Earth observation and ecological security: An integrated multidisciplinary approach towards a regional inventory and monitoring

Abstract

Ecological security depends on the balance between human demands and actions in consumption and alteration of available resource base and the sustainability, vulnerability and resilience of land systems that provide the services. Any type of significant break down of the equilibrium will threat the ecological security of a particular region or a broader spatial scale. This is among particular interests for regions with sensitive ecosystems and ecotones, with trans-boundary and cross-border movements through water and air systems and activities by human and other species. We illustrate a multidisciplinary approach that integrates Earth observation data and ground-based geographical and ecological studies for inventory and monitoring of the ecological security issues in the Changbai Mountain geoecoregion in the Northeast Asia.