Discriminação de classes de cobertura vegetal utilizando técnicas de classificação digital de imagens de sensoriamento remoto

The aim of this work is to discriminate vegetation classes throught remote sensing images from the satellite CBERS-2, related to winter and summer seasons in the Campos Gerais region Paraná State, Brazil. The vegetation cover of the region presents different kinds of vegetations: summer and winter cultures, reforestation areas, natural areas and pasture. Supervised classification techniques like Maximum Likelihood Classifier (MLC) and Decision Tree were evaluated, considering a set of attributes from images, composed by bands of the CCD sensor (1, 2, 3, 4), vegetation indices (CTVI, DVI, GEMI, NDVI, SR, SAVI, TVI), mixture models (soil, shadow, vegetation) and the two first main components. The evaluation of the classifications accuracy was made using the classification error matrix and the kappa coefficient. It was defined a high discriminatory level during the classes definition, in order to allow separation of different kinds of winter and summer crops. The classification accuracy by decision tree was 94.5% and the kappa coefficient was 0.9389 for the scene 157/128. For the scene 158/127, the values were 88% and 0.8667, respectively. The classification accuracy by MLC was 84.86% and the kappa coefficient was 0.8099 for the scene 157/128. For the scene 158/127, the values were 77.90% and 0.7476, respectively. The results showed a better performance of the Decision Tree classifier than MLC, especially to the classes related to cultivated crops, indicating the use of the Decision Tree classifier to the vegetation cover mapping including different kinds of crops.

Análise das mudanças espaciais e temporais nos padrões de paisagem na região do oeste da Bahia sobre a formação do grupo urucuia (1988-2011) e suas implicações para a conservação do Cerrado

Tese (doutorado)—Universidade de Brasília, Instituto de Ciências Humanas, Departamento de Geografia, Programa de Pós Graduação em Geografia, 2015.

Análise dos impactos das mudanças do uso do solo na futura gestão e conservação da Reserva da Chimanimani - Moçambique

Dissertação de Mestrado, Gestão e Conservação da Natureza, 27 de Outubro de 2015, Universidade dos Açores.

Assessing range-wide habitat suitability for the Lesser Prairie-Chicken

Population declines of many wildlife species have been linked to habitat loss incurred through land-use change. Incorporation of conservation planning into development planning may mitigate these impacts. The threatened Lesser Prairie-Chicken (Tympanuchus pallidicinctus) is experiencing loss of native habitat and high levels of energy development across its multijurisdictional range. Our goal was to explore relationships of the species occurrence with landscape characteristics and anthropogenic effects influencing its distribution through evaluation of habitat suitability associated with one particular habitat usage, lekking. Lekking has been relatively well-surveyed, though not consistently, in all jurisdictions. All five states in which Lesser Prairie-Chickens occur cooperated in development of a Maxent habitat suitability model. We created two models, one with state as a factor and one without state. When state was included it was the most important predictor, followed by percent of land cover consisting of known or suspected used vegetation classes within a 5000 m area around a lek. Without state, land cover was the most important predictor of relative habitat suitability for leks. Among the anthropogenic predictors, landscape condition, a measure of human impact integrated across several factors, was most important, ranking third in importance without state. These results quantify the relative suitability of the landscape within the current occupied range of Lesser Prairie-Chickens. These models, combined with other landscape information, form the basis of a habitat assessment tool that can be used to guide siting of development projects and targeting of areas for conservation.

Characterization of a highly biodiverse floodplain meadow using hyperspectral remote sensing within a plant functional trait framework

We assessed the potential for using optical functional types as effective markers to monitor changes in vegetation in floodplain meadows associated with changes in their local environment. Floodplain meadows are challenging ecosystems for monitoring and conservation because of their highly biodiverse nature. Our aim was to understand and explain spectral differences among key members of floodplain meadows and also characterize differences with respect to functional traits. The study was conducted on a typical floodplain meadow in UK (MG4-type, mesotrophic grassland type 4, according to British National Vegetation Classification). We compared two approaches to characterize floodplain communities using field spectroscopy. The first approach was sub-community based, in which we collected spectral signatures for species groupings indicating two distinct eco-hydrological conditions (dry and wet soil indicator species). The other approach was “species-specific”, in which we focused on the spectral reflectance of three key species found on the meadow. One herb species is a typical member of the MG4 floodplain meadow community, while the other two species, sedge and rush, represent wetland vegetation. We also monitored vegetation biophysical and functional properties as well as soil nutrients and ground water levels. We found that the vegetation classes representing meadow sub-communities could not be spectrally distinguished from each other, whereas the individual herb species was found to have a distinctly different spectral signature from the sedge and rush species. The spectral differences between these three species could be explained by their observed differences in plant biophysical parameters, as corroborated through radiative transfer model simulations. These parameters, such as leaf area index, leaf dry matter content, leaf water content, and specific leaf area, along with other functional parameters, such as maximum carboxylation capacity and leaf nitrogen content, also helped explain the species’ differences in functional dynamics. Groundwater level and soil nitrogen availability, which are important factors governing plant nutrient status, were also found to be significantly different for the herb/wetland species’ locations. The study concludes that spectrally distinguishable species, typical for a highly biodiverse site such as a floodplain meadow, could potentially be used as target species to monitor vegetation dynamics under changing environmental conditions.

Concepções cotidianas e científicas sobre competição na educação de jovens e adultos

Objetiva compreender o papel das interações em sala de aula para a construção do conceito de competição. Propõe caracterizar e comparar as concepções de competição, de cada aluno da turma, antes, durante e após as aulas sobre Interações Ecológicas. Analisar a construção desse conceito nas interações alunoaluno e professor-aluno, para alguns dos alunos. Comparar as concepções dos alunos em diferentes momentos e avaliar as contribuições das interações para a elaboração conceitual de quatro alunos, que participaram de um dos grupos, considerando tanto as contribuições de suas interações com os demais colegas quanto comigo, durante uma seqüência didática. A análise das respostas fornecidas pelos estudantes no pré-teste 01, permitiu a elaboração de um segundo instrumento de coleta de dados, o pré-teste 02. As respostas dos estudantes ao pré-teste 02 foram organizadas em categorias, as quais foram comparadas posteriormente, com aquelas provenientes do pós-teste 02. Este estudo foi realizado nas aulas de Ciências de uma turma de 3 Etapa (EJA) de uma Escola Estadual de Ensino Fundamental, com (16) dezesseis alunos que participaram de todas as etapas da pesquisa, dos quais nove são do sexo feminino e sete do sexo masculino. As aulas foram gravadas em fita de vídeo-cassete e em fita cassete comum e após a transcrição das mesmas realizou-se a análise, tendo como critério de seleção dos episódios a forma como quatro alunos que participaram do grupo recombinado 1 em momentos distintos (individual inicial, grupo espontâneo, grupo recombinado e individual final) construíram, individualmente e na interação com o professor, uma resposta escrita consensual para a questão: Comparando todos os episódios do vídeo assistido, você acha que existe alguma semelhança entre essas relações? Por que? Os resultados evidenciaram que dos dezesseis (16) estudantes que participaram de todas as etapas do processo, nove demonstraram melhoria do perfil conceitual e sete alunos apresentaram respostas finais que foram classificadas na mesma categoria de suas respostas iniciais, dentre estes, três tiveram suas respostas classificadas na categoria mais avançada (D), dois nas categorias intermediárias (um em B e outro em C) e dois na categoria mais afastada (A) do conceito científico de competição. Os quatro estudantes selecionados para análise chegaram, ao final, a uma generalização para questão proposta, partindo de explicações fundamentadas, algumas vezes, em generalizações ou explicações que incorporavam termos teóricos, com ou sem domínio conceitual, demonstrando que eles não se apropriaram da mesma forma dos elementos apresentados nas respostas dos grupos que eles haviam participado.

Imagens aéreas multiespectrais na identificação de zonas de manejo em áreas de algodão para aplicação localizada de insumos

Crop yield is influenced by several factors with variability in time and space that are associated with the variations in the plant vigor. This variability allows the identification of management zones and site-specific applications to manage different regions of the field. The purpose of this study was the use of multispectral image for management zones identification and implications of site-specific application in commercial cotton areas. Multispectral airborne images from three years were used to classify a field into three vegetation classes via the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI). The NDVI classes were used to verify the potential differences between plant physical measurements and identify management zones. The cotton plant measurements sampled in 8 repetitions of 10 plants at each NDVI class were Stand Count, Plant Height, Total Nodes and Total Bolls. Statistical analysis was performed with treatments arranged in split plot design with Tukey’s Test at 5% of probability. The images were classified into five NDVI classes to evaluate the relationship between cotton plant measurement results and sampling location across the field. The results have demonstrated the possibility of using multispectral image for management zones identification in cotton areas. The image classification into three NDVI classes showed three different zones in the field with similar characteristics for the studied years. Statistical differences were shown for plant height, total nodes and total bolls between low and high NDVI classes for all years. High NDVI classes contained plants with greater height, total nodes and total bolls compared to low NDVI classes. There was no difference in Stand Count between low and high NDVI classes for the three studied years. The final plant stand was the same between all NDVI classes for 2001 and 2003 as it was expected due to the conventional seeding application with the same rate of seeds for the entire field.

