425
© 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_16
Chapter 16
Consideration of Scale in Remote Sensing
of Biodiversity
John A. Gamon, Ran Wang, Hamed Gholizadeh, Brian Zutta,
Phil A. Townsend, and Jeannine Cavender-Bares
16.1 Introduction
Biodiversity is critical to ecosystem function and provides many goods and services
essential to human well-being (Hooper et al. 2012; Tilman et al. 2012). Despite
centuries of effort, we lack a comprehensive account of global biodiversity, at a time
the world is facing a sixth mass extinction due to human disturbance and climate
change (Barnosky et al. 2011). Effective management of biological resources to
preserve diversity and maintain ecosystem function in a rapidly changing world
remains difficult, in part due to sampling challenges and lack of globally consistent
data sets. Sampling biodiversity using traditional field methods alone simply cannot
address this need, leading to recent calls for remote sensing (RS) as part of a global
J. A. Gamon (*)
Department of Earth & Atmospheric Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada
Department of Biological Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada
CALMIT, School of Natural Resources, University of Nebraska – Lincoln, Lincoln, NE, USA
R. Wang
Department of Earth & Atmospheric Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada
H. Gholizadeh
CALMIT, School of Natural Resources, University of Nebraska – Lincoln, Lincoln, NE, USA
B. Zutta
Vice-rectorate for Research and Technological Innovation, Universidad Alas Peruanas, Lima,
Peru
P. A. Townsend
Department of Forest and Wildlife Ecology, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI, USA
J. Cavender-Bares
Department of Ecology, Evolution & Behavior, University of Minnesota, Saint Paul, MN,
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_16
Chapter 16
Consideration of Scale in Remote Sensing
of Biodiversity
John A. Gamon, Ran Wang, Hamed Gholizadeh, Brian Zutta,
Phil A. Townsend, and Jeannine Cavender-Bares
16.1 Introduction
Biodiversity is critical to ecosystem function and provides many goods and services
essential to human well-being (Hooper et al. 2012; Tilman et al. 2012). Despite
centuries of effort, we lack a comprehensive account of global biodiversity, at a time
the world is facing a sixth mass extinction due to human disturbance and climate
change (Barnosky et al. 2011). Effective management of biological resources to
preserve diversity and maintain ecosystem function in a rapidly changing world
remains difficult, in part due to sampling challenges and lack of globally consistent
data sets. Sampling biodiversity using traditional field methods alone simply cannot
address this need, leading to recent calls for remote sensing (RS) as part of a global
J. A. Gamon (*)
Department of Earth & Atmospheric Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada
Department of Biological Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada
CALMIT, School of Natural Resources, University of Nebraska – Lincoln, Lincoln, NE, USA
R. Wang
Department of Earth & Atmospheric Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada
H. Gholizadeh
CALMIT, School of Natural Resources, University of Nebraska – Lincoln, Lincoln, NE, USA
B. Zutta
Vice-rectorate for Research and Technological Innovation, Universidad Alas Peruanas, Lima,
Peru
P. A. Townsend
Department of Forest and Wildlife Ecology, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI, USA
J. Cavender-Bares
Department of Ecology, Evolution & Behavior, University of Minnesota, Saint Paul, MN,
USA