Actual Vegetation Research Articles

Validation of two gridded soil moisture products over India with in-situ observations

Surface level soil moisture from two gridded datasets over India are evaluated in this study. The first one is the UK Met Office (UKMO) soil moisture analysis produced by a land data assimilation system based on Extended Kalman Filter method (EKF), which make use of satellite observation of Advanced Scatterometer (ASCAT) soil wetness index as well as the screen level meteorological observations. Second dataset is a satellite soil moisture product, produced by National Remote Sensing Centre (NRSC) using passive microwave Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer 2 measurements. In-situ observations of soil moisture from India Meteorological Department (IMD) are used for the validation of the gridded soil moisture products. The difference between these datasets over India is minimum in the non-monsoon months and over agricultural regions. It is seen that the NRSC data is slightly drier (0.05%) and UKMO soil moisture analysis is relatively wet during southwest monsoon season. Standard AMSR-2 satellite soil moisture product is used to compare the NRSC and UKMO products. The standard AMSR-2 and UKMO values are closer in monsoon season and AMSR-2 soil moisture is higher than UKMO in all seasons. NRSC and AMSR-2 showed a correlation of 0.83 (significant at 0.01 level). The probability distribution of IMD soil moisture observation peaks at 0.25 m3/m3, NRSC at 0.15 m3/m3, AMSR-2 at 0.25 m3/m3 and UKMO at 0.35 m3/m3 during June–September period. Validation results show UKMO analysis has better correlation with in-situ observations compared to the NRSC and AMSR-2 datasets. The seasonal variation in soil moisture is better represented in UKMO analysis. Underestimation of soil moisture during monsoon season over India in NRSC data suggests the necessity of incorporating the actual vegetation for a better soil moisture retrieval using passive microwave sensors. Both products have good agreement over bare soil, shrubs and grassland compared to needle leaf tree, broad leaf tree and urban land cover types.

담양하천습지의 식생유형과 분포양상

담양하천습지는 영산강 본류에 위치하는 하천습지로서 2004년 습지보호지역으로 지정되었다. 이번 연구에서는 총 30개의 식생자료가 획득되었으며, 총 101종(미동정종 1종)을 포함하는 22개의 식생유형이 구분되었다. 현존식생도는 6개의 범례(하천림, 대상식생, 터주식생, 연안대식생, 습생초원, 개방수역)로 구분되었으며, 습지식생의 면적은 약 35%(<TEX>$386,841.86m^2$</TEX>)를 차지하였다. 본 연구 결과 담양하천습지에 분포하는 식물사회는 보호지역 상단에 설치된 물막이보와 상부 유역에 운영 중인 담양댐 등으로 인해 급격한 수환경 변화로 형성된 것으로 유추되었다. 고수부지는 최근까지 경작이 진행되었으나 보호지역 지정 이후 방치됨으로써 현재와 같은 하천변 휴경작지의 식생경관이 형성되었다. 조사지역 내 환경부 지정생태계 교란 야생식물인 털물참피가 우점하는 군락이 넓게 발달하고 있으며, 국내 미기재된 새로운 귀화식물군락인 앵무새깃군락이 관찰되었다. 이들 식물군락들은 나도겨풀군락이 발달하는 환경과 중복되어 그 밖의 유사한 생태적 지위를 가지는 고유식물군락의 서식처를 점유하게 될 것이다. 담양하천습지의 다양한 식물사회들은 인공 시설물 등에 의한 하천환경 변화 및 교란, 훼손에 기인한 것으로 이해된다. Damyang riverine wetland was designated as a wetland protected area in 2004; that is located in the Yeongsan river mainstream. Total 30 phytosociological releves at field studies were classified with 22 vegetation types including of 101 species (unidentified 1 species). Legends of actual vegetation map were separated by 6 types; riparian forest, substitute vegetation, synanthropic vegetation, wet meadow vegetation, open water, an area of wetland vegetation is about 35 % (<TEX>$386,841.86m^2$</TEX>). Results of this study area as follows. The plant society of Damyang riverine wetland was conjectured that it was formed by rapidly water environment change with installed weir on the upstream of protected area and operating of Damyang dam on top of the basin. Until recently, the terrace land on the river was used to cultivate, but that would be formed fallow vegetation scenery on riverfront caused by no cultivation after designated protected area. Paspalum distichum var. indutum community designated as invasive alien plant by Korea Ministry of Environment was widely developed and Myriophyllum spicatumunrecorded in the country as newly alien species was discovered in the study zone. The plants as lapped over developing environment for Leersia japonica must be occupied habitat of native plant species having similar niche. The various plant society in Damyang riverine wetland should be developed because of environmental changes, disturbances and damages of stream.