Quickbird satellite imagery for riparian management : characterizing riparian filter strips and detecting concentrated flow in an agricultural watershed

Riparian ecology plays an important part in the filtration of sediments from upland agricultural lands. The focus of this work makes use of multispectral high spatial resolution remote sensing imagery (Quickbird by Digital Globe) and geographic information systems (GIS) to characterize significant riparian attributes in the USDA’s experimental watershed, Goodwin Creek, located in northern Mississippi. Significant riparian filter characteristics include the width of the strip, vegetation properties, soil properties, topography, and upland land use practices. The land use and vegetation classes are extracted from the remotely sensed image with a supervised maximum likelihood classification algorithm. Accuracy assessments resulted in an acceptable overall accuracy of 84 percent. In addition to sensing riparian vegetation characteristics, this work addresses the issue of concentrated flow bypassing a riparian filter. Results indicate that Quickbird multispectral remote sensing and GIS data are capable of determining riparian impact on filtering sediment. Quickbird imagery is a practical solution for land managers to monitor the effectiveness of riparian filtration in an agricultural watershed.

Integrating JERS-1 imaging radar and elevation models for mapping tropical rainforest communities in far North Queensland, Australia

The Wet Tropics World Heritage Area in Far North Queens- land, Australia consists predominantly of tropical rainforest and wet sclerophyll forest in areas of variable relief. Previous maps of vegetation communities in the area were produced by a labor-intensive combination of field survey and air-photo interpretation. Thus,. the aim of this work was to develop a new vegetation mapping method based on imaging radar that incorporates topographical corrections, which could be repeated frequently, and which would reduce the need for detailed field assessments and associated costs. The method employed G topographic correction and mapping procedure that was developed to enable vegetation structural classes to be mapped from satellite imaging radar. Eight JERS-1 scenes covering the Wet Tropics area for 1996 were acquired from NASDA under the auspices of the Global Rainforest Mapping Project. JERS scenes were geometrically corrected for topographic distortion using an 80 m DEM and a combination of polynomial warping and radar viewing geometry modeling. An image mosaic was created to cover the Wet Tropics region, and a new technique for image smoothing was applied to the JERS texture bonds and DEM before a Maximum Likelihood classification was applied to identify major land-cover and vegetation communities. Despite these efforts, dominant vegetation community classes could only be classified to low levels of accuracy (57.5 percent) which were partly explained by the significantly larger pixel size of the DEM in comparison to the JERS image (12.5 m). In addition, the spatial and floristic detail contained in the classes of the original validation maps were much finer than the JERS classification product was able to distinguish. In comparison to field and aerial photo-based approaches for mapping the vegetation of the Wet Tropics, appropriately corrected SAR data provides a more regional scale, all-weather mapping technique for broader vegetation classes. Further work is required to establish an appropriate combination of imaging radar with elevation data and other environmental surrogates to accurately map vegetation communities across the entire Wet Tropics.

Collaborative decision-making processes for maintaining biodiversity: Two Australian case studies

There have been many models developed by scientists to assist decision-makers in making socio-economic and environmental decisions. It is now recognised that there is a shift in the dominant paradigm to making decisions with stakeholders, rather than making decisions for stakeholders. Our paper investigates two case studies where group model building has been undertaken for maintaining biodiversity in Australia. The first case study focuses on preservation and management of green spaces and biodiversity in metropolitan Melbourne under the umbrella of the Melbourne 2030 planning strategy. A geographical information system is used to collate a number of spatial datasets encompassing a range of cultural and natural assets data layers including: existing open spaces, waterways, threatened fauna and flora, ecological vegetation covers, registered cultural heritage sites, and existing land parcel zoning. Group model building is incorporated into the study through eliciting weightings and ratings of importance for each datasets from urban planners to formulate different urban green system scenarios. The second case study focuses on modelling ecoregions from spatial datasets for the state of Queensland. The modelling combines collaborative expert knowledge and a vast amount of environmental data to build biogeographical classifications of regions. An information elicitation process is used to capture expert knowledge of ecoregions as geographical descriptions, and to transform this into prior probability distributions that characterise regions in terms of environmental variables. This prior information is combined with measured data on the environmental variables within a Bayesian modelling technique to produce the final classified regions. We describe how linked views between descriptive information, mapping and statistical plots are used to decide upon representative regions that satisfy a number of criteria for biodiversity and conservation. This paper discusses the advantages and problems encountered when undertaking group model building. Future research will extend the group model building approach to include interested individuals and community groups.

