EditorialEarth observation for habitat mapping and biodiversity monitoring
Section snippets
Safeguarding biodiversity: a case for ‘glocalized’ information
Biodiversity – the variety of life forms and our “natural capital and life-insurance” (European Commission, 2011) – is on decline (Isbell, 2010, Trochet and Schmeller, 2013), with consequences on ecosystem function and stability, and ultimately human well-being (Naeem et al., 2009). Since 1992, the International Convention on Biological Diversity, short CBD, has bundled the United Nations’ joint effort to halt or at least lower the accelerated loss of biodiversity, but indeed it remains one of
Habitats – Earth observable spatial entities
Habitats are fractal spatial entities of the biophysical environment whose definition depends on the scale at which they are considered (Blondel, 1979). In other words, habitats are physical expressions of biodiversity, covering a certain area with specific compositions and spatial features. The areal extent and the scaled appearance make them ‘Earth observable’ (Bunce et al., 2008, Kosmidou et al., 2014, Lang et al., 2013a). Habitats are not just observable in existence or extent, but also
From experimental research to operational solutions
Within the policy framework for EO-based biodiversity monitoring sketched above, we focus on some specific requirements related to the EU 2020 Biodiversity strategy (Commission 2011). By adopting the global Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011–2020 issued at the Tenth Conference of the Parties (CoP10), the EU 2020 biodiversity strategy has strengthened its implementing power as compared to the previous 2010 strategy (Lang et al., 2013a). A set of verifiable goals are listed, which are closely
This Special Issue: extending satellite Earth observation capacities in habitat mapping and biodiversity monitoring
This Special Issue on Earth observation for habitat mapping and biodiversity monitoring addresses these challenges by presenting original papers on advanced technological or scientific achievements that clearly highlight the potential of EO data and related technologies in support of biodiversity, ecosystem and habitat monitoring. The Call for Papers followed two dedicated events in July and September 2013, jointly organized by the two complementary EU projects MS.MONINA and BIO_SOS soliciting
Outlook: towards new horizons?
Monitoring biodiversity at the level of habitats and landscapes is becoming widespread in the world as countries establish international and national habitat monitoring rules and systems. For this purpose, scientific experts users and practitioners require (at different institutional and scale levels) multi-temporal and multi-scale (including the finest scale possible) products and modelling frameworks for monitoring the impact that human induced pressures may have on biodiversity. Such
Acknowledgements
The research leading to these results has received funding from the European Community‘s Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007–2013) under grant agreements No. 263479 (MS.MONINA) coordinated by Stefan Lang, University of Salzburg-Austria, and No. 263435 (BIO_SOS) coordinated by Palma Blonda, CNR_ISSIA, Bari-Italy. We want to thank all reviewers for their efforts as well as all the JAG editorial office for their invaluable support.
References (51)
- et al.
Advances in geographic object-based image analysis with ontologies: a review of main contributions and limitations from a remote sensing perspective
ISPRS Int. J. Photogramm. Remote Sens.
(2013) - et al.
Spatial indicators for nature conservation from European to local scale
Ecol. Indic.
(2005) - et al.
IMSP schemes for spatially explicit models of cyclic populations and metapopulation dynamics
Math. Comput. Simul.
(2014) - et al.
Harmonization of the Land Cover Classification System (LCCS) with the General Habitat Categories (GHC) classification system: linkage between remote sensing and ecology
Ecol. Indic.
(2014) - et al.
Using landscape structure to develop quantitative baselines for protected area monitoring
Ecol. Indic.
(2013) - et al.
Remotely sensed spectral heterogeneity as a proxy of species diversity: recent advances and open challenges
Ecol. Inf.
(2010) - et al.
Spatial pattern analysis for monitoring protected areas
Remote Sens. Environ.
(2009) - et al.
Integrating remote sensing in Natura 2000 habitat monitoring: prospects on the way forward
J. Nat. Conserv.
(2011) - et al.
