Long-term Mapping of Ecosystem Services at the Aquatic-Terrestrial Interface

河漫滩和河岸带是高产、空间异质性的生态系统，维持着重要的环境服务，如野生动物栖息地和水质。由于这种异质性，绘制河岸系统具有挑战性，监测来自河岸带的环境服务的变化也具有挑战性。在这项任务中，高空间分辨率、长期数据是必不可少的。在UBC的Gergel景观生态学实验室，我们正在开发新技术，用于在几个不同的时空尺度上分析河流-洪泛平原的动态。为了了解河流-洪泛平原系统的长期变化和恢复动态，我们开创了历史航空摄影的新应用，并在当前的方案中继续在此基础上进行建设。这些技术能够改进精细尺度空间异质性的量化（超出了中等分辨率图像（如Landsat）所能捕获的范围）。本提案发展并批判性地评估了长期绘制多种洪泛区服务的方法。我们的研究设计强调河岸和洪泛平原生态系统，因为它们的生产力高，使用历史长，在保护和恢复方面很重要。拟议的研究使用一套制图方法来量化随时间变化的环境服务，以便了解可持续和不可持续利用的模式和驱动因素。在地方一级，监测树木种类和大小的变化是很重要的；在景观层面，河岸栖息地斑块的丧失和破碎是至关重要的。我们开发了量化历史生态系统服务的新技术（使用历史航空照片和土地调查数据）。具体来说，我们使用历史航空摄影，并采用传统的森林清查解释和建模技术来量化生态系统属性，如大型木屑源和河岸栖息地特征。这种方法能够重建20世纪30年代至50年代的历史动态，代表森林采伐和洪泛区发展引起的变化之前的景观基线条件。此外，我们利用历史土地调查数据（自19世纪后期）来重建过去一个世纪的生态系统服务。我们还研究了对流域功能重要的碎片化和连通性变量（如河岸缓冲区连通性）。我们评估和比较了用于评估河流-洪泛平原连通性的新指标（如网络分析）的效用，并开发了解释连通性测量误差来源的方法。我们将这些方法在内陆与沿海河流泛滥平原系统中进行了对比，进一步测试了我们结果的一般性和这些工具的普遍适用性。与以前的环境服务制图工作相比，这些方法代表了对环境服务（ES）下降、恢复和变化的更长远的看法。当结合使用时，它们呈现出对过去景观管理的变化和权衡的无与伦比的看法，这些变化和权衡对改善未来的管理至关重要。建议的工作将有助于改善生态系统服务制图，这可以帮助决策更好地平衡流域景观预期的各种生态系统服务。

River-floodplains and riparian zones are highly productive, spatially heterogeneous ecosystems which maintain important environmental services such as wildlife habitat and water quality. Because of this heterogeneity, riparian systems are challenging to map and monitoring changes in the environmental services derived from riparian zones is challenging. High spatial resolution, long-term data are essential in this task. In the Gergel Landscape Ecology Lab at UBC, we are developing new techniques for analyzing the dynamics of river-floodplains at several contrasting spatio-temporal scales. To understand long-term changes and dynamics of recovery in river-floodplain systems, we have pioneered novel uses of historical aerial photography and continue to build upon this foundation in the current proposal. These techniques enable improved quantification of fine-scale spatial heterogeneity (beyond what can be captured with moderate resolution imagery such as Landsat). This proposal develops and critically evaluates methods for mapping multiple floodplain services over the long-term. Our research design emphasizes riparian and floodplain ecosystems due to their high productivity, long history of use, and importance in conservation and restoration.The proposed research uses a suite of mapping approaches to quantify environmental services over time, in order to understand the patterns and drivers of sustainable and unsustainable use. At the local level, changes in tree species and size are important to monitor; and at the landscape level, loss and fragmentation of riparian habitat patches are critical. We develop new techniques for quantifying historical ecosystem services (using historical air photos and land survey data). Specifically, we use historical aerial photography and adapt conventional forest inventory interpretation and modelling techniques to quantify ecosystem attributes such as large woody debris sources and riparian habitat features. This approach enables reconstruction of historical dynamics from 1930s to 1950s, representing landscape baseline conditions prior to changes caused by forest harvest and floodplain development. Also, we utilize historical land survey data (from the late 1800s) to reconstruct ecosystem services from the past century. We also examine fragmentation and connectivity variables important to watershed function (such as riparian buffer connectivity). We assess and compare the utility of new metrics (such as network analysis) for assessing river-floodplain connectivity, and develop ways to account for sources of error in connectivity measures. We contrast these approaches in interior vs. coastal river-floodplain systems, further testing the generality of our results and the universal applicability of these tools.These approaches represent a much longer view of the declines, recovery and changes in environmental services (ES) than previous ES mapping efforts. When used combination, they present an unparalleled view of the changes and tradeoffs made in past landscape management essential in improving future management. The proposed work will contribute to improved mapping ecosystem services, which can assist decision-making to better balance among the diverse ecosystem services expected from watershed landscapes.