A Multitemporal Analysis of Habitat Suitability

Abstract

The paper describes the potential of remotely sensed data (Landsat 5 and 7) for the characterization and monitoring of forest habitats at the landscape level over a period of I I years (1989 and 2000). The Moritzburg area located close to the city of Dresden, Germany was selected as the study site. It is characterised by a pronounced heterogeneity of landscape elements such as forests, meadows and lakes. A part of the Landsat scenes, which cover 2830.5 ha was used for the application of habitat suitability models for two selected key species: kite (Milvus milvus) and black stork (Ciconia nigra). The remote sensing data for the year 2000 were matched with ground data from a field campaign. In addition, the database "Datenspeicher Wald" provided field information for the year 1989 describing the past forest management activities, forest structure and inventory data. Attributes, based on Natura 2000, such as food or nesting resources, were used as input for habitat suitability models. The ground surveys were combined with the satellite data using the kNN-method for extending derived attributes to the entire area of interest. Habitat suitability maps for both occasions (1989 and 2000) were compared for the individual key species. Between 1989 and 2000 the area of potential habitats for kite has increased from 4.6% to 5.9%. Most of the suitable habitat areas have changed their location during this period of time. The potential habitat of the stork increased from 12.8% to 14.8% of the area, but nearly all the habitat locations changed, as well. It was found that the habitat model is a useful approach to qualify potential habitats for umbrella species at the landscape level. For improving the accuracy of maps showing potential habitats the utilisation of auxiliary terrestrial data sources proved to be essential.