Landscape metrics: a new tool for forest ecologists

Landscape ecologists use metrics to evaluate the processes which affect landforms, and the resulting patterns of vegetation and land shapes through which wildlife moves. Landscape metrics models can simulate changes in these patterns by examining patch areas and distributions, patch density, patch isolation and aggregation, and the ratio of edge to core habitat. Examples of metric analysis are applied to the Oak Grove Fork watershed in Mount Hood National Forest, Oregon. The analysis of patches in these settings is directed at implications for wildlife, as illustrated by the woodpecker habitats.