Estimating Vegetation Cover from High-Resolution Satellite Data to Assess Grassland Degradation in the Georgian Caucasus

Wiesmair, Martin; Feilhauer, Hannes; Magiera, Anja; Otte, Annette; Waldhardt, Rainer

doi:10.1659/mrd-journal-d-15-00064.1

Cited by 60 publications

(27 citation statements)

References 35 publications

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“…Since the major impacts include both overexploitation and abandonment, in some neighboring TAUs that experience opposite tendencies, sharing the grassland resources and a better distribution of the livestock may be a first, easier step to improve grassland degradation status (Figure 6). Our results regarding the areas free from overgrazing are consistent with other studies which revealed that the spatial (geographical) distribution of grazing may be as important as the LD [24,57,58]. This means that, beyond good local management of grazing, an optimized, larger scale of grazing management is needed as well.…”

Section: Case Scenario 2: Status Of the Grassland Habitats With The Osupporting

confidence: 91%

“…At a European level, climate is the primary degradation agent in some areas of Northern and Northwestern Europe and the southern part of European Russia, but in most areas, including Eastern Europe, degradation is mainly caused by land-use issues [13,21]. Sudden changes in land-use intensity such as overgrazing or abandonment of traditional farming practices are among the main factors identified to cause the degradation of grassland habitats [13,[22][23][24][25]. The alteration of agricultural practices (intensification or abandonment), along with the area of degraded grasslands and the associated environmental problems, shows an upward trend [26][27][28].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Deviation from Grazing Optimum in the Grassland Habitats of Romania Within and Outside the Natura 2000 Network

Roman¹,

Ursu²,

Onțel³

et al. 2019

Habitats of the World [Working Title]

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Grassland habitat degradation intensified in the last century worldwide and in Europe. In Romania, substantial areas of biodiverse grassland habitats that persisted due to small-scale farming are now threatened by recent land-use intensification. However, data regarding the deviation from grazing optimum, essential for management plans encompassing both socioeconomic sustainability and environment conservation, are not yet available. To fill this gap, detailed statistics of the stocking rate and its deviation from optimum were generated by spatial modeling techniques. A toolbox was developed to assess such deviations inside or outside the Natura 2000 Network of protected areas. The analysis covered an area of 33529.42 km 2 , corresponding to all the Romanian permanent grasslands within the land parcel identification system. The results indicate that over half of this area is degraded, mostly from overgrazing. Less than 10% is not impacted by inadequate livestock density. Of the national grassland area, 17.34% is included within the Natura 2000 protected sites, indicating the substantial overlapping of agricultural and protection activities. For this category, the degraded area is slightly lower than at the national level (50.34% vs. 52.45%). These results can be applied for environmental conflict anticipation and optimal management of grassland habitats to achieve both socioeconomic and conservation objectives.

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Section: Case Scenario 2: Status Of the Grassland Habitats With The Osupporting

confidence: 91%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Deviation from Grazing Optimum in the Grassland Habitats of Romania Within and Outside the Natura 2000 Network

Roman¹,

Ursu²,

Onțel³

et al. 2019

Habitats of the World [Working Title]

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“…, Wiesmair et al. ). Indeed, the Qinghai Lake watershed is facing serious grassland degradation (Luo et al.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Landcover changes will not only alter terrestrial biogeochemical processes but also have strong potential influences on nutrient limitation and stoichiometry in aquatic ecosystems. Ongoing climate change and expansion of human activities such as livestock grazing have significantly affected grassland ecosystems across the world (Suttie et al 2005, Wiesmair et al 2016. Indeed, the Qinghai Lake watershed is facing serious grassland degradation (Luo et al 2013).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cascading influences of grassland degradation on nutrient limitation in a high mountain lake and its inflow streams

