Abstract
This chapter explores the relationship between the emerging discipline of landscape ecology and the existing discipline of metapopulation dynamics. Landscape structure may often be an important component of metapopulation dynamics. Variations in patch quality in space and time, the form and permeability of patch boundaries, the composition and characteristics of surrounding mosaic elements, and the connectivity among landscape components may all influence the dynamics of local populations, especially, the ways in which populations are linked by movements of organisms. Metapopulation dynamics may contribute to the development of landscape ecology by emphasizing the dynamics that occur in a landscape. The spatiotemporal patterns of local extinctions and patch recolonizations create a shifting distribution of populations among patches. The second way in which metapopulation dynamics can contribute to landscape ecology is in the area of theory. In contrast to many other areas of ecology, landscape ecology has developed rather little theory. The lack of theory may stem, in part, from the diverse historical roots of the discipline, but it may also reflect the complexity of landscapes and their linkages.
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