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Detection of Vegetation Change Using Reconnaissance Imagery

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Detection of Vegetation Change Using Reconnaissance Imagery Global Change Biology (2001) 7, 247±252 Detection of vegetation change using reconnaissance imagery HERMAN H. SHUGART*, NANCY H. F. FRENCH², ERIC S. KASISCHKE², JAMES J. SLAWSKI², CHARLES W. DULL³, ROBERT A. SHUCHMAN² and JOE MWANGI§ *University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA 22901, USA, ²ERIM, PO Box 134001, Ann Arbor, MI 48113, USA, ³USDA Forest Service, 14th & Independence Ave, SW, Washington, DC 20250, USA, §Forest Health Management Centre, Mathaiga North ± Karura, Kenya Abstract Vegetation occurs at its highest elevations on equatorial mountains. Inspection of archival and recent high-resolution reconnaissance imagery of tropical mountains shows, in all cases, features indicating an increase in the elevation of mountain vege- tation zones and an increase in vigour in the high-elevation vegetation. These changes are consistent with an increased plant performance from increased levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere as well as with a warmer or more favourable climate. Keywords: carbon dioxide fertilization, high-elevation vegetation, Mt. Kenya, Mt. Kilimanjaro, reconnaissance imagery, vegetation change Received 1 September 1999; revised version received and accepted 18 May 2000 Introduction In 1992, at the urging of then Senator, now Vice President present our rationale for choosing high-elevation loca- Gore, the CIA established an Environmental Task Force tions in the text that follows. As is the case with (ETF) to pursue opportunities for exploiting the technical observational data, we have not demonstrated that assets of the Intelligence Community to address envir- elevated CO2 is altering vegetation in these locations. onmental problems. To support this task force, 60 US Indeed, elevated CO2 levels are consistent with our scientists, known as MEDEA, were given security observations, but not uniquely so. clearance to use classi®ed data. MEDEA found that a A striking change associated with modern human relatively modest commitment of resources, combined society has been the increase in atmospheric CO2 with information collected from technical intelligence associated with the increased burning of fossil fuels assets already in place, could yield dividends for (coal, petroleum, natural gas) since the industrial environmental scientists. One of the issues identi®ed as revolution (Sarmiento & Siegenthaler 1992; Sarmiento & important to MEDEA was global climate change: Bender 1994). Because CO2 is an essential component of primarily, how may information collected from technical plant photosynthesis, the observation of a systematic intelligence assets be used to help answer some of the increase in ambient CO2 levels immediately leads to the questions currently being asked related to global climate question of whether these changes might be altering change? This paper is an example of an initial project plant function globally and producing changes in designed to explore the use of reconnaissance imagery to patterns of vegetation. detect changes in vegetation zones. Our motivation was We inspected national reconnaissance imagery1 to ®nd to inspect locations that potentially might be responsive changes in degree of cover in mountain vegetation, in to elevated levels of atmospheric CO2, and we shall very high-elevation equatorial locations around the world. It has been argued that these locations are the Correspondence: Nancy H. F. French, fax +1/734-6232501, most likely to demonstrate a vegetation response to the e-mail [email protected] increased levels of CO in the atmosphere (LaMarche 1Information about the declassi®ed (DISP) imagery used in this 2 analysis can be found at: HTTP://edcwww.cr.usgs.gov/Web- et al. 1984; Graumlich 1991; Woodward & Bazzaz 1998). glis/glisbin/guide pL/glis/hyper/guide/disp Vegetation at the three sites that we studied all display # 2001 Blackwell Science Ltd 247 248 H . H . S H U G A R T et al. evidence of increasing plant vigour or of up-slope more from elevated CO2 levels than lowland plants of the movement of vegetation zones. We present results from same species. two sites, Mt. Kenya in Kenya and Mt. Kilimanjaro in Woodward (1987) found that the numbers of stomata Tanzania. These investigations were undertaken initially per unit area on plant leaves have varied inversely in to determine whether there was measurable vegetation relation to the change in CO2 concentration since the change consistent with increased ambient atmospheric industrial revolution (around 1860). Change in stomatal CO2; however, it is dif®cult to discount other global density could potentially modify the stomatal resistance climatic trends to explain our results. Our results to ¯uxes of H2O and CO2 and thus the plant water-use establish that reconnaissance imagery can be used to ef®ciency (the ratio of carbon ®xed by photosynthesis to monitor historical and future changes in high-elevation water used for transpiration). Stable isotope analysis of plant communities, which are potentially more respon- carbon in the same herbarium leaf samples