ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on the distributional patterns and scale of spatial variations in ecological properties at a variety of scales from the global to the local, and on an evaluation of the need for and approaches to resource surveys and analyses, with special reference to the surveying and mapping of vegetation. The geographer has traditionally been interested in spatial variations of environmental factors, and so consideration of ecological changes through space is well within the realms of concern of the geographer. Studies of local-scale movement patterns in animals and birds are valuable in isolating ecosystem boundaries, in understanding inter- and intra-species behavioural and feeding relationships, and in understanding the ecology of the individual species involved. The adoption of standardized and co-ordinated mapping schemes at both national and international scales has yielded information on the distributional patterns of individual species of plants and animals.
