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A factor analysis of landscape pattern and structure metrics

Informally Refereed

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.

Citation

Riitters, Kurt H.; O''Neill, R.V.; Hunsaker, C.T.; Wickham, James D.; Yankee, D.H.; Timmins, S.P.; Jones, K.B.; Jackson, B.L. 1995. A factor analysis of landscape pattern and structure metrics. Landscape Ecology vol. 10 no. 1 pp 23-39 (1995)
https://www.fs.usda.gov/research/treesearch/5378