Principles of Ecological Landscape Design by Travis Beck (review)

Travis Beck’s, Principles of Ecological Landscape Design, is a welcome addition to the growing collection of publications that explore the connections between ecological theory and landscape design processes. Within the landscape architecture profession, the roots of this connection trace back to the work of Fredrick Law Olmsted, H.W.S. Cleveland, and Jens Jenson among others who sought to design and manage constructed environments in a manner that was ecologically functional and rich in experience and aesthetic (Nassauer 2002). In more recent times, Ian McHarg’s, Design with Nature (1969), in which he argues and proposes methods for prioritizing ecological function as a basis for urban and site design, is often lauded as the seminal text for advancing contemporary perspectives in ecological landscape design. Yet, with any applied field, new proposals often extend beyond what is thoroughly tested and feasible within the structure and operations of the profession. Principles of Ecological Landscape Design provides today’s designers and managers of constructed landscapes with a grounded and thorough understanding of the principles of plant ecology, while clearly articulating the scope and applicability of this knowledge as it applies to landscape design.

Well qualified for the task as the Director of Horticulture at the Mt. Cuba Center in Delaware and a LEED accredited landscape architect, Mr. Beck defines the ecological landscape as “a designed landscape based on the science of ecology,” (pg. 3) and describes its potential for addressing many of the critical design and development issues of our time. More than a quarter century ago, landscape architect Catherine Howett wrote that “every work of landscape architecture, whatever its scale, ought first of all to be responsive to the whole range of interactive systems—soils and geology, climate and hydrology, vegetation and wildlife, and the human community—that will come into play on a given site and will be affected by its design” (Howett 1987, pg. 7). Beck’s book continues this tradition of a holistic approach to landscape design by presenting a deep evaluation of ecological theory as it, “outlines a world ruled by change and chance, in which life self-organizes and persists” (pg. 5).

Beck draws from a remarkably broad foundation of ecological research that offers scientifically grounded access to the principles that guide design and management strategies for establishing contextually relevant and healthy plant communities and habitats. His focus on time, as the fourth dimensional quality of place, pushes landscape designers to address one of the greatest challenges in ecological design. When working with a living medium of soil and plants, it is time and inherent change, whether from growth and succession or disturbance, that often determines the success of a design or management scheme. Throughout the book, Mr. Beck stresses the need for designers to embrace rather than control change. He argues that by developing a thorough understanding of a site’s past uses and the resulting bio-physical legacies designers can make informed and strategic decisions that result in resilient landscapes, imbued with the capacity to adapt to the shifting realities of a dynamic environment.

The book is relevant for students and seasoned professionals. While accessible and engaging as a read from beginning to end, the book is presented as a toolbox of concepts and rationales that are useful both in a piecemeal approach and in its entirety. Organized in ten chapters, the information presented increases in spatial and topical complexity from plant selection and the role of plant communities in supporting habitat to the implications of ecological landscape design and planning across watershed and regional scales. Of particular note is Chapter 6, which discusses the rationale and importance of preserving, conserving, and regenerating healthy soils for plant establishment and proliferation; a very important aspect of landscape design that is often overlooked or lightly touched upon in similar texts.

Each chapter presents the full scope of information for the topic at hand, with a description of relevant ecological theory, its applicability to landscape...