ORCID Profile
0000-0002-9434-7501
Current Organisation
The Hebrew University of Jerusalem
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Environmental Monitoring | Ecological Impacts of Climate Change | Environmental Science and Management | Environmental Management | Conservation and Biodiversity
Remnant Vegetation and Protected Conservation Areas at Regional or Larger Scales | Ecosystem Assessment and Management at Regional or Larger Scales | Flora, Fauna and Biodiversity at Regional or Larger Scales |
Publisher: MDPI AG
Date: 04-09-2021
DOI: 10.3390/FIRE4030058
Abstract: The summer season of 2019–2020 has been named Australia’s Black Summer because of the large forest fires that burnt for months in southeast Australia, affecting millions of Australia’s citizens and hundreds of millions of animals and capturing global media attention. This extensive fire season has been attributed to the global climate crisis, a long drought season and extreme fire weather conditions. Our aim in this study was to examine the factors that have led some of the wildfires to burn over larger areas for a longer duration and to cause more damage to vegetation. To this end, we studied all large forest and non-forest fires ( km2) that burnt in Australia between September 2019 and mid-February 2020 (Australia’s Black Summer fires), focusing on the forest fires in southeast Australia. We used a segmentation algorithm to define in idual polygons of large fires based on the burn date from NASA’s Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) active fires product and the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) burnt area product (MCD64A1). For each of the wildfires, we calculated the following 10 response variables, which served as proxies for the fires’ extent in space and time, spread and intensity: fire area, fire duration (days), the average spread of fire (area/days), fire radiative power (FRP as detected by NASA’s MODIS Collection 6 active fires product (MCD14ML)), two burn severity products, and changes in vegetation as a result of the fire (as calculated using the vegetation health index (VHI) derived from AVHRR and VIIRS as well as live fuel moisture content (LFMC), photosynthetic vegetation (PV) and combined photosynthetic and non-photosynthetic vegetation (PV+NPV) derived from MODIS). We also computed more than 30 climatic, vegetation and anthropogenic variables based on remotely sensed derived variables, climatic time series and land cover datasets, which served as the explanatory variables. Altogether, 391 large fires were identified for Australia’s Black Summer. These included 205 forest fires with an average area of 584 km2 and 186 non-forest fires with an average area of 445 km2 63 of the forest fires took place in southeast (SE) Australia (the area between Fraser Island, Queensland, and Kangaroo Island, South Australia), with an average area of 1097 km2. Australia’s Black Summer forest fires burnt for more days compared with non-forest fires. Overall, the stepwise regression models were most successful at explaining the response variables for the forest fires in SE Australia (n = 63 median-adjusted R2 of 64.3%), followed by all forest fires (n = 205 median-adjusted R2 of 55.8%) and all non-forest fires (n = 186 median-adjusted R2 of 48.2%). The two response variables that were best explained by the explanatory variables used as proxies for fires’ extent, spread and intensity across all models for the Black Summer forest and non-forest fires were the change in PV due to fire (median-adjusted R2 of 69.1%) and the change in VHI due to fire (median-adjusted R2 of 66.3%). Amongst the variables we examined, vegetation and fuel-related variables (such as previous frequency of fires and the conditions of the vegetation before the fire) were found to be more prevalent in the multivariate models for explaining the response variables in comparison with climatic and anthropogenic variables. This result suggests that better management of wildland–urban interfaces and natural vegetation using cultural and prescribed burning as well as planning landscapes with less flammable and more fire-tolerant ground cover plants may reduce fire risk to communities living near forests, but this is challenging given the sheer size and ersity of ecosystems in Australia.
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 28-09-2017
DOI: 10.1111/CONL.12408
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 10-2021
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 13-11-2022
DOI: 10.1111/GCB.15962
Abstract: Rapid climate change is impacting bio ersity, ecosystem function, and human well‐being. Though the magnitude and trajectory of climate change are becoming clearer, our understanding of how these changes reshape terrestrial life zones—distinct biogeographic units characterized by biotemperature, precipitation, and aridity representing broad‐scale ecosystem types—is limited. To address this gap, we used high‐resolution historical climatologies and climate projections to determine the global distribution of historical (1901–1920), contemporary (1979–2013), and future (2061–2080) life zones. Comparing the historical and contemporary distributions shows that changes from one life zone to another during the 20th century impacted 27 million km 2 (18.3% of land), with consequences for social and ecological systems. Such changes took place in all biomes, most notably in Boreal Forests, Temperate Coniferous Forests, and Tropical Coniferous Forests. Comparing the contemporary and future life zone distributions shows the pace of life zone changes accelerating rapidly in the 21st century. By 2070, such changes would impact an additional 62 million km 2 (42.6% of land) under “business‐as‐usual” (RCP8.5) emissions scenarios. Accelerated rates of change are observed in hundreds of ecoregions across all biomes except Tropical Coniferous Forests. While only 30 ecoregions (3.5%) had over half of their areas change to a different life zone during the 20th century, by 2070 this number is projected to climb to 111 ecoregions (13.1%) under RCP4.5 and 281 ecoregions (33.2%) under RCP8.5. We identified weak correlations between life zone change and threatened vertebrate richness, levels of vertebrate endemism, cropland extent, and human population densities within ecoregions, illustrating the ubiquitous risks of life zone changes to erse social–ecological systems. The accelerated pace of life zone changes will increasingly challenge adaptive conservation and sustainable development strategies that incorrectly assume current ecological patterns and livelihood provisioning systems will persist.
