Michael A Wulder
Biographic Data
| ID | 5001682 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Michael A Wulder |
| GIVEN NAMES | Michael A |
| FAMILY NAME | Wulder |
| SIGNATURE | WULDER M A |
| AFFILIATIONS | Canadian Forest Service |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-6942-1896 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 11 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 4 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 11 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2008 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2025 |
| H-INDEX | 1 |
Satellite observations reveal stable forest limits and shrub expansion across the Canadian forest-tundra ecotone
Climate change at high latitudes is expected to increase the cover of woody vegetation across the forest-tundra ecotone. However, there is still uncertainty concerning the nature and magnitude of these changes. In this study, we used open access satellite remote sensing data from ICESat-2 and Landsat to model change in vegetation structure across 183 million hectares of the Canadian forest-tundra ecotone from 1985 to 2021. We used Random Forests …
Mapping dynamic peri-urban land use transitions across Canada using Landsat time series: Spatial and temporal trends and associations with socio-demographic factors
Transformations of agriculture and natural lands to urban use are dominant and well known effects of urbanization, but consistent and reliable methods to map regional-scale land transitions are limited. Herein, we develop a land use classification approach to assess spatiotemporal patterns of urban expansion and associated land use changes. We utilized a 33-year annual time series (1984–2016) of fractional land characteristics and cover data from…
Biomass status and dynamics over Canada’s forests: Disentangling disturbed area from associated aboveground biomass consequences
Forested ecosystems dominated by trees, wetlands, and lakes occupy more than 65% of Canada’s land base. This treed area is dynamic, subject to temporary reductions in area and biomass due to wildfire and timber harvesting, and increases due to successional processes and growth. As such, the net aboveground biomass accumulated over time is a function of multiple, complex factors: standing forests grow and accrue biomass over time, whereas disturbe…
Evidence of vegetation greening at alpine treeline ecotones: Three decades of Landsat spectral trends informed by lidar-derived vertical structure
Monitoring changes in vegetation at high-latitude and alpine treeline ecotones is critical for characterizing changes to carbon and energy budgets, plant species richness, and habitat suitability and is often considered a bellwether of a changing climate. Herein, we used transects of airborne laser scanning (ALS) data to identify alpine treeline ecotones in the Yukon Territory of Canada, and assessed changes in vegetation greenness using a time-s…
Global Spatial–Temporal Variability in Terrestrial Productivity and Phenology Regimes between 2000 and 2012
The productivity and phenology of vegetation are spatially and temporally variable ecosystem functions. Monitoring spatial–temporal patterns in these functions can improve our understanding of global change and natural ecosystem variability and inform management actions. Researchers typically focus on temporal changes within or among static regions and omit dynamics of spatial configuration. Our goal was to assess global spatial–temporal variabil…
Landsat-8: Science and product vision for terrestrial global change research
Landsat 8, a NASA and USGS collaboration, acquires global moderate-resolution measurements of the Earth's terrestrial and polar regions in the visible, near-infrared, short wave, and thermal infrared. Landsat 8 extends the remarkable 40 year Landsat record and has enhanced capabilities including new spectral bands in the blue and cirrus cloud-detection portion of the spectrum, two thermal bands, improved sensor signal-to-noise performance and ass…
Good practices for estimating area and assessing accuracy of land change
G eographic analysis of the impacts of mountain pine beetle infestation on forest fire ignition
In British Columbia, Canada, the largest mountain pine beetle outbreak on record has resulted in changes to fuel complexes that may alter fire regimes. The goal of this study is to analyze the relative importance of mountain pine beetle infestations as a determinant of forest fire ignition density in British Columbia. Fire ignitions data for the years 2000 to 2007 were modelled with covariates (weather, topography, ignition source, and the nature…
Fragmentation regimes of Canada's forests
