The Shared Landscape: What Does Aesthetics Have to Do with Ecology?
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Landscape Ecol (2007) 22:959–972 DOI 10.1007/s10980-007-9110-x PERSPECTIVE The shared landscape: what does aesthetics have to do with ecology? Paul H. Gobster Æ Joan I. Nassauer Æ Terry C. Daniel Æ Gary Fry Received: 18 January 2007 / Accepted: 18 April 2007 / Published online: 24 May 2007 Ó Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2007 Abstract This collaborative essay grows out of a 1. While human and environmental phenomena debate about the relationship between aesthetics occur at widely varying scales, humans engage with and ecology and the possibility of an ‘‘ecological environmental phenomena at a particular scale: that aesthetic’’ that affects landscape planning, design, of human experience of our landscape surroundings. and management. We describe our common under- That is the human ‘‘perceptible realm.’’ standings and unresolved questions about this 2. Interactions within this realm give rise to relationship, including the importance of aesthetics aesthetic experiences, which can lead to changes in understanding and affecting landscape change and affecting humans and the landscape, and thus the ways in which aesthetics and ecology may have ecosystems. either complementary or contradictory implications 3. Context affects aesthetic experience of land- for a landscape. To help understand these issues, we scapes. Context includes both effects of different first outline a conceptual model of the aesthetics– landscape types (wild, agricultural, cultural, and ecology relationship. We posit that: metropolitan landscapes) and effects of different personal–social situational activities or concerns. We argue that some contexts elicit aesthetic experiences P. H. Gobster (&) that have traditionally been called ‘‘scenic beauty,’’ U.S. Forest Service, Northern Research Station, while other contexts elicit different aesthetic experi- 1033 University Pl., Suite 360, Evanston, ences, such as perceived care, attachment, and identity. IL 60201, USA e-mail: [email protected] Last, we discuss how interventions through land- scape planning, design, and management; or through J. I. Nassauer enhanced knowledge might establish desirable rela- School of Natural Resources and Environment, tionships between aesthetics and ecology, and we University of Michigan, 440 Church Street, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1041, USA examine the controversial characteristics of such ecological aesthetics. While these interventions may T. C. Daniel help sustain beneficial landscape patterns and prac- Psychology Department, University of Arizona, P.O. Box tices, they are inherently normative, and we consider 210068, Tucson, AZ 85721, USA their ethical implications. G. Fry Department of Landscape Architecture and Spatial Planning, Norwegian University of Life Sciences, Keywords Landscape perception Á Scenic beauty Á P.O. Box 5029, 1432 Aas, Norway Ecological aesthetics Á Landscape change Á Context 123 960 Landscape Ecol (2007) 22:959–972 Introduction: human experience and the and application. We also point out where our aesthetics–ecology debate perspectives diverge and suggest where additional work might resolve these differences. The arts and sciences are essential ways that we come While this essay builds upon on a great deal of to know the world, but much of our response to the research and scholarship by others, it is not our aim environment is determined through individual expe- here to present an exhaustive intellectual history of rience of landscapes. Environmental phenomena landscape aesthetics and landscape ecology. We extend from sub-microscopic to global scales and provide much of that background in our earlier change over time spans that range from milliseconds papers and include selected references to those papers to millennia. In landscape ecology the processes for readers below. We also acknowledge an increas- studied can be as small as the home range of a spider ing amount of new research and scholarship address- or larger than a continent. But it is difficult for people ing landscape aesthetic and ecological relationships. to understand, care about, and act purposefully upon This work ranges from philosophical investigations to phenomena that occur at scales beyond our own quantitative empirical research, and focuses on urban, direct experience. Because humans so powerfully rural, and wildland landscapes in the US, Europe, affect environmental phenomena, we contend that Asia, Australia, and the Pacific. While reviewing this that it is highly meaningful and relevant to under- work was beyond our scope in this paper, we urge stand human interaction with ecosystems at the scale those who are interested in this essay to seek it out. of landscapes, defined here as the physical patterns Our efforts also relate directly to an evolving we perceive as making up our surroundings. discussion about the integration of pluralistic view- The scale at which humans as organisms perceive points and paradigms within the field of landscape landscapes, what we term the perceptible realm,is ecology. The aesthetics–ecology relationship is a particularly important because this is the scale at powerful but widely misunderstood manifestation of which humans intentionally change landscapes, and nature–society interactions, and we believe the land- these changes affect environmental processes. At this scape scale of human experience that we describe in scale, landscape perception thus becomes the key this paper represents a strong entry point for trans- process for connecting humans with ecological disciplinary study of such interactions. By exploring phenomena. Particularly relevant to this paper, aes- the significance of this particular scale of human thetic experiences evoked through perception of the experience, diverse perspectives from the natural and landscape powerfully and regularly engage people social sciences and the humanities may have a with ecosystems. This implies that landscapes that are stronger basis for developing unifying, integrative perceived as aesthetically pleasing are more likely to concepts for addressing sustainability issues. be appreciated and protected than are landscapes In the sections that follow, we first establish the perceived as undistinguished or ugly, regardless of basis for our shared conceptual model of the their less directly perceivable ecological importance. aesthetics–ecology relationship and then discuss Aesthetic experiences may thus lead people to change the model in some detail. We next describe how the landscape in ways that may or may not be both landscape context and personal–social situa- consistent with its ecological function. tional context can fundamentally influence this In this essay we explore the relationship between relationship, and briefly review several key exam- landscape aesthetics and ecology and discuss some ples. Last, we discuss how landscape design and issues for planning, design, and management that can observer knowledge interventions might serve to arise when aesthetic goals come into conflict with make aesthetic and ecological relationships more ecological ones. In our past work, we have each complementary in order to achieve ecological goals, addressed various aspects of the aesthetics–ecology and we discuss the practical and ethical implications relationship and have challenged each other’s think- of such interventions. We hope that this work will ing over the years. Our goals in this collaborative help to advance transdisciplinary research and effort are to identify areas where we have come to theory-building as well as promote beneficial land- agree about the aesthetics–ecology relationship and scape change through planning, design, and man- to clarify those areas for further scrutiny in research agement. 123 Landscape Ecol (2007) 22:959–972 961 Interactions between aesthetics and ecology in activities, but it pervades even the most mundane landscape perception aspects of daily life. Our desire to see, live in, and visit beautiful places and to avoid or want to improve Considering landscapes, what does aesthetics have to places we perceive as ugly fundamentally affects do with ecology? We contend that there is an intimate landscape change. This desire is reflected in land- yet complex relationship between aesthetics and scape policy and management, where aesthetics has ecology that has important implications for those been widely recognized as a non-commodity resource interested in landscape ecology—including natural (or more recently, an ‘‘ecosystem service’’) among scientists, modelers, geographers, land planners, more traditional commodity-oriented resources like designers, and managers. This relationship also is food and fiber. The connection between aesthetics relevant for social scientists, environmental philoso- and landscape change was made explicit in US and phers, and others studying the causes and conse- UK law and policy in the late-1960s. Expert- and quences of landscape change. Aesthetics has not been perception-based methods were developed to assess a principal concern of many of these individuals, landscape aesthetic quality for the dual purposes of however. Indeed, some would argue that aesthetics identifying areas to protect for public enjoyment and has little if anything to do with the ecology of for minimizing or mitigating the aesthetic impacts of landscapes. development or production-oriented uses such as But we think there are important reasons why timber harvesting. These assessment methods focused considering aesthetics helps to anticipate landscape largely on landscape scenery and were