was used to sive to CO change, and which demonstrate signi®cant 13 12 2 calculate the ratio of C/ C as an index of the CO2- change in the areas we studied. diffusivity (1993), and the ratio of 13C/12C was found to have changed systematically since the industrial revolu- High-elevation vegetation as a potential tion and was associated with the observed reduction in stomatal density. Woodward (1987) was able to duplicate indicator of direct CO2 effects on plants the changes in stomatal index he observed in archival LaMarche et al. (1984) reported elevated rates of growth plant specimens by using modern plants grown under in bristlecone pines (Pinus longaeva and P. aristata) from altered partial pressures of CO2 under experimental high-elevation sites from New Mexico, Colorado and conditions (also see Woodward & Bazzaz 1998). KoÈrner California. They found an increase in tree ring-width (1988) inspected the leaves from 200 plant species and occurred between 1840 and 1970, which they interpreted found no systematic trends in the change in stomatal as the ®rst documented response of natural-vegetation density over 7±12 decades (depending on the species), or growth-enhancement from the increase in atmospheric from lowland vs. alpine plants. However, KoÈrner et al. CO . In addition, they reported increased growth rings 2 (1988) did ®nd that the 13C/12C ratio in leaves of over 100 for another high-elevation species, limber pine (P. ¯exilis) plant species (or ecotypes) from several different in central Nevada which showed a similar pattern with a mountain ranges had increased 13C content with eleva- continued or even accelerated growth rate increase in the tion. This reduced discrimination against 13C indicates 1970s. These patterns were corroborated by the collection decreasing relative limitation of carbon uptake by of additional bristlecone pine data from two upper tree carboxylation. Based on theoretical considerations re- line sites located in the White Mountains of Eastern garding 13C discrimination, one would estimate a lower California (LaMarche et al. 1984). Later studies in Nevada ratio of internal to external CO (p /p ) in higher (Graumlich 1991) measured tree ring growth indices in 2 i a elevation plants from these data, and a consequent other species of subalpine coniferous trees (foxtail pine, P. balfouriana; lodgepole pine, P. murrayana; western gradient-related reduction of the rate of inward diffusion juniper, Juniperus occidentalis), but failed to ®nd such a of CO2. Street-Perrott et al. (1997) inspected ratios of C trend in 3 of 5 locations. isotopes in sediments of African lakes deposited in 13 LaMarche et al. (1984) noted that higher elevation sediments for the last 20000 years. The d C values from high-elevation lakes during the last glacial maximum locations have lower partial pressures of CO2 reducing the gradient and, hence, a reduced rate of diffusion of indicated a severe carbon limitation on the plants. This supports the conclusion that tropical tree lines in the past CO2 through the leaf stomata (see also Tranquillini 1979). They reasoned that plants at higher elevations are more were in¯uenced signi®cantly by carbon limitation and indicated a need to reassess the use of tropical tree-line likely to be limited by CO2 and more likely to respond variation for palaeotemperature reconstruction. positively to increased CO2 levels. Cooper (1986) and Gale (1986) both criticized this view, citing possible These earlier studies indicate that the long-term complicating factors as well as theoretical considerations, monitoring for changes in the vegetation found at higher but were rejoined by LaMarche et al. (1986), who pointed elevations could be a useful means of detecting vegeta- to earlier experimental work (Mooney et al. 1964; Mooney tion change in response to changes in atmospheric CO2. et al. 1966) indicating differences photosynthesis rates in Because of other possible environmental changes with plants grown at different elevations (lower rates of elevation, the need is for long-term sampling for photosynthesis at higher elevations). Subsequently, synchronous vegetation change on multiple sites on a KoÈrner & Diemer (1987) inspected 112 pairs of plant global basis. Because vegetation reaches its highest species at elevations of 600 and 2600 m in the Austrian elevations on mountains in the equatorial tropics, any Alps and found that alpine plants appeared to pro®t arguments regarding the effects on plants of altered # 2001 Blackwell Science Ltd, Global Change Biology, 7, 247±252 D E T E C T I O N O F V E G E T A T I O N C H A N G E 249 partial pressures of CO2 should be more observable in these climes. Measuring vegetation change on high-elevation equatorial mountains When asked by MEDEA to develop an archival observa- tional network using reconnaissance imagery, we re- commended the monitoring of the vegetation zones in the highest of the equatorial mountains for possible detection of a vegetation signal from increasing CO2. As a precursor to implementing such a global monitoring network, we undertook to determine whether or not vegetation in such locations could be characterized using reconnaissance imagery and whether vegetation change Fig.
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