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Rastreo de la Fragmentación de Comunidades Naturales y de Cambios en la Cobertura de Suelo: Aplicaciones de Datos de Landsat para la Conservación en un Paisaje Urbano (Chicago Wilderness)
Author(s) -
Wang Yeqiao,
Moskovits Debra K.
Publication year - 2001
Publication title -
conservation biology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.2
H-Index - 222
eISSN - 1523-1739
pISSN - 0888-8892
DOI - 10.1046/j.1523-1739.2001.015004835.x
Subject(s) - geography , urban sprawl , wilderness , thematic mapper , land cover , woodland , wilderness area , land use , vegetation (pathology) , environmental resource management , fragmentation (computing) , wetland , satellite imagery , remote sensing , cartography , ecology , environmental science , medicine , pathology , biology
Greater Chicago is home to a surprisingly high concentration of globally significant natural communities. Within the metropolis survive some of the world's best remaining examples of eastern tallgrass prairie, oak savanna, open oak woodland, and prairie wetland. Chicago Wilderness is more than 81,000 ha of protected areas in the urban and suburban matrix. It also is the name of the coalition of more than 110 organizations committed to the survival of these natural lands. The long‐term health of these imperiled communities depends on proper management of the more extensive, restorable lands that surround and connect the patches of high‐quality habitat. Information critical to the success of conservation efforts in the region includes (1) a current vegetation map of Chicago Wilderness in sufficient detail to allow quantitative goal setting for the region's biodiversity recovery plan; (2) quantified fragmentation status of the natural communities; and (3) patterns of land‐cover change and their effects on the vitality of communities under threat. We used multispectral data from the Landsat thematic mapper (October 1997) and associated ground truthing to produce a current vegetation map. With multitemporal remote‐sensing data (acquired in 1972, 1985, and 1997), we derived land‐cover maps of the region at roughly equivalent intervals over the past 25 years. Analyses with geographic information system models reveal rapid acceleration of urban and suburban sprawl over the past 12 years. Satellite images provide striking visual comparisons of land use and health. They also provide banks of geographically referenced data that make quantitative tracking of trends possible. The data on habitat degradation and fragmentation are the biological foundation of quantitative goals for regional restoration.