Abstract
The spatial pattern of and the transition rates between forest ecological states were inferred for c260 000 pixel-sized (3600 m2) landscape units using satellite remote sensing. Classification of the 1973 and 1983 Landsat images of the 900 km2 study region required a relatively small set of ground-observed and photo-interpreted plots in 1983, with a total area of just 1.62 km2. An innovative technique for correcting multiyear Landsat images for between-image differences in atmospheric effects and sensor calibration, permitted classification of the 1973 Landsat image using 1983 ground observations. For both a wilderness and a nonwilderness area in the study region, sizeable values of transition rates were observed and over half of the landscape units were observed to change state; however, a Markov analysis, using the observed transition probabilities, suggests that at the regional level neither the wilderness nor the nonwilderness areal proportions of ecological states are undergoing rapid change. -from Authors
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 628-640 |
Number of pages | 13 |
Journal | Ecology |
Volume | 72 |
Issue number | 2 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - 1991 |
Externally published | Yes |
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics