Fuzzy classification of vegetation for ecosystem mapping

Abstract

Vegetation classification and mapping are important tools for addressing natural resource management, ecosystem restoration, and other contemporary ecological issues. Though classical set theory is most often applied for mapping problems, natural landscapes are often expressed as fuzzy sets. Where contrast among map categories or geometric objects is often weak in ecological contexts fuzzy approaches offer the advantage of identifying and utilizing the degree of membership among multiple possibilities, enabling opportunities for alternative outputs and for the careful analysis of error structure. In this chapter, fuzzy systems are explored for purposes of describing ecological features, for interpretation and mapping of those features, and for analyzing the uncertainty of spatial information. Some ecological applications that lend themselves to fuzzy logic are discussed along with examples of the effective use of fuzzy techniques for mapping and analysis, with explanations of the advantages of fuzzy approaches over crisp methods. Finally, in a look to future, I discuss advanced classifier methods, some Web-based solutions, and the potential for applying fuzzy systems to interactively generate user-defined map products, neutral of á priori ecological classification, according to the precise needs of natural resource managers and researchers.