BIODIVERSITY DYNAMICS - FROM POPULATION AND COMMUNITY ECOLOGY APPROACHES TO A LANDSCAPE ECOLOGY POINT-OF-VIEW

Species richness and species diversity are classic concepts in ecology . What is new in the science of biodiversity after the Convention on B iological Diversity is: (1) that the emphasis has moved from the speci es to the ecosystem; (2) that the functional significance of biodivers ity has been stressed. Thus, population and community ecology along wi th landscape ecology, should offer the best theoretical framework to a nalyse what can be called 'biodiversity dynamics'. Some promising path ways and areas are emphasized and the very concept of functional diver sity is discussed. Species richness, genetic variability and extinctio n probability are closely linked with landscape traits such as habitat diversity, structural heterogeneity, patch dynamics and perturbations . Thus, it is suggested that landscape ecology hold a central role, si nce it will allow the response to biodiversity issues in the framework of environmental heterogeneity and patchiness.