A conceptual synthesis of landscape ecology

• John A. Wiens

Abstract
Landscape ecology deals with the causes and consequences of spatial variation in ecological systems and with their scaling dynamics. Beyond this central theme, however, landscape ecology is distinguished by its diversity. It is a broadly interdisciplinary science that combines tradtional ecology with elements of geography, land-use planning, resource management, and similar applied humanistic disciplines. Partly because of this interdisciplinary emphasis, landscape ecology is emerging as an important component of conservation efforts and resource management. The diversity of approaches that makes landscape ecology relevant exciting, however, can also lead to a lack of cohesion and eventual splintering in the absence of empirical rigor, predictive theory, and conceptual integration. My goal is to develop a conceptual synthesis of the varied threads of landscape ecology that will provide the foundation for predictive and the context for empirical studies. This synthesis will consolidate a large body of literature, of course, but more importantly it will emphasize the integration of evidence with ideas, by blending together the approaches and ways of thinking that characterize landscape ecology in many parts of the world and relating these to issues in both basic and applied ecology.