The recent and rapid expansion of Phragmites australis in North America provides an opportunity to relate dispersal patterns to landscape structure. Linear wetlands, such as roadside or agricultural ditches, may serve as corridors that facilitate dispersal at the landscape scale, but there is little quantitative information on patterns of invasion in these habitats. Remote sensing data, GIS, and field observations were used (1) to assess the feasibility of mapping populations of P. australis in linear wetlands and (2) to quantify and explain recent invasion patterns of P. australis in two periurban areas of southern Quebec. An accuracy assessment demonstrated the reliability of aerial photographs to map populations in linear habitats. The intrinsic growth rate observed is high compared to those reported in natural wetlands. Spatial analysis revealed that colonization events are not constrained by the network's configuration. Logistic regressions confirmed the effect of road corridors on the spread of P. australis.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:LACETR/oai:collectionscanada.gc.ca:QMM.111930 |
| Date | January 2005 |
| Creators | Maheu-Giroux, Mathieu, 1981- |
| Publisher | McGill University |
| Source Sets | Library and Archives Canada ETDs Repository / Centre d'archives des thèses électroniques de Bibliothèque et Archives Canada |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Coverage | Master of Science (Department of Plant Science.) |
| Rights | All items in eScholarship@McGill are protected by copyright with all rights reserved unless otherwise indicated. |
| Relation | alephsysno: 002492762, proquestno: AAIMR24731, Theses scanned by UMI/ProQuest. |
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