Moving to the big picture: Applying knowledge from landscape ecology to managing U.S. national forests

Abstract

United States National Forests encompass 77.7 million ha (192 million acres) of grasslands and forests, which comprise 7% of the nation's total land base and 20% of the nation's forested lands. Increasing demand for wood has raised concerns about producing forest products without impeding the land's ability to provide a variety of other renewable goods and ecosystem services (Aber et al. 2000). Land-use conflicts often arise that result in challenges to forest plans and, in many cases, costly and time-consuming litigation. A more comprehensive planning and management approach is needed that allows public lands to generate multiple values and benefits. Landscape ecologists are among those contributing concepts, perspectives, and information to help meet this need (e.g., Forman 1995; Lindenmayer and Franklin 2002; Liu and Taylor 2002; Wiens and Moss 2005). © 2006 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC. All rights reserved.