BOOK REVIEW

Beck, Travis. Principles of ecological landscape design

Island Press, 2013, 280 pp, Washington, D.C. USA

Robert N. Coulson

Received: 24 January 2014 / Accepted: 30 January 2014

� Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2014

Principles of Ecological Landscape Design, by Travis

Beck (a registered landscape architect and LEED

Accredited Professional) is a book that addresses the

application of ecological concepts for use in guiding

landscape design and construction in the built envi-

ronment. The product of this activity is referred to as

an ecological landscape design. Emphasis in design

and construction centers on using ecological concepts

to guide selection of plant species and the organization

of plant assemblages. The book is organized into ten

chapters. The first chapter is a general overview of

plant biogeography and features a discussion on the

concepts of global plant distribution as influenced by

climate (principally temperature and precipitation)

and edaphic characteristics. The next eight chapters

are a progression through the levels of ecological

integration. Chapter 2 considers concepts of ecology

dealing with plant populations and communities. The

point of emphasis centers on the selection of plant

species to form the plant palette for a garden or

landscape that is both aesthetically pleasing in

appearance and ecologically functional. Issues such

as plant population genetic diversity, age-class distri-

bution, and size distribution are examined. The

community concepts presented deal with the ensemble

of plant species and include consideration of topics

such as species diversity, species abundance, habitat

selection, etc. Chapter 3 continues the examination of

species interactions in plant communities and includes

an expanded treatment of basic concepts of competi-

tion, niche theory, assembly rules, etc. The basic

question considered is how to combine plants in a

designed landscape that form ‘‘pleasing juxtapositions

of color, form, and texture.’’ In Chapter 4, ecosystem

concepts are introduced. The literature describing

ecosystem structure and function is not contemporary,

but most of the basic ideas around an ecosystem being

a unit of organization consisting of the biotic com-

munity and the abiotic environment functioning

together and linked through energy flow and nutrient

cycling are present. The issue of ecosystem boundary

(size) is not considered and this omission creates

confusion in the discussion of designing landscapes to

provide ecosystem services. The relation of ecosystem

principles and the goal of landscape design and

construction is not well developed. Chapter 5 deals

with the issues of biodiversity in landscapes. Basic

concepts of biodiversity are considered and include a

discussion of the roles of habitat loss and invasive

species in the reduction of species diversity. The value

of the built environment for enhancing, protecting, and

preserving biodiversity is emphasized. Chapter 6

addresses in detail the importance of soil and water

for plant community development across the full range

of spatial and temporal scales. The treatment of soils is

a good primer in soil science. Multiple roles of living

organisms in the soil are identified. Ecological land-

scape design involves the interaction of soils and

R. N. Coulson (&)

Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, USA

e-mail: r-coulson@tamu.edu

123

Landscape Ecol

DOI 10.1007/s10980-014-0001-7

hydrology. This interaction is amenable to orches-

trated modification and manipulation in the built

environment. Chapter 7 addresses the issues associ-

ated with the roles that living organisms play in

regulating ecosystem processes associated with eco-

logical landscape design. A suite of subjects is

examined and includes topics such as habitat devel-

opment, herbivory, competitive interactions (biolog-

ical control agents), biotic ecosystem engineering,

keystone species, etc. Chapter 8 deals with change in

landscapes with an emphasis placed on concepts of

ecological succession and the role that disturbance

plays in the process. The literature on these topics is

dated. The discussion includes consideration of topics

that depart from the stated focus of the book,

ecological landscape design. However, the basic

message is that landscapes change and that this fact

should be included in design and construction. Chap-

ter 9 deals with basic topics associated with the

landscape level of ecological integration. Again, the

literature on the subject is dated, but a number of

concepts that are relevant to landscape design and

construction are examined, including landscape geom-

etry (patches, edges, fragmentation, etc.). The discus-

sion of island biography has been co-opted into the

general landscape ecological literature. The spatial

scale of the discussion of landscape connectivity and

metapopulation dynamics again exceeds the stated

focus of the book. Chapter 10 deals primarily with

global environmental issues with an acknowledge-

ment that landscape design can be used to address

issues such as restoration of damaged landscapes,

preservation of landscapes, urban planning, carbon

sequestration, atmospheric pollution, climate change

(with a discussion of effects on plant community

constituency),etc. The chapter concludes with a

discussion of panarchy, and again the spatial and

temporal scales seem inappropriate.

Principles of Ecological Landscape Design is writ-

ten in a vernacular and instructive style. The book

provides many good examples of the application of the

ecological concepts in practical settings and it is well

illustrated. Color figures would have greatly enhanced

the aesthetic emphasis of the book. The strength of the

book is in the treatment of plant population and

community dynamics as related to design and con-

struction of landscape settings. There is a robust and

contemporary literature dealing with use of concepts of

landscape ecology as applied to design of landscapes

(e.g., Musacchio (2009, 2011), Nassauer and Opdam

(2008), Potschin and Haines-Young (2013), Bellard

et al. (2012), etc.) that is not included. The book is a

laudable contribution that provides a great deal of

useful instruction in the planning and design of

ecological landscapes.

References

Bellard C, Bertelsmeier C, Leadley P, Thuiller W, Courchamp F

(2012) Impact of climate change on the future of biodi-

versity. Ecol Lett 15:365–377

Musacchio LR (2009) The scientific basis for design of land-

scape sustainability: a conceptual framework for transla-

tional landscape research and practice of designed

landscapes and the six Es of landscape sustainability.

Landsc Ecol 24:993–1013

Musacchio LR (2011) The grand challenge to operationalize

landscape sustainability and the design-in-science para-

digm. Landsc Ecol 26:1–5

Nassauer JI, Opdam P (2008) Design in science: extending the

landscape ecology paradigm. Landsc Ecol 23:633–644

Potschin M, Haines-Young R (2013) Landscape sustainability

and the place-based analysis of ecosystem services. Landsc

Ecol 28:1053–1065

Landscape Ecol

123