Human-driven landscape changes strongly influence landscape functionality and aesthetics. While landscape planners have access to biophysical data for decision-making, they often do not have the necessary information about social variables, such as aesthetic tastes, feelings, or functions of a place. Visualizing future landscapes under alternative management scenarios could be a valuable tool for aiding land management decisions. Towards these ends, empirical, quantitative ecological data on vegetation composition, pattern, and processes in a Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER) site in Israel were integrated into a computerized, 3-D representation of current and future landscapes.

Our objectives were (1) to visualize landscape-shaping processes, such as wildfire, grazing, and species colonization, that can assist managers, planners, and the public to envision the long-term visual significance of management alternatives and (2) to validate the similarity between the 3-D model and reality. The visual model we developed is based on 30 years of scientific knowledge and ecological data describing vegetation processes in Ramat Hanadiv, a case study of ecological conditions and processes relevant to the Mediterranean and other complex ecosystems worldwide.

Before studying the role of the 3-D model in decision-making, validation was performed by comparing ‘current state’ model representation with real-world photos from the perspective of the observer. The model was found to be a valid representation of reality.

Looking to the future, we suggest that the ability to create future landscapes using scientific data can assist to improve decision-making processes, balancing ecological and social needs.

人类驱动的景观变化强烈影响景观功能和美学。虽然景观规划者可以访问生物物理数据以进行决策，但他们通常没有关于社会变量的必要信息，例如审美品味、感受或地方的功能。在替代管理方案下可视化未来景观可能是帮助土地管理决策的宝贵工具。为此，以色列长期生态研究 (LTER) 站点中有关植被组成、模式和过程的实证、定量生态数据被整合到当前和未来景观的计算机化 3-D 表示中。

我们的目标是 (1) 可视化景观塑造过程，例如野火、放牧和物种殖民，这可以帮助管理者、规划者和公众设想管理替代方案的长期视觉意义，以及 (2) 验证3-D 模型与现实之间的相似性。我们开发的视觉模型基于 30 年的科学知识和描述拉马特哈纳迪夫植被过程的生态数据，这是与地中海和全球其他复杂生态系统相关的生态条件和过程的案例研究。

在研究 3-D 模型在决策中的作用之前，通过从观察者的角度将“当前状态”模型表示与真实世界照片进行比较来进行验证。该模型被发现是现实的有效表示。

展望未来，我们建议利用科学数据创造未来景观的能力有助于改进决策过程，平衡生态和社会需求。