Advanced Topics in Landscape Ecology

An in-depth review of one or more topics of current interest concerning ecological spatial patterns, flows, and changes in the landscape. In spring 2004 the overall course objective is to identify spatial arrangements of nature and people so they both strive long-term. Two broad areas receive emphasis:Major focus. For site, neighborhood, town, and region scales:1. Explore and analyze diverse examples and case studies of students\’ and instructor\’s choice, identifying good and bad spatial arrangements of nature and people, and why; 2. Highlight relevant basic principles and design/planning guidelines for good spatial arrangements. Secondary focus. Evaluate the ecological effects and mitigation/design/planning solutions for:1. Natural flows and their patterns across the land (e.g., dispersal/foraging, streams/groundwater, wind/fire, etc.);2. Traffic flows and road networks on the land (e.g., vegetation, wildlife, aquatic conditions, etc.)Pedagogic objectives:1. Explore these frontiers to discover useful themes and solutions. 2. Be familiar with important examples, evidence, and key literature.3. Examine and evaluate some of the patterns in field studies.4. Do an individual project and paper of a student\’s choice in this area.