A Changing World

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.

• Driving forces
• Modeling
• Remote sensing/GIS
• Statistics
• Vegetation
• biodiversity
• development
• ecology
• environment
• landscape/regional and urban planning

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)

• Swiss Federal Research Institute WSL, Birmensdorf, Switzerland

  Felix Kienast, Otto Wildi, Sucharita Ghosh

Policies and ethics