Real Landscapes Research Articles

Effect of complex landscape geometry on the invasive species spread: Invasion with stepping stones

Spatial proliferation of invasive species often causes serious damage to agriculture, ecology and environment. Evaluation of the extent of the area potentially invadable by an alien species is an important problem. Landscape features that reduces dispersal space to narrow corridors can make some areas inaccessible to the invading species. On the other hand, the existence of stepping stones – small areas or ‘patches’ with better environmental conditions – is known to assist species spread. How an interplay between these factors can affect the invasion success remains unclear. In this paper, we address this question theoretically using a mechanistic model of population dynamics. Such models have been generally successful in predicting the rate and pattern of invasive spread; however, they usually consider the spread in an unbounded, uniform space hence ignoring the complex geometry of a real landscape. In contrast, here we consider a reaction-diffusion model in a domain of a complex shape combining corridors and stepping stones. We show that the invasion success depends on a subtle interplay between the stepping stone size, location and the strength of the Allee effect inside. In particular, for a stepping stone of a small size, there is only a narrow range of locations where it can unblock the otherwise impassable corridor.

РОЗРОБКА МЕТОДУ КОМПАКТНОГО ЗБЕРІГАННЯ ПОЛІВ ВИСОТ У ГІС ТА ІМІТАЦІЙНО-ТРЕНАЖЕРНИХ КОМПЛЕКСАХ БПЛА

Метою статті є розробка та дослідження методу компактного зберігання полів висот описують реальні ландшафти, які використовуються в ГІС та імітаційно-тренажерних комплексах. Визначено величини необхідної дискретизації поля для імітаційно-тренажерного комплексу. Розглянуто метод блочного кодування і декодування поля висот, який дозволяє обробляти як поодинокі, так і групові запити висот без повного декодування поля. Запропоновано практичну реалізацію алгоритму побудови безлічі векторів, які кодують поле з мінімальною похибкою. При проведенні дослідження шляхів мінімізації похибки кодування, використовувалися методи кластерного аналізу. Використання запропонованих методів дозволяє створити програмне забезпечення як для бортового комп'ютера ГІС БПЛА і наземної станції управління, так і для імітаційно-тренажерного комплексу що може бути використаний для підготовки операторів і попереднього моделювання польотного завдання в реальному масштабі часу. Проведено аналіз розподілу похибки кодування полів, наведено розподіл величин похибки по площі поля для різних типів ландшафтів. Показано швидкодію функції запиту висот для різних типів реальних ландшафтів, модель яких була синтезована за даними радіолокаційного сканування Землі.

Multi-scaler 3D modelling to reconstruct an experiential landscape: An example from a worker's cottage at Mount Dutton Bay, South Australia

New advances in 3D GIS provide the opportunity to create and interact with spatial datasets that are both empirical and experiential, thus bridging the historical divide between cartography and phenomenology. Survey and photogrammetry data from the colonial-era woolshed and port of Mount Dutton Bay in South Australia are used to create a visually realistic 3D landscape model. Viewshed analysis provided important information about the use of space and construction techniques for the shearers' cottage on this site. The results demonstrate that rigorous quantitative analysis is not incompatible with understanding the human experience of an archaeological site, and therefore open up exciting new avenues of archaeological enquiry.

Improving long-term fuel treatment effectiveness in the National Forest System through quantitative prioritization

Predicting the efficacy of fuel treatments aimed at reducing high severity fire in dry-mixed conifer forests in the western US is a challenging problem that has been addressed in a variety of ways using both field observations and wildfire simulation models. One way to describe the efficacy of fuel treatments is to quantify how often wildfires are expected to intersect areas prioritized for treatment. In real landscapes treatments are static, restricted to a small portion of the landscape and against a background of stochastic fire and dynamic vegetation, thus the likelihood of fire encountering a treatment during the period treatments remain effective is small. In this paper we simulate a wide range of different treatment prioritization schemes using the forest landscape simulation model Envision to examine 50 years of fire-treatment interactions and forest succession. We first reviewed 47 fuel management projects in Oregon, USA to build prioritization schemes that addressed different fuel management objectives. We then simulated different priority schemes in the 18 planning areas of the Deschutes National Forest in central Oregon and measured potential fire-treatment interactions over time. Simulated annual area burned was used to calculate the success odds for each priority scheme and planning area. Out of the ten metrics considered only three had higher success odds than a random prioritization of planning areas. Spatial allocation of projects based on burn probability and transmitted wildfire had the highest success odds among the tested metrics. However, success odds declined sharply as desired success levels increased suggesting that fuel management goals need to be tempered to consider the stochastic nature of wildfire. Meeting long-term multiple management goals over time can benefit from consideration of short- and long-term tradeoffs from different treatment prioritization schemes. Our work contributes towards a better framing of both management and public expectations regarding the performance of fuel treatments programs.

