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Types of indices

Two main types of indices exist:

Landscape Configuration

Landscape configuration refers to the spatial arrangement, positioning, orientation and complexity of patches - that is to the spatial characteristics of landscapes.

Landscape configuration is described by indices that measure structural characteristics. Configuration is characterised by the distribution and spatial arrangement of patches, so measures like nearest neighbour, adjacency, connectedness and shape complexity are used to describe it.

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Landscape Composition

Landscape composition refers to the distribution of species and the number of, and abundance of patch types - it is essentially aspatial and therefore refers to the non-spatial characteristics of landscapes.

Landscape composition is described by measures of variety and abundance. These may include calculations of the proportion of each patch type, patch richness, evenness and diversity (McGarigal and Marks, 1994). Measures of composition are essentially calculating diversity so many are drawn from indices of species diversity traditionally used in community ecology.

This means that the landscape is either described by its spatial or non-spatial characteristics (Baskent and Jordan, 1995)

Some indices incorporate both configuration and composition.

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