Presented by: Vanessa Alcantar Geography 299E Dr.

Gillespie May 31, 2011

Abstract:
Several data sources are used to analyze the condition of protected parks near Managua, Nicaragua. Landsat images from the year 2002 and 2011 are downloaded from the USGS Global Visualization Viewer in order to analyze vegetation change. NDVI and Classifications are created using ENVI to detect any vegetation change. Fire data collected from FIRMs is obtained to get an idea of how many fires occurred in the nature reserves in past 9 years. Population is analyzed and obtained from landscan. Its purpose was to get an idea of which parts of Nicaragua are most populated/urbanized. A vegetation cover map is obtained from globcover, vegetation analysis of the pacific region. Lastly, there is a modis vegetation index map from the year 2000. The map displays the amount of trees, herbaceous, and bare land.

Introduction:
Nicaragua is located in central America. Its capital Managua is in the pacific region and is one of the most populated regions in the entire country. The national language is Spanish. Nicaragua is known for the largest tropical rain forest north of Amazonia, the most extensive sea grass pastures in the Western Hemisphere, the widest continental shelf, and stretch of coral reefs in the Caribbean, the longest river, largest lakes, richest volcanic soils, and least populous territory in Central America (Nietshmann 1990). The nature parks consist of such diversity of plants, animals, and natural geographic features. Park reserves are currently facing several threats which are: production of fruits, vegetables, coca, ornamental plants, forest products, livestock, specialty coffee, and dairy (Weaver,Lombrano,Sanchez 2). Nicaraguas protected parks are not actually protected. Nicaragua has two other corridors that are less well known: a rainforest to dry forest (rainfall) gradient along the southern border, and a lowland rainforest to cloud forest (altitudinal) gradient in the north central area (Weaver,Lombrano,Sanchez 4).

Political Map of Nicaragua

Data Analysis Methods:

The primary methods of analysis included NDVI and classifying a band into intervals, then assigning each interval to a color (Campbell 153). The NDVI (Normalized Difference Vegetation Index) estimates how healthy vegetation is in a region. Data from landscan, globCover, Firms fire mapper, and IUCN Reserves were also obtained in this analysis. ENVI was the primary application used for analysis

Site:
The main focus on this project was to analyze the park reserves near the Managua, one of most urbanized regions in the country. Below is map of the region obtained from Google:

Landsat Images in RGB:

Bands 3-2-1

2002

2011

Park Reserves Near The Site

Estero Real Sistema Lagunar de Tisma Cerro Tisey Cerro Quiabuc Tespesomoto Mesa de Moropotente Cerro Guabule Volcan Yali Cordillera Dipilto y Jalapa Cerro Kilambe Estero Padre Cerro El Diablo

Results

Population :

The Population surrounding the parks are dense, depicted in orange and burgundy. This population data from land scan and was produced in 2008. The current population is increasing by 1.85% per year (CIA). This then means that more land is needed for a growing population

Vegetation:

Vegetation Continued
There are two primary vegetation located in the pacific region are: 20-50% Grasslands/scrubland/Mosaic forest. 30% Mosaic Cropland Less 15 % Herbaceous vegetation(grassland, savanna, or lichen/mosses)

Landsat Images Before Analysis

2002 Bands 4-3-2 2011

Repaired the 2011 image using the repair bad value tool in ENVI. There no longer any lines

NDVI

2002

2011

Abundance of vegetation can be seen in the light pixels . Darker pixel are an absence of vegetation. There is a drastic change in 2011 compared to 2002.

Vegetation Class

2002

2011

Red:32.4 % represents Vegetation Green: 23.4% represents Bare Land

Red: 25.7% Vegetation Green: 33.1% Represents Bare Land

Vegetation Modis Map

General vegetation distribution in reserves. In the pacific about 90% of the land is herbaceous in the year 2000.

General Fire map of ALL Fires

Fires Mapped by Brightness

There have been a total of approx. 4,200 fires in all the Nicaraguan park reserves. The parks located near Managua have experienced approx 1,000 fires. Most of the main cause of these fires are because of the dry season. The brightness of these fires are measure in Kelvin.

Conclusion/Discussion
Vegetation is decreasing at a low rate since 2002 due to urbanization and poor enforcement of park reserve laws. All the parks in the area of interest are in category 4, managed nature reserve/wildlife sanctuary (IUCN). There are currently 78 vulnerable/endangered species due to habitat loss. It is important to keep preserving these areas in order to prevent flora and fauna extinction or endangerment. Species in these areas are unique because of the unique position between the Neartic and Neotropic Nicaragua is located in (Gillespie163). There are currently forest land owners that have been launching conservation projects based on ecotourism.

List of Endangered Species

List Continued

List Continued

End of List

Sources
Campbell, J.B. "Introduction to Remote Sensing," 3rd ed., Taylor & Francis, p. 153 Gillespie, Thomas. 2001. Patterns of Vertebrate Species Richness and Conservation in Nicaragua. 163 Nietschmann, B. 1990. Conservation by conflict in Nicaragua. Natural History 11;42-48. Weaver, Lombrano, Sanchez. 2003. Biodiversity, and Tropical Forest Conservation, Protection and Management in Nicaragua: Assessment and Recommendations. IUCN Species Redlist CIA World Fact Book-Nicaragua

Gracias!
Estero Real nature reserve, known for sea turtle nesting.