Landscapeecologyandlandscapepatternanalysisareimportantcomponentsofnational-scaleprogramstoidentifytrendsinlandcoverchangebecause:1)Statisticsonchangesinlandcoverproportionsarenotspatial.AchangematrixderivedfromGISprovidesusefulinformation,butitdoesnotshowthespatialformofchangeinthelandscape.Landscapepatternmetricsrevealspatialpattern.2)Agrowingbodyofliteraturehasshownthatachangeinlandscapepatternmightindicateimportantchangesinecologicalfunctions:forestconnectivityandspeciesmovements,numberandsizeoffarmpatches,effectsonwaterquality.Spatialpatternisimportantinstructuringecologicalcommunitiesandinmaintainingexistenceofcompetitors.Spatialpatternmaybedeterminedbydisturbanceandmayinturn,determinehowdisturbancespropagatethroughthesystem.3)Sometimeslandscapepatternmaynotsignificantlychange,eventhoughlandcoverproportionsdochange.Or,vice-versa,sometimeslandscapepatterncansignificantlychange,eventhoughlandcoverproportionsdon'tsignificantlychange.4)Landscapepatternisaninherentandimportantpartofdescribinglandscapes:basedontheliterature,oneofthemostimportantdescriptivecharacteristicsofalandscapeisitstexture.Theobjectivesofthispaperareto:1)Explaintheimportanceoftheroleoflandscapeecologyandlandscapepatternanalysisinlandcoverchangestudies;2)Reviewtheliteraturethatspecificallyincorporateslandscapeecologyintolandcoverchangestudies;and3)Listthetheoreticalandtechnicalissuesinvolvedandsuggestsolutionsforthem.
