- "A landscape is the visible features of an area of land, its landforms, and how they integrate with natural or human-made features..."
The visible features of an area, including physical elements such as mountains and rivers, as well as cultural elements such as architecture and urban development.
Geology: Understanding the formation of landscapes and geological structures is crucial to gaining knowledge about their history.
Climate: The study of climate patterns and how they have affected landscapes is important to understanding environmental history.
Ecosystems: An ecosystem is a community of plants, animals, and microorganisms that interact with each other and with their physical environment. Understanding how ecosystems have changed over time is an essential part of environmental history.
Land Use: Land use examines how humans have modified landscapes for agriculture, urbanization, and other purposes, and how these changes have impacted the environment.
Human Settlement: The study of human settlement patterns reveals how societies have adapted to and transformed landscapes over time.
Biodiversity: Biodiversity refers to the variety of life on Earth. Understanding how ecosystems have evolved and how biodiversity has been preserved or threatened is essential to environmental history.
Conservation: The study of conservation examines the ways in which people have sought to protect landscapes, habitats, and species from human-induced threats.
Resource Management: Resource management refers to the practices and policies that have been developed to sustainably manage natural resources, such as forests, water, and minerals.
Pollution: Pollution is the introduction of harmful substances into the environment. The study of pollution and its effects on landscapes and ecosystems is an important part of environmental history.
Globalization: The study of globalization examines the ways in which people and economies have become interdependent across national borders and how this has impacted the environment and landscapes.
Forest Landscapes: Forest landscapes refer to areas dominated by trees, with a high density of vegetation and a broad range of biodiversity.
Grassland Landscapes: Grassland landscapes are typically flat or rolling areas covered in grass, with scarce trees or shrubs, and a mixture of both herbaceous and woody plants.
Mountain Landscapes: Mountain landscapes are characterized by their elevation, steep slopes, and high altitudes.
Desert Landscapes: Desert landscapes are barren, arid regions with low rainfall and high temperatures.
Coastal Landscapes: Coastal landscapes are regions where land meets the sea, characterized by their unique geological formations, marine ecosystems, and weather patterns.
Wetland Landscapes: Wetland landscapes are low-lying areas that are submerged or saturated with water for part of the year, frequently found near riverbanks or along the coast.
Arctic/Antarctic Landscapes: Arctic and Antarctic landscapes are characterized by ice, snow, permafrost, and other extreme conditions.
Urban Landscapes: Urban landscapes are urbanized regions dominated by human-built structures and infrastructure, with limited natural or green spaces.
Agricultural Landscapes: Agricultural landscapes refer to regions of arable land that are cultivated for crops or livestock breeding.
Industrial Landscapes: Industrial landscapes are regions dominated by heavy industry, such as factories, mines, and power stations.
Suburban Landscapes: Suburban landscapes are areas located on the outskirts of cities, characterized by medium-density settlements, with a mix of urban and rural features.
Park Landscapes: Park landscapes are typically designed or managed for recreational or conservation purposes, with a large proportion of green space and natural habitat.
- "A landscape includes the physical elements of geophysically defined landforms such as (ice-capped) mountains, hills, water bodies such as rivers, lakes, ponds and the sea..."
- "A landscape includes... living elements of land cover including indigenous vegetation..."
- "A landscape includes... human elements including different forms of land use, buildings, and structures..."
- "A landscape includes... transitory elements such as lighting and weather conditions."
- "Combining both their physical origins and the cultural overlay of human presence, often created over millennia, landscapes reflect a living synthesis of people and place..."
- "Landscapes reflect a living synthesis of people and place that is vital to local and national identity."
- "The character of a landscape helps define the self-image of the people who inhabit it..."
- "It is the dynamic backdrop to people's lives."
- "Landscape can be as varied as farmland, a landscape park or wilderness."
- "The Earth has a vast range of landscapes including the icy landscapes of polar regions, mountainous landscapes, vast arid desert landscapes, islands, and coastal landscapes..."
- "Densely forested or wooded landscapes including past boreal forests and tropical rainforests..."
- "Agricultural landscapes of temperate and tropical regions."
- "The activity of modifying the visible features of an area of land is referred to as landscaping."
- "...how they integrate with natural or human-made features..."
- "...often considered in terms of their aesthetic appeal."
- "...often created over millennia..."
- "It is the dynamic backdrop to people's lives. Landscape can be as varied as farmland, a landscape park or wilderness. The Earth has a vast range of landscapes..."
- "A landscape includes... water bodies such as rivers, lakes, ponds and the sea..."
- "The Earth has a vast range of landscapes including..."