Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Landscape Perspective
Landscape
Scale
Patch
- size, number, shape, location
Mosaics
- network, fragmentation, pattern, scale
Edges and Boundaries
- structure, shape
Corridors and Connectivity
- pathways, barriers
Landscape
Landscape is a heterogeneous region consisting of 2
or more interacting ecosystems (2 landscapes =
region) that exchange organisms, energy, water,
nutrients, etc.
Mosaics of habitat patches of varying sizes and
shapes, Patches, edges, and connectivity (corridors
and barriers)
Landscapes have several types of patches, the most
common = matrix
Scale and heterogeneity (incorporating composition,
structure, and function)
CorridorsProvide
connections between
patches of the same or
different types
Facilitate the movement of
organisms
Barriers to species
movements
Corridors and Connectivity
Connectivity is the measure of how
connected or spatially continuous a
corridor, network, or matrix is. For
example, a forested landscape
(matrix) with fewer gaps in forest
cover (open patches) will have
higher connectivity.
Corridors have important functions
as strips of a particular type of
landscape differing from adjacent
land on both sides.
Matrix, Network, and Mosaic
Matrix is the background ecological
system of a landscape with a high degree
of connectivity.
Network is an interconnected system of
corridors .
Mosaic describes the pattern of patches,
corridors and matrix that form a landscape
in its entirety.
Mosaics
The spatial pattern or structure of a landscape
is a mosaic made up of three universal
elements: patch, corridor and matrix. The
composition and configuration of those habitat
elements in turn control the movement of
animals, plants, water, soil, and energy through
that landscape. Studying those elements also
provides a basis for comparing dissimilar
landscapes and for developing general concepts
about how landscapes operate over space and
time.
Disturbance and Fragmentation
Disturbance: an event
that alters the process
of change or stability of
a patch or a mosaic of
patches.
Fragmentation: The
cutting and breaking up
of a large patch into
many smaller ones
separated by a new
and different kind of
patch.