Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of contributors
- Preface
- PART I Introduction
- PART II Key topics and perspectives
- 2 Adequate data of known accuracy are critical to advancing the field of landscape ecology
- 3 Landscape pattern analysis: key issues and challenges
- 4 Spatial heterogeneity and ecosystem processes
- 5 Landscape heterogeneity and metapopulation dynamics
- 6 Determining pattern–process relationships in heterogeneous landscapes
- 7 Scale and scaling: a cross-disciplinary perspective
- 8 Optimization of landscape pattern
- 9 Advances in detecting landscape changes at multiple scales: examples from northern Australia
- 10 The preoccupation of landscape research with land use and land cover
- 11 Applying landscape-ecological principles to regional conservation: the WildCountry Project in Australia
- 12 Using landscape ecology to make sense of Australia's last frontier
- 13 Transferring ecological knowledge to landscape planning: a design method for robust corridors
- 14 Integrative landscape research: facts and challenges
- PART III Synthesis
- Index
- References
8 - Optimization of landscape pattern
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 12 January 2010
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of contributors
- Preface
- PART I Introduction
- PART II Key topics and perspectives
- 2 Adequate data of known accuracy are critical to advancing the field of landscape ecology
- 3 Landscape pattern analysis: key issues and challenges
- 4 Spatial heterogeneity and ecosystem processes
- 5 Landscape heterogeneity and metapopulation dynamics
- 6 Determining pattern–process relationships in heterogeneous landscapes
- 7 Scale and scaling: a cross-disciplinary perspective
- 8 Optimization of landscape pattern
- 9 Advances in detecting landscape changes at multiple scales: examples from northern Australia
- 10 The preoccupation of landscape research with land use and land cover
- 11 Applying landscape-ecological principles to regional conservation: the WildCountry Project in Australia
- 12 Using landscape ecology to make sense of Australia's last frontier
- 13 Transferring ecological knowledge to landscape planning: a design method for robust corridors
- 14 Integrative landscape research: facts and challenges
- PART III Synthesis
- Index
- References
Summary
Introduction
Wu and Hobbs (2002) state that:
A fundamental assumption in landscape ecology is that spatial patterns have significant influences on the flows of materials, energy, and information while processes create, modify, and maintain spatial patterns. Thus, it is of paramount importance in both theory and practice to address the questions of landscape pattern optimization …For example, can landscape patterns be optimized in terms of both the composition and configuration of patches and matrix characteristics for purposes of biodiversity conservation, ecosystem management, and landscape sustainability?
Physical restructuring of landscapes by humans is a prominent stress on ecological systems (Rapport et al. 1985). Landscape restructuring occurs primarily from land-use conversions or alteration of native habitats through natural resource management. A common faunal response to such land-use intensification is an increased dominance of opportunistic species leading to an overall erosion of biological diversity (Urban et al. 1987). Slowing the loss of biodiversity in managed systems will require interdisciplinary planning efforts that meld analysis approaches from several fields including landscape ecology, conservation biology, and management science. Again from Wu and Hobbs (2002), “Such studies are likely to require theories and methods more than those in traditional operations research (e.g., different types of mathematical programming), as well as the participation of scientists and practitioners in different arenas.”
The objective of this chapter is to review emerging methods from this set of disciplines that allow analysts to make explicit recommendations (prescriptions) concerning the placement of different features in managed landscapes.
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- Information
- Key Topics in Landscape Ecology , pp. 143 - 160Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2007
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