Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

A Comparison Of Landsat Tm Imagery Versus Aerial Photographs For Classifying And Monitoring Riparian Vegetation, Sara Goeking Rodemaker

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

Ouray National Wildlife Refuge contains important riparian habitat s for fish and wildlife. The dominant woody plant species are Populus fremontii, Salix sps., and Tamarix ramosissima, a nonnative shrub that has become established in the Upper Colorado Basin in this century. T. ramosissima is quickly becoming the dominant riparian species, and could affect habitat quality and ecosystem processes such as nutrient cycling. A current vegetation map of the refuge was developed using Landsat thematic mapper imagery. Maps were also generated from aerial photographs to delineate areas of Tamarix invasion between 1936 and 1996. The two sources of remote sensor data …