| Abstract: In the face of mounting concentrations of greenhouse gases, declining oil supplies, and global change, many environmental professionals can expect to spend the remainder of their careers engaged in concerted efforts to supply society with renewable energy, clean water, and food while protecting habitat, ameliorating the production of greenhouse gases, and managing the proliferation of exotic and pathogenic species. Indeed, all landscapes are connected via the atmosphere; thus landscape ecology should be central to engineering effective greenhouse gas reduction strategies and to the implementation of valid carbon cap and trade systems. With contributions from practitioners, social, political and economic sciences and the arts, landscape ecology could help to alleviate environmental racism and reduce overexploitation of wild lands and endangered habitats. During the descent from fossil fuel, landscape ecology could guide the reinvigoration of local food production and biofuels while maintaining biodiversity. Engagement with commercial media arts and computer scientists could lead to powerful visualization interfaces for simulations, thereby helping stakeholders to participate in scenario-based landscape planning exercises. Strategic research initiatives are needed to guide landscape ecological research in coming decades. |