Genus-Physiognomy-Ecosystem (GPE) System for Satellite-Based Classification of Plant Communities

Vegetation mapping and monitoring is important as the composition and distribution of vegetation has been greatly influenced by land use change and the interaction of land use change and climate change. The purpose of vegetation mapping is to discover the extent and distribution of plant communities within a geographical area of interest. The paper introduces the Genus-Physiognomy-Ecosystem (GPE) system for the organization of plant communities from the perspective of satellite remote sensing. It was conceived for broadscale operational vegetation mapping by organizing plant communities according to shared genus and physiognomy/ecosystem inferences, and it offers an intermediate level between the physiognomy/ecosystem and dominant species for the organization of plant communities. A machine learning and cross-validation approach was employed by utilizing multi-temporal Landsat 8 satellite images on a regional scale for the classification of plant communities at three hierarchical levels: (i) physiognomy, (ii) GPE, and (iii) dominant species. The classification at the dominant species level showed many misclassifications and undermined its application for broadscale operational mapping, whereas the GPE system was able to lessen the complexities associated with the dominant species level classification while still being capable of distinguishing a wider variety of plant communities. The GPE system therefore provides an easy-to-understand approach for the operational mapping of plant communities, particularly on a broad scale.