Linkages beyond borders: targeting spatial processes in fragmented urban landscapes

Management of ecosystems often focuses on specific species chosen for their habitat demand, public appeal, or levels of threat. We propose a complementary framework for choosing focal species, the mobile link concept, which allows managers to focus on spatial processes and deal with multi-scale ecological dynamics. Spatial processes are important for three reasons: maintenance, re-organization, and restoration of ecological values. We illustrate the framework with a case study of the Eurasian Jay, a mobile link species of importance for the oak forest regeneration in the Stockholm National Urban Park, Sweden, and its surroundings. The case study concludes with a conceptual model for how the framework can be applied in management. The model is based on a review of published data complemented with a seed predation experiment and mapping of Jay territories to reduce the risk of applying non-urban site-specific information in an urban setting. Our case study shows that the mobile link approach has several advantages: (1) Reducing the vulnerability of ecological functions to disturbances and fluctuations in resources allocated to management, (2) Reducing management costs by maintaining natural processes, and (3) Maintaining gene flow and genetic diversity at a landscape level. We argue that management that includes mobile link organisms is an important step towards the prevention of ecosystem degradation and biodiversity loss in increasingly fragmented landscapes. Identifying and managing mobile links is a way to align management with the ecologically relevant scales in any landscape.     

Climate change adaptation strategies for federal forests of the Pacific Northwest,USA: ecological,policy, and socio-economic perspectives

Conserving biological diversity in a changing climate poses major challenges for land managers and society. Effective adaptive strategies for dealing with climate change require a socio-ecological systems perspective. We highlight some of the projected ecological responses to climate change in the Pacific Northwest, U.S.A and identify possible adaptive actions that federal forest managers could take. The forest landscape, ownership patterns and recent shift toward ecologically based forest management provide a good starting place for conserving biological diversity under climate change. Nevertheless, undesirable changes in species and ecosystems will occur and a number of adaptive actions could be undertaken to lessen the effects of climate change on forest ecosystems. These include: manipulation of stand and landscape structure to increase ecological resistance and resilience; movement of species and genotypes; and engaging in regional, multi-ownership planning to make adaptive actions more effective. Although the language and goals of environmental laws and policies were developed under the assumption of stable climate and disturbance regimes, they appear to be flexible enough to accommodate many adaptive actions. It is less certain, however, if sufficient social license and economic capacity exist to undertake these actions. Given the history of contentious and litigious debate about federal forest management in this region, it is likely that some of these actions will be seen as double-edge swords, spurring social resistance, especially where actions involve cutting trees. Given uncertainties and complexity, collaborative efforts that promote learning (e.g. adaptive management groups) must be rejuvenated and expanded.     

Energy hierarchy and landscape sustainability

The study of ecosystems suggests principles by which energy flows generate hierarchies in all systems. All ecosystems in the landscapes are associated with energy transformation and the convergence of transformed products toward higher hierarchical levels, the recycling of materials to dispersed backgrounds, and feedbacks to reinforce the supporting environment. A hierarchy can be seen as an organized pattern with many small units at one level contributing to fewer units at the next higher level. Due to spatial variability in the natural environment, different types and amounts of energy received on the earth are not homogeneous; this in turn generates a heterogeneous pattern on the landscape. Energy from life-support and production systems of a heterogeneous landscape is transformed and converged spatially toward consumption centers. All energy transformation can be arranged in a series. The concept of transformity is used in this paper to indicate the position of an energy flow in the series. A hierarchical system can help to explain how energy and matter can be produced and recycled through each level of energy transfer. Building on the brief reviews of the concept of hierarchy in the landscape and the theoretical development of the concept of an ecological energetic hierarchy, this paper proposes two principles of energetic hierarchy for landscape sustainability. First, the landscape must be arranged spatially according to its energy hierarchy. Evaluation of normalized energy flows (emergy) can help identify zones of different spatial hierarchies, which will help establish the strategies needed for the landscapes to be sustainable. Second, a sustainable landscape must comprise a hierarchy of self-organizing ecosystems that can enable the systems to maximize useful power at all levels of the energy hierarchy.     