Fluxweb: An R package to easily estimate energy fluxes in food webs

Understanding how changes in biodiversity will impact the stability and functioning of ecosystems is a central challenge in ecology. Food‐web approaches have been advocated to link community composition with ecosystem functioning by describing the fluxes of energy among species or trophic groups. However, estimating such fluxes remains problematic because current methods become unmanageable as network complexity increases. We developed a generalisation of previous indirect estimation methods assuming a steady state system [1, 2, 3]: the model estimates energy fluxes in a top‐down manner assuming system equilibrium; each node's losses (consumption and physiological) balances its consumptive gains. Jointly, we provide theoretical and practical guidelines to use the fluxweb R package (available on CRAN at https://cran.r-project.org/web/packages/fluxweb/index.html We also present how the framework can merge with the allometric theory of ecology [4] to calculate fluxes based on easily obtainable organism‐level data (i.e. body masses and species groups ‐eg, plants animals), opening its use to food webs of all complexities. Physiological losses (metabolic losses or losses due to death other than from predation within the food web) may be directly measured or estimated using allometric relationships based on the metabolic theory of ecology, and losses and gains due to predation are a function of ecological efficiencies that describe the proportion of energy that is used for biomass production. The primary output is a matrix of fluxes among the nodes of the food web. These fluxes can be used to describe the role of a species, a function of interest (e.g. predation; total fluxes to predators), multiple functions, or total energy flux (system throughow or multitrophic functioning). Additionally, the package includes functions to calculate network stability based on the Jacobian matrix, providing insight into how resilient the network is to small perturbations at steady state. Overall, fluxweb provides a flexible set of functions that greatly increase the feasibility of implementing food‐web energetic approaches to more complex systems. As such, the package facilitates novel opportunities for mechanistically linking quantitative food webs and ecosystem functioning in real and dynamic natural landscapes.

Optimizing the Geometry of Wildlife Corridors in Conservation Reserve Design

Wildlife corridors are often used to connect critical habitat for species protection. Mixed integer programming models have been used in the past to create wildlife corridors, but they lack the capacity to control corridor geometry. We propose an approach that employs path planning techniques from artificial intelligence to account for and control corridor geometry, such as width and length. By combining path planning with network optimization, our approach allows the user to control and optimize the geometric characteristics of wildlife corridors. We illustrate our approach on two realistic landscapes and present numerical results on several computer-generated landscapes. The computational results indicate that this approach is efficient and can address problems controlling corridor geometry that were previously thought intractable. The approach has potential applications in such areas as the selection of routes or barrier construction problems, an example of which is firebreak design.Data are available at https://doi.org/10.1287/opre.2018.1758 .

August Wilson, Afrofuturism, & Gem of the Ocean

Abstract August Wilson's Century Cycle is as much a theatrical experiment of black cultural history and sociology as it is one of storytelling. Though often considered a realist playwright, Wilson walks beyond the realist landscape into speculative and imagined ones in Gem of the Ocean. His investment in cultural critique and history enhances the possibility of an enriching analysis of his work as speculative fiction. This research project locates the ties between Wilson’s affinity with history and the creation of a dystopian Pittsburgh in the play. In Wilson’s work, set in 1904, the antebellum past is so close to the post-Emancipation present, temporally and socio-politically, that there is almost no difference at all. The flattening of time Wilson insinuates through the milieu, a capitalist-police state, is articulated through characters’ relationship with it. Wilson is welcomed in conclusion into black speculative traditions of re-imagining time and using cultural histories to critique cultural realities.

