Abstract
Earth observation data can provide important information for tree species diversity mapping and monitoring. The relatively recent advances in remote sensing data characteristics and processing systems elevate the potential of satellite imagery for providing accurate, timely, consistent, and robust spatially explicit estimates of tree species diversity over forest ecosystems. This study was conducted in Northern Pindos National Park, the largest terrestrial park in Greece and aimed to assess the potential of four satellite sensors with different instrumental characteristics, for the estimation of tree diversity. Through field measurements, we originally quantified two diversity indices, namely the Shannon diversity index (H’) and Simpson’s diversity (D1). Random forest regression models were developed for associating remotely sensed spectral signal with tree species diversity within the area. The models generated from the use of the WorldView-2 image were the most accurate with a coefficient of determination of up to 0.44 for H’ and 0.37 for D1. The Sentinel-2 -based models of tree species diversity performed slightly worse, but were better than the Landsat-8 and RapidEye models. The coefficient of variation quantifying internal variability of spectral values within each plot provided little or no usage for improving the modelling accuracy. Our results suggest that very-high-spatial-resolution imagery provides the most important information for the assessment of tree species diversity in heterogeneous Mediterranean ecosystems.
Highlights
Forest ecosystems cover nearly one third of the Earth’s land surface and contain over 80% of the terrestrial biodiversity [1]
The medium spatial resolution imagery evaluated in this study included Sentinel-2 Multispectral Instrument (MSI) (S-2) and Landsat-8 Operational Land Imager (OLI) (L-8) images acquired on 25th August 2017 and 12th July 2017 respectively
In terms of the most appropriate diversity index to be used with remote sensing data, the results indicate that, in our site, a remotely sensed spectral signal correlates better with Shannon’s Index than Simpson’s diversity, since, across all sensors, the Sentinel-2 MSI model provided the highest coefficient of determination
Summary
Forest ecosystems cover nearly one third of the Earth’s land surface and contain over 80% of the terrestrial biodiversity [1]. Mediterranean forest habitats, characterized as one of the richest biodiversity hotspots worldwide are among the most threatened on Earth [7,8], identified as priority area for conservation [9]. In such areas, biodiversity monitoring systems are needed for identifying the location, the magnitude, and the rate of changes in order to prevent or mitigate losses and enhance the resilience capacity of forest areas through appropriate management plans and conservation strategies
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