Principles of a Landscape Classification

A classification of natural landscapes based on a combination of historical-genetic and structural criteria is offered. The classificatory categories of a higher order are based on genetic and spatial associations of landscapes; the lower taxonomic entities are based largely on internal landscape structure. The taxonomic entities range from division to subspecies. The earth's landscape sphere is first broken down into divisions of terrestrial and water landscapes. Divisions fall into systems based on zonal differences in the heat and water balance (subarctic, boreal, subboreal, etc.). Systems fall into classes (plains and mountain landscapes), and classes break down into groups of landscapes based on geochemical and moisture criteria (eluvial, hydromorphic, etc.). Groups fall into types on the basis of bioclimatic and soils criteria (wooded steppe, steppe, desert etc.). Types break down into genera on the basis of genetic landform types (alluvial plains, colian landforms, etc.). Finally, the genera fall into species and subspecies on the basis of dominant and subordinated morphologic units known in Russian as urochishche. Examples of steppe plains genera might be gently rolling sandy plains with feathergrass on dark chestnut soils, or level plateau with a mantle of loam and fascue grass on dark chestnut carbonate soils.     

A System of Natural Areal Complexes of the Earth

The tiered vertical structure of all the earth's landscapes is used as the basis for a typological classification of all natural areal complexes. Four basic landscape divisions are proposed: (1) terrestrial landscapes, consisting of an upper aerial layer and lower mineral layer, (2) aquatic landscapes, consisting of three tiers: air, water, mineral base, (3) glacial landscapes, consisting of three tiers (air, ice, mineral) on land, and of four tiers (air, ice, water, mineral) in oceans, (4) variable landscapes distinguished by a periodic succession of structures (terrestrial-aquatic, terrestrial-glacial, aquatic-glacial).     

文化景观的真实性与完整性

真实性与完整性是提名遗产地能否列入《世界遗产名录》的重要条件,文化景观遗产作为"自然与人的共同作品",其真实性完整性呈现出与其它遗产不同的特点。研究相关国际论著成果及国际古迹遗址理事会对文化景观遗产的评估报告,分析《世界遗产名录》中各类文化景观特征各异的真实性与完整性,对文化景观保护具有一定的参考意义。     

A Method for Establishing some Parameters of the Morphologic Structure of Landscapes

An attempt is made to characterize the morphologic structure of natural landscapes in terms of quantitative indicators. The following parameters are suggested: (1) structural diagrams of landscapes in the form of graphs, in which the vertices represent the landscape units and subunits, and the edges the hierarchical relations between these elements, (2) structural matrices that would show, for example, whether particular types of morphologic elements occur in a set of landscapes, (3) histograms showing the total areal coverage of types of morphologic elements in particular landscapes, (4) coefficients of complexity of landscape structure, which would be directly proportional to the number of morphologic elements and inversely proportional to their mean size, (5) entropic measures of diversity of landscape structure, which would increase with the number of morphologic elements and decrease with polarization into dominant elements and elements of limited distribution, and (6) measures of the degree of contrast in the landscape structure, in the form of the variance of the number of neighbors of taxons at a particular taxonomic level.     

A DEFENSE OF ANTHROPOGENIC LANDSCAPE SCIENCE

A founder of the Soviet school of anthropogenic landscape science defends the discipline against charges that it ignores the fundamentals of geographic landscape theory and confuses anthropogenic landscapes with types of land use and engineering structures. The development of a separate anthropogenic approach in landscape science is justified on the ground that maninduced landscapes, such as cropland, pasture, vineyards, secondary forest, reservoirs, open pits and spoil banks play an increasing role in the environment and require separate investigation. Anthropogenic landscapes, far from being counterposed to natural landscapes, are treated as a distinctive genetic group of landscapes that owe their origin to human interference, but follow natural laws of development. Anthropogenic landscape science is said to be concerned with the physical-geographic and ecological aspects of human impact on the environment, while the study of types of land use focuses on the technology and economic benefit of such impact. [For previous translations on the issue, see Soviet Geography, October 1974 and December 1975.]     

Landscape and warfare in Anglo‐Saxon England and the Viking campaign of 1006

This paper outlines the state of research into early medieval conflict landscapes in England and sets out a theoretical and methodological basis for the sustained and systematic investigation of battlefield toponymy and topography. The hypothesis is advanced that certain types of place were considered particularly appropriate for the performance of violent conflict throughout the period and that the social ideas that determined the choice of locale are, to some degree, recoverable through in‐depth, interdisciplinary analysis of landscapes, place names and texts. The events of 1006 and the landscape of the upper Kennet are introduced as a case study that reveals the complex interplay of royal ideology, superstition and place that were invoked in the practice of violence in late Anglo‐Saxon England. In the course of the discussion, this paper seeks to demonstrate the value of applying a similar approach to the full range of evidence for conflict landscapes in early medieval England and beyond.     

