GIS and Remote Sensing Applications in Biogeography and Ecology

In recent years, the conservation of tropical forests has received worldwide publicity whereas effective forest management, particularly for timber extraction, has attracted little attention and gained some notoriety. The overall aim of the present paper was to examine how environmental micro-variation in the Chiquibul Forest Reserve of Belize can influence species distribution and thereby inform management strategy. The paper deals first with the background to forest management in Belize, then considers the methodology used in the present study and fin~~ly assesses the preliminary results. The specific objectives are: (1) to assess the effects of changing scale on the variability of selected individual soil properties in forest plots within the same vegetation class; and (2) to examine the variation in soil properties and tree species distribution, and to integrate environmental and ecological data over a range of scales. BACKGROUND Whereas the global and regional distribution of tropical forests is broadly governed by climatic and altitudinal variation, individual forest tracts need to consider a range of other, locally important factors to explain species distribution and change. With very high species diversity, tropical forests present a major challenge in the attempt to unravel controlling factors in distribution and growth (Swaine et aI. 1987). Research that attempts to explain diversity has looked at species distribution according to a range of factors, with a general recognition that soil fertility plays a significant if ill defined role (Swaine 1996).

Klappentext

This volume gathers together a representative set of examples from the many varied spatial techniques and analytical approaches being used by geographers, ecologists, and biogeographers to study plant and animal distributions, to assess processes affecting the observed patterns at selected spatial and temporal scales, and to discuss these examples within a strong conceptual spatial and/or temporal framework. Therefore, the aims of this volume are to: Identify the key spatial concepts that underpin Geographic Information Science (GISc) in biogeography and ecology; Review the development of these spatial concepts within geography and how they have been taken up in ecology and biogeography; Exemplify the use of the key spatial concepts underpinning GISc in biogeography and ecology using case studies from both vegetation science and animal ecology/biogeography that cover a wide range of spatial scales (from global to micro-scale) and different geographical regions (from arctic to humid tropical); and Develop an agenda for future research in GISc, which takes into account developments in biogeography and ecology, and their applications in GISc including remote sensing, geographic information systems, quantitative methods, spatial analysis, and data visualisation. £/LIST£ The idea for GIS and Remote Sensing Applications in Biogeography and Ecology arose from two joint symposia organized by the Biogeography Study Group of the International Geographical Union; the Biogeography, Remote Sensing, and GIS Specialty Groups of the Association of American Geographers, and the Biogeography Research Group of the Royal Geographical Society-Institute of British Geographers and held in Leicester and Honolulu in 1999. These groups represent the majority of geographers conducting research in biogeography and ecology and teaching this material to geographers. While this material is increasingly being covered in a variety of disciplines and sub-disciplines (e.g., large-area ecology, landscape ecology, remote sensing and GIS), many researchers in these fields lack the training in spatial concepts behind the techniques that they utilize. The spatial concepts that are covered in this book are richer than those found within landscape ecology at the present time, and GIS and Remote Sensing Applications in Biogeography and Ecology will promote the use of many of these concepts among landscape ecologists. GIS and Remote Sensing Applications in Biogeography and Ecology is suitable as a secondary text for a graduate level course, and as a reference for researchers and practitioners in industry.

Inhalt

1. Introduction Thinking Spatially.- 2. A Spectral Unmixing Approach to Leaf Area Index (LAI) Estimation at the Alpine Treeline Ecotone.- 3. The Utilization of Airborne Digital Multispectral Image Dynamics and Kinematic Global Positioning Systems for Assessing and Monitoring Salt Marsh Habitats in Southern California.- 4. Spatial Variability in Satellite-Derived Seasonal Vegetation Dynamics.- 5. Documenting Land-Cover History of a Humid Tropical Environment in Northeastern Costa Rica Using Time-Series Remotely Sensed Data.- 6. Patterns of Change in Land-Use and Land-Cover and Plant Biomass: Separating Intra- and Inter-Annual Signals in Monsoon-Driven Northeast Thailand.- 7. Barriers and Species Persistence in a Simulated Grassland Community.- 8. Feedback and Pattern in Computer Simulations of the Alpine Treeline Ecotone.- 9. Spatial Pattern and Dynamics of an Annual Woodland Herb.- 10. Spatial Analysis of Micro-Environmental Change and Forest Composition in Belize.- 11. The Radiate Capitulum Morph of Senecio Vulgaris L. within Sussex: the Use of GIS in Establishing Origins.- 12. A Geographical Information Science (GISci) Approach to Exploring Variation in the Bush Cricket Ephippiger Ephippiger.- 13. The GIS Representation of Wildlife Movements: A Framework.- 14. Stratified Sampling for Field Survey of Environmental Gradients in the Mojave Desert Ecoregion.- 15. Development of Vegetation Pattern in Primary Successions on Glacier Forelands in Southern Norway.- 16. Multi-Scale Analysis of Land-Cover Composition and Landscape Management of Public and Private Lands in Indiana.- 17. Shifting Cultivation Without Deforestation: A Case Study in the Mountains of Northwestern Vietnam.- 18. Linking Biogeography and Environmental Management in the Wetland Landscape of Coastal North Carolina The difference between nationwide and individual wetland permits.