Das aktuelle Vegetationshöhenmodell der Schweiz: spezifische Anwendungen im Waldbereich

Current model of canopy heights in Switzerland: specific applications in forestry A national vegetation height model was calculated for Switzerland for the first time last year using digital aerial images. The ADS80 stereo aerial images, which were routinely gathered by the Swiss Federal Office of Topography (swisstopo), contain information about the height of vegetation in forests. We used the stereo aerial images to first calculate a digital surface model (DSM) with a very high spatial resolution (1 × 1 m). The DSM was then normalized to obtain the actual vegetation heights using a digital terrain model (DTM) based on laser data with the buildings masked out, and to produce a vegetation height model (VHM). Such a model could be calculated in the framework of the Swiss National Forest Inventory (NFI) with consistent methods and a very high level of detail. For covering the whole of Switzerland, we used summer aerial images from the years 2007 to 2012. The VHM reached almost nationwide coverage (98% of the country's surface area). Some areas, such as steep mountainsides or very bright glaciers, were problematic for calculating the model, and appear in it as gaps. Vegetation height information collected with this method is most useful for analyzing entire forest stands, but the data do not have a high enough spatial resolution for single-tree-based analyses. The VHM can be applied in a wide variety of ways. Here, we describe three of these: 1) generating forest masks, 2) extracting forest canopy gaps, and 3) detecting changes in the stocking of a forested area.

Vegetational Characteristics and Management Measures of the North-gate Mountainous Wetland, Mt. Geumjeong

The mountainous wetlands of Korea face a crisis due to deterioration from a natural succession posed by both arid climate and human activity. In response, governmental sources must determine the best path toward protecting mountainous wetlands from these damaging threats. Accordingly, this study was conducted to gather basic data, such as the wetland status in regard to the region’s environmental ecology, coupled with extant disturbances, in order to comprehend the mountainous wetland ecosystem. The study defined and accelerated a methodology in which to efficiently conserve and manage these valuable wetlands. According to the results of a topographic survey, 80% of the wetland presents a 5°sloping angle, which may be described as flat. The wetland consisted of accumulated peat, positioned over a granite basis. As a result, the research site will maintain the current status, unless a method is found to cause the water to flow out abruptly. The regional flora is composed of 41 families, 104 genera, and 143 species, especially Molinia japonica, Sium ninsi, and Leucanthemella linearis. These three species are the most valuable of the group. The actual vegetation of the wetland-dependent grassland (14.22%), such as Molinia japonica, Isachne globosa, Carex spp., and others, as well as species in the arid grassland (12.56%) consisting of Miscanthus sinensis and Eragrostis multicaulis, etc., are representative. However, in mixed vegetation areas, the species Molinia japonica blended with Miscanthus sinensis causes concern for the continuance of arid shrubs, which have proved highly desirable for processing the arid soil. Finally, vegetations valuable for preservation are diminishing steadily due to a lack of water flow, human usage, and soil inflow as deforestation occurs on-site. Symptoms of an on-going arid process were evidenced as arid vegetation such as Miscanthus sinensis, Rodendendron yedoense var. poukhanense, etc. broadened seriously. For the longevity of our valued wetlands, this study found a paramount need to address and thereby diminish these damaging factors. In retrospect, for the sound maintenance of a sustainable mountainous wetland, it is essential to execute exact management measures, inclusive of preventing the inflow of soil and organic matter, connecting the surface and subterranean waters, and prohibiting the widening of the damage inflicted on the area by arid vegetation and human activity. Keywords: Mountainous wetland succession, Wetland dependent grassland, Arid grassland, Damaging factor, Aridness

