Using New Video Mapping Technology in Landscape Ecology

Abstract

iological and ecological monitoring continues to play an imp ortant role in the conservation of s pec i e s , n a tu ral com mu n i ti e s , and landscape s (Spellerberg 1991). Although resource-monitoring programs have advanced knowledge about natural ecosystems, weaknesses persist in our ability to rapidly t ransfer landscape-scale information to the public.Ecologists continue to search for new technologies to address this p roblem and to c ommunicate natural resource inf ormation quickly and effectively. New vid eo mapping technology may provide much-needed help. Ecologists realize that only a small portion of large nature reserves can be monit ored b ecause of cost and logistical constraints. However, plant and animal populations are usually pat chily distributed in sub populations scattered throughout heterogeneous landscapes, and they are often associated with rare habitats. These subpopulations and rare habitats may respond differently to climate change, land use, and management practices such as grazing, fire suppression, prescribed burning , or in vasion of exotic species (Stohlgren et al. 1997b). In many national parks, monuments, and wildlife reserves, a few long-term monitoring plots are used to infer the status and trends of natural resources in much larger areas. To make defensible inferences about populations, habitats, and landscapes, it is ne cessary to ext rapolate from a few monit oring plots (local scale) to the larger, unsampled landscape with known levels of accuracy and precision. Recent tech n o l ogical devel opm ents have given pop u l ati on bi o l ogists and landscape eco l ogists a unique tool for bri d ging the data gap bet ween small , i n ten s ively sampled m on i toring plots and the gre a ter landscape and for tra n sferring this inform a ti on qu i ck ly to re s o u rce managers and the publ i c . In this arti cl e , we bri ef ly de s c ri be this too l , a h a n d - h eld vi deo mapping sys tem linked to a geogra ph i c i n form a ti on sys tem (GIS). We provi de examples of its use in qu a n ti f ying patterns of n a tive and exo tic plant spec i e s and cryptobi o tic crusts in the new Grand Stairc a s e ‐ E s c a l a n te Na ti onal Monu m en t , Ut a h , and in su rveying aspen cl ones and regen era ti on in Rocky Mountain Na ti onal Pa rk , Co l orado. Te ch n ol ogical adva n ce s Video mapping links spatially explicit videos with a GIS. The c ombination o f videography, global positioning system (GPS),and field data would allow for rapid evaluation of monitoring data and visual field conditions by local and remote scientists and the public. Video mapping has not been portable. One video mapping system cur rently used by the USDA Forest Service was designed to map insect ou tbreaks from a small, lowflying airplane. The system emplo ys a full-sized vid eo