Assessing the Recovery of Pinus Canariensis Stands After Wildfires and Volcanic Eruption on La Palma

_{Written by:
‍Christopher Shatto}

In the KIWA project, we investigated the recovery of Canary Island pine (Pinus canariensis) forests after a series of dramatic natural disturbances on La Palma, Canary Islands. Our study, “Assessing the recovery of Pinus canariensis stands after wildfires and volcanic eruption on La Palma, Canary Islands,” leverages cutting-edge Earth Observation technologies to reveal how these uniquely adapted forests bounce back after wildfires and a major volcanic eruption. 🌋

Traditional fieldwork is fantastic for in-depth insights, but when nature turns hazardous—like after the 2021 Tagojaite eruption that blanketed the landscape with 23 million cubic meters of ash and toxic sulfuric oxide—it’s simply not safe to head out.⚠️ So, we conducted a field study… from space! 🌍🛰️

How Did We Do It? With… the FORCE.
Using Sentinel-2 satellite imagery, we assembled a 5-day NDVI (Normalized Difference Vegetation Index) time series covering the entire Sentinel-2 lifespan. To manage this massive dataset, we relied on FORCE (Framework for Operational Radiometric Correction for Environmental Monitoring), an awesome open-source engine that transforms raw satellite data into Analysis Ready Data (ARD). With the help of QGIS, we mapped out 7-km transects in every direction from the impact area and established forest plots every 100 meters. This approach allowed us to extract a single, powerful metric—the slope of NDVI change (i.e., the recovery rate)—for each plot, instead of sifting through thousands of individual GeoTIFF files.

Key Findings
Our analysis looked at recovery dynamics following several disturbances: wildfires in 2009, 2012, and 2016, alongside the 2021 volcanic eruption. And here’s what we found:

• Distance Matters 📏: Recovery rates peaked in forest stands located approximately 1,000 to 1,200 meters from the eruption crater. This clearly highlights how the proximity to disturbances influences forest resilience.

• Unexpected Resilience Post-Wildfire 🔥: Surprisingly, stands that experienced the 2016 wildfire showed enhanced recovery rates, suggesting that a history of fire exposure might actually boost a forest’s ability to bounce back. ‍

Outlook?
Our research not only deepens our understanding of how Canary Island pine forests recover after multiple disturbances but also demonstrates the transformative potential of remote sensing in environmental monitoring. By transitioning from hazardous on-the-ground fieldwork to a “field study from space,” we’ve developed a scalable, efficient, and quantitative method that can directly inform conservation strategies and sustainable management practices.

The implications of our research especially highlight the role that innovative Earth Observation tools play in modern ecological research. 💡This project is an excellent example of how integrating traditional ecological questions with advanced remote sensing can lead to actionable insights for managing our natural resources. Stay tuned for more updates as we continue to explore and understand our dynamic natural world!

Learn more

For more info check out the publication here: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foreco.2024.122317  

David Frantz is an Assistant Professor at Trier University and founder of FORCE, a major contribution to open-source data processing in the field of Earth Observation