Week 3 was spent continuing on Lab 2, which analyzed the changing landscape of Edmonton between 1966 and 1976. However, during lecture we dove into some key concepts relating to landscape ecology, mainly focusing on abiotic conditions and biotic interactions.

Abiotic conditions, such as climate, topography, and soils, play a large role in what plants and animals can live within an ecosystem as well as how well they prevail. For example, constant weather patterns and conditions form the climate in which flora and fauna are expected to live. Heavy rains allow some species of plants to grow while excluding others that flourish under drier conditions. Topography also plays a role in climate (i.e. the rain shadow effect), but can also impact other disturbances. For example, wildfire moves more easily uphill.

Biotic interactions impact each other (i.e. species), but also the environment they live in. Competition within and between species forces patterns to emerge within landscapes. On top of competition, there lies species that are so important in an ecosystem that without them the ecosystem could collapse. These are known as keystone species and every ecosystem has one. As humans, knowing the way in which these landscape patterns occur is crucial so we do not damage them beyond repair, such as through removing a keystone species.