LANDSCAPE AND ECOLOGY
UNIT I INTRODUCTION
Contents:-
 Introduction to landscape architecture
 Ecology
 ecological balance
 landscape conservation
 reclamation and landscaping of derelict lands
environmental impact assessment.
Landscape architecture
Landscape architecture is the design of
outdoor public areas, landmarks, and structures to
achieve environmental, social-behavioral, or aesthetic
outcomes. It involves the systematic investigation of
existing social, ecological, and soil conditions and
processes in the landscape, and the design of
interventions that will produce the desired outcome.
Ecology
Ecology - the scientific study of interactions
between organisms and their environments, focusing on
energy transfer. Ecology is a science of relationships.
Functional ecology is the branch of ecology that
focuses on the roles, or functions, that species play in
the community or ecosystem in which they occur. In this
approach, physiological, anatomical, and life history
characteristics of the species are emphasized. It
represents the true crossroads between ecological
patterns and the processes and mechanisms that
underlie them. Functional ecology often emphasises an
integrative approach, using organismal traits and
activities to understand community dynamics and
ecosystem processes, particularly in response to the
rapid global changes occurring in earth’s environment.
Ecological restoration is the process of assisting the
recovery of an ecosystem that has been degraded,
damaged or destroyed.
Ecological restoration has as its goal an ecosystem that
is resilient and self-sustaining with respect to structure,
species composition and function, as well as being
integrated into the larger landscape and supporting
sustainable livelihoods.
Principles of good ecological restoration practice
include:
Ecosystems
 Incorporating biological and environmental
spatial variation into the design.
 Allowing for linkages within the larger landscape.
 Emphasizing process repair over structural
replacement.
 Allowing sufficient time for self-generating
processes to resume.
 Treating the causes rather than the symptoms of
degradation.
 Include monitoring protocols to allow for
adaptive management.
Human systems
 Ensuring all stakeholders are fully aware of the
full range of possible alternatives, opportunities,
costs and benefits offered by restoration.
 Empowering all stakeholders, especially
disenfranchised resource users.
 Engaging all relevant sectors of society and
disciplines, including the displaced and
 powerless, in planning, implementation and
monitoring.
 Involving relevant stakeholders in the definition
of boundaries for restoration.
 Considering all forms of historical and current
information, including scientific and indigenous
and local knowledge, innovations and practices.
 Providing short-term benefits leading to the
acceptance of longer-term objectives.
 Providing for the accrual of ecosystem goods
and services.
 Striving towards economic viability.

Ecological balance
The food chains and other such interrelationships in the
Ecology is the science of the study of ecosystems create a balance in the environment that is
ecosystems. called the ecological balance.

Man is also a part of these food chains and webs.

However, man tries to modify the environment to suit his
needs unlike the other components of the ecosystem.
This has upset the delicate balance being maintained in
the environment.

Landscape-scale conservation

Landscape-scale conservation is a concept that

has arisen in response to both the challenges of climate
change and a perceived excessive focus on site based
conservation. It aims to take a holistic approach, looking
not just at biodiversity issues, but also issues such as
local economies and agriculture, eco-
tourism, geodiversity and the health and social benefits
of the environment.
Ecological balance has been defined by various
online dictionaries as "a state of dynamic equilibrium
within a community of organisms in which genetic,
species and ecosystem diversity remain relatively stable,
subject to gradual changes through natural succession."
and "A stable balance in the numbers of each species in
an ecosystem."

