Simulating Management Actions and Their Effects on Forest Landscape Pattern

Abstract

Landscapes are characterized by their structure (the spatial arrangement of landscape elements), their ecological function (how ecological processes operate within that structure), and the dynamics of change (disturbance and recovery). Thus, understanding the dynamic nature of landscapes and predicting their future dynamics of landscapes are of particular emphasis. Landscape change is difficult to study because controlled experiments at landscape scales often are not feasible for political, economic, social and logistical reasons. Opportunistic studies of change (e.g., after a large fire) are often confounded by uncontrolled factors. For these reasons, changes in landscape pattern are often studied using simulation models. This lab will.