Reimagining the potential of Earth observations for ecosystem service assessments

Ramirez‐Reyes, Carlos; Brauman, Kate A.; Chaplin‐Kramer, Rebecca; Galford, Gillian L.; Adamo, Susana B.; Anderson, Christopher B.; Anderson, Clarissa R.; Allington, Ginger R.H.; Bagstad, Kenneth J.; Coe, Michael T.; Cord, Anna F.; Dee, Laura E.; Gould, Rachelle K.; Jain, Meha; Kowal, Virginia; Muller‐Karger, Frank E.; Norriss, Jessica; Potapov, Peter; Qiu, Jiangxiao; Rieb, Jesse T.; Robinson, Brian E.; Samberg, Leah H.; Singh, Nagendra; Szeto, Sabrina H.; Voigt, Brian; Watson, Keri B.; Wright, T. Maxwell

doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.02.150

Cited by 46 publications

(23 citation statements)

References 86 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…These papers agreed that the current studies about this subject have some lacks when they are analyzed under the interdisciplinary context and usually have limitations when interpreted under spatial coverage. Some other reviews that consider the remote sensing (RS) of the ES variables, showed that even though RS is not the perfect solution for understanding and monitoring ES, it has the potential to comprehend and improve the quality of the work anywhere in the world, as long as the correct tool is chosen [20,21]. However, all reviews acknowledged here, which considered the spatial distribution of the papers assessed, show that the main part of RS studies of ES and UES variables are concentrated in the Northern Hemisphere [10,18,22].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Urban Ecosystem Services Quantification through Remote Sensing Approach: A Systematic Review

et al. 2019

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Urban ecosystem services (UES) is an essential approach to the development of sustainable cities and must be incorporated into urban planning to be able to improve humans’ life quality. This paper aimed to identify remote sensing (RS) data/techniques used in the literature in five years (2013–2017) for UES investigation and to analyze the similarity between them. For this purpose, we used the Scopus database of scientific journals, and a set of appropriate filters were applied. A total of 44 studies were selected, being 93.18% of them located in the Northern Hemisphere, mostly in Europe. The most common dataset used was the secondary data, followed by the Landsat family products. Land use and land cover (LULC) was the most common approach utilized, succeeded by radiometric indexes and band related. All four main classes (provision, regulation, supporting, and cultural) of ecosystem services (ES) were identified in the reviewed papers, wherein regulating services were the most popular modality mentioned. Seven different groups were established as having 100% of similarity between methods and ES results. Therefore, RS is identified in the literature as an important technique to reach this goal. However, we highlight the lack of studies in the southern hemisphere.

show abstract

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Urban Ecosystem Services Quantification through Remote Sensing Approach: A Systematic Review

et al. 2019

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Policymakers require high-quality environmental information to make evidence-based decisions aimed at limiting environmental impact, conserving ecosystems and maintaining ecosystem services, to the benefit of the public. Often, availability of technology to environmental managers is not limiting, but without practical information on how to efficiently use tools, and analyse and interpret new data types with confidence, there may be a lag in adoption of emerging technologies in favour of more familiar methods, despite their known limitations [69,70]. A benefit of high-resolution 3D mapping technologies for public-facing research groups and environmental bodies is the easily interpreted visual data products generated.…”

Section: (D) Value To Managers Policymakers and The Publicmentioning

confidence: 99%

Three-dimensional digital mapping of ecosystems: a new era in spatial ecology

et al. 2020

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Ecological processes occur over multiple spatial, temporal and thematic scales in three-dimensional (3D) ecosystems. Characterizing and monitoring change in 3D structure at multiple scales is challenging within the practical constraints of conventional ecological tools. Remote sensing from satellites and crewed aircraft has revolutionized broad-scale spatial ecology, but fine-scale patterns and processes operating at sub-metre resolution have remained understudied over continuous extents. We introduce two high-resolution remote sensing tools for rapid and accurate 3D mapping in ecology—terrestrial laser scanning and structure-from-motion photogrammetry. These technologies are likely to become standard sampling tools for mapping and monitoring 3D ecosystem structure across currently under-sampled scales. We present practical guidance in the use of the tools and address barriers to widespread adoption, including testing the accuracy of structure-from-motion models for ecologists. We aim to highlight a new era in spatial ecology that uses high-resolution remote sensing to interrogate 3D digital ecosystems.

show abstract

“…Despite widespread awareness of the potential of RS, most ecosystem service studies use static land use/land cover information rather than a more dynamic assessment of satellite records [35,37,45,46]. However, land use/land cover maps are not always available [47], can lead to generalization errors as they exclude spatial variation within the same vegetation category [35,48], and may be outdated or available only at large temporal intervals.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Long-term assessment of ecosystem services at ecological restoration sites using Landsat time series

Rio

Willemen

Vrieling

et al. 2020

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Reversing ecological degradation through restoration activities is a key societal challenge of the upcoming decade. However, lack of evidence on the effectiveness of restoration interventions leads to inconsistent, delayed, or poorly informed statements of success, hindering the wise allocation of resources, representing a missed opportunity to learn from previous experiences. This study contributes to a better understanding of spatial and temporal dynamics of ecosystem services at ecological restoration sites. We developed a method using Landsat satellite images combined with a Before-After-Control-Impact (BACI) design, and applied this to an arid rural landscape, the Baviaanskloof in South Africa. Since 1990, various restoration projects have been implemented to halt and reverse degradation. We applied the BACI approach at pixel-level comparing the conditions of each intervened pixel (impact) with 20 similar control pixels. By evaluating the conditions before and after the intervention, we assessed the effectiveness of long-term restoration interventions distinguishing their impact from environmental temporal changes. The BACI approach was implemented with Landsat images that cover a 30-year period at a spatial resolution of 30 m. We evaluated the impact of three interventions (revegetation, livestock exclusion, and the combination of both) on three ecosystem services; forage provision, erosion prevention, and presence of iconic vegetation. We also evaluated whether terrain characteristics could partially explain the variation in impact of interventions. The resulting maps showed spatial patterns of positive and negative effects of interventions on ecosystem services. Intervention effectiveness differed between land cover vegetation clusters, terrain aspect, and soil parent material. Our method allows for spatially explicit quantification of the long-term restoration impact on ecosystem service supply, and for the detailed visualization of impact across an area. This pixel-level analysis is specifically suited for heterogeneous landscapes, where restoration impact not only varies between but also within restoration sites.

show abstract

Reimagining the potential of Earth observations for ecosystem service assessments

Cited by 46 publications

References 86 publications

Urban Ecosystem Services Quantification through Remote Sensing Approach: A Systematic Review

Urban Ecosystem Services Quantification through Remote Sensing Approach: A Systematic Review

Three-dimensional digital mapping of ecosystems: a new era in spatial ecology

Long-term assessment of ecosystem services at ecological restoration sites using Landsat time series

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About