What can Remote Sensing Do for the Conservation of Wetlands?

Dear Colleagues,

Wetlands are fragile and dynamic ecosystems sensitive to changes in climate and land-use, and rich in biodiversity.  For centuries they were considered to have little to no value, and most have been drained or transformed. In 1971, the first international convention for the protection of Wetlands, the Ramsar Convention, was signed to promote their conservation and sustainable use. Now it is recognised that wetlands provide fundamental ecosystem services, such as water regulation, filtering, and purification, as well as scientific, cultural, and recreational values. Wetlands constitute an extensive array of ecosystems, ranging from lakes and rivers to marshes and tidal flats. An increasing number of wetlands have some kind of legal protection, and many wetlands are monitored and actively managed.

Remote Sensing (RS) provides invaluable information to characterise and measure wetland states, condition, and functioning. Earth Observation (EO) satellites can be used to delineate flooded areas, and provide information on dynamic wetland extents. They can also be used to monitor changes in water quality (e.g., cyanobacterial blooms, trophic status, inputs of terrestrial carbon), and map habitat types, vegetation communities, and ecosystem services. Since the launch of the Landsat sensor series in 1972, there has been an exponential increase in the number of satellites and airborne sensors available to inform and advance knowledge about wetlands. EO satellites provide periodic information that is essential for understanding dynamic ecosystems such as wetlands. This volume of EO satellite information is largely untapped and currently much more than scientists can process or managers are aware of.

Wetland ecology, management, and research, in particular, lag behind what has been accomplished in other areas of ecosystems research, including climate, hydrology, ocean dynamics, land use change, and terrestrial vegetation dynamics.  The aim of this Special Issue is to explore and showcase areas of wetland ecology in which remote sensing is currently used or to potentially make advances in relation to conservation issues, management of protected areas, and understanding of biodiversity, functioning, services, and future sustainability of wetlands.

Papers are solicited over a wide range of topics encompassed by remote sensing of wetlands, including:

•          Wetland identification, delineation and habitat classification

•          Wetland conservation status and indicators

•          Spatial and temporal wetland dynamics

•          Radar and radar-optical remote sensing of wetlands

•          Water quality and pollution monitoring

•          Estimating carbon fluxes and wetlands productivity

•          Eutrophication of wetlands

•          Wetland hydrology and drainage

•          Wetland urbanisation

•          Wetland management and ecosystem services

•          Aquatic vegetation dynamics & classification

•          Biodiversity, biotic mixing, and invasive species

•          Climate change impacts and resilience of wetlands

•          UAVs and proximal sensing for wetland conservation or management

Dr. Javier Bustamante
Dr. Alfredo Huete
Dr. Patricia Kandus
Dr. Ricardo Díaz-Delgado
Guest Editors

This special issue is associated with the conference “1st International Symposium: What can Remote Sensing do for the Conservation of Wetlands?” which will be held from 23–24 October 2015, in Seville, Spain. Selected papers of this conference will be published in the special issue, however we welcome submission of non-symposium papers of relevance to wetlands ecology and conservation.

Conference description: This is an international symposium taking place within the XVI Congress of the Spanish National Remote Sensing Association. Wetlands constitute an extensive array of ecosystems ranging from lakes and rivers to marshes and tidal flats. An increasing number of wetlands have some kind of legal protection, and many wetlands are monitored and actively managed. Wetlands are fragile and dynamic ecosystems sensitive to changes in climate and land-use, and rich in biodiversity. For centuries they were considered to have little or no value, and most have been drained or transformed. Now it is recognised that wetlands provide fundamental ecosystem services, such as water regulation, filtering and purification, as well as scientific, cultural, and recreational values. This conference will offer an international interdisciplinary forum for wetland scientists, conservationists, managers and remote sensing experts to discuss scientific findings in relation to wetland conservation with the help of Earth Observation tools. The aims are to facilitate contact and exchange of ideas between wetland ecologists interested in RS techniques and RS experts, in an interdisciplinary manner.

Conference Information:

Title: 1st International Symposium: What can Remote Sensing do forthe Conservation of Wetlands?

Website: http://wetlandssymposium.com/

Date: 23 October 2015

Manuscript Submission Information

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