Developing Theoretical Marine Habitat Suitability Models from Remotely-Sensed Data and Traditional Ecological Knowledge

Remote Sensing

Patrick M. Olsen¹  Crystal A. Kolden¹  Lily Gadamus² 

[1] Department of Geography, University of Idaho, 875 Perimeter Drive, MS 3021, Moscow, ID 83844, USA;Kawerak, Inc., P.O. Box 948, Nome, AK 99708, USA;

关键词: marine habitat;    time series;    MODIS;    Theil–Sen estimator;    traditional ecological knowledge;    Bering Strait;    bearded seal;   

DOI  :  10.3390/rs70911863

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

There is a lack of information regarding critical habitats for many marine species, including the bearded seal, an important subsistence species for the indigenous residents of Arctic regions. A systematic approach to modeling marine mammal habitat in arctic regions using the lifetime and multi-generational Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) of Alaska Native hunters is developed to address this gap. The approach uses lifetime andcross-generational knowledge of subsistence hunters and their harvest data in the place of observational knowledge gained from Western scientific field surveys of marine mammal sightings. TEK information for mid-June to October was transformed to seal presence/pseudo-absence and used to train Classification Tree Analyses of environmental predictor variables to predict suitable habitat for bearded seals in the Bering Strait region. Predictor variables were derived from a suite of terrestrial, oceanic, and atmospheric remote sensing products, transformed using trend analysis techniques, and aggregated. A Kappa of 0.883 was achieved for habitat classifications. The TEK information used is spatially restricted, but provides a viable, replicable data source that can replace or complement Western scientific observational data.

【 授权许可】

Unknown