Structure of plant communities and landscape patterns in alluvial meadows of two flood plains in the north-east of France

Flood frequency and agricultural pressure can effect pattern and diversity in the plant communities and the landscape of flood plain meadows. The flood plains of north-east France are valuable semi- natural ecosystems with a high diversity of plants. This study was carried out in two valleys with plant communities showing the same zonation along a moisture gradient. About 350 measurements in each valley were carried out on 50 m2 sampling sites. Two study areas were intensively measured within each of the two valleys (1300 ha in total). Hydrological, geological and human factors have determined the unique landscape pattern of each valley. Using vegetation maps (1/5000) of the two valleys, landscape structure in terms of the size, number and form of patches were compared and the characteristics of the disturbance regimes (natural and human disturbance) creating each landscape are analysed. Variations of landscape indices are discussed in relation to the increase in agricultural pressure. Using quantitative parameters of landscape ecology to analyse vegetation mosaics provides an assessment of agricultural pressure and natural constraints on the flood plain scale. Agricultural intensification led to a decrease of meadow complexity whose natural rough shapes are made straight. Moreover flooded meadows lost thus natural connectivity with ditches and river which determined biodiversity and ecological processes of flood plains.     

The landscape ecology of large disturbances in the design and management of nature reserves

Large disturbances such as fires and floods are landscape processes that may alter the structure of landscapes in nature reserves. Landscape structure may in turn influence the viability of species and the functioning of ecosystems. Past reserve design and management strategies have been focussed on species and ecosystems rather than on landscape-scale processes, such as disturbance.An essential feature of a natural disturbance regime is the variation in disturbance attributes (e.g., size, timing, intensity, spatial location). Although some past reserve management policies have included natural disturbances, perpetuating disturbance variation has not been the explicit goal of either reserve design or management.To design a reserve to perpetuate the natural disturbance process requires consideration of: (1) the size of the reserve in relation to maximum expected disturbance size, (2) the location of the reserve in relation to favored disturbance initiation and export zones and in relation to spatial variation in the disturbance regime, and (3) the feasibility of disturbance control at reserve boundaries, or in reserve buffers.Disturbance management possibilities are constrained by the design of the reserve and the reserve goals. Where a natural disturbance regime is not feasible, then it is important that the managed disturbance regime mimic historical variation in disturbance sizes and other attributes as well as possible. Manipulating structure on the landscape scale to restore landscapes thought to have been altered by historical disturbance control is premature given our understanding of spatial disturbance processes in landscapes.     

Disentangling the effects of habitat,connectivity and interspecific competition in the range expansion of exotic and native ungulates

Context

Wild medium-sized ungulate populations are recovering in many countries of the Northern Hemisphere due to abandonment of rural areas but also due to the translocation of native and exotic ungulates for game hunting.

Objectives

To assess the role of landscape connectivity, habitat suitability and interspecific interactions driving the simultaneous range expansion of two wild ungulates, one native (Iberian ibex, Capra pyrenaica) and one exotic species (Barbary sheep, Ammotragus lervia), in southeastern Spain.

Methods

We reconstructed the expansion process of the Iberian ibex and the Barbary sheep in southeastern Spain for the period 1975–2009 by means of Local Ecological Knowledge and tested the role of habitat suitability, landscape connectivity and interspecific competition during the expansion process by means of GLMM. Habitat suitability was assessed by means of ecological niche modeling and landscape connectivity was represented by competing resistance surface dispersal models.

Results

Our results show that at the landscape scale both species are ecologically very similar, although the Iberian ibex is more specialized in less transformed landscapes. Landscape connectivity was the main driver of the colonization process, followed by habitat suitability. From a connectivity point of view, both species showed a coarse perception of the landscape, recognizing three main use types: natural, agricultural and human. Major linear infrastructures do not affect the colonization process. Our colonization models also suggest a negative interaction of the Iberian ibex on the Barbary sheep.

Conclusions

The exotic Barbary sheep and the native Iberian ibex are two ungulate species very similar ecologically whose simultaneous expansion process in southeastern Spain are driven by landscape connectivity followed by habitat suitability. In addition, the Iberian ibex affects negatively the colonization ability of the Barbary sheep. Overall, our work deepens our understanding on two pressing issues simultaneously: (i) controls of the range expansion of ungulates at the landscape scale and (ii) how a native and an introduced species interact during their expansion process.

     

Ecological network design from occurrence data by simulating species perception of the landscape

Context

Ecological networks are often designed based on the degree of suitability and permeability of land cover classes, as obtained by estimating the statistical relationships between occurrence data and classes coverage using habitat suitability models (HSMs). Considering only the classes coverage, but not their spatial arrangement, frequently prevents HSMs from correctly identifying nodes and connectivity elements.

