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Understanding Landscape Metrics

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Learning Landscape Ecology

Abstract

An extensive set of landscape metrics exists to quantify spatial patterns in heterogeneous landscapes. Developers and users of these metrics typically seek to objectively describe landscapes that humans assess subjectively as, for example, “clumpy,” “dispersed,” “random,” “diverse,” “fragmented,” or “connected.” Because the quantification of pattern is fundamental to many of the relationships we seek to understand in landscape ecology, a basic familiarity with the most commonly used metrics is extremely important. Several software programs evaluate maps quickly and cheaply, but there are no absolute rules governing the proper use of landscape metrics. To help foster the appropriate use of landscape metrics, in this lab students will.

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Notes

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    NOTE: An asterisk preceding the entry indicates that it is a suggested reading.

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NOTE: An asterisk preceding the entry indicates that it is a suggested reading.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. McGill University, Sainte Anne de Bellevue, QC, Canada

    Jeffrey A. Cardille

  2. University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, USA

    Monica G. Turner

Authors
  1. Jeffrey A. Cardille
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  2. Monica G. Turner
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Correspondence to Jeffrey A. Cardille .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of British Columbia, Department of Forest and Conservation Sciences, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

    Sarah E. Gergel

  2. University of Wisconsin-Madison, Department of Zoology, Madison, Wisconsin, USA

    Monica G. Turner

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Cardille, J.A., Turner, M.G. (2017). Understanding Landscape Metrics. In: Gergel, S., Turner, M. (eds) Learning Landscape Ecology. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-6374-4_4

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