Phenological Characterization of Desert Sky Island Vegetation Communities with Remotely Sensed and Climate Time Series Data

Remote Sensing

Willem J.D. van Leeuwen¹  Jennifer E. Davison¹  Grant M. Casady¹ 

[1] School of Natural Resources and the Environment, University of Arizona, Tucson AZ, 85721, USA; E-Mails:

关键词: phenology;    remote sensing;    time series;    vegetation;    Arizona;    NDVI;    MODIS;   

DOI  :  10.3390/rs2020388

来源: mdpi

【 摘 要 】

Climate change and variability are expected to impact the synchronicity and interactions between the Sonoran Desert and the forested sky islands which represent steep biological and environmental gradients. The main objectives were to examine how well satellite greenness time series data and derived phenological metrics (e.g., season start, peak greenness) can characterize specific vegetation communities across an elevation gradient, and to examine the interactions between climate and phenological metrics for each vegetation community. We found that representative vegetation types (11), varying between desert scrub, mesquite, grassland, mixed oak, juniper and pine, often had unique seasonal and interannual phenological trajectories and spatial patterns. Satellite derived land surface phenometrics (11) for each of the vegetation communities along the cline showed numerous distinct significant relationships in response to temperature (4) and precipitation (7) metrics. Satellite-derived sky island vegetation phenology can help assess and monitor vegetation dynamics and provide unique indicators of climate variability and patterns of change.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© 2010 by the authors; licensee Molecular Diversity Preservation International, Basel, Switzerland.