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Marine and Freshwater Research Marine and Freshwater Research Society
Advances in the aquatic sciences
RESEARCH ARTICLE

Using fractal geometry to make rapid field measurements of riverbed topography at ecologically useful spatial scales

B. J. Robson, E. T. Chester and L. A. Barmuta

Marine and Freshwater Research 53(6) 999 - 1003
Published: 09 December 2002

Abstract

A method is described for making rapid in situ field measurements of riverbed topography over spatial scales of ≅1–10 m. This method uses rolling balls to make quick, accurate measurements of river-bed roughness at several spatial scales. Random sampling and replication generate multiple estimates of the fractal dimension (d) that can be used to test for significant differences in the complexity of riverbed architecture between habitat types and spatial scales.

Keywords: fractal dimension, habitat architecture, habitat structure, hard benthos

https://doi.org/10.1071/MF01222

© CSIRO 2002

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