Monitoring Landscape Dynamics

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Monitoring Landscape Dynamics
John Gross IM Program Annual Meeting 8 February
2005
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• Land use intensification
• Disturbance
• Habitat loss and isolation
• Climate change
• Many related issues
• water quality
• invasive species
• viewsheds
• night skies

Picnic Rock Fire 2004, near Ft. Collins, CO
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• VS and Network update
• Program / national update
• Upcoming activities and opportunities
• Issues related to landscape monitoring

Coronado National Monument
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137/151 parks all 17 of the first networks
identified land cover/land use as a priority VS.
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A Sampling of Network Activities

• Vegetation cover NCBN, NETN
• Landscapes NCRN, APHN, GLKN
• Disturbances forests NCCN
• Phenology land condition NCPN/SCPN
• Phenology, snow cover, water quality SWAN
• Coastal change (LIDAR) NCBN others

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Other Significant Activities

• Landscape workshop (January 2004)
• Change detection working group (WI, May 2004)
• Activity updates and web pages
• NPS / NASA MOU signed
• NASA proposal submitted
• Roads database Ray Watts, Leona (UCBN)
• Andy Hansens MS

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Ongoing and Planned Activities

• Continued general coordination
• Occasional summary
• Change detection paper
• Parks Canada / CSA / CCRS / NASA meeting March
• Collaboration with remote sensing specialist
  Mike Story
• MRLC / NLCD meeting 23-24 Feb (Mike Story)
• USFS - FIA MOU
• Web site http//science.nature.nps.gov/lulc_rs.
  htm

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The sensitive nature of landscape monitoring

• we can monitor activities on lands outside parks
• focus on resources
• isolation or loss of critical habitat
• disturbance due to increased activity
• sources of invasive species
• viewsheds and visitor expreriences
• impediments to movements by animals
• impacts to water quality or quantity

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I want to hear from you!

• Ongoing activities and contracts
• Related projects
• Requests for national-level analyses and
  activities
• Other activities??