Landscape History and Ecological Change

Abstract

N orth American ecologists have a long tradition of studying "natural" or undisturbed ecosystems. In addition to the innate affection for wilderness that likely initially enticed most ecologists to their discipline, practical reasons have prompted this focus. Ecologists seek to identify and understand the factors regulating the distribution and abundance of organisms. Interpreting the complex relationships between organisms and their environments is complicated by the variation in ecological communities caused by disturbances and past human interventions. Ecologists can control the effects of these external variables on their research by studying undisturbed ecosystems. Yet ecologists have for some time recognized that their concentration on natural ecosystems is, in many cases, rather naive or even misleading. During the past several years, the emphasis of their research has shifted to the consequences of past historical events for the current structure and function of ecosystems. Several factors account for this shift. First, it has become obvious that the research emanating from the focus on natural ecosystems suffers from serious limitations. Although statistically significant relationships