Overview of YERC Research
YERC has developed a valuable, diverse network consisting of scientists, universities, land management agencies, corporations, private citizens, and the high tech industry. By combining these talents and resources, YERC believes the research generated:
- is more credible, since no one group or agency is generating the study.
- is more cost-effective, since resources and personnel can be shared.
- helps facilitate complex, long-term research, the cost of which would prohibit any one organization or agency from continuing the research.
- results in a highly effective means of disseminating the information between land management agencies, private organizations and the public.
- provides a "cross fertilization" of ecological education between ecosystem stakeholders.
The crafting of successful conservation strategies must include scientific knowledge about the effects human activities cast against a background of natural pattern and process. Conducting this type of research across ecosystems can be difficult. Ecosystems are large and from an experimental research approach, are very difficult to manipulate. As such, we take advantage of both unplanned natural experiments (e.g., great fires of 1988) as well as policy experiments (e.g., wolf reintroduction). In a recent issue of the journal Science (2001: page 1847) renowned ecologist Jared Diamond writes,
"Perhaps the most important message… concerns the virtues of planned [and unplanned] natural experiments… natural experiments create ecological communities that we would never have dreamed of creating, or that laws, moral scruples, or practical obstacles would have prenvented us from creating even if we had dreamed of them."
Whether it's the Yellowstone's threatened grizzly bear populations, the collapse of Pacific Northwest salmon runs or the management of America's forests and wetlands, solutions to major ecological challenges require a paradigm shift in the way we think. For this to happen, we must apply innovative science to decisions about nature. When we do, good things happen.
Science lifted each of these issues—and many others like them—from subjective opinion and polarization, to a place where decisions could be made on the basis of facts. The formula is deceptively simple: Research yields knowledge, and knowledge allows citizens and leaders to make sensible choices.
With this commitment, the scientists at YERC are working to prevent ecological train wrecks from occurring in and around Yellowstone—one of the last places in America to harbor the original set of native carnivores that roamed its lands when the Europeans first arrived. YERC conducts cutting edge research to tackle some of the most difficult questions facing Yellowstone.
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YERC 5-year Research Plan -- June 7, 2007
In 1993, during the creation of YERC and its predecessor Y.E.S. (Yellowstone Ecosystem Studies), we surveyed the “stakeholders” of the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem (GYE). Based on that response as well as our initial organizational capacity (our small staff as well as our “research fellows”—a precursor program to our SAC), we charted three interdisciplinary research initiatives: predator-prey relations (The Great Carnivores), aquatic systems (Wild Waters of Yellowstone), and vegetation remote sensing (High Tech Landscapes). Within these initiatives, we conducted about 30 research projects over the past 12 years – many are ongoing, forming the basis for long-term studies.
In each five-year period starting in 1996-2000 and 2001-2005, we set specific research goals, always embedded within the organizational mission. We accomplished these with minor modification and in the face of funding uncertainties.
One important goal for YERC (2001-05) was to improve linkages between the three existing research initiatives mentioned above. Our remote sensing program, which we now think of as our “geospatial ecology” program, served that role well, providing data over the scale of landscapes and ecosystems for our predator-prey and aquatic studies.
As YERC moves forward to formulate its one-year and five-year research plan, it is useful to assess these within a framework of YERC’s philosophy, goals, and most importantly, YERC’s mission. The basis of our guiding philosophy can be found on various sections of our web site. Please review those if you can. In essence, our philosophy is our goal: to increase the role of science at the decision-making table in GYE. Our mission has morphed a bit over the past few years but has pretty much been to “understand the nature of ecosystems through science”. Later versions have added, “collaborative research education” as a means to achieve the mission.
As with any planning process it is important to build on what has worked well and reflect on what has not. With the support of our partners, mostly co-Is, we have built a substantial ecosystem-scale research program based on collaborative, interdisciplinary science. Our successes have brought welcome change and new directions. So our strategic planning effort this fall and winter is timely.
