Week 1: What
is Landscape Ecology?
Beasley,
J. C., and O. E. Rhodes. "Influence of patch- and landscape-level attributes
on the movement behavior of raccoons in agriculturally fragmented
landscapes." Canadian Journal of Zoology 88.2 (2010):
161-169. (link)
*
This paper was interesting to read because of the uniform shape of the
agricultural areas. This perhaps provides an easier starting place to look at
landscape metrics. (Acker)
Boutin, S. and D. Hebert. 2002.
Landscape ecology and forest management: developing an effective
partnership. Ecological Applications
12:390-397. (link)
*Landscape ecology, conservation biology, forest management,
forest projection models, partnerships, disturbance dynamics, fragmentation. (Wild)
El-Magd, Islam H.A. and ElSayed A. Hermas. 2010. Human Impact on the Coastal Landforms in the
Area between Gamasa and Kitchner
Drains, Northern Nile Delta, Egypt. Journal of Coastal Research26(3): 541-548.(link)
*A scientific report on changes in the
coastal and aeolian landforms and human developed
land uses found in the Nile Delta in northern Egypt and how these landforms
have changed within two decades. (Shin)
Hong
S. He, David J. Mladenoff. “Spatially Explicit and Stochastic Simulation of Forest-Landscape
Fire Disturbance and Succession”. Ecology.
Vol. 80, No. 1 (Jan., 1999), pp. 81-99. (link)
Last accessed 1 October 2010.
**A description of the usefulness of LANDIS in modeling landscape
changes due to fire disturbance, including species and succession changes, and
its implications in predicting possible changes due to human impacts and
climate change. (Witter)
Kearns FR, Kelly NM, Carter JL, Resh VH.. 2005. A method for the
use of landscape metrics in freshwater research and management. Landscape
Ecology 20: 113-125.Link (Gimper)
*no keywords???
Kent, M. 2009. Biogeography and landscape ecology: the way forward
- gradients and graph theory. Progress in
Physical Geography 33: 424–436. (link).
*Follow-up to a 2007 review evaluating the relevance of landscape
ecology to biogeography. Landscape
ecology is a flourishing discipline that uses a diverse array of
methodologies. New methods and metrics
(such as gradient/continuum models and graph theoretical approaches) have the
potential to greatly enhance the value of this research. Understanding the link between landscape
structure and ecological processes remains a fundamental objective of landscape
ecology; this should not be overlooked in the pursuit of new methods and
metrics. (Forester)
Levin, S. A. 1992. The problem of pattern and
scale in ecology. Ecology
73(6): 1943-1967. (link).
* A thorough lecture on the complications that the definition of
scale presents to biology in explaining and predicting pattern. Proposes there
is no correct scale to study a system, and stresses one might instead
understand how it can be described from various scales. (Mayhew)
Li, X. and U. Mander. 2009. Future options in landscape ecology:
development and research. Progress in Physical Geography 33(1):31-48. (link)
*Reiterates the
importance of spatial patterning when evaluating ecological effects in
heterogeneous ecosystems. Discusses the developing applications of landscape ecology,
including combining the science with marine research, global climate change predictions,
human development and natural disaster planning. Good paper, clear and thorough. FRAGSTATS, grain, extent, landscape genetics,
landscape perception and ‘sound-scapes’, ‘smell-scapes’. (Anderson)
Petit,
Sandrine. 2009. The dimensions of
land use change in rural landscapes: Lessons learnt from the GB Countryside
Surveys. Journal of Environmental Management 90(2009):2851-2856 doi:10.1016/j.jenvman.2008.05.023 (link)
*This paper described
how spatial patterns were affected by land use practices, how temporal dynamics
affected the landscape, and how large ecological changes contributed to form a
landscape. The benefit of this paper is the description of the effect that
agriculture has on a landscape, but Petit’s
articulation of other landscape ecology concepts is inferior and in less detail
to that of Dean Urban and Monica Turner. (Clancy)
Rescia A.J., et al. 1997. A Fragmented Landscape in Northern Spain Analyzed at
Different Spatial Scales: Implications for Management. Journal of Vegetation Science
8: 343-352. (link).
