29 - Landscape ecology: principles of cognition and the political–economic dimension

Summary

It is the view of scientists, and of the public in general, that landscape ecology is a science of landscapes and humans. Landscape is a part of the earth's surface – a region perceived by humans (Hartshorne, 1939; Zonneveld, 1988). However, humans are also inhabitants and users of the landscape. Landscape is their immediate home but it is also a territory of broader political and economic interest. It is the space where humans live, travel, work, and rest. This relationship between humans and the landscape has acquired a special meaning, especially in relation to negative phenomena, even conflicts, which have originated as responses to human activities.

Humans were never on the earth as impartial visitors but from earliest times perceived landscape as their environment. Consequently, environmental problems were those that called for a solution. Humans not only perceived landscape pattern as scenery but they also started to evaluate land-use arrangements by using economic and ecological principles. The impact of humans on the landscape resulting from their activities became the subject of public supervision, decision making, and planning. At the same time, tools useful in acquiring knowledge were activated and scientific research was oriented toward forecasting the consequences of land use and of understanding the potential, or the limits, of a conflict-free functioning of landscape. The theory and methodology of geography, landscape ecology, and also biology (especially geobotany) became the foundation for this reasoning and for the resolution of practical problems.