Earth Sciences Comparative Matrix: A Comparative Method for Geoheritage Assessment

Geological heritage is insufficiently recognised in Australia; it should be considered in its own right, not as an addendum to other heritage values. The lack of a suitable robust and repeatable methodology has seriously constrained the assessment of geological sites suitable for the National Heritage List (NHL). A desktop assessment of Australian desert landscapes required intrinsic natural values of a diverse group of sites, spread over a vast area, to be assessed against NHL criteria. The Earth Sciences Comparative Matrix (ESCoM) was developed for this study. In the ESCoM, sites are grouped in process themes. Each is assessed against NHL criteria then compared with other similar places, according to degree of unusualness, integrity, and authenticity. A site scoring well across multiple themes has increased heritage significance. The overall values of a site are quantified, leading to a qualitative judgement on whether it achieves the threshold of outstanding heritage value. Examples of assessment using this method are given. In this methodology, significance determination is based on rigorous comparisons of specific values. It is semi‐quantitative, repeatable, and robust. It differs from other geoheritage assessment methods in its combination of process‐based groupings (facilitating the separation of site type from heritage criteria), matrix structure (minimising complexities of scale or diversity), and use of numerical rankings as an aid in decision‐making. While the study for which ESCoM was developed was focused on landforms, it can be used for other types of geoheritage (e.g. fossils, tectonic processes), with modification of matrix theme headings.     

In Search of the Authentic Nation: Landscape and National Identity in Canada and Switzerland

Abstract. While the study of nationalism and national identity has flourished in the last decade, little attention has been devoted to the conditions under which natural environments acquire significance in definitions of nationhood. This article examines the identity-forming role of landscape depictions in two polyethnic nation-states: Canada and Switzerland. Two types of geographical national identity are identified. The first – what we call the ‘nationalisation of nature’– portrays zarticular landscapes as expressions of national authenticity. The second pattern – what we refer to as the ‘naturalisation of the nation’– rests upon a notion of geographical determinism that depicts specific landscapes as forces capable of determining national identity. The authors offer two reasons why the second pattern came to prevail in the cases under consideration: (1) the affinity between wild landscape and the Romantic ideal of pure, rugged nature, and (2) a divergence between the nationalist ideal of ethnic homogeneity and the polyethnic composition of the two societies under consideration.     

神话与宗教中理想景观的文化地理透视

神话与宗教是原始的哲学和宇宙观,理想景观是其中一个重要组成部分。根据文化圈的不同,世界神话与宗教可划分为三种地域类型:中国式、希腊式和希伯莱式。它们各有其不同的理想景观类型。理想景观是人们对于环境的选择和改造,它的形成受自然环境和文化的双重作用,其中自然环境的作用是潜在的、基础性的,而文化的作用是直接的和本质性的。不同的文化通过神话和宗教中的理想景观类型来表达自己的景观理想,又依据这些理想,通过地理回归在现实中使其物化,实现对地理环境的影响。     

On the Method of Applied Landscape Research

Landscape science, as a discipline concerned with the integrated investigation of natural areal complexes of different ranks, has been gaining an increasing range of practical applications in connection with optimal design of cultural landscapes. The paper focuses on the use of applied landscape maps in investigations designed to make optimal use of the ecological potential of natural landscapes and their morphological subdivisions. Five types of maps are distinguished, corresponding to successive stages in the investigation. An inventory map presents a picture of the present state of the natural complexes, with emphasis on those features that are most relevant to the stated applied purpose (recreational use, agricultural use, engineering applications, etc.). An evaluative map classifies the natural complexes in terms of their suitability for the stated purpose. A predictive map focuses on the likely future behavior of these complexes, and a recommendatory map lists measures required to enhance the potential of natural areas for particular purposes. The ultimate result is a synthesized map of the entire proposed cultural landscape.     

Integrated Visions (Part II): Envisioning Sustainable Energy Landscapes

Climate change and resource depletion are driving the transition to renewable energy sources. Both the supply of renewables and the demand for energy are influenced by the physical environment and therefore concern spatial planning and landscape design. Envisioning the long-term development of alternative energy landscapes – that is sustainable energy landscapes – present spatial planners and landscape architects with new challenges. The first paper of this two-part series discussed several existing approaches to long-term regional planning and landscape design, and presented an alternative, five-step approach for the composition of integrated visions [Stremke, S., Kann, F. Van & Koh, J. (2012) Integrated Visions (part I): Methodological Framework, European Planning Studies, [20(2), pp. 305–320]. This paper illustrates how the five-step approach was employed to compose a set of integrated visions for the development of sustainable energy landscapes in south of the Netherlands. The proposed five-step approach is then examined with respect to a set of criteria stressed in the planning and design literature.     

Man-Induced Differentiation of Natural Conditions as a Factor in Physical-Geographic Regionalization

The author analyzes the significance of man-induced changes in the natural environment at various levels of the hierarchy of physical-geographic regionalization, and proposes a classification of man-altered landscapes that can be applied to existing systems of physical-geographic regions.     