*This article deals with a study done in the Urdaibai
Reserve in Nothern Spain, looking at areas of
different vegetation, including places affected by agriculture. The study
focused on variation of spatial patterns at different scales, and how scale
affects the way the landscape is represented. Various scales need to be studied
especially when management, conservation, and planning are of concern. (Gehri)
Wiens, John A. "Landscape
ecology as a foundation for sustainable conservation". Landscape Ecology (2009) 24:1053-1065. Link
*The induction of Landscape Ecology metrics into
conservation ecology/biology and the reasons behind why it should occur.
Included is an example of how the new ways of thinking help with understanding
a Cynomys ludvicianus
(Prairie dog) management situation. (Larson)
Week 2: Landscape
Metrics
Epting J, Verbyla D. Landscape-level
interactions of prefire vegetation, burn severity,
and postfire vegetation over a 16-year period in
interior Alaska. Canadian
Journal of Forest Research. June 2005;35(6):1367-1377. (link)
*
examining burn severity and vegetation recovery using DEM, IR aerial
photography, remote sensing, and satellite imagery. (Acker)
Hawkins, B. A., Field, R., Cornell, H. V., Currie, D. J., Guégan, J. F., Kaufman, D. M., Kerr, J. T., Mittlebach, G. G., Oberdorff, T.,
O'Brien, E. M., Porter, E. E., and Turner, J. R. G. 2003. Energy,
water, and broad-scale geographic patterns of species richness. Ecology 84(12): 3105-3117. (link)
* Using data from a plethora of other studies, the authors show
how water or water-energy as variables can explain plant, vertebrate and
invertebrate richness at varying latitudes (opposed to the energy hypothesis).
Predicts that energy constraints at higher latitudes, water constrains where
energy inputs are high (equator). (Mayhew)
Jackson, V.L., L. L. Laack, and E. G. Zimmerman.
2005. Landscape metrics associated with habitat use by ocelots in south Texas. Journal of Wildlife Management
69:733-738. (link)
*no keywords??
(Wild)
Lookingbill, Todd R., and Dean L. Urban. "Gradient analysis, the next
generation: towards more plant-relevant explanatory variables." Canadian
Journal of Forest Research 35.7 (2005): 1744-1753. Academic
Search Complete. EBSCO. Web.
8 Oct. 2010. (link)
*This paper expands on the Urban 2000
paper, describes an experiment conducted using gradient analysis on a forest in
Oregon, and discusses the use of gradient analysis to model the effects of
climate change on plant communities. The emphasis is that plant communities can
be modeled more accurately with metrics that have a more direct effect on plant
growth and community composition, rather than with those which have an indirect
effect. (Witter)
*Two
models of vegetation community in a northwest forest are created using “physical
proxy variables” and “plant-relevant variables”. There was little difference in classification
error rates between the unvalidated models. However, the plant-relevant model was far
more successful at classifying heterogeneous validation plots (73%) compared to
the proxy model (18%). This indicates
that plant-relevant variables are better predictors of community type in
heterogeneous areas of the study site.
(Forester) Nice paper.
Long, J., Nelson, T., and Wulder, M.. 2009. Regionalization of Landscape Pattern Indices Using
Multivariate Cluster Analysis. Environmental Management 46: 134-142.(link).
