Mapping and monitoring riparian vegetation distribution, structure and composition with regression tree models and post-classification change metrics

Abstract

2012) Mapping and monitoring riparian vegetation distribution, structure and composition with regression tree models and post-classification change metrics, International Journal of Remote Sensing, 33:13, 4266-4290, Riparian systems have become increasingly susceptible to both natural and human disturbances as cumulative pressures from changing land use and climate alter the hydrological regimes. This article introduces a landscape dynamics monitoring pro tocol that incorporates riparian structural classes into the land-cover classification scheme and examines riparian change within the context of surrounding land-cover change. We tested whether Landsat Thematic Mapper (TM) imagery could be used to document a riparian tree die-off through the classification of multi-date Landsat images using classification and regression tree (CART) models trained with phys iognomic vegetation data. We developed a post-classification change map and used patch metrics to examine the magnitude and trajectories of riparian class change relative to mapped disturbance parameters. Results show that catchments where riparian change occurred can be identified from land-cover change maps; however, the main change resulting from the die-off disturbance was compositional rather than structural, making accurate post-classification change detection difficult.

Comparison of remote sensing indices for monitoring of desert cienegas

“…In southeast Arizona, remote sensing data has been used to evaluate the effects of restoration on riparian habitats (Norman et al 2014) and to map changes in riparian vegetation (Jones et al 2008;Villarreal, Leeuwen, and Romo-Leon 2012;Nguyen et al 2015). In the Sahara-Sahel region of Africa, satellite imagery has been used to identify permanent and temporary sources of water (Campos, Sillero, and Brito 2012), to distinguish artificial from natural sources of water (Owen, Duncan, and Pettorelli 2015), and to monitor water levels in ponds (Soti et al 2009).…”

Analyzing Landscape Trends on Agriculture, Introduced Exotic Grasslands and Riparian Ecosystems in Arid Regions of Mexico

“…Despite this, RE represent key habitats in arid environments, since the availability of water makes them unique in terms of their fauna, flora and ecological processes [15].…”

Seasonality of Groundwater Recharge in the Basin and Range Province, Western North America

“…The CART models for each basin were created from sets of six images, which included the full 6-layer stack of Landsat 5 TM data as well as NDVI for all three seasons, and a set of training data with at least 60 points for each land cover class. The CART method was chosen for its proven success in accurately classifying semi-arid riparian vegetation (Villareal et al, 2012).…”

“…Land cover classes were modeled after those used by Villareal et al (2012) (and based on Anderson (1976)), which also sought to separate riparian vegetation from other vegetation classes in a semi-arid basin. One land cover class was added for the purposes of these classifications (Table 3).…”