Lecture 22: Landscape Ecology and Ecosystem Management Flashcards
3 tools important for landscaping
- Aerial photography
- Remote sensing satellites
- Geographic Information systems (GIS)
Landscape Ecology Examines Spatial Patterns and their Relationship to Ecological Processes
a tool used by conservation biologists (people) to preserve biodiversity
Aerial Photography
Drones, planes, and people on the ground which are taking pictures of the area and the landscape
Geographic Information Systems (GIS)
Can get images
17 years of information
Lanscape Ecology
emphasizes the causes and consequences of spatial variation in surface features and biota across a range of scales
Landscape
- An area that is spatially heterogeneous in one or more features of the environment, such as the number of arrangement of different habitat types
- a landscape typically includes multiple ecosystems
Patch
homogenous unit within a landscape
Corridor
linear element different from the matrix, function determined by form
Matrix
greatest area in the landscape, high degree of connectivity, dominant role in ecosystem dynamics
Landscape Connectivity
the degree to which the landscape facilitates or impedes movement among resources
Dispersal
Generally the key to recovery and resilience in the metapopulation
Patch Connectivity
Affects recovery of allelic diversity
Landscape Heterogeneity
- described in terms of composition and spatial arrangements elements (structure)
- Disturbances are both created and influenced by landscape heterogeneity
Ecosystems that Make up a Landscape
- Dynamic
- Interactions include flow of water, energy, nutrients, or pollutants between ecosystems
Biotic Flow
- animals, seeds, pollen, etc., move between ecosystems
- Patches must be connected, or the surrounding habitat (the matrix) must be suitable for dispersal.
- health of ecosystems
Habitat Loss and Fragmentation
- Decrease habitat area
- Isolate populations
- Alter conditions at habitat edges
Fragmentation
- results in increasing degradation and edge effects
- results in spatial isolation of populations, making them vulnerable to the problems of small populations
- Often leads to loss of top predators, giving rise to cascading effects
- If flying from one patch to another requires to much energy you’ve wasted it all even if your a top predator
When a Habitat is Fragmented
- Some species go extinct in many of the fragments
- There may be inadequate resources, disruption of mutualisms, or not enough range for foraging
- some species flourish under the changed conditions
Edges
- increase as fragmentation increases
- Total length of habitat boundary
Edge Effects
- biotic and abiotic changes associated with this boundary
- physical environment
changes over a certain distance into the fragment, and thus biological interactions and ecological processes change as well - more acceptable to a predator
Designing Nature Reserves
- some spatial designs are better than others for foresting biodiversity
- Large, compact and connected reserves are usually ideal
- Smaller or disconnected reserves may sometimes be more desirable
(E.g., diseases would spread less quickly in isolated patches) - Small and closer together is better than further apart
Ecosystem Management
- A collaborative process with the maintenance of long-term ecological integrity as its core value
- Educating the public about their reliance on ecosystem services is part of the ecosystem management
- challenges are considerable
