Rangeland Ecology & Management

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Utilizing National Agriculture Imagery Program Data to Estimate Tree Cover and Biomass of Piñon and Juniper Woodlands
Author
Hulet, A.
Roundy, B. A.
Petersen, S. L.
Bunting, S. C.
Jensen, R. R.
Roundy, D. B.
Publisher
Society for Range Management
Publication Year
2014-09
Body

With the encroachment of piñon (Pinus ssp.) and juniper (Juniperus ssp.) woodlands onto sagebrush steppe rangelands, there is an increasing interest in rapid, accurate, and inexpensive quantification methods to estimate tree canopy cover and aboveground biomass. The objectives of this study were 1) to evaluate the relationship and agreement of piñon and juniper (P-J) canopy cover estimates, using object-based image analysis (OBIA) techniques and National Agriculture Imagery Program (NAIP, 1-m pixel resolution) imagery with ground measurements, and 2) to investigate the relationship between remotely-sensed P-J canopy cover and ground-measured aboveground biomass. For the OBIA, we used eCognition® Developer 8.8 software to extract tree canopy cover from NAIP imagery across 12 P-J woodlands within the Sagebrush Steppe Treatment Evaluation Project (SageSTEP) network. The P-J woodlands were categorized based on the dominant tree species found at the individual sites for the analysis (western juniper, Utah juniper, and mixed P-J community). Following tree canopy cover extractions, relationships were assessed between remotely-sensed canopy cover and ground-measured aboveground biomass. Our OBIA estimates for P-J canopy cover were highly correlated with ground-measured tree canopy cover (averaged across all regions r=0.92). However, differences between methods occurred for western and Utah juniper sites (P<0.05), and were more prominent where tree canopy cover was >40%. There were high degrees of correlation between predicted aboveground biomass estimates with the use of remotely-sensed tree canopy cover and ground-measured aboveground biomass (averaged across all regions r=0.89). Our results suggest that OBIA methods combined with NAIP imagery can provide land managers with quantitative data that can be used to evaluate P-J woodland cover and aboveground biomass rapidly, on broad scales. Although some accuracy and precision may be lost when utilizing aerial imagery to identify P-J canopy cover and aboveground biomass, it is a reasonable alternative to ground monitoring and inventory practices. © 2014 The Society for Range Management. The Rangeland Ecology & Management archives are made available by the Society for Range Management and the University of Arizona Libraries. Contact lbry-journals@email.arizona.edu for further information.

Language
en
Resource Type
Text
Document Type
Journal Issue/Article
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
10.2111/REM-D-13-00044.1
Additional Information
Hulet, A., Roundy, B. A., Petersen, S. L., Bunting, S. C., Jensen, R. R., & Roundy, D. B. (2014). Utilizing National Agriculture Imagery Program Data to Estimate Tree Cover and Biomass of Piñon and Juniper Woodlands. Rangeland Ecology & Management, 67(5), 563–572.
IISN
0022-409x
OAI Identifier
oai:repository.arizona.edu:10150/656987
Journal Volume
67
Journal Number
5
Journal Pages
563-572
Journal Name
Rangeland Ecology & Management
Keywords
biomass
ECognition® Developer
Juniperus
Object-based image analysis
Pinus
remote sensing