The application of landscape indices in forest and landscape inventories : review and critique
2003
Koehl, M. | Oehmichen, K. (Technische Universitaet Dresden, Dresden (Germany). Institut fuer Waldwachstum und Forstliche Informatik)
Landscape indices have been developed as a mean of describing the spatial structure of landscapes. This paper presents an overview of the concept and the approaches of the most commonly used landscape indices, which are mainly applied to spatial data in raster format. In order to describe the spatial diversity of a landscape, indices can be calculated as moving averages for sections of the landscape. This can be carried out using two concepts: geometric windows make use of fixed sections with low resolution, while geographic windows adapt the window size according to landcover or landuse classes. Geometric windows are sensitive to borderlines and changes between landcover or landuse classes, while geographic windows represent the spatial diversity of landscapes. Taken alone, matrices provide only limited information on the content of landscape. Only the combination of landscape indices and underlying ecological processes can provide a sound basis for a qualitative evaluation. The paper concludes with a set of recommendations for practical applications of landscape indices.
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