A Study on Trends of Korean Oriental Painting in the 1970-80’s - Modern Real Landscape Painting and Sumuk-Movement -

A Study on Trends of Korean Oriental Painting in the 1970-80’s - Modern Real Landscape Painting and Sumuk-Movement -

El desplazamiento espacial del proyecto literario de Salvador Elizondo: de "Sila" a El mar de iguanas

Este artículo propone la recuperación del primer cuento publicado por Salvador Elizondo: “Sila” y, teniéndolo como principio de lectura, proyecta una forma posible de ejecutar la noción de espacio más allá de sus posibilidades topológicas, a la manera de la noción de espacio literario propuesta por Maurice Blanchot. Las tres partes que integran el artículo buscan valorar las distintas funciones que desempeña la modalidad descriptiva (espacialidad / poeticidad) en un discurso escritural que linda con la poesía sin abandonar la prosa, cuyo sello tonal y estilístico es el rodeo del relato sin definirse categóricamente como narración. El comentario del cuento empuja un distingo entre el paisaje realista y el paisaje imaginario; este arco pretende descubrir para el lector una suerte de puesta en crisis de la narratividad, la cual es extensiva al tema de la transgenericidad (hibridez), con lo que se da paso a la reflexión sobre la relación de la escritura con la vida, más que con la realidad, de allí que la escritura íntima (cuadernos y diarios, por ejemplo) sea el espacio literario donde la poética de la obra y el pensamiento literario del autor acontecen como fenómenos susceptibles de ser descritos.

Mitigating the Effects of Climate Change through Harvesting and Planting in Boreal Forests of Northeastern China

The ecological resilience of boreal forests is an important element of measuring forest ecosystem capacity recovered from a disturbance, and is sensitive to broad-scale factors (e.g., climate change, fire disturbance and human related impacts). Therefore, quantifying the effects of these factors is increasingly important for forest ecosystem management. In this study, we investigated the impacts of climate change, climate-induced fire regimes, and forest management schemes on forest ecological resilience using a forest landscape model in the boreal forests of the Great Xing’an Mountains, Northeastern China. First, we simulated the effects of the three studied variables on forest aboveground biomass, growing space occupied, age cohort structure, and the proportion of mid and late-seral species indicators by using the LANDIS PRO model. Second, we calculated ecological resilience based on these four selected indicators. We designed five simulated scenarios: Current fire only scenario, increased fire occurrence only scenario, climate change only scenario, climate-induced fire regime scenario, and climate-fire-management scenario. We analyzed ecological resilience over the five scenarios from 2000 to 2300. The results indicated that the initialized stand density and basal area information from the year 2000 adequately represented the real forest landscape of that year, and no significant difference was found between the simulated landscape of year 2010 and the forest inventory data of that year at the landscape scale. The simulated fire disturbance results were consistent with field inventory data in burned areas. Compared to the current fire regime scenario, forests where fire occurrence increased by 30% had an increase in ecological resilience of 12.4–43.2% at the landscape scale, whereas increasing fire occurrence by 200% would decrease the ecological resilience by 2.5–34.3% in all simulated periods. Under the low climate-induced fire regime scenario, the ecological resilience was 12.3–26.7% higher than that in the reference scenario across all simulated periods. Under the high climate-induced fire regime scenario, the ecological resilience decreased significantly by 30.3% and 53.1% in the short- and medium-terms at landscape scale, while increasing slightly by 3.8% in the long-term period compared to the reference scenario. Compared to no forest management scenario, ecological resilience was decreased by 5.8–32.4% under all harvesting and planting strategies for the low climate-induced fire regime scenario, and only the medium and high planting intensity scenarios visibly increased the ecological resilience (1.7–15.8%) under the high climate-induced fire regime scenario at the landscape scale. Results from our research provided insight into the future forest management and have implications for improving boreal forest sustainability.

An Improved Method for Impervious Surface Mapping Incorporating LiDAR Data and High-Resolution Imagery at Different Acquisition Times

Impervious surface mapping incorporating high-resolution remote sensing imagery has continued to attract increasing interest, as it can provide detailed information about urban structure and distribution. Previous studies have suggested that the combination of LiDAR data and high-resolution imagery for impervious surface mapping yields better performance than the use of high-resolution imagery alone. However, due to LiDAR data’s high cost of acquisition, it is difficult to obtain LiDAR data that was acquired at the same time as the high-resolution imagery in order to conduct impervious surface mapping by multi-sensor remote sensing data. Consequently, the occurrence of real landscape changes between multi-sensor remote sensing data sets with different acquisition times results in misclassification errors in impervious surface mapping. This issue has generally been neglected in previous works. Furthermore, observation differences that were generated from multi-sensor data—including the problems of misregistration, missing data in LiDAR data, and shadow in high-resolution images—also present obstacles to achieving the final mapping result in the fusion of LiDAR data and high-resolution images. In order to resolve these issues, we propose an improved impervious surface-mapping method incorporating both LiDAR data and high-resolution imagery with different acquisition times that consider real landscape changes and observation differences. In the proposed method, multi-sensor change detection by supervised multivariate alteration detection (MAD) is employed to identify the changed areas and mis-registered areas. The no-data areas in the LiDAR data and the shadow areas in the high-resolution image are extracted via independent classification based on the corresponding single-sensor data. Finally, an object-based post-classification fusion is proposed that takes advantage of both independent classification results while using single-sensor data and the joint classification result using stacked multi-sensor data. The impervious surface map is subsequently obtained by combining the landscape classes in the accurate classification map. Experiments covering the study site in Buffalo, NY, USA demonstrate that our method can accurately detect landscape changes and unambiguously improve the performance of impervious surface mapping.

