Recent landscape changes from human activities, such as agricultural development and urbanisation frequently result in the loss of habitats, the reduction in habitat patch size and an increasing isolation of habitat patches. However, there is little information on woodland changes in agricultural landscapes. Therefore, the aim of this research was to assess spatial characteristics and changes of woodland in an agricultural landscape and how these may have had an impact on ecological process for 33 years. One of the agricultural landscape character units was analysed based on aerial photographs from 1976, 1983, 1994, 2002 and 2009 in Gwangju city. The results indicated that landscape ecological metrics clearly showed that they could be used to monitor changes of woodland ecological conditions during the past 33 years. The results imply that particularly human activities have been leading to the decrease of the mean size of woodland patches and finally result in woodland isolation. These changes may have a negative impact on woodland bird species in the study area. This woodland information can be used to identify the potential and specific needs for setting priorities for conservation planning.