Natural resource inventories and management applications in the Great Basin

ERTS-1 resolution capabilities and repetitive coverage have allowed the acquisition of several statewide inventories of natural resource features not previously completed or that could not be completed in any other way. Familiarity with landform, tone, pattern and other converging factors, along with multidate imagery, has been required. Nevada's vegetation has been mapped from ERTS-1. Dynamic characteristics of the landscape have been studied. Sequential ERTS-1 imagery has proved its usefulness for mapping vegetation, following vegetation phenology changes, monitoring changes in lakes and reservoirs (including water quality), determining changes in surface mining use, making fire fuel estimates and determining potential hazard, mapping the distribution of rain and snow events, making range readiness determinations, monitoring marshland management practices and other uses. Feasibility has been determined, but details of incorporating the data in management systems awaits further research and development. The need is to accurately define the steps necessary to extract required or usable information from ERTS imagery and fit it into on-going management programs

Are environmental transitions more prone to biological invasions?

Aim To examine whether at a subcontinental-scale ecotonal areas of transition between vegetation communities are at higher risk of plant invasion. Location South Africa and Lesotho. Methods Using plant data on native and established alien species in South Africa, we examined the relationship between plant richness (native and alien) in each grid cell (quarter-degree resolution) in the study area and the distance of the grid cell to the nearest ecotone between vegetation communities. We used a residual analysis to estimate each grid cell's relative invasibility (i.e. susceptibility to invasion) relative to its ecotone distance. We further explored the relative importance of ecotones in relation to large-scale environmental variation, and the importance of ecotonal spatial heterogeneity, in structuring alien species richness patterns. Results Both alien and native richness patterns become higher with declining distance to ecotones, suggesting that transitional environments are more susceptible to invasion than areas located farther away; however, levels of invasibility vary across South Africa. The negative relationship between ecotone distance and alien species richness remained negative and significant for the whole of South Africa, grassland and Nama-Karoo, after controlling for environmental variables. Several sources of environmental heterogeneity, which were shown here to be associated with ecotones, were also found to be important determinants of alien species richness. Main conclusions While most of the current conservation efforts at the regional and global scales are currently directed to distinct ecosystems, our results suggest that much more effort should be directed to the transitions between them, which are small in size and have high native richness, but are also under greater threat from invasive alien species. Understanding how alien species richness and invasibility change across transitions and sharp gradients, where environmental heterogeneity is high, is important for ongoing conservation planning in a biogeographical context

Halting indigenous biodiversity decline: ambiguity, equity, and outcomes in RMA assessment of significance

In New Zealand, assessment of ‘significance’ is undertaken to give effect to a legal requirement for local authorities to provide for protection of significant sites under the Resource Management Act (1991). The ambiguity of the statute enables different interests to define significance according to their goals: vested interests (developers), local authorities, and non-vested interests in pursuit of protection of environmental public goods may advance different definitions. We examine two sets of criteria used for assessment of significance for biological diversity under the Act. Criteria adapted from the 1980s Protected Natural Areas Programme are inadequate to achieve the maintenance of biological diversity if ranking is used to identify only highest priority sites. Norton and Roper-Lindsay (2004) propose a narrow definition of significance and criteria that identify only a few high-quality sites as significant. Both sets are likely to serve the interests of developers and local authorities, but place the penalty of uncertainty on non-vested interests seeking to maintain biological diversity, and are likely to exacerbate the decline of biological diversity and the loss of landscape-scale processes required for its persistence. When adopting criteria for assessment of significance, we suggest local authorities should consider whose interests are served by different criteria sets, and who will bear the penalty of uncertainty regarding biological diversity outcomes. They should also ask whether significance criteria are adequate, and sufficiently robust to the uncertainty inherent in the assessment of natural values, to halt the decline of indigenous biological diversity

Modeling and classifying variable width riparian zones utilizing digital elevation models, flood height data, digital soil data and national wetlands inventory : a new approach for riparian zone delineation

