Landscape Ecology

, Volume 10, Issue 1, pp 23–39 | Cite as

A factor analysis of landscape pattern and structure metrics

  • K. H. Riitters
  • R. V. O'Neill
  • C. T. Hunsaker
  • J. D. Wickham
  • D. H. Yankee
  • S. P. Timmins
  • K. B. Jones
  • B. L. Jackson
Article

Abstract

Fifty-five metrics of landscape pattern and structure were calculated for 85 maps of land use and land cover. A multivariate factor analysis was used to identify the common axes (or dimensions) of pattern and structure which were measured by a reduced set of 26 metrics. The first six factors explained about 87% of the variation in the 26 landscape metrics. These factors were interpreted as composite measures of average patch compaction, overall image texture, average patch shape, patch perimeter-area scaling, number of attribute classes, and large-patch density-area scaling. We suggest that these factors can be represented in a simpler way by six univariate metrics - average perimeter-area ratio, contagion, standardized patch shape, patch perimeter-area scaling, number of attribute classes, and large-patch density-area scaling.

Preview

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

References

  1. Anderson, J.R., Hardy, E.E., Roach, J.T. and Witmer, R.E. 1976. A land use and land cover classification system for use with remote sensor data. Geological Survey Professional Paper 964, U.S. Geological Survey, Washington DC.Google Scholar
  2. Baker, W.L. and Cai, Y. 1992. The r.le programs for multiscale analysis of landscape structure using the GRASS geographical information system. Landscape Ecology 7: 291–302.Google Scholar
  3. Falconer, K. 1990. Fractal Geometry. Mathematical Foundations and Applications. John Wiley and Sons, Chichester U.K.Google Scholar
  4. Fegeas, R.G., Claire, R.W., Guptil, S.C., Anderson, K.E. and Hallam, C.A. 1983. Land use and land cover digital data. Geological Survey Circular 895-E, U.S. Geological Survey, Washington DC.Google Scholar
  5. Forman, R.T.T. and Godron, M. 1986. Landscape Ecology. John Wiley and Sons, New York NY.Google Scholar
  6. Gonzalez, R.C. and Woods, R.E. 1992. Digital Image Processing. Addison-Wesley, Reading MA.Google Scholar
  7. Hunsaker, C.T., O'Neill, R.V., Jackson, B.L., Timmins, S.P., Levine, D.A. and Norton, D.J. 1994. Sampling to characterize landscape pattern. Landscape Ecology, in press.Google Scholar
  8. Johnson, R.A. and Wichern, D.W. 1982. Applied Multivariate Statistical Analysis. Prentice-Hall, Inc., Englewood Cliffs NJ.Google Scholar
  9. Li, H. and Reynolds, J.F. 1993. A new contagion index to quantify spatial patterns of landscapes. Landscape Ecology 8: 155–162.Google Scholar
  10. Lovejoy, S. 1982. Area-perimeter relation for rain and cloud areas. Science 216: 185–187.Google Scholar
  11. Magurran, A.E. 1988. Ecological diversity and its measurement. Princeton University Press, Princeton NJ.Google Scholar
  12. Mandelbrot, B.B. 1967. How long is the coast of Britain? Statistical self-similarity and fractional dimension. Science 155: 636–638.Google Scholar
  13. Mandelbrot, B.B. 1983. The Fractal Geometry of Nature. W.H. Freeman and Company, New York NY.Google Scholar
  14. McDonald, R.P. 1985. Factor Analysis and Related Methods. Lawrence Eribaum Associates, Hillsdale NJ.Google Scholar
  15. Milne, B.T. 1991. Lessons from applying fractal models to landscape patterns. pp. 199–235 in Turner, M.G. and Gardner, R.H. (editors), Quantitative Methods in Landscape Ecology, Springer-Verlag, New York NY.Google Scholar
  16. Morrison, D.F. 1976. Multivariate Statistical Methods. Second Edition. McGraw-Hill Inc., New York NY.Google Scholar
  17. Musick, H.B. and Grover, H.D. 1991. Image textural measures as indices of landscape pattern. pp. 77–103 in Turner, M.G. and Gardner, R.H. (editors). Quantitative Methods in Landscape Ecology, Springer-Verlag, New York NY.Google Scholar
  18. O'Neill, R.V., Krummel, J.R., Gardner, R.H., Sugihara, G., Jackson, B., DeAngelis, D.L., Milne, B.T., Turner, M.G., Zygmunt, B., Christensen, S.W., Dale, V.H. and R.L. Graham. 1988. Indices of landscape pattern. Landscape Ecology 1: 153–162.Google Scholar
  19. Pickover, C.A. 1990. Computers, Pattern, Chaos and Beauty, Graphics from an Unseen World. St. Martin's Press, New York NY.Google Scholar
  20. Pimentel, R.A. 1979. Morphometrics, The Multivariate Analysis of Biological Data. Kendall/Hunt Publishing Co., Dubuque IA.Google Scholar
  21. Plotnick, R.E., Gardner, R.H. and O'Neill, R.V. 1993. Lacunarity indices as measures of landscape texture. Landscape Ecology 8: 201–211.Google Scholar
  22. Ritter, J. 1990. An efficient bounding sphere. pp. 301–303 in Glassner, A.S. (editor), Graphics Gems, Academic Press, San Diego CA.Google Scholar
  23. Steel, R.G.D. and Torrie, J.H. 1980. Principles and Procedures of Statistics, A Biometrical Approach. Second Edition. McGraw-Hill Book Company, New York NY.Google Scholar
  24. Turner, M.G. and Gardner, R.H. (editors). 1991. Quantitative Methods in Landscape Ecology, Springer-Verlag, New York NY.Google Scholar
  25. United States Environmental Protection Agency. 1994. Landscape monitoring and assessment research plan. U.S. EPA 620/R-94–009. Office of Research and Development, Washington DC 20460.Google Scholar
  26. Voss, R.F. 1988. Fractals in nature: From characterization to simulation pp. 21–70 in Peitgen, H.-O., and Saupe, D. (editors), The Science of Fractal Images, Springer-Verlag, New York NY.Google Scholar
  27. Weins, 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.Google Scholar

Copyright information

© SPB Academic Publishing bv 1995

Authors and Affiliations

  • K. H. Riitters
    • 1
  • R. V. O'Neill
    • 2
  • C. T. Hunsaker
    • 2
  • J. D. Wickham
    • 3
  • D. H. Yankee
    • 1
  • S. P. Timmins
    • 4
  • K. B. Jones
    • 5
  • B. L. Jackson
    • 2
  1. 1.Tennessee Valley AuthorityNorrisUSA
  2. 2.Oak Ridge National LaboratoryOak RidgeUSA
  3. 3.Desert Research InstituteRenoUSA
  4. 4.Analysas CorporationOak RidgeUSA
  5. 5.Environmental Protection AgencyLas VegasUSA

Personalised recommendations