Satellite-based mapping of vegetation and landscape dynamics on Alaska’s Seward Peninsula during 1986-2012

Background/Question/Methods:

Boreal and arctic regions of Alaska are experiencing rapid warming compared to the other parts of the world. Changes in temperature and precipitation regimes are causing changes in ecosystem structures and functions such as, increased thawing of permafrost, higher rates of disturbance events, and the northward expansion of trees and shrubs. One of the potential impacts is the changes of the habitats used by migratory birds in the region, but the extent and variation in these changes in habitats across the landscape are poorly studied.   

Results/Conclusions:

Time-series multi-scale remote sensing has taken an important role in characterization of changes in ecosystem structures and functions across scales. Among all the satellite data available, Landsat data are proved to be one of the most useful resources for mapping land-forms, transitions and disturbance processes due to higher pixel resolution and cost of acquisition. Here we present a mapping effort to develop time series landcover maps of the study area using 30m Landsat data for two time periods i.e. 1980-1991 and 2007-2012 collected during the snow free summer months (June – Aug). The developed product will be directly used to quantify the environmental drivers of changes in population and communities of migratory birds. Developed products have broader utilities to illustrate the ecological effects of climate change on vegetation and associated communities in evaluating the effects of a changing climate on plant and animal communities in the boreal-arctic, and are of profound importance to scientists, resource managers, and decision-makers concerned with prospective natural resource management issues.