Remote Sensing And Gis In Ecosystem Management

Particularly about forests in the USA.

"Covers an entire spectrum of tropical ecosystems, their issues and management.

Most government agencies and private companies are investing significant resources in the production and use of geographical data. The capabilities of Geographical Information Systems (GIS) for data analysis are also improving, to the extent that the potential performance of GIS software and the data available for analysis outstrip the abilities of

Geospatial technology is a combination of state-of-the-art remote sensing and technology for geographic information systems (GIS) and global navigation satellite systems (GNSS) for the mapping and monitoring of landscapes and environment. The main thrust of using geospatial technology is to understand the causes, mechanisms, and consequences of spatial heterogeneity, while its ultimate objective is to provide a scientific basis for developing and maintaining ecologically, economically, and socially sustainable landscapes. This book presents new research on the interdisciplinary applications of geospatial technology for identification, assessment, monitoring, and modelling issues related to landscape, natural resources, and environmental management. The book specifically focuses on the creation, collection, storage, processing, modelling, interpretation, display, and dissemination of spatio-temporal data, which help to resolve environmental management issues including ecosystem change, resource utilization, land use management, and environmental pollution. The positive environmental impacts of information technology advancements with regard to global environmental and climate change are also discussed. The book addresses the interests of a wide spectrum of readers who have a common interest in geospatial science, geology, water resource management, database management, planning and policy making, and resource management.

In recent years, the conservation of tropical forests has received worldwide publicity whereas effective forest management, particularly for timber extraction, has attracted little attention and gained some notoriety. The overall aim of the present paper was to examine how environmental micro-variation in the Chiquibul Forest Reserve of Belize can influence species distribution and thereby inform management strategy. The paper deals first with the background to forest management in Belize, then considers the methodology used in the present study and fin~~ly assesses the preliminary results. The specific objectives are: (1) to assess the effects of changing scale on the variability of selected individual soil properties in forest plots within the same vegetation class; and (2) to examine the variation in soil properties and tree species distribution, and to integrate environmental and ecological data over a range of scales. BACKGROUND Whereas the global and regional distribution of tropical forests is broadly governed by climatic and altitudinal variation, individual forest tracts need to consider a range of other, locally important factors to explain species distribution and change. With very high species diversity, tropical forests present a major challenge in the attempt to unravel controlling factors in distribution and growth (Swaine et aI. 1987). Research that attempts to explain diversity has looked at species distribution according to a range of factors, with a general recognition that soil fertility plays a significant if ill defined role (Swaine 1996).

Part of an ongoing series of manuals covering the range of applications of remotely sensed imagery, Volume 4 addresses the use of this technology in natural resource management and environmental monitoring. Comprehensive, authoritative, and up-to-date, it covers terrestrial ecosystems, aquatic ecosystems, and agriculture ecosystems, as well as future directions in technology and research.