Spatially Explicit Population Models

.,Spatially explicit ,population ,models ,are ,becoming ,increasingly ,useful ,tools for population ecologists, conservation biologists, and land managers. Models are spatially explicit when ,they ,combine ,a population ,simulator ,with ,a landscape ,map ,that ,describes the spatial distribution of landscape features. With this map, the locations of habitat patches, individuals, and other items of interest are explicitly incorporated into the model, and the effect of changing ,landscape ,features ,on population ,dynamics ,can ,be studied. ,In this ,paper wedescribe,the structure ,of some ,spatially explicit models ,under ,development ,and ,provide examples,of current ,and ,future ,research ,using ,these ,models. ,Spatially explicit models ,are important tools for investigating scale-related questions in population ecology, especially the response ,of organisms ,to habitat ,change ,occurring ,at a ,variety ,of spatial ,and ,temporal scales. Simulation models that incorporate real-world landscapes, as portrayed by landscape maps created with geographic information systems, are also proving to be crucial in the development,of management ,strategies in response ,to regional ,land-use ,and ,other ,global change,processes. Spatially explicit population ,models ,will ,increase ,our ,ability to accurately model complex landscapes, and therefore should improve both basic ecological knowledge