* This goal of this paper is to show that identifying forest
patterns is a useful tool in helping to understand ecosystem processes. The
methods used to gather and analyze the data are confusing to understand and
must be read multiple times to grasp all the information. However, the
resulting information proves this is an effective way to analyze forest
patterns. (Clancy)
Manel, Stephanie, Michael K. Schwartz, Gordon Luikart, Pierre Taberlet. "Landscape genetics: combining landscape ecology and population genetics." Trends in Ecology & Evolution 18-4. April 2003, 189-197. Link
*Discussion on the need
for correlation of Landcape Ecology metrics with
population genetics studies. Also talks about the need to implement this new
style of analyzing spatial data into conservation, ecology, and several other
branches of the science.* (Larson)
Massada,
A.V., V.C. Radeloff. 2010. Two multi-scale contextual
approaches for mapping spatial pattern. Landscape
Ecology 25:711-725. (link)
*Describes various techniques for quantifying landscape structure
and pattern including the use of pixels v/s patch and pixel defined patches.
Suggests incorporation of multi scale landscape window when defining metrics
used to analyze species abundance and diversity and predict richness during
multi species studies. Complicated methods. (Anderson)
Ozolincius, R., Stakenas, V., Varnagiryte-Kabasinskiene,
I. & Buozyte, R.. 2009.
Artificial drought in Scots pine stands: effects on soil, ground vegetation and
tree condition. Annales Botanici
Fennici 46: 299–307. (link).
*A drought
simulation experiment on Scots pine stand in Lithuania from 2003-2005 to test
how landscape characteristics like soil, ground vegetation, and tree conditions
would change. Drought simulation data
compared with a control data points to identify changes in landscape features. (Shin)
Poole, G. C. (March 2010). Stream
hydrogeomorphology as a physical science basis for advances in stream ecology. Journal
of the North American Benthological Society , 29:12-25. Link
*Major concepts in stream ecology have been fundamentally
influenced by advances in fluvial geomorphology, channel hydrology, and hyporheic hydrogeology. As understanding of the physical
basis of stream ecosystems have improved, conceptualization of stream ecosystems has
evolved from primary linear structures to incorporate the topology of networks
and the structure of landscapes. (Gimper) Nice paper
Poulos, Helen M., and Ann E. Camp.
2010. Topographic influences on vegetation mosaics and tree diversity in the Chihuahuan Desert Borderlands. Ecology 91:1140–1151. (link)
*Research paper that is an example of how landscape topography is
a key factor in controlling vegetation patterns as well as diversity. The study was carried out over three mountain
ranges and at different elevation levels at each range. (Jung)
Week 3: The
Physical Template
Bunn, A.G., L.J. Graumlich,
and D.L. Urban.
2005. Trends in twentieth-century
tree growth at high elevations in the Sierra Nevada and White Mountains,
USA. Holocene 15(4):
481-488. (link).
*Analysis of 5 different tree species from 13 different sites in
the Sierra Nevada and White Mountains using non-parametric ordination and cluster
analysis, which showed significant temperature and precipitation correlations
on data points plotted on axis representing species and location. (Shin)
*Well-done paper that showed the relationship between tree growth
and global warming. This study analyzed old tree growth and climate records and
compared them to twentieth-century records to determine the global warming
trend. (Clancy)
Evers, David C. and Thomas A. Clair. 2004. Mercury
in Northeastern North America: A synthesis of Existing Databases. EcoToxicology 14: 7-14. link
*Biogeographical patterns of
environmental mercury in northeastern North America. Environmental abundance of
Hg, and MeHg availability indicate heterogeneous
levels across northeastern North America that are dictated by topography,
hydrology, biogeochemistry, land-use patterns, and point source impacts (air
and waterborne). Boring paper because the biotic template was only really
discussed over about one page of the paper, the rest is government science
jumbo. (Gimper)
HilleRisLambers,
R., et al.2001.Vegetation pattern formation in
semi-arid grazing systems. Ecology 82: 50–61. (link).
*This paper looks at several other studies to develop a model and
determine which factors effect vegetation pattern formation in semi-arid
landscapes. A large focus was on water inputs and outputs, although many other
factors proved to be important also. (Gehri)
van
der Maarel, Eddy. 1996.
