NDLI: The impact of thematic resolution on the patch-mosaic model of natural landscapes

Content Provider	Springer Nature Link
Author	Castilla, Guillermo Larkin, Kerry Linke, Julia Hay, Geoffrey J.
Copyright Year	2008
Abstract	We argue that thematic resolution, i.e., the level of categorical detail of a thematic map expressed by the number of classes included in the map legend, is an inherent component of the scale at which a landscape is analyzed. Changing the number of classes can change the configuration of the patch mosaic as much as changing the grain does. We address recent calls in this and other journals to deepen research in this topic. In particular, we report how thematic resolution affects the patchiness of mosaics representing natural landscapes, which have seldom been studied in this respect. We selected seven 50 × 50 km landscapes within national parks, each representative of a world biome. We applied an object-based unsupervised classification to Landsat TM imagery of these landscapes using increasing numbers of classes, between 2 and 50, and derived curves of mean patch size and patch density for each site. Our results are consistent with previous findings in that the patchiness of output mosaics increases monotonically with increasing thematic resolution, with a higher rate of increase up to eight classes that declines until it becomes roughly constant for more than 16 classes. However, this constant rate of increase is still considerable, meaning that, at least for natural landscapes, there is no threshold beyond which the patch-mosaic model is independent of the conceptual filter applied. This dependence on human fiat calls for re-thinking the patch-mosaic paradigm.
Starting Page	15
Ending Page	23
Page Count	9
File Format	PDF
ISSN	09212973
Journal	Landscape Ecology
Volume Number	24
Issue Number	1
e-ISSN	15729761
Language	English
Publisher	Springer Netherlands
Publisher Date	2008-11-27
Publisher Place	Dordrecht
Access Restriction	Subscribed
Subject Keyword	Geocover Landscape metrics MAUP Patch-mosaic model Scale Thematic resolution Plant Sciences Ecology Forestry Plant Ecology Landscape Ecology Forestry Management
Content Type	Text
Resource Type	Article
Subject	Geography, Planning and Development Ecology Nature and Landscape Conservation

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