Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Driving forces of landscape change — current and new directions

  • Published:
Landscape Ecology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The concept of driving forces is gaining increasing attention in landscape-change research. We summarize the state of the art of this field and present new conceptual and methodological directions for the study of driving forces of landscape changes. These new directions address four major challenges faced by landscape-change studies, i.e., studying processes and not merely spatial patterns, extrapolating results in space and time, linking data of different qualities, and considering culture as a driver of landscape change. The proposed research directions include: studying landscape change across borders and transects, focusing on persistence as well as change, investigating rates of change, considering attractors of landscape change, targeting correlation and causality, and searching for precursors of landscape change. Based on established knowledge and the new approaches we outline a standard procedure to study driving forces of landscape change. We anticipate that our analytical and systematic approach increases the relevance of studies of landscape change for science as well as for the solution of real world problems.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Adams W.M. 1990. Green development. Routledge, London, UK.

    Google Scholar 

  • Agarwal C., Green G.M., Grove J.M., Evans T.P. and Schweik C.M. 2002. A review and assessment of land-use change models: dynamics of space, time and human choice. USDA Forest Service, Gen. Tech. Rep. NE-297.

  • Allen T.F.H. and Starr T.B. 1982. Hierarchy: Perspectives for ecological complexity. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, Illinois, USA.

    Google Scholar 

  • Antrop M. 1998. Landscape change: plan or chaos. Landscape and Urban Planning 41: 155–161.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Antrop M. 2000. Changing patterns in the urbanized countryside of Western Europe. Landscape Ecology 15: 257–270.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Baker W.L. 1989. A review of models of landscape change. Land-scape Ecology 2: 111–133.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Baur B. 2002. Preconditions and driving factors in (non-)developing financial instruments in Swiss forest policy–a tentative politico-economic analysis. In: Ottisch A., Tikkanen I. and Riera P. (eds), Financial instruments of forest policy. EFI Proceedings No. 42.

  • Berger J. 1987. Guidelines for landscape synthesis: Some directions–old and new. Landscape and Urban Planning 14: 295–311.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bicík I., Jelecek L. and Štepanek V. 2001. Land-use changes and their social driving forces in Czechia in the 19th and 20th centuries. Land Use Policy 18: 65–73.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Blaikie P. 1985. The political economy of soil erosion. Longman, London, UK.

    Google Scholar 

  • Blaikie P. and Brookfield H. 1987. Land degradation and society. Methuen, London, UK.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brandt J., Primdahl J. and Reenberg A. 1999. Rural land-use and dynamic forces–analysis of ‘driving forces’ in space and time. In: Krönert R., Baudry J., Bowler I.R. and Reenberg A. (eds), Land-use changes and their environmental impact in rural areas in Europe. UNESCO, Paris, France, pp. 81–102.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bürgi M. 1999. A case study of forest change in the Swiss low-lands. Landscape Ecology 14: 567–575.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bürgi M. and Russel E.W.B. 2001. Integrative methods to study landscape changes. Land Use Policy 18: 9–16.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bürgi M. and Schuler A. 2003. Driving forces of forest management–an analysis of regeneration practices in the forests of the Swiss Central Plateau during the 19th and 20th century. Forest Ecology and Management 176: 173–183.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bürgi M. and Turner M.G. 2002. Factors and processes shaping land cover and land cover changes along the Wisconsin River. Ecosystems 5: 184–201.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Christensen N.L. 1989. Landscape history and ecological change. Journal of Forest History 33: 116–125.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cronon W. 2000. Resisting monoliths and tabulae rasae. Ecological Applications 10: 673–675.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dale V.H., Brown S., Haeuber R.A., Hobbs N.T., Huntly N., Naiman R.J., Riebsame W.E., Turner M.G. and Valone T.J. 2000. ESA Report: Ecological principles and guidelines for managing the use of land. Ecological Application. 10: 639–670.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dale V.H., O'Neill R.V., Pedlowski M. and Southworth F. 1993. Causes and effects of land-use change in Central Rondonia, Brazil. Photogrammetric Engineering and Remote Sensing 59: 997–1005.