Pattern and process in the plant community: Fifty years after A.S. Watt. Journal of Vegetation Science 7:19-28. (link)
*This paper is a follow up on A.S. Watt's article, “Pattern and
process in t he plant community.” It
incorporates Watt's ideas with up to date knowledge of patch dynamics,
small-scale dynamics in grasslands and forests as well as information on
species mobility. (Jung)
Lane, C., Wright, S., Roncal, J., & Maschinski, J. (2008). Characterizing
Environmental Gradients and Their Influence on Vegetation Zonation
in a Subtropical Coastal Sand Dune System. Journal of Coastal Research, 24(4c),
213-224. (link)
*this
paper looked at environmental gradients in dune systems to formulate better
conservation and preservation plans (Acker)
Lang, G. E., et al.
1980. Structure and biomass
dynamics of epiphytic lichen communities of balsam fir forests in New
Hampshire. Ecology 61:541-550. Link
* lichen biomass, balsam fir,
epiphytic lichen, lichen community structure, net production.
(Wild)
Lawton, R.M., R.O. Lawton, 2010. Complex spatial
structure in a population of Didymopanax pittieri, a tree of wind-exposed lower montane rain forest. Plant Ecology 210:125-135. (link)
*Evaluates the pattern of size and density of D. pittieri in the cloud and elfin
forests of Costa Rican mountains against known natural disturbance patterns.
Large scale trends are demonstrated to be the result of tree falls and wind
stress. RELEV was an analytical tool used for determining the measure of
topographic exposure.
Point patterns, inhomogeneous Poisson process, dwarfed forests, hemiepiphytes. (Anderson)
Perry G.L.W. 2002. Landscapes, space and equilibrium: shifting
viewpoints. Progress in Physical
Geography 26: 339-359. (link).
* This is an excellent review article that covers changing ideas
about spatial patterns and equilibrium in landscape ecology over the past 30
years. The rise of spatial pattern and
heterogeneity as important components of ecosystem dynamics over the past 20
years is discussed in detail. The shift
from an equilibrium paradigm (the “balance of nature”) to an acknowledgement of
disequilibrium and disturbance is also addressed with examples from various
studies. The interaction of these
concepts is discussed, as well as possible approaches for integrating spatial
analysis and disequilibrium into empirical studies. (Forester)
Pickett, S.T.A., Cadenasso, M.L. “Landscape
Ecology: Spatial heterogeneity in Ecological Systems” Science, Vol. 269 No.
5222 (Jul. 21, 1995), pp. 331-334. Link
*Describes how landscape ecology has helped integrate impacts of
human development on the environment and ecological models as a whole.
Indicates the need for more experiments conducted with thought of spatial
heterogeneity in the field of ecology. Overall somewhat of a recap paper
compared to what we have read and not too “ground breaking” from my point.
(Larson)
Wu, J. & Levin, S. A. 1994.
A spatial patch dynamic modeling approach to pattern and process in an annual grassland. Ecological
Monographs 64(4): 447-464. (link)
* This team takes a similar approach to modeling landscape
dynamics seen in Smith and Urban 1988, but avoid the
use of a grid system in designating patches. Their model is based on the gopher
mounds (disturbance patches) in the serpentine grasslands of Northern
California, and attempts to predict how they impact vegetation dynamics. (Mayhew)
Zhao, Na; Yonghui,
Yang and Zhou, Xinyao.
“Application of geographically weighted regression in
estimating the effect of climate and site conditions on vegetation distribution
in Haihe Catchment, China.” Plant Ecology. 2010. Vol 209:2, p. 349-359. (link)
*Ordinary regression analysis, geographically weighted analysis, prediction of leaf area index, use of leaf area index to analyze water limitations in a watershed, elevation, aspect, total wetness index, temperature, precipitation, potential evapotranspiration. (Witter)
Week 4: Disturbance
Bell, S. S. et Al. 1999.
