Biogeography from space – A new tool to disentangle Iberian Forests Ecology and Distribution

Iberian Peninsula harbours both edaphic and climatic conditions that supports a wide variety of forests in contrasting environments. Due its geographic position functions as a model to understand transitional areas and ecotones between major biogeographic regions (Eurosiberian and Mediterranean). Although “classic” modelling techniques usually rely in climatic drivers, other related to ecosystem functioning dynamics and energy-matter flows, calculated from satellite remote sensing variables, are still largely unexplored. To address this, we exploited several remote sensing variables calculated from time series linked to the annual seasonal dynamics of carbon, water and energy components of ecosystems as a new potential tool to assist biogeographic delimitation and forest distribution in Iberian Peninsula. Marcescent oak forests were used as a model, in a like-for-like basis with Temperate and Mediterranean forests. An ensemble modelling approach (biomod2) was employed to assess the predictive potential of remotely sensed variables. Results show that Remote sensing drivers helped to understand the distribution of marcescent forests in transitional/ecotone areas from Eurosiberian to Mediterranean Region, inferring and explaining biogeographic regions, as well as the potential distribution of tree species in Iberian Peninsula. This is of major importance in way to understand climatic trends, and land use management and alteration and in what way it can affect forest conservation in Western Mediterranean basin.
Disclaimer: The presentation has received updates due to the feedback received by co-authors.