Two-dimensional drift-diffusion study of mid-gap states and subsequent vacuum level shifts at interfaces in bulk-heterojunction solar cells

In recent years, there have been numerous observations of large vacuum level shifts, often attributed to the presence of mid-gap states, at many different metal/organic and organic/organic interfaces. Many of the same interfaces are found in bulk-heterojunction (BHJ) solar cells, where the large vacuum level shifts may alter the energy level alignment compared to common assumption. In this work, we have used a two-dimensional drift-diffusion simulation to calculate the vacuum level landscape for BHJ solar cells. We see that the large concentrations of mid-gap states required for experimentally observed vacuum level shifts to occur completely change the energetics of the device. When such mid-gap states are present, at thermal equilibrium, we find that the vacuum level landscape is dominated by abrupt changes in the vacuum level at interfaces and a constant value for the vacuum level within the donor and acceptor phases. Under illumination, for mid-gap-state depths larger than a certain threshold, the population of mid-gap states becomes dominated by the capture of free charge carriers. This behavior sets an upper limit for the electric field within the donor and acceptor phases which is much smaller than typical values for the electric field in the device under operational conditions. Our results show that, in general, simply adding experimental values for vacuum level shifts obtained for the individual interface will not produce the real vacuum level landscape in the device. The magnitude of the vacuum level shift at any one interface depends not only on the surface density and energy of the mid-gap states at that interface but also on the alignment at other interfaces throughout the device.

Inferring ecological processes from population signatures: A simulation-based heuristic for the selection of sampling strategies

A good knowledge about species traits variability in relation to their environment is the cornerstone of landscape-oriented species management studies. One way to infer this relationship is to compare species signatures in space and time from field data with spatially explicit population dynamics models outputs. However, the inference robustness relies on the available field data, and thus on the quality of the underlying sampling strategy. Field sampling is constrained by several factors, such as the number of landscape replicates, possible number of temporal sessions and number of sample locations, that need to be accounted for prior to field sampling. We set and illustrate a heuristic method to answer the question of optimal sampling conditioned by these landscape-induced constraints. First we studied a real agricultural landscape to determine its mean properties in terms of configuration and composition. The real landscape properties were used as constraints in a landscape model to generate a collection of landscapes with similar properties. On the other hand, we formulated population dynamics models (hereafter noted Process Models (PM)) carrying competing hypotheses about two ecological processes—population growth and dispersal—in relation to spatial covariates for Pterostichus melanarius, a carabid species involved in pest regulation. We simulated these spatially explicit models and extracted their sampling-dependent signatures, i.e. metrics computed on different population samples. We defined a sampling design quality as its ability to capture the contrasts between the PM signatures, summarised by the performance of a classification procedure. The most relevant sampling design was selected on the basis of classification performance and in situ feasibility. Finally we explored the effects of the a priori ecological hypotheses quality on classification performances, through a sensitivity analysis of the PM parameters. While some improvements remain to be achieved before being fully operational for landscape ecologists, our framework contributes to bringing closer sampling theory and its application on the field. It endorses the use of landscape modelling to design sampling prior to field experiment to bring out the best from sampled data.

Linking pesticide marketing authorisations with environmental impact assessments through realistic landscape risk assessment paradigms.