Riparian zones are dynamic, transitional ecosystems between aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems with well defined vegetation and soil characteristics. Development of an all-encompassing definition for riparian ecotones, because of their high variability, is challenging. However, there are two primary factors that all riparian ecotones are dependent on: the watercourse and its associated floodplain. Previous approaches to riparian boundary delineation have utilized fixed width buffers, but this methodology has proven to be inadequate as it only takes the watercourse into consideration and ignores critical geomorphology, associated vegetation and soil characteristics. Our approach offers advantages over other previously used methods by utilizing: the geospatial modeling capabilities of ArcMap GIS; a better sampling technique along the water course that can distinguish the 50-year flood plain, which is the optimal hydrologic descriptor of riparian ecotones; the Soil Survey Database (SSURGO) and National Wetland Inventory (NWI) databases to distinguish contiguous areas beyond the 50-year plain; and land use/cover characteristics associated with the delineated riparian zones. The model utilizes spatial data readily available from Federal and State agencies and geospatial clearinghouses. An accuracy assessment was performed to assess the impact of varying the 50-year flood height, changing the DEM spatial resolution (1, 3, 5 and 10m), and positional inaccuracies with the National Hydrography Dataset (NHD) streams layer on the boundary placement of the delineated variable width riparian ecotones area. The result of this study is a robust and automated GIS based model attached to ESRI ArcMap software to delineate and classify variable-width riparian ecotones

Charting the path towards a long-term knowledge brokerage function: an ecosystems view

Hybrid networks of actors such as policymakers, funders, scholars, and business practitioners are simultaneous producers and consumers of evidence use. While this diversity of evidence use is a strength, it also necessitates greater collaboration among interested parties for knowledge exchange. To address this need, we investigate how ecotones, which are hybrid networks operating in the transitional area between two distinct ecosystems, such as academic research and policy ecosystems, must involve, disseminate, and integrate different types of knowledge. Specifically, our research aims to unpack how an ecotone’s knowledge brokerage function evolves over its lifecycle. This paper presents the findings of a phenomenological investigation involving experts from the policy and academic research ecosystems. The study introduces a three-stage maturity transitions framework that outlines the trajectory of the brokerage function throughout the ecotone’s lifecycle: i. as a service function, ii. a programme-partnership, and iii. a network of networks. The paper contributes to the theory of knowledge brokerage for policy-making. We reflect on our findings and discuss the theoretical contributions within an ecosystem approach and their associated research and policy implications

The feasibility of inventorying native vegetation and related resources form space photography

Photointerpretation of Gemini 4 photographs for inventorying native vegetatio

The Treeline Ecotone In Interior Alaska: From Theory To Planning And The Ecology In Between

Thesis (Ph.D.) University of Alaska Fairbanks, 2003Treelines have been the focus of intense research for nearly a hundred years, also because they represent one of the most visible boundaries between two ecological systems. In recent years however, treelines have been studied, because changes in forest ecosystems due to global change, e.g. treeline movement, are expected to manifest first in these areas. This dissertation focuses on the elevational and latitudinal treelines bordering the boreal forest of interior Alaska. After development of a conceptional model of ecotones as three-dimensional spaces between ecosystems, we offer a historical perspective on treeline research and its broader impact in the Brooks Range, Alaska. Dendrochronological analysis of >1500 white spruce (Picea glauca (Moench [Voss])) at 13 treeline sites in Alaska revealed both positive and negative growth responses to climate warming, challenging the widespread assumption that northern treeline trees grow better with warming climate. Hot Julys decreased growth of ~40% of white spruce at treeline in Alaska, whereas warm springs enhanced growth of others. Growth increases and decreases appear at temperature thresholds, which have occurred more frequently in the late 20th century. Based on these relationships between tree-growth and climate as well as using landscape characteristics, we modeled future tree-growth and distribution in two National Parks in Alaska and extrapolated the results into the 21 st century using climate scenarios from five General Circulation Models. In Gates of the Arctic National Park, our results indicate enhanced growth at low elevation, whereas other areas will see changes in forest structure (dieback of tree-islands, infilling of existing stands). In Denali National Park, our results indicate possible dieback of white spruce at low elevations and treeline advance and infilling at high elevations. This will affect the road corridor with a forest increase of about 50% along the road, which will decrease the possibility for wildlife viewing. Surprisingly, aspect did not affect tree growth-climate relationships. Without accounting for opposite growth responses under warming conditions, temperature thresholds, as well as meso-scale changes in forest distribution, climate reconstructions based on ring-width will miscalibrate past climate, and biogeochemical and dynamic vegetation models will overestimate carbon uptake and treeline advance under future warming scenarios

