ABSTRACT
Most of the United States is now comprised of what Hiss refers to as working landscapes whose appearance is the result of the interactions of human culture with natural factors including climate, topography, vegetation, and soils. The productivity and function of a landscape depends on both its natural characteristics and the modifications imposed by humans. Agriculture is a massive modification that has greatly altered the functions of the natural ecosystems that form its foundation. This chapter examines how development pressures interact with landscape features to change the structure and function of agricultural landscapes, and how this knowledge can be used to reduce any negative impacts of development. It considers how development affects the watershed, agricultural production, cultural, and aesthetic functions of agricultural landscapes. The construction phase of development can cause particularly severe effects on water quality. One view of agriculture at the urban edge stresses the localization diseconomies caused by the increased population and juxtaposition of developments and farmland.