Modern pollen assemblages from Hamtah and Chhatru glaciers, Lahaul-Spiti, India: Implications for pollen–vegetation relationship in an alpine arid region of western Himalaya

The present study deals with the pollen analysis of 25 surface samples, 15 from the outwash plain of the Hamtah Glacier and 10 from the Chhatru glacial valley, Lahaul-Spiti, Himachal Pradesh, India. The samples were collected in a linear transect from the respective sites at an altitudinal range of ∼3200 masl to ∼4000 masl. The area is a high altitude cold desert in the western Himalaya, characterised by scrub type of vegetation. The pollen assemblages reveal an overall dominance of extra local arboreals (conifers) over the local non-arboreals. Though it is a vegetation sparse area, the alpine meadow is well represented by the presence of non-arboreal elements, such as Rosaceae, Asteraceae, Artemisia, Lamiaceae, Poaceae, Apiaceae and Chenopodiaceae/Amaranthaceae. However, predominance of Pinus has been observed along with moderate values of Abies and Picea. The overwhelming values of Pinus pollen can be attributed to its profuse production and efficient dispersal through wind currents from the temperate forests and eventual deposition around the study sites. Temperate broad-leaved taxa including Alnus, Ulmus, Betula and Corylus are present in low abundance. The consistent low frequencies of fern spores, algal and fungal elements, and absence of aquatic and marshy taxa reflect the dry climatic conditions in the region. Impact of anthropogenic activities can be observed in the form of degraded patches of tree-line and evidence of extensive grazing. Palynological data from the surface samples is not coherent with the actual vegetation around the study area due to the prolific over-representation of extra local pollen over the local herbaceous taxa. Palynological studies have been initiated in the vicinity of Hamtah and Chhatru glaciers on sub-surface sediment profiles, and this data will be helpful in developing modern analogues for understanding the past vegetational changes with respect to palaeoclimatic conditions in and around the study area.

Changes in the plant cover of the dune hill in Folusz near Szubin (NW Poland) between 1959 and 2012: the problem of preservation of xerothermic grasslands in the agricultural landscape

The dune hill in Folusz is one of the most interesting sites with xerothermic vegetation in the Polish lowland. It is different from other sites by the fact that xerothermic vegetation covers a single dune located amidst large areas of Molinia meadows rather than slopes of river valleys. Vegetation occurring on the hill represents a cold Stipa steppe with rare species of floodplain meadows and has long aroused the interest of botanists. In the 19th century and in the early 20th century, observations in this area were carried out by German botanists (L. Kuhling, F. Spribille, H. Miller, W. Bock). In the 1930s, the investigation was continued by botanists from the University in Poznan. After World War II, it was one of the main research sites for botanists and ecologists from the University in Torun, and recently also from the universities in Bydgoszcz. Floristic lists were compiled by all the aforementioned researchers, which describe the state of flora in the subsequent periods, and when collated in tables, they help to determine the directions of changes occurring in the area over a hundred years. Not all the materials obtained in the past were published. A lot of interesting data were preserved in the Torun centre in the form of actual vegetation maps and releves. This paper presents the comparison of vegetation from 1959, plotted on the unpublished vegetation map by J. Wilkon-Michalska, with the vegetation in 2013. Changes in the land cover were also analysed through a series of aerial photographs from 1961, 1975, 1986 and 2005. The GIS and GPS technology was used in the spatial analysis. Furthermore, the analysis of flora changes was performed, including the comparison of data presented in ecological literature with unpublished data collected by J. Wilkon-Michalska in 1956-1964. In addition, numerical analysis of releves from both these periods and from 2012 was performed. The objective of all the analyses was to determine how the changes were affected by spontaneous development of oak trees on the dune and destructive human activity related to exploitation of the sand, afforestation of the dune with pine, birch and oak, and planting of common lilac. An effort was also made to assess the importance of including the Folusz dune hill within the Natura 2000 site − PLH040027 „Molinia meadows in Folusz” − for preventing further degradation of xerothermic vegetation.

