Landscape Ecology of Small Mammals

Small mammals can be regarded as excellent subjects to test suppositio ns about population growth migration and reproduction, and, in particu lar, on how the complex physical structure of the environment affects the ecology of populations and communities. In other words, these smal l mammal studies can help formulate landscape ecological principles. T his book summarizes a great deal of experimental work on the spatial e cology of small mammals. The field has entered an exciting stage with several new techniques (such as GIS and systems modeling) becoming ava ilable. Leading contributors describe and analyze the most well-known case studies and provide new insights into how landscape patterns and processes have had an impact on small mammals and how small mammals ha ve, in turn, affected landscape structure and composition.