Vegetation patterns in a South American coastal wetland using high-resolution imagery Eliana Gonzalez Gabriela González Trilla Laura San Martin Rafael Grimson Patricia Kandus 10.6084/m9.figshare.9579776.v1 https://tandf.figshare.com/articles/journal_contribution/Vegetation_patterns_in_a_South_American_coastal_wetland_using_high-resolution_imagery/9579776 <p>The aim of this study was to identify and characterize the main plant communities in a temperate coastal wetland using high-resolution imagery. We produced a map of Samborombón Bay at 1:25,000 scale using a WorldView-2 image. An Object-based Image Analysis approach was chosen, and an unsupervised classification algorithm was applied. Overall classification accuracy was 81%, and the Kappa index was 78.1%. Six land cover types were mapped including four main natural monospecific plant communities. The lower intertidal area was dominated by mudflats without vegetation and stands of <i>Bolboschoenus maritimus</i>. The middle intertidal area was dominated by <i>Sarcocornia ambigua</i>, while, in the higher intertidal area, <i>Sporobolus densiflorus</i> and grasslands with <i>Cortaderia selloana</i> prevailed. We found four spatial patterns at a landscape scale, based on the presence and spatial distribution of the natural plant communities. This map represents a valuable tool for future studies on wetland environmental indicators.</p> 2019-08-13 11:44:29 Coastal marshes plant communities Worldview-2 Samborombón Bay object-based image analysis tidal plain