Mosaic Landscapes And Ecological Processes

This series presents studies that have used the paradigm of landscape ecology. Other approaches, both to landscape and landscape ecology are common, but in the last decade landscape ecology has become distinct from its predecessors and its contemporaries. Landscape ecology addresses the relationships among spatial patterns, temporal patterns and ecological processes. The effect of spatial configurations on ecological processes is fundamental. When human activity is an important variable affecting those relationships, landscape ecology includes it. Spatial and temporal scales are as large as needed for comprehension of system processes and the mosaic included may be very heterogeneous. Intellec tual utility and applicability of results are valued equally. The Inter national Association for Landscape Ecology sponsors this series of studies in order to introduce and disseminate some of the new knowledge that is being produced by this exciting new environmental science. Gray Merriam Ottawa, Canada Foreword This is a book about real nature, or as close to real as we know - a nature of heterogeneous landscapes, wild and humanized, fine-grained and coarse-grained, wet and dry, hilly and flat, temperate and not so temper ate. Real nature is never uniform. At whatever spatial scale we examine nature, we encounter patchiness. If we were to look down from high above at a landscape of millions of hectares, using a zoom lens to move in and out from broad overview to detailed inspection of a square meter we would see that patterns visible at different scales overlay one another.

An analysis and synthesis of the ecology of heterogeneous land areas.

Part I: Introduction: Definition of a Discipline: Emergence of Landscape Ecology in the History of Ecology; Recognition of Heterogeneity in Ecological Systems; Taking Human Activities into Account in Ecological Systems; Explicit Accounting for Space and Time; Landscape Ecology is based on Scientific Theories Linked to Ecology and Related DisciplinesLandscpe Ecology: Definition of a Multidisciplinary Approach: Landscape as Understood by the Ecologist; Landscape Ecology: An Interdisciplinary Approach; Landscape Ecology: Application of Results of Fundamental Research to Conservation Biology and Land ManagementPart II: Landscape Structure and Dynamics Analysis of Spatial Structures: Categories of Landscape Elements; From Sample Plots in a Wood to Woods in a Landscape; Typology of Patches and Corridors; Basic Concepts for Quantitative Approaches; Measurement of Heterogeneity; Fragmentation; Connectedness o Return to Scale Dependence: Contribution of Fractal Geometry o Elements of Geostatistics; Typologies of Landscape Structures; General ConclusionDynamics of Landscapes: Questions on Organization and Dynamics of Landscapes Stemming from Observation; Changes in Land use on the Global Scale; Regional Approaches to Changes in Land Use: Variations Depending on Modes of Measurement; Local Approaches to Changes in Land Cover: Importance of Spatialization; Dynamics of Valley Landscapes: The Water Course and its Corridors; Dynamics of Non-Anthropogenic Landscapes; Land cover and Evolving Landscapes, a General PhenomenonOrganization of Landscapes: Categories of Models; The Concept of Organization; Ecological Organization of Landscapes; From Farming Systems to Landscape Diversity; General Approach of Dynamics and Organization of Agrarian Landscapes; Landscape Dynamics and (Re) Organization: Multi-scale and Multidisciplinary ApproachPart III: Ecological Processes within Landscapes: The Functioning of Populations at the Landscape Level: Patch Theory and Functioning of Metapopulations; Multi-habitat Species; Movement in Landscapes; Landscape Dynamics and the Functioning of Populations; Population Models used in Landscape EcologyInterspecific Relationships and Biodiversity in Landscapes: Interspecific Relationships; BiodiversityGeochemical Flows in Landscapes: Buffer Zones; Erosive Phenomena and Landscape Structure; Transfers in Watersheds; ConclusionPart IV: Applications to Landscape Management: Application of Landscape Ecology Concepts to Landscape Management and Design: Corridor Concept Applied to Development; Considering Landscape Ecology Concepts in Establishing Transportation Infrastructures; The Development of Rural Landscapes

Landscape Ecology is an emerging science of gaining momentum over the past few decades in the scientific as well as in the planning-management worlds. Although the field is rooted in biology and geography, the approaches to understanding the ecology of a landscape are highly divers. This hybrid vigor provides power to the field. One can no longer view a local ecosystem or land use in isolation from global areas and time frames. The surrounding landscape mosaic and the flows and movements in a landscape must be considered, especially the linkage between humans requiring resources provided by nature, the constraints on their use as well as the responding landscape.

