Analysing elephant habitat parameters using GIS, remote sensing and analytic hierarchy process in Peninsular Malaysia

Geographic Information System (GIS) and remote sensing are geospatial technologies that have been used for many years in environmental studies, including gathering and analysing of information on the physical parameters of wildlife habitats and modelling of habitat assessments. The home range estimation provided in a GIS environment offers a viable method of quantifying habitat use and facilitating a better understanding of species and habitat relationships. This study used remote sensing, GIS and Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) application tools as methods to assess the habitat parameters preference of Asian elephant. Satellite images and topographical maps were used for the environmental and topographical habitat parameter generation encompassing land use-land cover (LULC), Normalized Digital Vegetation Index (NDVI), water sources, Digital Elevation Model (DEM), slope and aspect. The kernel home range was determined using elephant distribution data from satellite tracking, which were then analysed using habitat parameters to investigate any possible relationship. Subsequently, the frequency of the utilization distribution of elephants was further analysed using spatial and geostatistical analyses. This was followed by the use of AHP for identifying habitat preference, selection of significant habitat parameters and classification of criterion. The habitats occupied by the elephants showed that the conservation of these animals would require good management practices within and outside of protected areas so as to ensure the level of suitability of the habitat, particularly in translocation areas

Comparison of fusion of different algorithms in mapping of Melaleuca forest in Marang district, Malaysia

Melaleuca cajuputi and Acacia auriculiformis trees are major sources of nectar and pollen for Apis dorsata and the colonies are a major source of honey to the rural poor, honey hunters. Honey is a supplementary income to many of these people (including school children) in the Marang district, Terengganu. In this study, Marang area with 270 square kilometers was chosen as pilot study area in Terengganu state for mapping M. cajuputi and A. auriculiformis as two dominant species in low land secondary forest in Terengganu state. To inventory and produce land use map of Melaleuca forest in Marang area, in this study SPOT-5 satellite image in multispectral mode with 10 meter resolution which is acquired in 2007 as optical satellite was utilized. Most images from optical satellites have some null data from ground because of clouds and shadow of clouds. To solve this problem, Hue, Saturation and value (HSV) and Principal Component Analysis (PCA) were used as fusion techniques to replace null data with microwave data which taken from Radarsat-1 image in C-band with 25 meter resolution image. Accordingly, fusion technique which was used in this research not only was a technique to improve information but also caused the accuracy increasing than land use map by just only SPOT-5 image. Also between two different fusion techniques, PCA shows the better result than HSV as two different fusion techniques

Assessing timber extraction by using the RIMBAKA R2020- a timber harvester on a steep terrain in Ulu Jelai Forest Reserve, Peninsular Malaysia

In this study, the extraction operation of a RIMBAKA Timber Harvester R2020-A on steep terrain was investigated. A continuous time study was carried out to estimate the operational efficiency of the RIMBAKA timber harvester. Four dependent variables were observed to investigate their impacts on the extraction phases: skidding distance, hauling distance, volume and slope. A total of 48 working cycles were time studied. During the operation, RIMBAKA extracted 3.55 m3 of logs per cycle and had a machine utilization rate of 78%, with a corresponding productivity of 45.92 m3/PMH15. The unit cost of RIMBAKA was RM 4.64/m3. Meanwhile, hauling distance and log volume had a major effect on the productivity of the harvester during the extraction phase. Thus, a better understanding of the integrated effect on the productivity of the RIMBAKA extraction operation, in combination with the rest of machines of the harvesting system, will better help predicting the efficiency and productivity of the whole system

Utilization of the dynamic laser scanning technology for monitoring, locating and classification of the city trees.

One of the significant issues related to the city trees is the transmission overhead cables damages caused by the trees growth that would sometime generate power disconnections. Currently the city progress monitoring technologies have three major challenges. Firstly, the spatial resolution of the collected data is critical factor in all monitoring technologies that would reflect the utilization of the extracted data and physical consistency with the ground features. Secondly, the temporal resolution where in all progress monitoring or change detection technologies the duration and time coverage is a basic for validating extracted features. Finally, the human resources and the operational capital is also primary cost when monitoring city trees is needed on a regular basis. Therefore, the research is intended to verify the feasibility of allocating the trees that overheads the electrical cables especially where the transmission overhead cables passing the forests. The area of interest is extended along the highways where most of the overhead cables are placed. The research is utilizing the dynamic laser scanning system for progress monitoring and spatially locating the well recognized and accessed city trees

Identifying trees species dominance in Hulu Sedili Forest Reserve, Peninsular Malaysia based on lithology type using Geographic Information System

Lowland tropical forest in Peninsular Malaysia consist a valuable dipterocarp timber species. In fact, dipterocarp tree species growth well when the ecology is maintained and their growth are dependent on the micro climate and also affected by lithology types. This study was carried out to identify and map tree species dominancy by lithology types at Hulu Sedili Forest Reserve (HSFR) using Geographic Information System (GIS) technique. Different lithology type maps were derived namely Igneous, Sedimentary and Limestone. Through GIS operations tree species data collected from pre-felling inventory and ground survey were overlaid with lithology features. Results showed that at Sedimentary and Igneous types, the presence of dipterocarpaceae family is only 3.09%, and non-dipterocarpaceae family was 96.91%. Syzygium spp. (19.83%) was the most abundance in Igneous and Sedimentary. Meanwhile, Elateriospermum tapos (9.92%) and Lauraceae's family (7.22%) were found to be the most dominant species in Sedimentary types, Macaranga spp. (11.21%) and Elateriospermum tapos (11.02%) in igneous types. However, a Limestone type was discarded from analysis due to unavailable pre-felling data. Thus, this study indicated that there was variation in species dominancy of different lithology types. On the other hand, GIS demonstrated its capability as a useful tool in identifying and maps the location of trees species based on lithology types

