THE USE OF MULTIVARIATE-ANALYSIS FOR THE ECOLOGICAL CHARACTERIZATION OF LANDSCAPE - THE MULA RIVER WATERSHED, SOUTH-EAST SPAIN

Ordination and classification techniques have been applied to an integrated study of the ecological characteristics of the Mula River watershed (Murcia, south-east Spain), as environmental background for use and management. These techniques facilitate an objective determination of the main tendencies in environmental variation within the study area, and how this variation may be viewed from ecological and geographical points of view. Moreover, their use permits the delimitation of internally homogeneous environmental units based on their topographic, geologic, vegetation and land use characteristics. A description of six environmental units in the study area was derived using information theory parameters. © 1992, Academic Press Limited. All rights reserved.