13
© The Author(s) 2020
J. Cavender-Bares et al. (eds.), Remote Sensing of Plant Biodiversity,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-33157-3_2
Chapter 2
Applying Remote Sensing to Biodiversity
Science
Jeannine Cavender-Bares, Anna K. Schweiger, Jesús N. Pinto-Ledezma,
and Jose Eduardo Meireles
A treatment of the topic of biodiversity requires consideration of what biodiversity
is, how it arises, what drives its current patterns at multiple scales, how it can be
measured, and its consequences for ecosystems. Biodiversity science, by virtue of
its nature and its importance for humanity, intersects evolution, ecology, conservation biology, economics, and sustainability science. These realms then provide a
basis for discussion of how remote detection of biodiversity can advance our understanding of the many ways in which biodiversity is studied and impacts humanity.
We start with a discussion of how biodiversity has been defined and the ways it has
been quantified. We briefly discuss the nature and patterns of biodiversity and some
of the metrics for describing biodiversity, including remotely sensed spectral diversity. We discuss how the historical environmental context at the time lineages
evolved has left “evolutionary legacy effects” that link Earth history to the current
functions of plants. We end by considering how remote sensing (RS) can inform our
understanding of the relationships among ecosystem services and the trade-offs that
are often found between biodiversity and provisioning ecosystem services.
J. Cavender-Bares (*) · J. N. Pinto-Ledezma
Department of Ecology, Evolution and Behavior, University of Minnesota,
Saint Paul, MN, USA
e-mail: cavender@umn.edu
A. K. Schweiger
Department of Ecology, Evolution and Behavior, University of Minnesota,
Saint Paul, MN, USA
Institut de recherche en biologie végétale, Université de Montréal, Montréal, QC, Canada
J. E. Meireles
Department of Ecology, Evolution and Behavior, University of Minnesota,
Saint Paul, MN, USA
School of Biology and Ecology, University of Maine, Orono, ME, USA
© The Author(s) 2020
J. Cavender-Bares et al. (eds.), Remote Sensing of Plant Biodiversity,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-33157-3_2
Chapter 2
Applying Remote Sensing to Biodiversity
Science
Jeannine Cavender-Bares, Anna K. Schweiger, Jesús N. Pinto-Ledezma,
and Jose Eduardo Meireles
A treatment of the topic of biodiversity requires consideration of what biodiversity
is, how it arises, what drives its current patterns at multiple scales, how it can be
measured, and its consequences for ecosystems. Biodiversity science, by virtue of
its nature and its importance for humanity, intersects evolution, ecology, conservation biology, economics, and sustainability science. These realms then provide a
basis for discussion of how remote detection of biodiversity can advance our understanding of the many ways in which biodiversity is studied and impacts humanity.
We start with a discussion of how biodiversity has been defined and the ways it has
been quantified. We briefly discuss the nature and patterns of biodiversity and some
of the metrics for describing biodiversity, including remotely sensed spectral diversity. We discuss how the historical environmental context at the time lineages
evolved has left “evolutionary legacy effects” that link Earth history to the current
functions of plants. We end by considering how remote sensing (RS) can inform our
understanding of the relationships among ecosystem services and the trade-offs that
are often found between biodiversity and provisioning ecosystem services.
J. Cavender-Bares (*) · J. N. Pinto-Ledezma
Department of Ecology, Evolution and Behavior, University of Minnesota,
Saint Paul, MN, USA
e-mail: cavender@umn.edu
A. K. Schweiger
Department of Ecology, Evolution and Behavior, University of Minnesota,
Saint Paul, MN, USA
Institut de recherche en biologie végétale, Université de Montréal, Montréal, QC, Canada
J. E. Meireles
Department of Ecology, Evolution and Behavior, University of Minnesota,
Saint Paul, MN, USA
School of Biology and Ecology, University of Maine, Orono, ME, USA