Fractal geometry applications in description and analysis of patch patterns and patch dynamics

Fractal geometry applications have recently been paid great attention in ecology. In this paper, I summarize the state of the art and introduce several updated developments in analysis and description of patch patterns and patch dynamics by means of Mandelbrot's fractal analysis, with an emphasis on my current research results and a personal view. These topics include geometric fractals, statistical fractals, information fractals, the fluctuation-tolerant fractals of dynamic patch size and shape, patch hierarchical scaling, fractal spatial patterns, multiple scale sampling and data analysis, fractal fragmentation of the landscape habitat into patches, fractal correlation in patchy systems, fractal cluster dynamics of vegetation systems, fractal mechanisms and ecological consequences, the spatio-temporal integrated approach and so on. The ecological significance of fractals in patch pattern and patch dynamics is discussed. A case study on fractal analysis of patch dynamics of southern Texas savanna landscape is given. Several limitations of fractal analysis in ecological applications are also addressed. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.