Gap dynamics in a seagrass landscape. Ecosystems 2:493-504. Link
Keywords: gaps, sedimentation, landscape, seagrass, Halodule wrightii, patch dynamics (Wild)
Conedera, M., Tinner, W., Neff,
C., Meurer, M., Dickens, A.F., and P Krebs.
2008. Reconstructing past fire regimes: methods, applications, and relevance to
fire management and conservation. Quaternary
Science Reviews 8: 555-576. doi:10.1016/j.quascirev.2008.11.005
* This paper evaluates several methods
for reconstructing fire histories and discusses the application of fire
histories to current land and fire management (Acker)
Lee, B. et al. 2007. Estimation of fire
severity by use of Landsat TM images and its relevance
to vegetation and topography in the 2000 Samcheok
forest fire. The Japanese Forest Society and Springer 13:197-204 (link)
*This paper shows the effectiveness of Landsat TM images in assessing fire severity and analyzes
the role of vegetation and topography in fire severity. (Clancy)
Lynch, H.J., R.A. Renkin,
R.L. Crabtree, and P.R. Moorcroft. 2006. The influence of previous mountain
pine beetle (Dendroctonus ponderosae)
activity on the 1988 Yellowstone fires. Ecosystems 9: 1318-1327. (link).
* Analyzes the influence that pine beetle
outbreaks from the 1963-86 that may have had in determining the spatial burning
pattern on the landscape in the Yellowstone National Park during the 1988 fire.
(Shin)
Miller, Carol, and D.L. Urban
. 1999. Interactions between forest heterogeneity and surface fire regimes
in the southern Sierra Nevada. Canadian
Journal of Forest Research 29:202-212. (link)
*This study was to determine if repeated
surface fires would magnify existing spatial patterns of different areas in
Sequoia National Park, California. (Jung)
Peterson G.D. 2002. Contagious disturbance,
ecological memory, and the emergence of landscape pattern. Ecosystems 5: 329-338. (link).
* This study uses a relatively simple model of forest fire to
explore the influence of ecological memory on landscape pattern. Ecological memory occurs when “an ecological
process is shaped by its past modifications of a landscape.” Peterson finds that fire creates spatial
patterns that vary based on fire frequency and vegetation recovery time, while
ecological memory controls the temporal persistence of these patterns. (Forester)
Smith
H. Walter and Leslie J. Rissler.
2010. Quantifying Disturbance in
Terrestrial Communities: Abundance–Biomass Comparisons of Herpetofauna
Closely Track Forest Succession. Restoration Ecology. 18:195-204. Link
*Using the abundance-biomass comparisons or ABC to monitor restoration
success in a longleaf pine ecosystem currently undergoing restoration via
prescribed burning. Researchers say that species herpetofauna
are a good indicator for disturbance in terrestrial communities. (Gimper)
Swetnam, T. W., Allen, C. D., &
Betancourt, J. L. 1999. Applied
historical ecology: using the past to manage for the future. Ecologcal Applications 9(4): 1189-1206. .
(link) . (Mayhew)
* A review on the applications of historical
ecology and its limitations. The authors provide various examples from their
work in the Southwestern U.S. to illustrate its usefulness in management of
ecosystems, but also to point out key caveats that must be considered in
interpreting historical data.
Turner, M.G. W.H. Romme and D.B. Tinker. 2003. Surprises and lessons from the 1988
Yellowstone Fires. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment 1(7):351-358. (link)
(Wallin)
Wang, X., S.G. Cummings, 2010. Configuration dynamics of boreal forest
landscapes under recent fire and harvesting regimes in western Canada. Landscape Ecology 25:1419-1432. Link
*Compares the impact of fire, harvesting and
the combination on magnitude and direction of change on the habitat composition
and structure of the landscape. Study
area was managed boreal forests of Alberta Canada with data from 1993 and 2001.
Landscape configuration defined as arrangement of habitat v/s
non-habitat. Habitat fragmentation defined as process (anthro
or natural) of configuration change. (Anderson)
Wu, Jianguo,
Orie L. Loucks. From
Balance of Nature to Hierarchical Patch Dynamics: A Paradigm Shift in Ecology.
