Abstract |
Basic objectives were to explore the use of the 'ecosystem concept' in land use planning and to develop methods of ecologically based planning. Basic ecosystem processes are reviewed and interpreted as services provided by natural systems to the human communities. A series of guidelines is presented for the use of ecosystem concepts in planning. Methods are developed and described for the use of the 'Landscape Compartmentalization' approach in which a planning area is divided into four compartments based on natural characteristics of the land and its ecosystems. Factors considered were distance from the nearest water course, slope, agricultural productivity index, forest site index, sub-soil permeability, shrink-swell potential of the soil, depth to bedrock, and position with respect to flood plains. The compartmentalization method is applied to a specific land area--the Eno River Basin near Durham, North Carolina. (Modified author abstract) |