Ren

Niu

et al. 2019

Ecology

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Nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) are key growth-limiting nutrients for organisms and their absolute and relative supplies regulate the structure and function of ecosystems. Landcover changes lead to modifications of terrestrial biogeochemistry, consequently influencing aquatic nutrient conditions. This study sought to evaluate the potential impacts of grassland degradation on nutrient availability and nutrient limitation in the Qinghai Lake (China) and its inflow streams. We sampled nutrient concentrations and tested stream nutrient limitation by conducting nutrient diffusing substrata (NDS) bioassays in streams flowing through subbasins with different grassland status. To test nutrient limitation and the responses of lake phytoplankton to stream inflows, bioassays were conducted by adding different nutrients (N, P, and joint NP) as well as water from different streams to lake water with phytoplankton, respectively. In general, N concentrations as well as N:P ratios decreased while P concentrations increased with decreased normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI, an index of vegetation status), especially in September, suggesting that grassland degradation (low NDVI) has the potential to differentially decrease N availability and increase P availability in streams. Consistent with this, relative responses (RR) of stream periphyton to P and combined NP enrichments in the NDS bioassays decreased with stream P concentrations while increased with stream water N:P ratios. Lake phytoplankton responded strongly to P and combined NP addition indicating strong P-limitation of lake phytoplankton. RR of lake phytoplankton to stream water decreased with nitrate concentration and N:P ratios in stream water and increased with the concentrations of ammonium, total phosphorus, and soluble reactive phosphorus, indicating that stream water with higher P but lower N and N:P from degraded subcatchments is associated with increased impact on P-limited Lake phytoplankton. Overall, this study suggests that grassland degradation has the potential to differentially influence the nutrients delivered to streams with substantial increases in P but decreases in N and N:P, alleviating P limitation of stream periphyton and, ultimately, stimulating P-limited phytoplankton growth in the lake.

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“…Shallow landslides (e.g. Ma et al, 2016) and grassland degradation (Wiesmair et al; can be monitored with highresolution satellite imagery. Availability and cost often constrain the use of these (usually commercial) data products.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Laser Scanning for Erosion Monitoring in Alpine Grassland

Mayr

Bremer

Rutzinger

et al. 2019

ISPRS Ann. Photogramm. Remote Sens. Spatial Inf. Sci.

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Abstract. With this contribution we assess the potential of unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) based laser scanning for monitoring shallow erosion in Alpine grassland. A 3D point cloud has been acquired by unmanned aerial vehicle laser scanning (ULS) at a test site in the subalpine/alpine elevation zone of the Dolomites (South Tyrol, Italy). To assess its accuracy, this point cloud is compared with (i) differential global navigation satellite system (GNSS) reference measurements and (ii) a terrestrial laser scanning (TLS) point cloud. The ULS point cloud and an airborne laser scanning (ALS) point cloud are rasterized into digital surface models (DSMs) and, as a proof-of-concept for erosion quantification, we calculate the elevation difference between the ULS DSM from 2018 and the ALS DSM from 2010. For contiguous spatial objects of elevation change, the volumetric difference is calculated and a land cover class (bare earth, grassland, trees), derived from the ULS reflectance and RGB colour, is assigned to each change object. In this test, the accuracy and density of the ALS point cloud is mainly limiting the detection of geomorphological changes. Nevertheless, the plausibility of the results is confirmed by geomorphological interpretation and documentation in the field. A total eroded volume of 672&thinsp;m3 is estimated for the test site (48&thinsp;ha). Such volumetric estimates of erosion over multiple years are a key information for improving sustainable soil management. Based on this proof-of-concept and the accuracy analysis, we conclude that repeated ULS campaigns are a well-suited tool for erosion monitoring in Alpine grassland.

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Estimating Vegetation Cover from High-Resolution Satellite Data to Assess Grassland Degradation in the Georgian Caucasus

Abstract: BioOne Complete (complete.BioOne.org) is a full-text database of 200 subscribed and open-access titles in the biological, ecological, and environmental sciences published by nonprofit societies, associations, museums, institutions, and presses.

Cited by 60 publications

References 35 publications

Deviation from Grazing Optimum in the Grassland Habitats of Romania Within and Outside the Natura 2000 Network

Deviation from Grazing Optimum in the Grassland Habitats of Romania Within and Outside the Natura 2000 Network

Cascading influences of grassland degradation on nutrient limitation in a high mountain lake and its inflow streams

Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Laser Scanning for Erosion Monitoring in Alpine Grassland

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