scholarly journals Effects of Windthrows on Forest Cover, Tree Growth and Soil Characteristics in Drought-Prone Pine Plantations

Forests ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (7) ◽  
pp. 817
Author(s):  
Jesús Julio Camarero ◽  
Michele Colangelo ◽  
Antonio Gazol ◽  
Manuel Pizarro ◽  
Cristina Valeriano ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Vegetation Index ◽  
Forest Cover ◽  
Normalized Difference Vegetation Index ◽  
Pinus Halepensis ◽  
Soil Characteristics ◽  
Tree Cover ◽  
Mediterranean Forests ◽  
Soil Microbial Community Structure ◽  
Soil Features ◽  
Disturbance Intensity

Windstorms are forest disturbances which generate canopy gaps. However, their effects on Mediterranean forests are understudied. To fill that research gap, changes in tree, cover, growth and soil features in Pinus halepensis and Pinus sylvestris plantations affected by windthrows were quantified. In each plantation, trees and soils in closed-canopy stands and gaps created by the windthrow were sampled. Changes in tree cover and radial growth were assessed by using the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) and dendrochronology, respectively. Soil features including texture, nutrients concentration and soil microbial community structure were also analyzed. Windthrows reduced tree cover and enhanced growth, particularly in the P. halepensis site, which was probably more severely impacted. Soil characteristics were also more altered by the windthrow in this site: the clay percentage increased in gaps, whereas K and Mg concentrations decreased. The biomass of Gram positive bacteria and actinomycetes increased in gaps, but the biomass of Gram negative bacteria and fungi decreased. Soil gaps became less fertile and dominated by bacteria after the windthrow in the P. halepensis site. We emphasize the relevance of considering post-disturbance time recovery and disturbance intensity to assess forest resilience within a multi-scale approach.

scholarly journals A multi-biome study of tree cover detection using the Forest Cover Index

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah Becker ◽  
Megan Maloney ◽  
Andrew Griffin
Keyword(s):  
Vegetation Index ◽  
Forest Cover ◽  
Near Infrared ◽  
Normalized Difference Vegetation Index ◽  
Tree Cover ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Vegetative Cover ◽  
Ancillary Data ◽  
Land Covers ◽  
Sentinel 2

Tree cover maps derived from satellite and aerial imagery directly support civil and military operations. However, distinguishing tree cover from other vegetative land covers is an analytical challenge. While the commonly used Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) can identify vegetative cover, it does not consistently distinguish between tree and low-stature vegetation. The Forest Cover Index (FCI) algorithm was developed to take the multiplicative product of the red and near infrared bands and apply a threshold to separate tree cover from non-tree cover in multispectral imagery (MSI). Previous testing focused on one study site using 2-m resolution commercial MSI from WorldView-2 and 30-m resolution imagery from Landsat-7. New testing in this work used 3-m imagery from PlanetScope and 10-m imagery from Sentinel-2 in imagery in sites across 12 biomes in South and Central America and North Korea. Overall accuracy ranged between 23% and 97% for Sentinel-2 imagery and between 51% and 98% for PlanetScope imagery. Future research will focus on automating the identification of the threshold that separates tree from other land covers, exploring use of the output for machine learning applications, and incorporating ancillary data such as digital surface models and existing tree cover maps.

scholarly journals A Spatial and Temporal Assessment of Vegetation Greening and Precipitation Changes for Monitoring Vegetation Dynamics in Climate Zones over Africa

2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 129
Author(s):  
Vincent Nzabarinda ◽  
Anming Bao ◽  
Wenqiang Xu ◽  
Solange Uwamahoro ◽  
Madeleine Udahogora ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Vegetation Index ◽  
Normalized Difference Vegetation Index ◽  
Forest Type ◽  
Pearson Correlation ◽  
Correlation Coefficients ◽  
Plant Health ◽  
Tree Cover ◽  
Climatic Zones ◽  
Dramatic Decline ◽  
Precipitation Changes

