Application of Ground-Based Lidar and Gap Intercept Measurements to Quantify a Shrub Configuration Metric within Greater Sage-Grouse Nesting Habitat

Zabihi, Khodabakhsh; Driese, Kenneth L.; Paige, Ginger B.; Hild, Ann K.

doi:10.3398/064.079.0404

Cited by 4 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 50 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Whereas reptile studies were conducted in the rainforest [24], agroecosystem [79], or inland and coastal waters [51], amphibian studies were restricted to seasonal ponds within temperate forests (N = 3). Five studies corresponding to four taxonomic groups were conducted in arid and semiarid ecosystems: birds [80], BLF [30], reptiles [47], and invertebrates [15,57].…”

Section: Geographic Distribution Taxonomic Groups and Ecosystems Surveyedmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Only four studies used LiDAR data from space sensors, specifically the publicly available Geoscience Laser Altimeter System (GLAS) onboard the ICE, Cloud and land Elevation Satellite (ICESat), and available from 2003 to 2009. Four articles acquired LiDAR data from TLS: DTMs [15,86]; canopy structural metrics [38] and shrub canopy structure [80]. According to our query, we did not record any study using UAS (drones).…”

Section: Lidar Characteristicsmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Disentangling LiDAR Contribution in Modelling Species–Habitat Structure Relationships in Terrestrial Ecosystems Worldwide. A Systematic Review and Future Directions

2021

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Global biodiversity is threatened by unprecedented and increasing anthropogenic pressures, including habitat loss and fragmentation. LiDAR can become a decisive technology by providing accurate information about the linkages between biodiversity and ecosystem structure. Here, we review the current use of LiDAR metrics in ecological studies regarding birds, mammals, reptiles, amphibians, invertebrates, bryophytes, lichens, and fungi (BLF). We quantify the types of research (ecosystem and LiDAR sources) and describe the LiDAR platforms and data that are currently available. We also categorize and harmonize LiDAR metrics into five LiDAR morphological traits (canopy cover, height and vertical distribution, understory and shrubland, and topographic traits) and quantify their current use and effectiveness across taxonomic groups and ecosystems. The literature review returned 173 papers that met our criteria. Europe and North America held most of the studies, and birds were the most studied group, whereas temperate forest was by far the most represented ecosystem. Globally, canopy height was the most used LiDAR trait, especially in forest ecosystems, whereas canopy cover and terrain topography traits performed better in those ecosystems where they were mapped. Understory structure and shrubland traits together with terrain topography showed high effectiveness for less studied groups such as BLF and invertebrates and in open landscapes. Our results show how LiDAR technology has greatly contributed to habitat mapping, including organisms poorly studied until recently, such as BLF. Finally, we discuss the forthcoming opportunities for biodiversity mapping with different LiDAR platforms in combination with spectral information. We advocate (i) for the integration of spaceborne LiDAR data with the already available airborne (airplane, drones) and terrestrial technology, and (ii) the coupling of it with multispectral/hyperspectral information, which will allow for the exploration and analyses of new species and ecosystems.

show abstract

Section: Geographic Distribution Taxonomic Groups and Ecosystems Surveyedmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Lidar Characteristicsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Disentangling LiDAR Contribution in Modelling Species–Habitat Structure Relationships in Terrestrial Ecosystems Worldwide. A Systematic Review and Future Directions

2021

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…The datasets for this study are a part of data collected by Zabihi et al, (2019), who investigated the spatial configurations of shrub and non-shrub gaps within 3D augmented scales, a different approach, and objectives than ours. We randomly selected 10 sites from 58 formerly identified sites (GPS-recorded locations; Zabihi et al, 2019) within the two habitats (five sites in each habitat) to measure vegetation characteristics using line-transect surveys.…”

Section: Line-transect Measurementsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…We used a linear point spacing of less than 2 cm at a 1000 m distance (Optech Inc., 2012). We acquired laser returns of each 2 × 8 m 2 plot from four roughly opposite directions using the multi-scan approach, intending to capture all dimensions of the shrubs, minimizing shrub occlusion and distance effects (Zabihi et al, 2019). Three tripods were placed around the plots as benchmarks (Figure 2), and both first and last laser returns were collected at 5-6 mm pointspacing from all scan directions.…”

