Geospatial technologies for monitoring vegetation recovery on human disturbance features in Alberta's boreal forest

监测艾伯塔省北方森林人类干扰特征植被恢复的地理空间技术

• 批准号: 469943-2014
• 负责人: McDermid, Gregory
• 金额: $ 23.53万
• 依托单位: University of Calgary
• 依托单位国家: 加拿大
• 项目类别: Collaborative Research and Development Grants
• 财政年份: 2016
• 资助国家: 加拿大
• 起止时间: 2016-01-01 至 2017-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/ase-oro/Details-Detailles_eng.asp?id=598490
• 关键词: Geospatial; technologies; monitoring; vegetation; recovery

The boreal-forest regions of Alberta are under increasing pressure from human development related to natural-resource extraction. Roads, seismic lines, well sites, cut blocks, mines, pipelines, and other elements of human footprint exert cumulative environmental effects that can harm biodiversity, water quality, and the habitat of threatened species such as woodland caribou. In order to mitigate these effects, resource-extraction companies and provincial regulators are working to develop monitoring initiatives that track the amount of human footprint present in a given area, and measure the rate at which previously disturbed areas are being reclaimed. This research program is designed to support these goals by taking advantage of cutting-edge geospatial technologies and advanced modelling techniques that can aid in the process of measuring, monitoring, and predicting the recovery of vegetation on non-permanent (i.e., to-be reclaimed) human-footprint features. Our project will address five specific research objectives related to this broad goal: (i) mapping human-footprint features with advanced remote-sensing devices, (ii) assigning descriptive attributes to human-footprint features that can be tracked through time in a monitoring program, (iii) developing low-cost ground-senor networks that can track the physical condition and human/animal use of human-footprint features, (iv) developing statistical models that can predict the rate of vegetation recovery in human-footprint features across the boreal forest, and (v) delivering a rapid-verification protocol designed to assess the reclamation status of human-disturbed areas. The work is designed to help resource-extraction companies and government regulators reduce the impact of industrial development on boreal ecosystems, and is well-integrated with other complementary research projects currently planned or underway. While our research will be conducted in the context of Alberta's boreal forest, the findings and deliverables are anticipated to be transferable to other ecosystems in Canada and beyond.

艾伯塔省的北方荒地地区正处于与自然水库提取有关的人类发展的越来越大的压力。道路，地震线，井站点，切块，矿山，管道和人足迹的其他元素会产生累积的环境影响，这些影响可能损害生物多样性，水质以及受威胁物种（例如林地驯鹿）的栖息地。为了减轻这些影响，资源挖掘公司和省级监管机构正在努力制定监测计划，以跟踪给定区域中存在的人足迹量，并衡量正在回收以前受到干扰的地区的速度。该研究计划旨在通过利用尖端的地理空间技术和高级建模技术来支持这些目标，这些技术可以帮助测量，监测和预测非永久性的植被的恢复（即，将是回收的） ）人鞋的特征。我们的项目将解决与此广泛目标相关的五个特定研究目标：（i）绘制具有先进的遥感设备的人脚印功能，（ii）将描述性属性分配给人脚印功能，这些特征可以在监视程序中通过时间进行跟踪这些功能（iii）开发低成本地面新网络，可以跟踪人类脚印特征的身体状况和人/动物的使用，（iv）开发统计模型，这些模型可以预测整个人类脚印的植被恢复速率北方森林和（v）提供了一项快速验证的方案，旨在评估人类扰动地区的填海状态。这项工作旨在帮助资源领取公司和政府监管机构减少工业发展对北方生态系统的影响，并与目前已计划或正在进行的其他补充研究项目完善。尽管我们的研究将在艾伯塔省的北方森林中进行，但预计发现和可交付成果可以转移到加拿大及其他地区的其他生态系统。