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.
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Riitters, K.H., O'Neill, R.V., Hunsaker, C.T. et al. A factor analysis of landscape pattern and structure metrics. Landscape Ecol 10, 23–39 (1995). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00158551
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00158551