HOME ENV510 Landscape Ecology and GIS

Definitions & descriptions | Structure & pattern | Function & process | Change & dynamics | Management implications
Processes | Elements | Size | Connectivity | Boundaries | Transformation | Fragmentation | Ecosystem | Other

Patch Size

Large patches of native vegetation are important for

• protecting aquifers and lakes
  
  
• connectivity of headwaters
  
  
• habitat for patch interior species
  
  
• habitat for large home range species
  
  
• sources for species dispersing through the matrix
  
  
• natural disturbance regime
  

Small patches are important for

• habitat and stepping stones for species dispersal
  
  
• enhancing matrix heterogeneity
  
  
• habitat for occasional small patch restricted species

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