Landscape Ecology: 2004

Landscape Ecology: 2004

Annotated Bibliography

Justus J. and S. Sarkar. 2002. The principle of complementarity in the design of reserve networks to conserve biodiversity: a preliminary history. Journal of Biosciences 27(4):421-433.

|complementarity, history of conservation biology, reserve network design.

The past methods of designing reserve networks are being replaced by more explicit procedures that identify priority areas for biodiversity. The principle of complementarity guarantees that new reserves will be selected that complement reserves already in existence. The history of this principle is discussed along with ways it is being implemented in policy decisions. There are several case studies from Australia, Africa, and America where the principle has been utilized.

Lawrence, R.E. 2000. The impacts of hydro-electric construction works on the hydrology of a subalpine area in Australia. Environmental Geology 40:612-621.

|Australia, hydro-electric construction, hydrology, subalpine environments.

The construction and use of the Kiewa Hydro-Electric Scheme in Australia has impacted streamflow, base-flow, and quick-flow in the area. History of the schemes construction and how that construction has changed hydrology is examined, with special attention on how the movement of earth materials increased runoff patterns.

Brawn, J.D. and S.K. Robinson. 1996. Source-sink population dynamics may complicate the interpretation of long-term census data. Ecology 77(1):3-12.

|demography, dispersal, fragmentation, Illinois, metapopulation, Neotropical migrant birds, population dynamics.

The authors studied population dynamics and reproductive success in Neotropical birds around Illinois in order to determine whether the annual population variations were related to reproductive success. They found evidence to suggest several bird populations were probably not self-sustaining and that recolonization/disappearance in woodlots was a common event. These results have implications for census data because the study demonstrated wide variability in population dynamics that are often not accounted for.

Millar, C.I. and W.B. Woolfenden. 1999. The role of climate change in interpreting historical variability. Ecological Applications 9(4):1207-1216.

|climate change, forest management, historical variation use in ecosystem management, natural variability, paleoecology.

During the past 1000 years the climate has changed dramatically from periods of warmth to the Little Ice Age that lasted until around 1900 followed by a warming trend. Climate variability caused both biotic and physical responses from the environment. Examining changes in climate can prove problematic for restoration or when trying to determine if certain ecosystem changes have resulted from human activity or are a result of the warming after cold temperatures. Most often, the “presettlement” data that is used to see what an ecosystem should look like comes from the Little Ice Age. It may be more appropriate to look at earlier periods when the climate more closely matched what it is today.

McIntyre, N.E. and J.A. Wiens. 1999. Interactions between habitat abundance and configuration: experimental validation of some predications from percolation theory. Oikos 86:129-137.

|neutral landscape models, space-use responses, population dynamics, shortgrass prairie, heterogeneous landscapes, tenebrionid beetles, animal movement, meadow voles, fragmentation.

Models based on percolation theory predict that amount of habitat is more important than if it is random or not. The authors tested this prediction by setting up a field experiment using tenebrionid beetles in simulated habitat configurations and recording paths the beetles followed. The results were consistent with those predicted from neutral landscape models. An important predictor for beetle behavior was also the size of habitat patches and the distance between those patches.

Hemstrom, M.A. 2001. Vegetative patterns, disturbances, and forest health in eastern Oregon and Washington. Northwest Science 75:91-107.

|Yellowstone-National Park, land classification, fire, scale, variability, ecology, states.

Environmental conditions have had major impacts on the forests of Oregon and Washington and vegetation has also influenced the environment. The way patterns of vegetation, disturbance, and forest health and productivity relate is examined. When vegetation varies from the expected range it is more vulnerable to disturbance. Increases in mortality from insect and diseases have been seen throughout these forests and that mortality is expected to continue due to the fact that forests are becoming more homogenized. Severity of forest fires is also increasing due to changes in vegetation patterns.

Perry, G.L.W., A.D. Sparrow and I.F. Owens. 1999. A GIS-supported model for the simulation of the spatial structure of wildland fire, Cass Basin, New Zealand. Journal of Applied Ecology 36:502-518.

|fire dynamics, fire modeling, geographical information systems, Rothermel model, spatial modeling.

