ABSTRACT
The physical landscape consists of two elements, the landform landscape and the land-use landscape. The former is made up of land and drainage systems and is a product of the interaction between geology, climate and tectonics expressed through geomorphological processes. The land-use landscape consists of the land surface, which in most climatic zones is dominated by the flora and fauna, and is the product of ecological processes. In a truly ‘natural’ landscape, these processes are unmodified by man. However, throughout the world man is an agent of rather more rapid environmental and landscape change, either directly as a consequence of past and present exploitation of natural resources, or indirectly through man-induced climate change.