Landscape improvements

Add trees grouped in large beds to provide shade for the
lower patio. This will create a sunny upper deck area for
cool days and shade areas on the lower patio for
relaxing in on hotter days.
Tiered or stepped window wells with low plant material in
front of them will provide more light for the basement.
Large shrub beds will provide a planting area that is
proportional to the acreage site, and allow for a natural
planting design which integrates low, medium and taller
shrubs as well as trees. This will allow sun into the
basement, screen the sight of the utilities and provide
shade to the patio.
FOR LOW MAINTENANCE
Use mostly shrubs with only a few perennials
Contain trees and shrubs within the shrub bed to
eliminate the need for edge trimming. Once you get off
your lawn mower, you’ll bee done, making it easier to
keep your yard looking well manicured.
Use good quality garden-mix soil and compost to
eliminate quack grass roots and to enhance the water-
holding capabilities of the soil
Use a shredded bark mulch to a depth of three inches to
keep roots of plant material moist and cool, and to
reduce weeds
PLANTINGS
Shade trees
Sienna Glen maple
Northern Gem hybrid ash
Lodgepole pine
Low shrubs
Goldmound spirea
Magic Carpet spirea
Gold Lace juniper
Scandia juniper
Medium shrubs
Centre Glow Ninebark
Mockorange
Ivory Halo dogwood
Derelict and reclaimed land
Derelict and reclaimed land can be particularly
hostile for tree growth and often present important
challenges to successful woodland establishment.
However there is now considerable information and
experience as to the practical techniques necessary to
establish successful woodland on such sites.
Aim, importance and necessity of reclamation
A rational reclamation objective should not only
aim to create a permanently stable landscape that is
both aesthetically and environmentally compatible with
surrounding undisturbed lands, but also take into
consideration aesthetics, intended use, and versatility
when shaping the land in order to construct a land
resource with both maximum feasible utility and
versatility for future generations. Even though the
approximate original contour as a minimum condition is
generally required by reclamation regulations, there can
be cases where variance from that is allowed as long as
desirable results are guaranteed (Jansen and Melsted
1988; Sengupta 1993).
Within the frame of remediation of a
contaminated land, either the minimization of actual or
potential environment threat, or the reduction of potential
risks to acceptable levels are the main goals, which can
be accomplished by applying one or more of the
following (Wood 1997; 2001):
treatment/modification of the contaminant,
of the contaminant,
interruption of the pathway of contaminant
movement and exposure,
(essentially involving an interruption of the pathway).
When viewed in mine reclamation perspective,
the fundamental objectives are given as (Cao 2007):

removal of all facilities and structures threatening human
health and safety),
(i.e., progressive re-vegetation and stabilization of
residues to reduce potential of acid mine drainage or
water contamination),
-site environmental impacts
(i.e., cleaning up sites to conform to the community’s
surrounding landscape),
-mining land has a feasible
self-sustaining future with respect to both environmental
and socio-economic benefits (i.e., developing publicly
owned land for recreation, historic purposes,
conservation purposes, or open space benefits, or for
constructing public facilities in communities),
er use of energy and natural
resources, and to guarantee sustained mining
operations.
Mining and land development are closely linked
in the dynamic and integrative process addressed by a
range of environmental, production, aesthetic, land use,
and economic issues related within the reclamation
planning objectives. This process, whose outline is
briefly given below, starts at the opening of a mine
operation and terminates at the closure of the mine,
which may take five to fifty years (Bauer, 2000):
a mine environment compatible with
neighboring land uses during the whole mine operation,
the site,
mining operation in shaping new landscapes,
-aggregate earth materials such
as overburden, clay deposits, and mine waste in building
and shaping land forms,
earth moving procedures efficiently for reclaiming the
mine site, without interfering with ongoing mining
operations,
program of mining, earth moving, land shaping, and
landscaping to ensure that lands are prepared for
development as mining progresses through the deposit.
Methods and techniques for reclamation
The process of choosing the most appropriate
technique for the reclamation is often a painstaking task,
and many economic and operational parameters (i.e.,
process applicability, effectiveness and costs, process
development status and availability and operational
requirements) should be taken into account, as well as
several additional factors such as process limitations,
monitoring needs, potential environmental impact, health
and safety needs and post-treatment management
requirements (Wood 1997). Additionally, large extend of
areas within the mining and industrial structures (i.e.,
traffic network, electricity grid, pipelines, canalization
streams, storage areas, industrial parks etc.) also
increase the complexity of rehabilitation works, and
restrain the possibilities (Prikryl et al. 2002).
The following points should be considered to
improve the performance of opencast mine reclamation
(Bell and Donnelly 2006; Ibarra and de las Heras 2005):
reclamation activities to optimize the opportunities
offered by mining operations,
projects by all actors and to have a consensus on the
final objectives for the reclaimed areas,
knowledge about the reference ecosystem in order to
adopt the general protocols for reclamation to local
conditions,
improve, or redirect the applied practices.
 Process of the integration of surface mining, reclamation, and land use planning

