Landscape ecology of mammals

Recognition of the Anthropocene epoch formally acknowledges the pervasive and increasingly dominant effects of human activities on the world's biomes. A defining characteristic of the Anthropocene is habitat conversion (land-use change) for agricultural and urbanized land uses. Within this context, landscape ecology is of critical importance as it examines the influence of spatial heterogeneity on ecological patterns and processes at spatial and temporal extents that are larger than those traditionally studied in ecology. The application of landscape ecological approaches to mammalian populations, communities, and metacommunities began in and has increased steadily since the 1990s. Non-volant small mammals or bats are often the focus of landscape studies of communities, whereas carnivores or artiodactyls are commonly the focus of population-level studies cast within the domains of conservation or wildlife management. Research on the landscape ecology of mammals has primarily been conducted in Europe and North America, but with increasing frequency has been explored on other continents. Mammalian research has contributed significantly to the development of landscape ecology, demonstrating that responses to landscape structure are often taxon-, scale-, or context-dependent. Future research should consider hierarchical approaches that are scale-sensitive, with explicit linkage to contemporary hypotheses, thereby advancing theoretical understanding and informing management and conservation action.