NARSEC - North American Network for Remote Sensing Park Ecological Condition

2007 Workshop Background Materials

Links to sponsor programs

NPS Inventory & Monitoring Program home page
Parks Canada Inventory and Monitoring
Canadian Center for Remote Sensing
NASA - Life on Earth

Invited Speaker or Related Program Web Sites

Robert Fraser, Canadian Center for Remote Sensing
Scott Goetz, Woods Hole Research Center
John Gross, National Park Service Inventory and Monitoring Program
Andy Hansen, University of Montana, Bozeman
Colin Homer, USGS, Earth Research Observation and Scince (EROS) Data Center
Rober Kennedy, US Forest Service, and Oregon State University
Jeremy Kerr, University of Ottawa.
Melanie Kolb, CONABIO (National Commission for the Knowledge and Use of Biodiversity)
Todd Lookingbill, University of Maryland Center for Environmenal Science, Appalachian Laboratory
Don McLennan, Parks Canada Agency, Ecological Integrity Branch - National Parks Directorate
Justin Quirouette, Parks Canada Agency, Ecosystem Management - Ontario Service Centre
Rainer Ressl, CONABIO (National Commission for the Knowledge and Use of Biodiversity)
        Central America Fire Monitoring
Kristine Rothley, Simon Fraser University, Faculty of Applied Sciences
Dave Theobald, Colorado State University
Paul Zorn, Parks Canada Agency, Ecosystem Management Branch - Ontario Service Centre

Selected Readings

Overview of Parks Canada approach
Olthof, I. et al. 2006. Using satellite remote sensing to assess and monitor ecosystem integrity and climate change in Canada's National Parks.

Indicators and General Background
Dale, V. H. and S. C. Beyeler. 2001. Challenges in the development and use of ecological indicators. Ecological Indicators 1:3-10.
Parrish, J. D., D. P. Braun, and R. S. Unnasch. 2003. Are we conserving what we say we are? Measuring ecological integrity within protected areas. BioScience 53:851-860.

Day 1:
Matching Remotely Sensed data to Monitoring Needs
Lefsky, M. A. and W. B. Cohen. 2003. Selection of remotely sensed data. Pages 13-46 in: M. A. Wulder and S. E. Franklin, eds. Remote sensing of forest environments - concepts and case studies. Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordnecht. 2.0 MB.
Phinn, S. R., D. A. Stow, J. Franklin, L. A. K. Mertes, and J. Michaelsen. 2003. Remotely sensed data for ecosystem analyses: combining hierarchy theory and scene models. Environmental Management 31:429-441. 3.3 MB. Solid and thorough discussion of imagery selection process.
Townsend et al. 2006. NPS National Capitol Region landscape monitoring protocol. Excellent description of a process for identifying and selecting imagery. Other sections could be the basis for a short course in remote sensing. (3.4 MB).

Monitoring Land Surface Change
Chuvieco, E., S. Opazo, W. Sione, et. al. 2007. Global Burned Land Estimation in Latin America using MODIS Composite Data. Submitted to Ecological Applications.
Coppin, P., I. Jonckheere, K. Nackaerts, B. Muys, and E. Lambin. 2004. Digital change detection methods in ecosystem monitoring: a review. International Journal of Remote Sensing 25:1565-1596. 184 KB
Curran, L. M., S. N. Trigg, A. K. Mcdonald, et al. 2004. Lowland forest loss in protected areas of indonesian borneo. Science 303:1000-1003.
Defries, R., A. Hansen, A. C. Newton, and M. C. Hansen. 2005. Increasing isolation of protected areas in tropical forests over the past twenty years. Ecological Applications 15:19-26.
Fraser, R. H., A. Abuelgasim, and R. Latifovic. 2005. A method for detecting large-scale forest cover change using coarse spatial resolution imagery. Remote Sensing of Environment 95:414-427.
Goetz, S. J., C. A. Jantz, S. D. Prince, et al.. 2004. Integrated analysis of ecosystem interactions with land use change: the Chesapeake Bay watershed. Pages 263-275 in R. S. DeFries, G. P. Asner, and R. A. Houghton, editors. Ecosystems and Land Use Change. American Geophysical Union, Washington DC.
Goetz, S. J., R. Wright, A. J. Smith, et al. 2003. Ikonos imagery for resource management: tree cover, impervious surfaces and riparian buffer analyses in the mid-Atlantic region. Remote Sensing of Environment 88:195-208.
Goetz, S. J., and P. Jantz. 2006. Satellite maps show Chesapeake Bay urban development. Eos Transactions AGU 87:149-152.
Homer, C. C. Huang, L. Yang, B. Wylie and M. Coan. 2004. Development of a 2001 National Landcover Database for the United States. Photogrammetric Engineering and Remote Sensing 70(7): 829-840.
Olthof, I., C. Butson, and R. Fraser. 2005. Signature extension through space for northern landcover classification: a comparison of radiometric correction methods. Remote Sensing of Environment 95:290-302. Methods presented in this paper provide a basis for much of the PCA-GRIP change detection via normalization and signature extension.
Roy, D. P., Y. Jin, P. E. Lewis, C. O. Justice. 2005. Prototyping a global algorithm for systematic fire-affected area mapping using MODIS time series data. Remote Sensing of Environment. 97:137-162.

