Dataset Information

Spatial relationships between above-ground biomass and bird species biodiversity in Palawan, Philippines.

ABSTRACT: This study maps distribution and spatial congruence between Above-Ground Biomass (AGB) and species richness of IUCN listed conservation-dependent and endemic avian fauna in Palawan, Philippines. Grey Level Co-Occurrence Texture Matrices (GLCMs) extracted from Landsat and ALOS-PALSAR were used in conjunction with local field data to model and map local-scale field AGB using the Random Forest algorithm (r = 0.92 and RMSE = 31.33 Mg·ha-1). A support vector regression (SVR) model was used to identify the factors influencing variation in avian species richness at a 1km scale. AGB is one of the most important determinants of avian species richness for the study area. Topographic factors and anthropogenic factors such as distance from the roads were also found to strongly influence avian species richness. Hotspots of high AGB and high species richness concentration were mapped using hotspot analysis and the overlaps between areas of high AGB and avian species richness was calculated. Results show that the overlaps between areas of high AGB with high IUCN red listed avian species richness and endemic avian species richness were fairly limited at 13% and 8% at the 1-km scale. The overlap between 1) low AGB and low IUCN richness, and 2) low AGB and low endemic avian species richness was higher at 36% and 12% respectively. The enhanced capacity to spatially map the correlation between AGB and avian species richness distribution will further assist the conservation and protection of forest areas and threatened avian species.

SUBMITTER: Singh M

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5714345 | biostudies-literature | 2017

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Spatial relationships between above-ground biomass and bird species biodiversity in Palawan, Philippines.

Singh Minerva M Friess Daniel A DA Vilela Bruno B Alban Jose Don T De JDT Monzon Angelica Kristina V AKV Veridiano Rizza Karen A RKA Tumaneng Roven D RD

PloS one 20171204 12

This study maps distribution and spatial congruence between Above-Ground Biomass (AGB) and species richness of IUCN listed conservation-dependent and endemic avian fauna in Palawan, Philippines. Grey Level Co-Occurrence Texture Matrices (GLCMs) extracted from Landsat and ALOS-PALSAR were used in conjunction with local field data to model and map local-scale field AGB using the Random Forest algorithm (r = 0.92 and RMSE = 31.33 Mg·ha-1). A support vector regression (SVR) model was used to identif ...[more]

PMID: 29206228

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Project description:The above and below-ground biomass (AGB and BGB) relationship is often used to assess the impact of biotic and abiotic effects on the growth and development of individual plants. The AGB and BGB relationship of the same tree species in different habitats can change significantly because of environmental stress. To investigate how the tree size, the biomass allocation and BGB/AGB ratio of Leucaena leucocephala (Lam.) de Wit varied according to spacing and mixed plant patterns in a valley-type savanna of southwest China, we examined the growth of L. leucocephala, and sampled 23 individuals for biomass measurement in each of four treatments (close/wide spacing of Leucaena leucocephala monocultures, mixed plantation of Leucaena leucocephala and Eucalyptus camaldulensis, and mixed plantation of Leucaena leucocephala and Eucalyptus citriodora), and then determined the regression relationships between AGB and BGB of L. leucocephala in different plant stands. Our results indicated that mixed planting significantly reduced all growth metrics for the tree sizes of L. leucocephala and increased the value of BGB/AGB. Changing plant spacing in monocultures had a significant impact on AGB and TB (Total Biomass) of L. leucocephala, but it had no significant effect on the other metrics. Within mixed plant schemes, L. leucocephala significantly reduced the biomass allocation to leaves and small roots and increased the allocation to coarse root biomass. There were no significant differences in tree size and biomass allocation of L. leucocephala between different spacing regimes in monocultures or between different mixtures in mixed plant stands. The correlation between BGB and AGB of L. leucocephala in all plant stands was consistent with the model of allometric growth, and AGB can be used to accurately estimate BGB. Interestingly, the correlations were not exactly the same. BGB and AGB in monoculture showed isometric growth, and their values in mixed plant stands showed allometric growth. BGB also increased faster than AGB. The findings indicated that L. leucocephala allocated more biomass to the root system when it was planted with Eucalyptus.

Project description:Precise mapping of above-ground biomass (AGB) is a major challenge for the success of REDD+ processes in tropical rainforest. The usual mapping methods are based on two hypotheses: a large and long-ranged spatial autocorrelation and a strong environment influence at the regional scale. However, there are no studies of the spatial structure of AGB at the landscapes scale to support these assumptions. We studied spatial variation in AGB at various scales using two large forest inventories conducted in French Guiana. The dataset comprised 2507 plots (0.4 to 0.5 ha) of undisturbed rainforest distributed over the whole region. After checking the uncertainties of estimates obtained from these data, we used half of the dataset to develop explicit predictive models including spatial and environmental effects and tested the accuracy of the resulting maps according to their resolution using the rest of the data. Forest inventories provided accurate AGB estimates at the plot scale, for a mean of 325 Mg.ha-1. They revealed high local variability combined with a weak autocorrelation up to distances of no more than10 km. Environmental variables accounted for a minor part of spatial variation. Accuracy of the best model including spatial effects was 90 Mg.ha-1 at plot scale but coarse graining up to 2-km resolution allowed mapping AGB with accuracy lower than 50 Mg.ha-1. Whatever the resolution, no agreement was found with available pan-tropical reference maps at all resolutions. We concluded that the combined weak autocorrelation and weak environmental effect limit AGB maps accuracy in rainforest, and that a trade-off has to be found between spatial resolution and effective accuracy until adequate "wall-to-wall" remote sensing signals provide reliable AGB predictions. Waiting for this, using large forest inventories with low sampling rate (<0.5%) may be an efficient way to increase the global coverage of AGB maps with acceptable accuracy at kilometric resolution.

Dataset Information

Spatial relationships between above-ground biomass and bird species biodiversity in Palawan, Philippines.

Publications

Spatial relationships between above-ground biomass and bird species biodiversity in Palawan, Philippines.

Similar Datasets

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