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 07-2012
Publisher: Public Library of Science (PLoS)
Date: 05-04-2013
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 04-2023
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 06-2014
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 12-10-2018
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 25-11-2010
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 19-02-2007
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 02-2013
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 28-03-2019
DOI: 10.1111/GCB.14616
Abstract: Increasing global energy demands have led to the ongoing intensification of hydrocarbon extraction from marine areas. Hydrocarbon extractive activities pose threats to native marine bio ersity, such as noise, light, and chemical pollution, physical changes to the sea floor, invasive species, and greenhouse gas emissions. Here, we assessed at a global scale the spatial overlap between offshore hydrocarbon activities and marine bio ersity (>25,000 species, nine major ecosystems, and marine protected areas), and quantify the changes over time. We discovered that two-thirds of global offshore hydrocarbon activities occur in areas within the top 10% for species richness, range rarity, and proportional range rarity values globally. Thus, while hydrocarbon activities are undertaken in less than one percent of the ocean's area, they overlap with approximately 85% of all assessed species. Of conservation concern, 4% of species with the largest proportion of their range overlapping hydrocarbon activities are range restricted, potentially increasing their vulnerability to localized threats such as oil spills. While hydrocarbon activities have extended to greater depths since the mid-1990s, we found that the largest overlap is with coastal ecosystems, particularly estuaries, saltmarshes and mangroves. Furthermore, in most countries where offshore hydrocarbon exploration licensing blocks have been delineated, they do not overlap with marine protected areas (MPAs). Although this is positive in principle, many countries have far more licensing block areas than protected areas, and in some instances, MPA coverage is minimal. These findings suggest the need for marine spatial prioritization to help limit future spatial overlap between marine conservation priorities and hydrocarbon activities. Such prioritization can be informed by the spatial and quantitative baseline information provided here. In increasingly shared seascapes, prioritizing management actions that set both conservation and development targets could help minimize further declines of bio ersity and environmental changes at a global scale.
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 03-02-2020
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 02-2020
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 14-07-2010
Publisher: MDPI AG
Date: 22-01-2019
DOI: 10.3390/RS11030215
Abstract: Conservation planning and population assessment for widely-distributed, but vulnerable, arboreal folivore species demands cost-effective mapping of habitat suitability over large areas. This study tested whether multispectral data from WorldView-3 could be used to estimate and map foliar digestible nitrogen (DigN), a nutritional measure superior to total nitrogen for tannin-rich foliage for the koala (Phascolarctos cinereus). We acquired two WorldView-3 images (November 2015) and collected leaf s les from Eucalyptus woodlands in semi-arid eastern Australia. Linear regression indicated the normalized difference index using bands “Coastal” and “NIR1” best estimated DigN concentration (% dry matter, R2 = 0.70, RMSE = 0.19%). Foliar DigN concentration was mapped for multi-species Eucalyptus open woodlands across two landscapes using this index. This mapping method was tested on a WorldView-2 image (October 2012) with associated koala tracking data (August 2010 to November 2011) from a different landscape of the study region. Quantile regression showed significant positive relationship between estimated DigN and occurrence of koalas at 0.999 quantile (R2 = 0.63). This study reports the first attempt to use a multispectral satellite-derived spectral index for mapping foliar DigN at a landscape-scale (100s km2). The mapping method can potentially be incorporated in mapping and monitoring koala habitat suitability for conservation management.
