Context An important part of landscape ecology is to identify relationships between landscape characteristics and ecological processes. One common approach to this is relating raster surfaces to ecological responses, assuming that the characteristics emphasized by rasters are representative of the processes determining changes in the ecological responses being assessed. Consequently, choices made in the design and assessment of rasters affect our understanding of the relationship between landscape characteristics and ecological responses. Objectives We propose a six-step framework for informing the choices made in creating and measuring rasters for landscape analyses: (i) acknowledge ecological theory and conceptual paradigms, (ii) evaluate the fit of available data, (iii) assess the three facets of scale, (iv) recognize different sampling designs, (v) use proper conceptual models, and (vi) measure meaningful raster characteristics. Conclusions We discuss how each step can benefit from a “functional” perspective, i.e., an explicit focus on the ecological processes under investigation. This is especially important for landscape analyses of habitat change, which are highly complex due to the many processes potentially involved. A functional perspective draws attention to common pitfalls in landscape ecology, while promoting more process-oriented research in the study of habitat change.

中文翻译：

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栖息地变化功能景观分析的六个关键步骤

背景景观生态学的一个重要部分是识别景观特征与生态过程之间的关系。一种常见的方法是将栅格表面与生态响应相关联，假设栅格强调的特征代表了决定正在评估的生态响应变化的过程。因此，栅格设计和评估中的选择会影响我们对景观特征与生态响应之间关系的理解。目标 我们提出了一个六步框架，用于告知在创建和测量用于景观分析的栅格时所做的选择：(i) 承认生态理论和概念范式，(ii) 评估可用数据的拟合，(iii) 评估规模，(iv) 识别不同的抽样设计，(v) 使用适当的概念模型，以及 (vi) 测量有意义的栅格特征。结论 我们讨论了每一步如何从“功能”的角度受益，即明确关注所调查的生态过程。这对于栖息地变化的景观分析尤其重要，由于可能涉及许多过程，栖息地变化非常复杂。功能视角提请注意景观生态学中的常见陷阱，同时促进栖息地变化研究中更多以过程为导向的研究。由于可能涉及许多过程，因此非常复杂。功能视角提请注意景观生态学中的常见缺陷，同时促进栖息地变化研究中更多以过程为导向的研究。由于可能涉及许多过程，因此非常复杂。功能视角提请注意景观生态学中的常见缺陷，同时促进栖息地变化研究中更多以过程为导向的研究。