Applications of
Remote Sensing to Conservation Biology
Dani Simons
In this study I examine the usefulness and practicallity of applying Landsat
satellite data to reserve design. This paper is divided into three parts, 1)
a background on current theories in reserve design 2) background about Landsat
satellite data 3) a case study applying Landsat data to reserve design in Viet
Nam. The first part follows Soule's (1991) biospatial hierarchy framework to
discuss scales of conservation and reserve design. The second part gives a brief
history of the Landsat program, compares the sensors on Landsat satellites to
other remote sensors, and finally describes current conservation oriented applications
of Landsat data. The case study describes the threat that deforestation and
habitat destruction currently poses to the rich biodiversity of Viet Nam. It
describes the Mom Ray Nature Reserve in western Viet Nam, near the Vietnamese-Laotian
border. There potential for expansion of the reserve, west to the edge of the
images and south to the San River, is assessed by looking at a three point time
series (1973, 1985, 1992) of Landsat data. The images are classified using a
maximum likelihood classifier, and disturbed vs. natural landcover is quantified,
finding a low ratio of disturbed to natural landcover, but that the amount of
disturbed landcover in the area has doubled between 1973 and 1992. The most
rapid areas of change are near the river that would form the boundary for the
proposed extension. Remote sensing technology is found to have useful applications
to reserve design for first assessments of potential conservation areas, but
is limited by the following factors: 1) ground truthed data is needed for statistical
validation of results 2) remotely sensed data can be used to observe trends,
but it does not yield enough information to speculate about the causes of these
trends 3) low original data quality can reduce the accuracy of the results.