The Research Connection
More studies that shed light on what works in gardens, parks, and other landscapes.

By Jean Marie Cackowski and Sally Augustin

Illustrations By William Brown

Today, growing bodies of knowledge in fields as diverse as conservation biology, crime prevention, and behavioral psychology are available to inform all aspects of design. But even as researchers conduct significant studies about how environments enhance human health, safety, and productivity, that information rarely finds its way to landscape architects from the journals and conferences of other disciplines.

Landscape Architecture, in partnership with the web-based and print newsletter “Research Design Connections,” will continue to publish this column (the previous example appeared in the May 2004 Landscape Architecture) to report current research of interest to landscape architects from a wide array of other fields.

We welcome your comments, suggestions about future topics, and studies you have encountered or research you have performed in your own practice.

Recreational Impacts on Trails and Wildlife

Two current studies have explored whether hikers and bikers fully understand the impact they have on natural areas and whether their beliefs about those impacts are realistic. One of these studies quantifies how wildlife reacts to the presence of hikers and bikers.

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