Accuracy assessment of the geomorphon approach to detect ecological sites in the Dry Chaco region of Argentina

Ecological sites are a classification of local-land types based on differences in important environmental factors including soil properties, slope and landscape position within a geomorphologic and climatic zone. The concept is pivotal to conduct adaptative management in arid rangelands because it d...

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Main Authors: Coria, Rubén Darío, Brungard, Colby, Vizgarra, Lidia Amanda, Moretti, Lucas Martin, Schulz, Guillermo, Rodriguez, Dario Martin
Format: Artículo
Language:Inglés
Published: Elsevier 2024
Subjects:
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12123/19538
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0341816224006064
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.catena.2024.108409
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author Coria, Rubén Darío
Brungard, Colby
Vizgarra, Lidia Amanda
Moretti, Lucas Martin
Schulz, Guillermo
Rodriguez, Dario Martin
author_browse Brungard, Colby
Coria, Rubén Darío
Moretti, Lucas Martin
Rodriguez, Dario Martin
Schulz, Guillermo
Vizgarra, Lidia Amanda
author_facet Coria, Rubén Darío
Brungard, Colby
Vizgarra, Lidia Amanda
Moretti, Lucas Martin
Schulz, Guillermo
Rodriguez, Dario Martin
author_sort Coria, Rubén Darío
collection INTA Digital
description Ecological sites are a classification of local-land types based on differences in important environmental factors including soil properties, slope and landscape position within a geomorphologic and climatic zone. The concept is pivotal to conduct adaptative management in arid rangelands because it defines homogeneous areas over which specific soil-vegetation-disturbance dynamic occurs. Geomorphon is a computationally efficient method that uses Digital Elevation Models (DEMs) for the classification of landforms at multiple scales. The objective of this study was to evaluate the accuracy of the geomorphon approach to map ecological sites in a 11,259-ha study area within the Dry Chaco region of Argentina, utilizing local topographic positions along soil catena as a predictor of broader ecological sites classes. We used two DEM pixel resolutions (12.5 m and 30 m) and optimized the flatness threshold (t) and search radius (L) geomorphon parameters. As “ground truth” we used legacy data of 62 soil profiles descriptions. The geomorphon elements detected were reclassified into the three main ecological sites of the study area: highlands, midlands and lowlands. We used the overall disagreement (D) as the main metric for evaluating the accuracy of ecological site classifications. We found that: i) the lowest t value (0.05◦) captured subtle topographical changes and thus more effectively reflected the soil-landscape relationship, and ii) larger L values paired with the lower pixel resolution (30 m) diminished the impact of minor landforms, improving the accuracy of ecological site detections. We determined that the geomorphon model with the pixel resolution of 30 m, t-value of 0.05◦, and L-value of 12 produced the ecological site classification map with the highest accuracy, achieving a moderate-high accuracy (D of 33.9 %). Our study suggests that the geomorphon approach shows potential for consistent, reproducible and easily updatable ecological site mapping over larger areas.
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spelling INTA195382024-09-25T12:00:04Z Accuracy assessment of the geomorphon approach to detect ecological sites in the Dry Chaco region of Argentina Coria, Rubén Darío Brungard, Colby Vizgarra, Lidia Amanda Moretti, Lucas Martin Schulz, Guillermo Rodriguez, Dario Martin Landforms Ecology Formas del Terreno Ecología Región Chaqueña Semiárida Sitios Ecológicos Geomorfona Ecological Sites Geomorphon Ecological sites are a classification of local-land types based on differences in important environmental factors including soil properties, slope and landscape position within a geomorphologic and climatic zone. The concept is pivotal to conduct adaptative management in arid rangelands because it defines homogeneous areas over which specific soil-vegetation-disturbance dynamic occurs. Geomorphon is a computationally efficient method that uses Digital Elevation Models (DEMs) for the classification of landforms at multiple scales. The objective of this study was to evaluate the accuracy of the geomorphon approach to map ecological sites in a 11,259-ha study area within the Dry Chaco region of Argentina, utilizing local topographic positions along soil catena as a predictor of broader ecological sites classes. We used two DEM pixel resolutions (12.5 m and 30 m) and optimized the flatness threshold (t) and search radius (L) geomorphon parameters. As “ground truth” we used legacy data of 62 soil profiles descriptions. The geomorphon elements detected were reclassified into the three main ecological sites of the study area: highlands, midlands and lowlands. We used the overall disagreement (D) as the main metric for evaluating the accuracy of ecological site classifications. We found that: i) the lowest t value (0.05◦) captured subtle topographical changes and thus more effectively reflected the soil-landscape relationship, and ii) larger L values paired with the lower pixel resolution (30 m) diminished the impact of minor landforms, improving the accuracy of ecological site detections. We determined that the geomorphon model with the pixel resolution of 30 m, t-value of 0.05◦, and L-value of 12 produced the ecological site classification map with the highest accuracy, achieving a moderate-high accuracy (D of 33.9 %). Our study suggests that the geomorphon approach shows potential for consistent, reproducible and easily updatable ecological site mapping over larger areas. Instituto de Suelos Fil: Coria, Rubén D. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Santiago del Estero; Argentina Fil: Brungard, Colby. New Mexico State University; Estados Unidos Fil: Vizgarra, Lidia Amalia. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Santiago del Estero; Argentina Fil: Moretti, Lucas Martín. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Cerro Azul; Argentina Fil: Schulz, Guillermo Andrés. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Instituto de Suelos; Argentina Fil: Rodríguez, Darío Martín. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Instituto de Suelos; Argentina 2024-09-25T11:45:52Z 2024-09-25T11:45:52Z 2024-09-19 info:ar-repo/semantics/artículo info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12123/19538 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0341816224006064 0341-8162 1872-6887 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.catena.2024.108409 eng info:eu-repo/semantics/restrictedAccess http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/ Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) application/pdf Elsevier Catena 246 : 108409. (November 2024)
spellingShingle Landforms
Ecology
Formas del Terreno
Ecología
Región Chaqueña Semiárida
Sitios Ecológicos
Geomorfona
Ecological Sites
Geomorphon
Coria, Rubén Darío
Brungard, Colby
Vizgarra, Lidia Amanda
Moretti, Lucas Martin
Schulz, Guillermo
Rodriguez, Dario Martin
Accuracy assessment of the geomorphon approach to detect ecological sites in the Dry Chaco region of Argentina
title Accuracy assessment of the geomorphon approach to detect ecological sites in the Dry Chaco region of Argentina
title_full Accuracy assessment of the geomorphon approach to detect ecological sites in the Dry Chaco region of Argentina
title_fullStr Accuracy assessment of the geomorphon approach to detect ecological sites in the Dry Chaco region of Argentina
title_full_unstemmed Accuracy assessment of the geomorphon approach to detect ecological sites in the Dry Chaco region of Argentina
title_short Accuracy assessment of the geomorphon approach to detect ecological sites in the Dry Chaco region of Argentina
title_sort accuracy assessment of the geomorphon approach to detect ecological sites in the dry chaco region of argentina
topic Landforms
Ecology
Formas del Terreno
Ecología
Región Chaqueña Semiárida
Sitios Ecológicos
Geomorfona
Ecological Sites
Geomorphon
url http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12123/19538
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0341816224006064
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.catena.2024.108409
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