Remnant Artificial Habitats as Biodiversity Islets into Forest Oceans

Historical human activities are increasingly recognized by ecologists as important drivers of modern vegetation patterns and ecosystem functioning, but the length of time these legacies persist is poorly known. We determined whether medieval artificial habitats have left a long-lasting imprint in the current forest vegetation. We compared soil chemical properties, canopy conditions, actual vegetation, and soil seed bank patterns between 19 former feudal mottes and 19 paired control sites located in the same forest patches. Soil from the mottes contained more stones, organic matter, carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus, and their pH was higher than for controls. Species richness and diversity of either vegetation or seed bank did not differ between mottes and controls, but species composition did, with more calciphilous and eutrophic species on the mottes. Mottes also hosted more competitive and competitive-ruderal species and more epizoochores. Centuries after their reclamation, medieval artificial habitats still generate particular soil conditions that are reflected by an original floristic composition compared to the same-aged surrounding understories of the lowland forests in which they occur. These long-lasting after-effects are better explained by the locally increased soil fertility than by dispersal limitation of forest species.

Monitoring Landscape Changes in Japan Using Classification of Modis Data Combined with a Landscape Transformation Sere (LTS) Model

Abstract Japan, with over 75% forest cover, is one of the most heavily forested countries in the world. Various types of climax forest are distributed according to latitude and altitude. At the same time, human intervention in Japan has historically been intensive, and many forest habitats show the influence of various levels of disturbance. Furthermore, Japanese landscapes are changing rapidly, and a system of efficient monitoring is needed. The aim of this research was to identify major historical trends in Japanese landscape change and to develop a system for identifying and monitoring patterns of landscape change at the national level. To provide a base for comparison, Warmth Index (WI) climatic data was digitalized and utilized to map potential climax vegetation for all of Japan. Extant Land Use Information System (LUIS) data were then modified and digitalized to generate national level Land Use/Land Cover (LU/LC) distribution maps for 1900, 1950 and 1985. In addition, MODIS data for 2001 acquired by the Tokyo University of Information Sciences were utilized for remote LU/LC classification using an unsupervised method on multi-temporal composite data. Eight classification categories were established using the ISODATA (cluster analyses) method; alpine plant communities, evergreen coniferous forest, evergreen broad-leaved forest, deciduous broad-leaved forest, mixed forest, arable land (irrigated rice paddy, non-irrigated, grassland), urban area, river and marsh. The results of the LUIS analyses and MODIS classifications were interpreted in terms of a Landscape Transformation Sere model assuming that under increasing levels of human disturbance the landscape will change through a series of stages. The results showed that overall forest cover in Japan has actually increased over the century covered by the data; from 72.1% in 1900 to 76.9% in 2001. Comparison of the actual vegetation and the potential vegetation as predicted by WI, however, indicated that in many areas the climax vegetation has been replaced by secondary forests such as conifer timber plantations. This trend was especially strong in the warm and mid temperate zones of western Japan. This research also demonstrated that classification of moderate resolution remote sensing data, interpreted within a LTS framework, can be an effective tool for efficient and repeat monitoring of landscape changes at the national level. In the future, the authors plan to continue utilizing this approach to track rapidly occurring changes in Japanese landscapes at the national level.

