Landscape ecology and GIS methods

Abstract Relevance of landscape ecology to amphibian biology and conservation The field of landscape ecology “deals with the effects of the spatial configuration of mosaics on a wide variety of ecological phenomena” (Wiens et al. 1993). The field has emerged from recognition of the need to link ecological processes to landscape configuration and composition (Turner et al. 2001). Another stimulus has been the revelation that population processes play out over much larger areas and time frames than previously assumed. Landscape ecology is a relatively young discipline that emerged in Central and Eastern Europe (Naveh and Lieberman 1994). The field has exploded over the past two decades largely because of technological advances (Turner et al. 2001). On the data side, a sudden wealth of spatial data from global positioning systems (GPS), satellite imagery, and high-resolution aerial photography has materialized, coupled with the Internet as a medium for its quick distribution. On the analysis side, computer processing speeds have increased exponentially (Moore 1975) and a large suite of software packages for manipulating and analyzing spatial data (that is, Geographic Information Systems or GIS) has evolved that capitalize on these vastly faster processing speeds. The result is a synergism between more data and faster computers for processing it, thereby creating opportunity for tackling increasingly complex questions in landscape ecology.