Przegląd Geograficzny (2019) vol. 91, iss. 1
Polish application of landscape ecology in spatial management post-1982
Przegląd Geograficzny (2019) vol. 91, iss. 1, pp. 7-39 | 
Full text
doi: https://doi.org/10.7163/PrzG.2019.1.1
Abstract
Landscape ecology and related sub-disciplines like geoecology and comprehensive physical geography are among the most applied of the geographical sciences. Comprehensive diagnosis, evaluation, planning and forecasting of human-environment interactions, as applied to spatial management or physical development, is the main direction in which ecological and landscape knowledge is seen to find application. In the light of that, the research presented here sought to present directions of application of landscape ecology among Polish researchers, in the years 1983-2017. The presentation was in the context of scientific research, with the most important monographs thematically convergent with these directions indicated. In the light of the expert and research achievements to date and the human-resources potential, prospects for the development of the sub-discipline were then outlined. Diagnostic and planning-related environmental studies of a mandatory nature, as well as environmental impact assessments and optional diagnostic studies were the kinds found to have been performed most frequently (accounting for 57% of the total). In turn, among the 35 detailed types of studies identified, the kinds produced most frequently involved thematic maps (mainly of a sozological nature), eco-physiographic studies and environmental impact reports (together accounting for 1/3 of all expert opinions). Expert opinions were most often commissioned by public administration (in 3/4 of all cases), be this local (in 1/3 of cases), regional or central. Expert opinions were most often produced for Commune Offices (26.7%) or the Offices of the Marshals at regional level (10%), or else for Ministries (mainly the Ministry of the Environment), or for industrial or infrastructural enterprises. The greatest numbers of expert opinions originated at the Gdańsk, Warsaw, Poznań, Opole, Łódź and Lublin centres. Landscape ecologists from individual centres specialise in selected directions of application, as is the case for Gdańsk (environmental impact assessments and GIS databases); Warsaw (diagnostic environmental studies); Lublin (studies of the optional type), and Kielce (obligatory planning--related studies). Within the six basic groups of studies – of which four are divided into two subgroups – there are several dozen examples of specific topics of expertise and a similar number of monograph titles presented. Changes in Polish legislation on science and higher education, as introduced in 2018, ay affect the organisation of institutions and research processes. Landscape ecologists will find themselves in two main areas (the social sciences as well as the pure and natural sciences) and disciplines (socio-economic geography and spatial management, as well as earth and environmental sciences), and some will also be found in technical and engineering sciences (environmental engineering, urban planning and architecture). Consequences of this might be either negative or positive, as the development might either activate interdisciplinary contacts or reduce opportunities for cooperation. At the same time, the state rules for assessing applications relating to scientific advancement or applying for funds for research projects still treat participation in the implementation of commercial projects marginally. Among the criteria for assessing the activity of scientific entities (and constituting the basis for their financing), the commercialisation of research in the form of application of scientific work confirmed by enterprises or public administration is also limited. This leaves the fate of Polish landscape ecology as hard to predict unambiguously, though, given the interdisciplinarity and desired directions of research resulting from the challenges of civilisation – the likelihood is that it will remain at the current level, or even develop further.
Keywords: ekolgoia krajobrazu, geoekologia, geografia fizyczna kompleksowa, gospodarka przestrzenna, opracowania aplikacyjne
[mariusz.kistowski@ug.edu.pl], Faculty of Oceanography and Geography University of Gdańsk Bażyńskiego 4, 80-309 Gdańsk: Poland
Citation
APA: Kistowski, M. (2019). Kierunki polskich zastosowań ekologii krajobrazu w gospodarowaniu przestrzenią po 1982 r.. Przegląd Geograficzny, 91(1), 7-39. https://doi.org/10.7163/PrzG.2019.1.1
MLA: Kistowski, Mariusz. "Kierunki polskich zastosowań ekologii krajobrazu w gospodarowaniu przestrzenią po 1982 r.". Przegląd Geograficzny, vol. 91, no. 1, 2019, pp. 7-39. https://doi.org/10.7163/PrzG.2019.1.1
Chicago: Kistowski, Mariusz. "Kierunki polskich zastosowań ekologii krajobrazu w gospodarowaniu przestrzenią po 1982 r.". Przegląd Geograficzny 91, no. 1 (2019): 7-39. https://doi.org/10.7163/PrzG.2019.1.1
Harvard: Kistowski, M. 2019. "Kierunki polskich zastosowań ekologii krajobrazu w gospodarowaniu przestrzenią po 1982 r.". Przegląd Geograficzny, vol. 91, no. 1, pp. 7-39. https://doi.org/10.7163/PrzG.2019.1.1