The Quarterly Review of Biology, Vol.
70, No. 4 (Dec., 1995), pp. 439-466. Link
*Good article discussing
the recent rise in landscape hetero/homogeneity thought. Did a great job
comparing previous processes with emerging landscape ecology continuous and
patch style ideas. I thought it was worth the read. (Lawson)
Zimmerman, JK; Comita,
LS; Thompson, J; Uriarte, M; Brokaw, N. 2010. “Patch dynamics and community metastability of a subtropical forest: compound effects of
natural disturbance and human land use.” Landscape Ecology. 25:1099-1111. http://www.springerlink.com/content/e7285u7823305627/fulltext.pdf
**Patch dynamics of a semi-tropical forest
landscape in Puerto Rico with various types of land use history (varying from
very little human-caused disturbance to heavy anthropogenic land use) in
response to periodic hurricane disturbances. Intermediate
disturbance succession in gaps, landscape-scale changes in understory
vegetation, species abundance, patch community dissimilarity, land use history,
landscape metastability, dominant patch size. (Witter)
Week 5:
Gauthier, S. et Al.
1996. Effects of fire regime on
the serotiny level of jack pine. Journal of Ecology 84:539-548. Link
(Wild)
Keywords: disturbance regime, serotiny, jack pine, Pinus banksiana, fire interval, fire
intensity.
Mast, J.N., Chambers, C.L..
2006. Integrated Approaches, Multiple Scales: Snag Dynamics in Burned Versus
Unburned Landscapes. Professional Geographer. 58: 397-405 No link? (Clancy)
*This paper shows how the use of GIS and
geographic information science (GIScience) makes the
study of landscape processes easier and more accurate. This is done through
analyzing spatial patterns in burned and unburned forests and recording the
activity of birds in each type of forest. Then they use GIS and GIScience to predict future bird activity by analyzing snag
features.
Millar, C. I. & Woolfenden, W. B. 1999. The role of climate change
in interpreting historical variability. Ecological Applications. 9(4):
1207-1216. (link) (Mayhew)
* A review on the applications of historical
variability in landscape management. The authors stress the importance of being
diligent when comparing conditions during 'presettlement'
times to current times. Because climactic variability influences biotic and abiotic responses and its magnitude can change over time,
interpretations of variability in historical environments are incomplete
without consideration of their climactic contexts.
Mitchell, R.J., and S.L. Duncan. 2009. Range of variability in southern
coastal plain forests: its historical, contemporary, and future role in
sustaining biodiversity. Ecology and
Society 14(1):17-32. (Link) (Jung)
* This paper is on how HRV can be used to help
integrate the relationship between social understanding, biodiversity
management, and ecological understanding of the southern coastal plain
forests. It defines concepts of
variation, reviews other literature, and then ends with an assessment of the
understanding of land management from different focus groups.
Torbick, N.M., B.L. Becker, S.L. Hession,
et al., 2010. Assessing invasive plant infestation and
disturbance gradients in a freshwater wetland using a GIScience
approach. Wetlands Ecology and
Management 18:307-319. Link
(Anderson)
*words
Week 6:
Hans-Erik Anderson, Robert J. McGaughey, Stephen E. Reutebuch. Estimating forest canopy
fuel parameters using LIDAR data. Remote Sensing of Environment
October 2004, vol.94, iss. 4, 441-449. Link
(Larson)
*Paper discussing the use of LIDAR based
technologies in determining canopy fuel availability for management. Done by
local University of Washington professors, attempts to determine total
available canopy fuel for Capitol State Forest, WA. Applicable models for the
rest of Western Washington and Oregon are also discussed.*
Buermann,
W., Saatchi, S., Smith, T., Zutta, B., Chaves, J., Milá, B., et al. (2008). Predicting species distributions across the Amazonian and Andean
regions using remote sensing data. Journal
of Biogeography, 35(7),
1160-1176. (Link)
(Acker)
* This was an interesting paper that focused on the application of remote
sensing to studying geographic distributions of populations.
