Ricardo Díaz-Delgado Richard Lucas Clive Hurford Editors The Roles of Remote Sensing in Nature Conservation A Practical Guide and Case Studies The Roles of Remote Sensing in Nature Conservation Ricardo Díaz-Delgado • Richard Lucas Clive Hurford Editors The Roles of Remote Sensing in Nature Conservation A Practical Guide and Case Studies Editors Ricardo Díaz-Delgado Richard Lucas Estación Biológica de Doñana (EBD), Centre for Ecosystem Science, School of Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Biological, Earth and Environmental Científicas (CSIC) Sciences Sevilla, Spain The University of New South Wales Kensington, NSW, Australia Clive Hurford Natural Resources Wales Cardiff, Wales, UK ISBN 978-3-319-64330-4 ISBN 978-3-319-64332-8 (eBook) DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-64332-8 Library of Congress Control Number: 2017953259 © Springer International Publishing AG 2017 This work is subject to copyright. All rights are reserved by the Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed. The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. The publisher, the authors and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, express or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been made. The publisher remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. Printed on acid-free paper This Springer imprint is published by Springer Nature The registered company is Springer International Publishing AG The registered company address is: Gewerbestrasse 11, 6330 Cham, Switzerland Many indigenous artists imagine themselves hovering over the land (country) observing both the natural and metaphysical forms and markings of the landscape. These bird’s-eye views are charac- teristic of a hunter and gatherer society. They read the earth surface closely for signs of life, for tracking animals and for recognizing recent events.1 1 Extracted from https://www.aboriginal-art-australia.com/aboriginal-art-library/the-story-of-abo riginal-art/ v Acknowledgements Books are usually the final expression of an idea, as was the case with this one. From the moment of conception to its delivery and publication, many people have emerged to silently push the editors in the right direction. This book has been possible only because of the cooperation and support of very many friends and colleagues over recent years. Most of them are devoted to conservation manage at different scales and in different subject areas but with a common requirement: for technology to enhance their day-to-day work. Thanks to these we decided to stop the race and walk slowly to share our experiences in using remote sensing tools, applications and products. Initially our thanks must go to the corresponding authors who have worked closely with us to provide the chapters for the book, namely, Jeroen Vanden Borre, Pete Bunting, Anna Allard, Gwawr Jones, Katie Medcalf, Marcos Jiménez, Abigail Sanders, Madhura Niphadkar, Jens Oldeland, Michael Schneider and Sonali Ghosh. We are also grateful to the many associate authors involved in producing the chap- ters of the book: these appear in the list of contributors. Our gratitude is also extended to the publishing editors and technicians at Springer NL, particularly Nel van der Werf, for their faith, encouragement, patience and support throughout the writing and collation phases of the publication process. Last but not least, we would like to thank our families, particularly Yolanda, Jara and Chris, for their endless patience, particularly during the period of collating this book. Furthermore, we will be forever grateful to those who decide to participate in our living survey “Remote Sensing Awareness by Nature Conservation Staff and Its Use”, available at https://goo.gl/GqC63f. vii Contents Part I An Introduction to Remote Sensing Tools for Habitat Mapping and Monitoring Introducing the Book “The Roles of Remote Sensing in Nature Conservation” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Ricardo Díaz-Delgado, Clive Hurford, and Richard Lucas Towards a Mature Age of Remote Sensing for Natura 2000 Habitat Conservation: Poor Method Transferability as a Prime Obstacle . . . . . . . . 11 Jeroen Vanden Borre, Toon Spanhove, and Birgen Haest Pre-processing of Remotely Sensed Imagery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39 Peter Bunting Long-Term Ecological Monitoring at the Landscape Scale for Nature Conservation: The Example of Doñana Protected Area . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65 Ricardo Díaz-Delgado Part II Habitat Case Studies NILS – A Nationwide Inventory Program for Monitoring the Conditions and Changes of the Swedish Landscape . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79 Anna Allard Mapping Coastal Habitats in Wales . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91 Gwawr Jones, Peter Bunting, and Clive Hurford Integrated Monitoring for Biodiversity Using Remote Sensing: From Local to Regional – A Case Study from Norfolk . