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Landscape Ecology
Important fields of Conservation.
Landscape Ecology
• A marriage of ecology and geography.
• Studies how
differences and changes
in
landscape affects biota and ecology.
• How they affect distribution, energy flow,
survival, reproduction, recruitment, etc…
Landscape Ecology
• Assesses how habitat integrity,
patchiness, fragmentation, connectivity,
etc. affect population viability.
• In other words, it addresses the causes
and consequences of spatial
heterogeneity
Landscape Ecology
• Geographic Information Systems (GIS)
has become very important in the study of
Landscape Ecology.
Landscape Ecology
• Normal ecology studies homogeneous
community units such as species or
population or community within one kind of
habitat type.
• Landscape ecology studies these in various
interconnecting habitats.
• Frequently, habitat variation is anthropogenic
and continuing.
Landscape Ecology
• Landscape ecology emphasizes heterogeneity as a
method to promote stability in an ecosystem.
Heterogeneity increases types of resistances to
catastrophes through genetic diversity, habitat
diversity, and strain of species distribution.
• Landscape ecology always understands that
systems change and are hierarchical (i.e. one large
is composed of many small in turn composed of
smaller units of similar structure but varying function
(different streams in a valley of many in a forest).
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Landscape Ecology: What it means
to us.
1. Development and dynamics of spatial
heterogeneity.
2. Biotic interactions across those different
landscapes.
3. How spatial variations affect biotic
development and processes over time.
4. How to manage the changes over time
and their effects on biota.
Landscape Ecology: Definitions.
1. Landscape: an area that consists of
more than one ecosystem.
2. Ecosystem: A group of various
populations in one area and their
interactions among each other and with
their environment.
Landscape Ecology: Definitions.
3. Heterogeneity: A landscape with many
different ecological patterns and
structures.
4. Pattern: The ordered contents of a
landscape.
5. Structure: Is a definition of the size and
distribution of pattern.
6. Scale is a representation of actual
distances and/or time frame of events.
Landscape Ecology: Definitions.
7. Patch: A homogeneous area different
from other areas around it. A patch is the
lowest ranked unit of a landscape.
8. Mosaic: is a series of patches connected
together directly or via corridors.
9. Corridor: A particular kind of patch
connecting two separate patches.
Landscape Ecology: Definitions.
10.Edge: In ecology, an edge is the area on
the perimeter of a patch.
11.Boundary: The area including the edges
of two adjacent, intersecting patches.
Edge effect and boundary effect are very
important concepts in landscape
ecology
.
Landscape Ecology: Definitions.
10.Types of boundaries:
1. Ecotone: Transitional zone between two
communities. Notice that here we have a
biotic definition not a geographical one.
2. Ecoline: The lines of different communities
that exist within an ecotone.
3. Ecotope: similar area in an ecotone. They
might be distinct and relatively far spaced
but have similar characteristics and thus life
structure.
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Landscape Ecology: Definitions.
11.Disturbance: an event that alters the
process of change or stability of a patch
or a mosaic of patches.
12.Fragmentation: The cutting and breaking
up of a large patch into many smaller
ones separated by a new and different
kind of patch.
Fragmentation
Fragmentation
Landscape Ecology.
Landscape Ecology is not really an
independent self sufficient field of
science. It is a multidisciplinary field
within ecology, geography, forestry,
agriculture, urban development and the
new field of eco-tourism. The most
important concept to remember though is
that:
Landscape Ecology.
Landscape ecology deals with a changing
and developing vibrant environment that
needs constant monitoring and changes
in management to suit newly developing
situations.