Elvidge, C. D., Cinzano, P., Pettit, D. R., Arvesen, J., Sutton, P., Small, C., Nemani,
R., Longcore, T., Rich, C., Safran,
J., Weeks, J., Ebener, S..
2007.The Nightsat mission
concept. International journal of Remote Sensing 28: 2645-2670. Link
(Gimper)
*Mission concept requirements for a new Nightsat
satellite that could meet spatial requirements of between 50 to 100 meters
while holding the same orbital pattern as the Landsat
system. Excellent paper covering the issues for remote
sensing satellites when they travel to the dark side of the planet.
Menon, S., Bawa,
K. 1997. Applications of Geographic Information Systems, Remote-Sensing, and
a Landscape Ecology Approach to Biodiversity Conservation in the Western Ghats.
Current Science 73.2: 134-145. link
(Gehri)
*Interesting and easy-to-read article about
using various landscape ecology tools to study land use change in the Western
Ghats in India.
Goetz, Scott J.,
D. Steinberg, M.G. Betts, R.T. Holmes, P.J. Doran, R. Dubayah,
and M. Hofton.
2010. Lidar
remote sensing variables predict breeding habitat of a Neotropical
migrant bird. Ecology 91(6):
1569-1576. (link). (shin)
*Study of habitat
quality of Black-throated Blue Warbler in the White Mountain National Forest,
New Hampshire using a combination of lidar and
optical remote sensing.
Hilker, T., M. van Leeuwen,
N.C. Coops, M.A. Wulder, G.J. Newnham,
D.L.B. Jupp, and D.S. Culvenor.
2009. Comparing canopy metrics derived from terrestrial and airborne laser
scanning in a Douglas-fir dominated forest stand. Trees-Structure and Function 24(5): 819-832. (Link)
(Jung)
* This study compares 2 types of LiDAR applications, terrestrial laser scanning (TLS) and
airborne laser scanning (ALS).
Hilker,
T. et al. 2010.
Remote sensing of photosynthetic light-use efficiency across two forested
biomes: Spatial scaling. Elsevier. 114: 2863-2874
(link)
(Clancy)
*This
study shows how Gross Primary Production can be measured without knowing
respiration. They use remote sensing to
determine the photosynthetic light-use efficiency of two stands: Douglas-fir
and Aspen. This study used complicated algorithms in their calculations which
were hard to decipher.
Martinuzzia, Sebastián, Lee A. Vierling, William A. Gould, Michael J. Falkowski,
Jeffrey S. Evans, Andrew T. Hudak and Kerri T. Vierling. 2009. “Mapping snags and understory shrubs for a LiDAR-based assessment of wildlife habitat suitability”. Remote Sensing of Environment 113:
2533-2546 (Link)
(Witter)
*Use of LiDAR data
in estimating understory composition and vertical heterogeneity in regards to
snags in forests. Modeling the suitability of wildlife habitat based on more
accurate analysis of understory composition and snags.
Seavy NE, Viers JH and
Wood JK. 2009. Riparian bird response to vegetation structure: a multiscale analysis using LiDAR
measurements of canopy height. Ecological
Applications 19:1848-1857. (link).
(Forester)
*This study investigated the usefulness of LiDAR
data for evaluating habitat associations between riparian vegetation structure
and bird species. The authors used stepwise
logistic regression to model habitat associations between birds and vegetation
at multiple spatial scales. They found
that birds respond to vegetation structure at multiple spatial scales and that
this response is species-specific. They
conclude that the conventional recommendation of examining vegetation structure
at a scale of 0.8 hectares is insufficient for most bird species. They also recommend the use of LiDAR data to inform future studies of bird-vegetation
associations.