Chapter 29 - Landscape Ecology: Linking Landscape Metrics to Ecological Processes

Abstract

Landscape ecology is a search for patterns in ecological process as well as the causes and consequences of those patterns, often at landscape scales. Conservation biology, historically, was largely focused at a species level; however, there is an increasing acknowledgment among conservation biologists on the need to account for ecosystem and landscape perspectives that form the basis of a species’ existence. As such, the fields of landscape ecology and conservation biology are increasingly linked. The natural history characteristics of large carnivores often make them prone to extinction, but also excellent ambassadors for ecosystem or landscape-level conservation interventions as keystone or umbrella species. Research into the landscape ecology of snow leopards is still in its infancy. As such, much may be learned by considering the techniques and findings of research conducted on other cat species such as leopards and cougars, as well as other large carnivores.