Assignment

LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE
22MAR017

Ques. How landscape and ecology related to each other?

 “Landscapes are spatially heterogeneous geographic areas characterized by diverse

interacting patches or ecosystems, ranging from natural, terrestrial and aquatic systems
such as forests, grasslands and lakes to human dominated environments including
agricultural and urban settings.”

 A landscape is defined as ‘the total natural and human living space.’

 Landscape ecology has evolved to include the study of human interactions on broad scales
like deforestation, agricultural practices, flow regulation of rivers, habitat fragmentation.
Landscape ecology focuses on the exchanges of energy, materials and organisms across
multiple ecosystems.

 Landscape ecology is the study of interaction between ecosystem and how these
interactions affect ecological processes in the environment. It is the interaction between the
temporal and spatial aspects of landscape and organism within it. Landscape ecology
specially recognizes the disturbance, whether anthropogenic or caused by natural processes,
creates spatial heterogeneity.

 “Landscape ecology is the science and art of studying and improving the relationship
between spatial patterns and ecological processes on a multitude of scales and
organizational levels.”

 Landscape ecology also includes geomorphology as applied to the design and architecture
of landscapes. Geomorphology is the study of how geological formations are responsible
for the structure of landscape.

 Landscape ecology today relies more on advanced technologies such as remote sensing,
GIS, and stimulation models, with associated development of powerful quantitative
methods to examine the interactions of patterns and processes.
 Landscape ecology is comprised of four main principles, which include
 Spatial heterogeneity
 Interactions and exchanges across heterogeneous landscapes,
 Influence of spatial heterogeneity on biotic and abiotic processes,
 The management of spatial heterogeneity.

 Some examples which defines the organism interaction with landscape.

 Patches
 Corridors
 Matrix
 Mosaic

1. Patches- Landscapes patches are spatial units that differ from each other due to local
factors. Patches are the basic unit of the landscape that change and fluctuate, a process called
patch dynamics.

2. Corridors- Corridors function as strips of particular type of landscape, differing from

adjacent and on both sides. Three major types of corridors may be in the form of line, strip and
stream etc.

3. Matrix- The matrix is the majority of the surrounding landscape. It is the “background
ecological system” of a landscape with the high degree of connectivity.

4. Mosaic- Mosaics are the networking of all the corridors and patches in an area. Mosaic
describes the pattern of patches, corridors and matrix.

Fig.1 Elements of landscape ecology Fig.2 A mosaic of patch, corridor and matrix