Remote sensing the distribution and spatiotemporal changes of major lichen communities in the Central Namib Desert [Elektronische Ressource] / vorgelegt von Christoph Schultz

Sujets

• Biologie

Informations

• Publié par: technische_universitat_kaiserslautern
• Publié le: 01 janvier 2006
• Nombre de lectures: 28
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 18 Mo

Extrait

Remote sensing the distribution and spatiotemporal
changes of major lichen communities
in the Central Namib Desert
Vom Fachbereich Biologie der Universität Kaiserslautern zur Verlei-
hung des akademischen Grades "Doktor der Naturwissenschaften"
genehmigte Dissertation.
vorgelegt von
Christoph Schultz
Kaiserslautern, 2006.
(D 386)
Tag der wissenschaftlichen Aussprache
8. Februar, 2006.
Prüfungskommission:
1. Gutachter: Prof. Dr. Burkhard Büdel
2. Gutachter: Dr. Bianca Hörsch
Vorsitzender: Prof. Dr. Matthias HahnI, Christoph Schultz, do hereby declare that this submission is my own work and that, to the
best of my knowledge and belief, it contains no material previously published by another per-
son nor material which to a substantial extent has been accepted for the award of any other
degree or diploma of a university or other institute of higher learning.
Hiermit erkläre ich, Christoph Schultz, dass ich diese Dissertation selbständig verfasst habe
und dass ich keine anderen Quellen und Hilfsmittel als die angegebenen benutzt und die Stel-
len der Arbeit, die anderen Werken dem Wortlaut oder dem Sinn nach entnommen sind, in
jedem Fall als Entlehnung kenntlich gemacht habe. Das gleiche gilt auch für beigegebene
Zeichnungen, Karten, Skizzen und Abbildungen.
Kaiserslautern, im Dezember 2005.Acknowledgements
There are many persons I owe to thank for their support and encouragement during my PhD
thesis. This was a long and difficult period, which I might not have managed without them.
Firstly, I would like to thank Prof. Dr. Burkhard Büdel for accepting me as a PhD stu-
dent and for supporting me along the way that led to my PhD work. Secondly, I am highly
indebted to Dr. Bianca Hörsch for her continued support, valuable guidance.
I also thank Dr. Michael Schmidt, Dr. Gerald Braun and Prof. Dr. Stefan Dech for the possi-
bility to work in the Biota project which has been a great experience about real life science.
In particular, I thank Dr. Jo Henschel, Dr. Kurt Loris and Prof. Dr. Dirk Wessels for their
expertise and cheerful contribution to my work, as well as Elke Erb, Roger Braby and Ben
Strohbach for providing me with expert knowledge on their country’s ecology.
This list would not be complete without mentioning my present and former colleagues of the
German Remote Sensing Data Center and the Unit of Remote Sensing, University of
Würzburg: Among others Thilo Wehrmann, Rene Colditz, Martin Bachmann, Michael Bock,
Michael Wissen, Godela Roßner, Ralf Hanatschek and Robert Backhaus for prolific discus-
sions and scientific support.
Last but not least I want to thank my family. First of all I thank my wife Margret Schultz for
she knows how difficult it is having a husband writing a PhD thesis. She always gave me
strength and encouragement as well as practical advises and was always there for me. I also feel
a deep sense of gratitude for my parents. The happy memory of my mother still provides a
persistent inspiration for my journey in this life.
Thank you all.Abstract
Biological Soil Crusts (BSCs), composed of lichens, mosses, green algae, microfungi and
cyanobacteria are an ecological important part of the perennial landcover of many arid and
semiarid regions (Belnap et al. 2001a), (Büdel 2002). In many arid and hyperarid areas BSCs
form the only perennial "vegetation cover" largely due to their extensive resistance to drought
(Lange et al. 1975).
For the Central Namib Desert (Namibia), BSCs consisting of extraordinary vast lichen com-
munities were recently mapped and classified into six morphological classes for a coastal area
of 350 km x 60 km. Embedded into the project "BIOTA" (www.biota-africa.org) financed by
the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research the study was undertaken in the
framework of the PhD thesis by Christoph Schultz.
Some of these lichen communities grouped together in so called "lichen fields" have already
been studied concerning their ecology and diversity in the past (Lange et al. 1994), (Loris &
Schieferstein 1992), (Loris et al. 2004), (Ullmann & Büdel 2001a), (Wessels 1989).
Multispectral LANDSAT 7 ETM+ and LANDSAT 5 TM satellite imagery was utilized for an
unitemporal supervised classification as well as for the establishment of a monitoring based on
a combined retrospective supervised classification and change detection approach (Bock 2003),
