Abstract: Remote sensing for biodiversity science and
conservation. Research Project Search Citation: Turner, W.,
Spector, S., Gardeiner, N., Fladeland, M., Sterling, E. and M.
Steininger. 2003. Remote sensing for biodiversity science and
conservation. TRENDS in Ecology and Evolution 18(6): 306-14.
Remote-sensing systems typically produce imagery that averages
information over tens or even hundreds of square meters - far
too coarse to detect most organisms - so the remote sensing of
biodiversity would appear to be a fool's errand. However,
advances in the spatial and spectral resolutions of sensors now
available to ecologists are making the direct remote sensing of
certain aspects of biodiversity increasingly feasible; for
example, distinguishing species assemblages or even identifying
species of individual trees. In cases where direct detection of
individual organisms or assemblages is still beyond our grasp,
indirect approaches offer valuable information about diversity
patterns. Such approaches derive mean