Definition and application of expert knowledge on vegetation pattern, phenology, and seasonality for habitat mapping, as exemplified in a Mediterranean coastal site

Tomaselli, V. and Adamo, M. and Veronico, G. and Sciandrello, S. and Tarantino, C. and Dimopoulos, P. and Medagli, P. and Nagendra, Harini and Blonda, P. (2017) Definition and application of expert knowledge on vegetation pattern, phenology, and seasonality for habitat mapping, as exemplified in a Mediterranean coastal site. Plant Biosystems - An International Journal Dealing with all Aspects of Plant Biology, 151 (5). pp. 887-899. ISSN 1126-3504

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Abstract

Habitats are effective indicators of biodiversity. Remote sensing data and techniques are of great utility for their long-term monitoring. Habitat maps can be derived from land cover (LC) maps through rules obtained from expert knowledge and integrated with in situ data. Spatial (vegetation pattern) and temporal (phenology and water seasonality) relationships were explored and documented to infer reliable rules for LC (according to the Food and Agricultural Organization Land Cover Classification System (FAO-LCCS) taxonomy) to habitat (Annex I to the 92/43 EEC Directive and EUNIS) class translation. A coastal site in southern Italy was considered as study site for the definition and validation of such rules. Phenological data of the plant communities were collected on the basis of vegetation plots randomly distributed within the study site. Water seasonality was extracted from periodical observation of the water surface. Vegetation pattern was analyzed by means of vegetation survey along transects. The potentiality of rules, based on this specific expert knowledge, was tested in an experimental setting for habitat mapping. The overall accuracy of the habitat map was 75.1%. Such a result supports the usefulness of prior expert knowledge for habitat mapping from LCCS classes and disambiguation on one-to-many relations between LC/LU and habitat types.

Item Type:	Article
Authors:	Tomaselli, V. and Adamo, M. and Veronico, G. and Sciandrello, S. and Tarantino, C. and Dimopoulos, P. and Medagli, P. and Nagendra, Harini and Blonda, P.
Document Language:	Language English
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Habitat mapping, phenology, seasonality, standard zonation, vegetation pattern
Subjects:	Natural Sciences > Earth sciences > Geology, hydrology, meteorology Natural Sciences > Life sciences; biology > Ecology Natural Sciences > Plants (Botany)
Divisions:	Azim Premji University - Bengaluru > School of Development
Full Text Status:	Public
URI:	http://publications.azimpremjiuniversity.edu.in/id/eprint/7313
Publisher URL:	https://doi.org/10.1080/11263504.2016.1231143

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