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This practical handbook bridges the gap between those scientists who study landscapes and the planners and conservationists who must then decide how best to preserve and build environmentally-sound habitats. Until now, only a small portion of the relevant science has influenced the decision-making arenas where the future of our landscapes is debated and decided. The authors explain specific tools and concepts to measure a landscape's structure, form, and change over time. Metrics studied include patch richness, class area proportion, patch number and density, mean patch size, shape, radius of gyration, contagion, edge contrast, nearest neighbor distance, and proximity. These measures will help planners and conservationists make better land use decisions for the future.
About the author
Joseph Miller is in private practice as a landscape architect and ecologist with The Faux Group in Annapolis, Maryland. Jack Ahern is Professor of landscape architecture at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Andre Botequilha Leitao is an Assistant Professor of Landscape Planning at the Faculty of Engineering and Natural Resources (FERN), University of Algarve, Faro, Portugal. Kevin McGarigal is Associate Professor of Landscape Ecology at the UMass Amherst.
Summary
Bridges the gap between those scientists who study landscapes and the planners and conservationists who must then decide how best to preserve and build environmentally-sound habitats. The authors explain specific tools and concepts to measure a landscape's structure, form, and change over time.
