High-Resolution Vegetation Data for Mangrove Research as Obtained From Aerial Photography

In this methodological study, the applicability of aerial photographs for monitoring mangrove vegetation dynamics at high resolution was investigated. Vegetation maps of three mangrove forests in Sri Lanka (Galle, Rekawa and Pambala) were produced based on visual analysis of aerial photographs. The visual analysis was aided by applying an interpretation key constructed during a first fieldwork mission. Image attributes used for the identification of individual trees included: gray values, texture, form and size of the crowns and the presence or absence of a shaded side. For the identification of species assemblages, the vegetation structure (i.e. the distribution of individual trees) appeared to be an important attribute. The accuracy and reliability of the vegetation maps were investigated during a second fieldwork mission. The aerial photographs proved to be very useful for the production of genus-based vegetation maps. The error analysis showed that density estimations (quantitative identification) based on aerial photography was not sufficiently accurate for the objectives of the study, but that the overall identification of vegetation assemblages (qualitative identification) coincided most satisfactory with the ground-truth data. In addition to the applicability of aerial photography in monitoring mangroves, the importance of aerial photography in the management of the mangrove ecosystem is clearly highlighted.     

Environmental change in and around the Okavango Delta during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries

Historical data, archival information, in-situ observations and multi-date remotely sensed imagery comprising CORONA photographs of 1967, aerial photographs of 1991 and 2000, and Landsat TM and Landsat ETM images of 1989 and 1994 and 2001, respectively, were used to reconstruct environmental changes in and around the Okavango Delta during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The major changes that emerged from this reconstruction include persistent flood and rainfall failures, sustained contraction of surface and groundwater resources, floodplain desiccation, significant expansion of woody cover and significant decrease in grazing resources. These changes require urgent formulation and immediate adoption of climate smart interventions that can enhance our capacities to cope with the adverse effects deteriorating climatic conditions.     

Application of Remote Sensing and GIS in the Management of Mangrove Forests Within and Adjacent to Kiunga Marine Protected Area, Lamu, Kenya

The status of mangroves within and adjacent to Kiunga Marine Protected Area (MPA) were assessed by means of aerial photographs and intensive ground truthing. Vegetation maps (1 : 25,000) were produced on GIS environment making it possible to store, retrieve and analyze various types of information very quickly. The maps together with the digitized information provide important tools to the management of mangroves of Kiunga MPA since various proposed treatments can now be entered and summarized thus providing useful overviews for planning, implementation and monitoring.The present inventory revealed that the existing mangrove forests within and adjacent to Kiunga MPA have a net standing volume of 2,354,004.85 m³ in 16,035.94 ha. There are eight species of mangrove trees, of which Rhizophora mucronata and Ceriops tagal are dominant. The standing volume ranges between 6.85 to 710.0 m³ ha^–1 for stem with diameter above 5.0 cm. The average volume of the entire study area was 145.88 m³ ha^–1, which corresponds to a stocking rate of 1736 stems per ha. Given its high potential productivity and regeneration, mangroves within and adjacent to Kiunga MPA have excellent prospects for sustainable exploitation.     

Land Cover Changes Between 1968 and 2003 In Cai Nuoc,Ca Mau Peninsula,Vietnam

Since 2000, the shrimp industry expands at a fast rate in the coastal areas of the Mekong Delta, Vietnam. Shrimp farming is known for its negative impact on the coastal environment. However, other human interventions like agriculture and urbanization also deteriorate the coastal environment. The land cover changes between 1968 and 2003 were determined and analyzed for the Cai Nuoc district, Ca Mau Province, Vietnam, using photos from 1968, 1992 (aerial photographs), 1997/98 (Spot) and 2003 (Landsat). It was clear that the district underwent serious land cover changes: deforestation between 1968 and 1992, with a simultaneous increase in rice land; a rapid decline in rice acreage from 1997 onwards, and, simultaneously, a blitz-increase in shrimp farming area. The forest area declined by 75% between 1968 and 2003. About 40% of this loss could be attributed to shrimp farming, while the remaining 60% was attributed to needs for agricultural land. Still, at present, shrimp farming is the major source of mangrove loss in the district. In 1999 shrimp farms covered 6.374 ha, in 2000 they covered 61.049 ha of the Cai Nuoc area. The swap from rice cultivation to shrimp farming was most-probably driven by households’ hopes for a higher income. It must be feared that the shrimp industry will have a negative impact on the environment (e.g. salinization) and on the livelihood of the district’s households. In 1968 saline water covered 219.9 km², in 1992, 1997/98 and 2003 the saline surface water area covered 92.4, 135.2 and 835.0 km², respectively. Readers should send their comments on this paper to: BhaskarNath@aol.com within 3 months of publication of this issue.     