    Google Scholar 

  • Egan D. and Howell E.A. 2001. The historical ecology handbook. Island Press, Washington DC, USA.

    Google Scholar 

  • Forman R.T.T. and Godron M. 1986. Landscape ecology. John Wiley and Sons, New York, New York, USA.

    Google Scholar 

  • Foster D.R., Motzkin G. and Slater B. 1998. Land-use history as long-term broad-scale disturbance: Regional forest dynamics in Central New England. Ecosystems 1: 96–119.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fröhlich P. and Axhausen K.W. 2002. Development of car-based accessibility in Switzerland from 1950 through 2000. Proceedings 2nd STRC Conference, Ascona, March 20-22 (http://www.strc.ch/2002.html).

  • Hersperger A.M. 1994. Landscape ecology and its potential application to planning. Journal of Planning Literature 9: 15–29.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hersperger A.M. 1995. Ökologische Planung und Landschaftsökologie. DISP Oktober: 10–19.

  • Hobbs R. 1997. Future landscapes and the future of landscape ecology. Landscape and Urban Planning 37: 1–9.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Irwin E.G. and Geoghegan J. 2001. Theory, data, methods: developing spatially explicit economic models of land use change. Agriculture, Ecoystems & Environment 85: 7–24.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kates R.W., Turner B.L. and Clark W.C. 1990. The great transformation. In: Turner B.L., Clark W.C., Kates R.W., Richards J.F., Mathews J.T. and Meyer W.B. (eds), The earth as transformed by human action. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK, pp. 1–17.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kienast F., Bürgi M. and Wildi O. in press. Landscape research in Switzerland: exploring space and place of a multi-ethnic society. BELGEO.

  • Lambin E.F., Turner B.L., Geist H.J., Agbola S.B., Angelsen A., Bruce J.W., Coomes O.T., Dirzo R., Fischer G., Folke C., George P.S., Homewood K., Imbernon J., Leemans R., Li X., Moran E.F., Mortimore M., Ramakrishnan P.S., Richards J.F., Skanes H., Steffen W., Stone G.D., Svedin U., Veldkamp T.A., Vogel C. and Xu J. 2001. The causes of land-use and land-cover change: moving beyond the myths. Global Environmental Change 11: 261–269.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Leser H. 1991. Landschaftsökologie: Ansatz, Modelle, Methodik, Anwendungen. Ulmer, Stuttgart, Germany.

    Google Scholar 

  • Magnuson J.J. 1990. Long-term ecological research and the invisible present. BioScience 40: 495–501.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Marcucci D.J. 2000. Landscape history as a planning tool. Land-scape and Urban Planning 49: 67–81.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McDonnell M.J. and Pickett S.T.A. 1993. Humans as components of ecosystems–the ecology of subtle human effects and populated areas. Springer, New York, New York, USA.

    Google Scholar 

  • Meyer W.B. and Turner B.L. 1994. Changes in land use and land cover: a global perspective. University Press, Cambridge, UK.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nassauer J.I. 1995. Culture and changing landscape structure. Landscape Ecology 10: 229–237.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nassauer J.I. 1997. Placing nature. Culture and landscape ecology. Island Press, Washington DC, USA.

    Google Scholar 

  • Naveh Z. 2001. Ten major premises for a holistic conception of multifunctional landscapes. Landscape and Urban Planning 57: 269–284.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Naveh Z. and Lieberman A.S. 1994. Landscape ecology: theory and application. Springer, New York, USA.

    Google Scholar 

  • Proctor J.D. 1998. The meaning of global environmental change: retheorizing culture in human dimensions research. Global Environmental Change 8: 227–248.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rockwell R.C. 1994. Culture and cultural change. In: Meyer W.B. and Turner B.L. (eds), Changes in land use and land cover: a global perspective. Cambridge University Press, Cambirdge, UK, pp. 357–382.

    Google Scholar 

  • Russell E.W.B. 1994. The use of theory in land management decisions–the New-Jersey pine barrens. Biological Conservation 68: 263–268.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Russell E.W.B. 1997. People and the land through time: linking ecology and history. Yale University Press, New Haven, USA.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sergeant A. 2002. Ecological risk assessment: history and fundamentals. In: Paustenbach D.J. (ed.), Human and ecological risk assessment. John Wiley and Sons, New York, New York, USA, pp. 369–442.

