Separating grazing and rainfall effects at regional scale using remote sensing imagery: A dynamic reference-cover method

Bastin, Gary; Scarth, Peter; Chewings, V. H.; Sparrow, Ashley D.; Denham, Robert; Schmidt, Michaël; O’Reagain, Peter J.; Shepherd, Robert J.; Abbott, Brett N.

doi:10.1016/j.rse.2012.02.021

Cited by 70 publications

(56 citation statements)

References 47 publications

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“…This is consistent with the work done by Bastin et al (2012) who showed that it was the relative difference between a pixel cover value and a reference value that was more important for predicting the condition of a region. …”

Section: Sentinel-2 Datasupporting

confidence: 91%

Management Effects on Ground Cover Clumpiness: Scaling From Field to Sentinel-2 Cover Estimates

Scarth

Trevithick²

2017

Int. Arch. Photogramm. Remote Sens. Spatial Inf. Sci.

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ABSTRACT:Significant progress has been made in the development of cover data and derived products based on remotely sensed fractional cover information and field data across Australia, and these cover data sets are now used for quantifying and monitoring grazing land condition. The availability of a dense time-series of nearly 30 years of cover data to describe the spatial and temporal patterns in landscape changes over time can help with monitoring the effectiveness of grazing land management practice change. With the advent of higher spatial resolution data, such as that provided by the Copernicus Sentinel 2 series of satellites, we can look beyond reporting purely on cover amount and more closely at the operational monitoring and reporting on spatial arrangement of cover and its links with land condition. We collected high spatial resolution cover transects at 20 cm intervals over the Wambiana grazing trials in the Burdekin catchment in Queensland, Australia. Spatial variance analysis was used to determine the cover autocorrelation at various support intervals. Coincident Sentinel-2 imagery was collected and processed over all the sites providing imagery to link with the field data. We show that the spatial arrangement and temporal dynamics of cover are important indicators of grazing land condition for both productivity and water quality outcomes. The metrics and products derived from this research will assist land managers to prioritize investment and practice change strategies for long term sustainability and improved water quality, particularly in the Great Barrier Reef catchments.

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Section: Sentinel-2 Datasupporting

confidence: 91%

Management Effects on Ground Cover Clumpiness: Scaling From Field to Sentinel-2 Cover Estimates

Scarth

Trevithick²

2017

Int. Arch. Photogramm. Remote Sens. Spatial Inf. Sci.

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“…The effect of degradation on PV cover was clear; a reduction in PV cover of 11.3% (Table 7) and 17% for scaled PV cover (Table 2). PV cover, while not the only component of vegetation cover, is closely related to previous interpretations of vegetation cover loss in degradation studies [50] and as was shown by the moderate agreement between scaled PV cover and the ABCD condition map [43] (k = 0.6, Table 5). Furthermore, in other Australian rangelands, between 10% and 30% reductions in vegetation cover have been reported [51,52].…”

Section: Degradation and Components Of Fractional Cover In The Bdtsupporting

confidence: 77%

Degradation of Non-Photosynthetic Vegetation in a Semi-Arid Rangeland

Jackson

Prince

2016

Remote Sensing

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Land degradation in drylands is the process in which undesirable conditions emerge due to human and natural causes. Despite the particularly deleterious effects of degradation, and it's potentially irreversible nature, regional assessments have provided conflicting extents, rates, and severities of degradation, both globally and regionally. Current monitoring of degradation relies upon the detection of green, photosynthetically active parts of vegetation (e.g., leaves). Less is known, however, about the effect of degradation on the non-photosynthetic components of vegetation (e.g., wood, stems, leaf litter) and the relationship between photosynthetic vegetation (PV), non-photosynthetic vegetation (NPV), and bare soil under degraded conditions (BS). The major objective of the study was to evaluate regional patterns of fractional cover (i.e., PV, NPV, BS) under degraded and non-degraded NPP conditions in a managed rangeland in north Queensland, Australia. Homogenous environmental conditions were identified and each of NPP, PV, NPV, and BS were scaled according to their potential, reference values. We found a strong spatial and temporal correlation between scaled NPP with both scaled PV and scaled BS. Drastic differences were also found for PV and BS between degraded and non-degraded conditions. NPV displayed similarity to both PV and BS, however no clear relationship was found for NPV in all areas, irrespective of degradation conditions.

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“…However, without additional data on land usage, such as livestock numbers and management practices, the causes of the reductions by human-related activities are hard to determine (Bastin et al, 2012). The most commonly cited management practices to reduce degradation are reduction in domestic livestock, reduction in feral herbivores, removal of watering points (Bastin et al, 2012;Fensham and Fairfax, 2008;Silcock and Fensham, 2013), fallowing (Bastin et al, 1993(Bastin et al, , 2012, or encouraging vegetation that is particularly resistant to overgrazing or able to recover quickly after intense grazing (Bastin et al, 2012;McKeon et al, 2004;. Additional data are needed to interpret low LNS, particularly with field observation.…”

Section: Anthropogenic and Environmental Degradationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Degradation of net primary production in a semiarid rangeland

Jackson

Prince

2016

Biogeosciences

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Abstract. Anthropogenic land degradation affects many biogeophysical processes, including reductions of net primary production (NPP). Degradation occurs at scales from small fields to continental and global. While measurement and monitoring of NPP in small areas is routine in some studies, for scales larger than 1 km 2 , and certainly global, there is no regular monitoring and certainly no attempt to measure degradation. Quantitative and repeatable techniques to assess the extent of deleterious effects and monitor changes are needed to evaluate its effects on, for example, economic yields of primary products such as crops, lumber, and forage, and as a measure of land surface properties which are currently missing from dynamic global vegetation models, assessments of carbon sequestration, and land surface models of heat, water, and carbon exchanges. This study employed the local NPP scaling (LNS) approach to identify patterns of anthropogenic degradation of NPP in the Burdekin Dry Tropics (BDT) region of Queensland, Australia, from 2000 to 2013. The method starts with land classification based on the environmental factors presumed to control (NPP) to group pixels having similar potential NPP. Then, satellite remotely sensing data were used to compare actual NPP with its potential. The difference in units of mass of carbon and percentage loss were the measure of degradation. The entire BDT (7.45 × 10 6 km 2 ) was investigated at a spatial resolution of 250 × 250 m. The average annual reduction in NPP due to anthropogenic land degradation in the entire BDT was −2.14 MgC m −2 yr −1 , or 17 % of the non-degraded potential, and the total reduction was −214 MgC yr −1 . Extreme average annual losses of 524.8 gC m −2 yr −1 were detected. Approximately 20 % of the BDT was classified as "degraded". Varying severities and rates of degradation were found among the river basins, of which the Belyando and Suttor were highest. Interannual, negative trends in reductions of NPP occurred in 7 % of the entire region, indicating ongoing degradation. There was evidence of areas that were in a permanently degraded condition. The findings provide strong evidence and quantitative data for reductions in NPP related to anthropogenic land degradation in the BDT.

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Separating grazing and rainfall effects at regional scale using remote sensing imagery: A dynamic reference-cover method

Cited by 70 publications

References 47 publications

Management Effects on Ground Cover Clumpiness: Scaling From Field to Sentinel-2 Cover Estimates

Management Effects on Ground Cover Clumpiness: Scaling From Field to Sentinel-2 Cover Estimates

Degradation of Non-Photosynthetic Vegetation in a Semi-Arid Rangeland

Degradation of net primary production in a semiarid rangeland

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