There are typically two broad approaches to studying ecology: the vertical approach and horizontal approach.

In the vertical approach to ecology, we generally study how ecosystems function. For example, determining how and why carbon, water and nitrogen cycles change in response to fire is a vertical approach to studying ecology.

The horizontal approach to ecology consists of studying the spatial arrangement and interactions between and among ecosystems. Through this approach, we can identify, map and compare ecosystems across landscapes (Barnes et al. 1998). For example, we may be interested in the effects of the spatial arrangement of fuels treatment projects across several ecosystems on landscape-level fire behavior.