Background.--The interaction of patch shape and size can influence a number of important ecological processes. Patch shape has been shown to influence inter-patch processes such as small mammal migration (Buechner 1989) and woody plant colonization (Hardt and Forman 1989), and may influence animal foraging strategies (Forman and Godron 1986). However, the primary significance of shape in determining the nature of patches in a landscape seems to be related to the ‘edge effect’ (see discussion of edge effects for Area/Density/Edge Metrics).