LACUNARITY INDEXES AS MEASURES OF LANDSCAPE TEXTURE

Lacunarity analysis is a multi-scaled method of determining the textur e associated with patterns of spatial dispersion (i.e., habitat types or species locations) for one-, two-, and three-dimensional data. Lacu narity provides a parsimonious analysis of the overall fraction of a m ap or transect covered by the attribute of interest, the degree of con tagion, the presence of self-similarity, the presence and scale of ran domness, and the existence of hierarchical structure. For self-similar patterns, it can be used to determine the fractal dimension. The meth od is easily implemented on the computer and provides readily interpre table graphic results. Differences in pattern can be detected even amo ng very sparsely occupied maps.