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2019 ARCHIVES: Special Symposia
We’re pleased to announce the following eighteen special symposia will be offered as part of the technical program at the annual conference. An Organized Symposium is a series of integrated presentations that address aspects of a single topic or theme.
(S01) Remote Sensing of Landscape Ecology: State of the Art/Science
Contact: Forrest Hoffman, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, [email protected]
Co-Organizers: Jitendra Kumar, William W. Hargrove, Steve P. Norman and Forrest M. Hoffman
Overview: Remote Sensing enables monitoring of large-extent landscapes, permitting observations of phenological timing, disturbance, movements of plants and animals, and long term environmental change. New remote sensing platforms like Sentinel provide high spatial resolution imagery and radar, while sensors like MODIS and VIIRS supply temporally frequent views. Ground truth, validation, up-scaling, and ecosystem modeling pose significant challenges for coordinating with ground measurements and observations made in the field. This session will feature recent advances in characterizing spatio-temporal patterns in terrestrial and aquatic ecosystem structure and function from a variety of platforms (e.g., satellite, airborne, drone, tower, and ground-based instrumentation), identifying underlying mechanisms and interactions, analytical tools and techniques, and ecosystem modeling.
Theme/Topic: remote sensing
Co-Organizers: Jitendra Kumar, William W. Hargrove, Steve P. Norman and Forrest M. Hoffman
Overview: Remote Sensing enables monitoring of large-extent landscapes, permitting observations of phenological timing, disturbance, movements of plants and animals, and long term environmental change. New remote sensing platforms like Sentinel provide high spatial resolution imagery and radar, while sensors like MODIS and VIIRS supply temporally frequent views. Ground truth, validation, up-scaling, and ecosystem modeling pose significant challenges for coordinating with ground measurements and observations made in the field. This session will feature recent advances in characterizing spatio-temporal patterns in terrestrial and aquatic ecosystem structure and function from a variety of platforms (e.g., satellite, airborne, drone, tower, and ground-based instrumentation), identifying underlying mechanisms and interactions, analytical tools and techniques, and ecosystem modeling.
Theme/Topic: remote sensing
(S02) Wildfire-driven Forest Conversion in Western North American Landscapes: Emerging Science and Implications for Resilience and Adaptation
Contact: Jonathan Coop, Western Colorado University, [email protected]
Co-Organizers: Camille Stevens-Rumann, Colorado State University; Sean Parks, USFS RMRS Aldo Leopold Wilderness Research Institute
Overview: Accelerating wildfire activity across western North America is raising concerns about the future of many forested landscapes. Expected consequences of increased fire include major contractions of mature forest habitats and attendant expansions of early successional vegetation. However, growing evidence also demonstrates that changing burning patterns and post-fire climates can lead to enduring transformations to non-forested states. This organized session will explore our current scientific understanding of wildfire-driven forest conversion in western North American landscapes, and a range of emerging management and conservation implications and applications. We will address questions that include: 1) how do recently observed patterns of fire-driven landscape change contrast with “classic” notions of ecological succession, 2) how might our understanding of wildfire-driven forest conversion be informed by broad temporal and spatial perspectives (i.e., paleoecology, future climate-vegetation projections, and current research conducted across a range of western forest types), and 3) what frameworks, strategies, and intervention innovations hold most promise for sustaining vulnerable forests, forest-dependent biota, and ecological processes? We also ask: 4) under what circumstances might adaptation to fire-generated alternate states actually lead to enhanced resilience to future burning regimes and climate? Though the session will focus on western North American landscapes, we anticipate parallels across many of the world’s coniferous forests and relevance to the conservation of a range of ecological systems and landscapes vulnerable to changing disturbance regimes in the Anthropocene.
Theme/Topic: forest resilience, wildfire, climate change
Co-Organizers: Camille Stevens-Rumann, Colorado State University; Sean Parks, USFS RMRS Aldo Leopold Wilderness Research Institute
Overview: Accelerating wildfire activity across western North America is raising concerns about the future of many forested landscapes. Expected consequences of increased fire include major contractions of mature forest habitats and attendant expansions of early successional vegetation. However, growing evidence also demonstrates that changing burning patterns and post-fire climates can lead to enduring transformations to non-forested states. This organized session will explore our current scientific understanding of wildfire-driven forest conversion in western North American landscapes, and a range of emerging management and conservation implications and applications. We will address questions that include: 1) how do recently observed patterns of fire-driven landscape change contrast with “classic” notions of ecological succession, 2) how might our understanding of wildfire-driven forest conversion be informed by broad temporal and spatial perspectives (i.e., paleoecology, future climate-vegetation projections, and current research conducted across a range of western forest types), and 3) what frameworks, strategies, and intervention innovations hold most promise for sustaining vulnerable forests, forest-dependent biota, and ecological processes? We also ask: 4) under what circumstances might adaptation to fire-generated alternate states actually lead to enhanced resilience to future burning regimes and climate? Though the session will focus on western North American landscapes, we anticipate parallels across many of the world’s coniferous forests and relevance to the conservation of a range of ecological systems and landscapes vulnerable to changing disturbance regimes in the Anthropocene.
Theme/Topic: forest resilience, wildfire, climate change
(S03) Integrated, Broad-scale Assessments of Land Dynamics and Ecosystem Services in Response to Climate and Socioeconomic Drivers
Contact: Jennifer Costanza, NC State University, [email protected]
Co-Organizers: Claire O'Dea, Kurt Riitters and Curt Flather, USDA Forest Service
Overview: Global change drivers, including climate change, population growth, and other socioeconomic factors, affect ecosystems, with concomitant effects on the services they provide. Those effects will likely become more pronounced in the future, as the velocities of change in each driver and the interactions among drivers increase. Therefore, assessing the recent status and trends in ecosystems and their associated services, and projecting those trends into the future under scenarios that consider multiple global change drivers is critically important for resource planning and management. Fine-grain, nationwide assessments and projections are especially relevant to land management planning and decision-making. Transdisciplinary assessments rooted in sustainability science are fundamental to conservation innovation at local and regional scales. This symposium will highlight research from recent and ongoing national assessment and projection efforts, focusing on the USDA Forest Service’s Resources Planning Act (RPA) Assessment. The RPA process is a unique integrated assessment of forest and rangeland resources and ecosystem services across the conterminous U.S. that accounts for changing climate, growing human population, and changes in socioeconomic factors. Research for the RPA Assessment includes recent and projected future change to ecological communities, forest health, forest fragmentation, climate analogues for rangelands, and resulting effects on ecosystem services, including biodiversity, water provisioning, and recreation value. RPA Assessment climate and socioeconomic scenario projections are available to the public for download, and subsequent resource projections will be available as research results are completed. While most of our planned talks focus on the RPA Assessment, we also welcome contributed talks from other national integrated assessments to emphasize the general need for and role of broad-scale forest and rangeland assessments in resource planning.