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121 Katie Medcalf, Jacqueline Parker, Gemma Bell, Paul Robinson, Samuel Neal, Martin Horlock, and Johanna Breyer Sub-pixel Mapping of Doñana Shrubland Species . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141 Marcos Jiménez and Ricardo Díaz-Delgado ix x Contents Part III Species-Driven Remote Sensing and New Technologies Studies Mapping the Distribution of Understorey Rhododendron Ponticum Using Low-Tech Multispectral UAV Derived Imagery . . . . . . . . . 167 Abigail Sanders The Potential of UAV Derived Image Features for Discriminating Savannah Tree Species . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183 J. Oldeland, A. Große-Stoltenberg, L. Naftal, and B.J. Strohbach A Toolbox for Remotely Monitoring Large Carnivores in Sweden . . . . . . . 203 Michael Schneider and Holger Dettki Coupling Field Sampling with Earth Observation Increases Understanding of Tiger Movement and Behaviour . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 223 Sonali Ghosh and Richard Lucas Improving the Accuracy of Bird Counts Using Manual and Automated Counts in ImageJ: An Open-Source Image Processing Program . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 249 Clive Hurford Using UAVs to Map Aquatic Bird Colonies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 277 Ricardo Díaz-Delgado, Manuel Mañez, Antonio Martínez, David Canal, Miguel Ferrer, and David Aragonés Part IV L ooking Ahead Through Current Research Projects and Expected Advances Integrated Land Cover and Change Classifications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 295 Richard Lucas and Anthea Mitchell Expected Advances in a Rapidly Developing Work Area . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 309 Richard Lucas, Ricardo Díaz-Delgado, and Clive Hurford Contributors Editors Ricardo Díaz-Delgado Laboratory of Remote Sensing and GIS and Natural Processes Monitoring Team, ICTS-RBD, Estación Biológica de Doñana, CSIC, Sevilla, Spain Richard Lucas Centre for Ecosystem Science, School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences, The University of New South Wales, Kensington, NSW, Australia Clive Hurford Natural Resources Wales, Cardiff, Wales, UK Authors Anna Allard Swedish University for Agricultural Sciences, SLU, Umeå, Sweden David Aragonés Laboratory of Remote Sensing and GIS, Estación Biológica de Doñana, CSIC, Sevilla, Spain Gemma Bell Environment Systems Ltd, Aberystwyth, UK Johanna Breyer Environment Systems Ltd, Aberystwyth, UK Peter Bunting Earth Observation and Ecosystem Dynamics Group, Department of Geography and Earth Sciences, Aberystwyth University, Aberystwyth, UK David Canal Estación Biológica de Doñana, CSIC, Sevilla, Spain Holger  Dettki Umeå Center for Wireless Remote Animal Monitoring (UC-WRAM), Department of Wildlife, Fish, and Environmental Studies, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Umeå, Sweden Miguel Ferrer Estación Biológica de Doñana, CSIC, Sevilla, Spain xi xii Contributors Sonali Ghosh Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun, Uttarakhand, India A.  Große-Stoltenberg Applied Landscape Ecology and Ecological Planning Institute of Landscape Ecology, Münster, Germany Birgen Haest Remote Sensing Department, Flemish Institute for Technological Research (VITO), Mol, Belgium Bird Migration Department, Institute of Avian Research, Wilhelmshaven, Germany Martin Horlock Norfolk Biodiversity Information Service, Norwich, UK Marcos  Jiménez Remote Sensing Area, National Institute of Aerospace Technology (INTA), Madrid, Spain Gwawr Jones Joint Nature Conservation Committee (JNCC), Peterborough, UK Aberystwyth University, Aberystwyth, UK Manuel  Mañez Natural Processes Monitoring Team, ICTS-RBD, Estación Biológica de Doñana, CSIC, Sevilla, Spain Antonio Martínez Natural Processes Monitoring Team, ICTS-RBD, Estación Biológica de Doñana, CSIC, Sevilla, Spain Katie Medcalf Environment Systems Ltd, Aberystwyth, UK Anthea Mitchell Centre for Ecosystem Science, School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences, The University of New South Wales, Kensington, NSW, Australia L. Naftal Faculty of Natural Resources and Spatial Sciences, Namibia University of Science and Technology, Windhoek, Namibia Samuel Neal Norfolk Biodiversity Information Service, Norwich, UK J.  Oldeland Biodiversity, Ecology and Evolution of Plants, Biocentre Klein Flottbek and Botanical Garden, University of Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany Jacqueline Parker Environment Systems Ltd, Aberystwyth, UK Paul Robinson Joint Nature Conservation Committee (JNCC), Peterborough, UK Abigail Sanders Computing, Engineering and Science Department, Glyntaff, Trefforest Campus, University of South Wales, South Glamorgan, Wales Michael Schneider Västerbotten County Administration, Umeå, Sweden Toon  Spanhove Research Institute for Nature and Forest (INBO), Brussels, Belgium B.J. Strohbach Faculty of Natural Resources and Spatial Sciences, Namibia University of Science and Technology, Windhoek, Namibia Jeroen Vanden Borre Research Institute for Nature and Forest (INBO), Brussels, Belgium