Section: Terrestrial Lidar Data Acquisitionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Increased understanding of structural complexity in nature: relationship between shrub height and changes in spatial patterns

Zabihi,

B. Paige,

null

et al. 2023

Geosciences

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Characterizing and visualizing the vertical trends of three-dimensional (3D) structures help the science community and the public better conceptualize and perceive the structural complexity embedded in nature. We used terrestrial laser scanning (TLS) coupled with transect vegetation surveys to characterize vegetative structural complexity at vertical profiles in the shrubland ecosystems of western Wyoming, USA. We developed a homogeneity index for canopy cover spatial distributions using a reverse measure of lacunarity computed on 3D laser returns from the canopy covers. Height-dependent spatial homogeneity functions were defined by plotting the homogeneity index calculated at every 5 cm height of vegetation. We

show abstract

“…These two species rely on sagebrush wholly for occupancy and reproduction and for about 50% of their diet in summer and up to 100% in winter . However, they select specific sagebrush species for nesting (Severson et al, 2017;Zabihi et al, 2019) and feeding, and even select within species for specific concentrations of phytochemicals . Therefore, procuring better ways to measure and monitor these complex and diverse phenotypes, specifically chemotypes, remains paramount to successful management of these threatened herbivores.…”

Section: General Conclusionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Spectral Fingerprints Predict Functional Phenotypes of a Native Shrub

Robb¹

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Landscapes are rapidly changing. To understand these changes and how they may influence coexisting herbivores, it is critical that we improve the ways in which we monitor changes in plant species, populations, and functional phenotypic traits over space and time. Near infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) is proving to be a valuable tool when it comes to this goal. NIRS is noninvasive and can provide high-resolution temporal information, including structural and chemical characteristics, on objects that are otherwise expansive, inaccessible, or imperceptible. We used the threatened sagebrush-steppe ecosystem, which spans over 43 million hectares of the Western United States, as a case study to test the accuracy in which NIRS can measure and classify functional phenotypic traits of sagebrush (Artemisia spp.) populations. Sagebrush habitats are known to have extreme levels of genetic and chemical heterogeneity and plasticity. Yet, our results showed that NIRS can classify species of sagebrush within a site, populations of sagebrush within a species across sites, and phenology (both seasonally and annually) of sagebrush within a population. These taxonomic, geographic, and phenological phenotypes are functionally important in many ways, including determining species composition and distribution, identifying developmental stages of individual plants, potentially detecting past and present anthropogenic and environmental stressors, and predicting interactions with herbivores. Even so, habitat use by coexisting herbivores is not always explained by these relatively crude phenotypes. Specifically, herbivores make foraging decisions based on specific concentrations of chemical phenotypes that have functional consequences for herbivores. Our research further demonstrated that NIRS can predict concentrations of individual chemical compounds and classes of compounds, in the forms of both nutrients and toxins, in sagebrush plants across species and populations. As such, we further tested if NIRS could directly predict browsing by coexisting sagebrush herbivores, in the form of bite marks on plants. Although NIRS was not able to predict herbivore foraging behavior, it shows promise for predicting foraging behavior indirectly through predicted concentrations of phytochemicals and directly with finer tuned field validation and model calibration. To monitor the threats of climate and anthropogenic disturbances on ecosystems, it is essential we find better ways to quantify the functional phenotypes that mediate interactions among plants, herbivores, and the environment. We show that NIRS can be a powerful tool in achieving this aim.

show abstract

Application of Ground-Based Lidar and Gap Intercept Measurements to Quantify a Shrub Configuration Metric within Greater Sage-Grouse Nesting Habitat

Cited by 4 publications

References 50 publications

Disentangling LiDAR Contribution in Modelling Species–Habitat Structure Relationships in Terrestrial Ecosystems Worldwide. A Systematic Review and Future Directions

Disentangling LiDAR Contribution in Modelling Species–Habitat Structure Relationships in Terrestrial Ecosystems Worldwide. A Systematic Review and Future Directions

Increased understanding of structural complexity in nature: relationship between shrub height and changes in spatial patterns

Spectral Fingerprints Predict Functional Phenotypes of a Native Shrub

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About