Theme/Topic: Land change, forest dynamics, integrated assessment
Co-Organizers: Claire O'Dea, Kurt Riitters and Curt Flather, USDA Forest Service
Overview: Global change drivers, including climate change, population growth, and other socioeconomic factors, affect ecosystems, with concomitant effects on the services they provide. Those effects will likely become more pronounced in the future, as the velocities of change in each driver and the interactions among drivers increase. Therefore, assessing the recent status and trends in ecosystems and their associated services, and projecting those trends into the future under scenarios that consider multiple global change drivers is critically important for resource planning and management. Fine-grain, nationwide assessments and projections are especially relevant to land management planning and decision-making. Transdisciplinary assessments rooted in sustainability science are fundamental to conservation innovation at local and regional scales. This symposium will highlight research from recent and ongoing national assessment and projection efforts, focusing on the USDA Forest Service’s Resources Planning Act (RPA) Assessment. The RPA process is a unique integrated assessment of forest and rangeland resources and ecosystem services across the conterminous U.S. that accounts for changing climate, growing human population, and changes in socioeconomic factors. Research for the RPA Assessment includes recent and projected future change to ecological communities, forest health, forest fragmentation, climate analogues for rangelands, and resulting effects on ecosystem services, including biodiversity, water provisioning, and recreation value. RPA Assessment climate and socioeconomic scenario projections are available to the public for download, and subsequent resource projections will be available as research results are completed. While most of our planned talks focus on the RPA Assessment, we also welcome contributed talks from other national integrated assessments to emphasize the general need for and role of broad-scale forest and rangeland assessments in resource planning.
Theme/Topic: Land change, forest dynamics, integrated assessment
(S04) Incorporating Landscape Ecological Theory into Analyses of Forest Fires: Insights, Challenges, and Innovations for Supporting Conservation
Contact: Brian Harvey, University of Washington, [email protected]
Co-Organizers: C. Alina Cansler, US Forest Service
Overview: Recent trends of increasing fire activity throughout many forested regions, coupled with advances in remote sensing and GIS technology, have led to a proliferation of research examining the spatial patterns of wildfires. Well-developed theory in landscape ecology can help to inform research directions and insights into the spatial dynamics of wildfire and forest resilience, but a full integration of landscape ecology theory into fire ecology research has not yet occurred. In this organized session, we bring together fire and landscape ecologists from across career stages (early career to more established scientists) and organizations (academia, agency, NGO) to provide a state of the science of the landscape ecology of forest fire. Specifically, presentations will cover a range of different data sources, methodological approaches, and ecological settings within which landscape analyses of forest fires have been applied. We will address questions about (1) how burn severity is characterized, (2) different analytical frameworks for characterizing and quantifying spatial landscape patterns, (3) choice of landscape metrics, (4) data sources, and (5) scaling up over space and time. Through this comparison across the many dimensions of landscape ecology and fire, we will identify key research directions for the field and provide a synthesis that is relevant to conservation and management of fire-prone forest ecosystems.
Theme/Topic: The landscape ecology of forest fires
Co-Organizers: C. Alina Cansler, US Forest Service
Overview: Recent trends of increasing fire activity throughout many forested regions, coupled with advances in remote sensing and GIS technology, have led to a proliferation of research examining the spatial patterns of wildfires. Well-developed theory in landscape ecology can help to inform research directions and insights into the spatial dynamics of wildfire and forest resilience, but a full integration of landscape ecology theory into fire ecology research has not yet occurred. In this organized session, we bring together fire and landscape ecologists from across career stages (early career to more established scientists) and organizations (academia, agency, NGO) to provide a state of the science of the landscape ecology of forest fire. Specifically, presentations will cover a range of different data sources, methodological approaches, and ecological settings within which landscape analyses of forest fires have been applied. We will address questions about (1) how burn severity is characterized, (2) different analytical frameworks for characterizing and quantifying spatial landscape patterns, (3) choice of landscape metrics, (4) data sources, and (5) scaling up over space and time. Through this comparison across the many dimensions of landscape ecology and fire, we will identify key research directions for the field and provide a synthesis that is relevant to conservation and management of fire-prone forest ecosystems.
Theme/Topic: The landscape ecology of forest fires
(S05) Species Distribution Models and Landscapes: Where Theory and Conservation Applications Collide
Contact: Thomas Edwards, U.S. Geological Survey / Utah State, [email protected]
Co-Organizers: Sam Cushman, USDA FSJanet Franklin, UC Riverside; Niklaus Zimmermann, WSL, Switzerland
Overview: The theoretical and conceptual bases for species distribution models and analogues (SDM) are well-grounded in published literature, but direct application to management and conservation of species on landscapes lags behind. Reasons for this lack of application include, but are not limited to, perceptions of SDMs being "black-box" and overly complicated, illogical projections onto space, estimated (modelled) versus "known" locations, as well as other application concerns. We propose an all-day, 4-pronged special session addressing 4 key elements necessary to enhance application of SDMs to landscape management and conservation. These are: (i) theoretical underpinnings and recent advances of SDMs and their relationships to application; (ii) advances in modeling techniques affecting application; (iii) case studies in SDM application to landscape conservation and management; and (iv) integration of landscape SDMs into the world of decision-making. The central aim of the session is to explore reasons why SDMs are not better incorporated into landscape conservation, and provide guidance for future developers of SDMs. The theoretical session will focus on how different theoretical bases for modelling the "niche" affect subsequent modelling decisions and outcomes. In the realm of statistical tools much work has been done, but often results in a "competing models" decision environment, making it difficult to apply any model to a conservation issue without potential conflict with other models. We present papers here that provide means to avoid such an environment, such as ensemble approaches. Case studies selected for presentation will all need to address how the SDM is actually applied, and the concerns and criticisms applied to the SDM. In short, simply presenting a SDM will not suffice. Last, we will seek papers that explore reasons why SDMs are not employed by decision-makers, and seek solutions to the SDM process that may enhance their application to landscape conservation.
