Spatial patterns of plant distribution and grazing patterns of livestock and wildlife can affect ecosystem structure and function. Understanding how plants and animals interact on a landscape scale can provide the basis for effective management systems. We have conducted several studies on landscape patterns.
In one study, fractal geometry was used to define relationships between foraging behavior of white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus), Spanish goats (Capra hircus) and environmental heterogeneity. We tested the null hypotheses that 1) the tortuosity of animal foraging paths and foraging velocities were not affected by environmental heterogeneity, and 2) browsing herbivores of similar body size perceive a complex shrub community in the same way. Animal foraging paths and landscape heterogeneity were characterized using estimates of fractal dimension (D). The objective of using fractal geometry in this manner was to obtain a measurement that consolidates or better describes the functional heterogeneity perceived by domestic goats and native deer in a complex shrub community.
In another study, we used geostatistics to model plant distribution and animal utilization. In south Texas, two 3,000 acre pastures were sampled and modeled. To extend our techniques, sampling was also conducted within the Alaska tundra on the Seward Peninsula.