Landscape ecology

thumb|350px|Book frontispiece|Frontispiece to [[Alfred Russel Wallace's book The Geographical Distribution of Animals]]

thumb|This coral reef in the [[Phoenix Islands Protected Area provides habitat for numerous marine species.]] thumb|Few creatures make the ice shelf|ice shelves of [[Antarctica their habitat, but water beneath the ice can provide habitat for multiple species. Animals such as penguins have adapted to live in very cold conditions.]] thumb| Ibex in an alpine habitat

fit of a species living under specific environmental conditions.

study of threats to biological diversity

science of relationships between ecological processes in the environmental landscape and particular ecosystems

thumb|Reed beds are a common form of lakeside ecotone. The beds tend to accumulate organic matter which is then colonised by trees, forcing the reeds further into the lake. An ecotone is a transitional area between two plant communities, where these meet and integrate. Examples include areas between grassland and forest, estuary and lagoon, and freshwater and sea water. An ecotone may be narrow or wide, and it may be local (the zone between a field and forest) or regional (the transition between forest and grassland ecosystems). An ecotone may appear on the ground as a gradual blending of the

Ecotypes, or ecospecies, are organisms which belong to the same species but possess different phenotypical features as a result of environmental factors such as elevation, climate and predation. Ecotypes can be seen in wide geographical distributions and may eventually lead to speciation.

thumb|Shea tree|Shea butter trees planted near residential areas to serve as windbreaks A windbreak (shelterbelt) is a planting usually made up of one or more rows of trees or shrubs planted in such a manner as to provide shelter from the wind and to protect soil from erosion. They are commonly planted in hedgerows around the edges of fields on farms. If designed properly, windbreaks around a home can reduce the cost of heating and cooling and save energy. Windbreaks are also planted to help keep snow from drifting onto roadways or yards. Farmers sometimes use windbreaks to keep snow drifts on

gradual variation of the characteristics of a species along its territory

thumb|Metapopulations are important in fisheries. The local population (1.) serves as a source for hybridization with surrounding subspecies populations (1.a, 1.b, and 1.c).The populations are normally spatially separated and independent but spatial overlap between them during breeding times allows for gene flow between the populations. A metapopulation consists of a group of spatially separated populations of the same species which interact at some level. The term metapopulation was coined by Richard Levins in 1969 to describe a model of population dynamics of insect pests in agricultural fie

scientific study of renewing and restoring ecosystems

field within biogeography that examines the factors that affect the species richness and diversification of isolated natural communities

change in environmental conditions that causes a pronounced change in an ecosystem

changes in population or community structures that occur at the boundary of two or more habitats

any animal that creates, significantly modifies, maintains or destroys a habitat

future extinction of species due to events in the past

phenomenon in which species sometimes prefer low-quality habitats

tree grown specifically for its shade

holistic approach to landscape management

the degree to which the landscape facilitates or impedes movement among resource patches

hypothesis in ecology

ecosystem regeneration

measure used in conservation biology

ecology of roadside habitats

conceptual framework describing predator-stress

study of the distribution or space occupied by species

computational prediction of species distribution across geographic space and time

combination of population genetics and landscape ecology