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Review of question #3 from Lab. Fortney (1999). Feet 5,000 4,500 4,000 3,500 3,000 2,500 2,000 1,500 1,000 500. Red Spruce Forest. Heath Barren. Grass Bald. Red Spruce Yellow Birch. Red Oak Forest. Pitch/ Shortlleaf Pine Heath. Hemlock and Hemlock - Hardwoods. Cove Hardwoods.
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Fortney (1999) Feet 5,000 4,500 4,000 3,500 3,000 2,500 2,000 1,500 1,000 500 Red Spruce Forest Heath Barren Grass Bald Red Spruce Yellow Birch Red Oak Forest Pitch/ Shortlleaf Pine Heath Hemlock and Hemlock - Hardwoods Cove Hardwoods White Oak Scrub Pine Chestnut Oak Red Oak – White Oak Scarlet / Black Oak Post/ Blackjack Oak Coves Flats Sheltered Open slope Ridges Canyons Draws/Ravines Slopes NE,E,S,W,NW
Overview • Landscapes and landscape ecology • Regional assessments and GIS use • Indicators • Examples • (Bird Community Index) and • Landform analysis or ecological land units
What is a landscape? • To most people, the term landscape suggests either a scenic vista or a backyard improvement project. • Many ways to define a landscape depending on the phenomenon under consideration • Not easily defined by its size
Definition of a landscape • An area of land (at any scale) containing an interesting pattern that affects and is affected by an ecological process of interest.
Landscape • To ecologists and other environmental scientists, a landscape is a conceptual unit for the study of spatial patterns in the physical environment and the influence of these patterns on important environmental resources.
Why is a landscape perspective useful? • Ecology strives to understand the interactions of organisms and their environment • The environment is inherently spatial
What is Landscape Ecology? • Study of landscapes • Composition, structure, function • Relationship to important species Keystone species: One that is crucial to supporting an entire food web and whose extinction would lead to the extinction of other species. A keystone species' impact on an ecosystem is disproportionately larger than its abundance suggests. Umbrella species: Typically a large species requiring a lot of habitat. Protecting an umbrella species' habitat protects other species as well. (National Wildlife Federation, 2005)
Regional assessment • EPA Landscape Atlas: • Assessing indicators of regional ecosystem health http://www.epa.gov/maia/
Indicators http://www.epa.gov/maia/
Measuring spatial patterns as an indicator of stream conditions • Spatial patterns of land cover in relation to streams for a county in the mid–Atlantic region. Stream segments are colored green, yellow, or red, depending on whether the segments are adjacent to forest, agriculture, or urban land cover.
Common landscape indicators • Population change and density • Human use index • Road density • Forest and agriculture along streams • Roads along streams • Impoundment density • Crop land on steep slopes • Forest land cover percentage • Forest fragmentation • Forest edge habitat • Forest interior habitat And now a local or large map scale example….
Bird community index • Bird Community Index: • Based on extensive Mid-Atlantic environmental monitoring work (EPA, Penn State) • Assumes ecological condition correlates with land cover • High proportion of birds with specialized requirements indicates healthy natural forest habitat • BCI Score: • Based on amount of forested land cover within 200 acre window • Accounts for edge effects from disturbed land cover • Indicates overall ecological condition as poor, average, or good/excellent
Bird Community Index *As Percent of Total Area in Watershed
References • Benedic, M. A. and E. T. McMahon. 2000. Green infrastructure: smart conservation for the 21st century. The Sprawl Watch Clearinghouse Monograph Series, The Conservation Fund. • Grayson, R. B., I. D. Moore, and T. A. McMahon. 1992. Physically based hydrologic modeling: 1. A terrain based model for investigative purposes. Water Resources Research 28(10):2639-2658. • Loehle, C. 1999. Optimizing wildlife habitat mitigation with a habitat defragmentation algorithm. Forest Ecology and Management 120 (1999) 245-251 • Mitasova, H. J. Hofieka, M., Zlocha, L. R. Iverson. 1996. Modeling topographic potential for erosion and deposition using GIS. International Journal of Geographic Information Systems 10:629-641. • Riters, K. H. 1995. A Factor Analysis of Landscape Pattern and Structure Metrics. Landscape Ecology 10:23-39. • Wickham, J. D. Jones, K. B. Ritters, K. H. O’Neill, R. V. Tankersley, R. D. Smith, E. R. Neale, A. C. and Chaloud, D. J. 1999. An integrated environmental assessment of the US Mid-Atlantic Region. Environ Manag 24: 553-560. • Wickham, J. D., R. V. O’Neill, and K. B. Jones. 2000. Forest fragmentation as an economic indicator. Landscape Ecology 15: 171-179. • Wiens, J. 1976. 1976. Population responses to patchy environments. Ann. Rev. Ecol Syst. 7:81-120 • Boyce, M.S., and A. Haney. 1997. Ecosystem Management: Applications for Sustainable Forest and Wildlife Resources. Yale University Press, New Haven & London. 361 pages • Forman, R.T. T., and M. Godron. 1986. Landscape Ecology. Wiley, New York. • Grumbine, R. E. 1994. What is Ecosystem Management. Conservation Biology8:27-38. • Hobbs, R. 1997. Future Landscapes and the Future of Landscape Ecology. Landscape and Urban Planning 37:1-9. • Jones, B.K, K.H. Ritters, J. D. Wickham, R.D. Tankersley, R.V. ONeill, D.J. Chaloud, E. R. Smith, and A.C. Neale. 1997 An Ecological Assessment of United States Mid-Atlantic Region: A Landscape Atlas.