从自然区划、土地变化到景观服务:发展中的中国综合自然地理学

From natural regionalization, land change to landscape service:The development of integrated physical geography in China

综合自然地理学作为自然地理学的一个独立分支在中国的兴起并非"伊萨钦科讲学"的偶然,而是与之相关的理论体系构建、专业人员培养、中外历史传承及社会实践需求的综合结果。中国综合自然地理学发展一直以实践性为宗旨,围绕着自然区划、土地变化、景观服务等不同的综合视角,经历了从农业区划、生态区划到综合区划研究,从土地类型、土地资源到土地系统研究,从景观格局到景观功能与服务研究等主题的演进,学科体系不断完善和深化。新形势下,综合自然地理学将以人地耦合系统为研究对象,以过程耦合、区域集成为综合方向,以景观可持续性为重点领域,以大数据及高新技术为方法支撑,探索新的综合途径。

The rise of integrated physical geography in China is not an accidental event. It was closely connected with the construction of the related theory system, the fostering of domestic professional scholars, the inheritance of academic history both at home and abroad, and the demand of social development in China. Specifically speaking, it was influenced by the spread of Westem modern geography in the early 20th century, and the traditional harmony theory of Chinese ancient geography; it was also associated with the geographical intensive Sino-Soviet academic communications in the 1950s, as well as the needs of economic development in China. All in all, as a branch of physical geography, the integrated physical geography is a practice-oriented subject, focusing on comprehensive perspectives of natural regionalization, land change, and landscape service. The main contents of integrated physical geography studies in China have developed from agricultural regionalization and ecological regionalization to integrated regionalization; from land type, land source to land system; from landscape pattern research to landscape function and service research. Along with the change of the study theme, this subject kept on improving and deepening. Faced with the growing challenges such as rapid urban expansion, serious environmental pollution, and the natural resource exhaustion, the integrated physical geography in China is trying to explore new integrated approaches in accordance with the transformation of the time background. It chooses coupled human and natural systems as its study object, considers the synthesis of processes interaction at different regional scales, makes landscape sustainability as its key research field, and uses big data and high technology as its methodology.