Slide 77 of 79
Notes:
(2) From 2-d to 3-d Models of Landscape Patterns
Current models of landscapes depict patterns as 2-dimensional patch mosaics
or, alternatively, as just described, as continuous surfaces, but many environments,
e.g., aquatic systems, are more realistically represented as 3-dimensional,
where the 'patches', if they exist, occupy volume not area. Consider the example
shown where in this movie (click on slide to display mpeg movie) that
I stole (borrowed) from a NASA website that depicts the effects of a three year
El-Nino cycle on sea water temperatures - an environmental variable that influences
many organisms and ecological processes. Ignoring the highly dynamic nature
of the system, it is apparent that temperature patches or gradients cannot be
effectively mapped in two dimensions, as the warm and cold water pockets shift
not only latitudinally and longitudinally, but also vertically in the water
column. I don't know about you, but thinking about developing landscape metrics
for 3-dimensional environments hurts my brain, so naturally I have chosen not
to think too much about it. But as they say in sports: No Pain, No Gain. So
somebody is going to have to feel some pain. Clearly, this represents an important
frontier in landscape pattern analysis that we must eventually brave.
