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Clark Kent or Superman: Where Is the Phone Booth for Landscape Ecology?

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Landscape Ecological Analysis

Abstract

We live in a rapidly changing world in which the pressures of increasing human populations and their impacts on the world's ecosystems force us to consider complex problems concerning land use policy and management. We are increasingly realizing the need to deal with these issues at the relevant scale, which in many cases is at the landscape or regional scale. The underlying reason for this is the prevalence of patterns and processes which operate at these larger scales. The science of landscape ecology has been developing in response to this recognition that examination of the traditional scales studied in ecology (i.e., the quadrat, plot, and stand) can only provide part of the overall picture and may often omit some of the most important broader-scale and cross-boundary patterns and dynamics. Landscape ecology is thus poised to play a central role in finding solutions to many of today's land management and conservation problems. It is appropriate, therefore, to assess the current status of landscape ecology, not only in terms of its theoretical constructs and scientific rigor, but also in terms of its ability to provide principles and methodologies applicable to management and planning.

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Authors
  1. Richard J. Hobbs
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Plant Biology, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, 85287-1601, USA

    Jeffrey M. Klopatek

  2. Appalachian Laboratory, University of Maryland, Frostburg, MD, 21532, USA

    Robert H. Gardner

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© 1999 Springer Science+Business Media New York

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Hobbs, R.J. (1999). Clark Kent or Superman: Where Is the Phone Booth for Landscape Ecology?. In: Klopatek, J.M., Gardner, R.H. (eds) Landscape Ecological Analysis. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4612-0529-6_2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4612-0529-6_2

  • Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4612-6804-8

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4612-0529-6

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

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