A PYROCART model was used to simulate how wildland fire behaviors across heterogeneous landscapes with the goal of testing how applicable these models are to fire regimes in New Zealand. Results from the model were compared with an actual fire that occurred in the Cass Basin and showed eighty percent accuracy in predicting fire spread. There was also an analysis of how fuel types and slope influenced the spread of fire.

Pfister, C.A. and S.D. Peacor. 2003. Variable performance of individuals: the role of population density and endogenously formed landscape heterogeneity. Journal of Animal Ecology 72:725-735.

|consumer-resource interactions, growth autocorrelation, individual variation, individual-based model, limpets, patchiness, Tectura scutum.

A model was constructed of mobile consumers on a dynamic resource. The foragers created resource heterogeneity that generated growth in the consumers. These results were observed more when the consumers were poor foragers that moved more locally and were unable to identify cells with high resources. Field experiments using limpets mirrored results from the modeling experiment that population density had an effect on growth.

Brooks, CP. 2003. A scalar analysis of landscape connectivity. Oikos 102: 433-439.

|spatial genetic structure, habitat fragmentation, conservation biology, sexual reproduction, dispersal, evolution, ecology, populations, movements, consequences.

Landscape connectivity is necessary to the maintenance of spatially structured populations. This paper attempts to relate the components of landscape connectivity through spatial and temporal scales.

Ervin, J. 2003. Protected area assessments in perspective. BioScience 53: 819-822.

|protected area, gap analysis, conservation, biodiversity, reserves.

There are three strands of assessment that should be used when evaluating protected lands all over the world: design, management processes and ecological integrity. This article describes these strands and some of the differences and similarities between them.

Goodwin, Brett J. and Lenore Fahrig. 2002. How does landscape structure influence landscape connectivity? Oikos 99: 552-570.

|connectivity, landscape structure, simulation models, patch distance, patch types, habitat loss, experimental landscapes.

This paper explores the possible affects of landscape structure on landscape connectivity by following the movements of the goldenrod beetle. According to Goodwin, understanding the influence of changes in a landscape’s construction is essential in predicting the impact this change will have on a species.

Ichinose, S. 2001. Transient structures of wave patterns arising in the wave regeneration of sub alpine coniferous forest. Physical Review E 64: Art. No. 061903

|alpine forests, patter simulation, modeling, wave pattern, self-organization.

This article explores specific examples of self-organization in natural processes. Ichinose refers to examples in sub alpine forests and the pattern formations that can be observed using this idea of a “wave” moving through the forest to demonstrate dead trees being replaced with seedlings.

Loreau, M., N. Mouquet and RD Holt. 2003. Meta-ecosystems: a theoretical framework for a spatial ecosystem ecology. Ecology Letters 6: 673-679.

|dispersal, diversity, ecosystem, landscape, metacommunity, model, productivity, source-sink dynamics, spatial processes

The meta-ecosystem is defined as a set of ecosystems connected by spatial currents of materials, energy and organisms. This concept can help understand emergent properties that arise from neighboring ecosystems and can increase the ability to predict the consequences of land-use changes on biodiversity.

Thies, C., I. Steffan-Dewenter, and T. Tscharntke. 2003. Effects of landscape context on herbivory and parasitism at different spatial scales. Oikos 101: 18-25.

|biological control, population dynamics, patterns, insects, ecology, agro ecosystems, fragmentation, heterogeneity, connectivity, diversity.

This paper tested the hypothesis that the spatial scale experienced by all organisms depends on its trophic level. Plant-herbivore and herbivore-parasite interactions were analyzed in 15 agricultural landscapes differing in structural complexity. Parasitism and non-crop areas as well as herbivory and non-crop areas showed the strongest correlations.

Tinker, Daniel B., William H. Romme and Don G. Despain. 2003. Historic range of variability in landscape structure in sub alpine forests of the Greater Yellowstone Area, USA. Landscape Ecology 18: 427-439.

|disturbance, fire, historic range of variability, landscape structure, logging, Yellowstone.

The subject of this paper is exploring how landscape patterns have developed due to clear cutting and fire and what they would be like due to natural disturbances. Tinker, et al. suggests that clear cutting has produced a different landscape structure than wildfires, but both are an important part of the study area’s natural patterns.

