Vegetation Type Mapping in Southern Patagonia and Its Relationship with Ecosystem Services, Soil Carbon Stock, and Biodiversity

PERI, PABLO L.; GAITÁN, JUAN; DÍAZ, BORIS; ALMONACID, LEANDRO; MORALES, CRISTIAN; FERRER, FRANCISCO; LASAGNO, ROMINA; RODRÍGUEZ-SOUILLA, JULIÁN; MARTÍNEZ PASTUR, GUILLERMO

Sustainability

MDPI

Año: 2024 vol. 16

Vegetation Type (VT) mapping using Optical Earth observation data is essential for the managementand conservation of natural resources, as well as for the evaluation of the supply of provisioningecosystem services (ESs), the maintenance of ecosystem functions, and the conservation of biodiversity inanthropized environments. The main objective of the present work was to determine the spatial patternsof VTs related to climatic, topographic, and spectral variables across Santa Cruz province (SouthernPatagonia, Argentina) in order to improve our understanding of land use cover at the regional scale. Also,we examined the spatial relationship between VTs and potential biodiversity (PB), ESs, and soil organiccontent (SOC) across our study region. We sampled 59,285 sites sorted into 19 major categories of landcover with a reliable discrimination level from field measurements. We selected 31 potential predictiveenvironmental dataset covariates, which represent key factors for the spatial distribution of land coversuch as climate (four), topography (three), and spectral (24) factors. All covariate maps were generatedor uploaded to the Google Earth Engine cloud-based computing platform for subsequent modeling. Atotal of 270,292 sampling points were used for validation of the obtained classification map. The mainland cover area estimates extracted from the map at the regional level identified about 142,085 km2 ofgrasslands (representing 58.1% of the total area), 38,355 km2 ofMata NegraMatorral thicket (15.7%), andabout 25,189 km2 of bare soil (10.3%). From validation, the Overall Accuracy and the Kappa coefficientvalues for the classificationmap were 90.40% and 0.87, respectively. Pure andmixed forests presentedthe maximum SOC (11.3–11.8 kg m−2), followed by peatlands (10.6 kg m−2) and deciduous Nothofagusforests (10.5 kgm−2). The potential biodiversity was higher in some shrublands (64.1% inMata Verdeshrublands and 63.7% in mixed shrublands) and was comparable to those values found for open deciduousforests (Nothofagus antarctica forest with 60.4%). The provision of ESs presented maximum valuesat pure evergreen forests (56.7%) and minimum values at some shrubland types (Mata NegraMatorralthicket and mixed shrubland) and steppe grasslands (29.7–30.9%). This study has provided an accurateland cover and VTmap that provides crucial information for ecological studies, biodiversity conservation,vegetation management and restoration, and regional strategic decision-making.