The five ecological principles deal with time, species, place, disturbance ,and the landscape. These principles dictate several guidelines for land use. These guidelines suggest that land managers should examine impacts of local decisions in a regional context, plan for long-term change and unexpected events, preserve rare landscape elements and associated species, avoid land uses that deplete natural resources, retain large contiguous or connected areas that contain critical habitats, minimize the introduction and spread of nonnative species, avoid or compensate for the effects of development on ecological processes, and implement land-use and management practices that are compatible with the natural potential of the area.
Ecological Principles and Guidelines for Managing the Use of Land
