Abstract
This chapter provides an overview of manipulative experiments conducted at spatial extents of 15 ha or larger in forest, grassland, and aquatic systems. Many of these leverage planned or ongoing anthropogenic activities, such as forest harvest or grazing activities, in their experimental design. Experiments of this kind can help identify landscape structure, for example through tracer experiments, and process variation throughout the landscape, through translocation experiments and distributed experiments. Research focused on landscape pattern – particularly patch size, isolation and fragmentation – is a common theme of large-extent manipulative experiments. Here, I compare and contrast experiments from around the world, illustrating how the researchers have addressed issues of control, replication and randomization, with replication as the biggest challenge with this kind of experiment. I also discuss advantages and disadvantages of large-scale manipulative experiments, and offer recommendations for researchers considering embarking on large-scale manipulative experiments.
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Wiersma, Y.F. (2022). Large-Scale Manipulative Experiments. In: Experimental Landscape Ecology. Landscape Series, vol 29. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-95189-4_6
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