The impacts of herbivory on vegetation in Moremi Game Reserve, Botswana: 1967–2001

Browsing and grazing pressure on vegetation in the Moremi Game Reserve in Botswana was analyzed using remotely sensed imagery comprising CORONA photographs of 1967 and Landsat TM and Landsat ETM imagery of 1989 and 1994 and 2001, respectively. Comparison of temporal variations in the spatial distributions of different vegetation types and changes in the abundance of selected wildlife species demonstrate a persistent decrease in capacity of the environment to support wild animals, due to increasing abundance of poorly preferred browse species and increasing scarcity of favored varieties. Given the long-term direction of change showing continued deterioration of habitat conditions and the limited prospects for reversal of this trend, it is apparent that there is immediate need to realign wildlife management strategies in ways that can enhance the sustainability of wildlife and the supporting environment.     

Recent Changes in Land-Use in the Pambala–Chilaw Lagoon Complex (Sri Lanka) Investigated Using Remote Sensing and GIS: Conservation of Mangroves vs. Development of Shrimp Farming

Shrimp aquaculture is currently one of the major threats to mangroves, their destruction causing both environmental and social problems. This study investigated the mangrove area in the Pambala–Chilaw Lagoon complex (07°30 N, 079°49 E) in Sri Lanka. Using air-borne remote sensing, a land-use map was constructed in a geographical information system of the study area and pond managers were interviewed about the functioning of their shrimp farms. Based on fieldwork during the four years after taking the aerial photographs, an updated GIS-based land-use map was constructed and compared the original situation. This revealed that shrimp farms had expanded with by 25 ha in four years, mainly at the expense of mangrove forest (approx. 13 ha) and coconut plantations (approx. 11 ha). Official documents from the World Conservation Union advise conservation of the undisturbed habitats in Pambala, but this study's observations do not corroborate an eventuation of this. Other authors reported political patronage as the main cause of this adverse situation. Since the shrimp industry depends on various ecological services provided by the mangrove ecosystem in order to maintain production (cf. ecological footprint concept) the mangrove destruction is counter-productive and these observations are therefore alarming for the aquaculturists as well. The low ratio (2.6 : 1) of remaining mangrove to shrimp pond area suggests that the industry may experience severe problems, particularly as mangrove areas continue to be reclaimed for aquaculture or other land uses, unless drastic measures are taken.     

喀斯特高原山区的景观格局变化垂直分异性——以贵州省普定后寨地下河流域中下游为例

利用多时相多数据源遥感影像数据(航片、TM影像及SPOT-5影像),采用GIS空间分析技术和数理统计分析相结合的方法,以贵州省普定县后寨地下河流域中下游地区为例,从海拔和坡位2个方面来探讨喀斯特地区的景观格局变化的垂直分异特征.结果表明:林地斑块在海拔范围为1 300～1 350 m及1 450～1 550 m的区域内,变化是最大的;水田和旱地斑块在海拔范围为1 219～1 300 m及1 350～1 450 m的区域内,变化最大.景观格局在山脊和谷底内变化相对较大,其中变化最大的是林地斑块;景观格局在陡坡和缓坡地区的变化相对较小,但是也存在一定的变化.该区域中变化较大的为水田和旱地斑块.在海拔范围为1 300～1 500 m的山脊和谷底区域内,景观斑块类型发生的变化较大.该区域应作为喀斯特高原山区的生态环境保护特别关注的区域.     