Theme/Topic: species dstribution models; landscape conservation; modelling
Co-Organizers: Sam Cushman, USDA FSJanet Franklin, UC Riverside; Niklaus Zimmermann, WSL, Switzerland
Overview: The theoretical and conceptual bases for species distribution models and analogues (SDM) are well-grounded in published literature, but direct application to management and conservation of species on landscapes lags behind. Reasons for this lack of application include, but are not limited to, perceptions of SDMs being "black-box" and overly complicated, illogical projections onto space, estimated (modelled) versus "known" locations, as well as other application concerns. We propose an all-day, 4-pronged special session addressing 4 key elements necessary to enhance application of SDMs to landscape management and conservation. These are: (i) theoretical underpinnings and recent advances of SDMs and their relationships to application; (ii) advances in modeling techniques affecting application; (iii) case studies in SDM application to landscape conservation and management; and (iv) integration of landscape SDMs into the world of decision-making. The central aim of the session is to explore reasons why SDMs are not better incorporated into landscape conservation, and provide guidance for future developers of SDMs. The theoretical session will focus on how different theoretical bases for modelling the "niche" affect subsequent modelling decisions and outcomes. In the realm of statistical tools much work has been done, but often results in a "competing models" decision environment, making it difficult to apply any model to a conservation issue without potential conflict with other models. We present papers here that provide means to avoid such an environment, such as ensemble approaches. Case studies selected for presentation will all need to address how the SDM is actually applied, and the concerns and criticisms applied to the SDM. In short, simply presenting a SDM will not suffice. Last, we will seek papers that explore reasons why SDMs are not employed by decision-makers, and seek solutions to the SDM process that may enhance their application to landscape conservation.
Theme/Topic: species dstribution models; landscape conservation; modelling
(S06) Gene Flow in Tropical Landscapes
Contact: Rodolfo Jaffe, Vale Institute of Technology, [email protected]
Co-Organizers: Yessica Rico, INECOL, Mexico; Carolina S. Carvalho,Vale Institute of Technology, Brazil
Overview: The bulk of the world’s biodiversity is found in tropical regions, which are increasingly threatened by the human-led degradation of natural habitats. Yet, the vast majority of studies assessing biodiversity responses to habitat loss and fragmentation have been undertaken in temperate regions. Understanding the factors underpinning functional connectivity in tropical landscapes is nevertheless essential to design ecological corridors, identify conservation units, assess population threat status, optimize pathogen and invasive specie’s management, assist planning of natural heritage systems, and restore population and habitat connectivity. In this Symposium wee seek to bring together ongoing landscape genetic/genomic efforts explicitly relating landscape with gene flow metrics in tropical organisms. Below we list 14 potential contributions from researchers working across the Americas. The proposed speakers have manifested their interest in participating in this symposium, are gender-balanced and include scientists from all career stages.
Theme/Topic: functional connectivity, landscape genetics, landscape genomics, tropical biodiversity
Co-Organizers: Yessica Rico, INECOL, Mexico; Carolina S. Carvalho,Vale Institute of Technology, Brazil
Overview: The bulk of the world’s biodiversity is found in tropical regions, which are increasingly threatened by the human-led degradation of natural habitats. Yet, the vast majority of studies assessing biodiversity responses to habitat loss and fragmentation have been undertaken in temperate regions. Understanding the factors underpinning functional connectivity in tropical landscapes is nevertheless essential to design ecological corridors, identify conservation units, assess population threat status, optimize pathogen and invasive specie’s management, assist planning of natural heritage systems, and restore population and habitat connectivity. In this Symposium wee seek to bring together ongoing landscape genetic/genomic efforts explicitly relating landscape with gene flow metrics in tropical organisms. Below we list 14 potential contributions from researchers working across the Americas. The proposed speakers have manifested their interest in participating in this symposium, are gender-balanced and include scientists from all career stages.
Theme/Topic: functional connectivity, landscape genetics, landscape genomics, tropical biodiversity
(S07) Applications in landscape-scale evaluation of forest and water ecosystems with NASA DEVELOP
Contact: Timothy Mayer, NASA DEVELOP, [email protected]
Co-Organizers: Dan Carver, Spatial Scientist, USDA ARS NLGRP
Overview: DEVELOP is part of NASA’s Applied Sciences Program, addresses environmental and public policy issues by conducting interdisciplinary feasibility projects that apply the lens of NASA Earth observations to community concerns around the globe. Bridging the gap between NASA Earth Science and society, DEVELOP builds capacity in both participants and partner organizations to better prepare them to address the challenges that face our society and future generations. This presentation series highlights several NASA DEVELOP projects across various application area such as Agriculture & Food Security, Ecological Forecasting, Water Resources, and Disasters.
Theme/Topic: Colorado Node NASA DEVELOP, NASA Earth Observations, Remote Sensing
Co-Organizers: Dan Carver, Spatial Scientist, USDA ARS NLGRP
Overview: DEVELOP is part of NASA’s Applied Sciences Program, addresses environmental and public policy issues by conducting interdisciplinary feasibility projects that apply the lens of NASA Earth observations to community concerns around the globe. Bridging the gap between NASA Earth Science and society, DEVELOP builds capacity in both participants and partner organizations to better prepare them to address the challenges that face our society and future generations. This presentation series highlights several NASA DEVELOP projects across various application area such as Agriculture & Food Security, Ecological Forecasting, Water Resources, and Disasters.
Theme/Topic: Colorado Node NASA DEVELOP, NASA Earth Observations, Remote Sensing
(S08) Participatory Research in Land Change Science
Contact: Lindsey Smart, Center for Geospatial Analytics, North Carolina State University, [email protected]
Co-Organizers: Dr. Jelena Vukomanovic, Center for Geospatial Analytics, Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism Management, North Carolina State University
Overview: Participatory research methods are increasingly used to better understand complex socio-ecological problems and design solutions through diverse and inclusive stakeholder engagement. Despite this movement toward integrated bottom-up approaches to environmental challenges, stakeholders are still rarely involved in the co-development and interpretation of the computational models used to represent the processes being explored in participatory research. Geospatial simulation, a common component of land change research, is often used to represent dynamic landscape processes and spatially-explicit management scenarios. These visual representations of landscape-scale processes can serve as tools that allow for stakeholder participation in all aspects of the research process. Thus, the field of landscape ecology is ripe for the integration of participatory research and geospatial analytics to improve environmental decision-making and provide more realistic solutions to environmental challenges. In this session, we will explore frontiers in stakeholder engagement, highlighting landscape-scale socio-ecological research that uses stakeholder-informed or stakeholder-generated spatial data. We will explore methods for tailoring geospatial tools to particular decision-making contexts given the objectives, type of participants, and levels of engagement involved. We will identify ways to capture a diversity of knowledge and values via spatial data like geolocated social media, social survey data, participatory mapping workshops, and place-based immersive virtual environment exercises. The talks in this session will demonstrate the ways that geospatial analytics can be used to enhance the quality of environmental decisions, with the goal of encouraging dialogue about how geospatial modeling and participatory research can be linked and operationalized in the broader context of environmental decision-making.
