1. habitat interspersion –
Leopold’s Law of Interspersion

3. Human Land Use Practices

4. History of Landscape Ecology
“European School”
roots back to those of ecology
typing, classifying, naming
landscape architecture, planning, designing
“American School”
young = early 1980’s
focus on natural systems
theory & models, some field experiments

5. What is Landscape Ecology?
Meta-analysis of papers in Landscape Ecology (Wiens 1992) – 1st 5 yrs of journal
Most studies are large scale (landscapes are big)
Most studies are descriptive or conceptual
Experiments difficult to conduct, thus modeling
Emphasis on vegetation pattern / land use pattern
Humans = impt. part of systems

6. What is Landscape Ecology?
Hobbs (1997) – 2nd 5 years of Landscape Ecology
Less descriptive studies
More “methods” and modeling studies, no expts.
More quantitative / statistical analysis (spatial stats)

7. Emergence of Landscape Ecology?
Equilibrium View
Structure
Function ? ? ?

8. Emergence of Landscape Ecology
Structure
Function
Dynamic View

11. Ecological Scaling: Scale & Pattern
Acts in the “ecological theatre (Hutchinson 1965) played out across various scales of space & time
To understand these dramas, one must select appropriate scale
Temporal Scale
Spatial Scale
Fine
Short
Coarse
Long
Speciation
Extinction
Species
Migrations
Secondary
Succession
Windthrow
Fire
Treefalls
Recruitment

12. Ecological Scaling: Scale & Pattern
Regional Scale
(thousands of ha)
Local Scale
(4 ha plots)
American Redstart
Least Flycatcher
American Redstart
Least Flycatcher

13. Ecological Scaling: Definitions
Ecological scale & cartographic scale are exactly opposite
Ecological scale =
Cartographic scale =

14. Ecological Scaling: Components of Scale
Grain = finest component of environment that can be differentiated up close
Extent = range at which a relevant object can be distinguished from a fixed vantage point
Extent
Grain
Fine
Coarse
Scale

15. Ecological Scaling: Components of Scale)

16. Identifying the “Right” Scale(s)
No clear algorithm for defining
Autocorrelation & Independence
Life history correlates
Dependent on objectives and organisms
Multiscale analysis!
e.g., Australian leadbeater’s possum

17. Multiscale Analysis
Species-specific perception of landscape features : scale-dependent
e.g., mesopredators in Indiana
Modeling species distributions in fragmented landscapes

18. Spatial and Temporal
Ecology of Raccoons

19. Gehring and Swihart
Biological Conservation
109:

20. Brown and Litvaitis. 1995. Canadian Journal of Zoology
73:

21. Hierarchy Theory Lower levels provide mechanistic explanations
Higher levels provide constraints

22. Scale & Hierarchy Theory
Hierarchical structure of systems = helps us explain phenomena
Why? : next lower level
So What? : next higher level
minimum 3 hierarchical levels needed

23. Constraints
(significance)
Level of Focus
(level of interest)
Components
(explanation)

24. Landscape Pattern Landscape Components
(attributes of features or spatial elements)
landscape are comprised of:
- corridors
- patches
- matrix

25. Landscape Pattern Landscape Components
(attributes of features or spatial elements)
landscape are comprised of:
- corridors
- patches
- matrix
Composition
Configuration
Connectivity
Relative to landscape spatial elements….

26. How much of the area is comprised of each type of spatial element?
How are spatial elements arranged in space?
How do these attributes change through time?

27. How does one quantify landscape pattern?
How do biotic communities interact with pattern?

28. Landscape Pattern Patch-Corridor-Matrix Model

32. Landscape Pattern Patches
Defining patches using vector data
Digitizing = delineating polygon patches using remotely-sensed data (e.g., DOQ) based on visual interpretation of patch boundaries; subjective, but ground truthing needed
DOQ
Vector Coverage

33. Landscape Pattern Patches
Defining patches using raster data
Satellite sensor = delineating pixel-shaped patches based on spectral signatures; aggregating cells based on shared attributes
DOQ
Raster Coverage

34. Landscape Pattern Patches
Patch boundaries meaningful only when referenced to particular scale & phenomenon; resolution impt., gradients or discrete boundaries?

36. Landscape Pattern Corridors
Definition based on function…..
Habitat – increase connectivity by providing breeding habitat…facilitate gene flow
Facilitated Movement – increase connectivity by facilitating dispersal, migration, and/or range shifts
Barrier or Filter – prohibit (barrier) or impede differentially (filter) movements

37. Landscape Pattern Corridors
Facilitated Movement Corridors

38. Landscape Pattern Corridors
Facilitated Movement Corridors
Selectivity (s): degree of discrimination of possible pathways
Resistance (k): survival cost per unit time spent in corridor
Velocity (v): avg rate of movement through
Final evaluation = immigration rate

39. Landscape Pattern Corridors
Barriers & Filters

40. Landscape Pattern Matrix
Most abundant
Highest connectivity