Scaling exponents and rank-size distributions as indicators of landscape character and change

I used a rank-size distribution model and its associated scaling exponents to describe the organization of Yellowstone National Park before and after the 1988 fire season using the statistical distribution of patch sizes. Rank-size distributions indicate the relative effect of patch size on landscape structure, and whether the size of patches differs from what is expected from the model. Seating exponents describe the distribution and magnitude of change in patch size, and may indicate the effect of fire on ecological processes including succession and resource distribution. The results of my analysis suggest that fires during the 1988 fire-season substantially affected the distribution of patch size in Yellowstone National Park, where large patches have a disproportionate effect on landscape character. For example, patches greater than or equal to 100 ha occupy a majority of the area even though they represent a minority number of patches in the landscape. Additionally, rank-size distributions indicate fractal properties existed over several orders of magnitude, signifying that processes acting at one level of the landscape hierarchy may be acting similarly at other levels of the hierarchy. This has implications for linking the scaling properties of patch size with other scale-based phenomena including allometry. Finally, the distribution of patch sizes in conjunction with fire-return interval may be useful in assessing the likelihood of landscape-level disturbances. (C) 2003 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.