Theme/Topic: geospatial, participatory, research
Co-Organizers: Dr. Jelena Vukomanovic, Center for Geospatial Analytics, Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism Management, North Carolina State University
Overview: Participatory research methods are increasingly used to better understand complex socio-ecological problems and design solutions through diverse and inclusive stakeholder engagement. Despite this movement toward integrated bottom-up approaches to environmental challenges, stakeholders are still rarely involved in the co-development and interpretation of the computational models used to represent the processes being explored in participatory research. Geospatial simulation, a common component of land change research, is often used to represent dynamic landscape processes and spatially-explicit management scenarios. These visual representations of landscape-scale processes can serve as tools that allow for stakeholder participation in all aspects of the research process. Thus, the field of landscape ecology is ripe for the integration of participatory research and geospatial analytics to improve environmental decision-making and provide more realistic solutions to environmental challenges. In this session, we will explore frontiers in stakeholder engagement, highlighting landscape-scale socio-ecological research that uses stakeholder-informed or stakeholder-generated spatial data. We will explore methods for tailoring geospatial tools to particular decision-making contexts given the objectives, type of participants, and levels of engagement involved. We will identify ways to capture a diversity of knowledge and values via spatial data like geolocated social media, social survey data, participatory mapping workshops, and place-based immersive virtual environment exercises. The talks in this session will demonstrate the ways that geospatial analytics can be used to enhance the quality of environmental decisions, with the goal of encouraging dialogue about how geospatial modeling and participatory research can be linked and operationalized in the broader context of environmental decision-making.
Theme/Topic: geospatial, participatory, research
(S09) Multi-sensor Data Integration for Time Series Analysis of Land-change and Natural Resources
Contact: Kunwar Singh, North Carolina State University, [email protected]
Co-Organizers: Lindsey S. Smart and Ross K. Meentemeyer, Center for Geospatial Analytics, Department of Forestry and Environmental Resources, North Carolina State University
Overview: In an era of ever-increasing global environmental change, phenomena like climate change, biological invasions and urbanization require scientists have ways to monitor these changes and their impacts on ecosystem form and function. The regional- to landscape-scales at which these phenomena occur, lend themselves to analysis using remote sensing technologies because of the generally broad spatial and temporal coverage of such technologies. Remote sensing capabilities are also rapidly advancing and becoming increasingly available to researchers, manager, and the public at even finer spatial, spectral, and temporal resolutions. This access to substantive amounts of data, along with the need to be able to monitor localities through time necessitate combining datasets with inconsistent data collection methods and accuracies. Thus, researchers are in need of novel methods and techniques to improve data compatibility and comparability so that accurate detection of changes or trends can be obtained. In this session, we explore remotely sensed time-series analysis of land-change phenomena, novel methods and approaches to reconcile data differences. This session particularly highlights research that uses a multi-sensor data integration approach for evaluating land change process and their impact on ecosystem services. The generalizability of these techniques with applications in different topical domains such as biological invasions, urban growth scenarios, magnitude of biomass change, ecosystem productivity, and coastal inundation. The goal of this session is to initiate a dialogue about innovative solutions for monitoring global environmental change by taking advantage of the increasing availability of remotely sensed technologies and datasets.
Theme/Topic: Remote Sensing, Time-series Analysis, and Global Environmental Change
Co-Organizers: Lindsey S. Smart and Ross K. Meentemeyer, Center for Geospatial Analytics, Department of Forestry and Environmental Resources, North Carolina State University
Overview: In an era of ever-increasing global environmental change, phenomena like climate change, biological invasions and urbanization require scientists have ways to monitor these changes and their impacts on ecosystem form and function. The regional- to landscape-scales at which these phenomena occur, lend themselves to analysis using remote sensing technologies because of the generally broad spatial and temporal coverage of such technologies. Remote sensing capabilities are also rapidly advancing and becoming increasingly available to researchers, manager, and the public at even finer spatial, spectral, and temporal resolutions. This access to substantive amounts of data, along with the need to be able to monitor localities through time necessitate combining datasets with inconsistent data collection methods and accuracies. Thus, researchers are in need of novel methods and techniques to improve data compatibility and comparability so that accurate detection of changes or trends can be obtained. In this session, we explore remotely sensed time-series analysis of land-change phenomena, novel methods and approaches to reconcile data differences. This session particularly highlights research that uses a multi-sensor data integration approach for evaluating land change process and their impact on ecosystem services. The generalizability of these techniques with applications in different topical domains such as biological invasions, urban growth scenarios, magnitude of biomass change, ecosystem productivity, and coastal inundation. The goal of this session is to initiate a dialogue about innovative solutions for monitoring global environmental change by taking advantage of the increasing availability of remotely sensed technologies and datasets.
Theme/Topic: Remote Sensing, Time-series Analysis, and Global Environmental Change
(S10) Riparian Landscape Ecology: Patterns, Processes, and Management of Dynamic Ecosystems
Contact: Jessica Salo, University of Northern Colorado, [email protected]
Overview: Riparian ecosystems are valued natural resources that provide critical ecosystem services such as wildlife habitat, water quality enhancement, flood mitigation, and recreation opportunities. Riparian ecosystems are naturally dynamic, experiencing ecological disturbances typical of uplands as well as those associated with the river flow regime (e.g., erosion, sedimentation, and inundation). Thus, riparian zones are can be complex ecosystems to understand, evaluate, and manage.In this symposium, presentations will address the challenges and advancements in characterizing patterns and processes in riparian ecosystems, drawing from research conducted in a variety of river systems spanning gradients of basin size, physiography, hydrology, climatology, and anthropogenic influence. Topics will include ecological applications of hydrologic and hydraulic models, vegetation response and recovery following flood disturbances, quantifying vegetation and channel change in relation to management and disturbance events, characterizing biophysical and ecological dynamics, and linkages to conservation and restoration planning at and across multiple spatio-temporal scales. This session highlights ongoing research and innovative developments in riparian ecosystems across spatio-temporal scales, with a specific emphasis on understanding patterns, processes, and implications for management and conservation decisions.