Objectives

We propose a new approach in the design of ecological networks starting from the relationship between occurrence data and both land cover classes coverage and spatial arrangement, as calculated for different simulated species perceptions of the landscape (SSPLs, corresponding to different combinations of classes alternatively assuming the role of nodes, connectivity elements, or matrix).

Methods

The approach consists of comparing the ability to explain the observed species occurrence of both the nodes coverage and the connectivity degree provided by both nodes and connectivity elements, calculated for each SSPL. The better performing SSPL will provide information about the land cover classes that should be considered in designing an ecological network for the species, as well as their role in the network.

Results

When applied to the Hazel Dormouse in an agricultural landscape in northern Italy, the method proved effective and allowed us to identify woodlands and hedgerows as nodes, and poplar cultivations, biomasses and reforestations as connectivity elements.

Conclusions

The proposed method can be adopted to identify nodes and connectivity elements for virtually every species sensitive to fragmentation, and has important practical implications when integrated in landscape management plans developed to guarantee ecological connectivity.

     

A social-ecological approach to land-use conflict to inform regional and conservation planning and management

Context

Conflict over land use is endemic to natural resource management given the limited availability of resources and multiple stakeholders’ interests, but there has been limited research to examine conflict from an integrative social-ecological perspective.

Objectives

We sought to determine how the potential for land use conflict—a social construct—was related (or not) to ecological systems of landscapes.

Methods

Using participatory mapping data from a regional case study in Australia, we identified the potential for land use conflict using a model that combines spatially-explicit place values with preferences for specific land uses related to development and conservation. Multiple proxies of biodiversity were used to evaluate the landscape’s ecological systems at ecosystems and species levels. Range maps were used to identify areas of high species diversity value using the conservation planning software Zonation.

Results

We spatially intersected conflict areas with landscape attributes and found the potential for conflict over conservation to be higher in coastal areas than inland areas, more likely to be located in areas with moderate vegetation cover, more concentrated in ecosystems classified as ‘No Concern’ with moderate to high native vegetation. Potential conflict over conservation was disproportionately higher in areas with higher species diversity derived from conservation modelling.

Conclusions

The social-ecological associations in conflict analysis can inform impact assessment of land use plans on biodiversity, assist development of effective approaches to reconcile conservation and other land uses, support conservation planning by identifying priorities for conflict negotiation and understanding underlying factors for conflict.

     

Graph theory in action: evaluating planned highway tracks based on connectivity measures

Maintaining connectivity among local populations in a fragmented landscape is crucial for the survival of many species. For isolated habitat patches, stochastic fluctuations and reduced gene flow can lead to high risk of extinction. The connectivity of the landscape is especially crucial for the carabid species living in the fragmented forests of the Bereg plain (NE Hungary and W Ukraine) because a highway will be constructed through the plain. Our purpose is to (1) evaluate the impacts of three possible highway tracks, (2) suggest a solution that is realistic with less impact on connectivity than other plans and (3) discuss how to decrease the disadvantageous effects of each track. Our results, based on a network analysis of landscape graph of patches and ecological corridors, indicate that the intended highway could have deleterious consequences on forest-living carabids. Relatively simple actions, like the establishment of stepping stones, could compensate for the loss of habitat connectivity and promote the survival of carabids, or minor modifications in one possible track could diminish its adverse effects. While many other studies would be needed for a comprehensive assessment of the biotic impact of the highway, we provide an example on the usefulness of network analysis for land use management. Electronic supplementary material  The online version of this article (doi:) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.     

Landscape change patterns in mountains,land use and environmental diversity,Mid-Norway 1960–1993

The Norwegain mountains have had a central role in the subsistence agroecosystems by providing vast biological resources for humans and their livestock since 4000–3500 BP as indicated by paleoecological records. Later with the development of the summer farming system the use of the mountains was intensified. This long-term use of the mountains has shaped a montane cultural landscape by livestock grazing, mowing for hay, fuel collection and a variety of other uses. The result is a significant increase of the grassland areas at the expense of the forest. Those semi-natural grasslands and heathlands with specific biological diversity have until recently dominated the mountains but are today decreasing due to forest invasion – which in turn is a result of changes in human land use. The present paper focuses on changes in landscape pattern and differences in landscape development in two mountain valleys with summer farming activities, in Mid-Norway, over the period 1960s–1990s, and seeks to interpret the changes in relation to differential land use and environmental factors. This study contributes examples from human shaped ecosystems in mountains where the fragmentation of semi-natural habitats is addressed. A set of landscape pattern indices commonly used in landscape ecological studies is also used here, and their ecological relevance in the present context is dealt with. The implications of changed land use for biodiversity conservation in those mountains and the relationships to future sustainable agriculture is also briefly discussed.     

