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RETROSPECTIVE LANDSCAPE ANALYSIS, AN APPROACH FOR EVALUATION LAND COVER CHANGE: SAN PEDRO RIVER CASE STUDY
Citation:
Kepner, W G., C. J. Watts, C M. Edmonds, J. K. Maingi, AND S. E. Marsh. RETROSPECTIVE LANDSCAPE ANALYSIS, AN APPROACH FOR EVALUATION LAND COVER CHANGE: SAN PEDRO RIVER CASE STUDY. Presented at 43rd Annual conference of the Western Social Sciences Association (Association of Borderland Studies), Reno, NV, April 18-22, 2001.
Impact/Purpose:
The primary objectives of this research are to:
Develop methodologies so that landscape indicator values generated from different sensors on different dates (but in the same areas) are comparable; differences in metric values result from landscape changes and not differences in the sensors;
Quantify relationships between landscape metrics generated from wall-to-wall spatial data and (1) specific parameters related to water resource conditions in different environmental settings across the US, including but not limited to nutrients, sediment, and benthic communities, and (2) multi-species habitat suitability;
Develop and validate multivariate models based on quantification studies;
Develop GIS/model assessment protocols and tools to characterize risk of nutrient and sediment TMDL exceedence;
Complete an initial draft (potentially web based) of a national landscape condition assessment.
This research directly supports long-term goals established in ORDs multiyear plans related to GPRA Goal 2 (Water) and GPRA Goal 4 (Healthy Communities and Ecosystems), although funding for this task comes from Goal 4. Relative to the GRPA Goal 2 multiyear plan, this research is intended to "provide tools to assess and diagnose impairment in aquatic systems and the sources of associated stressors." Relative to the Goal 4 Multiyear Plan this research is intended to (1) provide states and tribes with an ability to assess the condition of waterbodies in a scientifically defensible and representative way, while allowing for aggregation and assessment of trends at multiple scales, (2) assist Federal, State and Local managers in diagnosing the probable cause and forecasting future conditions in a scientifically defensible manner to protect and restore ecosystems, and (3) provide Federal, State and Local managers with a scientifically defensible way to assess current and future ecological conditions, and probable causes of impairments, and a way to evaluate alternative future management scenarios.
Description:
Vegetation change in the American West has been the subject of much concern and controversy throughout the twentieth century. Over the years, a considerable number and variety of 'claims have been made regarding cause related to changes in land cover. The evidence for vegetation change has primarily been provided through the use of comparative photography and anecdotal accounts. Rarely, have changes been documented or quantitatively measured at scales as large as watersheds or entire biogeographic provinces. This research examines the potential to measure vegetation change over large areas and determine trends in ecological condition using advanced space-based technologies. Specifically, a suite of landscape pattern measurements were developed from satellite remote sensing, spatial statistics, and geographic information systems technology for a semi-arid watershed in southeast Arizona and northeast Sonora, Mexico. Results from this study will provide the basis for developing landscape composition and pattern indicators as sensitive measures of large-scale environmental change and thus, will further the understanding of disturbance regimes related to human and natural stress in the Southwest.