Regime Shifts and Spatial Resilience in a Coral Reef Seascape

Abstract

Preface Landscape ecology continues to grow as an exciting, dynamic ecological discipline. With its broadscale emphasis and multidisciplinary approach, landscape ecology lends itself both to basic research and to applications in land management, land-use planning, wildlife management, ecosystem management, and conservation biology. Landscape ecology makes a unique contribution to the scientific community in its attention to ecological dynamics across a broad range of spatial and temporal scales, and as a result it has become increasingly important for students in the natural sciences to gain a basic understanding of the subject. Colleges and universities across the United States are incorporating courses in landscape ecology into their curricula. However, nearly every book on landscape ecology is a book to be read, lacking a hands-on approach. This text is intended to fill that void by providing a comprehensive collection of landscape ecology laboratory exercises. These teaching exercises stress the fundamental concepts of landscape ecology, rather than highly specialized, technical methods. While students will gain experience using a variety of tools commonly used in landscape ecology, we stress the conceptual understanding necessary to use these techniques appropriately. This book attempts to convey the myriad approaches used by landscape ecologists (as well as a multitude of approaches to teaching) and include group discussion, thought problems, fieldwork, data analysis, spatial data collection, exposure to Geographic Information Systems (GIS), simulation modeling, analysis of landscape metrics, spatial statistics, and written exercises. This book is divided into seven sections, which complement the companion textbook, Landscape Ecology in Theory and Practice: Pattern and Process, by M. G. Turner, R. H. Gardner, and R. V. OâtexttrademarkNeill. However, this textbook is also a useful stand-alone volume that can be used for teaching and learning. We also hope practicing landscape ecologists will find this book to be a useful reference.