Targeting and evaluating biodiversity conservation action within fragmented landscapes: an approach based on generic focal species and least-cost networks

The focus of biodiversity conservation is shifting to larger spatial scales in response to habitat fragmentation and the need to integrate multiple landscape objectives. Conservation strategies increasingly incorporate measures to combat fragmentation such as ecological networks. These are often based on assessment of landscape structure but such approaches fail to capitalise on the potential offered by more ecologically robust assessments of landscape function and connectivity. In this paper, we describe a modelling approach to identifying functional habitat networks and demonstrate its application to a fragmented landscape where policy initiatives seek to improve conditions for woodland biodiversity including increasing woodland cover. Functional habitat networks were defined by identifying suitable habitat and by modelling connectivity using least-cost approaches to account for matrix permeability. Generic focal species (GFS) profiles were developed, in consultation with stakeholders, to represent species with high and moderate sensitivity to fragmentation. We demonstrated how this form of analysis can be used to aid the spatial targeting of conservation actions. This ‘targeted’ action scenario was tested for effectiveness against comparable scenarios, which were based on random and clumped actions within the same landscape. We tested effectiveness using structural metrics, network-based metrics and a published functional connectivity indicator. Targeting actions within networks resulted in the highest mean woodland area and highest connectivity indicator value. Our approach provides an assessment of landscape function by recognising the importance of the landscape matrix. It provides a framework for the targeting and evaluation of alternative conservation options, offering a pragmatic, ecologically-robust solution to a current need in applied landscape ecology.     

A multi-species approach for assessing the impact of land-cover changes on landscape connectivity

Context

Land-cover changes (LCCs) could impact wildlife populations through gains or losses of natural habitats and changes in the landscape mosaic. To assess such impacts, we need to focus on landscape connectivity from a diachronic perspective.

Objectives

We propose a method for assessing the impact of LCCs on landscape connectivity through a multi-species approach based on graph theory. To do this, we combine two approaches devised to spatialize the variation of multi-species connectivity and to quantify the importance of types of LCCs for single-species connectivity by highlighting the possible contradictory effects.

Methods

We begin with a list of landscape species and create virtual species with similar ecological requirements. We model the ecological network of these virtual species at two dates and compute the variation of a local and global connectivity metric to assess the impacts of the LCCs on their dispersal capacities.

Results

The spatial variation of multi-species connectivity showed that local impacts range from ?6.4% to +3.2%. The assessment of the impacts of types of LCCs showed a variation in global connectivity ranging from ?45.1% for open-area reptiles to +170.2% for natural open-area birds with low-dispersion capacities.

Conclusions

This generic approach can be reproduced in a large variety of spatial contexts by adapting the selection of the initial species. The proposed method could inform and guide conservation actions and landscape management strategies so as to enhance or maintain connectivity for species at a landscape scale.

     

Landscape fragmentation,land-use legacy and propagule pressure promote plant invasion on coastal dunes: a patch-based approach

Coastal dunes and sand areas are reported to be among the habitats most invaded by alien species in Europe. Landscape pattern could be a significant driver in invasion processes in parallel with land-use legacy. Fragmentation of natural habitats combined with the availability of propagules from the surrounding matrix may enhance the invisibility of ecological communities. Based on multitemporal land cover maps (1954–2008) and a floristic database, we analyzed how habitat fragmentation, propagule pressure and land-use legacy have affected alien plants’ presence and richness on natural dune patches along the Lazio Coast (Central Italy). Floristic data were derived from an existing geo-database of random vegetation plots (64 m²). A set of landscape patch-based metrics, considered to be adequate proxies of the main processes affecting alien invasion and richness, was calculated. First, we fit a generalized linear model (GLM) with binomial errors to assess which landscape metrics are influencing patch invasion. Second, we extracted invaded patches and, with GLMs, we investigated how landscape metrics affect average alien species richness. Alien invasion and alien richness seem to be affected by different processes: although alien invasion of each patch is strongly associated with its land-use legacy, the richness of aliens is more affected by landscape fragmentation and by the propagule pressure to which patch is exposed. By integrating spatial and temporal landscape metrics with floristic data, we were able to disentangle the relations of landscape fragmentation, propagule pressure and land-use legacy with the presence and richness of alien plants. The methodological approach here adopted could be easily extended to other alien species and ecosystems, offering scientifically sound support to prevent the high economic costs derived from both the control and the eradication of aliens.     

