Conservation of forests and natural resources is clearly an important issue in a populated world. Landscape ecology brings comprehensive tools to understand complexity of ecosystems. We live in the anthropocene, and solutions are needed to maintain ecosystem functions and ultimately human well-being in face of alarming global changes. How to conserve landscapes living in a threshold moment? We make research efforts paired with applied ecology demanded by decision makers in order to advance knowledge and to understand patterns and processes in landscape ecology and biodiversity conservation.