Each year, the European Food Safety Authority, supported by a network of experts in the EU Member States, assesses and publishes the environmental risks of 30-40 pesticides active substances. The assessments support hundreds of national risk evaluations for marketing (re-)authorisations of Plant Protection Products. These prospective regulatory evaluations are based on worst-case scenarios in order to provide the high level of protection required by the EU legislations, and establishes the conditions for a correct use of the products including risk mitigations options. However, recent publications suggest that the desired high level of protection may not be achieved with the current risk assessment paradigm. The consideration of larger spatial scales and multiple stressors, including different pesticide uses, could improve the risk assessment process. A next step is the use of these larger spatial scales for evidence-based assessments, evaluating the overall impact of pesticide use on the European environment and biodiversity. Reaching this level would provide science-based support to the National Plans on sustainable use of pesticides and to the broader EU policies defined in the EU Environmental Action Programmes. Recent technological developments, as well as policy efforts, have solved two of the key issues blocking this progress in the past. Data availability and technical capacity for handling Big Data are no longer an unaffordable obstacle. The current proposal presents an alternative environmental risk assessment paradigm, integrating use patterns and pesticides properties with landscape ecotypes and eco-regions, covering the variability of the European agro-environmental conditions. The paradigm is suggested to be implemented in a spatially explicit conceptual model, using the ecosystem services approach and vulnerable key driver species to represent the service providing units. This approach would allow mapping the likelihood and magnitude of the impact of pesticide use on ecosystems functions, environmental resources, and biodiversity at the EU scale.

How concave are river channels?

Abstract. For over a century, geomorphologists have attempted to unravel information about landscape evolution, and processes that drive it, using river profiles. Many studies have combined new topographic datasets with theoretical models of channel incision to infer erosion rates, identify rock types with different resistance to erosion, and detect potential regions of tectonic activity. The most common metric used to analyse river profile geometry is channel steepness, or ks. However, the calculation of channel steepness requires the normalisation of channel gradient by drainage area. This normalisation requires a power law exponent that is referred to as the channel concavity index. Despite the concavity index being crucial in determining channel steepness, it is challenging to constrain. In this contribution, we compare both slope–area methods for calculating the concavity index and methods based on integrating drainage area along the length of the channel, using so-called “chi” (χ) analysis. We present a new χ-based method which directly compares χ values of tributary nodes to those on the main stem; this method allows us to constrain the concavity index in transient landscapes without assuming a linear relationship between χ and elevation. Patterns of the concavity index have been linked to the ratio of the area and slope exponents of the stream power incision model (m∕n); we therefore construct simple numerical models obeying detachment-limited stream power and test the different methods against simulations with imposed m and n. We find that χ-based methods are better than slope–area methods at reproducing imposed m∕n ratios when our numerical landscapes are subject to either transient uplift or spatially varying uplift and fluvial erodibility. We also test our methods on several real landscapes, including sites with both lithological and structural heterogeneity, to provide examples of the methods' performance and limitations. These methods are made available in a new software package so that other workers can explore how the concavity index varies across diverse landscapes, with the aim to improve our understanding of the physics behind bedrock channel incision.

Coupling agent-based with equation-based models to study spatially explicit megapopulation dynamics

The incorporation of the spatial heterogeneity of real landscapes into population dynamics remains extremely difficult. We propose combining equation-based modelling (EBM) and agent-based modelling (ABM) to overcome the difficulties classically encountered. ABM facilitates the description of entities that act according to specific rules evolving on various scales. However, a large number of entities may lead to computational difficulties (e.g., for populations of small mammals, such as voles, that can exceed millions of individuals). Here, EBM handles age-structured population growth, and ABM represents the spreading of voles on large scales. Simulations applied to the spreading of a montane water vole population demonstrated that our model is quite efficient in representing the pattern observed and might help to highlight some key parameters during population expansion. This method paves the way for further developments, including the introduction of density-dependent parameters (predation, diseases, etc.) capable of triggering population declines in an explicitly spatial context.

The environmental navigation using geometric virtual reality

This article explores the construction of a geometric virtual reality platform for the environmental navigation. Non-panoramic photos and wearable electronics with Bluetooth wireless transmission functions are used to combine the user’s actions with the virtual reality environment in a first-person virtual reality platform. The 3ds Max animation software is used to create three-dimensional models of real buildings. These models are combined with the landscape models in Unity3d to create a virtual campus scene that matches real landscape. The wearable device included an ATMega168 chip as a microcontroller; it was connected to a three-axis accelerometer, a gyroscope, and a Bluetooth transmitter to detect and transmit various movements of the user. Although the development of the mechatronics, software, and engineering involved in the three-dimensional animation are the main objective, we believe that the methods and techniques can be modified for various purposes. After the system architecture was created and the operations of the platform were verified, wearable devices and virtual reality scenes are concluded to be able to be used together seamlessly.

