Geospatial modeling of land cover change in the Choco-Darien global ecoregion of South America; One of most biodiverse and rainy areas in the world.

ABSTRACT: The tropical rain forests of northwest South America fall within the Chocó-Darien Global Ecoregion (CGE). The CGE is one of 25 global biodiversity hotspots prioritized for conservation due to its high biodiversity and endemism as well as threats due to deforestation. The analysis of land-use and land-cover (LULC) change within the CGE using remotely sensed imagery is challenging because this area is considered to be one of the rainiest places on the planet (hence high frequency of cloud cover). Furthermore, the availability of high-resolution remotely sensed data is low for developing countries before 2015. Using the Random Forest ensemble learning classification tree system, we developed annual LULC maps in the CGE from 2002 to 2015 using a time series of cloud-free MODIS vegetation index

SUBMITTER: Fagua JC 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6358088 | biostudies-literature | 2019

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature