INTRODUCTION TO

LANDSCAPE
ARCHITECTURE

“ A Heterogeneous Land Area

Composed Of A Cluster of
Interacting Ecosystems That is
Repeated in Similar Form
Throughout ”

- Forman & Godron, 1986

B.ARUNRAJ 510311251001

INTRODUCTION
Landscape is a ‘‘harmonic organic entity’ of space.

 A landscape is a heterogeneous land area composed of a cluster of

interacting ecosystems that is repeated in similar form throughout, whereby
they list woods, meadows, marshes and villages as examples of a
landscape’s ecosystems, and state that a landscape is an area at least a
few kilometres wide.

 'Landscape' Defined as "The Template on which spatial patterns influence

ecological processes".
 LANDSCAPE
ECOLOGY
 Landscape ecology is the study of structure, function, and change in a
heterogeneous Land area that composed of interacting ecosystems.

 Landscape ecology is the science of studying and improving

relationships between ecological processes in the environment and
particular ecosystems.

 It is an interdisciplinary science dealing with the inter-relationship

between human society and our living space.

 Landscape ecology integrates biophysical and analytical approaches

with humanistic and holistic perspectives across the natural sciences and
social sciences.

 The most salient characteristics of Landscape ecology are its emphasis

on the relationship among pattern, process and scale, and its focus on
broad-scale ecological and environmental issues.
 PRINCIPLES OF LANDSCAPE
ECOLOGY
To understand landscape
ecology, we have to focus on
some of its important principles:

LANDSCAPE COMPOSITION

STRUCTURE

FUNCTION

CHANGE
 PRINCIPLES OF LANDSCAPE ECOLOGY

 Composition involves the genetic makeup of populations,

identity and abundance of species in the ecosystem, and the
different types of communities present.

 Structure involves the variety of habitat patches or ecosystems

and their patterns—the size and arrangement of patches,
stands, or ecosystems— including the sequence of pools in a
stream, vertical layering of vegetation.

 Function involves climatic, geological, hydrological,

ecological, and evolutionary processes such as seed dispersion
or gene flow.

 Change involves the alteration of the structure and function of

the landscape over time.
 COMPONENTS OF LANDSCAPE
ECOLOGY
A landscape consists of three main components:
A Matrix, Patches, and Corridors.

THE MATRIX
• MATRIX is the “background ecological system” of a landscape with a
high degree of connectivity.

• The matrix, the dominant component in the landscape, is the most

extensive and connected landscape type, and it plays the dominant role in
landscape functioning.

• The characteristics of matrix structure are the density of the patches

(porosity), boundary, shape, networks, and heterogeneity.
 COMPONENTS OF LANDSCAPE
THE PATCHES ECOLOGY
PATCH, a term fundamental to landscape ecology, is defined as a
relatively homogeneous area that differs from its surroundings.

• Patches have a definite shape and spatial configuration, and can be

described compositionally by internal variables such as number of trees,
number of tree species, height of trees, or other similar measurements

• Patches are nonlinear surface areas that differ in vegetation and

landscape from their surroundings.
 COMPONENTS OF LANDSCAPE
ECOLOGY
THE CORRIDORS

• CORRIDOR is a section of mosaic used by organism to move, or

disperse. It is essentially spatial in nature.

• Corridors are the emerging elements in the landscape.

Corridor

matrix

patches
 LANDSCAPE
• Landscape Architecture combinesARCHITECTURE
the creative with the analytical, the
visionary with the pragmatic, and the human landscape with the larger
ecological landscape.

• Both the Tangible, as well as the Intangible factors are, influenced by

Landscape Architects.
PROJECTS COVERED BY LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE:
• School and college campuses
• Public gardens
• Historic preservation and restoration
• Hotels, resorts, golf courses
• Hospital and other facility sites
• Interior landscapes
• Land planning
• Landscape art and earth sculpture
• Monument grounds
• Parks and recreation
• Land reclamation and rehabilitation
• Residential sites
• Streetscapes and public spaces
• Transportation corridors and facilities
• Urban and suburban design
• Water resources
 GREEN INFRASTRUCTURE

• Green infrastructure can be defined as the network of spaces and

natural elements that are present in and interconnect our landscapes.
• The concept can be applied at varying scales from the
local/neighbourhood to the town/city and the city-region/ region.

At local/neighbourhood scale
— Street trees and hedgerows
— pocket parks
— Cemeteries
— Small woodlands

At town/city scale
— City parks
— green networks
— forest parks
— Lakes & waterfront Development

At city-region/regional scale
— Regional parks
— Rivers and floodplains
— Long distance trails
— Reservoirs
 REFERENCES
https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Landscape_ecology&oldid=
686387314

Forman, R.T.T. 1995. Land Mosaics: The Ecology of Landscapes and

Regions. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK.

Farina, A. (1998) Principles and Methods in Landscape Ecology,

Chapman & Hall, Cambridge, pp.235

Wilson, J.B. and W. M. King. 1995. Human-mediated vegetation switches

as processes in landscape ecology. Landscape Ecology 10:191-196. 41.

Whittaker, R.H. (1977) Evolution of species diversity in land communities.

Evolutionary Biology 10: 1-67