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Impact of Sea-Level Rise and Storm Surges on Florida Key Deer Using Lidar and Multispectral Remote Sensing
Abstract
Due to the low elevation of the Florida Keys and their flat terrain, the existence of wildlife species residing on the islands in the lower Florida Keys is constantly threatened by strong storms and rising sea levels. Numerous wildlife species, including Florida Key deer (Odocoileus virginianus clavium), call the lower Florida Keys home and are found nowhere else. The unique topographic characteristics of this island chain pose challenges to the wildlife species living there, from flooding due to storm surges to the reduction of available habitat area and freshwater caused by rising seawater. This dissertation’s overall objective was to determine the impact of tropical storms and relative sea-level rise on vegetation and Florida Key deer habitats using lidar and multispectral remote sensing.
First, in creating vegetation maps to characterize Florida Key deer habitats on No Name Key, I used 2 different input data sources. I also employed multiple-input data, 2 classification algorithms, and various classification settings. Additionally, I employed a range of post-classification processing techniques to determine which combination of the input data, classification, and post-classification techniques resulted in the most accurate vegetation map. Second, using the algorithm/input data combinations resulted in a higher classification accuracy, I then created a vegetation map of pre- and post-Hurricane Irma and performed a thematic change detection. Using the area change information obtained from the change detection, I estimated the number of deer supported by the storm-affected habitat. The estimated number of deer using the change detection analysis was within a 95% confidence interval of the post-Hurricane Irma deer population field survey. Third, using a lidar-derived digital-elevation model, I applied NOAA’s 5 sea-level-rise scenarios and determined the area above the water level at each scenario. Finally, I calculated the number of deer supported under each of the scenarios.
Given the increasing frequency of strong storms and accelerated rate of sea-level rise, the use of lidar and optical remote sensing could be used to assess the impact of the storm surges and the future predicted relative sea-level rise on the vegetation and the wildlife habitat, which could lead to more effective and accurate wildlife management.
Subject
vegetation maplidar
remote sensing
Machine Learning
Support Vector Machine
Random Forest
Florida Key deer (Odocoileus virginanus clavium)
Lower Keys marsh rabbit (Sylvilagus palustris hefneri)
habitat mapping
Hurricane Irma
change detection
relative sea level rise
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)
Collections
Citation
Kim, Jiyeon (2023). Impact of Sea-Level Rise and Storm Surges on Florida Key Deer Using Lidar and Multispectral Remote Sensing. Doctoral dissertation, Texas A&M University. Available electronically from https : / /hdl .handle .net /1969 .1 /203061.