Ценотическое разнообразие и картографирование растительного покрова центральной части Мурманской области

The regularities of vegetation typological diversity in the central part of Murmansk region were revealed on the basis of field and remote sensing data using methods of statistical modeling. The map of actual vegetation of the investigated region – a basin of the Imandra Lake – was created in 1 : 200 000 scale. The ecologicalphytocoenotic approach based on the ratio of main biomorphic and ecological-phytocoenotic groups of species was applied to classify the vegetation. It is helped us to put data on primary and secondary plant communities of different ecotopic conditions in the map legend. Application of different sources of spatial data along with the methods of statistical analysis provides an opportunity to create a vegetation map as well as to identify the main factors of vegetation differentiation at the regional level. They are altitudinal climatic gradients, anthropogenic disturbances, water regime determined mainly by the topography, and natural succession of plant communities.

Estimating Vegetation Fraction Using Hyperspectral Pixel Unmixing Method: A Case Study of a Karst Area in China

The rocky desertification is one of three major ecological problems in the karst areas in southwestern China. Vegetation fraction, bare soil, and bare rock are main typical surface characteristics obtained from remote sensing data when evaluating rocky desertification in these areas. How to estimate vegetation coverage more precisely is a challenging topic because the issues of complex surface coverage, highly spatial heterogeneity, and mixed-pixels should be addressed. Hyperspectral pixel unmixing is a better approach to solve these issues. In this paper, the Hyperion hyperspectral remotely sensed image is used as the source data, vegetation, soil, and rock are selected as three typical land cover features, and the pixel purity index (PPI) is utilized to distill the endmember spectral. Then, the pixel unmixing methods, including matched filtering (MF) and mixture tuned matched filtering (MTMF) are adopted to estimate vegetation coverage of the studied karst area, respectively. The results show that: 1) the maximum deviation between the ground-surveyed vegetation fraction and the MTMF-inversed one is acceptable, and so are the deterministic coefficient and the root mean square error (RMSE); 2) the MTMF-inversed results are more accurate than the ones inversed from the MF method and the MTMF-inversed vegetation coverage can be used to estimate the actual vegetation fraction. The results also demonstrate the applicability of the MTMF method in evaluating vegetation fraction in the karst regions.

A numerical study of vegetation impact on reducing storm surge by wetlands in a semi-enclosed estuary

Coastal wetlands play a unique role in extreme hurricane events. The impact of wetlands on storm surge depends on multiple factors including vegetation, landscape, and storm characteristics. The Delft3D model, in which vegetation effects on flow and turbulence are explicitly incorporated, was applied to the semi-enclosed Breton Sound (BS) estuary in coastal Louisiana to investigate the wetland impact. Guided by extensive field observations, a series of numerical experiments were conducted based on variations of actual vegetation properties and storm parameters from Hurricane Isaac in 2012. Both the vegetation-induced maximum surge reduction (MSR) and maximum surge reduction rate (MSRR) increased with stem height and stem density, and were more sensitive to stem height. The MSR and MSRR decreased significantly with increasing wind intensity. The MSRR was the highest with a fast-moving weak storm. It was also found that the MSRR varied proportionally to the expression involving the maximum bulk velocity and surge over the area of interest, and was more dependent on the maximum bulk surge. Both MSR and MSRR appeared to increase when the area of interest decreased from the whole BS estuary to the upper estuary. Within the range of the numerical experiments, the maximum simulated MSR and MSRR over the upper estuary were 0.7m and 37%, respectively.

Traditional land uses enhanced plant biodiversity in a Mediterranean agro-silvo-pastoral system

Mediterranean agro-silvo-pastoral systems play a key role in view of the positive contribution that they could offer to a sustainable development of European agriculture. The knowledge of the vegetation dynamics and of the processes and land uses favoring different vegetation types related to the same actual potential natural vegetation (PNV) could represent a sound reference framework for monitoring and managing plant biodiversity in these systems. The aim of the research was to evaluate plant diversity along a gradient of use intensity comparing the actual vegetation versus the PNV. The results of our research showed that in the studied Mediterranean agro-silvo-pastoral system, included in the same environmental unit, human activities enhanced plant biodiversity. Moreover, the case study presented here confirmed the effectiveness of those landscape approaches comparing actual vegetation versus the PNV for plant biodiversity monitoring and reinforced previous studies showing the effect of human activities on plant community diversity at the environmental unit scale in different biogeographical contexts.

