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ENV510 Landscape Ecology and GIS
Definitions
& descriptions |
Structure
& pattern | Function
& process | Change
& dynamics | Management
implications
Importance
| Processes | Instigators
| Disturbance |
Influence | Humans
| Effects | Extent
| Gradients | Results
| Classification
| Spatial Causes
The landscapes
visible today are largely cultural. Nassauer
(1995) says that culture is responsible for changing activities, which alter
the appearance and functionality of the landscape, but culture is also something
that becomes embodied in landscapes.
This means
that there is a feedback
mechanism between culture causing structural changes to the landscape and landscapes
causing changes to culture.
Humans
construct landscapes and manage them to suit their requirements. They make decisions
about the landscape on what they see and feel.
Bastian
and Bernhart (1993) described landscape change as 'qualitative transformation
caused by social activity and mostly extended over long periods'.
Different
landscapes with different assets react differently to the same type of human
activity.
Three main human processes have been suggested as having the biggest impacts on landscape. These are fire, grazing and deforestation (Lepart and Debussche, 1992).
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