Day 2: Landscape Pattern and Biodiversity in Parks
Cantu, C., Wright, G.R., Scott, M.J., Strand, E. 2004. Assessment of current and proposed nature reserves of Mexico based on their capacity to protect geophysical features and biodiversity. Biological Conservation 115: 411-417.
Deguise, I., and J. T. Kerr 2006. Protected Areas and Prospects for Endangered Species Conservation in Canada. Conservation Biology 20: 48-55.
Gude, P.H., A.J. Hansen, R. Rasker, B. Maxwell. 2006. Rates and drivers of rural residential development in the Greater Yellowstone. Landscape and Urban Planning. 77:131-151.
Hansen, A. J., R. DeFries, and W. Turner. 2004. Land use change and biodiversity: A synthesis of rates and consequences during the period of satellite imagery. Pages 277-299 in: G. Gutman and C. Justice, eds. Land change science: Observing, monitoring, and understanding trajectories of change on the Earth's surface. Springer Verlag, New York, N.Y. 2.2 MB
Hansen, A.J., Knight, R.L., Marzluff, et al. 2005. Effects of exurban development on biodiversity: patterns, mechanisms and research needs. Ecological Applications 15, 1893-1903.
Hansen, A.J. and R. DeFries. 2007. Land use change around nature reserves: Implications for sustaining biodiversity. Ecological Applications 17:xx-xx. In Press.
Hansen, A.J. and R. DeFries. 2007. Ecological mechanisms linking protected areas to surrounding lands. Ecological Applications. 17:xx-xx. In Press.
Kerr, J. T. and M. Ostrovsky. 2003. From space to species: ecological applications for remote sensing. Trends in Ecology and Evolution 18:299-305. 940 KB
Riemann, H., and E. Ezcurra. 2005. Plant endemism and natureal protected areas in the peninsula of Baja California, Mexico. Biological Conservation 122:141-150.
Sanchez, V.C., Cirelli, V., Munguia, M., Sarkar, S. 2005. Place priortization for biodiversity representation using species' ecological niche modeling. Biodiversity Informatics 2:11-23.
Swihart, R.K. and J. Verboom. 2004. Using ecologically scaled landscape indices to assess biodiversity consequences of land-use decisions. Pages 81-101 in: Swihart, R.K. and J.E. Moore, eds. Conservation biodiversity in agricultural landscapes. Purdue University Press. 336pp.
Urban, D. and T. Keitt. 2001. Landscape connectivity: a graph-theoretic perspective. Ecology. 85(5): 1205-1218.
White, P. and J. T. Kerr. 2006. Contrasting spatial and temporal global change impacts on butterfly species richness during the 20th century. Ecography. 29(6):908-918.
White, P. and J. T. Kerr. 2007. Human impacts on environment-diversity relationships: evidence for biotic homogenization from butterfly pecies richness patterns. Global Ecology and Biogeography.
Woodroffe, R. and J.R. Ginsberg. 1998. Edge effects and the extinction of populations inside protected areas. Science 280:2126-2128.

Day 3 and synthesis - Desired Conditions and Thresholds

Management thresholds, assessment points, or whatever you call them, stimulate vigorous conversations among agency scientists and management staff. Below are a few recent papers that have contributed to the discourse. The views expressed in these papers are hotly debated. We're looking for a path forward - all suggestions welcome!

Bestelmeyer, B. T. 2006. Threshold concepts and their use in rangeland management and restoration: the good, the bad, and the insidious. Restoration Ecology 14:325-329.
Biggs, H. C. and K. H. Rogers. 2003. An adaptive system to link science, monitoring, and management in practice. Pages 59-80 in: The Kruger experience: ecology and management of savanna heterogeneity. *this chapter has been extremely influential within NPS. For an update, see the Kruger website: http://www.sanparks.org/parks/kruger/conservation/scientific/mission/tpc.php
Briske, D. D., S. D. Fuhlendorf, and F. E. Smeins. 2006. A unified framework for assessment and application of ecological thresholds. Rangeland Ecology and Management 59:225-236.
Groffman, P., J. Baron, T. Blett, et al. 2006. Ecological thresholds: the key to successful environmental management or an important concept with no practical application? Ecosystems 9:1-13.
Lackey, Robert T. 2004. Normative science. Fisheries. 29(7): 38-39. - Very concisely discusses issues key to science communication. This is really important.

