The goal of this program course is to give students a firm grasp of the concepts of ecosystem processes and patterns occurring at a landscape scale, and of how these concepts can be applied to enhance the effectiveness of environmental policy, assessment and management. The course will explore the principles that are foundational to the understanding of landscape ecology using examples from Canadian ecosystems. Students will develop an understanding and appreciation for: characteristic spatial and temporal scales of ecological events; physical and biological agents of pattern; the concept of disturbance and landscape equilibrium; the applications of landscape ecology to monitoring and conservation; and, an appreciation for how individual organisms and human activity influence ecological processes.