山区县域生态系统安全因子遥感和GIS分析--以重庆市忠县为例

数据的高效获取和信息的实时提取,长期以来一直是困扰区域生态安全研究领域和地学过程研究领域的瓶颈和难题。在对案例研究区——重庆忠县地区TM卫星遥感数据进行波谱信息特征分析的基础上,通过人机交互目视判读解译和模型模拟自动信息提取等多种有效技术和方法,实现用遥感影像数据对山区县域生态环境系统安全因子体系中的3个主要因子：土地覆被、水土流失强度、植被盖度等进行数据提取,并用GIS技术对这些指标因子数据进行空间分析。这在一定程度上解决了中尺度山区县域生态环境系统安全评价指标因子数据提取与地学分析的技术和方法难题。通过GIS空间分析,揭示出忠县部分生态安全因子的时空分异特征,为山区县域生态环境退化评价和生态恢复研究提供了一种新的方法尝试。     

Using multitemporal Landsat TM imagery to establish land use pressure induced trends in forest and woodland cover in sections of the Soutpansberg Mountains of Venda region, Limpopo Province, South Africa

Globally, tropical forests are being perturbed by human activity. Tropical vegetation constitutes some of the largest terrestrial carbon stocks against the build up of greenhouse gases. In this paper, a local-scale case study utilising remote sensing methodology in estimating forest loss is presented, for a section of tropical South Africa’s Soutpansberg Mountains where land use pressure threatens some of the last remaining indigenous forests. Landsat TM images from October 1990, August 2000 and September 2006 were used, together with municipality level demographic data. Hybrid image classification techniques distinguished forest cover on the images, which were classified into vegetation density categories. About 20% of forest and woodland cover was lost in the 16-year analysis period, mainly due to pine and eucalyptus plantation and residential housing expansions. The local-scale key drivers behind the deforestation are examined.     

Changes in Vegetation Cover and Socio-Economic Transitions in a Coastal Lagoon (Kalametiya, Sri Lanka), As Observed by Teledetection and Ground Truthing, Can be Attributed to an Upstream Irrigation Scheme

According to some non-scholarly reports, Kalametiya lagoon (dry zone of southern Sri Lanka, formerly 8.9 km², now 7.5 km²) had been a moderately or high salinity water body and a very important centre of prawn fishery until the late 1960s. Most of the lagoon area had remained open water until then. An upstream irrigation project, the Udawalawa irrigation scheme, came into operation in 1967, increasing the freshwater inflow to the lagoon. The flora, fauna and water quality of the lagoon was reported to have changed since then.The lagoon now is a shallow coastal water body with low salinity water. More than 75% of the lagoon is covered by freshwater species or mangrove species characteristic for water with a low salinity: Eichhornia crassipes, Typha latifolia resp. Sonneratia caseolaris. There is actually no commercially important fishery in the lagoon.The present study was carried out to assess scientifically the said changes in the vegetation within a GIS, using aerial photographs taken in 1956 and 1994 and IRS IC, PAN+LISS III satellite images of 1997 in combination with ground surveys and information from a questionnaire-based survey.It appeared from this work that the aerial cover by Sonneratia caseolaris has increased by more than 30 times over the period from 1956 to the recent dates. Also, the lagoon area with open water has been drastically reduced during the same period as a result of spreading of freshwater and low salinity plant species. The results strongly suggest that the locally reported changes (fisheries decline, water salinity decrease) can be corroborated by the observed profound changes in plant cover and that upstream water works may have had strong impacts on this ecosystem, thus causing these changes.This study couples data obtained from retrospective aerial photograph series, from spaceborne imaging, from actual ground surveys and from questionnaires amongst elderly people to reconstruct decadal environmental change, thus attempting to fill the gap of lacking historical environmental data.     