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AND ENVIRONMENTAL CHANGE IN THE WEST SIBERIAN PLAIN

The various types of natural landscapes of West Siberia are analyzed in terms of the environmental impacts of the more common forms of human activity. These are natural gas extraction and reindeer herding in the northern tundra; oil extraction and logging in the middle taiga, and agriculture as well as manufacturing in the southern wooded steppe and steppe. The impacts of human activity on specific natural processes (cryogenesis, bog formation, salinization) are discussed. The territory of West Siberia is broken down into three types of environmental impact regions: regions of significant impacts (from oil and gas extraction and agriculture); regions of moderate impacts (from logging and reindeer herding); and a region in which natural landscape structures have remained virtually unaffected by human activity.     

The Class of Anthropogenic Industrial Landscapes

Anthropogenic landscapes fall into several classes: agricultural, forestation and aquatic landscapes, which tend to vary with natural zones, and industrial landscapes, which are azonal in character and depend largely on such azonal features as geological structure, hydrogeology, etc. Industrial landscapes are largely of the neo-landscape type, i.e., created by man from scratch. In terms of purposefulness, they are not a direct effect, but are incidental to man's industrial activities. The most common industrial landscape type consists of strip mines and their spoil banks. Such strip-mine landscapes may be denuded (devoid of vegetation); slag-cone terrain; weed-overgrown wasteland; denuded lacustrine wasteland; stone-quarry badlands; cultivated hydraulic spoil banks.     

Heritage,amenity, and the changing landscape of the rural American West

The production landscapes that once dominated the rural American West are being transformed into amenity landscapes intended largely for consumption by in-migrants and visitors. However, once people settle in the rural West, a newly realized amenity may be recognized: the region's relic cultural landscape. This paper builds upon a 2007 study that used resident-employed photography to assess the varying environmental perspectives of, and social interactions between, newcomers and long-established ranchers in a rural Colorado valley. Photographs taken by both lifelong ranchers and newer nonagricultural residents highlighted two relic landscapes in the valley: its cemetery and one-room schoolhouse. This study investigates these particular cultural landscapes, their histories, meanings, and what their futures in this region may hold, given the in-migration. Using archives, landscape interpretation, and interviews with key informants, this paper analyzes how newcomers may appropriate these relic landscapes and further develop them as cultural amenities in their new environment. Simultaneously, long-established ranchers may defend these landscapes of their own heritage against such co-optation. The interests of newcomers in these historic relics impacts how they are, and will continue to be, managed, possibly creating new opportunities for social interaction among these groups.     

Techniques for the Recreational Evaluation of an Area

Because of the problem of factor weights in any integral evaluation of landscapes for recreational purposes, a systems approach is proposed for classifying factors in terms of relative significance. Internal and external landscape structures are distinguished. Internal structure involves the organization of the landscape, including components and their natural interactions. External structure reflects the landscape system's relations with other systems, either adjacent landscapes or systems of human activities. For purposes of recreational evaluation, landscape elements must be differentiated into classes in terms of their impact on recreation: active elements, favoring particular recreational uses; limiting elements; compensatory elements. The state of recreational resources must also take account of current economic use of the land. Some types of economic uses combine more readily with recreational uses than others. The systems technique is illustrated with reference to the Moscow region and the Issyk-Kul' basin in Central Asia.     

A Zero‐One Programming Model for Contiguous Land Acquisition

The land acquisition problem is a spatial partitioning problem that involves selecting multiple parcels to be acquired for a particular land use. Three selection criteria are considered: total cost, total area, and spatial contiguity. Achieving contiguity or connectivity has been problematic in previous exact methods for land acquisition. Here we present a new zero‐one programming model that enforces necessary and sufficient conditions for achieving contiguity in discrete cell landscapes, independent of other spatial attributes such as compactness. Computational experience with several demonstration problems is reported, and results and extensions are discussed.     

QUANTITATIVE METHODS FOR INVESTIGATING THE VARIABLES THAT UNDERLIE PREFERENCE FOR LANDSCAPE SCENES

A series of quantitative methods for investigating the basis for preference for landscape scenes was applied to photographs of alpine and subalpine landscapes in Alberta. The procedure incorporates a multidimensional scaling analysis with the repertory grid technique and also employs a property vector-fitting algorithm as an aid in interpreting the dimensional solution. The preferences of a sample group were based on three criteria. In order of importance, these are character of vegetation cover, depth of field, and elevation of terrain. Additional validation of the results was obtained through a principal components analysis of the repertory grid data.     

Cultural Landscapes of Britain

'Britain' and 'cultural landscape' as used here are defined. The World Heritage categorisation provides the basis for a brief review of the range of such landscapes in Britain, with specific examples being named and briefly characterised. Relict landscapes are particularly noted. 'Threats to cultural landscapes are identified as of both development and decrepitude. A short discussion of the purpose and viability of cultural landscapes in Britain, for national and global purposes, concludes by noting a number of British cultural landscapes recognisable in World Heritage terms and potentially relevant to the European Landscape Convention 2000.