Characterizing the importance of habitat patches and corridors in maintaining the landscape connectivity of a Pholidoptera transsylvanica (Orthoptera) metapopulation

Since the fragmentation of natural habitats is one of the most serious problems for many endangered species, it is highly interesting to study the properties of fragmented landscapes. As a basic property, landscape connectivity and its effects on various ecological processes are frequently in focus. First, we discuss the relevance of some graph properties in quantifying connectivity. Then, we propose a method how to quantify the relative importance of habitat patches and corridors in maintaining landscape connectivity. Our combined index explicitly considers pure topological properties and topographical measures, like the quality of both patches (local population size) and corridors (permeability). Finally, for illustration, we analyze the landscape graph of the endangered, brachypterous bush-cricket Pholidoptera transsylvanica. The landscape contains 11 patches and 13 corridors and is situated on the Aggtelek Karst, NE-Hungary. We characterize the importance of each node and link of the graph by local and global network indices. We show how different measures of connectivity may suggest different conservation preferences. We conclude, accordingly to our present index, by identifying one specific habitat patch and one specific corridor being in the most critical positions in maintaining connectivity.This revised version was published online in May 2005 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

对旅游景区中生态景观设计的思考

旅游景区具有良好的生态环境基础,是自然生态系统的重要组成部分,在其建设与发展中融入生态景观设计的思想,既有得天独厚的优势,又具有刻不容缓的紧迫性和重要性.在分析生态景观设计的内涵、在旅游景区建设中的意义及设计原则的基础上,通过对成都活水公园生态景观设计的个案分析,进一步阐明了旅游景区中生态景观设计的重要意义.     

Integrating stakeholders’ demands and scientific knowledge on ecosystem services in landscape planning

The conflict between conservation and timber production is shifting in regions such as Biscay (Basque Country, northern Spain) where planted forests are no longer profitable without public subsidies and environmentalist claim that public subsidies should be reoriented to the regeneration of natural forest. This paper develops an approach that integrates scientific knowledge and stakeholders’ demands to provide decision-making guidelines for the development of new landscape planning strategies while considering ecosystem services. First, a participatory process was conducted to develop a community vision for the region’s sustainable future considering the opportunities and constrains provided by the landscape and its ecosystems. In the participatory process forest management was considered an important driver for the region`s landscape development and forest multi-functionality was envisioned as a feasible attractive alternative. The participatory process identified a knowledge gap on the synergies and trade-offs between biodiversity and carbon storage and how these depend on different forest types. Second, to study the existing synergies and trade-offs between biodiversity and carbon storage and disentangle the identified knowledge gap, a GIS-based research was conducted based on spatially explicit indicators. Our spatial analysis results showed that natural forests’ contribution to biodiversity and carbon storage is higher than that of the plantations with exotic species in the region. The results from the spatial analysis converged with those from the participatory process in the suitability of promoting, where possible and appropriate, natural forest ecosystems restoration. This iterative learning and decision making process is already showing its effectiveness for decision making, with concrete examples of how the results obtained with the applied approach are being included in planning and decision-making processes.     

The role of landscape structure in species richness distribution of birds,amphibians, reptiles and lepidopterans in Mediterranean landscapes

The parameters referring to landscape structure are essential in any evaluation for conservation because of the relationship that exists between the landscape structure and the ecological processes. This paper presents a study of the relationships between landscape structure and species diversity distribution (estimated in terms of richness of birds, amphibians, reptiles and butterflies) in the region of Madrid, Spain. The results show that the response of species richness to landscape heterogeneity varies depending on the group of species considered. For birds and lepidopterans, the most important factor affecting the distribution of richness of species is landscape heterogeneity, while other factors, such as the specific composition of land use, play a secondary role at this scale. On the other hand, richness of amphibians and reptiles is more closely related to the abundance of certain land-use types. The study highlights the importance of heterogeneity in Mediterranean landscapes as a criterion for landscape planning and for definition of management directives in order to maintain biodiversity.     