Publisher: American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)
Date: 08-11-2019
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 09-04-2009
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 02-01-2018
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 20-06-2009
Publisher: Oxford University Press (OUP)
Date: 07-2013
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 03-2013
Publisher: MDPI AG
Date: 06-2020
DOI: 10.3390/RS12111785
Abstract: Remote sensing of anthropogenic light has substantial potential to quantify light pollution levels and understand its impact on a wide range of taxa. Currently, the use of space-borne night-time sensors for measuring the actual light pollution that animals experience is limited. This is because most night-time satellite imagery and space-borne sensors measure the light that is emitted or reflected upwards, rather than horizontally, which is often the light that is primarily perceived by animals. Therefore, there is an important need for developing and testing ground-based remote sensing techniques and methods. In this study, we aimed to address this gap by examining the potential of ground photography to quantify the actual light pollution perceived by animals, using sea turtles as a case study. We conducted detailed ground measurements of night-time brightness around the coast of Heron Island, a coral cay in the southern Great Barrier Reef of Australia, and an important sea turtle rookery, using a calibrated DSLR Canon camera with an 8 mm fish-eye lens. The resulting hemispheric photographs were processed using the newly developed Sky Quality Camera (SQC) software to extract brightness metrics. Furthermore, we quantified the factors determining the spatial and temporal variation in night-time brightness as a function of environmental factors (e.g., moon light, cloud cover, and land cover) and anthropogenic features (e.g., artificial light sources and built-up areas). We found that over 80% of the variation in night-time brightness was explained by the percentage of the moon illuminated, moon altitude, as well as cloud cover. Anthropogenic and geographic factors (e.g., artificial lighting and the percentage of visible sky) were especially important in explaining the remaining variation in measured brightness under moonless conditions. Night-time brightness variables, land cover, and rock presence together explained over 60% of the variation in sea turtle nest locations along the coastline of Heron Island, with more nests found in areas of lower light pollution. The methods we developed enabled us to overcome the limitations of commonly used ground/space borne remote sensing techniques, which are not well suited for measuring the light pollution to which animals are exposed. The findings of this study demonstrate the applicability of ground-based remote sensing techniques in accurately and efficiently measuring night-time brightness to enhance our understanding of ecological light pollution.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 02-2015
DOI: 10.1016/J.MARPOLBUL.2014.10.050
Abstract: Recent gas discoveries in the eastern Mediterranean Sea led to multiple operations with substantial economic interest, and with them there is a risk of oil spills and their potential environmental impacts. To examine the potential spatial distribution of this threat, we created seasonal maps of the probability of oil spill pollution reaching an area in the Israeli coastal and exclusive economic zones, given knowledge of its initial sources. We performed simulations of virtual oil spills using realistic atmospheric and oceanic conditions. The resulting maps show dominance of the alongshore northerly current, which causes the high probability areas to be stretched parallel to the coast, increasing contamination probability downstream of source points. The seasonal westerly wind forcing determines how wide the high probability areas are, and may also restrict these to a small coastal region near source points. Seasonal variability in probability distribution, oil state, and pollution time is also discussed.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 2015
Publisher: CSIRO Publishing
Date: 2012
DOI: 10.1071/WF11031
Abstract: In this study, we aimed to explore the effect of fires on bird ersity in Australia’s tropical savannas. Bird surveys were conducted at 69 sites between 2005 and 2007 to estimate bird species richness and abundance within the Mornington Sanctuary, the Kimberley, north-west Australia. We used MODIS (Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer) and Landsat satellite imagery to map fire scars and to quantify vegetation cover parameters, and QuickBird imagery to map the percentage tree cover. Bird species richness and abundance were higher in areas exhibiting minimum seasonal and interannual changes, e.g. in riparian areas, near water and where tree cover was high. We found a significant negative effect of fire on bird ersity following the extensive late dry-season fires of 2006. These findings support the view that intense and large fires are threatening bio ersity and reinforce the importance of reducing the occurrence of late dry-season fires, which are the most severe and extensive. MODIS satellite imagery was found to provide a cost-effective approach to monitoring savanna landscapes, assessing the state of vegetation and monitoring fire dynamics.
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 29-05-2007
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 06-02-2013
DOI: 10.1111/DDI.12026
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 04-02-2015
Publisher: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Date: 08-09-2009
Abstract: The importance of global and regional coordination in conservation is growing, although currently, the majority of conservation programs are applied at national and subnational scales. Nevertheless, multinational programs incur transaction costs and resources beyond what is required in national programs. Given the need to maximize returns on investment within limited conservation budgets, it is crucial to quantify how much more bio ersity can be protected by coordinating multinational conservation efforts when resources are fungible. Previous studies that compared different scales of conservation decision-making mostly ignored spatial variability in bio ersity threats and the cost of actions. Here, we developed a simple integrating metric, taking into account both the cost of conservation and threats to bio ersity. We examined the Mediterranean Basin bio ersity hotspot, which encompasses over 20 countries. We discovered that for vertebrates to achieve similar conservation benefits, one would need substantially more money and area if each country were to act independently as compared to fully coordinated action across the Basin. A fully coordinated conservation plan is expected to save approximately US$67 billion, 45% of total cost, compared with the uncoordinated plan and if implemented over a 10-year period, the plan would cost ≈0.1% of the gross national income of all European Union (EU) countries annually. The initiative declared in the recent Paris Summit for the Mediterranean provides a political basis for such complex coordination. Surprisingly, because many conservation priority areas selected are located in EU countries, a partly coordinated solution incorporating only EU-Mediterranean countries is almost as efficient as the fully coordinated scenario.
