Conservation biology has grown from local and regional studies of single species, into a discipline concerned with global biodiversity. Increasingly, remote sensing provides a crucial tool for the effective collection of the information needed to set conservation priorities, evaluate human impacts on ecological systems, and develop conservation plans. The perceived complexities of remote sensing data and analysis often discourage conservation biologists and applied ecologists from using this valuable resource.
The objective of Remote Sensing for Ecology and Conservation is to make remote sensing tools accessible to conservation biologists so that they can assess what tools they need, have enough information to recognize uses and abuses, and know when to try to use the tools themselves versus when to get outside help. In order to reach this audience, Remote Sensing for Ecology and Conservation departs from the standard organization of a remote sensing textbook, and instead is structured by biomes to reflect the organization used in the disciplines of ecology and conservation biology. The emphasis is on applications and examples (as opposed to specific methods and techniques), and showing how goals were met using well-developed figures and images.
Preface
Acronyms List
1. Introduction: Why Ecologists and Conservation Biologists Use Remote Sensing
2. When to Use Remote Sensing
3. Working with Images
4. Measuring and Monitoring Land Cover, Land Use, and Vegetation Characteristics
5. Terrain and Soils
6. Marine and Coastal Environments
7. Wetlands-Estuaries, Inland Wetlands, and Freshwater Lakes
8. Atmosphere and Climate
9. Disturbances: Fires and Floods
10. Landscape Fragmentation
11. Human Interfaces and Urban Change
12. Protected Area Design and Monitoring
13. Integrating Field Data
14. Linking Remote Sensing with Modeling
15. Global Conservation
Appendix 1 The Electromagnetic Spectrum
Appendix 2 Image Processing Software
Appendix 3 Open Source Software
Appendix 4 Satellites and Sensors
Appendix 5 Visual Interpretation
Appendix 6 Systems for Observing Climate and Atmospheric Phenomena
References
Index
If you are either contemplating the use of remote sensing approaches or requiring guidance in the interpretation of data obtained by this suite of methods, this book, well-illustrated in colour, is likely to be what you need ... [This] is an authoritative and pragmatic text, produced with potential and actual users in mind. Biodiversity and Conservation Horning et al successfully achieve their main goal of making the technical discipline of remote sensing accessible to a new audience. The text is supported by invaluable colour diagrams and images to bring the more technical aspects to life. This contribution to the 'Techniques in Ecology and Conservation' series will be of great use to advanced undergraduates, postgraduates, researchers and practitioners. Sarah Taylor, Bulletin of the British Ecological Society