A Scaling Rule for Landscape Patches and How It Applies to Conserving Soil Resources in Savannas

Ludwig, John A.; Wiens, John A.; Tongway, David J.

doi:10.1007/s100210000012

Cited by 141 publications

(111 citation statements)

References 71 publications

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“…Recently, scientists have focused on the direct and indirect influences vegetation patches and bare patches (or BSC patches) have on infiltration, runoff, erosion, soil water and productivity after precipitation events [122][123][124]. Furthermore, the influences of extreme precipitation events and extreme drought on vegetation pattern are key research fields for domestic and overseas scientists [125].…”

Section: Hydrological Control Of Vegetation Patterns and Processesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, given the unique plant community patterns and hydrological processes in arid desert regions, scientists now prefer to consider the water response and feedback mechanisms in plants from stochastic eco-hydrological viewpoints. Some studies built a kinetic model and analyzed vegetation patterns and dynamics on the basis of the feedback between hydrological processes and vegetation [77,78,129,130] or interpreted the ecological pattern formation process in arid regions, as controlled by hydrology, using a conceptual model such as "Trigger-transmit-reserve-pulse" (TTRP) [122][123][124]. However, the former does not embody the stochastic attributes of precipitation, which is the best way to describe the hydrological characteristics in arid regions, while the latter was only a conceptual model.…”

Section: Building the Eco-hydrological Modelmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Review of the ecohydrological processes and feedback mechanisms controlling sand-binding vegetation systems in sandy desert regions of China

et al. 2013

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Soil water is the key abiotic limiting factor in desert areas and hydrological processes determine the vegetation composition, patterns and processes in desert regions. The hydrological processes can be altered by vegetation succession. In this paper, we review the major advances in ecohydrological research and their potential impact on plant-water relations in revegetated desert communities. The major advances in ecohydrological research over the past 50 years in desert areas were analyzed using a case study that investigated the long-term ecosystem effects of sand-binding vegetation in the Tengger Desert. Key challenges and opportunities for ecohydrology research in the future are also discussed in the context of the major scientific issues affecting sand binding vegetation.

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Section: Hydrological Control Of Vegetation Patterns and Processesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Building the Eco-hydrological Modelmentioning

confidence: 99%

Review of the ecohydrological processes and feedback mechanisms controlling sand-binding vegetation systems in sandy desert regions of China

et al. 2013

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“…Third, the ecological meanings of most landscape indices deserve further scrutiny. Emphasis should be placed on indices that directly measure processes or have built-in relationships with ecological processes ͑e.g., O'Neill et al 1999;Ludwig et al 2000͒.…”

Section: Diffıculty In Interpreting Indicesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Use and misuse of landscape indices

2004

Landscape Ecology

673

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Landscape ecology has generated much excitement in the past two decades. One reason was that it brought spatial analysis and modeling to the forefront of ecological research. However, high expectations for landscape analysis to improve our understanding and prediction of ecological processes have largely been unfulfilled. We identified three kinds of critical issues: conceptual flaws in landscape pattern analysis, inherent limitations of landscape indices, and improper use of pattern indices. For example, many landscape analyses treat quantitative description of spatial pattern as an end itself and fail to explore relationships between pattern and process. Landscape indices and map data are sometimes used without testing their ecological relevance, which may not only confound interpretation of results, but also lead to meaningless results. In addition, correlation analysis with indices is impeded by the lack of data because of difficulties in large-scale experimentation and by complicated behavior of indices because of their varying responses to changes in scale and spatial pattern. These problems represent significant challenges to landscape pattern analysis, especially in terms of relating pattern to process. In this perspective paper, we examine the underlying problems of these challenges and offer some solutions.

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“…The discussion of ecological change in African savannas focuses on shifts in tree and shrub cover, specifically the decline in tree cover and change in spatial arrangement of trees, which impacts the productivity of the system, modifies availability of resources for both wildlife and humans, and could have large impacts on earth-atmosphere interactions [10][11][12]. It is thus imperative that the quantification and characterization of tree canopies in savannas is improved to inform management policies aimed at ensuring sustainable use of resources in savanna regions and to better understand the impact of changes in savannas at multiple scales [6,13].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Application of Object Based Classification and High Resolution Satellite Imagery for Savanna Ecosystem Analysis

et al. 2010

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Savanna ecosystems are an important component of dryland regions and yet are exceedingly difficult to study using satellite imagery. Savannas are composed are varying amounts of trees, shrubs and grasses and typically traditional classification schemes or vegetation indices cannot differentiate across class type. This research utilizes object based classification (OBC) for a region in Namibia, using IKONOS imagery, to help differentiate tree canopies and therefore woodland savanna, from shrub or grasslands. The methodology involved the identification and isolation of tree canopies within the imagery and the creation of tree polygon layers had an overall accuracy of 84%. In addition, the results were scaled up to a corresponding Landsat image of the same region, and the OBC results compared to corresponding pixel values of NDVI. The results were not compelling, indicating once more the problems of these traditional image analysis techniques for savanna ecosystems. Overall, the use of the OBC holds great promise for this ecosystem and could be utilized more frequently in studies of vegetation structure.

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A Scaling Rule for Landscape Patches and How It Applies to Conserving Soil Resources in Savannas

Cited by 141 publications

References 71 publications

Review of the ecohydrological processes and feedback mechanisms controlling sand-binding vegetation systems in sandy desert regions of China

Review of the ecohydrological processes and feedback mechanisms controlling sand-binding vegetation systems in sandy desert regions of China

Use and misuse of landscape indices

Application of Object Based Classification and High Resolution Satellite Imagery for Savanna Ecosystem Analysis

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