PARENT SESSION
Poster Session 7: Grasslands
Tuesday, August 9, 5:00 PM - 6:30 PM, Exhibit Hall 220 A-E, Level 2, Palais des congrès de Montréal
Using hyperspectral imagery to address grassland conservation issues in the Loess Hills of Iowa and Nebraska.
Vinton, MaryAnn*,1, Ramage, Joan2, 1 Department of Biology, Omaha, NE, USA2 Earth and Environmental Sciences, Bethlehem, PA, USA
ABSTRACT- The landscapes of the central Missouri River Valley in eastern Nebraska and western Iowa include some of the midwest's few remaining natural areas. Rugged, steep topography and unstable, loess soils have prevented large scale conversion to row-crop agriculture, especially on the eastern side of the valley, making this region particularly important for preservation. Among the rarest natural landscapes in this region is tallgrass prairie, an ecosystem that once blanketed the Midwest, but with less than 1% remaining due to large-scale farming and human settlement. Tallgrass prairie remnants are under threat from non-native, invasive species and lack of requisite fire and grazing regimes under which the native flora and fauna evolved. We used hyperspectral imagery to address conservation issues in this unique landscape. Data were acquired via aircraft and include approximately 20 bands from 440 nm to 850 nm, with fine coverage in portions of the spectrum that are most useful for discriminating vegetation. Ground truthing was done in selected areas and included measurements of plant species composition and abundance. Our results suggest that hyperspectral imagery was successful at 1) discriminating native tallgrass prairie patches from smooth brome fields, 2) describing patch development in bison-grazed prairie and 3) providing an indication of the extent and pattern of cedar invasion. Remote sensing using hyperspectral imagery is a promising technique to describe and manage this unique landscape.
Key words: hyperspectral imagery, Loess Hills, tallgrass prairie, grassland conservation