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A leakiness index for assessing landscape function using remote sensing

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Abstract

The cover, number, size, shape, spatial arrangement and orientation of vegetation patches are attributes that have been used to indicate how well landscapes function to retain, not ‘leak’, vital system resources such as rainwater and soil. We derived and tested a directional leakiness index (DLI) for this resource retention function. We used simulated landscape maps where resource flows over map surfaces were directional and where landscape patch attributes were known. Although DLI was most strongly related to patch cover, it also logically related to patch number, size, shape, arrangement and orientation. If the direction of resource flow is multi-directional, a variant of DLI, the multi-directional leakiness index (MDLI) can be used. The utility of DLI and MDLI was demonstrated by applying these indices to three Australian savanna landscapes differing in their remotely sensed vegetation patch attributes. These leakiness indices clearly positioned these three landscapes along a function-dysfunction continuum, where dysfunctional landscapes are leaky (poorly retain resources).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Tropical Savannas Management Cooperative Research Centre and CSIRO Sustainable Ecosystems, Atherton, 4883, Australia

    John A. Ludwig

  2. Tropical Savannas Management Cooperative Research Centre and CSIRO Sustainable Ecosystems, Darwin, 0822, Australia

    Robert W. Eager & Adam C. Liedloff

  3. Alice Springs, 0871, Australia

    Gary N. Bastin & Vanessa H. Chewings

Authors
  1. John A. Ludwig
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  2. Robert W. Eager
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  3. Gary N. Bastin
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  4. Vanessa H. Chewings
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  5. Adam C. Liedloff
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Ludwig, J.A., Eager, R.W., Bastin, G.N. et al. A leakiness index for assessing landscape function using remote sensing. Landscape Ecology 17, 157–171 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1016579010499

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