Canada is a large nation, approximately 1 billion hectares in size, and until recently, no national assessment of forest fragmentation had been undertaken. To assess national level biodiversity and ecosystem condition, national drivers of forest fragmentation are identified as being either primarily natural (e.g., resulting from wildfires, water features, or topography), or primarily anthropogenic (e.g., resulting from urbanization or roads and a…
Local indicators for categorical data: Impacts of scaling decisions
When the geographic distribution of landscape pattern varies, global indices fail to capture the spatial nonstationarity within the dataset. Methods that measure landscape pattern at a spatially local scale are advantageous, as an index is computed at each point in the dataset. The geographic distribution of local indices is used to discover spatial trends. Local indicators for categorical data (LICD) can be used to statistically quantify local s…
Application of Landsat satellite imagery to monitor land‐cover changes at the Athabasca Oil Sands, Alberta, Canada
A major advantage of satellite remote sensing is that the imagery acquired provides a synoptic view of the landscape. Thus, repeat coverage by the satellite on a regular basis permits the detection of changes in land‐cover over time. This study demonstrates the application of remote sensing technology to the monitoring of mining activities at the Athabasca Oil Sands region of Alberta, Canada. First, we describe the techniques used to match a time…
G eographic analysis of the impacts of mountain pine beetle infestation on forest fire ignition
In British Columbia, Canada, the largest mountain pine beetle outbreak on record has resulted in changes to fuel complexes that may alter fire regimes. The goal of this study is to analyze the relative importance of mountain pine beetle infestations as a determinant of forest fire ignition density in British Columbia. Fire ignitions data for the years 2000 to 2007 were modelled with covariates (weather, topography, ignition source, and the nature…
Fragmentation regimes of Canada's forests
Canada is a large nation, approximately 1 billion hectares in size, and until recently, no national assessment of forest fragmentation had been undertaken. To assess national level biodiversity and ecosystem condition, national drivers of forest fragmentation are identified as being either primarily natural (e.g., resulting from wildfires, water features, or topography), or primarily anthropogenic (e.g., resulting from urbanization or roads and a…
Local indicators for categorical data: Impacts of scaling decisions
When the geographic distribution of landscape pattern varies, global indices fail to capture the spatial nonstationarity within the dataset. Methods that measure landscape pattern at a spatially local scale are advantageous, as an index is computed at each point in the dataset. The geographic distribution of local indices is used to discover spatial trends. Local indicators for categorical data (LICD) can be used to statistically quantify local s…
Application of Landsat satellite imagery to monitor land‐cover changes at the Athabasca Oil Sands, Alberta, Canada
A major advantage of satellite remote sensing is that the imagery acquired provides a synoptic view of the landscape. Thus, repeat coverage by the satellite on a regular basis permits the detection of changes in land‐cover over time. This study demonstrates the application of remote sensing technology to the monitoring of mining activities at the Athabasca Oil Sands region of Alberta, Canada. First, we describe the techniques used to match a time…
Application of Landsat satellite imagery to monitor land‐cover changes at the Athabasca Oil Sands, Alberta, Canada
A major advantage of satellite remote sensing is that the imagery acquired provides a synoptic view of the landscape. Thus, repeat coverage by the satellite on a regular basis permits the detection of changes in land‐cover over time. This study demonstrates the application of remote sensing technology to the monitoring of mining activities at the Athabasca Oil Sands region of Alberta, Canada. First, we describe the techniques used to match a time…
Local indicators for categorical data: Impacts of scaling decisions
When the geographic distribution of landscape pattern varies, global indices fail to capture the spatial nonstationarity within the dataset. Methods that measure landscape pattern at a spatially local scale are advantageous, as an index is computed at each point in the dataset. The geographic distribution of local indices is used to discover spatial trends. Local indicators for categorical data (LICD) can be used to statistically quantify local s…
Fragmentation regimes of Canada's forests
