Abstract
Phragmites australis populations in native areas have been gradually declining since the mid-20th century. We developed a logical approach based on remote sensing to monitor the conservation status of P. australis beds in response to environmental gradients and orient future management actions in Lake Garda (northern Italy). During the 2010 growing season we collected data on: (i) the structural and functional status of seven P. australis beds and (ii) land cover in a 50-m buffer around each bed, and we tested four different vegetation indices (VIs) derived from a multi-temporal and multisensor dataset. Double hierarchical clustering based on the VI statistics and environmental variables (morphological, functional and land-use) showed a good consistency between the outputs of the vigor-function analysis and the environmental classification of the P. australis beds considered. Overall, the bed’s area was the most influential factor in the data clustering procedures, followed by the descriptors derived from the enhanced vegetation index. Our results confirmed the importance of temporal characteristics of remote sensing data to assess the conservation status of common reed beds and proved the sensitivity of VIs and derived descriptors to local environmental conditions within a homogeneous littoral area. This study supports the utility of remote sensing for monitoring riparian vegetation and analyzing the spatial and temporal response of P. australis populations to human pressure and management actions.
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Acknowledgments
The authors would like to acknowledge the Brescia Provincial Authority for its support in monitoring activities and involvement in common reed management. The Sirmione Local Authority and the Centro Rilevamento Ambientale (CRA) were also strongly involved in all our activities and willing to share their field data. Special thanks go to all the environmental associations that took part in our fieldwork. The authors would like to thank CGR-Blom for providing hyperspectral images and C. Giardino and D. Stroppiana from CNR-IREA, and M. Bartoli from Parma University for their scientific contribution during the preparation of the manuscript. We also thank F. Coburn for revising the English of the manuscript, and we are grateful to the anonymous reviewers for their useful comments on an earlier draft of this paper. Founding sources: the present work was supported by the Brescia Province, the Sirmione municipality and the Centro Rilevamento Ambientale (CRA).
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Villa, P., Laini, A., Bresciani, M. et al. A remote sensing approach to monitor the conservation status of lacustrine Phragmites australis beds. Wetlands Ecol Manage 21, 399–416 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11273-013-9311-9
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11273-013-9311-9