Community Structure and the Fractal Dimensions of Mountain Habitats

The extent to which habitats are spatially heterogeneous, or "patchy" and the implications of this form of complexity for the organisms that live in them, are presently topics of considerable active research. The patch complexity within and around some montane meadow habitats in the Alps was defined and measured by calculating the fractal dimensions of mosaics created on a Geographical Information System. Results demonstrate that the meadows have extremely high fractal dimensions—indeed they are the most spatially complicated habitat mosaics that have been measured. Spatial variations in the fractal dimension itself correlate with observed patterns of species richness and abundance of syrphid flies (Diptera), a group of common flower-visiting insects in the area.