Estimating plant β-diversity using airborne and spaceborne imaging spectroscopy
This study explores the use of airborne and spaceborne imaging spectroscopy to estimate plant β-diversity across a managed tallgrass prairie in the Southern Great Plains. By combining field observations with remote sensing data, researchers found that fire history, spatial scale, and soil exposure strongly influence biodiversity estimates, highlighting new opportunities for landscape scale monitoring.
Subject Tags
- Biodiversity
Abstract
The increasing threats to grassland ecosystems from land-use/land-cover change, disturbances, and invasive species underscore the importance of monitoring grassland plant diversity. While most remote sensing studies have mainly focused on quantifying α-diversity (diversity within communities), less attention has been given to remotely estimating β-diversity (diversity between communities) in naturally-assembled grasslands. In this study, we used remote sensing to map plant β-diversity in a naturally-assembled grassland managed using prescribed fire and grazing in a North American tallgrass prairie ecosystem within the US Southern Great Plains. We aimed to assess the impact of time since fire on the relationship between in situ plant β-diversity and remotely–sensed β-diversity, also known as spectral β-diversity. We collected in situ observations at 60 m × 60 m, 120 m × 120 m, 180 m × 180 m, and 240 m × 240 m plots, alongside airborne and spaceborne DESIS imaging spectroscopy data with spatial resolutions of 1 m and 30 m, respectively. To assess how management practices influenced β-diversity, we grouped our in situ observations into three categories based on time since fire, including recently-burned (burn age <1 year), transitional (burn age of 1–2 years), and unburned (burn age >2 years). Our findings showed that the association between in situ and spectral β-diversity was strongly influenced by time since fire. Excluding plots with high soil cover (≥50%) improved our remote estimation of β-diversity, despite soil exposure effects. Our study demonstrated that remote sensing of β-diversity in grassland ecosystems is influenced by spatial scale, time since fire, and soil exposure, all of which can be addressed with scale-appropriate imaging spectrometry. This study also highlighted the capability of spaceborne imaging spectrometers to estimate β-diversity of grassland ecosystems across large spatial domains.
Citation
Kamaraj, N. P., Gholizadeh, H., Hamilton, R. G., Fuhlendorf, S. D., & Gamon, J. A. (2026). Estimating plant β-diversity using airborne and spaceborne imaging spectroscopy. International Journal of Remote Sensing, 47(19), 8385–8404. https://doi.org/10.1080/01431161.2024.2410959
TNC Authors
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Robert G. Hamilton
The Nature Conservancy