39 
wavebands and the 
Engineering and 
LANDSCAPE STRUCTURE: A MEANS TO INTEGRATE SOCIO-ECONOMIC AND 
ECOLOGICAL DATA FOR ENVIRONMENTAL PLANNING AND MANAGEMENT 
wsely vegetated 
ng, Voi. 9, No. 7. 
tal videography", 
egetation indices 
Voi. 7, No. 3. pp. 
over time in arid 
, No. 3, pp. 243- 
regional measure 
31, No. 1, pp. 1- 
t ion al Journal of 
Oxley, R.E. and 
i-arid rangelands 
¡7. 
Anne Lucas 
University of Bergen 
Department of Geography 
Breiviken 2 
N5035 Bergen-Sandviken 
Norway 
ABSTRACT 
Landscape ecology considers the landscape as a holistic entity. Rather than studying the land in 
its component parts, landscape elements are integrated and the total character of the landscape is 
considered. Since environmental problems rarely respect traditional subject boundaries, this 
approach has much to offer to the planning process in terms of strategies for management, 
conservation and predictions of response towards future change. 
But before landscape ecological theory can be readily put into practice, an understanding of the 
relationships among physical, human and economic variables must be first described, and then, 
systematically structured within a common framework for integration. Further, the data within 
this framework must be more than a simple inventory of the physical and cultural characteristics. 
Information about the processes acting upon the landscape will enhance the ability to predict 
future trends and develop appropriate conservation and management strategies. 
Landscape processes include not only the ecosystem dynamics, but also the institutional processes 
driving (or driven by) the socio-economic structure and the attitudes and behavior of the 
population. Processes act within a range of spatial scales, from fine-grained nutrient cycling 
patterns within a riparian ecotone, to coarse-grained soil erosion within a watershed. Temporal 
scales are similarly variable, from several hours to many years. The net result of the interaction of 
these processes over various time and space scales is expressed as the landscape structure. 
In this paper, the landscape structure, the arrangements of corridors, patches and matrix, is used 
for the development of an hierarchic framework for landscape classification. The classification is 
developed within a GIS context and includes explicit information on past and present processes 
and their spatial and temporal scales, data sources include satellite images, aerial photographs 
(historical), botanical field surveys, and residents' questionnaires (on attitudes, historical farm 
management practices among others), plus elevation, land sue, ownership and other GIS layers. 
Together this provides the basis for a landscape ecological approach in planning and management. 
The study area is a traditional agricultural community and is located on the island municipality of 
Karmoey located along the southwest coast of Norway.