Abstract Taking into consideration ecological aspects in land management requires an understanding of the processes and dynamics that create landscapes. To achieve this understanding demands that landscapes be studied as a biophysical and social reality, and that phenomena be analyzed within a historical perspective. Based on the research of a multidisciplinary team over the last 25 years, this paper proposes to reconstitute the landscape of Godmanchester (Quebec, Canada) from the precolonial period (1785) to today (2005). Using various methods and sources of data, seven stages of evolution were identified: (1) the pre-colonial period, (2) the first settlements, (3) the first agricultural developments, (4) the maximum development of agricultural activities, (5) the concentration of agricultural activities, (6) the intensification of agricultural activities, and (7) the importance of new amenities. First, these results allowed us to identify three sets of fundamental factors that are necessary to understanding the landscape changes, the geomorphological characteristics, the socio-economic demands, and the technological transformations. Second, the results highlight the key elements and the perspectives that are appropriate to their comprehension, in order to be able to direct the future evolution of the landscapes. This requires that transformations be analyzed from mid-term to longterm perspectives, that the consequences of the changes, as well as the opportunities that they generate, are well understood, and finally that relationships be drawn between the biophysical, anthropic, and technological factors responsible for these transformations. This paper concludes with the idea that the creation of landscapes occurs through actions brought about by social demands and by the adjustment of technologies according to the biophysical characteristics of the territories
