The terrestrial landscape is an integral part of the geosphere, in which it does not just exist, but with which people interact directly. The lifestyle of the population living in a given area depends on the structure of the land cover, its structure and physico-chemical indicators. Obviously, an understanding of these relationships requires appropriate scientific knowledge. This is what landscape science deals with - this is the science of terrestrial landscapes that studies them from a variety of points of view.
General term
Landscape science is a complex of methodological approaches focused on the study of landscapes with the aim of further improving the methods of their exploitation and improvement. Moreover, one cannot talk about the isolation of this science. It is in contact with a whole range of other disciplines, among which geography, biology, chemistry, etc. occupy a special place. In particular, the geographical aspect of the study allows for more efficient development of territories, taking into account the specific location of biological and hydrological resources.
Also, the anthropological research factors do not miss the basics of landscape science, which allows us to formulate and predict in detail the image of human interaction with the natural landscape. Moreover, in this aspect, we can talk not only about the influence of human activity (with positive and negative factors), but also about the properties of the geosystem, which determine the nature of the life of society in a particular territory.
If we talk about purely scientific research, then landscape science is studying the functional-dynamic properties of landscapes, identifying the processes of their formation, evolutionary changes and energy transformations. After all, do not forget that the structure of the earth's cover includes many different components and materials, which constantly exchange one or another energy among themselves, like all natural bodies. So, summing up the first results, we can say that landscape science is a multidimensional theoretical science, interconnected with physical geography and engaged in the study of the outer shell of the earth. By the way, it can be put on a par with other physical and geographical sciences like geology, geoformology, hydrology, etc.
History of science
The emergence and formation of landscape science was due to the natural need for understanding the natural properties of the land cover with its structure and suitability for agriculture. The first attempts to organize a wide geographical study of Russian science in this direction were made in the middle of the XVIII century. From this moment, one can begin the domestic history of landscape science in the system of physical and geographical knowledge. A significant contribution to the formation and development of this discipline before the 20th century was made by such scientists as A. Humboldt, V.V. Dokuchaev and K. Ritter. In particular, the concept of the unity and interconnection of natural phenomena in the general geophysical system and biosphere was disclosed in the works of A. Humboldt. Actually, it was he who first formulated the concept of landscape as a term of geographical property.
Later, physicogeographical studies were carried out by scientists G.N. where the zones were first designated as landscape. At the same time, at the turn of the 19th-20th centuries, the concepts of the complexity of the landscape envelope were introduced and the theoretical foundations of landscape science were laid.
As regards the history of the development of landscape science in the USSR, already in the 1920s the practice of active expeditionary research returned, moreover, in little-known regions of the country. Separate zoning of physical and geographical zones by economic regions and republics is carried out. Significant can be called scientific results in the study of the evolution and dynamics of the landscape.
In recent decades, in Russian landscape science, more attention has been paid to ecologized areas of research, which allow us to understand in more detail the patterns of anthropogenesis of the landscape envelope. The role of teachings on cultural landscapes is also revealed in a new way, and concepts for their planning, design and optimization are being developed.
Object and subject of study
Since landscape science is included in the structure of scientific knowledge of modern geophysics, the subject of its study will be connected with the object of study of physical geography.
In general, the object of study can be called the terrestrial terrestrial sphere, and the subject - geographical or natural-territorial systems. The basic idea of geophysics is to determine the relationships between the geographic components that form the outer spheres of the earth. From this point of view, the objects of landscape science can be the masses of the hydrosphere, the solid earth’s crust, the air sphere, biota with living organisms, and the soil cover. Climatic and relief factors can also be considered in the overall research complex - at least as indirect components.
The interdependence of the above elements in one way or another forms a single complex, which can be observed in the structure of the landscape profile. It crosses various relief layers from the watershed line along slopes and terraces to river channels and the banks of water bodies. As you study the landscape profile, surface deposits, groundwater levels, soil cover, etc. will also change.
At the same time, the components of geophysics are interconnected not only in space, but also in time. For this reason, the evolutionary aspect of the development of a particular territorial complex as a geosystem can also be the object of landscape science. In the time process, the change in geocomponents under the influence of each other is more evident - for many centuries, thousands and millions of years, relief, soil, vegetation, climate and other natural elements at different speeds give certain reactions, changing in characteristics and in principle. And the absence of at least one of these parts in the research picture will not allow to fully understand the essence of the studied object.
Consideration of the landscape as part of the geosystem
Representation of the landscape as a natural-anthropogenic system enables its systematics, classification, mapping and planning. To do this, it should be considered as an element of the geosystem, and this is a nodal unit that closes other hierarchical levels and components. For example, according to the scientist F. N. Milkov, the landscape is a concept of the same rank as soil, climate, relief, etc. That is, when determining them, a specific territory is not considered, but the principles of interaction of different components of the geosystem are studied to a greater extent. . And landscape science as a science is engaged in the study of one of the units of the natural-territorial complex. The emphasis is on the genetic homogeneity of the landscape as a territorial complex having the same geological structure foundation, one type of relief, as well as a set of regularly repeating and dynamically conjugated tracts.
At the same time, the closure of the earth's shell on the geophysical system does not allow to reveal all its versatility as a natural object. In this context, many researchers note that landscape science is a tool for studying and a whole complex of local genetically and functionally interconnected geosystems. It is important that ultimately their characteristics determine the structural drawing of the landscape.
Objectives of the study of landscapes
The main goal of landscape science can be called a comprehensive study of territorial geosystems according to the characteristics of the structure, composition, functioning and dynamics of development. Moreover, the research process itself should be based on the principles of combining physical geography and landscape science, that is, suggest the use of concepts, methods and approaches used in the general study of the geophysical system. If the parameters of a particular system are fixed in detail without a general understanding of the structure of the natural complex, the result will not provide answers to key research questions.
