University of Michigan
Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology

Iryna Dronova, Ph.D., Graduate Student Researcher, Dr. Peng Gong's Group, Environmental Science, Policy and Management University of California, Berkeley

Abstract
Advances in remote sensing and geospatial technology have greatly facilitated landscape-scale ecological research in recent decades. However, there are still a number of challenges for understanding ecological relationships across different scales. These issues are related to 1) spatial heterogeneity of landscape composition limiting the accuracy of remote sensing image analyses; 2) difficulties with detecting ecosystem change in areas with high magnitude of short-term dynamics; 3) underrepresentation of important spatial scales of local dispersal and patch dynamics in previous research using field surveys or airborne/satellite data and 4) three-dimensional complexity of landscape composition that needs to be considered in upscaling ecosystem variables from plot-level scales to regional units of management and decision-making. This talk will discuss potential solutions to these challenges offered by new spatial analysis paradigms and technology, and overview the key future research directions.

Host: Deborah Goldberg