Re-introducing the methodology for integration of ecological and socio economic data in regional planning based on landscape ecology(A comparison)

The choice of technique,affects the reliability and scope of application of the land evaluation in to the planning processes.The generality of objectives,the scale at which land data are available or can be acquired,the type of knowledge about land use relations,the minimum or maximum decision area,the desired precision of the evaluation results,and the temporal and spatial dynamics of land/landscape,all must be considered when selecting a land procedure for regional planning process.Considering all,the applied methodology which was based on the integration of ecological and socio economic data(Makhdoum,1998)in a landscape ecology(Makhdoum,2008)mapping unit(Environmental Unit)has been repeated in landscape ecology(Loffler,2002)mapping unit i.e,Ecotope to compare results.The methodologies were applied in semi-arid areas of Azarbaijan(NW Iran).The results indicate a significant difference between two applied mapping units.The scale of used maps,and the size of mapping units considered to be the main influencing factors for the differences.However,it seems,in similar map scale,Ecotope provides more accurate findings in landscape evaluation for regional planning in semi-arid areas than Environmental Unit.