Landscape ecology

Last changed: 19 December 2021
Cows are watching a person looking for something under a stone.

Landscape ecology is the study of ecology with a landscape perspective. No biological system is an isolated island. Local populations, communities and ecosystems always interact to some extent with its surroundings. Further, landscapes may filter which species that colonizes the local communities. Clearly, it is central to have a landscape perspective when investigating how to manage or conserve biodiversity.

As model organisms for investigating landscape ecological processes we use birds, insects (e.g. butterflies) and to lesser extent plants. Using repeated inventories and monitoring data from agricultural landscapes we investigate how modern agriculture changes the landscapes and how that affects local and landscape level biodiversity patterns in time and space. 

Our studies are instrumental for the decisions of how to manage biodiversity, e.g. by:

  • land sparing (reserves) or land sharing (environmental friendly landuse)
  • protecting one big large or several small
  • managing habitat structures of whole landscapes, such as wetlands, semi-natural grasslands

The ultimate goal is to develop long-term and sustainable use of rural and urban landscapes to better develop a functional link between cities and countryside.

Projects and publications

Read more about our projects and publications on the researchers cv-pages

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