Landscape ecology is an interdisciplinary field that studies the relationships between ecological processes and ecosystems across various spatial scales, focusing on the interplay between environmental patterns and processes. Coined in 1939 by German geographer Carl Troll, it integrates biophysical and analytical approaches with humanistic perspectives from both natural and social sciences. At its core, landscape ecology investigates how spatial heterogeneity—the uneven distribution of objects and conditions—influences the abundance, behavior, and functioning of organisms and the landscape as a whole. Key research areas include ecological flows in diverse landscape mosaics, land use and land cover change, the relationship between spatial patterns and ecological processes, and landscape conservation and sustainability, acknowledging the significant role of human impacts.

The theoretical foundations of landscape ecology evolved from concepts like MacArthur & Wilson's Theory of Island Biogeography, which was later generalized by Levins' metapopulation model to explain biodiversity in fragmented habitats. This development, coupled with advances in geographic information systems (GIS) and remote sensing, significantly propelled the discipline. While general ecology traditionally focused on more homogenous systems, landscape ecology distinguished itself by building upon spatial and temporal heterogeneity, often explicitly incorporating human-caused landscape changes. It became an established discipline by 1980, marked by the formation of the International Association for Landscape Ecology (IALE) in 1982.

Central to landscape ecology are several key terms and concepts. "Landscape" itself is a fundamental yet diversely defined concept, generally referring to a heterogeneous land area composed of interacting ecosystems. "Scale" is crucial, encompassing the spatial or temporal measure of objects and processes, and is broken down into composition (types and abundance of patches), structure (arrangement of patches), and function (interactions between landscape elements). "Patches" are relatively homogeneous areas that differ from their surroundings, forming a "mosaic" when combined with the "matrix" (the dominant background ecological system) and "corridors" (strips connecting patches). "Boundaries" or "edges" denote the transition zones between different patches, often exhibiting unique species compositions due to "edge effects." Other important terms include "ecotones" (transitional zones between communities) and the concepts of "disturbance" and "fragmentation," which describe events or processes that alter landscape patterns.

Landscape ecology has significant theoretical and practical applications. Its theories emphasize the profound impact of human activities on landscape structure and function, advocating for restoration of degraded areas and highlighting the "landscape stability principle," which links structural heterogeneity to resistance and recovery from disturbances. In terms of application, it utilizes advanced quantitative methods to analyze patterns and processes across broad scales, aiding in environmental problem-solving, climate change research (e.g., through ecotones), and understanding human influence on global landscapes. The field is also integral to land change modeling for predicting future land use scenarios. Furthermore, landscape ecology has forged strong interdisciplinary links with fields like land change science, landscape limnology, agriculture, and forestry, and has given rise to new disciplines such as landscape genetics, which investigates how landscape features influence population structure and gene flow, proving vital for conservation in human-modified environments and contributing significantly to sustainability science.