This project seeks to determine what relationships exist between forest composition and productivity and various environmental predictors (including spectral signature, temperature, precipitation, topography, and spatial location), in the forest-steppe of Mongolia. This ecotone is sensitive to variation in both climate and human use, and the region is experiencing significant change in both. The result may be a range shift in the boreal forest biome or a change in species composition. By better understanding the current and historical relationships between the forests and their environment, we can make better predictions about how this biome may respond in the future.
We are using ground data from 30 sampling sites across the region to understand the more complex and subtle ways that the forests are interacting with their environment. However, spectral data is needed to augment our knowledge of the forest regions for which we do not have ground data. We will also be refining the time series NDVI analysis that I began in Fall 2011.