An ideal text for students taking a course in landscape ecology. The book has been written by very well-known practitioners and pioneers in the new field of ecological analysis. Landscape ecology has emerged during the past two decades as a new and exciting level of ecological study. Environmental problems such as global climate change, land use change, habitat fragmentation and loss of biodiversity have required ecologists to expand their traditional spatial and temporal scales and the widespread availability of remote imagery, geographic information systems, and desk top computing has permitted the development of spatially explicit analyses. In this new text book this new field of landscape ecology is given the first fully integrated treatment suitable for the student. Throughout, the theoretical developments, modeling approaches and results, and empirical data are merged together, so as not to introduce barriers to the synthesis of the various approaches that constitute an effective ecological synthesis. The book also emphasizes selected topic areas in which landscape ecology has made the most contributions to our understanding of ecological processes, as well as identifying areas where its contributions have been limited. Each chapter features questions for discussion as well as recommended reading.

This series presents studies that have used the paradigm of landscape ecology. Other approaches, both to landscape and landscape ecology are common, but in the last decade landscape ecology has become distinct from its predecessors and its contemporaries. Landscape ecol ogy addresses the relationships among spatial patterns, temporal pat terns and ecological processes. The effect of spatial configurations on ecological processes is fundamental. When human activity is an import ant variable affecting those relationships, landscape ecology includes it. Spatial and temporal scales are as large as needed for comprehension of system processes and the mosaic included may be very heteroge neous. Intellectual utility and applicability of results are valued equally. The International Association for Landscape Ecology sponsors this series of studies in order to introduce and disseminate some of the new knowledge that is being produced by this exciting new environmental science. Gray Merriam Ottawa, Canada Preface In Europe, during the seventies, landscape ecology emerged as a fusion of the spatial approach of geographers and the functional approach of ecologists. The latter focused on ecosystem functioning, regarding eco systems as homogeneous, almost abstract units in space, with input and output of energy and matter to and from the undefined surroundings.

This work provides in-depth analysis of the origins of landscape ecology and its close alignment with the understanding of scale, the causes of landscape pattern, and the interactions of spatial pattern with a variety of ecological processes. The text covers the quantitative approaches that are applied widely in landscape studies, with emphasis on their appropriate use and interpretation. The field of landscape ecology has grown rapidly during this period, its concepts and methods have matured, and the published literature has increased exponentially. Landscape research has enhanced understanding of the causes and consequences of spatial heterogeneity and how these vary with scale, and they have influenced the management of natural and human-dominated landscapes. Landscape ecology is now considered mainstream, and the approaches are widely used in many branches of ecology and are applied not only in terrestrial settings but also in aquatic and marine systems. In response to these rapid developments, an updated edition of Landscape Ecology in Theory and Practice provides a synthetic overview of landscape ecology, including its development, the methods and techniques that are employed, the major questions addressed, and the insights that have been gained.”

The emergence of landscape ecology during the 1980s represents an impor tant maturation of ecological theory. Once enamored with the conceptual beauty of well-balanced, homogeneous ecosystems, ecologists now assert that much of the essence of ecological systems lies in their lumpiness. Patches with differing properties and behaviors lie strewn across the land scape, products of the complex interactions of climate, disturbance, and biotic processes. It is the collective behavior of this patchwork of eco systems that drives pattern and process of the landscape. is not an end point This realization of the importance of patch dynamics in itself, however. Rather, it is a passage to a new conceptual framework, the internal workings of which remain obscure. The next tier of questions includes: What are the fundamental pieces that compose a landscape? How are these pieces bounded? To what extent do these boundaries influence communication and interaction among patches of the landscape? Will con sideration of the interactions among landscape elements help us to under stand the workings of landscapes? At the core of these questions lies the notion of the ecotone, a term with a lineage that even predates ecosystem. Late in the nineteenth century, F. E. Clements realized that the transition zones between plant communi ties had properties distinct from either of the adjacent communities. Not until the emergence of patch dynamics theory, however, has central signif icance of the ecotone concept become apparent.