THE TRANSFORMATION OF THE MEDITERRANEAN LANDSCAPES - AN EXPERIENCE OF 25 YEARS OF OBSERVATIONS

For 25 years geographers of the University of Ghent, in close relationship with pedologists and archaeologists, carried out geographical surveying, landscape analysis and monitoring of recent landscape transformations in many regions of the Mediterranean. The surveys were done by intensive field work assisted with air photo interpretation and later also using remote sensing, which demanded field radiometry as well. Today most of the analysis is carried out using GIS. The approach was essentially holistic but, for descriptive purposes and due to the lack of detailed maps, many thematic maps have been realized as well. The transformations in the landscapes were always considered as structural changes and as the result of a complex interaction between many factors. Several mechanisms and processes could be recognized and are presented here in a synthetic and modelled way.