Publisher: American Geophysical Union (AGU)
Date: 22-06-2022
DOI: 10.1029/2021JD036382
Abstract: The spatial and angular emission patterns of artificial and natural light emitted, scattered, and reflected from the Earth at night are far more complex than those for scattered and reflected solar radiation during daytime. In this commentary, we use ex les to show that there is additional information contained in the angular distribution of emitted light. We argue that this information could be used to improve existing remote sensing retrievals based on night lights, and in some cases could make entirely new remote sensing analyses possible. This work will be challenging, so we hope this article will encourage researchers and funding agencies to pursue further study of how multi‐angle views can be analyzed or acquired.
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 14-06-2008
Publisher: American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)
Date: 05-04-2019
Abstract: Basin-wide cooperation is crucial for cost-effective conservation of river Nile bio ersity.
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 18-04-2023
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 12-2015
DOI: 10.1890/15-0113.1
Abstract: Conservation prioritization at large scales is complex, combining biological, environmental, and social factors. While conservation scientists now more often aim to incorporate human-related factors, a critical yet unquantified challenge remains: to identify which areas people use for recreation outside urban centers. To address this gap in applied ecology and conservation, we developed a novel approach for quantifying human presence beyond populated areas by combining social media "big data" and remote sensing tools. We used data from the Flickr photo-sharing website as a surrogate for identifying spatial variation in visitation globally, and complemented this estimate with spatially explicit information on stable night lights between 2004 and 2012, used as a proxy for identifying urban and industrial centers. Natural and seminatural areas attracting visitors were defined as areas both highly photographed and non-lit. The number of Flickr photographers within protected areas was found to be a reliable surrogate for estimating visitor numbers as confirmed by local authority censuses (r = 0.8). Half of all visitors' photos taken in protected areas originated from under 1% of all protected areas on Earth (250 of -27 000). The most photographed protected areas globally included Yosemite and Yellowstone National Parks (USA), and the Lake and Peak Districts (UK). Factors explaining the spatial variation in protected areas Flickr photo coverage included their type (e.g., UNESCO World Heritage sites have higher visitation) and accessibility to roads and trails. Using this approach, we identified photography hotspots, which draw many visitors and are also unlit (i.e., are located outside urban centers), but currently remain largely unprotected, such as Brazil's Pantanal and Bolivia's Salar de Uyuni. The integrated big data approach developed here demonstrates the benefits of combining remote sensing sources and novel geo-tagged and crowd-sourced information from social media in future efforts to identify spatial conservation gaps and pressures in real time, and their spatial and temporal variation globally.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 05-2018
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 09-2010
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 02-2015
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 04-2008
Publisher: MDPI AG
Date: 08-10-2022
DOI: 10.3390/RS14195009
Abstract: In the Australian summer season of 2022, exceptional rainfall events occurred in Southeast Queensland and parts of New South Wales, leading to extensive flooding of rural and urban areas. Here, we map the extent of flooding in the city of Brisbane and evaluate the change in electricity usage as a proxy for flood impact using VIIRS nighttime brightness imagery. Scanning a wide range of possible sensors, we used pre-flood and peak-flood PlanetScope imagery to map the inundated areas, using a new spectral index we developed, the Normalized Difference Inundation Index (NDII), which is based on changes in the NIR reflectance due to sediment-laden flood waters. We compared the Capella-Space X-band/HH imaging radar data captured at peak-flood date to the PlanetScope-derived mapping of the inundated areas. We found that in the Capella-Space image, significant flooded areas identified in PlanetScope imagery were omitted. These omission errors may be partly explained by the use of a single-date radar image, by the X-band, which is partly scattered by tree canopy, and by the SAR look angle under which flooded streets may be blocked from the view of the satellite. Using VIIRS nightly imagery, we were able to identify grid cells where electricity usage was impacted due to the floods. These changes in nighttime brightness matched both the inundated areas mapped via PlanetScope data as well as areas corresponding with decreased electricity loads reported by the regional electricity supplier. Altogether we demonstrate that using a variety of optical and radar sensors, as well as nighttime and daytime sensors, enable us to overcome data gaps and better understand the impact of flood events. We also emphasize the importance of high temporal revisit times (at least twice daily) to more accurately monitor flood events.
Start Date: 07-2011
End Date: 05-2018
Amount: $11,900,000.00
Funder: Australian Research Council
View Funded Activity