A Literature Review of Landscape Ecology

Document Type : Review

Authors

1 Ph.D. in Agriculture / Department of Agriculture Jihad of Rafsanjan

2 Ph.D. in Landscape Architecture / Art University of Shiraz

Abstract

Ecology, in the simple concept, is the study of interactions between organisms and their environment. Ecosystem, is the collection of organisms and their surrounding environment in a certain area that build and exchange food and energy by relationships and interactions. The knowledge of studying the ecosystems is called ecology. Because of the wide scope of ecology, this science is considered as a multidisciplinary knowledge and various sciences are formed around it, such as: population ecology, community ecology, ecosystem ecology, landscape ecology, urban ecology and global ecology.
In the last decade, ecological design paradigm and landscape ecology approach was developed due to the destruction of natural capitals and landscapes features. This approach is known as an interdisciplinary knowledge that integrates biophysical techniques with a holistic humanities approach and presents design strategies compatible with landscape capitals (natural, social, and cultural capitals) to restore dynamism of landscapes.
Despite the fact that many of the landscapes are altered by incompatible human intervention, adverse ecological and vernacular research, can present a whole view of the natural and cultural layers and capitals of the landscape. The basic philosophy in this approach is considering landscape as widespread mosaics, recognizing disturbance in natural process of inherent patterns of mosaics and designing to restore patterns through creating and reviving patches, flows, corridors, and ecological networks.

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