Species Composition and Community Characteristics of Forest Vegetation of Mt. Gaya in Chungnam

As a result of conducting the phytosociological clustering analysis on actual vegetation of Mt. Gaya in Chungnam province from June to October of 2011, the physiognomy dominant species were the Quercus mongolica community of natural forest, Pinus densiflora community, Carpinus coreana community. Quercus dentata community, and Quercus variabilis community, and there were Pinus koraiensis forest and Pinus rigida forest for artificial forest. For the vegetation type, total 4 categories were identified through a mass analysis, such as Quercus mongolica community type of the ridge, Pinus densiflora community type of the southern slopes, Carpinus coreana community type of the middle slopes, and valley forest type. According to the species diversity the species diversity of a vegetation unit 4 was the lowest with 0.6976, and the species diversity of a vegetation unit 2 was the highest with 1.1256. For the dominance value, it was identified that many species are dominating as the dominance value of every vegetation unit was below 0.3. Also, among 4 vegetation type, it was identified that the valley forest type has more emergence type than other vegetation types, and this is considered to be a characteristic of the valley forest.

Present-day vegetation helps quantifying past land cover in selected regions of the Czech Republic.

The REVEALS model is a tool for recalculating pollen data into vegetation abundances on a regional scale. We explored the general effect of selected parameters by performing simulations and ascertained the best model setting for the Czech Republic using the shallowest samples from 120 fossil sites and data on actual regional vegetation (60 km radius). Vegetation proportions of 17 taxa were obtained by combining the CORINE Land Cover map with forest inventories, agricultural statistics and habitat mapping data. Our simulation shows that changing the site radius for all taxa substantially affects REVEALS estimates of taxa with heavy or light pollen grains. Decreasing the site radius has a similar effect as increasing the wind speed parameter. However, adjusting the site radius to 1 m for local taxa only (even taxa with light pollen) yields lower, more correct estimates despite their high pollen signal. Increasing the background radius does not affect the estimates significantly. Our comparison of estimates with actual vegetation in seven regions shows that the most accurate relative pollen productivity estimates (PPEs) come from Central Europe and Southern Sweden. The initial simulation and pollen data yielded unrealistic estimates for Abies under the default setting of the wind speed parameter (3 m/s). We therefore propose the setting of 4 m/s, which corresponds to the spring average in most regions of the Czech Republic studied. Ad hoc adjustment of PPEs with this setting improves the match 3–4-fold. We consider these values (apart from four exceptions) to be appropriate, because they are within the ranges of standard errors, so they are related to original PPEs. Setting a 1 m radius for local taxa (Alnus, Salix, Poaceae) significantly improves the match between estimates and actual vegetation. However, further adjustments to PPEs exceed the ranges of original values, so their relevance is uncertain.

A Dynamic Unmixing Framework for Plant Production System Monitoring

Hyperspectral remote sensing or imaging spectroscopy is an emerging technology in plant production monitoring and management. The continuous reflectance spectra allow for the intensive monitoring of biophysical and biochemical tree characteristics during growth, through for instance the use of vegetation indices. Yet, since most of the pixels in hyperspectral images are mixed, the evaluation of the actual vegetation state on the ground directly from the measured spectra is degraded by the presence of other endmembers, such as soil. Spectral unmixing, then, becomes a necessary processing step to improve the interpretation of vegetation indices. In this sense, an active research direction is based on the use of large collections of pure spectra, called spectral libraries or dictionaries, which model a wide variety of possible states of the endmembers of interest on the ground, i.e., vegetation and soil. Under the linear mixing model (LMM), the observed spectra are assumed to be linear combinations of spectra from the available dictionary. Combinatorial techniques (e.g., MESMA) and sparse regression algorithms (e.g., SUnSAL) are widely used to tackle the unmixing problem in this case. However, both combinatorial and sparse techniques benefit from appropriate library reduction strategies. In this paper, we develop a new efficient method for library reduction (or dictionary pruning), which exploits the fact that hyperspectral data generally lives in a lower-dimensional subspace. Specifically, we present a slight modification of the MUSIC-CSR algorithm, a two-step method which aims first at pruning the dictionary and second at infering high-quality reconstruction of the vegetation spectra on the ground (this application being called signal unmixing in remote sensing), using the pruned dictionary as input to available unmixing methods. Our goal is two-fold: 1) to obtain high-accuracy unmixing output using sparse unmixing, with low-execution time; and 2) to improve MESMA performances in terms of accuracy. Our experiments, which have been conducted in a multi-temporal case study, show that the method achieves these two goals and proposes sparse unmixing as a reliable and robust alternative to the combinatorial methods in plant production monitoring applications. We further demonstrate that the proposed methodology of combining a library pruning approach with spectral unmixing provides a solid framework for the year-round monitoring of plant production systems.

