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Use of Descriptors of Ecosystem Functioning for Monitoring a National Park Network: A Remote Sensing Approach

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Abstract

Baseline assessments and monitoring of protected areas are essential for making management decisions, evaluating the effectiveness of management practices, and tracking the effects of global changes. For these purposes, the analysis of functional attributes of ecosystems (i.e., different aspects of the exchange of matter and energy) has advantages over the traditional use of structural attributes, like a quicker response to disturbances and the fact that they are easily monitored through remote sensing. In this study, we described the spatiotemporal patterns of different aspects of the ecosystem functioning of the Spanish national parks and their response to environmental changes between 1982 and 2006. To do so, we used the NOAA/AVHRR-GIMMS dataset of the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), a linear estimator of the fraction of photosynthetic active radiation intercepted by vegetation, which is the main control of carbon gains. Nearly all parks have significantly changed during the last 25 years: The radiation interception has increased, the contrast between the growing and nongrowing seasons has diminished, and the dates of maximum and minimum interception have advanced. Some parks concentrated more changes than others and the degree of change varied depending on their different environmental conditions, management, and conservation histories. Our approach identified reference conditions and temporal changes for different aspects of ecosystem functioning, which can be used for management purposes of protected areas in response to global changes.

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Acknowledgments

Financial support was provided by the postdoctoral program of Ministerio de Educación y Ciencia of Spain, University of Almería (Becas Puente), Organismo Autónomo de Parques Nacionales (project 066/2007), Junta de Andalucía (projects RNM1288 and RNM1280), Ecología de Zonas Áridas Research Group, University of Buenos Aires, CONICET, and FONCYT. The source for the satellite data was the Global Land Cover Facility. CORINE land-cover-1990 database was supplied by the EIONET–European Environmental Agency. We thank C. S. Grubbs and L. Paruelo for their revisions of the English grammar and to E. Liras for her useful comments on the manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Environmental Sciences, University of Virginia, Clark Hall, 291, McCormick Road, Charlottesville, VA, 22904, USA

    Domingo Alcaraz-Segura

  2. Departamento de Biología Vegetal y Ecología, Universidad de Almería, La Cañada de San Urbano, 04120, Almeria, Spain

    Domingo Alcaraz-Segura & Javier Cabello

  3. Department of Applied Biology, Estación Biológica de Doñana – CSIC, Avenida de María Luisa s/n, Pabellón del Perú, 41013, Seville, Spain

    Domingo Alcaraz-Segura & Miguel Delibes

  4. Laboratorio de Análisis Regional y Teledetección, Facultad de Agronomía e Instituto de Investigaciones Fisiológicas y Ecológicas Vinculadas a la Agricultura (IFEVA), Universidad de Buenos Aires – CONICET, Av. San Martín 4453, 1417, Buenos Aires, Argentina

    José M. Paruelo

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  1. Domingo Alcaraz-Segura
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  2. Javier Cabello
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Domingo Alcaraz-Segura.

Appendices

Appendix 1

Vegetation types, climatic characteristics, and conservation histories of the seven studied Spanish national parks

 

Eurosiberian parks

Mediterranean parks

A

O

P

C

M

S

D

Vegetation types (% of Area of each park)

    SparseV

57

30

32

  

14

 

    EuGrass

8

38

15

    

    M&SAS

13

6

12

    

    Heath

  

5

    

    AlpConF

20

10

     

    TDecidF

 

5

27

    

    TSemiDF

 

1

1

8

 

1

 

    OroMGS

     

43

 

    MedConF

 

1

 

8

1

25

10

    MedSclF

 

1

 

11

18

6

 

    MaqGar

   

34

44

7

20

    MedGras

   

5

  

1

    Dehesa

   

19

6

  

    MixedF

2

7

4

13

11

3

 

    ExoticF

     

11

3

    Dunes

      

10

    FMarsh

      

35

    SMarsh

      

14

    WaterS

     

7

7

    Pasture

  

3

    

Area (ha)

14,119

15,608

64,660

40,856

18,118

86,208

54,252

Buffer (ha)

26,733

19,678

–

−

116,160

85,750

7,450

Creation and expansions, Year (% Area)

1955 (70)

1918 (13)

1918 (26)

1995 (95)

2007 (100)

1999 (100)

1969 (70)

1988 (72)

1982 (100)

1995 (100)

2005 (100)

  

1978 (93)

1996 (100)

     

2004 (100)

Previous protections, Year (% Area)

–

–

–

Natural park

Natural park

Natural park

Biologic reserve

1988 (66)

1979 (104)

1989 (163)

1964 (13%)

Altitude (m)

2,368

2,087

1,299

788

384

2,137

7

Max/Min

1,406/2,979

662/3,288

75/2,646

521/1,428

270/511

1,200/3,482

0/47

MAP (mm)

1,368

1,377

1,829

642

696

899

572

Max/Min

700/1,400

1,200/2,000

700/2,000

520/910

637/780

450/1,200

530/600

MAT (°C)

3.5

4.9

7.5

13.9

16.5

10.2

17.5

Max/Min

2/8

2/10

4/13

11/15

16/17

8/16

17/18

TMIN (°C)

−6.5

−5.2

−2.7

0.8

10.3

0.3

5.6

Max/Min

−7/−4

−6/−3

−5/3

0/2

10/11

−1/5

5/6

TMAX (°C)

13.5

16.9

19.9

32.4

22.7

26.3

33.7

Max/Min

10/24

10/27

16/25

27/34

22/23

23/32

33/34

  1. A: Aigüestortes i E. S. Maurici; O: Ordesa y Monte Perdido; P: Picos de Europa; C: Cabañeros; M: Monfragüe; S: Sierra Nevada; D: Doñana
  2. Vegetation types were derived from the Spanish Forest Map (Ruíz de la Torre 1999) and the CORINE Land-Cover (EEA 2000). SparseV = sparsely vegetated areas, EuGras = Eurosiberian natural and seminatural grasslands, M&SAS = Montane and subalpine scrubs, Heath = heathlands, AlpConF = Alpine coniferous forests, TDecidF = temperate broadleaf deciduous forests, TSemiDF = temperate semideciduous forests, OroMGS = Oro-Mediterranean grasslands and scrubs, MedConF = Mediterranean coniferous forests, MedSclF = Mediterranean evergreen sclerophyllous forests, MaqGar = Maquis and garrigues, MedGrass = Mediterranean natural and seminatural grasslands, Dehesa = dehesas (woody savanna), MixedF = mixed forests, ExoticF = exotic forests, Dunes = dunes, sands and plains, FMarsh = freshwater marshes, SMarsh = salt marshes, WaterS = water surfaces, Pasture = pastures. MAP = mean annual precipitation, MAT = mean annual temperature, TMIN = mean of the minimum temperatures of the coldest month, TMAX = mean of the maximum temperatures of the warmest month

Appendix 2

The figure shows the six attributes derived from the seasonal curve of NDVI that were used in the functional characterization and the detection of trends in the national parks (NDVI-I, MAX, MIN, RREL, DMAX, and DMIN).

figure a

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Alcaraz-Segura, D., Cabello, J., Paruelo, J.M. et al. Use of Descriptors of Ecosystem Functioning for Monitoring a National Park Network: A Remote Sensing Approach. Environmental Management 43, 38–48 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00267-008-9154-y

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