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Special Feature
The Future of Remote Sensing in Ecological Studies1
In April 1991, the Ecological Society of America proposed the Sustainable
Biosphere Initiative, an agenda for research designed to focus attention
on the necessary role of ecological science in the sound management of
Earth's resources (Lubchenco et al. 1991). The initiative emphasized the
issues of global change, ecological diversity, and maintenance or development
of sustainable ecosystems. Progress in all of these areas will require
integrated research in all subdisciplines of ecology, and will also require
application of a number of new tools and approaches.
One tool that is likely to become increasingly important to these efforts
is satellite remote sensing. Remote sensing data have proved useful in
ecosystem classification and spatial description of environmental conditions
(e.g., sea surface temperature, inundation patterns), and such data will
certainly be crucial for addressing the role of ecological complexity in
global processes. Remote sensing may also contribute to an understanding
of biological diversity; while use of remote sensing techniques to quantify
species distributions may only be possible under special conditions, remote
sensing data hold greater potential for analysis of landscape patterns,
habitat fragmentation, and changes in these characteristics over time.
Knowledge of these properties may aid in designating sites for protection
or development, and in identifying areas where rapid change is occurring.
Finally, remote sensing has the potential to contribute to the detection
of stressed or damaged ecosystems, and to broader issues of management
of sustainable ecological systems.
Some of the sensors suitable for ecological research are already available;
others are now being built or planned as components of the "Mission to
Planet Earth," a coordinated international effort designed to provide satellite
platforms, instruments, and data and information systems for studies of
Earth. The intent of this Special Feature is to acquaint ecologists with
some of the current capabilities of satellite remote sensing for ecological
studies, and to describe the kinds of remote sensing capabilities that
will be available in the next decade.
In the first paper of this feature, Roughgarden et al. describe a few
of the ways that remote sensing data have already been used to develop
and test ecological questions on coarse spatial scales. They point out,
however, that even current remote sensing technology has not been used
to its fullest extent by ecologists. In the second paper, Wickland provides
a short tutorial on remote sensing, and then describes the types of platforms
and sensors that will become available as part of Mission to Planet Earth.
In the final paper, Ustin et al. describe in some detail the ecological
uses of the remote sensing data that will be obtained from three new sensors
to be carried on the Earth Observing System, the series of platforms that
constitutes the United States' contribution to Mission to Planet Earth.
They discuss the need for development of both remote sensing models and
ecological models to take advantage of the increased spectral and spatial
information that will become available.
All of these papers return to the same point in conclusion: in order
for remote sensing technology to be more responsive to ecological needs,
and in order for the potential of the Mission to Planet Earth to be realized,
ecologists must now provide insight, direction, and active involvement.
PAMELA A. MATSON-Special Features Editor
SUSAN L. USTIN-Guest Editor
List of References
Lubchenco, J., A. M. Olson, L. s. Brubaker, S. R. Carpenter, M. M. Holland,
S. P. Hubbell, S. A. Levin, J.
A. MacMahon, P. A. Matson, J. M. Melillo, H. A. Mooney, C. H. Peterson,
H. R. Pulliam, L. A. Real, P. J. Regal, and P. G. Risser. 1991. The Sustainable
Biosphere Initiative: an ecological research agenda.
Ecology 72:371412.
1Reprints of this 29 page Special Eeature are available for
$3.00 each. Order reprints from the Business Manager, Ecological Society
of America, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85287.
.c 1991 by the Ecological Society of America |