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Landscape Pattern and Its Effects on Energy and Nutrient Distribution

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Changing Landscapes: An Ecological Perspective

Abstract

Landscape ecology is the study of natural and human-influenced processes that operate within heterogeneous geographical areas of the dimension of several to many square kilometers. Thus, in a hierarchical structure landscape processes are recognized between ecosystems and regions. In this context, ecosystems are defined as relatively homogeneous because the internal processes are driven by characteristics of that ecosystem (e.g., a deciduous forest or a grassland). Regions, on the other hand, are very broad in dimension, and as such, involve so much complexity and spatial heterogeneity that simple process studies are not practical. Therefore, in a hierarchical sense, landscape ecology focuses on that crucial level where natural and human-influenced processes are consequences of the heterogeneous landscape composed of contrasting ecosystems, and at the spatial and temporal scale where these processes can be analyzed.

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Authors
  1. Paul G. Risser
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Land Resource Surveys and Rural Development, International Institute for Aerospace Survey and Earth Sciences (ITC), 350 Boulevard 1945, P.O. Box 6, 7511 AL, Enschede, The Netherlands

    Isaak S. Zonneveld (Professor of Vegetation Surveys) (Professor of Vegetation Surveys)

  2. V.P.O. Department, Agricultural University Wageningen, 6708 PD, Wageningen, The Netherlands

    Isaak S. Zonneveld (Professor of Vegetation Surveys) (Professor of Vegetation Surveys)

  3. Graduate School of Design, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 02138, USA

    Richard T. T. Forman (PAES Professor of Landscape Ecology) (PAES Professor of Landscape Ecology)

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Risser, P.G. (1990). Landscape Pattern and Its Effects on Energy and Nutrient Distribution. In: Zonneveld, I.S., Forman, R.T.T. (eds) Changing Landscapes: An Ecological Perspective. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4612-3304-6_4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4612-3304-6_4

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