XIAO Du-Ning, XIE Fu-Ju, WEI Jian-Bing
Landscape has multi-functions such as economy, ecology and culture, and it faces threats from landscape fragmentation and loss of connectivity among landscape components induced by more intensive anthropogenic disturbances, therefore, landscape attracted more and more attention all over the world. Firstly, this article reviewed the connotation of landscape value, including rarity that is an important landscape character, diversity expressing the structure and function diversity of landscape cell, efficacy that means the transformation function of substance, energy, information and value in a given ecosystem, livability implying a landscape being suitable for existence of human beings and aesthetic value defined from human behavior model and information process theory. Secondly, it introduced the quantitative methods of evaluating landscape value, including direct use value, indirect use value, optional value, hereditable value, and subsistent value. Corresponding assessment methods for above landscape value were summed up, they are cost analysis method, income analysis method, shadow price method, substitute cost method, estate value analysis method, respectively. In addition, the assessment methods and cases on various landscapes according to human visual sensing were also listed. In the view of authors, national natural heritage with rarity, unique and aesthetic characteristics, anthropogenic management landscape with important culture value, destructed landscape which need ecological restoration or rehabilitation due to engineering destruction or landscape contamination by irrational use, should be protected first and foremost. The scenic beauty of landscape obtained by testing the public taste, landscape vulnerability and landscape threshold value that is a token of resistance, assimilation and restoration ability to disturbance, and landscape susceptibility expressing the attention extent by public, were then summarized combining the physical circumstance in China, which might be helpful for natural conservation in China.