MESOSCALE CHANGES IN TEXTURAL PATTERN OF INTACT PERUVIAN RAIN-FORESTS(1970S-1980S)

To assess changes in spatial heterogeneity of non-anthropogenically di sturbed rainforests, we compared lacunarity of Landsat MSS imagery ove r the Peruvian lowlands from the 1970s and 1980s. The organizational p atterns associated with lower NDVI values were found to be significant ly more clumped during the 1970s whereas those associated with higher NDVI values became more clumped during the 1980s. These spatial dynami cs suggest that these rainforests represent non-equilibrium systems at coarse hierarchical levels which are typically thought to be stable a t decadal intervals.