Toward Gleasonian Landscape Ecology

The fusion of individualistic community ecology with the Hutchinsonian niche concept enabled a broad integration of ecological theory, spanning all the way from the niche characteristics of individual species, to the composition, structure, and dynamics of ecological communities. Landscape ecology has been variously described as the study of the structure, function, and management of large heterogeneous land areas. Any reading of the published landscape ecology literature shows near uniformity in the adoption of a categorical patch-mosaic paradigm. However, if biological communities are multivariate gradients of species composition, with each species responding individualistically to particular combinations of limiting factors, is a categorical patch-based representation appropriate? We evaluate the sufficiency of several patch-based representations of vegetation at the landscape level to explain the composition of the plant community. Classified vegetation maps all performed poorly in explaining the composition and structure of forest trees among plots. Different categorical vegetation maps provided largely independent explanations of species variability. Individual species models based on spectral, topographic, and climatic variables vastly out-performed those produced using the classified maps. By moving from a landscape ecological paradigm based on categorical patches to one based on quantitative species and environmental responses across continuous space, it will be possible to both produce much more effective predictions of species distributions and ecological processes and remove much of the disjunction between landscape ecology and mainstream community ecology theory.

This book is intended to provide information to those who wish to interact with the landbase in an ecologically sustainable manner. Practitioners charged with the administration of land-based programs in industry and government will find the information presented useful. It should also be a resource for many community groups involved in land-use decision-making. Humans continue to use forests and make decisions about land use without perfect information. Conservation Biology Principles for Forested Landscapes is intended to enable the improvement of planning and decison-making processes by providing ecological information on issues of forest use. Current approaches are not working. Where information exists on new, ecologically sustainable approaches, practitioners should switch. Where the information on a better approach is not yet available, practitioners should replace the current, inappropriate approach with a variety of flexible ones that offer the opportunity to change with new knowledge.

People are constantly changing the land surface through construction, agriculture, energy production, and other activities. Changes both in how land is used by people (land use) and in the vegetation, rock, buildings, and other physical material that cover the Earth's surface (land cover) can be described and future land change can be projected using land-change models (LCMs). LCMs are a key means for understanding how humans are reshaping the Earth's surface in the past and present, for forecasting future landscape conditions, and for developing policies to manage our use of resources and the environment at scales ranging from an individual parcel of land in a city to vast expanses of forests around the world. Advancing Land Change Modeling: Opportunities and Research Requirements describes various LCM approaches, suggests guidance for their appropriate application, and makes recommendations to improve the integration of observation strategies into the models. This report provides a summary and evaluation of several modeling approaches, and their theoretical and empirical underpinnings, relative to complex land-change dynamics and processes, and identifies several opportunities for further advancing the science, data, and cyberinfrastructure involved in the LCM enterprise. Because of the numerous models available, the report focuses on describing the categories of approaches used along with selected examples, rather than providing a review of specific models. Additionally, because all modeling approaches have relative strengths and weaknesses, the report compares these relative to different purposes. Advancing Land Change Modeling's recommendations for assessment of future data and research needs will enable model outputs to better assist the science, policy, and decisionsupport communities.

Corridor Ecology presents guidelines that combine conservation science and practical experience for maintaining, enhancing, and creating connectivity between natural areas with an overarching goal of conserving biodiversity. It offers an objective, carefully interpreted review of the issues and is a one-of-a-kind resource for scientists, landscape architects, planners, land managers, decision-makers, and all those working to protect and restore landscapes and species diversity.

Shortlisted for the 2018 TWS Wildlife Publication Awards in the authored book categoryIn recent years, conflicts between ecological conservation and economic growth forced a reassessment of the motivations and goals of wildlife and forestry management. Focus shifted from game and commodity management to biodiversity conservation and ecological fore