Radeloff, Volker C. et al. Human Demographic Trends and Landscape Level Management in the Northwest Wisconsin Pine Barrens. Forest Science 47: 229-241.

|fire, disturbances, human population growth, housing density, pre-settlement landscape.

The authors press the point that it is rare to study disturbances and influences at the landscape level, but it is an important scale to consider when examining casual relationships between human population growth and ecological data. The study area is the Northwest Wisconsin Pine Barrens, where the pre-settlement landscape was shaped by fire disturbances, but now is experiencing a decrease of open habitat and decline in natural species diversity. The results of this study showed an obvious relationship between housing density and it’s growth.

Rastetter, Edward B., et al. 2003. Using Mechanistic Models to Scale Ecological Processes across Space and Time. BioScience 53: 68-76.

|scaling, ecosystem models, long-term ecological research, spatial projection, mechanistic models.

Rastetter, et al. explores the impact of human activities on landscapes using a mechanistic approach. The advantages to this approach (huge amounts of data available about biological, geological and chemical processes) outweigh the disadvantages (cost and appropriate scale). The model used in this study was the three part PnET (photosynthesis and evapotranspiration) and though it estimates data about carbon and nitrogen cycling, it’s failures can reveal more than when they succeed.

Boone, B.B. and W.B. Krohn. 2000. Predicting broad-scale occurrences of vertebrates in patchy landscapes. Landscape Ecology 15: 63-74.

|fragmentation, GAP analysis, heterogeneous landscapes, patch occupancy, predicted distributions, ranges, species model assessment, species richness, species/habitat associations, sprawl.

This paper provides an overview of how to avoid misusing predicted distribution models by describing how they are made and how the accuracy of these models are assessed. It includes an example of the proper use of predicted distribution models used for GAP analysis in Maine.

Collins, S.L. and S.M. Glenn. 1997. Effects of organimal and distance scaling on analysis of species distribution and abundance. Ecological Applications 7: 543-551.

|breeding birds, core species vs. satellite species numbers, organismal scaling, distance scaling, small mammals, species distribution and abundance, tallgrass prairie species, vascular plants.

This paper describes a study of grasshopper, small mammal, vascular plant, and bird distributions. The distributions of these four taxonomic groups were analyzed at two different scales. The results showed that the percentage of core species (occupying >90% of a region) decreased and the percentage of satellite species (occupying <10% of a region) increased as spatial scale increased.

He, H.S., D.J. Mlandenoff, V.C. Radeloff, and T.R. Crow. 1998. Integration of GIS data and classified satellite imagery for regional forest assessment. Ecological Applications 8: 1072-1083.

|associated species, data integration, forest landscape modeling, GIS, LTM, satellite forest classification, secondary species, stand age, subcanopy.

This paper describes the study of forest composition for large heterogeneous landscapes. Maps of tree species distributions and stand age were made using several data sources such as Landsat Thematic Mapper satellite data and Forest Inventory and Analysis data. The paper includes an example by describing the distribution of eastern white pine in Wisconsin.

Hornbeck, J.W. and W.T. Swank. 1992. Watershed ecosystem analysis as a basis for multiple-use management of eastern forests. Ecological Applications 2: 238-247.

|eastern forests, ecosystem, forest harvest, logging, multiple use, watershed ecosystem analysis.

This paper discusses the use of watersheds to study natural and human impacts on forested ecosystems. The impacts of timber harvesting, past land use, and atmospheric deposition on the calcium cycle were analyzed for forests in New England states. Buffer zones and stream quality were also analyzed. Forest use recommendations are provided for minimizing the impacts.

Li, H. and J.F. Reynolds. 1994. A simulation experiment to quantify spatial heterogeneity in categorical maps. Ecology 75: 2446-2455.

|fractorial experiment, landscape ecology, landscape index, simulation, spatial heterogeneity.

This paper describes techniques to measure spatial heterogeneity. Simulated maps were used to examine patterns in the components of spatial heterogeneity. These components include: number of patch types, proportion of each type, arrangement of patches, patch shape, and contrast between neighboring patches.

