Total core area (Core area metric)
lsm_l_tca(landscape, directions = 8, consider_boundary = FALSE, edge_depth = 1)tibble
Raster* Layer, Stack, Brick, SpatRaster (terra), stars, or a list of rasterLayers.
The number of directions in which patches should be connected: 4 (rook's case) or 8 (queen's case).
Logical if cells that only neighbour the landscape boundary should be considered as core
Distance (in cells) a cell has the be away from the patch edge to be considered as core cell
$$TCA = \sum \limits_{j = 1}^{n} a_{ij}^{core} * (\frac{1} {10000})$$ where here \(a_{ij}^{core}\) is the core area in square meters.
TCA is a 'Core area metric' and equals the sum of core areas of all patches in the landscape. A cell is defined as core area if the cell has no neighbour with a different value than itself (rook's case). In other words, the core area of a patch is all area that is not an edge. It characterises patch areas and shapes of all patches in the landscape simultaneously (more core area when the patch is large and the shape is rather compact, i.e. a square). Additionally, TCA is a measure for the configuration of the landscape, because the sum of edges increase as patches are less aggregated.
Hectares
TCA >= 0
Increases, without limit, as patch areas increase and patch shapes simplify. TCA = 0 when every cell in every patch is an edge.
McGarigal, K., SA Cushman, and E Ene. 2012. FRAGSTATS v4: Spatial Pattern Analysis Program for Categorical and Continuous Maps. Computer software program produced by the authors at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. Available at the following web site: https://www.umass.edu/landeco/
lsm_p_core,
lsm_c_tca