This course is designed to provide insight into how spatial (and temporal) patterns created by living organisms can be interpreted to develop a deeper understanding of ecological processes. While these patterns cannot be read like tea leaves, they can provide clues into the ecological and evolutionary mechanisms that structure populations, communities, and ecosystems.

Some of the major goals and objectives of Landscape Ecology are to

1. Understand the feed backs between ecological processes (e.g., habitat selection, dispersal, competition) and patterns of distribution (e.g., frequency of use, individual spacing, abundances, diversity)

2. Become familiar and comfortable with shifting between different spatial and temporal scales of resolution, and understand the ecological implications that apply to arbitrarily chosen scales of observation and experimentation

3. Become conversant with elementary spatial statistics and be able to apply them to field data collected on a trip to Kalsow Prairie

© Kirk A. Moloney
24-Aug-2000