Rearrangement and rehabilitation works, which material, which has been

may be either to remove the visual effects of an existing dug up and is inappropriate for vegetation,
mine site or to reduce the impact of a new mine site to a
lowest degree, should be planned before starting -mining land use issues
operation and carried out in parallel with mining into account.
activities. By this way, reclamation can be implemented
in a more economical way with minimum cost. During
Potential future use of the post-mining lands
the planning of rehabilitation works, research for land
basically depends on the nature of the land, soil
use and purpose of use for the reclaimed land are
conditions, and communal structure of nearby
crucial (Akpınar et al. 1993), and this type of landscape
surrounding to be rehabilitated by technical, biological,
planning should fulfill some or all of the following general
agricultural means or forestry applications. The
conditions (Fanuscu 1999; Görcelioğlu 2002):
followings are the potential land use types that follow
successful land reclamation (Görcelioğlu 2002; Topay et
al. 2007; Tshivhandekano 2004):

degree,

Afforestation, forestry,
against noise and dust contamination.
Agriculture,
Subsequent to mining operations:
Nature conservation and wildlife,

order to have an efficient post-mining utilization,

of use within the frame of available resources,

 area
The terminology of forest restoration is best viewed in
terms of changes in land use and land cover
Afforestation is the establishment of a forest or stand of
trees in an area where there was no
forest. Reforestation is the reestablishment of forest
cover, either naturally (by natural seeding, coppice, or
root suckers) or artificially (by direct seeding or
planting). Many governments and non-governmental
organizations directly engage in programs
of afforestation to create forests, increase carbon
capture and sequestration, and help to anthropogenically
improve biodiversity. (In the UK, afforestation may mean
converting the legal status of some land to "royal
forest".) Special tools, e.g. tree planting bar, are used to
make planting of trees easier and faster.
Afforestation – methodology
 Planting of local species based on specific
conditions on the site and targeted objectives:
Robinia pseudoaccacia, oak, and other broad
leaf species
 In the Small Island of Braila (Ramsar site) -
native species: Populus alba, Populus nigra,
Salix sp. and Quercus sp.
 Baseline scenario – most likely land scenario for
the selected area. Several reasonable project
alternatives have been selected, representing a
possible use of the land to be included in the
project:
– low quality pasture, grain and fruit crops
– status quo (continued abandonment and
degradation)
– afforestation at the historical (very slow)
pace
 Additionality – consideration of historical
evidence and comparison of the financial merits
of alternative land-use options (lack of financing
from NFA)
 Leakage would occur if the project, directly or
indirectly, caused losses in forest cover or
carbon storage (unlikely to occur on significant
scale, due to the fact that people using the land
for economic purposes is very limited)
 Compensating measures for local people for
reducing the grazing land and causing them to
move to new locations
Specific environmental benefits
 contribute to sustainable development and
positive local impact
 create multifunctional forests on former
agricultural lands or abandoned pastures
 increase the forested areas of the SW and SE
counties
 reduce surface erosion
 maintain and improve the biodiversity and
ensure soil and water protection
 improve and recreate proper habitat conditions
for wilderness (fauna, flora)
 In the Danube Small Island of Braila, the poplar
plantations are part of a larger project to protect
bird populations in the lower Danube River
corridor
 Specific social benefits raise from a major project significantly affecting the
environment.
 provide employment for local people (planting
and maintenance works)

 improve the land use by creating multifunctional

forests and diversifying the type of incomes
(wood, hunting, forest fruits, medicinal plants,
honey production)