도시개발사업이 주연부 식생에 미치는 영향 평가에 관한 시뮬레이션 연구

학위논문(석사) -- 서울대학교대학원 : 농업생명과학대학 생태조경·지역시스템공학부, 2023. 2. 이동근.Patches are recognized as ecotones as transition zone between adjacent patches that exhibit heterogeneity due to differences in vegetation conditions. Ecotones play an important role in environmental ecology by providing high biodiversity, ecosystem connectivity, and diverse habitat environments. Since South Korea has experienced spatial changes in patches due to rapid industrialization and urbanization, preservation of ecotone depends on confirming the impact of human activities on the natural environment. Therefore, in order to devise sustainable management measures, we tried to monitor the ecotone vegetation dynamics that change due to urbanization and evaluate the extent of impact. This study proposed an impact assessment tool to predict and quantify the range that changes under the influence of urban development projects according to the set peripheral distances (25, 50 m, and 100 m). Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) and Vegetation Health Index (VHI) were selected as indices for evaluating the main effects, as well as Landsat and Sentinel-based satellite imagery data were calculated through the Google Earth Engine platform (GEE). Land cover maps provided by the Environmental Spatial Information Service as well as average temperature and precipitation data of the Korea Meteorological Administration were constructed through ArcGIS 10.5. National inventory data of the Environmental Impact Assessment Information Support System (EIASS) were processed and applied as variables. The data analysis method evaluated the vegetation distribution patterns of the research sites using the Artificial Neural Network (ANN) and Random Forest (RF) machine learning algorithms, and it was set to predict the range of influence on the vegetation index according to the ecotone multiple buffer size. As a result of the analysis, it was confirmed that NDVI was mainly concentrated on high values after the urban development project, while VHI tended to have a high pre-project value, which turned to the opposite trend. This can be interpreted as a significant result of the establish of new urban green spaces in accordance with the provisions of the Act on the Expansion, Management, and Creation of Urban Green Areas for Urban Landscape Planning. As a result of the performance of the machine learning models, the RF model showed the optimal predictive performance in both vegetation indices and along the ecotone distances. The modeled probability heatmap shows significant results at 90% confidence level (p<10%). Moreover, significant results were obtained when comparing the observed and predicted values visualized using the assessment tool. Both NDVI and VHI showed the tendency of the impact of the target site due to urban development to reach a maximum distance of 50 m. This proposal of quantitative evaluation tools is meaningful in that it may emphasize the decisive role of environmental impact assessment in terms of vegetation management by providing information on regional ecological restoration. It is expected that the extent of impact on the vegetation environment by urbanization can be identified to support the project plan while minimizing the loss of vegetation cover.패치는 식생 조건의 차이로 인해 이질성을 보이는 인접 패치 사이의 전이 영역으로 에코톤으로 인식된다. 에코톤은 높은 생물 다양성, 생태계 연결성 그리고 다양한 서식 환경을 제공함으로써 생태학적으로 중요한 역할을 한다. 우리나라는 급격한 산업화 및 도시화로 패치의 공간적 변화를 경험했기 때문에 에코톤 보존은 인간의 활동이 자연환경에 미치는 영향을 확인하는 데 달려 있다. 따라서, 지속가능한 관리방안을 강구하기 위해 도시화로 인해 변화하는 식생동태를 모니터링하고 그 영향 정도를 평가하고자 하였다. 본 연구는 도시개발사업의 영향을 받아 변화하는 주연부 범위(25, 50 m 및 100 m)를 예측하는 정량적 평가도구를 제안하였다. 영향을 평가하기 위한 지표로는 정규식생지수(NDVI)와 식생건강지수(VHI)가 선정되었으며, 구글어스엔진(GEE) 플랫폼을 통해 Landsat과 Sentinel 기반의 위성영상 데이터를 계산하였다. 환경영향평가정보지원시스템(EIASS)의 국가 인벤토리 데이터를 주요변수로 적용하였으며, ArcGIS 10.5를 통해 환경공간정보서비스의 토지피복도와 기상청 평균기온 및 강수량 데이터세트를 구축하였다. 데이터 분석 방법은 인공신경망(ANN)과 랜덤포레스트(RF) 기계학습 알고리즘을 이용하여 연구대상지의 식생분포 패턴을 분석하였으며, 에코톤 다중 범위에 따라 식생지수에 미치는 영향정도를 예측하도록 설정하였다. 분석 결과, NDVI는 주로 도시개발사업 이후 높은 수치에 집중분포 된 반면, VHI는 사업 전 수치가 높은 경향을 보여 반대의 추세를 보인 것으로 확인되었다. 이는 도시녹지 관리 및 도시경관계획을 위한 「도시공원 및 녹지 등에 관한 법률」의 규정에 따라 새로운 도시녹지를 확충 및 조성에 따른 결과로 해석된다. 기계학습 모델의 성능 비교결과, RF 모델이 식생 지수와 에코톤 거리 모두에서 최적의 예측 성능을 보여주었다. 모델링된 확률 히트맵은 90% 신뢰 수준(p<10%)에서 유의한 결과를 보여주었다. 또한, 평가도구를 사용하여 시각화 된 관측값 및 예측값을 비교했을 때 유의한 결과를 얻을 수 있었다. NDVI와 VHI는 모두 도시개발로 인한 대상지의 영향이 최대 거리 50m에 달하는 경향을 보였다. 이번 정량평가 도구 제안은 지역 생태복원에 대한 정보를 제공함으로써 식생관리 측면에서 환경영향평가의 결정적 역할을 강조할 수 있다는 점에서 의미가 있다. 도시화에 의한 식생환경에 미치는 영향 정도를 파악하여 식생 피복 훼손을 최소화하면서 도시개발을 지원할 수 있을 것으로 기대된다.Chapter 1. Introduction 1 1.1. Study Background 1 1.2. Purpose of Research 4 Chapter 2. Literature Review 5 Chapter 3. Materials and Methods 9 3.1. Study flow 9 3.2. Study scope 10 3.3. Sources of Data Collection 17 3.4. Satellite Data and Preprocessing 19 3.5. Hyperparameter 21 Chapter 4. Results 24 4.1. Vegetation Dynamics Variations 24 4.2. Comparing the Performance of Machine Learning Algorithms 27 4.3. Relationship between Urban Development and Vegetation Indices 31 Chapter 5. Discussion 37 5.1. Comparison of Landsat and Sentinel data for estimation of the NDVI 37 5.2. Building a Classifier 41 5.3. Model Interpretation Strateties 42 Chapter 6. Conclusions 43 Bibliography 45 Abstract in Korean 51 Appendix 53석

