Remote sensing: ecology

P Aplin — 2005-03-26T23:49:02-00:00

Progress in Physical Geography, Vol. 29, No. 1. (January 2005), pp. 104-113.

I Introduction - Ecology involves the investigation of organisms and their environmental setting. Generally, such investigation requires spatially explicit data, given the basic need for knowledge about the location and distribution of species (Turner et al., 2003). The traditional means of collecting ecological data is through manual, field-based observation (Shuman and Ambrose, 2003; Mehner et al., 2004). This approach has the benefit of generating highly accurate measurements but, because of its labour-intensive nature, it is generally impractical for anything other than local-scale studies. The implications of ecological analysis, however, extend well beyond the local scale and there is considerable need for, and interest in, ecological investigation at wider spatial scales, from the landscape (Ferreira et al., 2003; Hall et al., 2004; Turner et al., 2004) to the entire globe (Asner et al., 2003b; Latifovic and Olthof, 2004; Awaya et al., 2004). Consequently, remote sensing has become common in much ecological investigation, providing the only realistic, costeffective means of acquiring data over large areas (Kerr and Ostrovsky, 2003; Cohen and Goward, 2004; Wulder et al., 2004). Recent developments in technology and modelling techniques mean that remote sensing is in a stronger position than ever to benefit ecology. Given these remote sensing developments, and the general significance of ecology within physical geography, this Progress report focuses on ecological remote sensing. Initially, remote sensing-based ecological analysis is introduced generally, followed by a more detailed discussion related to the spatial scale of investigation. Terrestrial and marine applications of ecological remote sensing are then described in turn. Finally, some general developments in remote sensing are reviewed briefly.

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Remote sensing: ecology