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Quantitative Assessment of Emergent Spartina Alterniflora Biomass in Tidal Wetlands Using Remote Sensing

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Estuarine and Wetland Processes

Part of the book series: Marine Science ((MR,volume 11))

Abstract

Modeling and other techniques applied to quantitative assessment of wetland energy and nutrient flux depend, in part, upon accurate data on vegetative species composition and primary production. Remote-sensing techniques have been applied to mapping of emergent wetland vegetation but not to quantitative measurement of emergent plant biomass.

A study conducted in the tidal wetlands of Delaware has shown that spectral canopy reflectance properties can be used to measure the emergent green biomass of Spartina alterniflora (Salt Marsh Cord Grass) periodically throughout the peak growing season (April through September) in Delaware. The study used in situ measurements of spectral reflectance in the four Landsat/MSS wavebands (4: 0.5–0.6 um; 5: 0.6–0.7 um; 6: 0.7–0.8 um; and 7: 0.8–1.1 um) for correlation with green biomass of S. alterniflora. Such measurements could be applied to calculations of net aboveground primary production for large areas of S. alterniflora marsh in which con-ventional harvest techniques may be prohibitively time consuming.

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© 1980 Springer Science+Business Media New York

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Bartlett, D.S., Klemas, V. (1980). Quantitative Assessment of Emergent Spartina Alterniflora Biomass in Tidal Wetlands Using Remote Sensing. In: Hamilton, P., Macdonald, K.B. (eds) Estuarine and Wetland Processes. Marine Science, vol 11. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4757-5177-2_19

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4757-5177-2_19

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4757-5179-6

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4757-5177-2

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