Roads
Ercelawn,A. 1999. End of the road. NRDC, online (199 pages in printed form). This is an outstanding review of the impacts of roads on systems and wildlife.
Heilman Jr., G. E., J. R. Strittholt, N. C. Slosser, and D. A. Dellasala. 2002. Forest fragmentation of the conterminous United States: Assessing forest intactness through road density and spatial characteristics. BioScience 52:411-422. (large file - 8 MB)
Riitters, K.H. and J.D. Wickham. 2003. How far to the nearest road? Frontiers in Ecology and Environment 1:125-129. (color, 2.5 MB)
Trombulak, S.C. and C.A. Frissell. 2000. Review of ecological effects of roads on terrestrial and aquatic communities. Conservation Biology 14:18-30. 1.5 MB

Indices
Ludwig, J. A., R. W. Eager, G. N. Bastin, V. H. Chewings, and A. C. Liedloff. 2002. A leakiness index for assessing landscape function using remote sensing. Landscape Ecology 17:157-171.
Opdam, P., J. Verboom, and R. Pouwels. 2003. Landscape cohesion: an index for the conservation potential of landscapes for biodiversity. Landscape Ecology 18:113-126. 940 KB
Vos, C.C., J. Verboom, P.F.M. Opdam, and C.J.F. Ter Braak. 2001. Toward ecologically scaled landscape indices. American Naturalist 183:24-41. 226 KB

Lanscape pattern / fragmentation
Bissonette, J.A. and I. Storch. 2002.  Fragmentation: Is the message clear? Conservation Ecology 6:[online] URL: http://www.consecol.org/vol6/iss2/art14.
Responses to Bissonette and Storch: Boagaert 2003 and Bissonette and Storch 2003
Harrison, S. and E. Bruna. 1999. Habitat fragmentation and large-scale conservation: what do we know for sure? Ecography 22:225-232.
McGarigal, K. and S.A. Cushman. 2002. Comparative evaluation of experimental approaches to the study of habitat fragmentation effects. Ecological Applications 12:335-345. 120 KB.
Riitters, K. H., J. D. Wickham, R. V. O'Neill, B.K. Jones, E.R. Smith, J.W. Coulston, T.G. Wade, and J.H. Smith. 2002. Fragmentation of continental United States forests. Ecosysems 5:815-822. External link; 355 K or 1.4 MB.
Kurt Riitters publications page  to see and/or download related papers

Freshwater Resources
Gergel, S.E., M.G. Turner, J. . Miller, J.M. Melack, and E.H. Stanley. 2002. Landscape indicators of human impacts to riverine systems. Aquatic Sciences 64:118-128.
Jones, K. B., A. C. Neale, M. S. Nash, R. D. VanRemortel, J. D. Wickham, K. H. Riitters, and R. V. O'Neill. 2001. Predicting nutrient and sediment loadings to streams from landscape metrics: A multiple watershed study from the United States mid-Atlantic region. Landscape Ecology 16:301-312.
Wiens, J. A. 2002. Riverine landscapes: Taking landscape ecology into the water. Freshwater Biology 47:501-515.

Other references of special interest
Hansen, A.J. and D. Gryskiewicz. 2003. Interactions between Heartland National Parks and surrounding land use change: Development of conceptual models and indicators for monitoring. Unpublished report. 72 pages. 830 K, zipped.
Hansen, A.J., R. Rasker, B. Maxwell, J.J. Rotella, et al. 2002. Ecological causes and consequences of demographic change in the new west. BioScience 52:151-162. External link.
Hansen, A.J. and J.J. Rotella. 2002. Biophysical factors, land use, and species viability in and around nature reserves. Conservation Biology 16:1112-1122. External link.
Turner, M. G., S. M. Pearson, P. Bolstad, and D. N. Wear. 2003. Effects of land -cover on spatial pattern of forest communities in the Southern Appalachian Mountains (USA). Landscape Ecology 18:449-464.
Urban, D. L. 2002. Tactical monitoring of landscapes. Pages 294-311 in: J. Liu and W. W. Taylor. Integrating landscape ecology into natural resource management. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK.

NARSEC 2007 Conference Home Page
NPS I&M Landscape ecology / remote sensing web site
NPS Monitoring home page