(from M.G. Turner et al. 2001. Landscape Ecology in Theory and Practice. Springer-Verlag, New York.)
| Term | Definition |
| Absolute scale | Actual distance, direction, shape, and geometry |
| Cartographic scale | Degree of spatial reduction jndicating the length used to represent a larger unit of measure; ratio of distance on the map to distance on Earth's surface represented by the map, usually expressed in terms such as 1: 10,000. In cartography, large scale means fine resolution and small scale means coarse resolution |
| Critical threshold | Point at which there is an abrupt change in a quality, property, or phenomenon |
| Extent | Size of the study area or the duration of time under consideration |
| Extrapolate | To infer from known yalues; to estimate a value from conditions of the argument not used in the process of estimation; to transform information (1) from one scale to another (either grain size or extent) or (2) from one system (or data set) to another system at the same scale |
| Grain | Finest level of spatial resolution possible within a given data set |
| Hierarchy | System of interconnections or organization wherein the higher levels constrain and control tire lower levels to various degrees depending on the time constraints of the behavior |
| Holon | Representation of an entity as a two-way window through which the environment influences the parts and parts communicate as a unit to the rest of the universe (Koestler, 1967) |
| Level of organization | Place within a biotic hierarchy (e.g., organism, deme, population) |
| Relative scale | Transformation of absolute scale to a scale that describes the relative distance, direction, or geometry based on some functional" relationship |
| Resolution | Precision of measurement; grain size, if spatial |
| Scale | Spatia[ or temporal dimension of an object of process, characterized by both grain and extent |
