Identification and characterization of forest edge segments for mapping edge diversity in rural landscapes

Abstract

Forest edges are key components of rural landscapes and they influence major ecological processes. There is a variability of forest edges, according to their physiognomy, orientation, history and topography, but few methods are available to identify automatically these different types of edges and to map them at a large scale. We propose to identify edge segments based on morphological subdivision of forest boundaries. These segments can be mapped and characterized by other spatial data. A procedure based on Arcgis tools, applied on the output from GUIDOS tools, is used to identify edge segments. We provide examples of edge segments descriptors obtained from a digital elevation model and from a landcover map. Results showed the feasibility of the automatic mapping of edge variability over a large scale. It opens new perspectives for the analysis of landscape dynamics and their effects on biodiversity.