Vegetation is vital, and its greening depends on access to water. Thus, precipitation has a considerable influence on the health and condition of vegetation and its amount and timing depend on the climatic zone. Therefore, it is extremely important to monitor the state of vegetation according to the movements of precipitation in climatic zones. Although a lot of research has been conducted, most of it has not paid much attention to climatic zones in the study of plant health and precipitation. Thus, this paper aims to study the plant health in five African climatic zones. The linear regression model, the persistence index (PI), and the Pearson correlation coefficients were applied for the third generation Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI3g), with Climate Hazard Group infrared precipitation and Climate Change Initiative Land Cover for 34 years (1982 to 2015). This involves identifying plants in danger of extinction or in dramatic decline and the relationship between vegetation and rainfall by climate zone. The forest type classified as tree cover, broadleaved, deciduous, closed to open (>15%) has been degraded to 74% of its initial total area. The results also revealed that, during the study period, the vegetation of the tropical, polar, and warm temperate zones showed a higher rate of strong improvement. Although arid and boreal zones show a low rate of strong improvement, they are those that experience a low percentage of strong degradation. The continental vegetation is drastically decreasing, especially forests, and in areas with low vegetation, compared to more vegetated areas, there is more emphasis on the conservation of existing plants. The variability in precipitation is excessively hard to tolerate for more types of vegetation.

scholarly journals Lower Noise Annoyance Associated with GIS-Derived Greenspace: Pathways through Perceived Greenspace and Residential Noise

2018 ◽  
Vol 15 (7) ◽  
pp. 1533 ◽  
Author(s):  
Angel M. Dzhambov ◽  
Iana Markevych ◽  
Boris Tilov ◽  
Zlatoslav Arabadzhiev ◽  
Drozdstoj Stoyanov ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Noise Level ◽  
Vegetation Index ◽  
Green Space ◽  
Normalized Difference Vegetation Index ◽  
Buffer Zone ◽  
Tree Cover ◽  
Noise Sources ◽  
Noise Abatement ◽  
Noise Annoyance ◽  
Lower Noise

Growing amounts of evidence support an association between self-reported greenspace near the home and lower noise annoyance; however, objectively defined greenspace has rarely been considered. In the present study, we tested the association between objective measures of greenspace and noise annoyance, with a focus on underpinning pathways through noise level and perceived greenspace. We sampled 720 students aged 18 to 35 years from the city of Plovdiv, Bulgaria. Objective greenspace was defined by several Geographic Information System (GIS)-derived metrics: Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), tree cover density, percentage of green space in circular buffers of 100, 300 and 500 m, and the Euclidean distance to the nearest structured green space. Perceived greenspace was defined by the mean of responses to five items asking about its quantity, accessibility, visibility, usage, and quality. We assessed noise annoyance due to transportation and other neighborhood noise sources and daytime noise level (Lday) at the residence. Tests of the parallel mediation models showed that higher NDVI and percentage of green space in all buffers were associated with lower noise annoyance, whereas for higher tree cover this association was observed only in the 100 m buffer zone. In addition, the effects of NDVI and percentage of green space were mediated by higher perceived greenspace and lower Lday. In the case of tree cover, only perceived greenspace was a mediator. Our findings suggest that the potential for greenspace to reduce noise annoyance extends beyond noise abatement. Applying a combination of GIS-derived and perceptual measures should enable researchers to better tap individuals’ experience of residential greenspace and noise.

Assessment of the climate change-induced impact on forest vegetation in the Mediterranean Basin using an integrated approach

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria Castellaneta ◽  
Angelo Rita ◽  
Jesus Julio Camarero ◽  
Michele Colangelo ◽  
Francesco Ripullone
Keyword(s):  
Tree Mortality ◽  
Vegetation Index ◽  
Normalized Difference Vegetation Index ◽  
Integrated Approach ◽  
Mediterranean Forests ◽  
Climate Extreme ◽  
Remotely Sensed Data ◽  
Climate Anomalies ◽  
Forest Sites ◽  
Tree Ring Data

<p>The recent increase in the frequency and severity of heat weaves and droughts has intensified efforts to understand their impact on forest productivity and tree vigor. These climate extreme events are expected to reduce productivity and increase the tree mortality rate, particularly in drought-prone Mediterranean forests. Thus, our goal is to quantify the impacts of hotter droughts on forests vulnerable to drought in the Italian and Iberian peninsulas by using remotely sensed data (NDVI, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index) to track vegetation changes and tree-ring data from forest sites showing dieback to assess tree’s growth trends. The survey involved the comparison of stands showing dieback where trees showed growth decline and high defoliation rates (decay) versus stands where trees showed low or no defoliation. Our outcomes will be discussed i) to describe the effects of climate anomalies on forest vulnerability in terms of resistance and resilience, and ii) to evaluate the existence of a correlation between vegetation response and “post-disturbance” recovery.</p>

scholarly journals Integration of Soil Electrical Conductivity and Indices Obtained through Satellite Imagery for Differential Management of Pasture Fertilization

