Stockholm university

Margareta Ihse

About me

Ecological geographical studies of the landscape

My research interest is ecological geographical studies of the landscape. Main focus is the present ecological content and structure and the changes during the last 50 to the last 300 years, to understand the effects from these changes on biodiversity.

My research interest also includes the human influences in the cultural landscape. An important part of the research is development of new geographical methods to be used on ecological contents in landscape scales. The methods is based on remote sensing, especially air photo interpretation, and cartography.

My study areas are the Nordic landscapes, mostly in Sweden, but also in Norway, Finland, Iceland and in the Faeroe Islands. In Sweden I have studied the biotopes and vegetation in the main ecosystems; the cultural landscape, especially the grasslands, the nemoral, hemiboreal and boreal forests, the mires and wetlands, and the mountain vegetation. Studies of biotopes in urban/semi-urban environments are also included.

My research has been directed towards applications in nature conservation biology and in spatial environmental planning for landscape ecological plans. The methods I have developed is used in national, regional and local inventories, such as vegetation mapping of the mountains, vegetation mapping in northern and middle Sweden, inventories of high biodiversity areas of ancient meadows and pastures in grasslands (ängs - och hagmarksinventeringen), high biodiversity areas in forests (nyckelbiotopsinventeringen) and monitoring of cultural landscapes (LiM-projektet).

My research can be grouped in the following areas:
Landscape and biotope change and their effects on biodiversity

Vegetation changes as indicators of environmental threats.

Human influences on landscape and biotopes in agriculture, forests, mire and mountains,

Development of methods in air-based remote sensing for vegetation and biotope mapping and monitoring, for environmental and nature resource planning and nature conservation

Quantitative vegetation estimations by spectral measurements of biomass.

This include work in: Vegetation and biotope mapping, development of classification systems; development of methods for change detection of landscape and vegetation through up to date CIR aerial photographs, historical black and white photos and historical maps; characterisation of spectral, textural and topographical recognisable features from remote sensed data especially in colour infrared aerial photos on the nature types in Sweden; cartographic work for visualisation of changes; estimation of biomass, by measurements with spectral radiometry, in wetland vegetation and dry grassland vegetation.

My research can be summarised in following keywords: geography, landscape ecology, holistic landscape analysis of natural and cultural values, biodiversity, remote sensing, air photo interpretation, landscape changes, biotope classification, vegetation mapping, landscape monitoring, and environmental planning.