This book presents definitions, key concepts and projects in landscape research and related areas, such as landscape science and landscape ecology, addressing and characterising the international role, status, challenges, future and tools of landscape research in the globalised world of the 21st century. The book brings together views on landscapes from leading international teams and emerging authors from different scientific disciplines and regions of the globe. It describes approaches for achieving sustainability and for handling the multifunctionality of landscapes and includes international case studies demonstrating the great potential of landscape research to provide partial sustainable solutions while developing cultural landscapes and protecting semi-natural landscapes. It is intended for scientists from various disciplines as well as informed readers dealing with landscape policies, planning, evolvement, management, stewardship and conservation.

Modern landscape research uses a panoply of techniques to further our understanding of our changing world, including mathematics, statistics and advanced simulation techniques to combine empirical observations with known theories. This book identifies emerging fields and new challenges that are discussed within the framework of the ‘driving forces’ of Landscape Development. the book addresses all of the ‘hot topics’ in this important area of study and emphasizes major contemporary trends in these fields.

Applied Geography offers an invaluable introduction to useful research in physical, environmental and human geography and provides a new focus and reference point for investigating and understanding problem-orientated research. Forty-nine leading experts in the field introduce and explore research which crosses the traditional boundary between physical and human geography. A wide range of key issues and contemporary debates are within the books main sections, which cover: natural and environmental hazards environmental change and management challenges of the human environment techniques of spatial analysis Applied geography is the application of geographic knowledge and skills to identify the nature and causes of social, economic and environmental problems and inform policies which lead to their resolution.

This book showcases new trends in the vital and changing field of landscape design. Important contemporary concerns affecting the landscape professional are considered: the impact of recent scientific research, historic preservation, populations with unique needs, international practices, and much more.

Landscape architecture is one of the key professions dedicated to making cities hospitable and healthy places to live, work and play, while respecting and enhancing the natural environments and landscapes we inhabit. This edited collection presents current writing about the pivotal roles that landscape architects play in addressing some of the most pressing problems facing the planet, its environments and its populations through their research, analysis and speculative practice. The book has assembled current writings on recent research structured around five major themes: governance, power and partnership; infrastructure, systems and performance; environment, resilience and climate change; people, place and design; and culture, heritage and identity. As a collection, the chapters demonstrate the diversity of themes and topics that are expanding the scholarly body of knowledge for the discipline and its relevance to the practice of landscape architecture. The contributors to this book are academic researchers and practitioners from the discipline of landscape architecture. The chapters draw on their research, teaching and experience as well as analysis of project examples. Fifty-two contributors from the United Stsates, United Kingdom, Sweden, Denmark, the Netherlands, Nigeria, Malaysia, Spain, Colombia, Australia, New Zealand and Canada discuss a diverse range of contemporary themes in urban landscape architecture. Collectively, the contributors demonstrate the breadth of experience, shared concerns and distinct issues that challenge urban landscape architecture and cities in the 21st century.

The book informs about agricultural landscapes, their features, functions and regulatory mechanisms. It characterizes agricultural production systems, trends of their development, and their impacts on the landscape. Agricultural landscapes are multifunctional systems, coupled with all nexus problems of the 21th century. This has led to serious discrepancies between agriculture and environment, and between urban and rural population. The mission, key topics and methods of research in order to understanding, monitoring and controlling processes in rural landscapes is being explained. Studies of international expert teams, many of them from Russia, demonstrate approaches towards both improving agricultural productivity and sustainability, and enhancing ecosystem services of agricultural landscapes. Scientists of different disciplines, decision makers, farmers and further informed people dealing with the evolvement of thriving rural landscapes are the primary audience of this book.

This book, the first in the “Wildlife Research Monograph” series, defines “wildlife research” in a variety of contexts and reviews recent research trends. The authors present the current developments they have identified using bibliometric analyses of the most common, relevant and emerging topics in wildlife research over the last three decades. Diverse aspects of wildlife research are discussed, including wildlife demography, infections spread between wildlife, livestock and humans, habitat requirements and management, as well as the effects of renewable energy and pollutants on wildlife. Furthermore the authors explore topics like advances in the study of species distribution, invasive species, use of molecular markers in wildlife studies and the sustainability of wildlife exploitation and conservation conflicts. The book offers a comprehensive overview of advances in wildlife research in the last decades.