基于遥感及数值模拟的崇明东滩冲淤与植被关系探讨

首先提取多时相卫星影像的水边线信息，借助水动力模型模拟水边线对应时刻的水位，根据水边线水位及实测潮滩高程断面推算潮滩的高程及冲淤变化信息，同时利用高分辨率遥感影像（Quick Bird）对潮滩植被进行模糊分类及变化监测，并通过植被覆盖度指数及现场观测数据反演植被的发育程度信息。依据上述计算结果探讨了崇明东滩冲淤变化与植被及潮间带高程的关系。结果表明在崇明东滩中低潮滩附近存在冲淤峰值，由峰值位置向海向陆侧递减。年平均沉积速率与潮滩高程(<3.4 m)的相关性〖WTBX〗R〖WTBZ〗2=0.8 106。中低潮滩出现最大沉积速率主要是受植被的捕沙作用及沉积滞后的影响，高潮滩沉积速率较小则归因于高潮滩淹水机率相对较小导致泥沙在高潮滩落淤量降低，相反低潮滩则由于高程较低加之缺少植被保护沉积速率较小。结果同时表明由于南北部潮滩动力条件及植被状况的差异导致崇明东滩从北部滩面、中部滩面到南部滩面冲淤峰值出现的高程各不相同。总之，遥感技术结合水动力模型能够较方便地得到滩涂相关环境因子信息，克服了常规测量的困难，为分析海岸带冲淤变化动态提供了新的技术手段。〖     

基于TVX方法的南京市城区时空格局与地表温度的研究

随着全球气候变化和人类活动的不断加剧,导致生态、资源与环境问题日趋严重,区域空间格局变化与地表温度的研究已成为全球环境变化的热门和重点研究课题。采用2000年、2006年和2010年的TM遥感影像，结合GIS和RS技术研究南京市不同时期的时空分布特征、演变特征以及地表温度的变化。结果表明: 2000～2010年南京市城区建设用地面积增长幅度较大，而耕地面积却呈显著递减趋向，水体和草地面积基本保持稳定，林地面积略有增长。NDVI和MNDWI均与地表温度呈负相关，通过构建TVX空间观察南京城市化进程，发现植被覆盖度持续降低，地表温度急速上升，到2010年，所有土地利用类型的聚类点的转化轨迹趋于一点，变化向量幅度是：林地>草地>水体>耕地，研究结果表明林地和水域对城市地表热环境具有强大的缓解作用，在城市化进程中，要注重城市水域和林地的保护，同时要改善城市绿化、减少能耗和节制热源     

Human impacts on methane emission from mangrove ecosystems in India

This study deals with the emission of methane in relation to changing environmental conditions and human impact, in three mangrove ecosystems of south India. Time-varying fluxes of methane adopting the close chamber technique were used to estimate CH₄ emission from an unpolluted site (Pichavaram mangroves) and two polluted sites viz. (1) Ennore Creek mangroves (affected by fertilizer effluents and crude oil discharges) and (2) Adyar estuary mangroves (affected by the discharges of organic and industrial wastes), covering monthly and seasonal variations. The results indicate annual average CH₄ emissions of 7.4, 5.02 and 15.4 mg m⁻² h⁻¹ from the sediment–water interface of the Pichavaram, Ennore Creek and Adyar estuary respectively. Emission characteristics obtained at Pichavaram mangroves represent a natural variability with changing physico-chemical factors, whereas the emission characteristics at Ennore Creek and Adyar estuary mangroves show anthropogenic influence. Several environmental factors such as oxygen availability, organic matter, soil physical and chemical properties, in addition to human-mediated interventions have been identified as influencing emission rates in the mangrove ecosystems. Preliminary CH₄ emission estimates for the mangrove ecosystems along the Indian sub- continent and the tropical and subtropical coastline of the world by linear extrapolation based on surface area range from 0.05 to 0.37 and 2.8 to 19.25 Tg CH₄ year⁻¹ respectively. Our results also highlight the impact of human activities on future emission of methane from the mangrove ecosystems. Received: 3 March 1999 / Accepted: 14 September 1999     

基于灰度形态学和小波变换的淤泥质潮滩水边线提取

平坦的海岸带淤泥质潮滩水边线是模糊的水陆边界，在遥感图像上呈现复杂的边缘，特征获得连续、准确的水边线轮廓是水边线自动提取过程中的难点之一。以长江口崇明东滩为例，选取两景有代表性的Landsat TM影像，采用灰度形态学方法对图像进行预处理，然后采用小波模极大值法获取不同尺度下的水边线轮廓，解决了高细节区边缘的破碎问题，实现了淤泥质海岸带潮滩模糊边界的水边线自动提取。     

