Landscape engineering
Encyclopedia
Landscape engineering or landscaping is the application of mathematics
and science
to shape land and waterscapes. It can also be described as green engineering, but the design professionals best known for landscape engineering are landscape architects
. Landscape engineering is the interdisciplinary application of engineering
and other applied science
s to the design and creation of anthropogenic
landscapes. It differs from, but embraces traditional reclamation
. It includes scientific disciplines: Agronomy
, Botany
, Ecology
, Forestry
, Geology
, Geochemistry
, Hydrogeology
, and Wildlife Biology. It also draws upon applied sciences: Agricultural & Horticultural Sciences, Engineering Geomorphology
, landscape architecture, and Mining
, Geotechnical, and Civil, Agricultural & Irrigation
Engineering.
Landscape engineering builds on the engineering strengths of declaring goals, determining initial conditions, iteratively designing, predicting performance based on knowledge of the design, monitoring performance, and adjusting designs to meet the declared goals. It builds on the strengths and history of reclamation practice. Its distinguishing feature is the marriage of landforms, substrates, and vegetation throughout all phases of design and construction, which previously have been kept as separate disciplines.
Though landscape engineering embodies all elements of traditional engineering (planning, investigation, design, construction, operation, assessment, research, management, and training), it is focused on three main areas. The first is closure planning – which includes goal setting and design of the landscape as a whole. The second division is landscape design more focused on the design of individual landforms to reliably meet the goals as set out in the closure planning process. Landscape performance assessment is critical to both of these, and is also important for estimating liability and levels of financial assurance. The iterative process of planning, design, and performance assessment by a multidisciplinary team is the basis of landscape engineering.
Source: McKenna, G.T., 2002. Sustainable mine reclamation and landscape engineering. PhD Thesis, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada 661p.
Mathematics
Mathematics is the study of quantity, space, structure, and change. Mathematicians seek out patterns and formulate new conjectures. Mathematicians resolve the truth or falsity of conjectures by mathematical proofs, which are arguments sufficient to convince other mathematicians of their validity...
and science
Science
Science is a systematic enterprise that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe...
to shape land and waterscapes. It can also be described as green engineering, but the design professionals best known for landscape engineering are landscape architects
Landscape architecture
Landscape architecture is the design of outdoor and public spaces to achieve environmental, socio-behavioral, or aesthetic outcomes. It involves the systematic investigation of existing social, ecological, and geological conditions and processes in the landscape, and the design of interventions...
. Landscape engineering is the interdisciplinary application of engineering
Engineering
Engineering is the discipline, art, skill and profession of acquiring and applying scientific, mathematical, economic, social, and practical knowledge, in order to design and build structures, machines, devices, systems, materials and processes that safely realize improvements to the lives of...
and other applied science
Applied science
Applied science is the application of scientific knowledge transferred into a physical environment. Examples include testing a theoretical model through the use of formal science or solving a practical problem through the use of natural science....
s to the design and creation of anthropogenic
Anthropogenic
Human impact on the environment or anthropogenic impact on the environment includes impacts on biophysical environments, biodiversity and other resources. The term anthropogenic designates an effect or object resulting from human activity. The term was first used in the technical sense by Russian...
landscapes. It differs from, but embraces traditional reclamation
Land reclamation
Land reclamation, usually known as reclamation, is the process to create new land from sea or riverbeds. The land reclaimed is known as reclamation ground or landfill.- Habitation :...
. It includes scientific disciplines: Agronomy
Agronomy
Agronomy is the science and technology of producing and using plants for food, fuel, feed, fiber, and reclamation. Agronomy encompasses work in the areas of plant genetics, plant physiology, meteorology, and soil science. Agronomy is the application of a combination of sciences like biology,...
, Botany
Botany
Botany, plant science, or plant biology is a branch of biology that involves the scientific study of plant life. Traditionally, botany also included the study of fungi, algae and viruses...
, Ecology
Ecology
Ecology is the scientific study of the relations that living organisms have with respect to each other and their natural environment. Variables of interest to ecologists include the composition, distribution, amount , number, and changing states of organisms within and among ecosystems...
, Forestry
Forestry
Forestry is the interdisciplinary profession embracing the science, art, and craft of creating, managing, using, and conserving forests and associated resources in a sustainable manner to meet desired goals, needs, and values for human benefit. Forestry is practiced in plantations and natural stands...
, Geology
Geology
Geology is the science comprising the study of solid Earth, the rocks of which it is composed, and the processes by which it evolves. Geology gives insight into the history of the Earth, as it provides the primary evidence for plate tectonics, the evolutionary history of life, and past climates...
, Geochemistry
Geochemistry
The field of geochemistry involves study of the chemical composition of the Earth and other planets, chemical processes and reactions that govern the composition of rocks, water, and soils, and the cycles of matter and energy that transport the Earth's chemical components in time and space, and...
, Hydrogeology
Hydrogeology
Hydrogeology is the area of geology that deals with the distribution and movement of groundwater in the soil and rocks of the Earth's crust, . The term geohydrology is often used interchangeably...
, and Wildlife Biology. It also draws upon applied sciences: Agricultural & Horticultural Sciences, Engineering Geomorphology
Geomorphology
Geomorphology is the scientific study of landforms and the processes that shape them...
, landscape architecture, and Mining
Mining
Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the earth, from an ore body, vein or seam. The term also includes the removal of soil. Materials recovered by mining include base metals, precious metals, iron, uranium, coal, diamonds, limestone, oil shale, rock...
, Geotechnical, and Civil, Agricultural & Irrigation
Irrigation
Irrigation may be defined as the science of artificial application of water to the land or soil. It is used to assist in the growing of agricultural crops, maintenance of landscapes, and revegetation of disturbed soils in dry areas and during periods of inadequate rainfall...
Engineering.
Landscape engineering builds on the engineering strengths of declaring goals, determining initial conditions, iteratively designing, predicting performance based on knowledge of the design, monitoring performance, and adjusting designs to meet the declared goals. It builds on the strengths and history of reclamation practice. Its distinguishing feature is the marriage of landforms, substrates, and vegetation throughout all phases of design and construction, which previously have been kept as separate disciplines.
Though landscape engineering embodies all elements of traditional engineering (planning, investigation, design, construction, operation, assessment, research, management, and training), it is focused on three main areas. The first is closure planning – which includes goal setting and design of the landscape as a whole. The second division is landscape design more focused on the design of individual landforms to reliably meet the goals as set out in the closure planning process. Landscape performance assessment is critical to both of these, and is also important for estimating liability and levels of financial assurance. The iterative process of planning, design, and performance assessment by a multidisciplinary team is the basis of landscape engineering.
Source: McKenna, G.T., 2002. Sustainable mine reclamation and landscape engineering. PhD Thesis, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada 661p.