I.S. Zonneveld, the first President of the International Association for Landscape Ecology (IALE), wrote in 1983 “IALE, was conceived in Veldhoven, The Netherlands in 1981, and born in Bratislava, in 1982”. IALE initially consisted of geographers who had developed a system of ecological cartography, as well as ecologists working on populations and communities. Practioners such as landscape developers and architects were also involved. In 1983 25 people met at Allerton Park in the USA, to discuss the foundation of “Landscape Ecology” and, in the same year, the first IALE Bulletin was published. Landscape ecology then gradually became recognised as an independent discipline throughout the world. In Eastern Europe, geographers played a driving role in the formulation of landscape science, with close links to problems of natural resource management.
Using a literature review and personal interviews with key landscape ecologists from Eastern Europe, the presentation analyzes how landscape ecology has changed in the past decades in the following countries: the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia and the Ukraine. How the discipline is likely to continue to evolve will then be discussed. The key researchers involved in developing landscape ecology in the countries will also be identified. The following main research topics will then be described: ecological infrastructure, ecology of catchment areas, Geographical Information Systems, landscape ecological aspects of agro-ecosystems and urban ecology. The development and establishment of the various IALE chapters will also be included.