Canada is a large nation, approximately 1 billion hectares in size, and until recently, no national assessment of forest fragmentation had been undertaken. To assess national level biodiversity and ecosystem condition, national drivers of forest fragmentation are identified as being either primarily natural (e.g., resulting from wildfires, water features, or topography), or primarily anthropogenic (e.g., resulting from urbanization or roads and a…
Landsat-8: Science and product vision for terrestrial global change research
Landsat 8, a NASA and USGS collaboration, acquires global moderate-resolution measurements of the Earth's terrestrial and polar regions in the visible, near-infrared, short wave, and thermal infrared. Landsat 8 extends the remarkable 40 year Landsat record and has enhanced capabilities including new spectral bands in the blue and cirrus cloud-detection portion of the spectrum, two thermal bands, improved sensor signal-to-noise performance and ass…
Good practices for estimating area and assessing accuracy of land change
G eographic analysis of the impacts of mountain pine beetle infestation on forest fire ignition
In British Columbia, Canada, the largest mountain pine beetle outbreak on record has resulted in changes to fuel complexes that may alter fire regimes. The goal of this study is to analyze the relative importance of mountain pine beetle infestations as a determinant of forest fire ignition density in British Columbia. Fire ignitions data for the years 2000 to 2007 were modelled with covariates (weather, topography, ignition source, and the nature…
Global Spatial–Temporal Variability in Terrestrial Productivity and Phenology Regimes between 2000 and 2012
The productivity and phenology of vegetation are spatially and temporally variable ecosystem functions. Monitoring spatial–temporal patterns in these functions can improve our understanding of global change and natural ecosystem variability and inform management actions. Researchers typically focus on temporal changes within or among static regions and omit dynamics of spatial configuration. Our goal was to assess global spatial–temporal variabil…
Evidence of vegetation greening at alpine treeline ecotones: Three decades of Landsat spectral trends informed by lidar-derived vertical structure
Monitoring changes in vegetation at high-latitude and alpine treeline ecotones is critical for characterizing changes to carbon and energy budgets, plant species richness, and habitat suitability and is often considered a bellwether of a changing climate. Herein, we used transects of airborne laser scanning (ALS) data to identify alpine treeline ecotones in the Yukon Territory of Canada, and assessed changes in vegetation greenness using a time-s…
Biomass status and dynamics over Canada’s forests: Disentangling disturbed area from associated aboveground biomass consequences
Forested ecosystems dominated by trees, wetlands, and lakes occupy more than 65% of Canada’s land base. This treed area is dynamic, subject to temporary reductions in area and biomass due to wildfire and timber harvesting, and increases due to successional processes and growth. As such, the net aboveground biomass accumulated over time is a function of multiple, complex factors: standing forests grow and accrue biomass over time, whereas disturbe…
Mapping dynamic peri-urban land use transitions across Canada using Landsat time series: Spatial and temporal trends and associations with socio-demographic factors
Transformations of agriculture and natural lands to urban use are dominant and well known effects of urbanization, but consistent and reliable methods to map regional-scale land transitions are limited. Herein, we develop a land use classification approach to assess spatiotemporal patterns of urban expansion and associated land use changes. We utilized a 33-year annual time series (1984–2016) of fractional land characteristics and cover data from…
Satellite observations reveal stable forest limits and shrub expansion across the Canadian forest-tundra ecotone
Climate change at high latitudes is expected to increase the cover of woody vegetation across the forest-tundra ecotone. However, there is still uncertainty concerning the nature and magnitude of these changes. In this study, we used open access satellite remote sensing data from ICESat-2 and Landsat to model change in vegetation structure across 183 million hectares of the Canadian forest-tundra ecotone from 1985 to 2021. We used Random Forests …
Ecology (9 works) · Geography (9 works) · Environmental Science (8 works) · Physical geography (8 works) · Biology (5 works) · Ecosystem (5 works) · Land Use and Ecosystem Services (5 works) · Remote sensing (5 works) · Ecology (4 works) · Remote Sensing and LiDAR Applications (4 works)