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The landscape is an entity particularly connected with human beings and it could replace the human habitat concept in this respect. Habitat and landscape conceptually can be considered synonyms, but in reality landscape is related also to a geographical dimension while habitat pertains to the functioning component of a species disregarding its geographical context. Despite the way in which we will define landscape later, how human-related processes interact with a bio-physical landscape remains an open question. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The mosaic appears everywhere and is considered to be an aggregation of basic heterogeneity, but, if we reduce or enlarge our vision, new patterns appear. Moving down, we expect to observe the appearance of heterogeneity. But what is the limit at which we establish that a system is simply heterogeneous? I consider this a poor question; heterogeneity appears and disappears according to the scale of observation. We can state that heterogeneity appears many times as we move across a changing scale, and the same happens for the mosaic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mosaics have common properties that allow us to apply well-tested indexes to measure their spatial properties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the second chapter, I distinguished at least three possible approaches to understanding the landscape: the Individual-Based Perceptional Landscape (IBPL), the Individual-Based Cognitive Landscape (IBCL), and the Neutrality-Based Landscape (NBL). These three different perspectives generate processes and patterns that can be perceived moving around. If these perspectives are indicators of real processes and related patterns, we can expect to see some results in a higher-rank meta-domain. The idea that the landscape is a space in which relationships and interactions happen, or is the geography of every domain, is common to all three visions. In other words, the space is the container in which complexity happens continuously. This complexity embarrasses our science which is based more on separate parts than on relationships. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

What happens when a patch enters into contact with another patch? This condition is the rule and not the exception in a mosaic. The distinctive characteristic of a patch is in contact with other characteristics of the neighboring patches and it is possible that it receives a negative reaction (for instance a different pH of soil in the case of a patch of vegetation). On the other side the patch encounters a favorable condition and expands damaging the neighboring patch. For instance, a clone of bamboo spreading into grassland. This case is typical for invader plants. An intermediate reaction is also possible. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Scientific thought as we know it today, is based upon the assumption of an objective, external world. This conviction is supported by a rationale that calls upon mechanical laws of causal efficacy and determinism. Fundamentally, the correspondence between the hypotheses and their predictions through experimental research build the empirical success of Science. Nature, however, does not conform to the conditions required by a classical thermodynamic theory in which a physical state irreversibly evolves from its most probable, uniform, inert and unchangeable macroscopical precursor. The reductionist approach applied to ecology has shown limitations within its own domains of excellence. The homeostatic balances directed by determinism are often accompanied by unforeseeable instabilities where the dissipation of energy becomes the source of new macroscopic structures (May 1974 1976 1986 Kauffman 1993 Prigogine and Stengers 1984. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Whether viewing our planet from space or simply viewing the structure of soil we observe objects spatially arranged as mosaics. The mosaic seems to be the common pattern that we perceive, especially from an aerial view. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The landscape is a recently investigated domain of the real world. The number of studies with the landscape as a focal object has grown exponentially since the 1980s. Many definitions of the landscape and its theoretical and applied subdisciplines are present in the literature, often creating great confusion about its vocabulary and ideas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In complete agreement with the thoughts of Kuhn (1962) scientific research similarly to other human activities provides a service that is intimately associated with time, place, and culture. In other words, scientific research intercepts the needs of human society and tries to describe the related processes. In particular over the last few years the landscape paradigm has become more and more popular. But it seems to the author an impossible mission to describe and monitor all the changes that have occurred along the geographical land zones around the world. As elucidated by Robert MacArthur (1972) every place on our Planet has a specific ecology and if we exclude the organismic teleonomy of the biological components (virus, bacteria, plants, and animals) that react to general metabolic allometric rules (Brown et al. 2004 ecosystems and landscapes appear to be systems functioning under local constraints and surrounding stochasticity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the first INTECOL Congress was held in The Hague, The Netherlands, in 1974 with the theme, "Structure, Functions and Management of Ecosystems," subsequent Congresses have followed: 2nd INTECOL- Jerusalem (Israel) 1978, "The Future of Ecology"; 3rd INTECOL in Warsaw (Poland) was cancelled for political reasons; 4th INTECOL- Syracuse (U.S.A.) 1986, "Global Connections in Ecological Theory and Practice"; 5th INTECOL- Yokohama (Japan) 1990, "Development of Ecological Perspectives for the 21st Century"; 6th INTECOL- Manchester (U.K.) 1994, "Progress to Meet the Challenge of Environmental Change"; 7th INTECOLFlorence (Italy) 1998, "New Tasks for Ecologists after Rio 1992." At the beginning of the 21st Century, ecological issues have never been more important both at a global scale and at a national level. The International Congresses of Ecology provided important fora to learn more about these issues, to discuss recent advances in ecological science, and to highlight deficiencies in the knowledge, which we urgently need to address. After the VII Congress in Florence, Italy, 1998, the VIII Congress in Seoul, Korea, provided an important opportunity for ecologists to continue the advancement of the science of ecology, and to learn at first hand of the many pressing problems that need to be addressed. The motto of the congress was "Ecology in a Changing World." This paper was prepared to summarize the activities and to report the progress and achievements of the Congress. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is not known well when the concept of the "Baekdudaegani" was formed and defined. Other similar concepts could be construed as being used in some old literatures, considering the fact that Koreans have traditionally treated territory configuration very important. We can find one evident record (Lim 1999) in Goryeosaii, which shows that the terrestrial stratum from Baekdu Mountain was then recognized as a kind of "flowing" of national territory. In the Joseon period, Lee Ik(1681-1763) with a literary name of Seongho and Shin Gyeong-jun(1712-1781) with a literary name of Yeoam suggested more concrete conception of the "Baekdudaegan" in Baekdujeonggan and Sansugo and Sangyeongpyoiii, respectively. From the fact that many literatures about the Baekdudaegan have been published after the mid of Joseon period, we find out that people have been interested in national territory and tried to formulate a general system of mountain ranges of the Baekdudaegan since the 18th century. The Baekdudaegan means the contiguous line of terrestrial stratum from Baekdu Mountain to Jiri Mountain without crossing valleys or streams (Yang 2002). It is the central axis of the Korean peninsula, which is connected from Baekdu Mountain, as well as the backbone of mountain ranges. The Baekdudaegan is based on Koreans' traditional conception of geography, which highlights connected configuration of mountains as shown on the premise of ‘mountain ranges divide streams,' rather than typical geographical conception of a mountain range. In this regard, regional boundaries and characteristics of the districts on the Baekdudaegan are identical with the mountain ridge. The Baekdudaegan has affected dominantly the formation of common and different features of administrative, cultural and living style between regions. It exits in substance in terms of geography and no doubt in spirit of the Korean people as well. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Landscape change has been largely influenced by human activities, especially in recent days. Population growth and various development activities caused significant change in landcover. Furthermore, industrialization and urbanization have created man-made barriers such as roads and railroads, which fragment ecosystems, thereby threatening biological richness and diversity. Fragmentation is recognized as one of the major anthropogenic changes of landscape. Fragmentation is defined as progressive division of large, comparatively homogeneous tracts of forest into a heterogeneous mixture of much smaller patches (Reed et al. 1996a, b). Consequences of fragmentation include habitat loss for some plant and animal species, habitat creation for others, decreased connectivity of the remaining vegetation, decreased patch size, increased distance between patches, and an increase in edge at the expense of interior habitat (Reed et al. 1996a). Change of landscape structure including fragmentation began to draw attention in ecosystem management because it is recognized that the spatial arrangement of elements in a landcover mosaic controls the ecological process which operate within it (Haines-Young et al. 1996, Ruzicka et al. 1990, Forman 1990, Forman 1995). To achieve the management goals such as conservation of species or natural resources, accurate information characterizing landscape structure and its change is critical prerequisite. However, at the level of landscape, it is very time-consuming and labor-intensive survey that spatially explicit and temporal databases are developed and managed on the basis of traditional technology. The dramatic expansion of spatial and temporal scales at which many environmental problems must be considered has presented another difficult quantitative challenge (Turner et al. 1991). Fortunately, some recent achievements in the field of landscape ecology offer an opportunity on this problem. As one of these achievements, many investigators have been trying to quantify and evaluate the landscape using landscape indices with RS (Remote Sensing) and GIS (Geographic Information System) technology (Haines-Young and Chopping 1996). The major objectives of this study were to quantify forest fragmentation in the Han River Basin, which has been subject to urbanization and road construction during the past years, from 1983 to 1996. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rivers and streams are one of the ecosystems that have been seriously altered by means of human activities, particularly by civil engineering works (e.g. Bravard et al. 1986, Brooks 1988, Décamps et al. 1988). A barrage constructed near river mouth seriously changes estuarine environments (Murakami 2002, Nakamura and Fujino 2002, Yamauchi 2002). Dam construction creates a new lake ecosystem in a river with resultant discontinuity of material transportation and wildlife populations such as migratory fishes (Vannote et al. 1980, Mori 1999). Stabilization of river flow and alteration of sediment transportation by dams affect not only on benthic animals but also on plant species, which depend on hydraulic characteristics and hydro-geomorphic processes in a river (Tanida and Takemon 1999, Jansson et al. 2000, Kamada et al. 2002). Flood frequency and intensity have been reduced by dam operation, and it causes woodland expansion on bars (Harris et al. 1987, Johnson 1994, Woo and Yoon 2002). Channelization changes ecological function due to degeneration of riffle-pool structure of original rivers (Brooks 1988, Nakamura et al. 1997, Nagasaka and Nakamura 1999). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]