Exploring the utility of Sentinel-2 MSI and Landsat 8 OLI in burned area mapping for a heterogenous savannah landscape.

When wildfires are controlled, they are integral to the existence of savannah ecosystems and play an intrinsic role in maintaining their structure and function. Ample studies on wildfire detection and severity mapping are available but what remains a challenge is the accurate mapping of burnt areas in heterogenous landscapes. In this study, we tested which spectral bands contributed most to burnt area detection when using Sentinel-2 and Landsat 8 multispectral sensors in two study sites.

Missing in action: Species competition is a neglected predictor variable in species distribution modelling.

The central role of species competition in shaping community structure in ecosystems is well appreciated amongst ecologists. However species competition is a consistently missing variable in Species Distribution Modelling (SDM). This study presents results of our attempt to incorporate species competition in SDMs.