Using Airborne Laser Scanning to Characterize Land-Use Systems in a Tropical Landscape Based on Vegetation Structural Metrics
Many Indonesian forests have been cleared and replaced by fast-growing cash crops (e.g., oil palm and rubber plantations), altering the vegetation structure of entire regions. Complex vegetation structure provides habitat niches to a large number of native species. Airborne laser scanning (ALS) can...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2021-11-01
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| Series: | Remote Sensing |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/13/23/4794 |
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| author | Nicolò Camarretta Martin Ehbrecht Dominik Seidel Arne Wenzel Mohd. Zuhdi Miryam Sarah Merk Michael Schlund Stefan Erasmi Alexander Knohl |
| author_facet | Nicolò Camarretta Martin Ehbrecht Dominik Seidel Arne Wenzel Mohd. Zuhdi Miryam Sarah Merk Michael Schlund Stefan Erasmi Alexander Knohl |
| author_sort | Nicolò Camarretta |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Many Indonesian forests have been cleared and replaced by fast-growing cash crops (e.g., oil palm and rubber plantations), altering the vegetation structure of entire regions. Complex vegetation structure provides habitat niches to a large number of native species. Airborne laser scanning (ALS) can provide detailed three-dimensional information on vegetation structure. Here, we investigate the potential of ALS metrics to highlight differences across a gradient of land-use management intensities in Sumatra, Indonesia. We focused on tropical rainforests, jungle rubber, rubber plantations, oil palm plantations and transitional lands. Twenty-two ALS metrics were extracted from 183 plots. Analysis included a principal component analysis (PCA), analysis of variance (ANOVAs) and random forest (RF) characterization of the land use/land cover (LULC). Results from the PCA indicated that a greater number of canopy gaps are associated with oil palm plantations, while a taller stand height and higher vegetation structural metrics were linked with rainforest and jungle rubber. A clear separation in metrics performance between forest (including rainforest and jungle rubber) and oil palm was evident from the metrics pairwise comparison, with rubber plantations and transitional land behaving similar to forests (rainforest and jungle rubber) and oil palm plantations, according to different metrics. Lastly, two RF models were carried out: one using all five land uses (5LU), and one using four, merging jungle rubber with rainforest (4LU). The 5LU model resulted in a lower overall accuracy (51.1%) due to mismatches between jungle rubber and forest, while the 4LU model resulted in a higher accuracy (72.2%). Our results show the potential of ALS metrics to characterize different LULCs, which can be used to track changes in land use and their effect on ecosystem functioning, biodiversity and climate. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T04:46:09Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-1e05f7cf5eb943be8a5fa6c307feb3fe |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2072-4292 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T04:46:09Z |
| publishDate | 2021-11-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Remote Sensing |
| spelling | doaj.art-1e05f7cf5eb943be8a5fa6c307feb3fe2023-11-23T02:56:31ZengMDPI AGRemote Sensing2072-42922021-11-011323479410.3390/rs13234794Using Airborne Laser Scanning to Characterize Land-Use Systems in a Tropical Landscape Based on Vegetation Structural MetricsNicolò Camarretta0Martin Ehbrecht1Dominik Seidel2Arne Wenzel3Mohd. Zuhdi4Miryam Sarah Merk5Michael Schlund6Stefan Erasmi7Alexander Knohl8Bioclimatology, Faculty of Forest Sciences, University of Goettingen, Büsgenweg 2, 37077 Göttingen, GermanySilviculture of the Temperate Zone, Faculty of Forest Sciences, University of Goettingen, Büsgenweg 1, 37077 Göttingen, GermanySilviculture of the Temperate Zone, Faculty of Forest Sciences, University of Goettingen, Büsgenweg 1, 37077 Göttingen, GermanyFunctional Agrobiodiversity, University of Goettingen, Grisebachstr. 6, 37077 Göttingen, GermanyFaculty of Agriculture, Jambi University, Jl. Raya Jambi—Muara Bulian Km. 15, Mendalo Indah, Jambi Luar Kota, Jambi 36361, IndonesiaChairs of Statistics and Econometrics, University of Goettingen, Humboldtallee 3, 37073 Göttingen, GermanyFaculty of Geo-Information Science and Earth Observation, University of Twente, Hengelosestraat 99, 7514AE Enschede, The NetherlandsInstitute of Farm Economics, Thünen Institute, Bundesallee 63, 38116 Braunschweig, GermanyBioclimatology, Faculty of Forest Sciences, University of Goettingen, Büsgenweg 2, 37077 Göttingen, GermanyMany Indonesian forests have been cleared and replaced by fast-growing cash crops (e.g., oil palm and rubber plantations), altering the vegetation structure of entire regions. Complex vegetation structure provides habitat niches to a large number of native species. Airborne laser scanning (ALS) can provide detailed three-dimensional information on vegetation structure. Here, we investigate the potential of ALS metrics to highlight differences across a gradient of land-use management intensities in Sumatra, Indonesia. We focused on tropical rainforests, jungle rubber, rubber plantations, oil palm plantations and transitional lands. Twenty-two ALS metrics were extracted from 183 plots. Analysis included a principal component analysis (PCA), analysis of variance (ANOVAs) and random forest (RF) characterization of the land use/land cover (LULC). Results from the PCA indicated that a greater number of canopy gaps are associated with oil palm plantations, while a taller stand height and higher vegetation structural metrics were linked with rainforest and jungle rubber. A clear separation in metrics performance between forest (including rainforest and jungle rubber) and oil palm was evident from the metrics pairwise comparison, with rubber plantations and transitional land behaving similar to forests (rainforest and jungle rubber) and oil palm plantations, according to different metrics. Lastly, two RF models were carried out: one using all five land uses (5LU), and one using four, merging jungle rubber with rainforest (4LU). The 5LU model resulted in a lower overall accuracy (51.1%) due to mismatches between jungle rubber and forest, while the 4LU model resulted in a higher accuracy (72.2%). Our results show the potential of ALS metrics to characterize different LULCs, which can be used to track changes in land use and their effect on ecosystem functioning, biodiversity and climate.https://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/13/23/4794airborne LiDARland use characterizationPCAANOVArandom forestvegetation structure |
| spellingShingle | Nicolò Camarretta Martin Ehbrecht Dominik Seidel Arne Wenzel Mohd. Zuhdi Miryam Sarah Merk Michael Schlund Stefan Erasmi Alexander Knohl Using Airborne Laser Scanning to Characterize Land-Use Systems in a Tropical Landscape Based on Vegetation Structural Metrics Remote Sensing airborne LiDAR land use characterization PCA ANOVA random forest vegetation structure |
| title | Using Airborne Laser Scanning to Characterize Land-Use Systems in a Tropical Landscape Based on Vegetation Structural Metrics |
| title_full | Using Airborne Laser Scanning to Characterize Land-Use Systems in a Tropical Landscape Based on Vegetation Structural Metrics |
| title_fullStr | Using Airborne Laser Scanning to Characterize Land-Use Systems in a Tropical Landscape Based on Vegetation Structural Metrics |
| title_full_unstemmed | Using Airborne Laser Scanning to Characterize Land-Use Systems in a Tropical Landscape Based on Vegetation Structural Metrics |
| title_short | Using Airborne Laser Scanning to Characterize Land-Use Systems in a Tropical Landscape Based on Vegetation Structural Metrics |
| title_sort | using airborne laser scanning to characterize land use systems in a tropical landscape based on vegetation structural metrics |
| topic | airborne LiDAR land use characterization PCA ANOVA random forest vegetation structure |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/13/23/4794 |
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