Reconstructing the fine-scale habitat structure of wetlands for animal ecology using remote sensing

One of the main challenges in animal ecology is to derive spatially contiguous information on fine-scale habitat structure over broad spatial extents. Although the importance of habitat structure has been long recognized, the incorporation of such information into quantitative biodiversity analyses is limited. Here, I take advantage of Airborne Laser Scanning (ALS) data which uses Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) technology and analyze different aspects of characterizing fine-scale habitat structure within wetlands. In chapter 1, I demonstrate how ecological in-situ field measurements of vegetation height, biomass, and canopy openness, allow us to calibrate ALS-derived data products of 3D vegetation structure within reedbeds. In chapter 2, I develop a workflow for a Dutch wetland area based on country-wide ALS data to classify and map the fine-scale (5 m resolution) variability of land cover and habitat types, using vegetation maps from field surveys as annotation data. In chapter 3, I perform a country-wide ecological niche analysis for three closely related reed warbler species to demonstrate how high resolution (10 m) LiDAR data can gain unprecedented insights into the fine-scale habitat use and niche separation of wetland birds. In chapter 4, I assess the predictive accuracy and importance of LiDAR metrics against other high resolution satellite remote sensing products (Sentinel-1 and 2 datasets) and a land cover map for modelling the fine-scale habitat suitability of wetland birds. Our results show that country-wide LiDAR data could provide crucial information for mapping and monitoring ecosystem structure for assessing national biodiversity status and trends.