Springer Landscape Bionomics Biological-Integrated Landscape Ecology

Building on a decade of theoretical and methodological progress in landscape bionomics, this book acknowledges that well-intentioned landscape interventions can cause serious damage, and explains the concept of ecologists as “physicians” of ecological systems. From the Back Cover "Landscape Bionomics,” or “Bio-integrated Landscape Ecology,” radically transforms the main principles of traditional Landscape Ecology by recognizing the landscape as a living entity rather than merely the spatial distribution of species and communities on the territory, often analysed in separate themes (water, species, pollution, etc.). To be more exact, the landscape is identified as the "life organization integrating a set of plants, animals, and human communities and its system of natural, semi-natural, and human cultural ecosystems in a certain spatial configuration." This new perspective inevitably leads to significant changes in how to assess and manage the environment. This book represents the culmination of an endeavor begun by the author, with the support of Richard Forman and Zev Naveh, more than a dozen years ago. It builds on the author’s previous successful publication, Landscape Ecology, A Widening Foundation, by addressing a range of additional topics and discussing the new theoretical and methodological concepts that have emerged during the past decade of research. Particular attention is paid to the fact that interventions in the landscape can be made with the best intentions yet cause serious damage! Against this background, the author explains the need to study "landscape units" by applying methods comparable to those used in clinical diagnosis – hence ecologists can be viewed as the “physicians” of ecological systems. About the Author Vittorio Ingegnoli possesses two degrees in Architecture and the Natural Sciences and is currently a professor by contract at the University of Milan, where he teaches Ecological Landscape Design and Ecology of Alpine Landscapes and Forests. He is one of the founders of Landscape Ecology and was a founding member of SIEP, the Italian section of IALE (International Association for Landscape Ecology). He was also a co-founder (with R. Bunce, UK) of the European Forum for Landscape Monitoring. Professor Ingegnoli is a member of the Scientific Committee of the Italian section of the International Association for Impact Assessment and a member of the Task Force Con.Eco.For. (CFS, State Foresters). Together with prof. H. Gulink he is the coordinator of a research on Rural-Suburban Landscapes, Universities of Milan and Leuven (Belgium).