Beaver-Driven Peatland Ecotone Dynamics: Impoundment Detection Using Lidar and Geomorphon Analysis
This investigation focused on remotely detecting beaver impoundments and dams along the boreal-like peatland ecotones enmeshing Cranberry Glades Botanical Area, a National Natural Landmark in mountainous West Virginia, USA. Beaver (Castor spp.) are renowned for their role as ecosystem engineers. The...
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ftmdpi:oai:mdpi.com:/2073-445X/10/12/1333/ 2023-08-20T04:04:46+02:00 Beaver-Driven Peatland Ecotone Dynamics: Impoundment Detection Using Lidar and Geomorphon Analysis Troy P. Swift Lisa M. Kennedy agris 2021-12-03 application/pdf https://doi.org/10.3390/land10121333 EN eng Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute https://dx.doi.org/10.3390/land10121333 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Land; Volume 10; Issue 12; Pages: 1333 geomorphon Lidar beaver remote sensing peatland ecotone Cranberry Glades hydrology Text 2021 ftmdpi https://doi.org/10.3390/land10121333 2023-08-01T03:27:16Z This investigation focused on remotely detecting beaver impoundments and dams along the boreal-like peatland ecotones enmeshing Cranberry Glades Botanical Area, a National Natural Landmark in mountainous West Virginia, USA. Beaver (Castor spp.) are renowned for their role as ecosystem engineers. They can alter local hydrology, change the ratios of meadow to woodland, act as buffers against drought and wildfire, and influence important climate parameters such as carbon retention and methanogenesis. The Cranberry Glades (~1000 m a.s.l.) occupy ~300 ha, including ~40 ha of regionally rare, open peatlands. Given the likely historical role of beaver activity in the formation and maintenance of peatland conditions at Cranberry Glades, monitoring of recent activity may be useful in predicting future changes. We analyzed remotely sensed data to identify and reconstruct shifting patterns of surface hydrology associated with beaver ponds and dams and developed a novel application of geomorphons to detect them, aided by exploitation of absences and errors in Lidar data. We also quantified decadal-timescale dynamics of beaver activity by tallying detectable active impoundments between 1990–2020, revealing active/fallow cycles and changing numbers of impoundments per unit area of suitable riparian habitat. This research presents both a practical approach to monitoring beaver activity through analysis of publicly available data and a spatiotemporal reconstruction of three decades of beaver activity at this rare and imperiled “Arctic Island” of the southern High Alleghenies. Text Arctic MDPI Open Access Publishing Arctic Arctic Island ENVELOPE(-74.766,-74.766,62.234,62.234) Beaver Ponds ENVELOPE(-57.841,-57.841,49.642,49.642) Land 10 12 1333 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
MDPI Open Access Publishing |
op_collection_id |
ftmdpi |
language |
English |
topic |
geomorphon Lidar beaver remote sensing peatland ecotone Cranberry Glades hydrology |
spellingShingle |
geomorphon Lidar beaver remote sensing peatland ecotone Cranberry Glades hydrology Troy P. Swift Lisa M. Kennedy Beaver-Driven Peatland Ecotone Dynamics: Impoundment Detection Using Lidar and Geomorphon Analysis |
topic_facet |
geomorphon Lidar beaver remote sensing peatland ecotone Cranberry Glades hydrology |
description |
This investigation focused on remotely detecting beaver impoundments and dams along the boreal-like peatland ecotones enmeshing Cranberry Glades Botanical Area, a National Natural Landmark in mountainous West Virginia, USA. Beaver (Castor spp.) are renowned for their role as ecosystem engineers. They can alter local hydrology, change the ratios of meadow to woodland, act as buffers against drought and wildfire, and influence important climate parameters such as carbon retention and methanogenesis. The Cranberry Glades (~1000 m a.s.l.) occupy ~300 ha, including ~40 ha of regionally rare, open peatlands. Given the likely historical role of beaver activity in the formation and maintenance of peatland conditions at Cranberry Glades, monitoring of recent activity may be useful in predicting future changes. We analyzed remotely sensed data to identify and reconstruct shifting patterns of surface hydrology associated with beaver ponds and dams and developed a novel application of geomorphons to detect them, aided by exploitation of absences and errors in Lidar data. We also quantified decadal-timescale dynamics of beaver activity by tallying detectable active impoundments between 1990–2020, revealing active/fallow cycles and changing numbers of impoundments per unit area of suitable riparian habitat. This research presents both a practical approach to monitoring beaver activity through analysis of publicly available data and a spatiotemporal reconstruction of three decades of beaver activity at this rare and imperiled “Arctic Island” of the southern High Alleghenies. |
format |
Text |
author |
Troy P. Swift Lisa M. Kennedy |
author_facet |
Troy P. Swift Lisa M. Kennedy |
author_sort |
Troy P. Swift |
title |
Beaver-Driven Peatland Ecotone Dynamics: Impoundment Detection Using Lidar and Geomorphon Analysis |
title_short |
Beaver-Driven Peatland Ecotone Dynamics: Impoundment Detection Using Lidar and Geomorphon Analysis |
title_full |
Beaver-Driven Peatland Ecotone Dynamics: Impoundment Detection Using Lidar and Geomorphon Analysis |
title_fullStr |
Beaver-Driven Peatland Ecotone Dynamics: Impoundment Detection Using Lidar and Geomorphon Analysis |
title_full_unstemmed |
Beaver-Driven Peatland Ecotone Dynamics: Impoundment Detection Using Lidar and Geomorphon Analysis |
title_sort |
beaver-driven peatland ecotone dynamics: impoundment detection using lidar and geomorphon analysis |
publisher |
Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute |
publishDate |
2021 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.3390/land10121333 |
op_coverage |
agris |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-74.766,-74.766,62.234,62.234) ENVELOPE(-57.841,-57.841,49.642,49.642) |
geographic |
Arctic Arctic Island Beaver Ponds |
geographic_facet |
Arctic Arctic Island Beaver Ponds |
genre |
Arctic |
genre_facet |
Arctic |
op_source |
Land; Volume 10; Issue 12; Pages: 1333 |
op_relation |
https://dx.doi.org/10.3390/land10121333 |
op_rights |
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.3390/land10121333 |
container_title |
Land |
container_volume |
10 |
container_issue |
12 |
container_start_page |
1333 |
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1774715153113153536 |