Contemporary Danish landscape research

Danish landscape research blossomed during the 1990s thanks to several transdisciplinary research programmes involving several institutions. The main themes of the programmes encompassed landscape change, landscape and biological diversity, nature and landscape management, use and monitoring of the countryside. The values of the Danish landscape pertain mainly to the coastal landscapes. The threats include the industrialization of the agricultural landscapes and, in places, urban sprawl. Les travaux de recherche consacrés aux paysages du Danemark ont connu, au cours des années 90, un essor considérable grâce à différents programmes de recherche transdisciplinaire menés au sein de plusieurs institutions et centrés sur l’évolution des paysages, la diversité paysagère et biologique, la gestion de la nature et du paysage, l’affectation et le suivi des campagnes. Les points forts du paysage au Danemark sont les paysages côtiers, tandis que les principales menaces proviennent de l’industrialisation des paysages agricoles et, par endroits, de la croissance urbaine.

by the last 10 years concerted efforts within landscape research. These efforts comprised mainly five inter-and transdisciplinary programmes 1 . 3 In the following the main themes covered by the programmes are presented. 4 All programmes required participitation of different institutions (listed in Table 1) and several projects implied interdisciplinarity with researchers participating from arts, science and social sciences. In many projects the work was done on information tied to a specific place or region, sharing common databases. The projects exploited the multidisciplinary character of landscapes, by developing methods, strategies, and routines for interdisciplinary cooperation and by encouraging interdisciplinary dialogue. All programmes were based on the recognition that economic, social and environmental problems are closely related to structure, function, valuation and development of the landscape. The projects have demonstrated that interdisciplinary research is indeed a challenging endeavor which in order to be successful, requires general knowledge as to concepts, theories, paradigms, terminology, and methods of disciplines different from one's own.

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In the following the main themes covered by the programmes are presented.

Landscape change 7
Landscape history was scrutinized in case areas shared by many of the participating scientists, covering the whole time range from the Iron age to the post war period. The interaction between man and landscape has been a major issue, with emphasis on the cultural historical and nature conservation interests in relation to human economic and recreational use of the landscape. Land-use history in relation to plant diversity has been treated involving numerous disciplines. Several project used scenario studies to discuss and evaluate the future landscape development.
Landscape and biological diversity 8 Landscape structures were analyzed to obtain a thorough understanding of landscape entities, cultural circumstances and natural processes influencing the landscape structures, the regulation of ecosystems and the biological diversity. The elucidation of factors which influence present plant diversity in natural habitats subjected to human exploitation has been a major issue. The impact on species diversity of local environmental conditions and historical processes was analyzed aimed at investigating the conditions for the present biodiversity at the genetic, species, and ecosystem level. An important activity has been a discussion of the contents and function of the biodiversity concept in various scientific disciplines, as well as assessing its value as a quantitative and qualitative measurement tool.
Nature quality and landscape management 9 The theme encompassed the study of nature quality in ecosystems in cultural landscapes. Landscape management was treated from several different angles, along with the theoretical basis for elaboration of strategies for landscape management and protection of biodiversity at different levels. Legal aspects, economic incentives and farmer's production of nature qualities, design and implementation processes in the countryside with emphasis on the role of planning, land use and structure changes in the landscape was treated. Scenario studies were used to study interactions between land management, agriculture, nature and environment in the countryside.
Management and use of the countryside 10 Several scientific disciplines dealt with values, consequences and planning in regard to integrated management and use of the countryside. A focal point was ethical weighing of values and interests, e.g. values and view of nature among inhabitants of suburbs, and the social dimension of outdoor recreation. Scenarios were used to test visions on multiple use of the countryside. Part of the theme dealt with the agrarian landscape, including tourism and recreation in the agrarian landscape, farm buildings and landscape, state of conservation of archaeological remains on arable land, quantitative estimates, regionalism and causes behind property changes in the agrarian landscape. Finally a collection of tools was developed for analysis concerning nature, management and regulation, such as measures of landscape diversity and biodiversity, conditions and means for regulation, ways of public management and handling of interest groups.  Important landscape values of Denmark 11 Denmark is an intensively farmed, and in places strongly urbanized country. With more than 7500 km coastline and 43,000 km² of land territory, the coast is omnipresent and possesses major landscape and nature values, reflected in the EU Habitat designations of which more than 50% is related to marine and coastal environments including salt marshes, salt meadows, dunes, and brackish lagoons. The coastal landscapes are of strong international importance, not least due to their significance for migrating birds. The west Baltic Archipelagos is a partly submerged moraine landscape, which is unique and well preserved, containing a rich variation of coastal morphology. Special interest pertains to the largest raised peat bogs of continental Europe. The valley landscape of central Jutland, with its plateaus, deeply dissected valleys, partly occupied by lakes, has a strong regional importance in the north European lowland. Apart from these landscapes, the general agricultural landscapes house a rich variation of cultural landscapes of significance to wildlife and vegetation dependent on agricultural management, not least the extensively managed pastures.
Major potentials of the Danish landscape 12 The primary means of enhancing natural values in the Danish landscapes is to restore the natural vegetation (mainly decidous forests) and to restore the natural hydrological regime. At present, afforestation are taking place with approximately 1000 ha per year, and numerous wetland restoration projects are carried out, the largest one restoring the lowest 20 km of the largest Danish watercourse after having been chanalized in 40 years. Major threats to the Danish landscape 13 The primary threats pertain to industrialization of agriculture, and urbanization. In particular the air-and water borne emission of N compounds is a constant nuisance to the seminatural areas as forests, heath land, commons and meadows. But whereas technical and management solutions seem within reach here, the urbanization and intensification of infrastructure are apparently harder to handle.