Landsat-based monitoring of landscape dynamics at Voyageurs National Park: 1995–2013

Kirschbaum, Alan; Gafvert, Ulf

Landscape disturbances such as forest harvest, blowdowns, fire, and development activities create patches on the landscape that modify the structure and function of ecosystems and watersheds. Understanding the timing, location, size and intensity of these disturbances can assist resource managers while making decisions regarding management options. In an effort to provide information regarding these metrics, the Great Lakes Inventory and Monitoring Network implemented a long-term monitoring project to quantify landscape dynamics inside and surrounding Voyageurs National Park using an automated satellite-based change detection program called LandTrendr (Landsat-based detection of trends in disturbance and recovery). This is the second report for Voyageurs and varies slightly from the original report published in 2009 in terms of analysis area and the time period analyzed. We have doubled the analysis area outside the park and have increased the number of years analyzed from 2002–2007 (6 years) to 1995–2013(19 years). Inside the park, disturbances due to beaver affected the largest percent of land (0.44%, 0.02% per yr), followed closely by forest pathogen (0.41%, 0.02% per year) and fire (0.36%, 0.02% per yr). Lands adjacent the park experienced far greater levels of disturbance, with forest harvest accounting for 90% of the land disturbed outside the park (13.63%, 0.71% per yr). The second most prevalent disturbance agent outside the park was forest pathogen with only 0.66% (0.03% per yr) of the land disturbed outside the park during the 19-year analysis period. Continual long-term monitoring of this analysis area will contribute to our understanding of how these disturbances can and will affect the movement of wildlife through corridors through the park.

Landsat-based monitoring of landscape dynamics at Voyageurs National Park: 1995–2013

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