Abstract
Knowledge of wetland vegetation spectral reflectance signatures can assist in spectral classification of remotely sensed images for monitoring of wetland hydroperiod. This study aimed at assessing the differences between wetland vegetation communities of varying species composition and density in terms of spectral reflectance. The investigation was carried out in floodplains at Nxaraga and Seronga in the Okavango Delta, Botswana. Spectral measurements were conducted during rising and receding flood stages. In each study area, 2 transects were located in homogeneous macrophyte stands, and in each transect 5–10 1 m2 quadrats were randomly set. In each quadrat, water depth and cover percentages (green leaved and senescent) of macrophyte vegetation were recorded, and a full reflectance spectrum between 325 and 1,075 nm wavelengths captured using a handheld spectroradiometer. Multiple regression analysis with stepwise selection of significant variables based on AIC was performed to determine the influence of various stand characteristics on spectral reflectance and vegetation indices (NDVI and EVI). The results showed that stand characteristics explained a large proportion of variance in spectral vegetation indices with r2 = 0.67 for NDVI and r2 = 0.75 for EVI. For NDVI, the significant explanatory variables were percentage green cover, senescent cover and water depth, while for EVI it was the total vegetation cover. Analysis of regression residuals for the various vegetation community classes showed significant differences between the classes in their NDVI, but no differences in EVI, with the exception of the Panicum repens class. Reflectance in visible wavelengths did not vary significantly between sites and seasons, but the NIR reflectance differed across sites and seasons. The results indicate that the simple vegetation indices in the Okavango Delta respond strongly to stand characteristics and thus can be used to derive these from remote sensing imagery. The scope for determination of vegetation communities from these indices is limited, however.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Adam EM, Mutanga O, Rugege D, Ismail R (2012) Discriminating the papyrus vegetation (Cyperus papyrus L.) and its co-existent species using random forest and hyperspectral data resampled to HYMAP. Int J Remote Sens 33(2):552–569
Analytical Spectral Devices, Inc. (2002) HandHeld Spectroradiometer; User’s guide. Analytical Spectral Devices, Inc., Boulder
Asner GP (1998) Biophysical and biochemical sources of variability in canopy reflectance. Remote Sens Environ 64(3):234–253
Becker BL, Lusch DP, Qi J (2005) Identifying optimal spectral bands from in situ measurements of Great Lakes coastal wetlands using second-derivative analysis. Remote Sens Environ 97(2):238–248
Chopra R, Verma VK, Sharma PK (2001) Mapping, monitoring and conservation of Harike wetland ecosystem, Punjab, India, through remote sensing. Int J Remote Sens 22(1):89–98
Ellery K, Ellery W (1997) Plants of the Okavango Delta: a field guide. Tsaro Publishers, Durban
Gao X, Huete AR, Ni W, Miura T (2002) Optical-biophysical relationships of vegetation spectra without background contamination. Remote Sens Environ 74(3):609–620
Huete AR, Liu HQ, Batchily K, Van Leeuwen WJDA (1997) A comparison of vegetation indices over a global set of TM images for EOS-MODIS. Remote Sens Environ 59(3):440–451
McCarthy J, Gumbricht T, McCarthy TS (2005) Ecoregion classification in the Okavango Delta, Botswana from multitemporal remote sensing. Int J Remote Sens 26(19):4339–4357
McCune B, Mefford MJ (2011) PC-ORD. Multivariate analysis of ecological data. Version 6. MjM Software, Gleneden Beach
Moraes CE, Pereira G, Cardozo F, de Oliveira G, Ferreira MP (2011) Spectral response of vegetation covered surface subject to flooding due to viewing geometry. Geografia 36:188–199
Munyati C (2000) Wetland change detection on the Kafue Flats, Zambia by classification of multitemporal remote sensing image dataset. Int J Remote Sens 21(9):1787–1806
Murray-Hudson M, Combs F, Wolski P, Brown MT (2011) A vegetation-based hierarchical classification for seasonally pulsed floodplains in the Okavango Delta, Botswana. Afr J Aquat Sci 36(3):223–234
Murray-Hudson M, Wolski P, Cassidy L, Brown MT, Thito K, Kashe K, Mosimanyana E (2014a) Remote Sensing-derived hydroperiod as a predictor of floodplain vegetation composition. Wetlands Ecol Manage. doi:10.1007/s11273-014-9340-z
Murray-Hudson M, Wolski P, Murray-Hudson F, Brown MT, Kashe K (2014b) Disaggregating hydroperiod: components of the seasonal flood pulse as drivers of plant species distribution in floodplains of a tropical wetland. Wetlands. doi:10.1007/s13157-014-0554-x
Ozesmi SL, Bauer ME (2002) Satellite remote sensing of wetlands. Wetlands Ecol Manage 10(5):381–402
Peñuelas J, Gamon JA, Griffin KL, Field CB (1993) Assessing community type, plant biomass, pigment composition, and photosynthetic efficiency of aquatic vegetation from spectral reflectance. Remote Sens Environ 46(2):110–118
Pettorelli N, Vik JO, Mysterud A, Gaillard JM, Tucker CJ, Stenseth NC (2005) Using the satellite-derived NDVI to assess ecological responses to environmental change. Trends Ecol Evol 20(9):503–510
Pricope NG (2013) Variable-source flood pulsing in a semi-arid transboundary watershed: the Chobe River, Botswana and Namibia. Environ Monit Assess 185(2):1883–1906
Proctor C, He Y (2013) Estimation of foliar pigment concentration in floating macrophytes using hyperspectral vegetation indices. Int J Remote Sens 34(22):8011–8027
R Core Team (2013) R: a language and environment for statistical computing. R Foundation for Statistical Computing, Vienna. ISBN 3-900051-07-0. http://www.R-project.org/
Ringrose S, Vanderpost C, Matheson W (2003) Mapping ecological conditions in the Okavango delta, Botswana using fine and coarse resolution systems including simulated SPOT vegetation imagery. Int J Remote Sens 24(5):1029–1052
Silva TS, Costa MP, Melack JM, Novo EM (2008) Remote sensing of aquatic vegetation: theory and applications. Environ Monit Assess 140(1–3):131–145
Spanglet HJ, Ustin SL, Rejmankova E (1998) Spectral reflectance characteristics of California subalpine marsh plant communities. Wetlands 18(3):307–319
Wang J, Rich PM, Price KP (2003) Temporal responses of NDVI to precipitation and temperature in the central Great Plains, USA. Int J Remote Sens 24(11):2345–2364
Acknowledgments
The authors thank the German Ministry for Education and Research (BMBF) for sponsoring this project (TFO). We also thank the field technician for their assistance in field work and herbarium unit (ORI) with their assistant in sample identification. Appreciations to Mr Tsheboeng who aided in cluster analysis. Thanks are also due to two anonymous reviewers whose comments and suggestions on an earlier version helped greatly to improve this manuscript. The work was carried out under Botswana Government Research Permit reference number: EWT 8/36/4 XVI (47).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Thito, K., Wolski, P. & Murray-Hudson, M. Spectral reflectance of floodplain vegetation communities of the Okavango Delta. Wetlands Ecol Manage 23, 637–648 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11273-014-9403-1
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11273-014-9403-1