(Weiers et al. 2003). Results comprise the analysis of the mapped distribution of lichen com-
munities for the Central Namib Desert as of 2003 as well as reconstructed distributions for the
years 2000, 1999, 1992 and 1991 derived from retrospective supervised classification.
This allows a first monitoring of the disturbance, destruction and recovery of the lichen com-
munities in these arid environments including the analysis of the major abiotic processes
involved. Further analysis of these abiotic processes is key for understanding the influence of
Namib lichen communities on overall aeolian and water induced erosion rates, nutrient cycles,
water balance and pedogenic processes (Belnap & Gillette 1998), (Belnap et al. 2001b), (Bel-
nap 2001c), (Evans & Lange 2001), (McKenna Neumann & Maxwell 1999).
In order to aid the understanding of these processes SRTM digital elevation model data as well
as climate data sets were used as reference. Good correlation between geomorphological form
elements as well as hydrological drainage system and the disturbance patterns derived from
individual post classification change comparisons between the timeframes could be observed.
Conjoined with the climate data sets sporadic foehn-like windstorms as well as extraordinary
precipitation events were identified to largely affect the distribution patterns of lichen com-
munities.
Therefore the analysis and monitoring of the diversity, distribution and spatiotemporal change
of Central Namib BSCs with the means of Remote Sensing and GIS applications proof to be
important tools to create further understanding of desertification and degradation processes
in these arid regions.“Warum interessierren Sie sich eigentlich so sehr für diese Geschichte, Mr. Bulero?
Haben Sie eine, äh, besondere Vorliebe für Flechten?”
“Nein, Mister Hepburn-Gilbert, ich bin nur ein um das Gemeinwohl besorgter
Bürger des Sol-Systems. Und ich verlange, daß Sie etwas unternehmen.”
Philip K. Dick, Die drei Stigmata des Palmer Eldritch.CURRICULUM VITAE
Personal Information
CHRISTOPH SCHULTZ
Theodor-Litt-Str. 9
53121 Bonn
E-Mail: [e-mail]
born in Bergisch Gladbach, Germany (Jan. 6, 1974)
married
Education
Research Assistent at the German Aerospace Center (DLR), Germansince 06/2001
Remote Sensing Data Center (DFD), Department of Environment
and Geoinformation, Cologne / Munich, Germany.
04/1994 - 04/2001 Studies at the Department of Geography, University of Bonn, Ger-
many (Specialization in Ecology and Environmental Sciences). Final
Degree: Diplom Geographer. Thesis: “Fernerkundungs- und GIS-
gestützte Untersuchung der Zusammenhänge zwischen Phytodiver-
sität und Geofaktoren Afrikas”.
Studies at the Department of Geography University of Cologne,10/1993 - 03/1994
Germany.
1984 - 06/1993 Dietrich-Bonhöffer-Gymnasium, Bergisch Gladbach, Germany.
08/1990 - 12/1990 Coronado High School, Colorado Springs, Colorado, United States of
America
1980 - 1984 Primary School: Gemeinschafts-Grundschule Hand-Paffrath, Ber-
gisch Gladbach, Germany.Employment
Student Assistent at the Department of Geography, Prof. Wini-01/1996 - 03/1999
ger, University of Bonn, Germany.
Student Assistent at the Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA)09/1999 - 08/2000
Bonn, Germany.
Research Assistent at the German Aerospace Center (DLR), Germansince 06/2001
Remote Sensing Data Center (DFD), Department of Environment
and Geoinformation, Cologne / Munich, Germany.
Focus: BIOTA Southern-Africa Project, funded by the German
Ministry of Research and Education.
Ph.D. studies at the Department of General Botany, Technicalsince 2002
University of Kaiserslautern, Germany.
International Experience
DFG-Research-Project in the Kalahari Desert, South Africa.02/1999 - 03/1999
Field work for the Biota-Southern-Africa Project within the Central03/2002 - 04/2002
Namib Desert, Namibia.
Field work for the Biota-Southern04/2003 - 05/2003
Namib Desert, Namibia.
Field work for the Biota-Southern-Africa Project within Central-02/2005 - 04/2005
and Northern Namibia as well as the Central Namib Desert, Nami-
bia.
Field work for the Biota-Southern-Africa Project within the Nama-09/2005 - 10/2005
qualand, South Africa, Central Namibia and the Central Namib
Desert, Namibia.Publications
Schultz, C. (2001): Fernerkundungs- und GIS-gestützte Untersuchung der Zusammenhänge zwi-
schen Phytodiversität und Geofaktoren Afrikas. Diplomarbeit, Bonn.
Mutke, J., Kier, G., Braun, G., Schultz, C. & Barthlott, W. (2001): Patterns of African vascular
plant diversity - a GIS based analysis. In: Systematics and Geography of Plants. Bd. 71, 1125-1136.
Hörsch, B., Schultz, C., Hanatschek, R. & Vogel, M. (2002): Remote S