Use of the term landscape in sustainable agriculture research: A literature review

Finding consensus in definitions of commonly-used terms and concepts is a key requirement to enable cooperations between interdisciplinary scientists and practitioners in inter- or transdisciplinary projects. In research on sustainable agriculture, the term 'landscape' is emphasised in particular, being used in studies that range from biogeochemical to socio-economic topics. However, it is normally used in a rather unspecific manner. Moreover, different disciplines assign deviating meanings to this term, which impedes interdisciplinary understanding and synthesis. To close this gap, a systematic literature review from relevant disciplines was conducted to identify a common understanding of the term landscape. Three general categories of landscape conceptualizations were identified. In a small subset of studies, landscape is defined by area size or by natural or anthropogenic borders. The majority of reviewed papers, though, define landscapes as sets of relationships between various elements. Selection of respective elements differed widely depending on research objects. Based on these findings, a new definition of landscape is proposed, which can be operationalized by interdisciplinary researchers to define a common study object and which allows for sufficient flexibility depending on specific research questions. It also avoids over-emphasis on specific spatio-temporal relations at the landscape scale, which may be context-dependent. Agricultural landscape research demands for study-specific definitions which should be meticulously provided in the future.

Automated summary

Finding consensus on the definition of commonly-used terms and concepts is crucial for interdisciplinary cooperation in sustainable agriculture research. This study conducted a systematic literature review to identify a common understanding of the term "landscape" from relevant disciplines. Three general categories of landscape conceptualizations were identified, and it was found that different disciplines assign different meanings to this term, hindering interdisciplinary understanding and synthesis. Therefore, a new definition of landscape is proposed to provide a common study object for interdisciplinary researchers and allow flexibility for specific research questions.