Lee LeeHsueh

By Lee Lee-Hsueh

Scenic aesthetic is the outcome of interactions between humans and landscapes, in general made people focus on landscape beauty. The ecological experience is generally considered an explorative process based on the knowledge of the ecology. One major underlying problem is many people have misconceptions about the relationship of scenic beauty and ecological function; thus, two parallel lines were emerged between the appreciation of landscape and ecology. People’s landscape aesthetic experience leads people to change the landscape, subsequently ecological function. Ecological aesthetics could date back to the evolutionary theories. The aesthetic preference has changed through time and may reflect the public understanding of ecology, which provides a critical linkage between humans and ecological processes. Landscape aesthetic and ecological quality can coincide in some issues, such as the idea that visual variety in the landscape is stimulated by natural patterns and related to the incidence of biologically productive effects. The experience process and the influential factors of beauty in landscapes with healthy ecology were drawn out, and these result in benefits for good landscape with healthy ecology. Within the contexts and principles, the construction of good healthy ecology and sustainability can be achieved.

Part of the book: Landscape Architecture

By Lee-Hsueh Lee

Man-made structures are used as adaptive solutions to natural and urbanization stressors of coastal wetlands. These structures alter the wetland environment not only impacting ecological value and habitats but also landscape esthetics. A green structure approach aims to re-establish the natural functions of wetlands; however, landscape esthetics of the relationship between man-made structures is required that also should not be neglected. Physical structures are tangible and shape the visual environment, which can influence people’s esthetic preference. Pleasing scenery can arouse protective instincts and motivate public participation in wetland conservation. Man-made structures changed and limited landscape room, resulting in homogeneous environmental information in the landscape foreground, while hindering collection of environmental information from the background. The discordance of contextual cues between coastal wetlands and man-made structure affects the esthetics and preference of landscape. Therefore, consideration of both landscape esthetics and the ecological impact of man-made structures is an optimal coastal wetland restoration strategy. Here, a conceptual common ground between the visual and ecological aspects of man-made structures is proposed. This concept is applied to design man-made structures that will benefit landscape esthetics and mitigate wetland ecological impacts.

Part of the book: Wetlands Management