Lecture/discussion:  Monday & Wednesday 8:30-10:20

(JHN 026)

Landscape ecology is the study of the causes of environmental pattern and the effect of spatial pattern on ecological processes.  As a discipline, it provides us with a new way of viewing and investigating ecological systems.  Until recently, ecologists generally ignored environmental heterogeneity and spatial pattern, either setting up studies to control for heterogeneity or assuming it had little effect on the question being addressed.  Landscape ecology explicitly investigates the role of pattern and heterogeneity in ecological systems. 

This course will provide you with an overview of landscape ecology.  It is designed to introduce you to the many diverse aspects of the field and to expose you to applications of landscape ecology for both management and conservation.