Applications of remote sensing in plant sciences: An overview

Remote sensing and geographical information system techniques are becoming increasingly important in the field of plant sciences. The advantage of integrating the spatial and nonspatial information can be effectively used in various aspects of forests, phytodiversity and conservation. There are many case studies that have illustrated potential application of modern remote sensing to identify areas of high biodiversity, prediction of species distribution, and modeling species responses to environmental and anthropogenic changes. A suite of satellites are available to generate information on vegetation and land covers have been discussed. The present article focused on important contribution of remote sensing for forest canopy density and type mapping, biodiversity assessment – landscape to species, delineation of gregarious species and community types, as stratification base for ground sampling, temporal monitoring, wildlife management, species distribution patterns and modeling, gap areas for biological exploration, gap analysis for protected area network, mapping and monitoring of invasive species, forest fire monitoring, vegetation status, and climate change studies. It was concluded that remote sensing and geographic information systems provide efficient tools for plant sciences and related fields.