Spatial Gradients of Ecosystem Health Indicators across a Human-Impacted Semiarid Savanna.
Summary of "Spatial Gradients of Ecosystem Health Indicators across a Human-Impacted Semiarid Savanna."
Drivers of soil organic carbon (SOC) dynamics involve a combination of edaphic, human, and climatic factors that influence and determine SOC distribution across the landscape. High-resolution maps of key indicators of ecosystem health can enable assessments of these drivers and aid in critical management decisions. This study used a systematic field-based approach coupled with statistical modeling and remote sensing to develop accurate, high-resolution maps of key indicators of ecosystem health across savanna ecosystems in South Africa. Two 100-km landscapes in Bushbuckridge Local Municipality were surveyed, and 320 composite topsoil samples were collected. Mid-infrared spectroscopy was used to predict soil properties, with good performance for all models and root mean squared error of prediction (RMSEP) values of 1.3, 0.2, 5, and 3.6 for SOC, pH, sand, and clay, respectively. Validation results for the mapping of soil erosion prevalence and herbaceous cover using RapidEye imagery at 5-m spatial resolution showed good model performance with area under the curve values of 0.80 and 0.86, respectively. The overall (out-of-bag) random forest model performance for mapping of soil properties, reported using , was 0.8, 0.77, and 0.82 for SOC, pH, and sand, respectively. Calibration model performance was good, with RMSEP values of 2.6 g kg for SOC, 0.2 for pH, and 6% for sand content. Strong gradients of increasing SOC and pH corresponded with decreasing sand content between the study sites. Although both sites had low SOC overall, important driving factors of SOC dynamics included soil texture, soil erosion prevalence, and climate. These data will inform strategic land management decisions focused particularly on improving ecosystem conditions.
Affiliation
Journal Details
This article was published in the following journal.
Name: Journal of environmental quality
ISSN: 0047-2425
Pages: 746-757
Links
- PubMed Source: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30025036
- DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.2134/jeq2017.07.0300
PubMed Articles
The study of biodiversity spatial patterns along ecological gradients can serve to elucidate factors shaping biological community structure and predict ecosystem responses to global change. Ant assemb...
Cross-ecosystem carbon flows connecting ecosystems worldwide.
Ecosystems are widely interconnected by spatial flows of material, but the overall importance of these flows relative to local ecosystem functioning remains unclear. Here we provide a quantitative syn...
The One Health concept proposes that there is a connection between human, animal and environmental health. Plants and their health are not explicitly included. In this review, we broaden the One Healt...
Guatemala City youth: an analysis of health indicators through the lens of a clinical registry.
Despite the inclusion of adolescent health in recent global frameworks, limited data exist on health indicators in low-income countries. Our objective was to identify socioeconomic measures, risk beha...
Integrating spatial indicators in the surveillance of exploited marine ecosystems.
Spatial indicators are used to quantify the state of species and ecosystem status, that is the impacts of climate and anthropogenic changes, as well as to comprehend species ecology. These metrics are...
Clinical Trials
Do Cardiac Health: Advanced New Generation Ecosystem
The primary objective of Do CHANGE is to develop a health ecosystem for integrated disease management of citizens with high blood pressure and patients with ischemic heart disease or heart...
ProAlgaZyme Novel Algae Infusion: Applications in Metabolic Syndrome
The purpose of this study is to compare the effects of supplementation with ProAlgaZyme (a novel fermentation product of a freshwater algae ecosystem) vs. placebo on Metabolic Syndrome an...
This study is designed to see if doing regular training on a spatial imagery task leads to improvements in the ability to do the trained spatial imagery task and in the ability to get arou...
Study of the Human Skin Microbiome
Numerous organisms live on and in healthy human skin. This study seeks to survey the diversity of this complex ecosystem by collecting samples from approximately 1000 individuals in order ...
The Effect of Surgical Interventions to Assist Orthodontic Movement of Impacted Maxillary Canines
Impacted canine causes many problems for patients, such as absorption and damages to the adjacent teeth roots, as well as aesthetic problems. Correction of this problem requires a lengthy ...
Medical and Biotech [MESH] Definitions
Spatial Regression
Methods used to take into account and incorporate spatial autocorrelation and regional variation into regression analysis models of data that has spatial dependency, and also to provide information on the spatial relationships among the variables.
Health Status Indicators
The measurement of the health status for a given population using a variety of indices, including morbidity, mortality, and available health resources.
Nurses, Public Health
Nurses whose goal is to improve health and quality of life in a population or community through the prevention and treatment of disease and other physical and mental health conditions, the surveillance of cases and health indicators, and the promotion of healthy behaviors through public education and awareness.
Quality Indicators, Health Care
Norms, criteria, standards, and other direct qualitative and quantitative measures used in determining the quality of health care.
Spatial Processing
Integration of spatial information perceived by visual and/or auditory CUES.
