News:

Read "Rising from the Ashes," describing 20 years of research on the 1988 Yellowstone fires by Monica Turner, her collaborators and students that was published in the summer 2008 issue of ON WISCONSIN.

Check out the table of contents of "The Vanishing Present: Wisconsin's Changing Lands, Water and Wildlife" due out in September, 2008.

US-IALE met in Madison, 6-10 April 2008. View UW News release for additional information.

Read a review of 'Ecosystem Function in Heterogeneous Landscapes' (Lovett, Jones, Turner and Weathers, editors) published recently in Ecology

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The 1988 fires in Yellowstone National Park produced a complex spatial mosaic of burn severities across the landscape, producing an unusual opportunity to study the effects of fire size and shape on postfire succession.

Stars show current main study site locations: Yellowstone National Park, North Temperate Lakes, Wisconsin River Floodplain and the southern Appalachian Mountains

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What is landscape ecology ?

Landscape ecology emphasizes the interaction between spatial pattern and ecological process–that is, the causes and consequences of spatial heterogeneity across a range of scales. Two important aspects of landscape ecology distinguish it from other sub-disciplines within ecology. First, landscape ecology explicitly addresses the importance of spatial configuration for ecological processes. Not only is landscape ecology concerned with how much there is of a particular component but also with how it is arranged. Second, landscape ecology often focuses upon spatial extents that are much larger than those traditionally studied in ecology. Landscape ecology offers new concepts, theory and methods that are revealing the importance of spatial patterning on the dynamics of interacting ecosystems.

What is ecosystem ecology?

Ecosystem ecology focuses on the flow of energy and matter through organisms and their environment. As such, it addresses pools, fluxes, and regulating factors. From ecosystem studies, ecology has gained an excellent understanding of the mechanisms underlying many processes and of temporal dynamics in function. However, understanding patterns, causes, and consequences of spatial heterogeneity in ecosystem function remains a frontier. Our emphasis has been on this intersection between ecosystem and landscape ecology.

Our research

Through collaborative research with other faculty (at UW and elsewhere) and researchers, postdoctoral associates, and both graduate and undergraduate students, we use field studies, spatial data and geographic information systems (GIS), and computer simulation modeling to examine the causes and consequences of spatial pattern in ecology. We are primarily a terrestrial ecology research group, but our work includes the interface between terrestrial and aquatic systems. Our research is united by a focus on interactions between patterns and processes while examining a diverse range of topics:

Fire, vegetation and ecosystem processes in Yellowstone National Park
Land-water interactions in north temperate landscapes
Landscape dynamics in the Southern Appalachian Mountains
Landscape ecology of ungulate populations
Invasive plants in North America and East Asia
Tools and resources for landscape ecology

About this site

Our lab is run by Dr. Monica Turner. See our Research, Publications and Recent Abstracts pages for more detailed information about out current research directions and projects. If you would like to know more about our personnel, visit our People page. Our Opportunities page describes current employment and research opportunities within our lab. You can also read about the landscape ecology-based Teaching we are involved with at the University of Wisconsin. Visit our Photo Album for pictures of us involved in research and recreation. Check out our Visitors page for more information on how to visit us and to learn about our campus and the city of Madison. We also provide a list of Links to related sites. We have also posted some of our published data with other researchers on our Data page.

Contact Us

Dr. Monica G. Turner
Department of Zoology
University of Wisconsin-Madison
430 Lincoln Drive
Madison, Wisconsin 53706
USA

Tel.: (608) 262-2592
Fax: 608-265-6320
turnermg @ wisc.edu

Dr. Monica G.Turner Department of Zoology University of Wisconsin 430 Lincoln Dr. Madison, WI 53706 Ecosystem and Landscape Ecology Lab
Home People Research Publications Recent Abstracts Data Opportunities Teaching Links Photo Album Visitor Information		News: Read "Rising from the Ashes," describing 20 years of research on the 1988 Yellowstone fires by Monica Turner, her collaborators and students that was published in the summer 2008 issue of ON WISCONSIN. Check out the table of contents of "The Vanishing Present: Wisconsin's Changing Lands, Water and Wildlife" due out in September, 2008. US-IALE met in Madison, 6-10 April 2008. View UW News release for additional information. Read a review of 'Ecosystem Function in Heterogeneous Landscapes' (Lovett, Jones, Turner and Weathers, editors) published recently in Ecology ________________________________________ The 1988 fires in Yellowstone National Park produced a complex spatial mosaic of burn severities across the landscape, producing an unusual opportunity to study the effects of fire size and shape on postfire succession. Stars show current main study site locations: Yellowstone National Park, North Temperate Lakes, Wisconsin River Floodplain and the southern Appalachian Mountains Home What is landscape ecology ? Landscape ecology emphasizes the interaction between spatial pattern and ecological process–that is, the causes and consequences of spatial heterogeneity across a range of scales. Two important aspects of landscape ecology distinguish it from other sub-disciplines within ecology. First, landscape ecology explicitly addresses the importance of spatial configuration for ecological processes. Not only is landscape ecology concerned with how much there is of a particular component but also with how it is arranged. Second, landscape ecology often focuses upon spatial extents that are much larger than those traditionally studied in ecology. Landscape ecology offers new concepts, theory and methods that are revealing the importance of spatial patterning on the dynamics of interacting ecosystems. What is ecosystem ecology? Ecosystem ecology focuses on the flow of energy and matter through organisms and their environment. As such, it addresses pools, fluxes, and regulating factors. From ecosystem studies, ecology has gained an excellent understanding of the mechanisms underlying many processes and of temporal dynamics in function. However, understanding patterns, causes, and consequences of spatial heterogeneity in ecosystem function remains a frontier. Our emphasis has been on this intersection between ecosystem and landscape ecology. Our research Through collaborative research with other faculty (at UW and elsewhere) and researchers, postdoctoral associates, and both graduate and undergraduate students, we use field studies, spatial data and geographic information systems (GIS), and computer simulation modeling to examine the causes and consequences of spatial pattern in ecology. We are primarily a terrestrial ecology research group, but our work includes the interface between terrestrial and aquatic systems. Our research is united by a focus on interactions between patterns and processes while examining a diverse range of topics: Fire, vegetation and ecosystem processes in Yellowstone National Park Land-water interactions in north temperate landscapes Landscape dynamics in the Southern Appalachian Mountains Landscape ecology of ungulate populations Invasive plants in North America and East Asia Tools and resources for landscape ecology About this site Our lab is run by Dr. Monica Turner. See our Research, Publications and Recent Abstracts pages for more detailed information about out current research directions and projects. If you would like to know more about our personnel, visit our People page. Our Opportunities page describes current employment and research opportunities within our lab. You can also read about the landscape ecology-based Teaching we are involved with at the University of Wisconsin. Visit our Photo Album for pictures of us involved in research and recreation. Check out our Visitors page for more information on how to visit us and to learn about our campus and the city of Madison. We also provide a list of Links to related sites. We have also posted some of our published data with other researchers on our Data page. Contact Us Dr. Monica G. Turner Department of Zoology University of Wisconsin-Madison 430 Lincoln Drive Madison, Wisconsin 53706 USA Tel.: (608) 262-2592 Fax: 608-265-6320 turnermg @ wisc.edu Site last updated : June 30th, 2008 Please direct comments regarding this web page (e.g. broken links, accessibility) to:
Home People Research Publications Abstracts Data Opportunities Teaching Links Photo Album Visitor Info