Graph Theory and Open-space Network Design
Karen L. Payne · Landscape Research · 2002
A decision support system designed to aid the planning and creation of green-space or open-space networks is described. The system relies on data describing current land cover and existing conservation lands, and may be extended to include any number of other ancillary data sources. The system incorporates algorithms developed in the fields of graph theory and operations research but also describes two new algorithms. The system demonstrates the application of existing graph theory algorithms in reserve design problems by illustrating the similarity and differences between classic graph theory problems and those faced by planning officials. Notions of connectivity and parsimony important to researchers in both fields are explicitly addressed.