Key Topics in Landscape Ecology

About this book

Landscape ecology is a relatively new area of study, which aims to understand the pattern of interaction of biological and cultural communities within a landscape. This book brings together leading figures from the field to provide an up-to-date survey of recent advances, identify key research problems and suggest a future direction for development and expansion of knowledge. Providing in-depth reviews of the principles and methods for understanding landscape patterns and changes, the book illustrates concepts with examples of innovative applications from different parts of the world. Forming a current 'state-of-the-science' for the science of landscape ecology, this book forms an essential reference for graduate students, academics, professionals and practitioners in ecology, environmental science, natural resource management, and landscape planning and design.

Contents

Preface; Part I. Introduction: 1. Perspectives and prospects of landscape ecology Richard Hobbs and Jianguo Wu; Part II. Key Topics and Perspectives: 2. Adequate data of known accuracy are critical to advancing the field of landscape ecology Louis R. Iverson; 3. Landscape pattern analysis: key issues and challenges Harbin Li and Jianguo Wu; 4. Spatial heterogeneity and ecosystem processes Monica G. Turner and Jeffrey A. Cardille; 5. Landscape heterogeneity and metapopulation dynamics Lenore Fahrig; 6. Determining pattern-process relationship in heterogeneous landscapes Robert H. Gardner, James D. Forester and Roy E. Plotnick; 7. Scale and scaling: a cross-disciplinary perspective Jianguo Wu; 8. Optimization of landscape pattern John Hof and Curtis Flather; 9. Advances in detecting landscape changes at multiple scales: examples from Northern Australia John A. Ludwig; 10. The preoccupation of landscape research with land use and land cover Marc Antrop; 11. Applying landscape-ecological principles to regional conservation: the wildcountry project in Australia Brendan G. Mackey, Michael E. Soule, Henry A. Nix, Harry F. Recher, Robert G. Lesslie, Jann E. Williams, John C. Z. Woinarski, Richard J. Hobbs and Hugh P. Possingham; 12. Using landscape ecology to make sense of Australia's last frontier David Bowman; 13. Transferring ecological knowledge to landscape planning: a design method for robust corridors Claire Vos, Paul Opdam, Eveliene G. Steingrover and Rien Reijnen; 14. Integrative landscape research: facts and challenges Gary Fry, Barbel Tress and Gunther Tress; Part III. Synthesis: 15. Landscape ecology: the state of the science Jianguo Wu and Richard J. Hobbs; Index.

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Biography

Jianguo (Jingle) Wu is Professor of Ecology, Evolution, and Environmental Science at Arizona State University. His research interests include landscape ecology, urban ecology, and sustainability science, focusing on hierarchical patch dynamics, pattern-process-scale relationships, spatial scaling, land use change and its effects on ecosystem processes, and biodiversity and ecosystem functioning. He has published more than 120 scientific papers which involved mostly dryland ecosystems in North America and China. His professional service includes Program Chair of the 2001 Annual Symposium of the US Association for Landscape Ecology (US-IALE), Councillor-at-Large of US-IALE (2001-2003), Chair of Asian Ecology Section of Ecological Society of America (1999-2000), and Task Leader of GCTE of International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme (1997-2002). He is currently the Editor-in-Chief of the international journal Landscape Ecology. Richard J. Hobbs is Professor of Environmental Science at Murdoch University, Western Australia, and has research interests in restoration ecology and landscape ecology, focusing on the conservation and management of altered landscapes, particularly the agricultural area of southwestern Australia. He is a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science and has been listed by ISI as one of the most highly cited researchers in Ecology and Environmental Science. His professional services include President of the International Association for Landscape Ecology 1999-2003 and President of the Ecological Society of Australia 1998-1999. He is currently the Editor-in-Chief of the journal Restoration Ecology.