Landscape heterogeneity is structured by multidimensional components and land-cover proportion interactions

Landscape heterogeneity is a key driver of biodiversity, ecosystem functioning, and resilience. However, its multiple components—compositional, configurational, vertical, and temporal— are rarely analysed together at broad spatial scales. Compositional heterogeneity refers to the number and proportions of different elements, configurational heterogeneity to their spatial arrangement and shape, vertical heterogeneity to variation in vegetation height, and temporal heterogeneity to interannual variation in land cover and management. Here we examine relationships among these components across forests, croplands, and grasslands using nationwide geospatial data from Germany. We show that compositional and configurational heterogeneity (Shannon diversity vs. edge density) are positively correlated, although their relationship varied with land-cover proportions. Contrary to common assumptions, configurational heterogeneity does not enhance habitat connectivity. Vertical and temporal heterogeneity are largely independent from horizontal heterogeneity. Forests are the main contributors to landscape heterogeneity across land-cover types, whereas croplands contribute little or even negatively. These findings highlight the importance of considering land-cover proportions and multi-dimensional heterogeneity when assessing landscape structure. Our results have broad implications for environmental monitoring and planning for biodiversity and ecosystem assessments, offering a framework to avoid hidden collinearity and consider multi-dimensional perspective and socio-ecological context.