ABSTRACT
Landscape ecology can provide a solid foundation for strategic land-use planning, based on a holistic review of the multiple functions that a landscape needs to serve, and an understanding of the most efficient and effective spatial patterns that can achieve the relevant planning objectives. Habitat destruction is widely recognised as the leading cause of biodiversity loss worldwide, but issues of concern relate not only to the quantity of habitat being lost, but also to changes in the spatial patterns that result. The spatial concerns of landscape ecology are highly pertinent to several present-day concerns, in particular those relating to the challenges involved in managing multifunctional landscapes, on which the human species places multiple, often conflicting, demands. The SLOSS debate also brought to the fore another key consideration of landscape ecology, i.e., connectivity. Even where habitat areas are small, there are benefits to be had from linking these to one another, to enable flows of matter and energy.