城市湖泊地区的土地利用变化--以武汉东湖为例

利用1986、1993、1999年的Landsat TM卫星遥感影像和1981年地形图,借助GIS技术分析了城市湖泊地区—武汉东湖流域1987～1999间土地利用的时空变化及景观结构的变化。土地利用分为水体、针叶林、阔叶林、灌草、裸地、农业用地和城镇用地七种类型。各时期遥感影像分类精度都在85%以上。该流域土地利用变化以城镇大幅度扩展（从占全流域面积的9.1％到29.6％）、农业用地增加(从7.0％到13.9％)和由此引起的林地（从占全流域面积的33.6％到24.3％）、水体（从30.4％到23.8％）面积减少为主要特征。同时流域整体的景观多样性下降、优势度提高,但不同景观组分的碎裂化程度的变化趋势不同。其中,城镇用地等优势景观组分的分布趋于聚集,其他类型多趋于碎裂化。流域的城市化具有方向性。城市的快速扩展对林地、灌草、水体等城市湖泊地区的自然生态系统产生显著影响。流域的土地利用及变化受多种自然、社会因素影响。     

Spatio-temporal variation of macrobenthic communities in the mangrove-fringed Segara Anakan lagoon, Indonesia, affected by anthropogenic activities

The benthic macrofauna of the Segara Anakan lagoon, Java, Indonesia and its fringing mangroves were investigated between May 2004 and August 2006. This lagoon has been affected by various human activities for decades, in particular fishing, effluents from agriculture and industry, and illegal deforestation. In total, 163 taxa were identified, including 127 species occurring in the mangrove forest and 59 species in the subtidal. Mean density of macrobenthos was 2.5-fold higher in the central (881.8 ± 1,151.3 ind. m^?2) than in the eastern mangrove site (356.3 ± 218.8 ind. m^?2). Community structures differed significantly between these sites and showed a serial shift during the investigation period. Gastropods dominated the community in the central mangrove location, whereas sipunculids, polychaetes and gastropods had similar densities in the eastern site. Differences in community composition were best explained by three sediment properties: pore water salinity, δ¹³C_org, and C_org/N. It is suggested that small-scale heterogeneity of food availability and quality is a main factor determining the small-scale variability of the community composition. Compared to other Indo-West Pacific mangroves, species richness and densities are high. However, the dominance of specific taxa, especially of opportunistic species and the comparably low species richness in the subtidal of the lagoon may be attributed to the high sediment input by rivers in the central part and to the large-scale cutting of mangroves. Continuous tree logging will probably lead to a further spread of two fast growing understorey plants and thus to an increase of uniform swamp sites and a decrease of micro-habitats for benthic macrofauna. To our knowledge, this is the first detailed study on the spatio-temporal variation of benthic macrofauna in mangroves of Indonesia.     

卧龙自然保护区植被覆盖度变化及其对地形因子的响应

通过像元二分模型在NDVI数据基础上，估算了卧龙自然保护区2000和2015年的植被覆盖度，分析了这15年间研究区域植被覆盖的变化及空间分异特征，初步揭示了植被覆盖变化与地形因子的响应关系。结果表明：（1）2000~2015年间卧龙自然保护区植被覆盖度整体良好，以中高和高植被覆盖为主，空间格局上呈现东南高、西北低的总体趋势。（2）研究时段内高覆盖度面积明显减少，而其他覆盖等级面积存在不同程度的增加，植被覆盖度均值降低。（3）研究区域各海拔范围内均以植被稳定类型为主，低海拔和高海拔地区植被退化显著，在1 500~3 250 m的高程范围内植被稳定和植被改善相对显著。（4）研究区不同坡度间植被变化类型差异不明显；不同坡向上植被变化显著，其中阳坡的植被退化分布，阴坡的植被改善分布明显，随着坡向由阴坡转阳坡，植被退化增加，改善减少。其结论有助于揭示卧龙自然保护区植被覆盖的时空变化特征，对保护区生态环境评价和改进具有重要的参考价值，同时对保护区的管理和植被恢复有一定借鉴意义。     