Theme/Topic: floodplain, riparian, restoration
Overview: Riparian ecosystems are valued natural resources that provide critical ecosystem services such as wildlife habitat, water quality enhancement, flood mitigation, and recreation opportunities. Riparian ecosystems are naturally dynamic, experiencing ecological disturbances typical of uplands as well as those associated with the river flow regime (e.g., erosion, sedimentation, and inundation). Thus, riparian zones are can be complex ecosystems to understand, evaluate, and manage.In this symposium, presentations will address the challenges and advancements in characterizing patterns and processes in riparian ecosystems, drawing from research conducted in a variety of river systems spanning gradients of basin size, physiography, hydrology, climatology, and anthropogenic influence. Topics will include ecological applications of hydrologic and hydraulic models, vegetation response and recovery following flood disturbances, quantifying vegetation and channel change in relation to management and disturbance events, characterizing biophysical and ecological dynamics, and linkages to conservation and restoration planning at and across multiple spatio-temporal scales. This session highlights ongoing research and innovative developments in riparian ecosystems across spatio-temporal scales, with a specific emphasis on understanding patterns, processes, and implications for management and conservation decisions.
Theme/Topic: floodplain, riparian, restoration
(S11) Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) in Landscape Conservation
Contact: Megan Cattau, Earth Lab, University of Colorado Boulder, [email protected]
Overview: Ecologists require data at the appropriate spatiotemporal scale and sufficient extent to relate spatial pattern to process. The integration of imagery acquired by drones, or Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS), has recently become a critical addition to spatial ecological studies, allowing researchers to successfully capture a missing scale of observations between field-based inventories and satellite data - important for examining regional-scale ecological questions. Field-based inventories provide accurate fine-scale information, but require intensive field effort, often constraining the spatial extent and temporal resolution of the data. Moderate resolution satellite data (e.g., Landsat) has historical, consistent, and global coverage, but is often too spatially coarse to capture the ecological process of interest. Because UAS mounted with fine-resolution sensors can easily cover a relatively large area, with the possibility for short repeat flyover intervals, UAS can capture additional spatiotemporal variability at the landscape scale than would be possible with field inventories or satellite data alone. It follows that interest in using UAS for landscape conservation is soaring; however, given that UAS applications are still in their infancy, challenges remain.The proposed symposium addresses the innovations and challenges associated with employing UAS for landscape conservation, with an emphasis on landcover analyses. The symposium will cover technical challenges, methodological approaches, case studies, and applications. Talks related to technical challenges may include such topics as geometric and radiometric calibration and validation, atmospheric correction, accuracy assessment, or developing platforms for difficult flight environments. Methodological approaches may include photogrammetry for deriving vegetation structure, data fusion (e.g., with LiDAR), segmentation, or classification. Case studies and applications may include such issues as invasive plant mapping and monitoring, disturbance analysis, linking hyperspectral data with canopy chemistry, detection of land use activity (e.g., logging), phenology, or wildlife habitat monitoring. This proposed symposium will survey the state-of-the-field and identify future directions in using UAS in landscape conservation.
Theme/Topic: Unmanned aerial systems (UAS), drone, landcover analysis
Overview: Ecologists require data at the appropriate spatiotemporal scale and sufficient extent to relate spatial pattern to process. The integration of imagery acquired by drones, or Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS), has recently become a critical addition to spatial ecological studies, allowing researchers to successfully capture a missing scale of observations between field-based inventories and satellite data - important for examining regional-scale ecological questions. Field-based inventories provide accurate fine-scale information, but require intensive field effort, often constraining the spatial extent and temporal resolution of the data. Moderate resolution satellite data (e.g., Landsat) has historical, consistent, and global coverage, but is often too spatially coarse to capture the ecological process of interest. Because UAS mounted with fine-resolution sensors can easily cover a relatively large area, with the possibility for short repeat flyover intervals, UAS can capture additional spatiotemporal variability at the landscape scale than would be possible with field inventories or satellite data alone. It follows that interest in using UAS for landscape conservation is soaring; however, given that UAS applications are still in their infancy, challenges remain.The proposed symposium addresses the innovations and challenges associated with employing UAS for landscape conservation, with an emphasis on landcover analyses. The symposium will cover technical challenges, methodological approaches, case studies, and applications. Talks related to technical challenges may include such topics as geometric and radiometric calibration and validation, atmospheric correction, accuracy assessment, or developing platforms for difficult flight environments. Methodological approaches may include photogrammetry for deriving vegetation structure, data fusion (e.g., with LiDAR), segmentation, or classification. Case studies and applications may include such issues as invasive plant mapping and monitoring, disturbance analysis, linking hyperspectral data with canopy chemistry, detection of land use activity (e.g., logging), phenology, or wildlife habitat monitoring. This proposed symposium will survey the state-of-the-field and identify future directions in using UAS in landscape conservation.
Theme/Topic: Unmanned aerial systems (UAS), drone, landcover analysis
(S12) Conservation Innovation Using Landscape Genetics: Novel Approaches of Integrating Landscape Ecology and Population Genetics to Address Conservation Problems
Contact: Melanie Murphy, University of Wyoming, [email protected]
Co-Organizers: Dr. Brenna Forester, Colorado State University
Overview: Landscape genetics integrates the fields of landscape ecology, spatial statistics, and population genetics to address questions about species distribution, functional connectivity, source-sink dynamics and local adaptation all interacting in heterogeneous environments. Innovations in landscape genetics can address critical conservation and management needs. As landscape genetics has developed as a field, methods continue to mature with increasing application across a wide variety of taxonomic groups and “landscapes”, including riverscapes and seascapes. Our symposium will address multiple aspects of this cutting-edge field, including methodological development, testing underlying theoretical foundations in landscape ecology (e.g., habitat heterogeneity hypothesis), novel approaches for quantifying functional connectivity and species adaptation to changing landscapes. Speakers will focus on innovations in landscape genetics that address major conservation concerns for a wide range of taxa (e.g., plants, invertebrates, amphibians, mammals) and ecosystems (e.g., rangelands, forests, rivers, seascapes). The invited speakers draws from instructors and students from across a decade of the Landscape Genetics Distributed Graduate Seminar (DGS), an interdisciplinary, cross-institution course that combines local instruction, distance learning, and experiential learning; which provides students and faculty with a unique collaborative learning experience and interdisciplinary research skills.