Hydrological responses to climate and land use change at watershed scale_ Malaysia

The hydrological effects of climate variation and land use conversion can occur at various spatial scales, but the most important sources of these changes are at the regional or watershed scale. In addition, the managerial and technical measures are primarily implemented at local and watershed scales in order to mitigate adverse impacts of human activities on the renewable resources of the watershed. Therefore, quantitative estimation of the possible hydrological consequences of potential land use and climate changes on hydrological regime at watershed scale is of tremendous importance. This paper focuses on the impacts of climate change as well as land use change on the hydrological processes of river basin based on pertinent published literature which were precisely scrutinized. The various causes, forms, and consequences of such impacts were discussed to synthesize the key findings of literature in reputable sources and to identify gaps in the knowledge where further research is required. Results indicate that the watershed-scale studies were found as a gap in tropical regions. Also, these studies are important to facilitate the application of results to real environment. Watershed scale studies are essential to measure the extent of influences made to the hydrological conditions and understanding of causes and effects of climate variation and land use conversion on hydrological cycle and water resources

A review on application of hyperspectral imaging to forest resources in Malaysia

Remote sensing application of hyperspectral imaging is relatively new to Malaysian forestry. Through a wide range of wavelengths of hyperspectral data, precise and narrow bands of spectra are captured. Airborne sensors typically offer greatly enhanced spatial and spectral resolution compared to their satellite counterparts, and are able to control experimental design closely during image acquisition. Hyperspectral imaging for forest inventory in Malaysia was first conducted by The Centre for Precision Agriculture and Bioresource Remote Sensing of Institute of Bioscience, Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM). This study which was conducted in 2001 used the ISA sensor manufactured in Finland. The main objective was develop methods that are directly suited for practical tropical forestry application at high level of accuracy. Forest inventory and tree classification including development of single spectral signatures of important interest. Studies have shown that retrieval of timber volume and tree discrimination using this system is successful and some is often better than other remote sensing methods. This article reviews the research and application of airborne hyperspectral remote sensing for forest survey and assessment in Malaysia

Reviews of Landscape Function Analysis (LFA) applications in rangeland ecosystems and its links with vegetation indices (VI's)

Monitoring and evaluating the distribution and dynamics of vegetation cover in rangelands is very important to study the impact of human activities and climate change on rangeland ecosystems. The scientist’s predictions of positive and negative changes in rangeland conditions were difficult in many cases due to weak understanding of the interaction between causes and effects as well as limited information about vegetation and soil at large areas. The use of some newly developed indicators has changed this status and increased our knowledge about rangeland ecosystem. Recently, the most used indicators to monitor rangeland ecosystem dynamics is Landscape Function Analysis (LFA). This paper aims to review the recent applications of LFA methodology and its relationship with some Spectral Vegetation Indices (VIs) in rangeland ecological studies and discuss its expected key role in future researches

Rangeland degradation assessment in the south slope of the Al-Jabal Al-Akhdar, northeast Libya using remote sensing technology

The degradation rate of Mediterranean steppes, especially in North Africa is 1% per year, and this considered as high a rate of degradation. This study conducted in 2014 in the south slope of the Al-Jabal Al-Akhdar, northeast Libya to quantify the vegetation recovery rate and assess selected Vegetation Indices (VIs) for mapping rangelands degradation status using remote sensing technology. Through a review of VIs we found that NDVI (Normalized Difference Vegetation Index) and MSAVI2 (Modified Soil Adjusted Vegetation Index) are the most useful indices for the study area to achieve the research objectives. Two Landsat (ETM+) satellite images (captured in September 2006 and 2014) used to map, monitor and assess the patterns of changes in plant cover. Three exclosures (fenced areas) with moderately to severely degraded soil and vegetation, were selected along a strong north-south rainfall gradient. Landscape Function Analysis (LFA) technique used to calculate Total Patch Area (TPA) for comparison purpose. According to the results, NDVI and MSAVI2 can be employed as a consistent and comparatively simple to use a tool in management and assessment of desertification processes in the Mediterranean rangelands. It seems that MSAVI2 more reliable than NDVI when the vegetation cover is very low. Overall, the plant cover did not change or increase for a large portion of regions at a time when 80% of the study area still under very severe and severe conditions of land degradation status

Hydrological Responses to Climate and Land Use Change at Watershed Scale_ Malaysia

The hydrological effects of climate variation and land use conversion can occur at various spatial scales, but the most important sources of these changes are at the regional or watershed scale. In addition, the managerial and technical measures are primarily implemented at local and watershed scales in order to mitigate adverse impacts of human activities on the renewable resources of the watershed. Therefore, quantitative estimation of the possible hydrological consequences of potential land use and climate changes on hydrological regime at watershed scale is of tremendous importance. This paper focuses on the impacts of climate change as well as land use change on the hydrological processes of river basin based on pertinent published literature which were precisely scrutinized. The various causes, forms, and consequences of such impacts were discussed to synthesize the key findings of literature in reputable sources and to identify gaps in the knowledge where further research is required. Results indicate that the watershed-scale studies were found as a gap in tropical regions. Also, these studies are important to facilitate the application of results to real environment. Watershed scale studies are essential to measure the extent of influences made to the hydrological conditions and understanding of causes and effects of climate variation and land use conversion on hydrological cycle and water resources