Journal
FOREST ECOLOGY AND MANAGEMENT
Volume 180, Issue 1-3, Pages 241-248Publisher
ELSEVIER SCIENCE BV
DOI: 10.1016/S0378-1127(02)00563-7
Keywords
caribou; Landsat TM; lichen; supervised classification
Categories
Ask authors/readers for more resources
Woodland caribou (Rangifer tarandus caribou) are sensitive to changes in understory vegetation resulting from forest harvesting and are, therefore, of special concern for foresters and habitat biologists. Effective management of this species requires reliable habitat inventories which, because of the large heterogeneous areas over which caribou range, can be costly. We used Landsat Thematic Mapper (TM) imagery and digital elevation data to identify 23 vegetative cover types across the 5100 km(2) range of the Wolverine caribou herd of northcentral British Columbia, Canada. The classification was augmented with available geographical information system (GIS) data for a total of 27 cover types. We achieved an overall accuracy of 76.7% based on known ground samples; however, accuracy varied according to cover type. Considering the size of the study area, the procedure we employed was relatively cost effective and efficient. We discuss the advantages of such an approach for wildlife-habitat studies reliant on large-scale vegetation maps. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available