A landscape pattern analysis method based on boundaries and nodes: A case study in upper Minjiang River, China

Traditionally, patch-based analysis at the landscape scale fragmentation has been used in the study of landscape ecology while the study of boundary and node has not been considered as much detail until recently. This study investigated the possibility of applying boundary- and node-based methods in landscape pattern analysis to the upper reaches of the Minjiang River in the southwestern China. Boundary-based and node-based landscape indices were selected to be used in analyzing changes in landscape patterns, and the results were compared with analysis using traditional pattern indices. We compared the responses of patch-area-based, boundary-length-based and node-number-based indices, and concluded that boundary-based and node-based indices are more sensitive to disturbance than patch-based indices with various patterns, and node-based indices are even more sensitive than boundary-based ones. Thus, the results suggest that boundary-based and node-based pattern analysis methods provide helpful supplementary information to traditional patch-based pattern analysis methods. The results about pattern dynamics of landscapes in the upper reaches of the Minjiang River based on boundaries and nodes showed that with human disturbance, the dominance of forest landscape was weakened by other landscape types; thus the landscape pattern of the study area became more homogeneous and the boundary network became more complex. These changes further augmented disturbance interfaces in the landscape and increased the possibilities of further landscape fragmentation.