Environmental gradients and complexity in coastal landscape response to sea level rise

Relative sea-level rise (SLR) raises geomorphic base levels, displaces salt water and tidal or backwater effects inland, and changes the hydrology of aquatic and upland environments. On an all-other-things-being equal basis, we can predict some transitions associated with SLR. However, in real coastal landscapes, all other things are not equal. Factors other than sea-level influence geomorphic, hydrological, and ecological processes and controls, environmental interactions often complicate or obscure process-response relationships, and local disturbances may interrupt or overprint them. In this study relationships among coastal environments in North Carolina, USA were investigated as they respond to changes in multiple environmental gradients driven by relative sea level rise, to determine the extent to which the spatial complexity of landscape response can be explained by environmental gradients. Spatial adjacency graphs reflecting observed patterns of contiguity were derived empirically, and five key environmental gradients related to relative sea-level were identified (elevation, hydroperiod, salinity, vegetation, and process regime). The spectral radius of the spatial adjacency graph indicates a complex system that on the landscape level cannot be described or modeled based on linear gradients or successional relationships. Yet, spectral graph theory measures show that the complexity of the system can be fully explained, in the aggregate, by the five identified gradients, despite some redundancy of information therein. This indicates that coastal responses to SLR should be assessed based on multiscalar, nested environmental gradients rather than a single advancing front of change or linear sequence.

Bumble-BEEHAVE: A systems model for exploring multifactorial causes of bumblebee decline at individual, colony, population and community level.

World‐wide declines in pollinators, including bumblebees, are attributed to a multitude of stressors such as habitat loss, resource availability, emerging viruses and parasites, exposure to pesticides, and climate change, operating at various spatial and temporal scales. Disentangling individual and interacting effects of these stressors, and understanding their impact at the individual, colony and population level are a challenge for systems ecology. Empirical testing of all combinations and contexts is not feasible. A mechanistic multilevel systems model (individual‐colony‐population‐community) is required to explore resilience mechanisms of populations and communities under stress.We present a model which can simulate the growth, behaviour and survival of six UK bumblebee species living in any mapped landscape. Bumble‐BEEHAVE simulates, in an agent‐based approach, the colony development of bumblebees in a realistic landscape to study how multiple stressors affect bee numbers and population dynamics. We provide extensive documentation, including sensitivity analysis and validation, based on data from literature. The model is freely available, has flexible settings and includes a user manual to ensure it can be used by researchers, farmers, policy‐makers, NGOs or other interested parties.Model outcomes compare well with empirical data for individual foraging behaviour, colony growth and reproduction, and estimated nest densities.Simulating the impact of reproductive depression caused by pesticide exposure shows that the complex feedback mechanisms captured in this model predict higher colony resilience to stress than suggested by a previous, simpler model. Synthesis and applications. The Bumble‐BEEHAVE model represents a significant step towards predicting bumblebee population dynamics in a spatially explicit way. It enables researchers to understand the individual and interacting effects of the multiple stressors affecting bumblebee survival and the feedback mechanisms that may buffer a colony against environmental stress, or indeed lead to spiralling colony collapse. The model can be used to aid the design of field experiments, for risk assessments, to inform conservation and farming decisions and for assigning bespoke management recommendations at a landscape scale.

Invasion complexity at large spatial scales is an emergent property of interactions among landscape characteristics and invader traits.

Invasion potential should be part of the evaluation of candidate species for any species introduction. However, estimating invasion risks remains a challenging problem, particularly in complex landscapes. Certain plant traits are generally considered to increase invasive potential and there is an understanding that landscapes influence invasions dynamics, but little research has been done to explore how those drivers of invasions interact. We evaluate the relative roles of, and potential interactions between, plant invasiveness traits and landscape characteristics on invasions with a case study using a model parameterized for the potentially invasive biomass crop, Miscanthus × giganteus. Using that model we simulate invasions on 1000 real landscapes to evaluate how landscape characteristics, including both composition and spatial structure, affect invasion outcomes. We conducted replicate simulations with differing strengths of plant invasiveness traits (dispersal ability, establishment ability, population growth rate, and the ability to utilize dispersal corridors) to evaluate how the importance of landscape characteristics for predicting invasion patterns changes depending on the invader details. Analysis of simulations showed that the presence of highly suitable habitat (e.g., grasslands) is generally the strongest determinant of invasion dynamics but that there are also more subtle interactions between landscapes and invader traits. These effects can also vary between different aspects of invasion dynamics (short vs. long time scales and population size vs. spatial extent). These results illustrate that invasions are complex emergent processes with multiple drivers and effective management needs to reflect the ecology of the species of interest and the particular goals or risks for which efforts need to be optimized.