A Multi-scale, Hierarchical Model to Map Riparian Zones

作者：Salo J A^*; Theobald D M

来源：River Research and Applications, 2016, 32(8): 1709-1720.

DOI：10.1002/rra.3019

• riparian ecosystems
• potential and current riparian zones
• spatial analysis
• human modification
• Geographic Information Systems

Riparian zones are important for their contribution to biodiversity and ecosystem services, especially in the western USA where riparian zones occupy a small proportion of the landscape but support a majority of the biodiversity. However, few accurate datasets of riparian zone locations are available over broad spatial extents, and cost efficient methods to map riparian zones at fine spatial resolutions do not currently exist. We created a multi-scale, hierarchical, and process-guided method to map the location of riparian zones using readily available, national datasets. We demonstrate the applicably of this straightforward method in the Southern Rockies Ecoregion, where we mapped both current riparian zones (the riparian zone that is not strongly modified by human land uses and is assumed to support natural riparian vegetation) and potential riparian zones (the area that would likely support natural riparian vegetation in the absence of human activity). The overall accuracy of our method for potential and current riparian zones was 92%. The Southern Rockies Ecoregion is composed of 3.1% (+/- 0.3%) potential and 2.5 (+/- 0.2%) current riparian zones, indicating that roughly 21.0% (+/- 0.5%) of riparian zones have been removed by human activities. This modelling approach can be used to create detailed maps of riparian zones to inform regional conservation and management decision-making, and the methods can be applied to different regions at multiple scales from small watersheds to a national analysis.

• 出版日期2016-10