“If you could perceive the patterns in a scene, you could then look beyond the patterns to the underlying structure that supports them. If you could see and grasp the methods by which a surface harmony had been achieved, you eventually could understand the deepest meaning and mechanisms of any subject and then make a good painting of it” (Page 66) Koontz 1980: Whispers

Understanding a landscape

Are we satisfied with this product? Understanding a landscape

Is this structure of the landscape interesting and how was it created? Understanding a landscape

Is this structure of the landscape interesting and how was it created? Understanding a landscape

Can we create a similar landscape structure? What impacts can this structure have? Understanding a landscape Chen & Saunders 2006

Landscape ecology are featured with patch-corridor-matrix dogma -- a landscape is composed of multiple ecosystems. It is theorized that new structural and functional features would emerge when >2 ecosystems are placed together Chen & Saunders 2006

Once upon a time, there … Key Points Structure needs to be defined by objective, proper scale, and variable of interests; All structural elements are dynamic (i.e., constantly changing over time);

( a ) Conventional land mosaic patch corridor ( b ) Complex land mosaic patch interior Road & roadside AMEI AEI AMEI

Example 2: Within the area- of-edge influence (AEI), most areas are under multiple edge effects!

In general, the scales of structures/patterns we see and scales of the processes that create or maintain them are positively correlated; but this is not always the case. Scale is characterized by both grain (i.e., resolution) and extent: · Grain: smallest unit of measure about which one has information · Extent: Total area (or duration of time) over which we are considering a phenomenon

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