Our basic research design 12 years ago is still intact today: take advantage of ecosystem-scale experiments provided by unplanned natural and “policy” experiments. These can be grouped into the major ecological drivers (employing the term ‘driver’ to represent general classes that may also represent feedback/feedforward phenomenon) present in the GYE. These drivers operate at various spatial scales and occurrence patterns across the GYE:
- Fires of 1988 (and subsequent plant community and species niche responses)
- Climate change (drought, early snow melt, lengthened (?) growing season, mild winters, etc.)
- Land Cover/Land Use Change (anthropogenic activities)
- Flooding (1995-1997 were 25, 50, and 100 year events)
- Wolf Reintroduction (coincident with flooding events)
- Invasions (weeds and pathogens)
- Insect Outbreaks / Forest Mortality (recent rate increase)
- Ungulate Populations and their Migrations (or lack thereof)
To enhance our studies of the drivers and ecosystem responses, an increased focus on the GYE, rather than YNP is appropriate in order to facilitate inferences at the ecosystem scale and take advantages of gradients in climate, elevation and land use activities. Many of our projects were initially focused in the representative northern range of YNP, but we have gradually expanded our study areas across the ecosystem. We recently received funding to collect wall-to-wall coverage of the Central Yellowstone Ecosystem (5 million acres; 20,000 km2) using a variety of state-of-the-art, high-resolution, remote-sensing instruments, including: AVIRIS, the gold-standard, hyperspectral 224-channel spectrometer and AirSAR, the gold-standard, multiple-frequency, multi-polarization imaging radar sensor. Together, these provide the first large-scale fusion effort sponsored by NASA to map the 3-D structure and composition of vegetation (including stand age).
Below is the list of key “areas of interest” that constitute the focus for YERC’s 5-year research plan. These are based on initial feedback from YERC’s SAC, current YERC proposals, YERC staff and input from folks like YNP’s Yellowstone Center for Resources (YCR), the NPS I&M Network, GYCC, key Forest Service personnel and others:
- Build upon the successes of our long-term, large-scale, collaborative research projects
- Focus on climate change and carbon/water dynamics
- Increase focus on aquatic ecosystems: river, stream, riparian, floodplain, lake issues
- Integrate understanding of biodiversity through geospatial modeling -- a more ecological version of our remote sensing program
- Build capacity for retrospective studies using combined archival information as well as stratigraphic techniques
- Employ systems approaches to address macro-scale hypotheses in the GYE (e.g., our NoRoNET idea, involvement in NEON, a LTER, or a NSF FIBR, etc.)
- Focus on general issues that threaten YNP, serving a role in assisting YCR, with strong emphasis on geospatial research program components, e.g., LU/LCC, invasive spread, pathogens, extend I&M to outside the park, etc.
In review of our past and current projects and the guidance (verbal and written suggestions and feedback) from our SAC on future projects and themes, we have assembled a 6 x 6 matrix populated with past, current, and possible future projects.
Research Project Themes (theme replaces our former initiative concept):
- Climate Change: Carbon and Water Dynamics
- Aquatic Ecology and the Terrestrial Interface (floodplains, wetland, and riparian habitat)
- Geospatial Modeling of Functional Types
- Coupled Predator-Prey Systems
- Invasions (weeds and pathogens)
- Disturbance and Biodiversity
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High Tech Landscapes and the Yellowstone Ecosystem
YERC’s High Tech Landscapes Initiative focuses on the use of advanced remote sensing techniques for ecological research in the Yellowstone Ecosystem. YERC believes that critical information for a large number of ecological questions can be obtained from remote sensing data. Whether research is focused on habitat selection by a small mammal or regional atmospheric carbon modeling, remote sensing data can provide critical model inputs including land cover, plant phenology and vegetation structure. YERC’s focus on long-term, large-scale research stresses the use of remote sensing and GIS which can provide consistent, objective measurements of critical ecological features across the landscape and over large time-spans.
