Design in science: extending the landscape ecology paradigm

Landscape ecological science has produced knowledge about the relationship between landscape pattern and landscape processes, but it has been less effective in transferring this knowledge to society. We argue that design is a common ground for scientists and practitioners to bring scientific knowledge into decision making about landscape change, and we therefore propose that the pattern¿process paradigm should be extended to include a third part: design. In this context, we define design as any intentional change of landscape pattern for the purpose of sustainably providing ecosystem services while recognizably meeting societal needs and respecting societal values. We see both the activity of design and the resulting design pattern as opportunities for science: as a research method and as topic of research. To place design within landscape ecology science, we develop an analytic framework based on the concept of knowledge innovation, and we apply the framework to two cases in which design has been used as part of science. In these cases, design elicited innovation in society and in science: the design concept was incorporated in societal action to improve landscape function, and it also initiated scientific questions about pattern¿process relations. We conclude that landscape design created collaboratively by scientists and practitioners in many disciplines improves the impact of landscape science in society and enhances the saliency and legitimacy of landscape ecological scientific knowledge

The Globalized Landscape: Rural Landscape Change and Policy in the United States and European Union

While some rural areas draw increasing populations to their landscape amenities and some are changed by the long reach of metropolitan sprawl, agriculture defines, and dominates rural landscapes. Amenity characteristics and ecological services of many rural landscapes occur in the context of agricultural economies. As these economies respond to international trade, international policy, notably policies of the World Trade Organization (WTO), is increasingly affecting rural landscape change. The USA and the European Union (EU), partners as well as independent players in global trade, and agriculture, employ comparable but distinct policies to strengthen both the economic competitiveness of agriculture and the sustainability of rural livelihoods and landscape management. Pushed by WTO mandates, both the EU and USA recently have given a higher profile to agricultural policy with explicit environmental goals, so-called agri-environmental policy, because it may achieve public benefits without distorting trade. This chapter compares the intent, mechanisms, and landscape effects of the different conservation and agri-environmental policies of the USA and EU, and suggests that international trade policy could drive planning for future agricultural landscapes that provide enhanced amenity and ecological value

Science for action at the local landscape scale

For landscape ecology to produce knowledge relevant to society, it must include considerations of human culture and behavior, extending beyond the natural sciences to synthesize with many other disciplines. Furthermore, it needs to be able to support landscape change processes which increasingly take the shape of deliberative and collaborative decision making by local stakeholder groups. Landscape ecology as described by Wu (Landscape Ecol 28:1–11, 2013) therefore needs three additional topics of investigation: (1) the local landscape as a boundary object that builds communication among disciplines and between science and local communities, (2) iterative and collaborative methods for generating transdisciplinary approaches to sustainable change, and (3) the effect of scientific knowledge and tools on local landscape policy and landscape change. Collectively, these topics could empower landscape ecology to be a science for action at the local scal

Meeting Public Expectations with Ecological Innovation in Riparian Landscapes

Appearances matter for managing riparian landscapes because the appearance of landscapes affects public willingness to accept plans and designs that improve ecological quality. Riparian landscape design and planning should respect and strategically incorporate characteristics that the public values and expects to see. Such design can be quite novel in its ecological effects, but it also should be sufficiently familiar in appearance to correspond with cultural values. This paper describes some influential cultural values for riparian landscapes and demonstrates how attention to such values supports public acceptance of ecologically innovative desing in rural and urban watersheds.McKnight Foundation; Legislative Commission on Minnesota Resources; the Ramsey-Washington Watershed District; the City of Maplewood, Minnesota; the City of St. Paul, Minnesota; and the Environmental Protection Agency and National Science Foundation, Grant No. R825335-01-0Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/49344/1/JAWRA_2001.pd