Remote Sensing of Tropical Rainforest Biomass Changes in Hainan Island, China from 2003 to 2018

Meizhi Lin; Qingping Ling; Huiqing Pei; Yanni Song; Zixuan Qiu; Cai Wang; Tiedong Liu; Wenfeng Gong

doi:10.3390/rs13091696

Remote Sensing (Apr 2021)

Remote Sensing of Tropical Rainforest Biomass Changes in Hainan Island, China from 2003 to 2018

Meizhi Lin,
Qingping Ling,
Huiqing Pei,
Yanni Song,
Zixuan Qiu,
Cai Wang,
Tiedong Liu,
Wenfeng Gong

Affiliations

Meizhi Lin: Key Laboratory of Genetics and Germplasm Innovation of Tropical Special Forest Trees and Ornamental Plants, Ministry of Education, College of Forestry, Hainan University, Haikou 570228, China
Qingping Ling: Intelligent Forestry Key Laboratory of Haikou City, College of Forestry, Hainan University, Haikou 570228, China
Huiqing Pei: Department of Global Agricultural Sciences, Graduate School of Agricultural and Life Sciences, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo 113-8657, Japan
Yanni Song: Intelligent Forestry Key Laboratory of Haikou City, College of Forestry, Hainan University, Haikou 570228, China
Zixuan Qiu: Key Laboratory of Genetics and Germplasm Innovation of Tropical Special Forest Trees and Ornamental Plants, Ministry of Education, College of Forestry, Hainan University, Haikou 570228, China
Cai Wang: Intelligent Forestry Key Laboratory of Haikou City, College of Forestry, Hainan University, Haikou 570228, China
Tiedong Liu: Intelligent Forestry Key Laboratory of Haikou City, College of Forestry, Hainan University, Haikou 570228, China
Wenfeng Gong: Intelligent Forestry Key Laboratory of Haikou City, College of Forestry, Hainan University, Haikou 570228, China

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/rs13091696
Journal volume & issue: Vol. 13, no. 9
p. 1696

Abstract

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The largest area of tropical rainforests in China is on Hainan Island, and it is an important part of the world’s tropical rainforests. The structure of the tropical rainforests in Hainan is complex, the biomass density is high, and conducting ground surveys is difficult, costly, and time-consuming. Remote sensing is a good monitoring method for biomass estimation. However, the saturation phenomenon of such data from different satellite sensors results in low forest biomass estimation accuracy in tropical rainforests with high biomass density. Based on environmental information, the biomass of permanent sample plots, and forest age, this study established a tropical rainforest database for Hainan. Forest age and 14 types of environmental information, combined with an enhanced vegetation index (EVI), were introduced to establish a tropical rainforest biomass estimation model for remote sensing that can overcome the saturation phenomenon present when using remote sensing data. The fitting determination coefficient R2 of the model was 0.694. The remote sensing estimate of relative bias was 2.29%, and the relative root mean square error was 35.41%. The tropical rainforest biomass in Hainan Island is mainly distributed in the central mountainous and southern areas. The tropical rainforests in the northern and coastal areas have been severely damaged by tourism and real estate development. Particularly in low-altitude areas, large areas of tropical rainforest have been replaced by economic forests. Furthermore, the tropical rainforest areas in some cities and counties have decreased, affecting the increase in tropical rainforest biomass. On Hainan Island, there were few tropical rainforests in areas with high rainfall. Therefore, afforestation in these areas could maximize the ecological benefits of tropical rainforests. To further strengthen the protection, there is an urgent need to establish a feasible, reliable, and effective tropical rainforest loss assessment system using quantitative scientific methodologies.

Published in Remote Sensing

ISSN: 2072-4292 (Online)
Publisher: MDPI AG
Country of publisher: Switzerland
LCC subjects: Science
Website: http://www.mdpi.com/journal/remotesensing/

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