Abstract
“Change over time is fundamental to analyzing the effects of land use” (Dale et al., Chapter 1, this volume). Changes in the past, which set the scene for the present, often constrain decisions and potential for future change (Russell 1997; Foster and Motzkin 1999). Former events, conditions, and processes may also provide a yardstick for the goals of planners and managers. Historical ecology is the study of the past to understand the range of variation in natural ecosystems and the processes that have led to current conditions. For example, historic conditions may form a template for planning, when land use aims to reproduce ecological features or processes that existed at some time in the past or to commemorate a historic event. I refer to this as using the past as an analogue for the present.
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Russell, E.W. (2001). Applications of Historical Ecology to Land-Management Decisions in the Northeastern United States. In: Dale, V.H., Haeuber, R.A. (eds) Applying Ecological Principles to Land Management. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-0099-1_6
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