Theme/Topic: Landscape genetics
Co-Organizers: Dr. Brenna Forester, Colorado State University
Overview: Landscape genetics integrates the fields of landscape ecology, spatial statistics, and population genetics to address questions about species distribution, functional connectivity, source-sink dynamics and local adaptation all interacting in heterogeneous environments. Innovations in landscape genetics can address critical conservation and management needs. As landscape genetics has developed as a field, methods continue to mature with increasing application across a wide variety of taxonomic groups and “landscapes”, including riverscapes and seascapes. Our symposium will address multiple aspects of this cutting-edge field, including methodological development, testing underlying theoretical foundations in landscape ecology (e.g., habitat heterogeneity hypothesis), novel approaches for quantifying functional connectivity and species adaptation to changing landscapes. Speakers will focus on innovations in landscape genetics that address major conservation concerns for a wide range of taxa (e.g., plants, invertebrates, amphibians, mammals) and ecosystems (e.g., rangelands, forests, rivers, seascapes). The invited speakers draws from instructors and students from across a decade of the Landscape Genetics Distributed Graduate Seminar (DGS), an interdisciplinary, cross-institution course that combines local instruction, distance learning, and experiential learning; which provides students and faculty with a unique collaborative learning experience and interdisciplinary research skills.
Theme/Topic: Landscape genetics
(S13) Innovation in Spatiotemporal Landscape Design to Support Dynamic Conservation
Contact: Alexander Killion, National Socio-Environmental Synthesis Center, [email protected]
Co-Organizers: Mario Torralba, University of Kassel, Germany & National Socio-Environmental Synthesis Center
Overview: One of the greatest challenges in the Anthropocene is the design and implementation of development strategies that enable human progress while ensuring the sustainability of Earth’s systems and biodiversity. Solutions require an understanding of the spatial, temporal, and social dynamics within complex landscapes. However, landscape ecology has primarily focused on the spatial dynamics of landscapes with limited consideration of the temporal dimension. Given the rise of climatic and human impacts on landscape functioning, there is a critical need to identify and predict temporal processes and their impact on social-ecological systems. Improving our understanding of temporal drivers and characteristics of landscape pattern and process will require theoretical and technological advancements. These findings will enable new spatiotemporal design and management opportunities that can better address dynamic social and ecological needs and maximize diverse land uses in limited spaces. Developing new tools to quantify and visualize spatiotemporal processes is also highly relevant for diverse disciplines and has been emerging as a new conservation trend. For example, efforts in the last year have highlighted ways to design spatiotemporal multifunctional landscapes, temporarily provide habitat for migratory species in working landscapes, implement dynamic ocean and fisheries management, design movable wildlife and forestry reserves, and better understand temporary ecosystem services in urban landscapes. This symposium will provide an opportunity for such temporal advancements to converge for the first time and develop a community of practice to advance research and applications of dynamic landscape ecology science. We welcome contributions that:
Theme/Topic: dynamic conservation, spatiotemporal methodologies, social-ecological systems
Co-Organizers: Mario Torralba, University of Kassel, Germany & National Socio-Environmental Synthesis Center
Overview: One of the greatest challenges in the Anthropocene is the design and implementation of development strategies that enable human progress while ensuring the sustainability of Earth’s systems and biodiversity. Solutions require an understanding of the spatial, temporal, and social dynamics within complex landscapes. However, landscape ecology has primarily focused on the spatial dynamics of landscapes with limited consideration of the temporal dimension. Given the rise of climatic and human impacts on landscape functioning, there is a critical need to identify and predict temporal processes and their impact on social-ecological systems. Improving our understanding of temporal drivers and characteristics of landscape pattern and process will require theoretical and technological advancements. These findings will enable new spatiotemporal design and management opportunities that can better address dynamic social and ecological needs and maximize diverse land uses in limited spaces. Developing new tools to quantify and visualize spatiotemporal processes is also highly relevant for diverse disciplines and has been emerging as a new conservation trend. For example, efforts in the last year have highlighted ways to design spatiotemporal multifunctional landscapes, temporarily provide habitat for migratory species in working landscapes, implement dynamic ocean and fisheries management, design movable wildlife and forestry reserves, and better understand temporary ecosystem services in urban landscapes. This symposium will provide an opportunity for such temporal advancements to converge for the first time and develop a community of practice to advance research and applications of dynamic landscape ecology science. We welcome contributions that:
- Develop novel methods and ideas to incorporate temporal dimensions into landscape and conservation planning.
- Analyze how landscape change affects the spatial distribution of resources and ecosystem services over time.
- Assess spatiotemporal overlaps and mismatches of supply and demand of ecosystem services.
- Explore the role of social-ecological dynamics and land use legacies into current and future landscape trajectories.
Theme/Topic: dynamic conservation, spatiotemporal methodologies, social-ecological systems
(S14) Art-science Collaboration for Ecology, Conservation, and Sustainability
Contact: Bianca Lopez, National Socio-Environmental Synthesis Center (SESYNC), [email protected]
Co-Organizers: Christopher Field, National Socio-Environmental Synthesis Center (SESYNC)
Overview: With growing recognition of the importance of, and challenges associated with, effective science communication, ecologists and conservation practitioners have put increasing emphasis on the use of visuals and storytelling to engage audiences with environmental issues. Collaborations between scientists and artists can produce innovative ways of communicating science and engaging the public in research, by creating compelling and evocative reflections on research findings or scientific concepts and engaging communities in place-based experiences highlighting natural landscapes, ecological processes, and sustainability initiatives. In this symposium, we highlight current initiatives in art-science collaboration and explore potential future innovations in this field. We envision contributions from scientists working with artists, artists working with scientists, and scientists creating art or evaluating art as a tool of communication.
