Landscape modelling integrates the differing perspectives of the many
disciplines that deal with the landscape. It is motivated not only by
the desire for scientific understanding, but also by the real-time
demands of 21st century postindustrial society, which include
the twin imperatives of stabilizing damaged ecosystems on the one hand,
and finding effective ways to use the landscape on the other. The
discipline has the specific goal of designing and assessing future
scenarios of landscape development, while not losing sight of its past
history, both ecological and socio-cultural. This book encompasses the
interrelated disciplines of geography, landscape ecology and
geoinformatics, and by drawing on their theories and methodologies
introduces the concept of a living landscape with human action an
inseparable part of its evolution. It offers researchers and
decision-makers a number of ideas on how our landscape can best be
utilized. The content reflects the need for sustainable landscape
development, at the same time as considering long-term continuity as a
major condition which enables us to maintain the diversity and
multifunctionality of landscapes at regional and macro-regional scales.
Employing advanced terminology and methods, this book provides specific
results especially for scientists and landscape professionals. The
methodological approaches include environmental analyses, sociological
inquiries (landscape perception), heuristic methods (landscape
histories) and sophisticated statistical modelling and geoinformatic
tools.
