Ecological landscape inventories and evaluation

Abstract

Olschowy, G., 1975. Ecological landscape inventories and evaluation. Landscape Plann., 2: 37–44. Landscape ecology, as basis for landscape-related planning, can be divided into: (1) ecological landscape inventory (“landscape analysis”) (a) for large areas (e.g. area of a country) (b) for regional planning zones (2) ecological landscape evaluation (“landscape diagnosis”) (a) of landscape factors (b) of spatial units For the development, environment and landscape programmes such as are being elaborated by many countries at the present time, ecological inventories of large areas are necessary. To this end, as well as geological maps and soil, water and climate maps, the following must also be made available: vegetation maps (potential natural vegetation, distribution of woodlands and wild flora), maps of wild fauna, protected areas and extensive landscape damage. The regional ecological inventory as basis for regional, land-use, local and landscape plans, covers the same features; it must, however, go into more detail, and include single criteria. Ecological evaluation should be undertaken in relation to the utilization of the space, thus for purposes of nature conservation and recreation, for agriculture and forestry, for industrial, trade, settlement and traffic purposes. The evaluation must include, in the first instance, the landscape factors: relief, geology, soil, water, climate, vegetation and fauna. One should aim at a comprehensive ecological evaluation of landscape areas and planning zones, with the object of defining ecological spatial units. Possible aids for demarcating these units are, primarily, maps of geomorphological zones, vegetation maps, soil maps, and also a combination of these data. At the present time, the complete compilation by area of ecological bases for planning forms the point of main effort of the methodical development in Germany.