LANDSCAPE DYNAMICS

Assessment of the landscape dynamics of the ecosystems within the inte rior Columbia River basin included both natural and human changes. We describe the relationships between land use, ecosystem health, species diversity, and interactions with inherent disturbance processes and b iophysical capabilities. We found that both traditional commodity and reserve system management strategies cause short-term fragmentation le ading to long-term simplification of biophysical and socioeconomic lan dscape systems; active ecological management, on the other hand, can s ustain the capabilities of these systems.