Theme/Topic: art, communication, interdisciplinary
Co-Organizers: Christopher Field, National Socio-Environmental Synthesis Center (SESYNC)
Overview: With growing recognition of the importance of, and challenges associated with, effective science communication, ecologists and conservation practitioners have put increasing emphasis on the use of visuals and storytelling to engage audiences with environmental issues. Collaborations between scientists and artists can produce innovative ways of communicating science and engaging the public in research, by creating compelling and evocative reflections on research findings or scientific concepts and engaging communities in place-based experiences highlighting natural landscapes, ecological processes, and sustainability initiatives. In this symposium, we highlight current initiatives in art-science collaboration and explore potential future innovations in this field. We envision contributions from scientists working with artists, artists working with scientists, and scientists creating art or evaluating art as a tool of communication.
Theme/Topic: art, communication, interdisciplinary
(S15) Rural Land Change and the Capacity for Ecosystem Conservation and Sustainable Production in North America
Contact: Alisa Coffin, USDA-ARS, [email protected]
Co-Organizers: Fardausi Akhter, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada; Mark Drummond, U.S. Geological Survey; David Huggins, USDA, Agricultural Research Service
Overview: Rural landscapes across the globe are vital to the production of food, timber, energy, and other resources for an increasing human population. They are also essential for sustaining natural habitat and improving ecosystem health for future generations. Accordingly, the challenge for humanity is to advance global production systems while also conserving and even enhancing natural land cover and ecosystem services. In North America production systems are differentiated from global systems with a tendency to be more commercialized and larger scale, with less diversification within the enterprise.This symposium emphasizes research and understanding of rural land change trends and the dynamics of land production and nature conservation in North America. Rural land use is characterized by agriculture, silviculture, and other resource-based dependencies of various intensity. They also include low-density human populations and a mix of natural, semi-natural, and anthropogenic vegetation cover. The dynamics of these rural land uses control a significant extent of North American land cover. What are the socioeconomic and environmental forces that interact to cause rural land use systems to change and intensify? As urban areas expand, and production systems intensify and change, what are the trends and dynamics of rural land cover and conservation? Developing a better understanding of human-environment dynamics in agricultural and other rural landscapes is critical to strategies for balancing human needs with ecosystem conservation in North America. Emerging research emphasizes that land use and nature can and should co-exist in sustainable ways that provide for people as well as for healthy ecosystems. These issues are complicated by socioeconomic changes, globalization, government policies, and climate variability and change. Given these challenges, how can agricultural production systems be sustainable? What are the past dynamics and emerging prospects for sustaining both our productive land use systems and nature conservation in a globalized and changing world?
Theme/Topic: Sustainable agriculture, rural land use, North America
Co-Organizers: Fardausi Akhter, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada; Mark Drummond, U.S. Geological Survey; David Huggins, USDA, Agricultural Research Service
Overview: Rural landscapes across the globe are vital to the production of food, timber, energy, and other resources for an increasing human population. They are also essential for sustaining natural habitat and improving ecosystem health for future generations. Accordingly, the challenge for humanity is to advance global production systems while also conserving and even enhancing natural land cover and ecosystem services. In North America production systems are differentiated from global systems with a tendency to be more commercialized and larger scale, with less diversification within the enterprise.This symposium emphasizes research and understanding of rural land change trends and the dynamics of land production and nature conservation in North America. Rural land use is characterized by agriculture, silviculture, and other resource-based dependencies of various intensity. They also include low-density human populations and a mix of natural, semi-natural, and anthropogenic vegetation cover. The dynamics of these rural land uses control a significant extent of North American land cover. What are the socioeconomic and environmental forces that interact to cause rural land use systems to change and intensify? As urban areas expand, and production systems intensify and change, what are the trends and dynamics of rural land cover and conservation? Developing a better understanding of human-environment dynamics in agricultural and other rural landscapes is critical to strategies for balancing human needs with ecosystem conservation in North America. Emerging research emphasizes that land use and nature can and should co-exist in sustainable ways that provide for people as well as for healthy ecosystems. These issues are complicated by socioeconomic changes, globalization, government policies, and climate variability and change. Given these challenges, how can agricultural production systems be sustainable? What are the past dynamics and emerging prospects for sustaining both our productive land use systems and nature conservation in a globalized and changing world?
Theme/Topic: Sustainable agriculture, rural land use, North America
(S16) Informing Conservation Actions Through Landscape Connectivity Innovations
Contact: David Theobald, Conservation Science Partners, [email protected]
Co-Organizers: Dave Theobald, Conservation Science Partners
Overview: Essentially, conservation innovation means: implementation and application of a (new) idea applied landscape conservation. In this session, presenters will provide various perspectives of the role of innovation in their work to apply landscape ecology principles to conservation. These perspectives include advanced landscape analyses to understand gradients of ecological integrity, adoption of hydro-period analyses to wetland ecosystems, development, co-locating massive remote sensing catalogs and computational platforms for local uses and a global reach, advanced numerical processing to reduce bottlenecks in connectivity modeling, and focusing attention on neglected fragments and their role in an overall conservation network -- particularly in the face of changing and novel landscapes. During the closing panel discussion, we will reflect on commonalities, differences, and insights they felt emerged during the symposium.
Theme/Topic: Landscape connectivity, innovation, co-production
Co-Organizers: Dave Theobald, Conservation Science Partners
Overview: Essentially, conservation innovation means: implementation and application of a (new) idea applied landscape conservation. In this session, presenters will provide various perspectives of the role of innovation in their work to apply landscape ecology principles to conservation. These perspectives include advanced landscape analyses to understand gradients of ecological integrity, adoption of hydro-period analyses to wetland ecosystems, development, co-locating massive remote sensing catalogs and computational platforms for local uses and a global reach, advanced numerical processing to reduce bottlenecks in connectivity modeling, and focusing attention on neglected fragments and their role in an overall conservation network -- particularly in the face of changing and novel landscapes. During the closing panel discussion, we will reflect on commonalities, differences, and insights they felt emerged during the symposium.