To achieve the common goals of the study, the following tasks are used:
- Systematization, typology and classification of landscapes.
- The determination of the structure and structure of the landscape will make it possible to establish internal relations in the local geophysical system and determine its stability.
- On the basis of the landscape map, the patterns of territorial differentiation, as well as the introduction of the natural-territorial complex during zoning, are determined.
- Definition of historical factors of landscape formation. Having identified the patterns of development of the territory, you can make a landscape forecast.
- Mapping of the natural-territorial complex. Today this is one of the most urgent tasks of landscape science, since cartographic materials of this type are widely used in all fields of human activity.
- Study of the natural resource base of the landscape, as well as the development of rules and principles for its rational use, optimization and conservation.
- The study of the factors of the economic impact of human activity on the natural-territorial complexes of the local and regional level.
- The study of the surrounding landscape in terms of the impact on the socio-cultural life of man.
In the process of solving the goals and objectives, landscape science is based on a number of the following principles:
- Objectivity. The geosystem exists objectively, having a specific structure, qualities, properties and parameters, which allows us to adhere to this principle in the process of studying.
- The genetic principle. A comprehensive study is impossible without taking into account the origin, nature of development and age of a particular landscape.
- The principle of homogeneity. In this case, the following rule applies: the greatest uniformity characterizes the smallest units of the natural-territorial complex. The higher the level to which the system under study belongs, the lower the degree of its homogeneity and the more complicated the research methods.
- Systematic approach to the study. It should be considered natural-territorial complexes as an integrated system, adjusted for interaction with other hierarchical levels.
Landscape Research Methods
There are several fundamentally different approaches to the methodology for studying landscapes in the general physical and geographical system. For example, general scientific methods involve the use of systemic, historical, expert, mathematical, environmental and cartographic methods of research. Separately, it is worth highlighting the philosophical methods of landscape science, which include analysis, synthesis, comparison and dialectics.
In a more in-depth concrete scientific form, the following groups of research methods are distinguished:
- Field. A complex of research operations is carried out directly on the territory. For example, in the field, they perform mapping and profiling of landscapes, carry out route observations, etc. Special training grounds can be organized where it is possible to use stationary equipment and use radiocarbon and paleobotanical technologies for studying the terrain.
- Office methods. In this case, we are talking about laboratory landscape science - this is also a group of research methods aimed at working with data obtained in the field. Roughly speaking, specialists collect samples, make a cartography of the terrain, assess the state of hydrological resources and document the information obtained in various forms. Office processing, in turn, on the basis of these documents allows you to create models of landscapes, produce multivariate and fractal analysis, as well as apply GIS technology.
Problems of landscape science
Along with the ever-increasing complexity of the system for representing landscape infrastructure, new problems arise in its study. In particular, there is an acute problem of the multistructure of geophysical systems, which arises from an integrated approach to research. Volumetric multifaceted study of individual geophysical components as a result makes it difficult to have a detailed approach to the research methodology. Directly in landscape science, as a science, it is necessary to identify separately the links between the elements of the natural-territorial structure, and there can be a great many of them.
Not without problems arising in the system of the relationship "man - landscape." This aspect of the study is fundamental to the science under consideration and poses acute problems in the fields of geoecology and nature management. The global process of humanization of sciences orientates the geographic environment to solving the problems of safe coexistence of society and nature. Although these principles in some aspects contradict certain factors of the socio-economic development of society.
As progress progresses, methodological problems of landscape science arise, due to the complexity of generalizing the accumulated materials. Penetration into narrow spheres does not allow to fully synthesize research results with materials obtained in other, little-mastered directions. By the way, in Russia, specialists experience difficulties in organizing long-distance expeditions with the study of objects directly in the field. Accordingly, the lack of the possibility of comparing data from high-precision cartographic materials and basic factual information about the terrain complicates the processes of an integrated study of landscapes.
Areas of science
At this stage in the development of landscape science, the spectrum of areas for studying the natural-territorial system and its components is as wide as ever and significant for human life. This is also indicated by the priority areas of research:
- Complexity and non-linear dynamics of landscape development.
- Environmental factors in the landscape system.
- Correlation of environmental processes and geosystem metrics.
- The processes, causes and consequences of land use and structural changes in land cover.
- Improving the technical potential, which increases the efficiency of field and laboratory research.
- Methodological problems in spatial analysis.
- Scaling the landscape.
- Obtaining information about the territory and assessing their accuracy for monitoring.
- Optimization of the structure of the natural landscape.
- Stability and protection of the natural resource potential of the geophysical complex on the ground.
A fundamental feature of modern areas of landscape science is the inclusion in the structure of human research and its activities. Moreover, this bunch, in turn, provides for the inclusion of a whole range of third-party aspects of the consideration of the object. Among them are environmental, anthropological, agricultural and biological factors.
What is anthropogenic landscape science?
This direction of the development of science arose in the middle of the 20th century and is considered relatively young. The subject of study from this point of view is a conjugate bunch of directly visible landscape structures and the agrotechnical complex. The combination of technogenicity, engineering and agricultural equipment with natural masses as a result forms the target material for anthropogenic landscape science in the system of studying geophysical processes. Moreover, in addition to natural and purely technical factors, social and economic laws are taken into account.
Anthropogenic landscapes reflect the natural-economic system that is formed under certain conditions of inter-farm national activity. It is important to note that the nature of this activity can be not only agricultural, but also industrial. – , – -. - . - , . , , , , , .
Conclusion
, , . , . ? . , , .