Biodiversity and ecological value of conservation lands in agricultural landscapes of southern Ontario,Canada

In eastern North America, large forest patches have been the primary target of biodiversity conservation. This conservation strategy ignores land units that combine to form the complex emergent rural landscapes typical of this region. In addition, many studies have focussed on one wildlife group at a single spatial scale. In this paper, studies of avian and anuran populations at regional and landscape scales have been integrated to assess the ecological value of agricultural mosaics in southern Ontario on the basis of the maintenance of faunal biodiversity. Field surveys of avian and anuran populations were conducted between 2001 and 2004 at the watershed and sub-watershed levels. The ecological values of land units were based on a combination of several components including species richness, species of conservation concern (rarity), abundance, and landscape parameters (patch size and connectivity). It was determined that habitats such as thicket swamps, coniferous plantations and cultural savannas can play an important role in the overall biodiversity and ecological value of the agricultural landscape. Thicket swamps at the edge of agricultural fields or roads provided excellent breeding habitat for anurans. Coniferous plantations and cultural savannas attracted many birds of conservation concern. In many cases, the land units that provided high ecological value for birds did not score well for frogs. Higher scores for avian and anuran populations were recorded along the Niagara Escarpment and other protected areas as expected. However, some private land areas scored high, some spatially connected to the protected areas and therefore providing an opportunity for private land owners to enter into a management arrangement with the local agencies.     

Sustainable landscape architecture: implications of the Chinese philosophy of ‘‘unity of man with nature’’ and beyond

As the world population continues to grow and as global urbanization continues to unfold, our ecosystems and landscapes will be increasingly domesticated and designed. Developing and maintaining sustainable landscapes have become one of the most challenging and imperative tasks for scientists and stakeholders of all sorts. To accomplish this task, landscape ecology and landscape architecture can and must play a critical role. Landscape architects intentionally modify and create landscapes, and their imprints and influences are pervasive and profound, far beyond the physical limits of the designed landscapes. As an interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary enterprise that integrates the science and art of studying and influencing the relationship between spatial pattern and ecological processes, the theory, methods, and applications of landscape ecology are directly relevant to sustainability. However, neither landscape ecology nor landscape architecture is likely to achieve its expected goal if they are not truly integrated to produce a sustainable landscape architecture. In this paper, we argue that the ancient Chinese philosophy of “unity of man with nature” and its associated design principles can provide useful guidelines for this integration as well as for the development of a sustainable landscape architecture. We discuss several principles and models of Chinese landscape architecture, including “unity of man with nature” philosophy, “peach blossom spring” ideal, “world-in-a-pot” model, and Feng–Shui theory, and their implications for developing a sustainable landscape architecture. Although differences in the philosophical roots and design traditions between Eastern and Western landscape architecture will continue to exist, interactions and integration between the two will continue to increase under the theme of sustainability. To promote the translation of scientific knowledge into practice, we urge landscape ecologists to work proactively with landscape architects to integrate pattern–process–scale and holistic perspectives into the design and planning of landscapes.     

Forest fragmentation and regrowth in an institutional mosaic of community, government and private ownership in Nepal

This study analyzes forest change in an area of Nepal that signifies a delicate balance between sustaining the needs and livelihood of a sizable human population dependent on forest products, and an effort to protect important wildlife and other natural resources. The study area, a portion of the Chitwan valley district of Nepal, represents what may be becoming a common institutional mosaic in many countries of the world who have a population reliant on forest products for their livelihood: (1) a national park; (2) a designated park buffer involving participatory forest management programs; (3) scattered patches of designated community forest; and (4) large areas of adjacent landscape made up of mostly private landholdings under agricultural practices. Utilizing Landsat images from 1989 and 2000, we analyze land cover change in each of these management zones using landscape ecology metrics and quantifying proportional distributions of land cover categories. Our results show significant differences in terms of land cover dynamics and landscape spatial pattern between these land ownership classes. These findings indicate that community-based institutions (participatory management programs in the park buffer and the designated community forests) are capable of halting or even reversing trends in deforestation and forest fragmentation.