Landscape Pattern Analysis

The analysis of landscapes and other spatial patterns is a major focus of landscape ecology, being essential to the study of how landscape patterns affect ecological processes. Landscape pattern analysis has become a sine qua non for environmental monitoring, natural resource management, landscape planning, sustainable development, and species conservation. The intensification of human land use is a major global-change issue, requiring an in-depth analysis of how landscapes are being transformed over time, as well as how anthropogenic disturbances compare to the natural disturbance regime. This chapter covers the types and availability of landscape data, such as from historical land surveys and remote sensing; how spatial data are processed and manipulated within a Geographical Information System (GIS); and finally, how to analyze landscape structure using landscape metrics and spatial statistics, including a discussion of best practices.