Elements, characteristics and character : information functions of landscapes in terms of indicators
- When monitoring landscape changes, the visual landscape should also be considered. This pertains to the information function of ecosystems and landscapes that refers to environmental structure and its function for satisfying needs. These needs of human perception include a certain equipment of landscape with stimuli, spatial orientation, as well as aesthetical-emotional needs. However, previous approaches of environment monitoring and registration of landscape changes exclusively focus on the ecosystem; aesthetic and structural characteristics are evalu-ated, if at all, only via easily quantifiable variables in a data oriented manner that illustrates the diversity of individual landscape elements without theoretically grounding them based on general hypotheses and a theoretical concept. Based on results from perception research and information theory, therefore, a method for registering the visual landscape on different complexity levels was developed. This includes: Elements (i.e. "element level"), that is the description of theWhen monitoring landscape changes, the visual landscape should also be considered. This pertains to the information function of ecosystems and landscapes that refers to environmental structure and its function for satisfying needs. These needs of human perception include a certain equipment of landscape with stimuli, spatial orientation, as well as aesthetical-emotional needs. However, previous approaches of environment monitoring and registration of landscape changes exclusively focus on the ecosystem; aesthetic and structural characteristics are evalu-ated, if at all, only via easily quantifiable variables in a data oriented manner that illustrates the diversity of individual landscape elements without theoretically grounding them based on general hypotheses and a theoretical concept. Based on results from perception research and information theory, therefore, a method for registering the visual landscape on different complexity levels was developed. This includes: Elements (i.e. "element level"), that is the description of the different types of land use and structure elements within a landscape unit. Furthermore, under these elements a variety of manifestations are also subsumed such as small spatial dimensional relations, as well as individual synesthetic perceptions (noise, smells);…
