Landscape Ecology is an emerging science of gaining momentum over the past few decades in the scientific as well as in the planning-management worlds. Although the field is rooted in biology and geography, the approaches to understanding the ecology of a landscape are highly divers. This hybrid vigor provides power to the field. One can no longer view a local ecosystem or land use in isolation from global areas and time frames. The surrounding landscape mosaic and the flows and movements in a landscape must be considered, especially the linkage between humans requiring resources provided by nature, the constraints on their use as well as the responding landscape.

Habitat loss and degradation that comes as a result of human activity is the single biggest threat to biodiversity in the world today. Habitat Fragmentation and Landscape Change is a groundbreaking work that brings together a wealth of information from a wide range of sources to define the ecological problems caused by landscape change and to highlight the relationships among landscape change, habitat fragmentation, and biodiversity conservation. The book: synthesizes a large body of information from the scientific literature considers key theoretical principles for examining and predicting effects examines the range of effects that can arise explores ways of mitigating impacts reviews approaches to studying the problem discusses knowledge gaps and future areas for research and management Habitat Fragmentation and Landscape Change offers a unique mix of theoretical and practical information, outlining general principles and approaches and illustrating those principles with case studies from around the world. It represents a definitive overview and synthesis on the full range of topics that fall under the widely used but often vaguely defined term "habitat fragmentation."

An ideal text for students taking a course in landscape ecology. The book has been written by very well-known practitioners and pioneers in the new field of ecological analysis. Landscape ecology has emerged during the past two decades as a new and exciting level of ecological study. Environmental problems such as global climate change, land use change, habitat fragmentation and loss of biodiversity have required ecologists to expand their traditional spatial and temporal scales and the widespread availability of remote imagery, geographic information systems, and desk top computing has permitted the development of spatially explicit analyses. In this new text book this new field of landscape ecology is given the first fully integrated treatment suitable for the student. Throughout, the theoretical developments, modeling approaches and results, and empirical data are merged together, so as not to introduce barriers to the synthesis of the various approaches that constitute an effective ecological synthesis. The book also emphasizes selected topic areas in which landscape ecology has made the most contributions to our understanding of ecological processes, as well as identifying areas where its contributions have been limited. Each chapter features questions for discussion as well as recommended reading.

Filled with numerous exercises this practical guide provides a real hands-on approach to learning the essential concepts and techniques of landscape ecology. The knowledge gained enables students to usefully address landscape- level ecological and management issues. A variety of approaches are presented, including: group discussion, thought problems, written exercises, and modelling. Each exercise is categorised as to whether it is for individual, small group, or whole class study.

This series presents studies that have used the paradigm of landscape ecology. Other approaches, both to landscape and landscape ecology are common, but in the last decade landscape ecology has become distinct from its predecessors and its contemporaries. Landscape ecology addresses the relationships among spatial patterns, temporal patterns and ecological processes. The effect of spatial configurations on ecological processes is fundamental. When human activity is an important variable affecting those relationships, landscape ecology includes it. Spatial and temporal scales are as large as needed for comprehension of system processes and the mosaic included may be very heterogeneous. Intellec tual utility and applicability of results are valued equally. The Inter national Association for Landscape Ecology sponsors this series of studies in order to introduce and disseminate some of the new knowledge that is being produced by this exciting new environmental science. Gray Merriam Ottawa, Canada Foreword This is a book about real nature, or as close to real as we know - a nature of heterogeneous landscapes, wild and humanized, fine-grained and coarse-grained, wet and dry, hilly and flat, temperate and not so temper ate. Real nature is never uniform. At whatever spatial scale we examine nature, we encounter patchiness. If we were to look down from high above at a landscape of millions of hectares, using a zoom lens to move in and out from broad overview to detailed inspection of a square meter we would see that patterns visible at different scales overlay one another.

The book gives a fundamental representation of landscape ecology, which proves to be a young, but an interesting and very important trans-disciplinary science for the solution of environmental problems. Both the theoretical basis and practical application of landscape ecology are considered. Great value is attached to describe approaches and experiences from Germany and Central Europe, and to discuss them in an international context. The book is addressed to landscape planners, managers, conservationists and architects, to biologists and geographers, to colleges, universities, authorities, and to the general public being interested in ecological issues. Among the themes are e. g. the roots and the position of landscape ecology, problems of scale and dimension, landscape analysis, diagnosis, potentials, evaluation, change, prognosis, tools like remote sensing and information systems, spatial planning and nature conservation.

This groundbreaking work explains key ecological concepts and their application to the design and management of sustainable landscapes. It covers topics from biogeography and plant selection to global change. Beck draws on real world cases where professionals have put ecological principles to use in the built landscape.

For decades, landscape architecture was driven solely by artistic sensibilities. But in these times of global change, the opportunity to reshape the world comes with a responsibility to consider how it can be resilient, fostering health and vitality for humans and nature. Landscape Architecture Theory re-examines the fundamentals of the field, offering a new approach to landscape design. Drawing on his extensive career in teaching and practice, Michael Murphy begins with an examination of influences on landscape architecture: social context, contemporary values, and the practicalities of working as a professional landscape architect. He then delves into systems and procedural theory, while making connections to ecosystem factors, human factors, utility, aesthetics, and the design process. He concludes by showing how a strong theoretical understanding can be applied to practical, every-day decision making and design work to create more holistic, sustainable, and creative landscapes. Students will take away a foundational understanding of the underpinnings of landscape architecture theory, as well as how it can be applied to real-world designs; working professionals will find stimulating insights to infuse their projects with a greater sense of purpose.

This practical handbook bridges the gap between those scientists who study landscapes and the planners and conservationists who must then decide how best to preserve and build environmentally-sound habitats. Until now, only a small portion of the relevant science has influenced the decision-making arenas where the future of our landscapes is debated and decided. The authors explain specific tools and concepts to measure a landscape's structure, form, and change over time. Metrics studied include patch richness, class area proportion, patch number and density, mean patch size, shape, radius of gyration, contagion, edge contrast, nearest neighbor distance, and proximity. These measures will help planners and conservationists make better land use decisions for the future.