Abstract
To develop a species-centered definition of ‘landscapes,’ I suggest using a fractal analysis of movement patterns to identify the scales at which organisms are interacting with the patch structure of the landscape. Significant differences in the fractal dimensions of movement patterns of two species indicate that the species may be interacting with the patch structure at different scales. Fractal analysis therefore permits comparisons of ‘landscape perceptions’ of different species within the same environment.
I tested the utility of this fractal application by analyzing the movement patterns of three species of acridid grasshoppers (Orthoptera) in a grassland mosaic. The largest species moved up to 6 times faster than the two smaller species, and species exhibited different responses to microlandscape structure within 25-m2 plots. Further, the largest species exhibited different responses to microlandscape structure in two pastures subjected to different intensities of cattle grazing. This species thus is able to integrate information on landscape structure at broad spatial scales. Fractal analysis of movement patterns revealed that the two small species had significantly more tortuous patterns than the larger species, which suggests that these species are interacting with patch structure at a finer scale of resolution than the large species. Fractal analysis can be used to identify the perceptive resolution of a species; that is, the spatial grain and extent at which they are able to perceive and respond to heterogeneity. Analysis of movement patterns across a range of spatial scale may reveal shifts in fractal dimension that reflect transitions in how species respond to the patch structure of the landscape at different scales.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Anderson, N.S. 1964. Some relationships between grasshoppers and vegetation. Annals of the Entomological Society of America 57: 736–742.
Anderson, R.V., Tracy, C.R. and Abramsky, Z. 1979. Habitat selection in two species of short-horned grasshoppers. Oecologia 38: 359–374.
Bennett-Clark, H.C. 1990. Jumping in Orthoptera. In Biology of Grasshoppers, pp. 173–203. Edited by R.F. Chapman and A. Joern. John Wiley and Sons, New York.
Campbell, J.B., Arnett, W.H., Lambley, J.D., Jantz, O.K. and Knutson, H. 1974. Grasshoppers (Acrididae) of the Flint Hills native tallgrass prairie in Kansas. Kansas State University Agricultural Experiment Station Research Paper, No. 19: 1–146.
Capinera, J.L. and Sechrist, T.S. 1982. Grasshoppers (Acrididae) of Colorado: identification, biology and management. Bulletin No. 584S, Colorado State University Experiment Station, Fort Collins.
Chapman, R.F. 1990. Food selection. In Biology of Grasshoppers, pp. 39–72. Edited by R.F. Chapan and A. Joern. John Wiley and Sons, New York.
Crist, T.O., Guertin, D.S., Wiens, J.A. and Milne, B.T. 1992. Animal movement in heterogeneous landscapes: an experiment with Eleodes beetles in shortgrass prairie. Functional Ecology 6: 536–544.
Dicke, M. and Burrough, P.A. 1988. Using fractal dimensions for characterizing the tortuosity of animal trails. Physiological Entomology 13: 393–398.
Gabriel, J.M. 1985. The development of the locust jump mechanism. I. Allometric growth and its effect on jumping performance. Journal of Experimental Biology 118: 313–326.
Gendron, R.P. and J.E.R. Staddon. 1983. Searching for cryptic prey: the effect of search rate. American Naturalist 121: 172–186.
Joern, A. 1982. Vegetation structure and microhabitat selection in grasshoppers (Orthoptera: Acrididae). Southwestern Naturalist 27: 197–209.
Joern, A. 1983. Small-scale displacements of grasshoppers (Orthoptera: Acrididae) within arid grasslands. Journal of the Kansas Entomological Society 56: 131–139.
Johnson, A.R., Wiens, J.A., Milne, B.T. and Crist, T.O. 1992. Animal movements and population dynamics in heterogeneous landscapes. Landscape Ecology 7: 63–75.
Kareiva, P. 1982. Experimental and mathematical analyses of herbivore movement: quantifying the influence of plant spacing and quality on foraging discrimination. Ecological Monographs 52: 261–282.
Kareiva, P.M. and Shigesada, N. 1983. Analyzing insect movement as a correlated random walk. Oecologia 56: 234–238.
Kennedy, J.S. 1939. The behavior of the desert locust (Schistocerca gregaria (Forsk.)) (Orthopt.) in an outbreak centre. Transactions of the Royal Entomological Society of London 89: 385–542.
King, A.W. 1991. Translating models across scales in the landscape. In Quantitative Methods in Landscape Ecology, pp. 479–517. Edited by M.G. Turner and R.H. Gardner. Springer-Verlag, New York.
Kolasa, J. and C.D. Rollo. 1991. Introduction: the heterogeneity of heterogeneity: a glossary. In Ecological Heterogeneity, pp. 1–23. Edited by J. Kolasa and S.T.A. Pickett. Springer-Verlag, New York.
Kotliar, N.B. and Wiens, J.A. 1990. Multiple scales of patchiness and patch structure: a hierarchical framework for the study of heterogeneity. Oikos 59: 253–260.
