A current perspective on Australian woody vegetation maps and implications for small remnant patches

Abstract

Digital map products are routinely used by land managers and policy makers for environmental decision-making. This paper assesses the ability of such products to detect woody vegetation, particularly remnant patches which serve as critical landscape structures. Comparisons are made between two map products (NCAS and a SPOT-based classification) and a high spatial resolution reference dataset, across contrasting landscapes. Spatial analysis and statistical association tests are used to determine the ability of these map products to produce accurate measurements of woody vegetation. It is demonstrated that landscape structure is fundamental in determining the fitness-for-use and function of the digital map products.

Keywords:

• landscape structure
• spatial resolution
• scale
• woody vegetation

Acknowledgements

The authors wish to express their thanks to Alex Lechner (part of the Australian Commonwealth Environment Research Fund, ‘Landscape Logic’ research hub) for sharing his thoughts and ideas and for commenting on earlier drafts of the manuscript, and Martin Clarke for his help in extensive aerial photograph interpretation. Financial assistance was provided by the Australian Commonwealth Environment Research Fund, ‘Landscape Logic’ hub for research undertaken by Elizabeth Farmer and is gratefully acknowledged. Karin Reinke completed part of this work while a Postdoctoral Research Fellow with the Global Cities Institute, RMIT, Melbourne, Australia.