Comparing Land Facet Methodologies in the Columbia Plateau

Dec 20, 2012
Uploaded by Jennifer McGuire
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Description:
These layers each depict one suite of methodological choices for designating land facets. Scroll through them to see how different choices affect land facet patterns.

Methodological choices: 

Resolution: 1km or 270m

Categorization approach:
  • Categorical overlay- each variable is categorized into ecologically meaningful classes.  Land facets are created from unique combinations of those classes. 
  • K-means clustering- an algorithm clusters the continuous variables into a designated number of facets. The Hartigan index was used to identify the optimal number of facets.  
  • Hybrid approach- a combination of the categorical overlay and a clustering method. Topographic data were categorized, and within each topographic class all other variables were clustered using a fuzzy c-means algorithm
Variable selection:
  • Topographic variables
    • Elevation
    • Slope
  • Soil variables
    • organic matter
    • bulk density
    • soil horizon depth
    • accumulated water content
  • Geology (categorized into 9 types of geological groupings after Anderson)
Normalization: variables normalized (where necessary) within ecoregion or across 14 NW ecoregions
Data Provided By:
Carrie Schloss
Jenny McGuire
Joshua Lawler
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Creative Commons LicenseThis work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.
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Tags:
land facets, clustering, diversity, abiotic, landscape
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About the Uploader

Jennifer McGuire
Postdoctoral Research Associate with University of Washington

I am a landscape ecologist in Joshua Lawler's Lab