In recent years new technologies for the measurement and analysis of ecological data have begun to revolutionize the science of ecology. Remote sensing including satellite imagery, is providing the potential to measure ecological systems at scales of resolution never dreamed of a few decades ago; whilst geographical information systems are allowing manipulation and analysis of huge amounts of ecological data.

In the current debate over preservation of biological diversity, ecologists can now focus on larger spatial and temporal scales.

This book takes a broad geographical perspective to the problem of describing patterns of biological populations. It discusses some methods and statistical techniques that can be used to analyse spatial patterns in geographical populations, incorporating ideas from fractal geometry to develop measures of geographical range fragmentation.

Whilst much attention has been focused in the past at very local spatial scales, this book allows consideration of all the populations of a species across all of its geographical range. The patterns that emerge from studies at this level may well raise many important questions about how the earth's ecosystems operate on large scales, and will allow questions about the conservation of biodiversity to be considered in a new light.