Krummel, J.R., Gardner, R.H., Sugihara, G., O'Neill, R.V. and Coleman, P.R. 1987. Landscape patterns in a disturbed environment. Oikos 48: 321–324.
Mandelbrot, B.B. 1983. The fractal geometry of nature. Freeman, San Francisco.
McCulloch, C.E. and Cain, M.L. 1989. Analyzing discrete movement data as a correlated random walk. Ecology 70: 383–388.
Merriam, G., Henein, K. and Stuart-Smith, K. 1991. Landscape dynamics models. In Quantitative Methods in Landscape Ecology, pp. 399–416. Edited by M.G. Turner and R.H. Gardner. Springer-Verlag, New York.
Milchunas, D.G. and Lauenroth, W.K. 1989. Three-dimensional distribution of plant biomass in relation to grazing and topography in the shortgrass steppe. Oikos 55: 82–86.
Milne, B.T. 1991. Lessons from applying fractal models to landscape patterns. In Quantitative Methods in Landscape Ecology, pp. 199–235. Edited by M.G. Turner and R.H. Gardner. Springer-Verlag, New York.
Milne, B.T., Turner, M.G., Wiens, J.A. and Johnson, A.R. 1992. Interactions between the fractal geometry of landscapes and allometric herbivory. Theoretical Population Biology 41: 331–353.
Mulkern, G.B. 1967. Food selection by grasshoppers. Annual Review of Entomology 12: 59–78.
Otte, D. 1981. The North American grasshoppers. Volume I. Acrididae: Gomphocerinae and Acridinae. Harvard University Press, Massachusetts.
Parmenter, R.R., Parmenter, C.A. and Cheney, C.D. 1989. Factors influencing microhabitat partitioning among coexisting species of arid-land darkling beetles (Tenebrionidae): behavioral responses to vegetation architecture. Southwestern Naturalist 34: 319–329.
Pfadt, R.E. and Lavigne, R. J. 1982. Food habits of grasshoppers inhabiting the Pawnee site. Science Monograph 42, Agricultural Experiment Station, University of Wyoming, Laramie.
Risser, P.G. 1987. Landscape ecology: state of the art. In Landscape Heterogeneity and Disturbance, pp. 3–14. Edited by M.G. Turner. Springer-Verlag, New York.
Smith, J.N.M. 1974. The food searching behavior of two European thrushes. II. The adaptiveness of the search patterns. Behavior 49: 1–61.
Swihart, R.K., Slade, N.A. and Bergstrom, B.J. 1988. Relating body size to the rate of home range use in mammals. Ecology 69: 393–399.
Turner, M.G. and Gardner, R.H. 1991. Quantitative methods in landscape ecology: an introduction. In Quantitative Methods in Landscape Ecology, pp. 3–14. Edited by M.G. Turner and R.H. Gardner. Springer-Verlag, New York.
Turner, M.G., Dale, V.H. and Gardner, R.H. 1989. Predicting across scales: theory development and testing. Landscape Ecology 3: 245–252.
Van Horn, D.H. 1972. Grasshopper population numbers and biomass dynamics on the Pawnee site from Fall of 1968 through 1970. US International Biological Program Grassland Biome Technical Report No. 148.
Wallace, G.K. 1958. Some experiments on form perception in the nymphs of the desert locust, Schistocerca gregaria Forskal. Journal of Experimental Biology 35: 765–775.
Welch, J.L., Redak, R. and Kondratieff, B.C. 1991. Effect of cattle grazing on the density and species of grasshoppers (Orthoptera: Acrididae) of the Central Plains Experimental Range, Colorado: a reassessment after two decades. Journal of Kansas Entomological Society 64: 337–343.
Wiens, J.A. 1985. Vertebrate responses to environmental patchiness in arid and semiarid ecosystems. In The Ecology of Natural Disturbance and Patch Dynamics. Edited by S.T.A. Pickett and P.S. White, pp. 169–193. Academic Press, Florida.
Wiens, J.A. 1989. Spatial scaling in ecology. Functional Ecology 3: 385–397.
Wiens, J.A. 1990. On the use of ‘grain’ and ‘grain size’ in ecology. Functional Ecology 4: 720.
Wiens, J.A. 1992. What is landscape ecology, really? Landscape Ecology 7: 149–150.
Wiens, J.A. and Milne, B.T. 1989. Scaling of ‘landscapes’ in landscape ecology, or, landscape ecology from a beetle's perspective. Landscape Ecology 3: 87–96.
Wiens, J.A., Crist, T.O. and Milne, B.T. in press. On quantifying insect movements. Environmental Entomology.
With, K.A. in review. Ontogenetic shifts in how grasshoppers interact with landscape structure: an analysis of movement patterns. Functional Ecology.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
With, K.A. Using fractal analysis to assess how species perceive landscape structure. Landscape Ecol 9, 25–36 (1994). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00135076
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00135076