Conservation and Sustainable Use of the Biosphere - WBGU

From natural to cultivated landscapes E 1.2
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keeping and rearing of similar highly useful animal
populations (domesticated animals), the cultivation
of high-yielding plants to acquire nutrients or raw
materials, the intervention in the water cycle for
water supply, irrigation, fish farming or flood protection
and the generation of energy from collecting
regenerative biomass (wood, peat) are examples of
such interventions in the ecosphere. These interventions
have increased enormously in the last two centuries
as a result of the use of fossil fuels and the spatial
and temporal partitioning of biogeochemical
conversion processes associated with population
growth and compaction in conurbations. In the
process, ecosystems were created that were influenced
by humankind to varying degrees (Table E 1.2-
1). A definition of ‘ecosystem’ in a broad sense that
also includes ecosystems that do not conserve or
regulate themselves is used as a basis here. To examine
the functional contexts of landscapes, it is essential
to understand the linkages among natural,
anthropogenically influenced and technological
ecosystems.
Ecosystems do not occur in complete isolation of
each other; they interpenetrate each other spatially
and temporally, with varying intensity, and, in this
way, characterize the visual appearance of specific
cultivated landscapes (Section E 3.9). With increasing
numbers of people and a corresponding increase
in the demands they make, cultivated landscapes will
continue to expand to the detriment of the natural
landscapes that still exist. If this is to be done at a tolerable
level, sustainable forms of use will have to be
developed for the cultivated landscapes (Section
E 3.3).
The interactions that exist at different levels
between the biological and technological ecosystems
in landscapes are very important for the understanding
of their structures and functions. Not taking these
dependencies into account can lead to serious errors
in the sustainable development of landscapes and
make the required measures considerably more difficult.
In particular, it is the influence of the constantly
growing anthropogenic ecosystems that urgently
need further analysis because the majority of emis-
Table E 1.2-1
The most important ecosystem types arranged according to increasing human influence.
Source: Haber, 1993 based on SRU, 1987
A. Biological ecosystems Ecosystems largely made up of natural components and characterized by
biological processes:
1. Natural ecosystems
Not or hardly influenced by humankind, capable of self-regulation.
Examples: Tropical rainforest, sea, rivers, lakes.
2. Semi-natural ecosystems
Influenced by humakind, but very similar to type 1; hardly any change when the
influence ceases, capable of self-regulation.
Examples: Many Central European broad-leaved forests, highland moores,
shallow seas, rivers, lakes.
3. Semi-natural ecosystems
Come from human use of type 1 or 2, but not deliberately created; change
when the usage stops. Capable of self-regulation to a limited extent;
maintenance needed.
Examples: Heaths, dry grassland, litter meadows, coppices, dams, ponds,
Boundary between natural-appearing canals and channelled rivers.
and anthropogenic ecosystems 4. Agricultural and forest ecosystems, aquaculture
Commercial ecosystems deliberately created by humankind for the generation of
biological food and raw materials made up of crops and domesticated
animals, completely dependent on human maintenance, self-regulation
undesired, functions are controlled from outside.
Examples: Fields, forests, vineyards, plantations, meadows, pastureland,
fishponds, fish farms.
B. Technological ecosystems 5. Technological ecosystems
Deliberately created by man for cultural-technological activities, not capable of
self-regulation but completely dependent on external control (with high levels of
energy and substance additions) and the biological ecosystems that go through
them (type A). Characterized by:
- Construction, durable and consumer objects,
- Extraction, manufacturing and use processes,
- Emissions,
- Use of space.
Examples: Villages, towns, industrial areas