A comparison of remotely sensed and pollen‐based approaches to mapping Europe's land cover

AbstractAimRemote sensing coupled with direct observation allows recent changes in vegetation to be investigated but, in order to extend our understanding of land‐cover change further back in time, different proxies for vegetation are required. The pseudobiomization (PBM) approach has been developed to transform fossil pollen data into land‐cover classes (LCCs) in order to reconstruct broad‐scale anthropogenic land‐use change through time. The aim of this study was to test and refine the PBM approach through application to an extensive modern pollen dataset and comparison with remotely sensed CORINE land‐cover maps for Europe.LocationThe study area comprised 2471 modern pollen sites from across Europe.MethodsPollen sites were assigned to one of eight LCCs using the pollen‐based PBM method, which draws upon biomization techniques to transform pollen data into records of land‐cover change. Five of the LCCs were ‘pure’ classes (e.g. broad‐leaf forest) and three of them were mixed vegetation. Remotely sensed CORINE land‐cover maps were used to assign LCCs to sites, and the results were compared with pollen‐assigned LCCs.ResultsThe results revealed a good correspondence between the proportions of different LCCs that were registered using CORINE and pollen‐based PBM, when data were aggregated at a pan‐European scale. However, the match between the two datasets was much less close at a site‐specific level. The overall results were improved to c. 60% when the target was broadened to include similar as well as identical LCCs. The spatial correspondence was best across north‐central Europe and least good in south‐west Europe, the Mediterranean and northern Scandinavia.Main conclusionsThe ability of distinct data types to sense actual vegetation is limited by various sources of error; for example, both pollen and remote sensing vary in terms of spatial and temporal heterogeneity and taxonomic resolution. It is likely that many of the main sources of error are common to both methods, rather than being approach‐specific. We conclude that pollen‐based methods of intermediate complexity can be used as a proxy for broad‐scale land‐cover change across most of temperate Europe, but may be less reliable at a site‐specific scale.

