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Evaluating the utility and seasonality of NDVI values for assessing post-disturbance recovery in a subalpine forest

Environmental Monitoring and Assessment volume 184, pages 3849–3860 (2012)Cite this article

Abstract

Forest disturbances around the world have the potential to alter forest type and cover, with impacts on diversity, carbon storage, and landscape composition. These disturbances, especially fire, are common and often large, making ground investigation of forest recovery difficult. Remote sensing offers a means to monitor forest recovery in real time, over the entire landscape. Typically, recovery monitoring via remote sensing consists of measuring vegetation indices (e.g., NDVI) or index-derived metrics, with the assumption that recovery in NDVI (for example) is a meaningful measure of ecosystem recovery. This study tests that assumption using MODIS 16-day imagery from 2000 to 2010 in the area of the Colorado’s Routt National Forest Hinman burn (2002) and seedling density counts taken in the same area. Results indicate that NDVI is rarely correlated with forest recovery, and is dominated by annual and perennial forb cover, although topography complicates analysis. Utility of NDVI as a means to delineate areas of recovery or non-recovery are in doubt, as bootstrapped analysis indicates distinguishing power only slightly better than random. NDVI in revegetation analyses should carefully consider the ecology and seasonal patterns of the system in question.

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Acknowledgments

Funding for this research provided in part by the department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology and CIRES (Cooperative Institute for Research in the Environmental Sciences) at the University of Colorado. Field help included Rob Gonzales, Gerard Dillehay, and Alec Nelson. Feedback and critical reviews from Carol Wessman were much appreciated.

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  1. Ecology and Evolutionary Biology & CIRES, University of Colorado, Boulder, 216 UCB, Boulder, CO, 80309, USA

    Brian Buma

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  1. Brian Buma
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Correspondence to Brian Buma.

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Buma, B. Evaluating the utility and seasonality of NDVI values for assessing post-disturbance recovery in a subalpine forest. Environ Monit Assess 184, 3849–3860 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-011-2228-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-011-2228-y

Keywords

  • MODIS
  • Remote sensing
  • NDVI
  • Disturbance recovery
  • Forest fire regeneration