Red-edge vegetation indices for detecting and assessing disturbances in Norway spruce dominated mountain forests
Int. J. Appl. Earth Obs. Geoinform.
(2014) - Adamo M., Tarantino C., Tomaselli V., Kosmidou V., Petrou Z., Manakos I., Lucas R.M., Mücher C.A., Veronico G., Marangi...
Ecological Neighborhoods: Scaling Environmental Patterns
Object-based delineation of homogenous landscape units at regional scale based on MODIS time series
Int. J. Appl. Earth Obs. Geoinform.
From space to species. Safeguarding biodiversity in Europe
Int. Innov. Environ.
From space to species: solutions for biodiversity monitoring
Biogeógraphie et écologie: synthèse sur la structure, la dynamique et l’évolution des peuplements de vertébrés terrestres
Can remote sensing of land cover improve species distribution modelling?
J. Biogeogr.
Using information layers for mapping grassland habitat distribution at local to regional scales
Int. J. Appl. Earth Obs. Geoinform.
A standardized procedure for surveillance and monitoring European habitats and provision of spatial data
Landsc. Ecol.
Remote sensing for mapping natural habitats and their conservation status – new opportunities and challenges
Int. J. Appl. Earth Obs. Geoinform.
Multi-scale environmental heterogeneity as a predictor of plant species richness
Landsc. Ecol.
Land Cover Classification System (LCCS): Classification Concepts and User Manual
COM (2011) 244 final – Our life insurance, our natural capital: an EU biodiversity strategy to 2020
Building the European Union's Natura 2000 network
Nat. Conserv.
Importance of landscape features and Earth observation derived habitat maps for modelling amphibian distribution in the Alta Murgia National Park
Int. J. Appl. Earth Obs. Geoinform.
Predicting wild boar damages to croplands in a mosaic of agricultural and natural areas
Curr. Zool.
Cited by (15)
Contribution of Sentinel-2 satellite images for habitat mapping of the Natura 2000 site ‘Estuaire de la Loire’ (France)
2021, Remote Sensing Applications: Society and EnvironmentCitation Excerpt :Approaches based on remote sensing currently offer many opportunities for cost-effective, rapid and reproducible mapping (Corbane et al., 2015; Vanden Borre et al., 2011). More and more studies show that remote sensing is increasingly used for mapping natural environments (Lang et al., 2015). For example, this is the case for studies on the mapping of alkaline peatland habitats in Poland using Rapid-Eye satellite images (Stenzel et al., 2014) or on mapping Belgian heathland habitats using hyperspectral airborne imagery (Haest et al., 2017).
Analysis of recent changes in natural habitat types in the Apuseni Mountains (Romania), using multi-temporal Landsat satellite imagery (1986–2015)
2018, Applied GeographyCitation Excerpt :These problems require the development of appropriate tools for monitoring and assessing the changes of habitat types in the Apuseni Mountains, in order to improve the efficiency of management activities. There are many studies which have addressed the issue of mapping, monitoring and assessing the status of habitat types in protected areas using remote sensing data and methods, summarised, for example, by Kennedy et al. (2009), Borre et al. (2011), Nagendra et al. (2013), Gillespie, Willis, and Ostermann-Kelm (2015), Corbane et al. (2015) and Lang, Mairota, Pernkopf, and Schioppa (2015). Weiers, Bock, Wissen, and Rossner (2004) used remote sensing data and methods to monitor habitat types and to evaluate landscapes in the northern Schleswig-Holstein land at a regional scale, in the Eider-Treene-Sorge lower plain at a sub-regional scale and in several protected areas at a local scale.
A Conceptual Framework for Biodiversity Monitoring Programs in Conservation Areas
2023, Sustainability (Switzerland)Multi-decadal land use impacts across the vast range of an iconic threatened species
2021, Diversity and DistributionsRemote sensing of biodiversity: what to measure and monitor from space to species?
2021, Biodiversity and Conservation