2019 ◽  
Vol 1 (4) ◽  
pp. 567-585 ◽  
Author(s):  
João Serrano ◽  
Shakib Shahidian ◽  
José Marques da Silva ◽  
Luís Paixão ◽  
José Calado ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Electrical Conductivity ◽  
Spatial Variability ◽  
Satellite Imagery ◽  
Vegetation Index ◽  
Normalized Difference Vegetation Index ◽  
Temporal Stability ◽  
Soil Characteristics ◽  
Low Fertility ◽  
Soil Electrical Conductivity ◽  
Potential Productivity

Dryland pastures in the Alentejo region, located in the south of Portugal, normally occupy soils that have low fertility but, simultaneously, important spatial variability. Rational application of fertilizers requires knowledge of spatial variability of soil characteristics and crop response, which reinforces the interest of technologies that facilitates the identification of homogeneous management zones (HMZ). In this work, a pasture field of about 25 ha, integrated in the Montado mixed ecosystem (agro-silvo-pastoral), was monitored. Surveys of apparent soil electrical conductivity (ECa) were carried out in November 2017 and October 2018 with a Veris 2000 XA contact sensor. A total of 24 sampling points (30 × 30 m) were established in tree-free zones to allow readings of normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) and normalized difference water index (NDWI). Historical time series of these indices were obtained from satellite imagery (Sentinel-2) in winter and spring 2017 and 2018. Three zones with different potential productivity were defined based on the results obtained in terms of spatial variability and temporal stability of the measured parameters. These are the basis for the elaboration of differentiated prescription maps of fertilizers with variable application rate technology, taking into account the variability of soil characteristics and pasture development, contributing to the sustainability of this ecosystem.

scholarly journals LAND USE/LAND COVER CHANGES IN SEMI-ARID MOUNTAIN LANDSCAPE IN SOUTHERN INDIA: A GEOINFORMATICS BASED MARKOV CHAIN APPROACH

2017 ◽  
Vol XLII-1/W1 ◽  
pp. 231-237 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. A. Rahaman ◽  
S. Aruchamy ◽  
K. Balasubramani ◽  
R. Jegankumar
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
Land Cover ◽  
Vegetation Index ◽  
Forest Cover ◽  
Normalized Difference Vegetation Index ◽  
Southern India ◽  
Vegetation Changes ◽  
Land Use Land Cover ◽  
Mountain Landscape ◽  
Semi Arid

Nowadays land use/ land cover in mountain landscape is in critical condition; it leads to high risky and uncertain environments. These areas are facing multiple stresses including degradation of land resources; vagaries of climate and depletion of water resources continuously affect land use practices and livelihoods. To understand the Land use/Land cover (Lu/Lc) changes in a semi-arid mountain landscape, Kallar watershed of Bhavani basin, in southern India has been chosen. Most of the hilly part in the study area covers with forest, plantation, orchards and vegetables and which are highly affected by severe soil erosion, landslide, frequent rainfall failures and associated drought. The foothill regions are mainly utilized for agriculture practices; due to water scarcity and meagre income, the productive agriculture lands are converted into settlement plots and wasteland. Hence, land use/land cover change deduction; a stochastic processed based method is indispensable for future prediction. For identification of land use/land cover, and vegetation changes, Landsat TM, ETM (1995, 2005) and IRS P6- LISS IV (2015) images were used. Through CAMarkov chain analysis, Lu/Lc changes in past three decades (1995, 2005, and 2015) were identified and projected for (2020 and 2025); Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) were used to find the vegetation changes. The result shows that, maximum changes occur in the plantation and slight changes found in forest cover in the hilly terrain. In foothill areas, agriculture lands were decreased while wastelands and settlement plots were increased. The outcome of the results helps to farmer and policy makers to draw optimal lands use planning and better management strategies for sustainable development of natural resources.

scholarly journals A Calculation and Compiling Models of Land Cover Quality Index 2019 uses the Geographic Information System in Pariaman City, West Sumatra Province, Indonesia

2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 6406-6411
Keyword(s):  
Land Cover ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Quality Index ◽  
Vegetation Index ◽  
Forest Cover ◽  
Normalized Difference Vegetation Index ◽  
Director General ◽  
Environmental Damage ◽  
Vegetation Density ◽  
Forest Region

The purpose of calculation and compiling the Land Cover Quality Index (LCQI) is to evaluate the value of natural and environmental resources based on land cover conditions in an administrative region such as city, regency and province in Indonesia referring to the Regulation Director General of Pollution Control and Environmental Damage Number P.1/PPKL/PKLA.4/2018. The analytical method used in the calculation of the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), the Maximum likelihood classification approach, and the preparation of LCQI calculation methods based on 1) sufficiency area (forest region) and forest cover at minimal 30% on rivers and islands; 2) Ability and suitability of land minimal 25%; and 3) a link with the direction of land use in urban areas of at minimal 30%. The results showed the vegetation density index value in Pariaman city was classified as a good category with a value of 0.474903 μm, the results of a land cover classification in Pariaman City with the largest region are found in mixed gardens land of 2,736.57 ha or 37%. Whereas the smallest region is found in cypress vegetation land as a greenbelt at the coastal border 12.06 ha or 0,16%. and the results of the LCQI calculation indicate the LCQI value in 2019 (24,06) which is in the alert classification (<50). The increase in land cover outside the forest region is mainly directed at increasing green open space because Pariaman City does not have natural forest which are vulnerable to changes in land cover because of its high population density

scholarly journals Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) analysis for vegetation cover in Leuser Ecosystem area, Sumatra, Indonesia

2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Adisti Permatasari Putri Hartoyo ◽  
ARZYANA SUNKAR ◽  
RAHMATULLOH RAMADANI ◽  
SYAHLAN FALUTHI ◽  
SYAFITRI HIDAYATI
Keyword(s):  
Vegetation Cover ◽  
Vegetation Index ◽  
Forest Cover ◽  
Normalized Difference Vegetation Index ◽  
Agroforestry System ◽  
Conservation Strategy ◽  
Infrastructure Development ◽  
Market Demand ◽  
Conservation Area ◽  
Vegetation Diversity

Abstract. Hartoyo APP, Sunkar A, Ramadani R, Faluthi S, Hidayati S. 2021. Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) analysis for vegetation cover in Leuser Ecosystem area, Sumatra, Indonesia. Biodiversitas 22: 1160-1171. About 2 Mha of 24.3 Mha degraded area in Indonesia is inside conservation area. The Leuser Ecosystem Area (LEA) is the largest conservation area in Malesian forest that plays essential role in biodiversity and ecosystem services conservation efforts. It is the last habitat on earth where Sumatran tigers, elephants, orangutans, and rhinoceros are found together. However, LEA faces many threats, such as infrastructure development, and industrial palm oil plantation. Additionally, vegetation cover data as an approach to monitor forest cover changes in LEA is still lacking and baseline data regarding composition, structure as well as vegetation diversity in LEA is very limited. The objectives of this study were to analyze vegetation cover using Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) in LEA and its relation to agroforestry structure, composition and diversity in Agusen Village, Gayo Lues District and Alur Durin Village, East Aceh District, Aceh Province belonging to LEA. Based on the NDVI analysis, the largest area in LEA belonged to class 5, meaning that the most area in LEA was dominated by high dense vegetation (1,870,116.40 ha). The average accuracy and standard error of NDVI analysis were 83.33% and 2.62. LEA is an effective buffer for maintaining forest ecosystems and increasing the local communities' welfare through agroforestry system. Agroforestry structures in agroforestry practices, both in Agusen Village and Alur Durin Village did not reflect reverse-J curve, meaning that enrichment planting for increasing numbers of individual and species was necessary. Management of agroforestry system depends on the landowners or managers and their selection of shade tree species with high economic value with market demand such as C. arabica, T. cacao with A. moluccanus, L. leucocephala, H. brasiliensis, D. zibethinus, etc. Trees that produce non-timber products are also an alternative way for conservation strategy and sustainable utilization.

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