    Google Scholar 

  • Serneels S. and Lambin E.F. 2001. Proximate causes of land-use change in Narok District, Kenya: a spatial statistical model. Agriculture, Ecoystems & Environment 85: 65–81.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Silbernagel J., Martin S.R., Gale M.R. and Chen J. 1997. Prehistoric, historic, and present settlement patterns related to ecological hierarchy in the Eastern Upper Peninsula of Michigan, USA. Landscape Ecology 12: 223–240.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Steinitz C., Arias H., Basset S., Flaxman M., Goode T., Maddock T., Mouat D., Peiser R. and Shaerer A. 2003. Alternative futures for changing landscapes: The upper San Pedro River Basin in Arizona and Sonora. Island Press, Washington DC, USA.

    Google Scholar 

  • Steinitz C., Binford M., Cote P., Edwards T., Ervin S., Forman R.T.T., Johnson C., Kiester R., Mouat D., Olson D., Shearer A., Toth R. and Wills R. 1996. Biodiversity and landscape planning: alternative futures for the region of Camp Pendleton, California. Harvard University, Graduate School of Design, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tress B., Tress G., Décamps H. and d'Hauteserre A.-M. 2001. Bridging human and natural sciences in landscape research. Landscape and Urban Planning 57: 137–141.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Turner B.L., Clark W.C., Kates R.W., Richards J.F., Mathews J.T. and Meyer W.B. (eds), 1990. The earth as transformed by human action: Global and regional changes in the biosphere over the past 300 years. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK.

    Google Scholar 

  • Urban D.L., ONeill R.V. and Shugart H.H.J. 1987. Landscape ecology: a hierarchical perspective can help scientists understand spatial patterns. BioScience 37: 119–127.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Veldkamp A. and Lambin E.F. 2001. Predicting land-use change. Agriculture, Ecoystems & Environment 85: 1–6.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Verburg P.H., Soepboer W., Veldkamp A., Limpiada R., Espaldon V. and Mastura S.S.A. 2002. Modeling the spatial dynamics of regional land use: The CLUES model. Environmental Management 30: 391–405.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Vogt K.A., Grove M., Asbjornsen H., Maxwell K.B., Vogt D.J., Sigurdardotter R., Larson B.C., Schibli L. and Dove M. 2002. Linking ecological and social scales for natural resource management. In: Lui J. and Taylor W.W. (eds), Integrating landscape ecology into natural resource management, University Press, Cambridge, UK, pp. 143-175.

    Google Scholar 

  • Whitney G.G. 1994. From coastal wilderness to fruited plain. A history of environmental change in temperate North America from 1500 to the present. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wiens J.A. 1995. Landscape mosaics and ecological theory. In: Hansson L., Fahrig L. and Merriam G. (eds), Mosaic landscapes and ecological processes. Chapman and Hall, London, UK, pp. 1–26.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wilson J.B. and King W.M.G. 1995. Human-mediated vegetation switches as processes in landscape ecology. Landscape Ecology 10: 191–196.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wirth E. 1969. Zum Problem einer allgemeinen Kulturgeographie: Raummodelle–kulturgeographische Kräftelehre–raumrelevante Prozesse–Kategorien. Die Erde 2-4: 155–193.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wood R. and Handley J. 2001. Landscape dynamics and the management of change. Landscape Research 26: 45–54.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wu J. and Hobbs R. 2002. Key issues and research priorities in landscape ecology: an idiosyncratic synthesis. Landscape Ecology 17: 355–365.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Swiss Federal Institute of Forest, Snow and Landscape Research (WSL), CH-8903, Birmensdorf, Switzerland (

    Matthias Bürgi, Anna M. Hersperger & Nina Schneeberger

Authors
  1. Matthias Bürgi
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Anna M. Hersperger
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Nina Schneeberger
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Bürgi, M., Hersperger, A.M. & Schneeberger, N. Driving forces of landscape change — current and new directions. Landscape Ecology 19, 857–868 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10980-004-0245-8

Download citation

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10980-004-0245-8

Search

Navigation