Comparative analysis of forest canopy mapping methods for the Sundarban biosphere reserve,West Bengal,India

The canopy density of forests is highly influenced by population pressure which cause forest fragmentations, deforestations, forest degradation and also land reclamation for infrastructure and agriculture. This study was envisaged with the objective of mapping the forest canopy density with two different methods by using Landsat 8 OLI dataset of the year 2016 after mapping the vegetation indices. One of the two methods is the semi-expert FCD mapper model, while the other model is newly developed by us and consists of eight vegetation indices. After running the models, the results of both the models were compared. It was found that for the semi-expert FCD model, the three classes viz. high canopy density, moderate canopy and low canopy covered an area of 81,615.51 ha (40%), 84,474.72 ha (41%) and 38,844.18 ha (19%), respectively. And for the modified FCD model, the same classes covered 69,134.670 ha (37%), 84,062.250 ha (45%) and 32,529.150 ha (18%), respectively. It was observed that the difference between semi-expert FCD model and the modified FCD model’s accuracy is about 1.75% and difference in Kappa statistics is 0.0362. Thus, the modified model is more accurate than the semi-expert FCD model and gives us more detailed canopy density map than the semi-expert FCD map.

     

漓江上游植被覆盖度时空变化对地表热场影响

自20世纪80年代以来，桂林漓江由于上游森林遭受破坏出现水生态环境快速恶化的趋势。地表热场的时空变化直接影响森林蒸散及水文效应。因此，对漓江上游1989~2006年5景TM/ETM+卫星图像，利用归一化植被指数反演植被覆盖度，利用单窗算法反演地表温度，提出归一化温度使不同时相地表热场具有可比性，分析植被覆盖度时空变化对地表热场的影响。结果表明，在空间上，地表温度随植被覆盖度的增加而降低，在植被覆盖度很高或很低时，这种影响相对变弱；在时间上，漓江上游1989~2000年植被中、高度覆盖面积从96.1%逐年下降到65.9%，导致归一化地表温度数值较高的像元比例相应增加；2000~2006年植被中、高度覆盖面积逐渐恢复上升到90.8%，但仍略低于1989年，使得归一化地表温度数值较高的像元比例相应减少。植被覆盖可以有效地降低漓江上游地表温度     

Toward achieving a sustainable management: characterization of land use/land cover in Sokoto Rima floodplain,Nigeria

Land use change is the main driving force of global environmental change and is considered as very central to the ongoing debate on sustainable development. Even though large volume of literature materials is available of land use/land cover (LU/LC) change for many areas, very little is known of it in the floodplain of the Sokoto Rima River Basin of Nigeria despite the basin’s strategic importance. Thus, this study characterized the basin’s LU/LC and its change using computer-based digital classification of near-anniversary Landsat 5 TM imagery of November 23, 1998, and Landsat 8 OLI of December 2, 2013. The results of the digital classification were complimented with field-based observations on major observable characteristics of every LU/LC identified. Thirteen classes (forest area, dense grassland, grassy fallow, grazed open grassland, open cultivation, open grain fallow farmland, pepper cultivation, rice farmland, scrubland, sugarcane farmland, dry bare land, sand deposit and wetland/water) were characterized and the nature and extent of their changes assessed. 40 % of the basin’s uses is under cultivation, 22 % is under fallow, 27 % is either degraded or non-cultivable, while 11 % is forested. Change events include forest loss, increase in area cultivated, expansion of shrub/scrubland and pervasiveness of grazing. The changes were more pronounced in the upper than either the central and southern segments of the basin. In general LU/LC changes in the basin are reflection of increased human population pressure and effects of climate change. The LU/LC patterns and changes suggest underutilization and mismanagement of the floodplain which have impact on soil, hydrology and biodiversity with serious implication for livelihood and food security. The study recommends that interventions are needed to promote enhanced and sustainable management of land, water and vegetation resources in the basin, with particular emphasis on empowering the local land users to participate actively toward sustainable management of the floodplain.