Spatiotemporal Abundance Patterns and Ecological Drivers of A Nearshore U.S. Atlantic Fish and Invertebrate Assemblage

Taking an ecosystem approach to fisheries requires the consideration of relevant ecological processes within research and assessment frameworks. Processes affecting ecosystem productivity can be categorized as biophysical (climate variability, primary production), exploitative (fishing), or trophodynamic (food web interactions). This dissertation incorporates these three governing processes to characterize spatiotemporal diversity and population abundance trends for multiple demersal fish and invertebrate species that inhabit the nearshore zone (15-30 ft. depth) along portions of the U.S. Atlantic east coast. Two large marine ecosystems (LMEs) encompass the U.S. East coast – the Southeast and Northeast U.S. Continental Shelf LMEs. The level of connectivity within and between these two ecosystems is well understood for some individual species, but not generally for the nearshore assemblage. The first research chapter of this dissertation is a spatial diversity analysis of 141 fish and invertebrate species that inhabit nearshore waters from Florida to New York. Latitudinal diversity patterns revealed multiple biotic ecotones, or areas of high species turnover. An ecotone was evident in northern spring near the Cape Hatteras border of the two LMEs, but this barrier dissipated as water temperatures homogenized and assemblage connectivity between ecosystems increased throughout the year. Multiple other biotic ecotones were evident within the Southeast U.S. LME and were explained by seasonality and the proximity and area of adjacent estuarine habitat. The second and third research chapters of this dissertation focus on explaining temporal abundance trends for multiple nearshore fish and invertebrate species within the Southeast U.S. LME. For the second research chapter, abundance trends for 71 species were analyzed during 1990-2013 within a univariate time series modeling framework with the goal of determining the relative importance of climate variability and fishing pressure as governing influences on abundance. A decrease in bycatch mortality explained changes for multiple species, while climate variability governed the dynamics for others. Multivariate ordination revealed similar trends for groups of taxonomically related species, indicating governing processes act on species with similar life histories. An extension of results from the second research chapter, research chapter three explores trophic interactions between the bonnethead shark (Sphyrna tiburo) and five of its prey species within Southeast U.S. LME nearshore waters. Multivariate time series modeling supports a negative effect of bycatch on bonnetheads, and population-level predation effects of larger sharks on multiple prey species. Abundance trends for most prey species were also explained by environmental variability associated with the Pacific Decadal Oscillation, although trophic effects were stronger. This body of work incorporates relevant ecological factors in characterizing diversity and abundance trends for fish and invertebrate species comprising the nearshore demersal assemblage within Southeast and Northeast U.S. LMEs. Results indicate seasonal connectivity between LMEs that require further exploration at multiple spatial scales. Abundance time series modeling for multiple species in the Southeast U.S. LME reveals that fishing and trophodynamics may be relatively more influential drivers than climate variability in this sub-tropical system

SSPND –Support System for Phosphorus and Nitrogen Decisions – modeling of management practices can guide the way ahead

Algal blooms in rivers and estuarine waters in south west Western Australia are a symptomatic response to excess nutrient input. Whilst a range of Best Management Practices (BMPs) are available to reduce the causes of phosphorus (P) and nitrogen (N) pollution, most investment has been directed towards symptoms. In order to treat nutrient pollution causes effectively, possible nutrient reductions and the likely adoption costs of a range of BMPs require evaluation. Catchment-scale evaluation of implementation scenarios offers insights not possible through long term on-ground implementation and performance monitoring, and assists community groups and government to respond to pollution issues through adhoc funding or programs. The Support System for Phosphorus and Nitrogen Decisions (SSPND) is a risk based tool used in south west Western Australia to estimate costs and benefits of implementing conventional BMPs. It is an adaptation of a P indicators approach which combines source factors, transfer factors, and delivery factors. Model estimates for the Geographe Bay and Peel- Harvey catchments indicate that the net effect of catchment nutrient management to date has been to reduce P loss by 5-10%. SSPND indicates that a further 50% reduction is possible, with approximately half coming from P fixing soil amendments applied to sandy soils in these catchments. For N the picture is similar, but the major management options are riparian fencing and planting, with reduced applications of fertiliser and the use of non-legume species such as perennial pastures being significant also. For the Geographe Bay catchments, a 20yr plan of targeted investment could see significant reductions of nutrient in the Geographe Bay catchment, over 40% for P and 30% for N. However even over a 20-yr timeframe, and with an investment of over $20M, the resulting nutrient load reductions are unlikely to meet water quality targets in most catchments. SSPND provides a range of outputs which assist in the development of management plans for nutrient reduction, and can be used to target nutrient BMP implementation on the basis of water quality, cost/benefit or nutrient reduction. It is currently providing direction in the development of the Geographe Bay Water Quality Improvement Plan