Biome distribution over the last 22,000 yr in China

Patterns of past vegetation changes over time and space can help facilitate better understanding of the interactions among climate, ecosystem, and human impact. Biome changes in China over the last 22,000yr (calibrated radiocarbon date, a BP) were numerically reconstructed by using a standard approach of pollen-plant functional type-biome assignment (biomization). The biomization procedure involves pollen data from 2434 surface sites and 228 fossil sites with a high quality of pollen count and 14C dating, 51 natural and three anthropogenic plant functional types (PFTs), as well as 19 natural and one anthropogenic biome. Surface pollen-based reconstruction of modern natural biome patterns is in good agreement (74.4%) with actual vegetation distribution in China. However, modern large-scale anthropogenic biome reconstruction has not been successful based on the current setup of three anthropogenic PFTs (plantation, secondary, and disturbed PFT) because of the limitation of non-species level pollen identification and the difficulty in the clear assignment of disturbed PFTs. The non-anthropogenic biome distributions of 44 time slices at 500-year intervals show large-scale discrepant and changed vegetation patterns from the last glacial maximum (LGM) to the Holocene throughout China. From 22ka BP to 19ka BP, temperate grassland, xerophytic shrubland, and desert dominated northern China, whereas cold or cool forests flourished in central China. Warm–temperate evergreen forests were restricted to far southern China, and tropical forests were absent. During 18.5ka BP to 12ka BP, cold, cool, and dry biomes extended to some parts of northern, western, and eastern China. Warm–temperate evergreen and mixed forests gradually expanded to occupy the whole of southern China. A slight northward shift of forest biomes occurred from 15ka BP to 12ka BP. During 11.5ka BP to 9ka BP, temperate grassland and shrubland gradually stretched to northern and western China. Cold and cool forests widely expanded into northern and central China, as well as in the northern margin of South China along with temperate deciduous forest. Since the early mid-Holocene (approximately 8.5ka BP to 5.5ka BP), all forest biomes shifted northward at the expense of herbaceous and shrubby biomes. Simultaneously, cold and cool forest biomes occupied the marginal areas of the Tibetan Plateau and the high mountains in western China. During the middle to late Holocene, from 5ka to the present, temperate grassland and xerophytic shrubland expanded to the south and east, whereas temperate deciduous forests slightly shifted southward. After 3ka BP, forest biomes were absent in western China and on the Tibetan plateau surface. Dramatic biome shifts from the LGM to the Holocene were observed in the forest-grassland ecotone and transitional zones between temperate and subtropical climates, between subtropical and tropical regions, and in the mountainous margins of the eastern Tibetan Plateau. Evidence showed more human disturbances during the late Holocene. More pollen records and historical documents are therefore further needed to understand fully the human disturbance-induced large-scale forest changes. In addition, more classifications of anthropogenic biome or land cover, more distinct assignment of pollen taxa to anthropogenic PFTs, and more effective numerical and/or mechanistic techniques in building large-scale human disturbances are required.

Ecological structure of vegetation cover of taiga and alpine territory: Detection and representation of basic peculiarities by the mapping method

The geobotanical mapping of territory in the upper reaches of the Bureya River was carried out. Zonality, general diversity, and territorial ratio of vegetation classes, as well as location on relief (landscape) and dynamic vegetation series, are represented on the map of actual vegetation cover. Mapping as a research method, as a rule, leads to a higher level of understanding of basic peculiarities of an object. The map as a result of research reflects clearly basic peculiarities of an object in accordance with the map scale or demonstrably shows the shortcomings of the conducted study.

HyperUAS—Imaging Spectroscopy from a Multirotor Unmanned Aircraft System

One of the key advantages of a low‐flying unmanned aircraft system (UAS) is its ability to acquire digital images at an ultrahigh spatial resolution of a few centimeters. Remote sensing of quantitative biochemical and biophysical characteristics of small‐sized spatially fragmented vegetation canopies requires, however, not only high spatial, but also high spectral (i.e., hyperspectral) resolution. In this paper, we describe the design, development, airborne operations, calibration, processing, and interpretation of image data collected with a new hyperspectral unmanned aircraft system (HyperUAS). HyperUAS is a remotely controlled multirotor prototype carrying onboard a lightweight pushbroom spectroradiometer coupled with a dual frequency GPS and an inertial movement unit. The prototype was built to remotely acquire imaging spectroscopy data of 324 spectral bands (162 bands in a spectrally binned mode) with bandwidths between 4 and 5 nm at an ultrahigh spatial resolution of 2–5 cm. Three field airborne experiments, conducted over agricultural crops and over natural ecosystems of Antarctic mosses, proved operability of the system in standard field conditions, but also in a remote and harsh, low‐temperature environment of East Antarctica. Experimental results demonstrate that HyperUAS is capable of delivering georeferenced maps of quantitative biochemical and biophysical variables of vegetation and of actual vegetation health state at an unprecedented spatial resolution of 5 cm.

경주국립공원토함산습지주변지역의현존식생과식물군락구조1

경주국립공원토함산습지주변지역의현존식생과식물군락구조1