Landscape sensitivity: from theory to practice

Landscape sensitivity is expressed as the ratio of the change in a system t o the change in a landscape component. The larger the ratio, the greater th e sensitivity. An array of drivers of landscape change is reviewed, but the re is seen to be little benefit in separating natural changes from human-in duced changes: most change has a component of each, though there is a conti nuum from one extreme to the other. Changes in the systems themselves are reviewed, including the increasing ev idence for two or more system states bring possible. Whilst one state may b e preferred, there is no consensus on what kind of a landscape we want, or how aspects of that landscape can be manipulated to give us what we want. T his is a field of research were really new ideas are wanted, and where inte rdisciplinary research should be the norm. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. A ll rights reserved.