A Changing World: Challenges for Landscape Research

ISBN-13: 9789048123902 / Angielski / Miękka / 2009 / 296 str.

Felix Kienast; Otto Wildi; Sucharita Ghosh

Opis

Landscape Research has been established as an interdisciplinary field dealing with complex environmental processes at multiple spatial and temporal scales. During the course of its history, various societal, technological and philosophical stimuli have shaped Landscape Research, e.g. the declaration of Landscape Ecology in the 1930s and contemporary global technological and societal developments. Modern landscape research presently uses mathematics, statistics and advanced simulation techniques to combine empirical observations with known theories from ecology, physics, geography, social science and so on. Knowledge is thus updated and quantified via models that are used for estimation, hypothesis testing, prediction and assessment of scenarios. Advances in the computational sciences (e.g. fast computers and vast array of software), space science (e.g. remote sensing) and biological sciences (e.g. genetics) as well as new perspectives in the social sciences play important roles. Research findings are implemented in conservation management, urban planning and global change mitigation strategies. This book identifies emerging fields and new challenges that are discussed within the framework of the driving forces of Landscape Development. Rather than offering a comprehensive overview of all fields of Landscape Research, the book addresses hot topics emphasizing major contemporary trends in these fields."

Recenzje

From the reviews:

"This latest book in Springer's Landscape Series looks at some of the emerging fields and new challenges in landscape research. ... Drawing on the expertise of an interdisciplinary team, this collection provides a valuable reference for researchers in landscape ecology, conservation biology, ecological modeling, and related fields." (Abstracts of Public Administration, Development, and Environment, 2007)

"This book ... provides the scientific community with some eye-opening material by including the importance of social dimensions in the dominant view of modern landscape ecology in North America. ... In conclusion, I found this book very stimulating and valuable for landscape researchers, students and practitioners. I foresee that this text will play an important role in the history of landscape ecology, just like those of pioneer ecologists in the first half of the twentieth century." (Jiquan Chen, Landscape Ecology, Vol. 23, 2008)

"'A Changing World, Challenges for Landscape Research,' ... includes a collection of contemporary hot topics currently studied by Swiss landscape ecologists. ... The book contains papers that address frontier research issues as well as reviews of basic concepts and theories of landscape ecology. In general, the papers are of very good quality and the topics are worthy of publication. ... I can recommend this book to both researchers and students in landscape ecology." (Hong S. He, Landscape Ecology, Vol. 23, 2008)

Spis treści

Foreword.- Preface.- 1. Change and transformation: a synthesis; F. Kienast et al.- Part 1: Value systems - Major drivers of landscape dynamics. 2. Value systems: drivers of human-landscape interactions; M. Buchecker et al.- 3. The role of value systems in biodiversity research; P. Duelli et al.- 4. The meaning of 'Landscape' – an exegesis of Swiss government texts; P. Longatti, T. Dalang.- 5. Two aspects of the human-landscape relationship; M. Hunziker et al.- Part 2: Ecological observations and processes. 6. Modern remote sensing for environmental monitoring of landscape states and trajectories; N.E. Zimmermann et al.- 7. A large-scale, long-term view on collecting and sharing of landscape data; A. Lanz et al.- 8. On selected issues and challenges in dendroclimatology; J. Esper et al.- 9. Using the past to understand the present land use and land cover; M. Bürgi et al.- 10. Integrating population genetics with landscape ecology to infer spatio-temporal processes; R. Holderegger et al.- 11. Landscape permeability: from individual dispersal to population persistence; W. Suter et al.- Part 3: Spatial pattern recognition, time series analysis and dynamic modeling. 12. Identifying and quantifying landscape patterns in space and time; J. Bolliger et al.- 13. Essay on the study of the vegetation process; O. Wildi, L. Orlóci.- 14. Statistical analysis of landscape data: space-for-time, probability surfaces and discovering species; S. Ghosh, O. Wildi.- 15. Memory, non-stationarity and trend: analysis of environmental time series;S. Ghosh et al.- 16. Model up-scaling in landscape research; H. Lischke et al.- 17. Dynamic spatio-temporal landscape models; H. Lischke et al.-

O autorze

Landscape Research is established as an interdisciplinary field dealing with complex environmental processes at multiple spatial and temporal scales. Modern landscape research uses mathematics, statistics and advanced simulation techniques to combine empirical observations with known theories from ecology, physics, geography, social science and so on. Knowledge is thus updated and quantified via models that are used for estimation, hypothesis testing, prediction and assessment of scenarios. Advances in the computational sciences, space science and biological sciences as well as new perspectives in the social sciences play important roles. Research findings are implemented in conservation management, urban planning and global change mitigation strategies.

This book identifies emerging fields and new challenges that are discussed within the framework of the 'driving forces' of Landscape Development. Rather than offering a comprehensive overview of all fields of Landscape Research, the book addresses 'hot topics' emphasizing major contemporary trends in these fields.

Blurb

Written primarily for researchers and advanced students in environmental and social sciences, this latest book in Springer’s Landscape Series looks at some of the emerging fields and new challenges in landscape research. These include:

• the role of value systems in perceiving, appreciating, and managing landscapes
• the ‘space’ and ‘place’ concept in landscape research
• GIS and remote sensing techniques for gathering and processing spatially and temporally explicit land cover, vegetation, and land use data
• methods of landscape history
• landscape genetics and genetic methods to test landscape connectivity and dispersal of plant and animal species
• palaeoclimatic research, with focus on tree ring based temperature reconstructions
• landscape patterns, processes and model up-scaling
• statistical methods for environmental time series and other observations

Drawing on the expertise of an interdisciplinary team, the book provides a valuable reference for researchers in landscape ecology, landscape perception, conservation biology, ecological modeling, statistics in the environmental sciences and related fields.