, these pen portraits often also refer to the environmental nature of the different types of area where people live, employing terms such as 'leafy suburb', 'industrial hinterland' or 'agricultural heartland'. This paper reports on research that aims to determine whether a set of environmental (land use) indicators are capable of discriminating between areas in a way that matches a 'standard' area classification derived from multivariate analysis of demographic and socioeconomic statistics. The research assesses the impact of adding a set of environmental (land use) variables to a collection of Census variables on area classification using k-means clustering varia.in two contrasting case study local authorities. The results reveal that clustering with and without the addition of land use variables produce partially overlapping (coincident) classifications of the small areas and certain of the land use variables are aligned with some area types.

The digitisation of historical documents continues apace and offers an expanding range of opportu... more The digitisation of historical documents continues apace and offers an expanding range of opportunities for detailed investigation of demographic, economic and social patterns of historic living spaces. The wealth of spatial information contained in historic-geographic sources in recent years has enabled such data to be explored with a GIS-framework and has resulted in the creation of national Historical GIS projects. This paper takes a more local focus and is based on data relating to individuals, households and addresses from the 1901 and 1911 British Population Censuses for six local authorities in the historic counties of London and Middlesex. These local government areas were selected for their contrasting trends (growth, stability and decline) in respect of population change during the first decade of the 20th century and for representing both the densely populated centre of London as well as localities that were to become developed as a result of 20th century suburbanisation....

Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research), Apr 2, 2022

Research into ecological range shift has increased exponentially in recent years as ecologists at... more Research into ecological range shift has increased exponentially in recent years as ecologists attempt to understand responses to global change drivers. To our knowledge, we produced one of the first global systematic maps investigating terrestrial plant range shift studies. After screening >7,000 articles, we used "EviAtlas" to synthesise 294 studies into an open-source web map database. The results highlight Sub-Saharan Africa and Central America as understudied Hotspot regions. Studies are predominantly predictive in nature, highlighting difficulties in establishing long-term monitoring to measure empirical range shift on the ground. Moreover, most studies opt for correlative species distribution modelling techniques, rather than process-based (mechanistic) models. The application of most studies is to supply evidence on the impacts of climate change, for conservation and invasion management purposes. Adopting a research strategy that emphasises use of demographic, physiological, and species-or-genera-specific data is paramount for constructing models capable of accurately predicting future range shift.

The Geographical Journal, Apr 12, 2023

Land use/land cover sits alongside other basic types of information about a country, such as its ... more Land use/land cover sits alongside other basic types of information about a country, such as its population and economy. However, in contrast with population data, which have been supplied by the decennial British Population Census since 1801 (apart from 1941), the routine and periodic collection of land‐use/land‐cover data has proved more challenging. Notable exceptions include the First and Second Land Utilisation surveys of the 1930s and 1960s, and the Countryside Surveys using a stratified sample of 1‐km grid squares undertaken periodically since 1984. The focus here is on the land‐use/land‐cover data collected by the Ordnance Survey from the 1850s to 1880s as part of the cadastral mapping of the country at 1:2500 scale. This information was published in Parish Books of Reference. These documents for parishes covering the South Downs, a National Character Area and National Park, in East and West Sussex provide the attribute data for the land parcels that have been joined to digitised polygons in order map land use/land cover across this area for the mid‐1870s. Classification of these data into 20 land‐use/land‐cover types enabled visual assessment and quantitative analysis using statistical techniques and spatial indices to explore the complexity of the landscape. Having shown the feasibility of mapping land‐use/land‐cover data for the South Downs, the paper concludes by considering issues involved in extending this work to other counties for which the Books of Reference were published.

