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IALE
WORLD CONGRESS 2007
Theme:
25 years Landscape Ecology: Scientific Principles
in Practice
In
2007 the International Association for Landscape Ecology (IALE) will
have its 25th anniversary. The 7th World Congress will be
held in that year and returns to the continent where it was founded.
However, now in the modern Europe with old and new chapters here and in
other continents the congress will be a great opportunity for landscape
scientists from the whole world to share their ideas.
The scientific concepts and tools that started to be developed 25 years
ago are now generally applied in research on sustainability,
biodiversity, land use change, conservation planning, ecological
networks, and global change. They have also been used to set national
biodiversity programmes, e.g. in the UK, the Netherlands and Slovakia.
The congress will bring together 25 years of achievements in Landscape
Ecology and will focus on the scientific principles and their practical
applications to conservation planning, land and water management, and
land-use planning both now and in the future. The discussions will show
the increasing importance of remote sensing and geographic information
systems, spatial statistics and modelling at the present day. The
congress will also demonstrate how landscape ecology is playing an
increasingly important role in spatial planning in terms of landscape
and biodiversity
Early career
scientists are encouraged to attend so they can participate in the future
development of landscape ecology. We cannot stand still and the congress is an
ideal opportunity for showing how landscape ecology has moved from a small group
of enthusiasts to a world wide movement.
The congress
will offer:
Open sessions
with papers covering topics not included in the symposia
Workshops for
brainstorming on potential new topics
Short
presentations for early career scientists and others who wish to stimulate
discussions
Poster
sessions
A final summary of the key
conclusions of the symposia
Identification of future themes and key issues in the final round table
discussion
Discussion of
European policy issues associated with Landscape Ecology
Documentation
of the proceedings by books of papers delivered at the conference and a subsequent substantive book.
A lively
social programme
Conference
excursions
An open day
at the worlds largest centre of landscape ecology
Possible
themes for Symposia
Landscape ecology may be defined as the holistic understanding of the
relationships between ecological components of landscapes including the impact
of human through planning and management. An underlying motivation to work in
landscape ecology is that research should lead to potential applications for
social benefit. Within landscape ecology there is a strong recognition of the
role of human in the functioning and development of landscapes.
It is the objective for the congress to organise symposia based on the main
principles of landscape ecology with both scientific concepts and results and
its application. Possible themes for symposia can be:
1. Landscape functioning.
Landscapes function on the basis of abiotic processes in their
spatial context and the impact of human on it by changing soils, water
systems and land use. The study of interaction of physical landscape
processes and human impact in order to understand how landscape can be
planned and managed has been one of the basic directions in landscape
ecology in Central Europe and it has developed into new directions.
Key words science: Geocomplex, landscape development, landscape
models, socio-economic functions, biological functions.
Key words practice: Landscape management plans, landscape
manager, agri-environment schemes, regional products.
2. Landscape classification.
Classification of landscapes and defining ecoregions is carried out in
many parts of the world, in Japan, in Europe and the Americas. This
classification work is of utmost importance to estimate variability
within regions and regional changes as well as to help understand global
patterns and global changes. This theme can involve the definition and
systematic approach towards landscapes including its genesis, its
complexity and the composing elements in order to allow systematic
approaches towards landscapes and its future development.
Key words science: Ecoregion, cultural landscapes, landscape
character, integrated assessment, landscape components.
Key words practice: landscape interpretation, landscape
description, biogeographic regions, habitat classifications.
3. Species interaction, landscape patterns and processes. The
diversity of landscapes as well as the fragmentation of those landscapes
greatly influence the diversity of species in the landscape. Humans are
structuring land and water, cause landscape fragmentation and the
development of metapopulations. Landscapes fulfil an important role in
survival of species by providing suitable and unsuitable habitats,
connectivity and isolation.
Key words science: Biodiversity, landscape diversity,
upscaling-downscaling, fragmentation, isolation, dispersal, corridors,
networks, metapopulations.
Key words practice: Biodiversity Action Plan, Convention on
Biological Diversity, landscape design, greenways, ecological networks,
traffic, in situ conservation.
4 Monitoring and the assessment of change.
Our society is based on technological adaptation of land and water to
economic production. That is why need to adapt how to adapt to potential
changes in climate and land use. Questions on the importance of their
impact are questions that have to be answered by economics, spatial
planning, hydrology, meteorology, landscape ecology and nature
conservation. It is an essential activity in support of the above
principles because studies and trends are necessary for planning and
scenarios for future landscapes and land use (landscape visions: “Leitbild”)
Key words science: Landscape history, remote sensing, monitoring,
sampling strategy, statistics, measurement of change, scenarios,
upscaling-downscaling, climate change.
Key words practice: Assessment procedures, Convention on
Biological Diversity, Agricultural policies, national and regional
planning, Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Global earth
observation and surveillance systems.
5 Water flows and connectivity.
River and wetlands are essential for all societies. Running waters are
far more than just longitudinal river corridors but complex linear
ecosystems that have important societal and economic functions as well.
Here concepts of upscaling and downscaling, connectivity and minimum
viable populations meet. Due to their role in transport, rivers are key
systems in the landscape and in spatial planning.
Key words science: Flood pulse, river corridors, ecohydrology,
climate change, watersheds.
Key words practice: Water Framework Directive, World Water Forum,
Sustainable Water management, river restoration.
6 The Urbanised Landscape.
Urbanisation is world wide and it frequently removes humans from their
natural basis. On the one hand the division between urban and rural is
enlarging; on the other it is getting more mixed. Both the landscape
structure and the attitude of urban humans to nature are important issue
for the near future.
Key words science: Fragmentation, urban structure, urban demands,
rural-urban relationships, wildland-urban interface, sprawl.
Key words practice: Delta Metropolis, Urban agriculture, urban
forestry, traffic, environmental risks, and environmental pollution,
nature reserves, nature parks, nature trails.
7 Stakeholders: trends and decision making
Planning and management are important practices which can use
landscape ecological principles to guide land management into new and
more sustainable directions and to find new function in nature
conservation and outdoor recreation. Public decisions must now include
public involvement. In general farmers and estate holders influence the
land pattern by making decisions on the production plan and the
structure of the land. Large tracts of land are also held and managed by
governmental and non-governmental entities. In each case they interact
with local, regional, national and international drivers and
stakeholders. Which part of the trends in changes is made by which
actor?
Key words science: Stakeholder participation, Decision models,
institution building, governance.
Key words practice: Water management plans, Regional dialogue,
subsidiarity.
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