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Land Mosaics: the Ecology of Landscapes and Regions
By Richard T.T. Forman. Cambridge University Press 1995. ISBN 0 521 47980 0 pb. 632 pp., illustr. US$39.95. 0 521 47462 0 hb. US$120.00
Review by Gray Merriam and Kringen Henein, Laboratory for Landscape Ecology, Carleton University, 1125 Colonel By Dr., Ottawa, Canada, K15 5B6.
Professor Forman's Preface does not set a target audience. His objective is a "... state - of - the - art synthesis ..." built upon the 1986 Landscape Ecology by Forman and Godron. Land Mosaics lacks the textbook flavour of the 1986 book and the 1995 volume apparently is an update on the state of landscape ecology, a paradigm which is about a decade old in North America. Scholars and decision - makers are discussed and are the most probable target.
Style
The author's style is very conversational, which is fine except that it also leads here to lack of scientific acuity. We are concerned by the possible use of this volume as a text or as a landscape planning manual or to indicate the state of landscape ecology because it fails to distinguish clearly what is tested and known from what is conjecture and hypothesis. Students, decision - makers and non - specialists need a clear distinction between what has been tested scientifically and what remains to be tested. This book often gives the impression that we know enough about pattern and process so that complex problems can be solved by simply selecting a spatial arrangement from one of the author's diagrams. With over 1900 papers, the numerical citations are very annoying. For critical reading, the reference list must be consulted repeatedly for every point.
The quantity of references is also questionable. Such a list should be either exhaustive (which it is not) or it should be discriminating. Citations are often only loosely associated with the point being made, where a single central reference would have been more useful. Primary references could have been named in the text.
Illustrations are important to a book with spatial structural foundations. Photographs used here vary in quality (e.g. p.91), and some fail to make their point due to quality of printing (e.g. p.82). Diagrams are clear and simple. In some instances, the point...