Metrics of Change: Informing Ecological Restoration by Quantifying Landscapes and Processes in Banff National Park

A landscape metrics approach was selected to investigate changes across 27 management units. Four landscape metrics were calculated using annual land cover maps derived from Virtual Land Cover Engine/Landsat-5/7 imagery spanning 34 years (1984-2019). Metrics were selected to capture conifer encroachment (proportion of conifer class) and landscape heterogeneity (contagion, edge density, Shannon’s diversity index) changes.

Time-series analysis and Thiel-Sen slope estimation were used to identify metric trends. The methodology was successful in discerning regional-scale aspects of fire ecology using landscape metrics. Management units lacking fire (or with <10% area burned) are less heterogeneous and are trending toward more conifer-dominated, less heterogeneous states.

Reassuringly, the opposite patterns are observed in management units with greater than 10% area burned, suggesting successful fire restoration efforts from a landscape ecology standpoint. The study’s resulting metrics offer resource managers additional landscape attributes to compare and monitor management units, which can support decision-making, prioritize fire restoration and inform future ecological studies.