About This Project

My research lab deals with research on the applied vegetation ecology by means of airborne and spaceborne remote sensing data. Here, we deal with the main question of "can remote sensing contribute to monitor essential biodiversity variabes (EBVs) for Iranian forests? ". In this project, we will combine field- and remote sensing methods for quantifying a set of EBVs for fragile and partly degraded forest ecosystems in northern and western Iran.

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What is the context of this research?

Forest biodiversity has significantly declined during the recent decades as a result of multiple factors such as deforestation and climate change-induced events. Advances in remote sensing have enabled to use various, partly free, data sources for ecological research e.g. on wildlife niches and vegetation dynamics. Iran belongs to the countries with low forest cover, but includes unique forests, e.g. the Hyrcanian or Caspian forests that stretch out from sea level up to an altitude of 2,800 m and encompass over 80 woody species that have been partly long extincted in Europe. Remote sensing studies to quantify and monitor the dynamics of biodiversity variables in Iran are rare and very recent. Here, field and remote sensing data will be coupled to extend our knowledge in this context.

What is the significance of this project?

In this project, I will foster interdisciplinary joint research between remote sensing experts and ecologists to derive a set of biodiversity variables (including tree structure and health) for forest ecosystems in Iran. Thus, this research associated with this project will contribute to better understanding ecological phenomena (in particular tree health and structure) and their spatio-temporal dynamics in fragile Iranian forest ecosystems. This research will specifically result in statistical knowledge (model performance and its uncertainty) and spatial maps of forest health and structural indicators in Iran. This would support both science and practice that are interested in not only habitat conservation per se, but also in decision making for its future.

What are the goals of the project?

Our first goal is to test the capability of airborne and spaceborne remote sensing data to quantify main essential biodiversity variables in deciduous northern Forests and semi-Mediterranean western forests of Iran. The second goal is to present a framework for joint use of field and remote sensing data to improve quantification of tree health, tree structure and tree types in Iran. The third goal is to find out data- and methods-driven differences between estimating essential biodiversity variables in those two ecologically-different forest ecosystems. Finally, the last goal is to upscale the sample plot-based forest health and structure to larger spatial domains (regional and state-wide levels), which expands the experimental results to practical results.