YERC researchers are involved in a range of research applications with remote sensing. Current and past projects have focused on mapping wildfire fuels and forest regeneration following the 1988 fires, classifying vegetation for an assessment of invasive weeds risk, retrieving water temperatures to aid the study of whirling disease, mapping whitebark pine and blister rust infection, and habitat mapping for a range of wildlife species. The links above highlight a few of these research efforts.
Remote Sensing Data
YERC employs a range of remote sensing data and analysis methods to optimize the retrieval of biophysical parameters that support ecological research. We utilize airborne and spaceborne platforms, optical and microwave wavelengths as well as passive and active sensors. From high resolution photography to shuttle based radar data, YERC takes advantage of the strengths of different datasets and has the experience to exploit
YERC possesses a wealth of remote sensing data over the Yellowstone Ecosystem including multispectral and hyperspectral data, lidar, and Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR). Below are some examples of the data that YERC scientists are using:
| Image |
Data Type |
Sensors/Use |
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Hyperspectral Data |
Hyperpsectral data from AVIRIS, HyMap, Probe1 and hyperion sensors provide over 100 spectral channels to describe biophysical parameters |
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Multispectral Data |
Multispectral data from Landsat (MSS, TM, ETM+), ASTER and MODIS provide large scale repeat coverage at the landscape scale |
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High-resolution Airborne Imagery |
Airborne from ADAR and color infra red photography provide detailed sub-meter imagery for fine-scale analysis |
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Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) |
Polarimetric SAR data from AIRSAR, SIR-C and JERS provide information on vegetation type and structure as well as soil moisture |
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Lidar |
LIDAR data provide detailed measurements of vegetation height and a source for DEMs |
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Digital Elevation Models (DEMs) |
DEMs from Star3i, SRTM and lidar provide detailed descriptions of topography and play a critical role in modeling ecological processes and for assisting in the analysis of other remote sensing data layers |
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YERC scientists use a wide range of analysis methods based on the data being used and the research objectives. Typical classification approaches include maximum likelihood, decision tree, spectral angle mapper and matched filters. Spectral analysis methods used by YERC staff include spectral feature analysis (e.g. band depth analysis), spectral mixture analysis (including Multiple Endmember Spectral Mixture Analysis), principal components analysis (and MNF), vegetation indices (e.g. PRI, EWT, NDVI, NDWI) and derivative spectra. While the remote sensing lab is largely an ENVI/IDL, ESRI product (ArcView, ArcGIS) and R facility, a large number software are used in the lab and many analysis approaches and are developed and coded in-house.
Remote Sensing Lab
YERC’s remote sensing lab is a state-of-the-art computing facility with all of the resourced needed to conduct remote sensing research. It is a PC-based computing environment in a fully networked configuration with access to all the necessary data input/output devices for handling large datasets including 8mm and DLT tape drives and DVD burners. The lab uses networked storage devices that serve and redundantly backup the large volume of remote sensing and field data.
Field Support
An important component in all of YERC’s research is high quality field data. Field crews based at YERC’s field station utilize the latest in field equipment and sampling methods to support all YERC remote sensing research. This allows YERC researchers access to detailed current information on a range of field parameters including: vegetation type, density, vegetation height, biomass, soil moisture, water depth and water temperature. The wealth of field data YERC has collected in recent years provides an excellent field data set for validation and modeling of ecological phenomena using remote sensing.
Data & Collaboration - Datasets available by request.
YERC has made extensive field measurements and has professional experience with processing LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging), PolSAR (polarimetric Synthetic aperture radar), InSAR (Interferometric Synthetic aperture radar), and hypterspectral imageries. These field measurements and remote sensing imageries are good data sources for remote sensing study, (e.g validating canopy height, canopy percentage, tree density, vegetation biomass and simulating broadband remote sensing etc..). If you would like to use these datasets, please contact us.
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