Análise da silvicultura na bacia hidrográfica do rio Jaguarão (Brasil-Uruguai) : diagnóstico para a gestão geoambiental em bacia transfronteiriça

Dissertação (mestrado)—Universidade de Brasília, Instituto de Ciências Humanas, Departamento de Geografia, 2015.

Some ecological effects of beaver upon the watersheds in the Porcupine Hills, Alberta /

This ecological investigation of the beaver (Castor canadensis canadensis Kuhl) was part of the Eastern Slopes (Alberta) Watershed Research program conducted during the summers of 1968 . 1969 . 1970. and 1971 . A soil particle size analysis indicated that soil heavy with clay was used by the beaver for construction purposes in the Porcupine Hills . Examples were given of the beaver controlling erosion with the construction of dams . and also causing erosion to occur . However . in general . the beaver slow down soil erosion and decrease the loss of soil from this region. The beaver utilized measureable amounts of herbaceous vegetation . However, the utilization of herbs by the beaver requires further investigation. A system of ex~sures and enclosures of herbaceous vegetation plots was used to study the utilization of sedges , grasses , and forbs . The beaver indicated stronger species preference for willow as compared to aspen . The size preference for willow was in the 1.0 to 10.0 centimeters basal diameter classes , while the beaver utilization of aspen indicated a preference for the largest trees with basal diameter greater than 20.0 centimeters. Willow was the most important plant in the low lying areas with regard to distribution, abundance and to produce sustained yield. The beaver used this plant for food and construction throughout the study area. The distribution of aspen was limited. and this species did not appear to produce more than one crop in the lifetime of a beaver colony. Nine out of 15 woody plant types were sampled by the beaver in this region. A plot-intercept transect technique was used for systematic vegetation sampling of the woody vegetation in six intensively studied watersheds. The beaver population of the Porcupine Hills region of SW-Alberta is believed to depend upon the chinooks. During the 1971 ground census, a total of 60 active beaver colonies were tallied on the 930 square kilometers large study area. The beaver of the region were not found to store large food caches during fall and winter, however, they are believed to collect feed periodically throughout the winter months. It was observed that the severe winter in 1968-69, reduced by 27 per cent the number of active beaver colonies within the study area. The Porcupine Hills region had 0.07 beaver colony per square kilometer in 1971, a low density of beaver colonies due to the rough topography of the area. However, the importance of the beaver ponds was somewhat clarified as they provide increased moisture, which lessens the fire damage, and store water for wildlife and cattle in the area. Meteorological data was collected by the author in collaboration with the Department of Transport.

Ecological interaction between Atta sexdens (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) and the vegetation of a mesophyll semideciduous forest fragment in Botucatu, SP, Brazil

Among 89 plants species growing in a subtropical dry forest fragment located in Botucatu, State of São Paulo, Brazil, 35 species were cut by Atta sexdens, representing 39.34% of the current plants existing in this area. A. sexdens L., 1758 (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) has a selective preference for the following species: Alchornea triplinervia, Faramea cyanea, Cariniana estrellensis and Casearea obliqua, with the first being the most cut species. The frequency and absolute densities of the plant families and species significantly influence the selection process. When comparing the absolute frequency regarding the 10 most cut plant species and the cutting frequency, significant data were obtained only for the euphorbiaceous A. triplinervia species, proving the preference of A. sexdens for this species in particular. These interactions are discussed based on ecological and management factors in agro-ecosystems.

