Mapping plant diversity of broad-leaved forest ecosystem using Landsat TM data

There is an urgent need to monitor and evaluate the forest ecosystem that supports richer assemblages of biological species in order to preserve the habitats and protect the greatest number of species. Remotely sensed data hold tremendous potential for mapping species habitats and indicators of biological diversity, such as species richness. The objective of this research was to develop the empirical relationships between Landsat-5 TM spectral response and broad-leaved forest inventory parameter of species in the Longmenhe preserve of China. The regression analysis had been used to link the field-measured species richness index and remote sensing data. The accuracy of the resulting mapping was assessed by the field inventory. The results demonstrated that plant diversity can be predicted from satellite remotely sensed data, and the species richness index was highly correlated to TM Tasseled Cap wetness