The characterisation of urban and rural landscapes can take many forms. Neighbourhood classificat... more The characterisation of urban and rural landscapes can take many forms. Neighbourhood classification provides one approach to describing changing social characteristics of urban landscapes, and thus can be used to examine social aspects of gentrification. However, gentrification usually also involves changes to the physical landscape. Current neighbourhood classifications of residential areas, from the academic, governmental and commercial sectors, tend to ignore the physical environment and are based almost exclusively on demographic and socio-economic indicators or variables. This paper seeks to explore the extension of a neighbourhood classification to incorporate environmental and landscape variables, thereby offering the potential of examining gentrification in terms of both physical and social changes. In this initial exploration, the physical aspect of the landscape is characterised in terms of land cover/land use variables. We examine gentrification in respect of two contrasting local authorities, Colchester Borough Council in north-east Essex which has the potential to be benefit from the social and economic development derived from its commutable proximity to London, and Salford to the west of Manchester City, where urban affluence rubs shoulders with more disadvantaged communities. Using the environmentally enhanced neighbourhood classification for different time periods we seek to explore gentrification in the two contrasting study areas.

The use of area-based neighbourhood classifications to characterise and interpret spatial pattern... more The use of area-based neighbourhood classifications to characterise and interpret spatial patterns in population is now common place, with both commercial and open data products being available. However, current data products focus on characterising areas based on mainly socio-economic variables, which effectively separates the human and physical components of the environment. Much research has indicated that physical environment has an impact on an individual and group’s quality of life. The aim of the research on which this paper is based is to investigate the impacts of introducing different forms of environmental (land cover) and landscape indicators into area classification systems. It seeks to determine whether the inclusion of such indicators enhances the results of existing area classifications and potentially contributes to the continuing debate relating to the experience of environmental justice amongst different sections of modern society. The approach adopted is to derive a series of environmental variables from digital mapping and remotely sensed sources, and combine these with socio-economic variables. The variables in these combined environmental and socio-economic datasets are then subjected to the multivariate classification techniques hitherto applied to one of these types of data in the absence of the others. Comparison of results obtained from these joint analyses with those from the separate datasets enables the ‘added value’ of combining these data to be assessed.

Routledge eBooks, Mar 9, 2016

The London Journal, 2020

Part-funded by Kingston Town Centre Management Ltd (KingstonFirst) and its stakeholders.

Applied Geography, 2020

National small area classifications in Britain were first produced over 40 years ago using statis... more National small area classifications in Britain were first produced over 40 years ago using statistics from 1971 Population Census and have now become a regular feature of governmental, academic and commercial analysis of census information. These classifications aim to encapsulate the aggregate demographic and socioeconomic character of small areas by means of a simple thumbnail description. However, these pen portraits often also refer to the environmental nature of the different types of area where people live, employing terms such as 'leafy suburb', 'industrial hinterland' or 'agricultural heartland'. This paper reports on research that aims to determine whether a set of environmental (land use) indicators are capable of discriminating between areas in a way that matches a 'standard' area classification derived from multivariate analysis of demographic and socioeconomic statistics. The research assesses the impact of adding a set of environmental (land use) variables to a collection of Census variables on area classification using k-means clustering varia.in two contrasting case study local authorities. The results reveal that clustering with and without the addition of land use variables produce partially overlapping (coincident) classifications of the small areas and certain of the land use variables are aligned with some area types.

The digitisation of historical documents continues apace and offers an expanding range of opportu... more The digitisation of historical documents continues apace and offers an expanding range of opportunities for detailed investigation of demographic, economic and social patterns of historic living spaces. The wealth of spatial information contained in historic-geographic sources in recent years has enabled such data to be explored with a GIS-framework and has resulted in the creation of national Historical GIS projects. This paper takes a more local focus and is based on data relating to individuals, households and addresses from the 1901 and 1911 British Population Censuses for six local authorities in the historic counties of London and Middlesex. These local government areas were selected for their contrasting trends (growth, stability and decline) in respect of population change during the first decade of the 20th century and for representing both the densely populated centre of London as well as localities that were to become developed as a result of 20th century suburbanisation....