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RESEARCH ARTICLE
Contents Vol 29(1)

Evaluation of vegetation indices for assessing vegetation cover in southern arid lands in South Australia

R. Jafari A B , M. M. Lewis A and B. Ostendorf A
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations

A School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, The University of Adelaide, Adelaide, SA 5064, Australia.

B Corresponding author. Email: reza.jafari@student.adelaide.edu.au

The Rangeland Journal 29(1) 39-49 https://doi.org/10.1071/RJ06033
Submitted: 24 August 2006  Accepted: 19 February 2007   Published: 14 June 2007

Abstract

Vegetation indices are widely used for assessing and monitoring ecological variables such as vegetation cover, above-ground biomass and leaf area index. This study reviewed and evaluated different groups of vegetation indices for estimating vegetation cover in southern rangelands in South Australia. Slope-based, distance-based, orthogonal transformation and plant-water sensitive vegetation indices were calculated from Landsat thematic mapper (TM) image data and compared with vegetation cover estimates at monitoring points made during Pastoral Lease assessments. Relationships between various vegetation indices and vegetation cover were compared using simple linear regression at two different scales: within two contrasting land systems and across broader regional landscapes. Of the vegetation indices evaluated, stress related vegetation indices using red, near-infrared and mid-infrared TM bands consistently showed significant relationships with vegetation cover at both land system and landscape scales. Estimation of vegetation cover was more accurate within land systems than across broader regions. Total perennial and ephemeral plant cover was best predicted within land systems, while combined vegetation, plant litter and soil cryptogam crust cover was best predicted at landscape scale. These results provide a strong foundation for use of vegetation indices as an adjunct to field methods for assessing vegetation cover in southern Australia.

Additional keywords: arid environment, Landsat TM, rangelands.


Acknowledgements

We thank the South Australian Pastoral Board, Department of Water, Land and Biodiversity Conservation, in particular Amanda Brook, Paul Gould and Ben Della Torre for providing field cover data and GIS layers for our analyses. We also thank James Cameron, Department of Environment and Heritage for his help in selecting an appropriate Landsat image.


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