Title
Waterhole detection using a vegetation index in desert bighorn sheep (Ovis canadensis cremnobates) habitat
Author
Jonathan Gabriel Escobar Flores
Contributor
SARAHI SANDOVAL ESPINOZA (Collaborator)
Raul Valdez (Collaborator)
Eahsan Shahriary (Collaborator)
JORGE TORRES RODRIGUEZ (Collaborator)
SERGIO ALVAREZ CARDENAS (Collaborator)
PATRICIA GALINA-TESSARO (Collaborator)
Access level
Open Access
Alternative identifier
doi: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0211202
Subjects
Article, bighorn sheep, environmental aspects and related phenomena, environmental parameters, habitat, Mexico, nonhuman, normalized difference vegetation index, normalized difference water index, water availability, waterhole, animal, bighorn sheep, - (SCOPUS) CIENCIAS AGROPECUARIAS Y BIOTECNOLOGÍA - (CTI) CIENCIAS AGRARIAS - (CTI) CIENCIA FORESTAL - (CTI) CIENCIA FORESTAL - (CTI)
Summary or description
In arid ecosystems, desert bighorn sheep are dependent on natural waterholes, particularly in summer when forage is scarce and environmental temperatures are high. To detect waterholes in Sierra Santa Isabel, which is the largest area of desert bighorn sheep habitat in the state of Baja California, Mexico, we used the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) and normalized difference water index (NDWI) from Sentinel-2 satellite images. Waterhole detection was based on the premise that sites with greater water availability, where NDVI was higher, can be identified by their density of vegetation greenness. For the detected waterholes, we estimated the escape terrain (presence of cliffs or steep, rocky slopes) around each by the vector ruggedness measure to determine their potential use by desert bighorn sheep based on the animals’ presence as documented by camera traps. We detected 14 waterholes with the NDVI of which 11 were known by land owners and 3 were unrecorded. Desert bighorn were not detected in waterholes with high values of escape terrain, i.e., flat areas. Waterhole detection by NDVI is a simple method, and with the assistance and knowledge of the inhabitants of the Sierra, it was possible to confirm the presence each waterhole in the field. © 2019 Escobar-Flores et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Publisher
Emmanuel Serrano Ferron, Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona, Spain
Publish date
2019
Publication type
Article
Publication version
Published Version
Information Resource
Format
application/pdf
Source
PLoS ONE, Vol.14, No.1, Pags. 1-14
Language
English
Citation suggestion
Escobar-Flores JG, Sandoval S, Valdez R, Shahriary E, Torres J, Alvarez-Cardenas S, et al. (2019) Waterhole detection using a vegetation index in desert bighorn sheep (Ovis canadensis cremnobates) habitat. PLoS ONE 14(1): e0211202. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0211202
Source repository
Repositorio Institucional CICESE
Downloads
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