A VEGETATION RECONSTRUCTION OF UNION COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA DURING THE EARLY HISTORICAL PERIOD (1755-1855)

This thesis assesses relationships between vegetation and topography and the impact of human tree-cutting on the vegetation of Union County during the early historical era (1755-1855). I use early warrant maps and forestry maps from the Pennsylvania historical archives and a warrantee map from the Union County courthouse depicting the distribution of witness trees and non-tree surveyed markers (posts and stones) in early European settlement land surveys to reconstruct the vegetation and compare vegetation by broad scale (mountains and valleys) and local scale (topographic classes with mountains and valleys) topography. I calculated marker density based on 2 km x 2 km grid cells to assess tree-cutting impacts. Valleys were mostly forests dominated by white oak (Quercus alba) with abundant hickory (Carya spp.), pine (Pinus spp.), and black oak (Quercus velutina), while pine dominated what were mostly pine-oak forests in the mountains. Within the valleys, pine was strongly associated with hilltops, eastern hemlock (Tsuga canadensis) was abundant on north slopes, hickory was associated with south slopes, and riparian zones had high frequencies of ash (Fraxinus spp.) and hickory. In the mountains, white oak was infrequent on south slopes, chestnut (Castanea dentata) was more abundant on south slopes and ridgetops than north slopes and mountain coves, and white oak and maple (Acer spp.) were common in riparian zones. Marker density analysis suggests that trees were still common over most of the landscape by 1855. The findings suggest there were large differences in vegetation between valleys and mountains due in part to differences in elevation, and vegetation differed more by topographic classes in the valleys than in the mountains. Possible areas of tree-cutting were evenly distributed by topographic classes, suggesting Europeans settlers were clearing land and harvesting timber in most areas of Union County.

The Estimation of the Ecological Condition of the City Environment by Methods of Phytoindication (as Applied to the Vasileostrovsky District of St. Petersburg)

The project aimed to use results of contamination of city vegetation with heavy metals and sulphur compounds as the basis for analysing the integral response of trees and shrubs to contamination, through a complex method of phytoindication. The results were used to draw up recommendations on pollution reduction in the city and to develop the method of phytoindication as a means of monitoring environmental pollution in St. Petersburg and other large cities. Field investigations were carried out in August 1996, and 66 descriptions of green areas were made in order to estimate the functional state of plants in the Vasileostrovsky district. Investigations of the spectrum reflecting properties of plants showed considerable variation of albedo meanings of leaves under the influence of various internal and external factors. The results indicated that lime trees most closely reflect the condition of the environment. Practically all the green areas studied were in poor condition, the only exceptions being areas of ash trees, which are more resistant to environmental pollution, and one lime-tree alley in a comparatively unpolluted street. The study identified those types of trees which are more or less resistant to complex environmental pollution and Ms. Terekhina recommends that the species in the present green areas be changed to include a higher number of the more resistant species. The turbidimetric analysis of tree barks for sulphates gave an indication of the level and spatial distribution of each pollutant, and the results also confirmed other findings that electric conductivity is a significant feature in determining the extent of sulphate pollution. In testing for various metals, the lime tree showed the highest contents for all elements except magnesium, copper, zinc, cadmium and strontium, again confirming the species' vulnerability to pollution. Medium rates of concentration in the city and environs showed that city plants concentrate 3 times as many different elements and 10 times more chromium, copper and lead than do those in the suburbs. The second stage of the study was based on the concept of phytoindication, which presupposes that changes in the relation of chemical elements in regional biological circulation under the influence of technogenesis provide a criterion for predicting displacements in people's health. There are certain basic factors in this concept. The first is that all living beings are related ecologically as well as by their evolutionary origin, and that the lower an organism is on the evolutionary scale, the less adaptational reserve it has. The second is that smaller concentrations of chemical elements are needed for toxicological influence on plants than on people and so the former's reactions to geochemical factors are easier to characterise. Visual indicational features of urban plants are well defined and can form the basis of a complex "environment - public health" analysis. Specific plant reactions reflecting atmospheric pollution and other components of urbogeosystems make it possible to determine indication criteria for predicting possible disturbances in the general state of health of the population. Thirdly the results of phytoindication investigations must be taken together with information about public health in the area. It only proved possibly to analyse general indexes of public health based on statistical data from the late 1980s and early 1990s as the data of later years were greatly influenced by social factors. These data show that the rates of illness in St. Petersburg (especially for children) are higher than in Russia as a whole, for most classes of diseases, indicating that the population there is more sensitive to the ecological state of the urban environment. The Vasileostrovsky district had the second highest sick rate for adullts, while the rate of infant mortality in the first year of life was highest there. Ms. Terekhina recommends further studies to more precisely assess the effectiveness of the methods she tested, but has drawn up a proposed map of environmental hazard for the population, taking into account prevailing wind directions.