 create a source of fuel wood (carbon neutral)

and construction wood in the area (longer life
cycle of forest wood products)

 protection of agricultural crops against negative

natural factors

Evaluating the success of reclamation

The evaluation of restoration success is a tough

issue, since it strictly depends on the character of the Purpose of the Assessment
post-mining land, inherent features of ecological species
involved, and the main objectives of the restoration  To identify and assess any potentially adverse
operation. According to Pecharova et al. (2011), the environmental effects of a new development.
process should allow spontaneous succession, or use
 The adverse impacts could be avoided or
technical restoration by sowing or planting target species
reduce.
and restoring or improving the site conditions.
 To ensure that environmental consequences
The Society for Ecological Restoration
were taken into account during planning,
International addresses the same issue by taking 9
designing & decision Making process.
ecosystem-related parameters under consideration to
measure the restoration success (Hendrychova 2008):  To influence how it is subsequently managed
during its implementation.

comparison with reference sites, The Origin of EIA:

Environmental Impact Assessment emerged in

the United States as a response to the rise of
or long-term stability,
environmental movements of the 1960s that raised
awareness of the serious environmental effects of
populations, human activities which were inadequately controlled by
existing planning regulation and pollution control
measures.

The EIA Process:

Screening/Initial Environmental Examination (IEE):

The process of an EIA commences at the early

-sustainability
Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA)
Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) refers
to the evaluation of the environmental impacts likely to
stages of a project. When the project is first considered,
not when construction has begun. Once a developer has
identified a need, assessed project design and site; the
next step is to see the positive and negative effects of
this development on the environment. The outcome of
the screening process is a decision to either include or
exclude the development from the full EIA Process.
Scoping:  Organize information according to issues
including grouping and setting priorities.
Should a formal EEA be required then the next
phase is to define the issues which need to be  Develop a strategy for addressing and resolving
addresses. Scoping is a very key stage of the EIA each key issue, including information
process in which those impacts which might have requirements and terms of reference for further
significant effect on the environment, to be addressed in studies.
the EIA, are determined.
EIA Report Preparation:

Once it has been determined that a project has

potentially significant impacts on the environment and
the main issues to be considered in the study have been
identified, the EIA has to be undertaken and presented
in the form of an Environmental Impact Assessment
report.

The assessment must determine the

significance of direct and indirect impacts, both
beneficial and adverse, and the duration of the impacts.

EIA report normally include the following

information:

 The impact the project would have on the

physical environment.

 Any possible pollution of the soil, of waters of all

Steps to be considered during scoping:
 Develop a communication plan (decide who to
talk to and when).
 Assemble information that will be the starting
point of discussion.
 Make the information available to those whose
views are to be obtained.
 Find out what issues people are concerned
about.
 Look at the issues from a technical or scientific
perspective in preparation for further study.
kinds such as surface, underground, costal and
of the atmosphere.
 The impact of the project on wildlife, the natural
habitat and all other ecological factors.
 The project’s likely influence on the qualities of
life of the local populations.
 Any influence the project may have on existing
industry and employment.
 Any need that may result for new or improved
infrastructure such as utilities, transport,
housing, school recreational amenities etc.

Decision Maker:
Once the study is finished and EIA report is
submitted, the responsible decision-makers start what is
often the difficult task of balancing environmental,
economic, political and technical factors in reaching a
final decision regarding the course of action to be taken.
Monitoring:
Monitoring is an activity undertaken to provide
specific information on the characteristics and
functioning of environmental and social variables in
space and time. The monitoring activities can be
classified as:
 Baseline; monitoring conducted before the
development of the project and oriented towards
establishing the baseline environmental
conditions.
 Construction monitoring carried out during the
construction and oriented either to the emissions
and discharges of the installation or to the status
of the environmental variable.
 After-use; monitoring to be carried out when the
installation is left or has finished its operative
period and oriented to residual emissions,
e.g.long term evaluation of the environmental
conditions.