Recent Projects
Landscape pattern analysis of mountain pine
beetle infestation using a time-series of Landsat imagery
The current epidemic of mountain pine beetle
(Dendroctonus ponderosae Hopkins) in British Columbia presents a considerable
challenge to forest resource managers. As a result of anthropogenic
and climatic influences on the lodgepole pine ecosystem, mountain
pine beetle populations in the central interior of British Columbia
have reached epidemic proportions leading to tree mortality at a regional
scale.
While several management options exist to minimize
the impacts of mountain pine beetle, knowledge of the spatial and
temporal patterns of infestation at the landscape level has the potential
to contribute to the effectiveness of these techniques and lead to
new management options. Furthermore, this information is critical
to predict the effects of landscape changes on both biodiversity and
ecosystem functioning and services.
Mountain pine beetle-induced tree mortality
and operational logging (including related salvage and mitigation
activities) lead to habitat fragmentation at both a landscape and
local scale. This has important ecological implications related to
habitat abundance, biodiversity, and the influence that changes in
spatial pattern have on a variety of ecological processes. Using a
time-series of nine Landsat images spanning a period of 15 years positioned
in the central interior of British Columbia, landscape pattern indices
will be used to identify and measure changes in the degree of landscape
fragmentation and connectivity associated with both beetle infestation
and logging.
The information gained from these analyses
will provide the means to characterize forest conditions prior, during,
and subsequent to mountain pine beetle infestation and will contribute
to a better understanding of mountain pine beetle outbreaks, forest
stand mortality, and landscape disturbance and recovery.
Associated pubications:
Gillanders, S.N., Coops, N.C., Wulder, M.A.,
Gergel, S.E., Nelson, T. (in press) Multitemporal remote sensing of
landscape dynamics and pattern change: Describing natural and anthropogenic
trends. Progress in Physical Geography
Gillanders, S.N., Coops, N.C., Goodwin, N.R.
and M.A. Wulder. (In press) Application of Landsat satellite imagery
to monitor land cover changes at the Athabasca oil sands, Alberta,
Canada. The Canadian Geographer.
Goodwin, N.R., Coops, N.C., Wulder, M.A. Gillanders,
S.N., Schroeder,T.A., Nelson, T. 2008. Estimation of insect infestation
dynamics using a temporal sequence of Landsat data. Remote Sensing
of Environment 112:3680-3689.