Moilanen, A. and I. Hanski. 1998. Metapopulation dynamics: effects of habitat quality and landscape structure. Ecology 79: 2503-2515.

|GIS, habitat quality, incidence function model, landscape structure, metapopulation, spatially explicit model.

This paper describes the incidence function model, which is a spatial metapopulation model. Moilanen and Hanski added complexity to their model by including habitat quality and landscape structure. They tested data on Glanville fritillary butterflies with their model and concluded that adding complexity to metapopulation models does not improve the predictive power.

Wimberly, M.C. 2002. Spatial simulation of historical landscape patterns in coastal forests of the Pacific Northwest. Canadian Journal of Forest Research 32: 1316-1329.

|natural variability, Pacific Northwest forests, landscape age-class demographics simulator, LADS, historical landscape patterns, pre-settlement fire regimes.

This paper describes the use of a landscape age-class demographics simulator (LADS) to quantify historical forest patterns. Data used in for the model came from paleoecological, dendroecological, and historical sources. The model simulated pre-settlement fire regimes for forests along the Oregon coast. The simulated forests were dynamic, heterogeneous, and old growth was the dominant patch type.

Cowie-Haskell, Benjamin and Delaney, Joanne. 2003 Integrating Science into the Design of the Tortugas Ecological Reserve. MTS Journal Vol. 37, No. 1. national/integratingscience.pdf

|cornerstone science, ecological reserve

This article focused on the process of boundary determination for the Tortugas Ecological Reserve off of the Florida Keys. The goal of the projects was to integrate scientific information as the basis for the boundary delineation for size and location while allowing “compatible activities” to continue.

Sibernagel, Jill. 2003 Spatial theory in early conservation design: examples from Aldo Leopold’s work. Landscape Ecology 18: 635-646.

|land ethic, patch

The premise of this article is that Aldo Leopold was a progressive figure in the advancement of the field of Landscape Ecology. He has received relatively little acclaim for his advancements in the field. This article attempts to assign him the credit he is due for his new ways of seeing the landscape and scientifically studying it. Many of the pioneering techniques he employed were precursors to the procedures used today but he is not often referenced for his early advancements.

Nelson, John. 2003 Forest-level models and challenges for their successful application Canadian Journal of Forest Research - Mar 2003 Vol. 33,Iss.3

|simulated annealing, scale, forest-level

This paper is a review of modern techniques for modeling on the forest level or scale. While the benefits of studying these models are great, there are drawbacks and many limitations. The article expresses a caveat that conclusions made from technologically advanced data are still subject to misinterpretation and can even do more harm than good in terms of management decisions.

Gardner, Shea N and Mangel, Marc. 1999 Ecology Vol. 80, Iss. 4; pg. 1202 Modeling Investments in Seeds, Clones and Translocation

|dynamic state, variable model, heterogenous

This article focuses on the use of a “dynamic state variable model” as a way to predict methods of dispersal by a clonal plant. The method of modeling was described in detail and how the results were interpreted are discussed. They used the model to determine how a plant was more likely to reproduce depending on the type of heterogeneous landscape it was growing in and how that affected the development of the species.

Gonzales, Andrew and Holt, Robert D. 2002 The inflationary effects of environmental fluctuations in source-sink systems. PNAS Nov 12 2002 Vol. 99, no. 23

|source, sink, population dynamic

In this article, Gonzales and Holt expand on the concept of source – sink habitat systems. They focus specifically on the environmental fluctuations of sinks. Gonzales hypothesizes that spikes in sink population change averages over time indicating a higher population level than normal. Greater population fluctuations combined with faulty determination of population strength can increase the likelihood of local extirpations.

With, Kimberly A and Cadaret,, Sean J and Davis, Cinda. 1999. Movement responses to patch structure in experimental fractal landscapes. Ecology Jun 1999 Vol. 80, Iss.4

|fractal, ANOVA, mosaic

This article is an expansion of the ideas that With and King were proposing in the article for this week on the effective use of neutral landscape models. In this paper, With focused on the functionality of model thresholds in neutral fractal landscapes. Since landscape scale experiments would be generally intractable, they decided to look for some initial guidelines for the effect of connectivity on movement by testing small scale neutral landscape models.