Course Wrap Up

Question 1

All landscapes have what? (single word answer)

Answer 1

History

• Legacies in terms of space and time
• Pattern and process = connection
• Why do landscapes look the way they do

Question 2

What is the ‘right’ scale for all landscape ecology studies?

Answer 2

No single right scale

• Depends on question being asked and the processes of interest
• Deer study guest lecture

Question 3

What is available/can be used to quantify landscape pattern?

Answer 3

• Many metrics are available

Question 4

Landscape pattern includes both of what (2 words)?

Answer 4

• Composition and Configuration

- ie. is it homogeneous, what is the arrangement

Question 5

Landscape structure does not equate to landscape function, T or F?

Answer 5

True

Question 6

Disturbances have what interaction with landscape heterogeneity?

Answer 6

Disturbances create and respond to landscape heterogeneity

Question 7

What is an example of how disturbances create and respond to landscape heterogeneity that is not the MPB?

Answer 7

Fire

• Intensity varies based on topography heterogeneity such as where it might be wetter
• Intensity and severity of fire create different patches of heterogeneity over landscape, recovery will also vary

Question 8

Characteristics of the surrounding landscape (matrix) can affect local populations, T or F?

Answer 8

• True

- Ex. Song birds and fence posts surrounded by field

Question 9

Cascading effects and an example

Answer 9

Species interactions produce feedbacks that influence landscape pattern and process
- Wolves and elk in Yellowstone

Question 10

Landscape elements can serve as what?

Answer 10

• Sources or Sinks for Abiotic and Biotic components
• Burned areas are sources of nutrifying for some species while they can also be a sink due to the burned habitat that is lost

Question 11

Human influences are dominant factors that control ecological dynamics at what scales?

Answer 11

• Broad scales

- Growing area of research, urban planning

Question 12

Maintaining ecologically functional landscapes is critical for sustaining what?

Answer 12

• Human well-being

- Watershed and water security due to forest landscape around water source, the forest must be functioning

Question 13

What are the 8 main future directions in landscape ecology?

Answer 13

• Relating landscape metrics to ecological processes
• Thresholds, nonlinearities, and rules for scaling
• Causes and consequences for land use change
• Sampling
• Interactions among multiple drivers
• Climate change
• Changing disturbance regimes (and with climate change)
• Behavioural landscape ecology (How animals use landscape, guest lecture)

Question 14

Nonlinearities

Answer 14

Tree rings:
- increase in width w/ warm temps but at some point the temp is too warm and rings will actually decrease in width in response to climate