Investigating spatiotemporal patterns of landscape diversity in response to urbanization

Landscape patterns in urban regions are usually influenced by human-induced change in land cover in the processes of urbanization. Landscape spatial patterns have profound implications for the functions of ecological systems, and landscape diversity is an effective parameter representing landscape spatial patterns. However, the dynamics of landscape diversity in response to urbanization and its relationships with other aspects of landscape patterns have not been adequately discussed in the context of urban regions. Moreover, the significance of spatial distributions and local differences in landscape diversity within urban regions has received minimal attention. To further understand landscape diversity this study conducted a series analysis of landscape metrics to describe the spatiotemporal pattern of landscape diversity within the Taipei metropolitan region between 1971 and 2005. The landscape metrics were also analyzed to present the characteristics of landscape patterns and examine the correlations of metrics. The dynamics of intra-level landscape diversity in response to urbanization and its relationships with other aspects of landscape patterns were revealed by a series of metric analyses. The spatial distributions and local differences of landscape diversity were revealed to identify the areas where landscape diversity significantly changed in Taipei metropolitan region. This study also identified the regular pattern of landscape diversity in response to the process of urbanization and tested the theory of urban growth. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.