Measuring complexity of environmental gradients

✍ Scribed by Phillips, Jonathan D.

• Book ID: 104621186
• Publisher: Springer-Verlag
• Year: 1986
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 646 KB
• Volume: 64
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 1573-5052
• DOI: 10.1007/bf00044785

✦ Synopsis

Analysis of vegetation response to environmental gradients should take into account the spatial complexity of the environmental property itself. Whether a gradient exists on the landscape or in abstract space, the spatial variability of environmental factors often invalidates the implicit assumption that the gradient is continuous. There is a need to know how variable the spatial pattern of a gradient is and how much deviation from the general trend may be expected. Geostatistics is shown to provide a useful method for analyzing spatial variability. If the assumptions for its use can be met, the fractal dimension can be used in combination with geostatistics to provide a quantitative index of gradient complexity. An example is given, showing that an hypothesized gradient of shoreline erosion disturbance along Delaware Bay either does not exist or is so complicated by short-range, local factors that any longer-range gradient is relatively unimportant. Such complex environmental patterns are thought to be common in nature. Geostatistics, fractals, or similar spatial methods can be utilized to detect and measure such complexity.