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A spatial pattern analysis of the halophytic species distribution in an arid coastal environment

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Abstract

Obtaining information about the spatial distribution of desert plants is considered as a serious challenge for ecologists and environmental modeling due to the required intensive field work and infrastructures in harsh and remote arid environments. A new method was applied for assessing the spatial distribution of the halophytic species (HS) in an arid coastal environment. This method was based on the object-based image analysis for a high-resolution Google Earth satellite image. The integration of the image processing techniques and field work provided accurate information about the spatial distribution of HS. The extracted objects were based on assumptions that explained the plant-pixel relationship. Three different types of digital image processing techniques were implemented and validated to obtain an accurate HS spatial distribution. A total of 2703 individuals of the HS community were found in the case study, and approximately 82 % were located above an elevation of 2 m. The micro-topography exhibited a significant negative relationship with pH and EC (r = −0.79 and −0.81, respectively, p < 0.001). The spatial structure was modeled using stochastic point processes, in particular a hybrid family of Gibbs processes. A new model is proposed that uses a hard-core structure at very short distances, together with a cluster structure in short-to-medium distances and a Poisson structure for larger distances. This model was found to fit the data perfectly well.

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Acknowledgments

Part of this research was supported by Agricultural Research and Development Fund (ARDF) in Egypt, and J.U-D. was partly funded by German Research Foundation (DFG) research training group “Scaling problems in statistics” (RTG 1644). We gratefully acknowledge Google Earth for providing high-resolution satellite data. Also, we thank the anonymous reviewers for their criticism.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Geography, Ghent University, Krijgslaan 281 S8, 9000, Ghent, Belgium

    Nasem Badreldin, Cornelis Stal & Rudi Goossens

  2. Department of Environmental Biology, University of Navarra, Irunlarrea s/n, 31008, Pamplona, Spain

    J. Uria-Diez

  3. Department of Ecosystem Modeling, Faculty of Forest Sciences and Forest Ecology, University of Goettingen, Buesgenweg 4, 37077, Goettingen, Germany

    J. Uria-Diez

  4. Department of Mathematics, Universitat Jaume I, Campus Riu Sec, 12071, Castellón, Spain

    J. Mateu

  5. Division M3-BIORES: Measure, Model & Manage Bioresponses, Kasteelpark Arenberg 30, box 2456, 3001, Leuven, Belgium

    Ali Youssef

  6. Department of Botany, Faculty of Science, Port Said University, Port Said, Egypt

    Magdy El-Bana

  7. Central Laboratory for Agricultural Climate (CLAC), Agricultural Research Center (ARC), Ministry of Agriculture and Land Reclamation (MALR), Dokki, Giza, Egypt

    Ahmed Magdy

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  1. Nasem Badreldin
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Correspondence to Nasem Badreldin.

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Badreldin, N., Uria-Diez, J., Mateu, J. et al. A spatial pattern analysis of the halophytic species distribution in an arid coastal environment. Environ Monit Assess 187, 224 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-015-4403-z

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