Monitoring and modelling competing grassland species using very-high and high-resolution remote sensing in the Andes of Ecuador

A method is presented for monitoring and modeling of two competing grassland species (the southern bracken fern and the pasture grass Setaria). The method consists of estimating leaf area index for each species by using field observations and measurements, very-high and high-resolution images. The higher level of information at very-high resolution is used for identification of homogenous cover, on which a single species predominates. Consequently, ground measurements are used with high-resolution data to calculate species-specific regression functions between the normalized difference vegetation index and leaf area index. These data are used in a simulation run to extend the knowledge on occurrence and competition of bracken fern and Setaria pasture in the southern Ecuador.