a solution to modelling vegetation condition for whole-of-landscape conservation planning megan j...
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A solution to modelling vegetation condition for whole-of-landscape
conservation planning
Megan J McNellie1,2†; Ian Oliver 2;
Simon Ferrier3; Graeme Newell4; Glenn Manion2; Peter Griffioen5; Matt White4 and
Philip Gibbons1
Spatial Ecology and ConservationUniversity of Birmingham 17th – 20th June 2014
Vegetation condition is also referred to as quality, health, intactness or naturalness
We need vegetation condition to help inform decisions about land management
and biodiversity conservation
Spatial Ecology and ConservationUniversity of Birmingham 17th – 20th June 2014
• Vegetation condition
• Vegetation structure or composition ( = type)
• Vegetation configuration
• Vegetation extent
Increasing complexity
Spatial Ecology and ConservationUniversity of Birmingham 17th – 20th June 2014
Spatial Ecology and ConservationUniversity of Birmingham 17th – 20th June 2014
Image Credit: ESRI 1:5k base map for UK and Ireland
Spatial Ecology and ConservationUniversity of Birmingham 17th – 20th June 2014
Image Credit: Elizabeth Broese
Spatial Ecology and ConservationUniversity of Birmingham 17th – 20th June 2014
Overstorey cover
STRUCTURE
Spatial Ecology and ConservationUniversity of Birmingham 17th – 20th June 2014
Overstorey cover
Midstorey cover
Shrub cover
STRUCTURE
Spatial Ecology and ConservationUniversity of Birmingham 17th – 20th June 2014
Overstorey cover
Midstorey cover
Shrub cover
Total groundcover
Grassy groundcover Other groundcover
STRUCTURE
Spatial Ecology and ConservationUniversity of Birmingham 17th – 20th June 2014
Total exotic cover
Native species richnessProportion exotic species
COMPOSITION
Spatial Ecology and ConservationUniversity of Birmingham 17th – 20th June 2014
Surrogate for fauna habitat mapping or species distribution modelling
Image Credit: Ken Stepnell
Spatial Ecology and ConservationUniversity of Birmingham 17th – 20th June 2014
Image Credit:: Tanya Doody CSIRO
Restoration and regeneration
Spatial Ecology and ConservationUniversity of Birmingham 17th – 20th June 2014
Image Credit: Michael Jarman / OEH
Planning for fire management
Spatial Ecology and ConservationUniversity of Birmingham 17th – 20th June 2014
Image Credit: J Doyle / OEH
Ecological management of weeds and invasive species
Spatial Ecology and ConservationUniversity of Birmingham 17th – 20th June 2014
Image Credit: Stuart Cohen / OEH
Aesthetic and cultural values
Image Credit: Kelly Nowak / OEH
Spatial Ecology and ConservationUniversity of Birmingham 17th – 20th June 2014
Spatial Ecology and ConservationUniversity of Birmingham 17th – 20th June 2014
Hidden layer
Predictor variables
Output layer
Input matrix
+14 000site
locations
Artificial neural network architecture
Spatial Ecology and ConservationUniversity of Birmingham 17th – 20th June 2014
Overstorey cover r2 = 0.48
STRUCTURE
Spatial Ecology and ConservationUniversity of Birmingham 17th – 20th June 2014
Overstorey cover r2 = 0.48
Midstorey cover r2 = 0.36
Shrub cover r2 = 0.35
STRUCTURE
Spatial Ecology and ConservationUniversity of Birmingham 17th – 20th June 2014
Overstorey cover r2 = 0.48
Total groundcover r2 = 0.43 Grassy groundcover r2 = 0.31 Other groundcover r2 = 0.44
Midstorey cover r2 = 0.36
Shrub cover r2 = 0.35
STRUCTURE
Spatial Ecology and ConservationUniversity of Birmingham 17th – 20th June 2014
Total exotic cover r2 = 0.81
Native species richness r2 = 0.67
Proportion exotic species r2 = 0.88
COMPOSITION
Spatial Ecology and ConservationUniversity of Birmingham 17th – 20th June 2014
Spatial Ecology and ConservationUniversity of Birmingham 17th – 20th June 2014
NativeSpecies Richness
r=0.82
fewer than 10 species
10 - 20
20 - 30
30 - 40
greater than 50 species
Predicted native species richnessr2 = 0.69
Spatial Ecology and ConservationUniversity of Birmingham 17th – 20th June 2014
Coonanarabran
Gunnedah
Narrabri
NativeSpecies Richness
r=0.82
fewer than 10 species
10 - 20
20 - 30
30 - 40
greater than 50 species
Spatial Ecology and ConservationUniversity of Birmingham 17th – 20th June 2014
Key Points
• transformed existing floristic records to describe the structure and composition of a site,
• delivered a spatially explicit representation of nine vegetation attributes,
• used to inform a range of ecological applications, including assessment of whole of landscape condition status
Spatial Ecology and ConservationUniversity of Birmingham 17th – 20th June 2014
Spatial Ecology and ConservationUniversity of Birmingham 17th – 20th June 2014
Image Credit: J Spencer/OEH
Spatial Ecology and ConservationUniversity of Birmingham 17th – 20th June 2014
Spatial Ecology and ConservationUniversity of Birmingham 17th – 20th June 2014