Journal : A checklist for ecological management of landscapes for conservation

Ecology Letters

Volume 11 Issue 1 Page 78-91, January 2008

To cite this article: David Lindenmayer, Richard J. Hobbs, Rebecca Montague-Drake, Jason Alexandra, Andrew Bennett, Mark Burgman, Peter Cale, Aram Calhoun, Viki Cramer, Peter Cullen, Don Driscoll, Lenore Fahrig, Joern Fischer, Jerry Franklin, Yrjo Haila, Malcolm Hunter, Philip Gibbons, Sam Lake, Gary Luck, Chris MacGregor, Sue McIntyre, Ralph Mac Nally, Adrian Manning, James Miller, Hal Mooney, Reed Noss, Hugh Possingham, Denis Saunders, Fiona Schmiegelow, Michael Scott, Dan Simberloff, Tom Sisk, Gary Tabor, Brian Walker, John Wiens, John Woinarski, Erika Zavaleta (2008) A checklist for ecological management of landscapes for conservation

Ecology Letters 11 (1) , 78–91 doi:10.1111/j.1461-0248.2007.01114.x

Abstract

REVIEW AND SYNTHESIS

A checklist for ecological management of landscapes for conservation

• David Lindenmayer¹*¹Fenner School of the Environment and Society, The Australian National University, Canberra, ACT 0200, Australia*E-mail: david.lindenmayer@anu.edu.au,
• Richard J. Hobbs²²School of Environmental Science, Murdoch University, Murdoch, Western Australia 6150, Australia,
• Rebecca Montague-Drake¹¹Fenner School of the Environment and Society, The Australian National University, Canberra, ACT 0200, Australia,
• Jason Alexandra³³Land and Water Australia, Canberra, ACT 2601, Australia,
• Andrew Bennett⁴⁴School of Life and Environmental Sciences, Deakin University, Burwood, VIC 3125, Australia,
• Mark Burgman⁵⁵Department of Botany, University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria 3050, Australia,
• Peter Cale⁶⁶Department for Environment and Heritage, Berri, South Australia 5343, Australia,
• Aram Calhoun⁷⁷Department of Wildlife Ecology, 5755 Nutting Hall University of Maine, Orono, ME 04469, USA,
• Viki Cramer²²School of Environmental Science, Murdoch University, Murdoch, Western Australia 6150, Australia,
• Peter Cullen⁸⁸PO Box 89, Gunning, NSW 2581, Australia,
• Don Driscoll¹¹Fenner School of the Environment and Society, The Australian National University, Canberra, ACT 0200, Australia,
• Lenore Fahrig⁹⁹Department of Biology, Carleton University, 1125 Colonel By Drive, Ottawa, Canada K1S 5B6,
• Joern Fischer¹¹Fenner School of the Environment and Society, The Australian National University, Canberra, ACT 0200, Australia,
• Jerry Franklin¹⁰¹⁰College of Forest Resources, Box 352100, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195-2100, USA,
• Yrjo Haila¹¹¹¹Department of Regional Studies, 33014 University of Tampere, Tampere, Finland,
• Malcolm Hunter⁷⁷Department of Wildlife Ecology, 5755 Nutting Hall University of Maine, Orono, ME 04469, USA,
• Philip Gibbons¹¹Fenner School of the Environment and Society, The Australian National University, Canberra, ACT 0200, Australia,
• Sam Lake¹²¹²School of Biological Sciences, Monash University, Victoria 3800, Australia,
• Gary Luck¹³¹³Institute for Land, Water and Society, Charles Sturt University, Albury, NSW 2640, Australia,
• Chris MacGregor¹¹Fenner School of the Environment and Society, The Australian National University, Canberra, ACT 0200, Australia,
• Sue McIntyre¹⁴¹⁴CSIRO Sustainable Ecosystems, GPO Box 284, Canberra, ACT 2601, Australia,
• Ralph Mac Nally¹⁵¹⁵Australian Centre for Biodiversity: Analysis, Policy and Management, School of Biological Sciences, Monash University, Victoria 3800, Australia,
• Adrian Manning¹¹Fenner School of the Environment and Society, The Australian National University, Canberra, ACT 0200, Australia,
• James Miller¹⁶¹⁶Department of Natural Resource Ecology and Management, Iowa State University, Ames, IA 50011-3221, USA,
• Hal Mooney¹⁷¹⁷Department of Biological Sciences, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA,
• Reed Noss¹⁸¹⁸Department of Biology, University of Central Florida, 4000 Central Florida Blvd, Orlando, FL 32816-2368, USA,
• Hugh Possingham¹⁹¹⁹The Ecology Centre, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, QLD 4072, Australia,
• Denis Saunders²⁰²⁰18 Abernethy Street, Weetangera, ACT 2614, Australia,
• Fiona Schmiegelow²¹²¹Department of Renewable Resources, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada,
• Michael Scott²²²²USGS-Idaho Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, PO Box 441141, University of Idaho, Moscow, ID 83844-1141, USA,
• Dan Simberloff²³²³Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, 569 Dabney Hall, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN 37996, USA,
• Tom Sisk²⁴²⁴Environmental Sciences, PO Box 5694, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, AZ 86011-5694, USA,
• Gary Tabor²⁵²⁵Wildlife Conservation Society, Bozeman, MT, USA,
• Brian Walker¹⁵¹⁵Australian Centre for Biodiversity: Analysis, Policy and Management, School of Biological Sciences, Monash University, Victoria 3800, Australia,
• John Wiens²⁶²⁶The Nature Conservancy, 4245 N. Fairfax Drive, Suite 100, Arlington, VA 22203, USA,
• John Woinarski²⁷²⁷Department of Natural Resources, Environment and the Arts, PO Box 496, Palmerston, Northern Territory, Australia and
• Erika Zavaleta²⁸²⁸Environmental Studies Department, University of California-Santa Cruz, CA, USA

