Abstract
 Integration of GIS, RS and Forest Inventory for Landscape Modeling Track: Forestry, Wildlife, and Fisheries Management Author(s): Bogdan Chivoiu, Guofan Shao LANDIS is a forest model that simulates forest dynamics at large spatial and temporal scales. One of the main input files is a map of the tree species distribution as 10-year age cohorts on the landscape. To derive the species-age composition map for a fragmented forest landscape in north-central Indiana, forest inventory data is used to compute the major species proportions by size class and land type, based on forest plot locations. The land types are constructed from soil layers (Soil Survey Geographic Database). Forest patches are digitized from high-resolution aerial photographs and rasterized. Multiple species of a certain age are then randomly assigned to each forest pixel according to their respective proportions on a given land type. The species-age map is the initial forest condition that is used by LANDIS for simulating forest processes and disturbance interactions, which results in successive forest landscapes. Preliminary results of forest landscape simulations with and without land-use change disturbance are compared at landscape and forest patch levels. The simulation experiment shows that forest fragmentation increases as a result of land-use change, and forest composition and structure are affected, especially at forest patch level. Bogdan Chivoiu Purdue University Forestry and Natural Resources 204 Airport Rd Apt 13 West Lafayette , IN 47906 US Phone: 7654948086 E-mail: chivoiu@purdue.edu Guofan Shao Purdue University Forestry and Natural Resources 715 West State Street West Lafayette , IN 47907 US Phone: (765) 494-3630 E-mail: shao@purdue.edu |
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