Theme/Topic: Landscape connectivity, innovation, co-production
(S17) Residential Landscape Ecology: Patterns of Biodiversity, Ecological Processes, and Their Interactions
Contact: Basil Iannone, School of Forest Resources and Conservation, University of Florida, [email protected]
Co-Organizers: Dr. Jiangxiao Qiu, University of Florida, School of Forest Resources and Conservation
Overview: Residential landscapes are expanding and changing dramatically across the globe. These changes in landscape structure not only affect ecological processes and ecosystem services via fragmentation, but also via the designed and engineered ecosystems that residential landscapes contain, e.g., parks, gardens, stormwater ponds. While considerable knowledge exists on the ecology of urban and urbanizing landscapes at the scale of entire cities, much less is known about internal ecology. That is, we need to better understand spatial patterns of biodiversity and ecological processes, and the complex interactions among social, economic, and ecological factors that contribute to these patterns. This understanding can contribute to the increasingly recognized importance of urban and residential landscapes to biodiversity and regional conservation planning, and thus to conservation innovations. For our proposed symposium, we will convene an interdisciplinary group of researchers/speakers with the overarching goal of increasing the understanding of (1) the socioeconomic and ecological causes of ecological heterogeneity found within residential landscapes and (2) the consequences of this spatial heterogeneity for ecological processes and ecosystem services. This understanding will inform the design, construction, and management of residential landscapes to enhance their functionality and their ability to provide ecosystem services. We will invite speakers across different geographic regions and academic research backgrounds, and who are diverse with regards to their gender, stage of career, and nationality. The scale of their work will range from local to macroscales, and across the temporal gradient from historical to contemporary. This symposium will forge new research directions by allowing localized investigations to inform larger-scale investigations and vice versa. Bringing together this group will also facilitate cross-regional and cross-scale comparisons. The symposium will end with a facilitated discussion of future research priorities needed to enhance the ecological functionality of residential landscapes and about publishing on these priorities. Iannone having facilitator training will lead this discussion.
Theme/Topic: Exurban development, residential landscapes, urban ecology
Co-Organizers: Dr. Jiangxiao Qiu, University of Florida, School of Forest Resources and Conservation
Overview: Residential landscapes are expanding and changing dramatically across the globe. These changes in landscape structure not only affect ecological processes and ecosystem services via fragmentation, but also via the designed and engineered ecosystems that residential landscapes contain, e.g., parks, gardens, stormwater ponds. While considerable knowledge exists on the ecology of urban and urbanizing landscapes at the scale of entire cities, much less is known about internal ecology. That is, we need to better understand spatial patterns of biodiversity and ecological processes, and the complex interactions among social, economic, and ecological factors that contribute to these patterns. This understanding can contribute to the increasingly recognized importance of urban and residential landscapes to biodiversity and regional conservation planning, and thus to conservation innovations. For our proposed symposium, we will convene an interdisciplinary group of researchers/speakers with the overarching goal of increasing the understanding of (1) the socioeconomic and ecological causes of ecological heterogeneity found within residential landscapes and (2) the consequences of this spatial heterogeneity for ecological processes and ecosystem services. This understanding will inform the design, construction, and management of residential landscapes to enhance their functionality and their ability to provide ecosystem services. We will invite speakers across different geographic regions and academic research backgrounds, and who are diverse with regards to their gender, stage of career, and nationality. The scale of their work will range from local to macroscales, and across the temporal gradient from historical to contemporary. This symposium will forge new research directions by allowing localized investigations to inform larger-scale investigations and vice versa. Bringing together this group will also facilitate cross-regional and cross-scale comparisons. The symposium will end with a facilitated discussion of future research priorities needed to enhance the ecological functionality of residential landscapes and about publishing on these priorities. Iannone having facilitator training will lead this discussion.
Theme/Topic: Exurban development, residential landscapes, urban ecology
(S18) Bridging the Research-management Gap: Landscape Ecology in Practice on Western Public Lands
Contact: Sarah Carter, US Geological Survey Fort Collins Science Center, [email protected]
Co-Organizers: Zack Bowen, US Geological Survey - Fort Collins Science Center; Jake Weltzin, US Geological Survey - Status & Trends Program and USA National Phenology Network
Overview: While the field of landscape ecology has grown and matured in the last several decades, incorporation of science into on-the-ground decisions of resource planners and managers can be challenging. However, some land use plans and management actions do incorporate landscape ecology concepts and science, and can serve as an important learning mechanism for future efforts to better integrate landscape science into landscape management. This symposium will investigate opportunities and innovations to improve the integration of landscape ecology research with conservation practice and land management activities, with a focus on western United States (US) landscapes under federal jurisdiction. A large proportion of lands in the western US are federally owned and managed by the US Forest Service and by Department of the Interior (DOI) bureaus including the Bureau of Land Management, National Park Service, and US Fish & Wildlife Service. The US Geological Survey (USGS) -- the science arm of DOI -- provides research and science support to inform effective management and decision-making for natural resources on DOI and other lands. In this symposium we will highlight recent, innovative landscape ecology research conducted by USGS and other organizations, and illustrate how this work supports natural resource planners, managers, and policymakers charged with decision-making on public lands. The symposium will open with a broad perspective on the need for and current use of landscape ecology science in planning for public lands management, describe several landscape ecology research projects relevant to today’s priority public lands management issues, and close with an outlook on how USGS is working to improve landscape science and research support for federal land managers and decision-makers.
Theme/Topic: Research-management integration, landscape management, public lands
Co-Organizers: Zack Bowen, US Geological Survey - Fort Collins Science Center; Jake Weltzin, US Geological Survey - Status & Trends Program and USA National Phenology Network
Overview: While the field of landscape ecology has grown and matured in the last several decades, incorporation of science into on-the-ground decisions of resource planners and managers can be challenging. However, some land use plans and management actions do incorporate landscape ecology concepts and science, and can serve as an important learning mechanism for future efforts to better integrate landscape science into landscape management. This symposium will investigate opportunities and innovations to improve the integration of landscape ecology research with conservation practice and land management activities, with a focus on western United States (US) landscapes under federal jurisdiction. A large proportion of lands in the western US are federally owned and managed by the US Forest Service and by Department of the Interior (DOI) bureaus including the Bureau of Land Management, National Park Service, and US Fish & Wildlife Service. The US Geological Survey (USGS) -- the science arm of DOI -- provides research and science support to inform effective management and decision-making for natural resources on DOI and other lands. In this symposium we will highlight recent, innovative landscape ecology research conducted by USGS and other organizations, and illustrate how this work supports natural resource planners, managers, and policymakers charged with decision-making on public lands. The symposium will open with a broad perspective on the need for and current use of landscape ecology science in planning for public lands management, describe several landscape ecology research projects relevant to today’s priority public lands management issues, and close with an outlook on how USGS is working to improve landscape science and research support for federal land managers and decision-makers.
Theme/Topic: Research-management integration, landscape management, public lands