• ¹Fenner School of the Environment and Society, The Australian National University, Canberra, ACT 0200, Australia
  ²School of Environmental Science, Murdoch University, Murdoch, Western Australia 6150, Australia
  ³Land and Water Australia, Canberra, ACT 2601, Australia
  ⁴School of Life and Environmental Sciences, Deakin University, Burwood, VIC 3125, Australia
  ⁵Department of Botany, University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria 3050, Australia
  ⁶Department for Environment and Heritage, Berri, South Australia 5343, Australia
  ⁷Department of Wildlife Ecology, 5755 Nutting Hall University of Maine, Orono, ME 04469, USA
  ⁸PO Box 89, Gunning, NSW 2581, Australia
  ⁹Department of Biology, Carleton University, 1125 Colonel By Drive, Ottawa, Canada K1S 5B6
  ¹⁰College of Forest Resources, Box 352100, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195-2100, USA
  ¹¹Department of Regional Studies, 33014 University of Tampere, Tampere, Finland
  ¹²School of Biological Sciences, Monash University, Victoria 3800, Australia
  ¹³Institute for Land, Water and Society, Charles Sturt University, Albury, NSW 2640, Australia
  ¹⁴CSIRO Sustainable Ecosystems, GPO Box 284, Canberra, ACT 2601, Australia
  ¹⁵Australian Centre for Biodiversity: Analysis, Policy and Management, School of Biological Sciences, Monash University, Victoria 3800, Australia
  ¹⁶Department of Natural Resource Ecology and Management, Iowa State University, Ames, IA 50011-3221, USA
  ¹⁷Department of Biological Sciences, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA
  ¹⁸Department of Biology, University of Central Florida, 4000 Central Florida Blvd, Orlando, FL 32816-2368, USA
  ¹⁹The Ecology Centre, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, QLD 4072, Australia²⁰18 Abernethy Street, Weetangera, ACT 2614, Australia
  ²¹Department of Renewable Resources, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
  ²²USGS-Idaho Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, PO Box 441141, University of Idaho, Moscow, ID 83844-1141, USA
  ²³Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, 569 Dabney Hall, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN 37996, USA
  ²⁴Environmental Sciences, PO Box 5694, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, AZ 86011-5694, USA
  ²⁵Wildlife Conservation Society, Bozeman, MT, USA
  ²⁶The Nature Conservancy, 4245 N. Fairfax Drive, Suite 100, Arlington, VA 22203, USA
  ²⁷Department of Natural Resources, Environment and the Arts, PO Box 496, Palmerston, Northern Territory, Australia
  ²⁸Environmental Studies Department, University of California-Santa Cruz, CA, USA

*E-mail: david.lindenmayer@anu.edu.au

Abstract

The management of landscapes for biological conservation and ecologically sustainable natural resource use are crucial global issues. Research for over two decades has resulted in a large literature, yet there is little consensus on the applicability or even the existence of general principles or broad considerations that could guide landscape conservation. We assess six major themes in the ecology and conservation of landscapes. We identify 13 important issues that need to be considered in developing approaches to landscape conservation. They include recognizing the importance of landscape mosaics (including the integration of terrestrial and aquatic areas), recognizing interactions between vegetation cover and vegetation configuration, using an appropriate landscape conceptual model, maintaining the capacity to recover from disturbance and managing landscapes in an adaptive framework. These considerations are influenced by landscape context, species assemblages and management goals and do not translate directly into on-the-ground management guidelines but they should be recognized by researchers and resource managers when developing guidelines for specific cases. Two crucial overarching issues are: (i) a clearly articulated vision for landscape conservation and (ii) quantifiable objectives that offer unambiguous signposts for measuring progress.