LANDSCAPE ANALYSIS: region of VILLEVEYRAC (France)
Preamble
Let's listen, as a beginning, the basic laws of the agricultural systems.
Sebastien Bainville explains how agriculture is structured all around the world and presents its changing trends.
- Production Systems across the world
- The agricultural social categories across the world
- The different types of farms across the world
- Changing trends
Step 1. Why start with a landscape analysis?
Agrarian land is always complex. In order to obtain a useful analysis, it is important to apply a method: Pierre Le Ray shows you how to explore and analyse a study zone.
Step 2. What should we be looking for when we study a landscape?
Exercise : A landscape can provide much information on how the environment is used, but it is necessary to identify the relevant elements. How do we do this?
- Exercise: List 10 elements of the landscape that you can observe
- Theory: Deffontaines et Petit categories
- Exercise: Categorise the elements of the landscape
- Theory: The elements observed and the questions that they raise
Step 3. An initial analysis of the area before the first field trip
At this stage, we split up the area according to the main bio-physical and socio-economic criteria.
Foreword: Do you know how to read a map?
Here is an interactive guide and an exercise to help you remember the basics of effective map reading.
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Theory: use a topographic map
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Exercise: identify the elements of the landscape on a map
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Pierre Le Ray shows how to analyse a landscape ex situ, using maps and other available data.
- What is a map
- Analysis and zoning the landscape
- Establish a transect
- Analysis of an ombro-thermal diagram
- Using satellite datas
Exercise: ombro-thermal diagrams. Build an ombro-thermal diagram from the temperature and rainfall recordings of the different regions of the world… and formulate hypotheses on the impact of the climate on farming practices.
Exercise applied to your context: After having followed Pierre Le Ray in the analysis of landscapes using maps and graphs, try to repeat this exercise for the zone of your choice.
Step 4. Field work, direct observation
Now, let’s go out into the field!
Exercise: observation of the landscape in situ. To begin with, take your time to explore the agrarian area of Villeveyrac, with the picture tour. Then, Pierre Le Ray will visit it with you.
- Note down the discriminating elements of the landscape
- Create your hypotheses on agricultural practices and other activities that structure this landscape
- Identify which points need to be explored further
You will now proceed with the same visit, but this time with Pierre Le Ray who will share his own analysis with you. Did you make the same observations?
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Results: the expected results of a landscape interpretation
The observation of the landscape at both the elevated points and along the transects, should allow you to :
- Define relatively homogeneous units relative to biophysical parameters and land use
- To undertake a close observation that allows you to characterise its different components
- To form the first hypotheses on the reasons why these different units are not used in the same way.
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Step 5. Data processing
We now have a large amount of information. Let’s see how this can be organised, simplified and represented.
Pierre Le Ray shows a possible representation: bloc-diagram and summary table.
- Draw a bloc-diagram
- Diagram caption and key
- Build the synthetic table linked with the diagram
Pierre Le Ray reviews the methodological precautions to bear in mind and presents a new destination.