Process- Versus Pattern-Based Measures of Fragmentation: A Simulated Sensitivity Analysis

Landscape fragmentation, which has demonstrated links to habitat loss, increased isolation, a loss of connectivity, decreased biodiversity, and reduced connectivity is difficult to quantify. Traditional metrics have been calculated using landscape patterns of composition and configuration. The objective of this study was to examine an alternative process-based approach using the cost of traversing a landscape as a proxy for fragmentation and compare it with the traditional approach. One thousand binary landscapes varying in composition and configuration were simulated, and least-cost path analysis provided the data to calculate the process-based metrics, which were compared with the computed pattern-based metrics. The process-based quantification of landscape fragmentation was more sensitive to landscape fragmentation than a pattern-based quantification. My study provides a methodological foundation for further studies as it is not associated with a specific species or ecological process, and thus can be easily adapted to numerous settings.