Martinuzzi Sebastiáin, Gould William A, Ramos Gonzalez Olga M, Martinez Robles Alma, Calle Maldonado Paulina, Pérez-Buitrago Néstor, Fumero Caban José J
Geospatial Laboratory for Environmental Dynamics, College of Natural Resources, University of Idaho, Moscow, ID 83844-1135, USA.
Rev Biol Trop. 2008 Jun;56(2):625-39.
Assessing the status of tropical dry forest habitats using remote sensing technologies is one of the research priorities for Neotropical forests. We developed a simple method for mapping vegetation and habitats in a tropical dry forest reserve, Mona Island, Puerto Rico, by integrating the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) from Landsat, topographic information, and high-resolution Ikonos imagery. The method was practical for identifying vegetation types in areas with a great variety of plant communities and complex relief, and can be adapted to other dry forest habitats of the Caribbean Islands. NDVI was useful for identifying the distribution of forests, woodlands, and shrubland, providing a natural representation of the vegetation patterns on the island. The use of Ikonos imagery allowed increasing the number of land cover classes. As a result, sixteen land-cover types were mapped over the 5500 ha area, with a kappa coefficient of accuracy equal to 79%. This map is a central piece for modeling vertebrate species distribution and biodiversity patterns by the Puerto Rico Gap Analysis Project, and it is of great value for assisting research and management actions in the island.
利用遥感技术评估热带干燥森林栖息地的状况是新热带森林的研究重点之一。我们通过整合来自陆地卫星的归一化植被指数（NDVI）、地形信息和高分辨率伊科诺斯卫星图像，开发了一种简单的方法来绘制波多黎各莫纳岛热带干燥森林保护区的植被和栖息地地图。该方法对于识别具有多种植物群落和复杂地形的地区的植被类型很实用，并且可以适用于加勒比群岛的其他干燥森林栖息地。NDVI有助于识别森林、林地和灌木地的分布，自然地呈现了该岛的植被格局。使用伊科诺斯卫星图像增加了土地覆盖类型的数量。结果，在5500公顷的区域内绘制了16种土地覆盖类型，卡帕精度系数为79%。这幅地图是波多黎各差距分析项目模拟脊椎动物物种分布和生物多样性格局的核心内容，对于协助该岛的研究和管理行动具有重要价值。
