Topographic Modulation of Vegetation Vigor and Moisture Condition in Mediterranean Ravine Ecosystems of Central Chile

[EN] Topography regulates vegetation functioning by controlling water redistribution, micro-climate, and solar exposure. In Mediterranean ecosystems, where water availability constitutes a fundamental limiting factor, vegetation functioning is also influenced by environmental drivers such as tempera...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Garrido-Leiva, Jesica, Duran-Garate, Leonardo, Perez-Martinez, Waldo
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Fecha de publicación:2026
País:España
Institución:Universitat Politècnica de València (UPV)
Repositorio:RiuNet. Repositorio Institucional de la Universitat Politécnica de Valéncia
Idioma:inglés
OAI Identifier:oai:dnet:riunet______::7b2cbe2192ddd9df5e631f44cd2bdc50
Acceso en línea:https://riunet.upv.es/handle/10251/234038
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Topography
Mediterranean ecosystems
Vegetation moisture
Terrain metrics
NDVI
NDMI
Sentinel-2
GAM
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spelling Topographic Modulation of Vegetation Vigor and Moisture Condition in Mediterranean Ravine Ecosystems of Central ChileGarrido-Leiva, JesicaDuran-Garate, LeonardoPerez-Martinez, WaldoTopographyMediterranean ecosystemsVegetation moistureTerrain metricsNDVINDMISentinel-2GAM[EN] Topography regulates vegetation functioning by controlling water redistribution, micro-climate, and solar exposure. In Mediterranean ecosystems, where water availability constitutes a fundamental limiting factor, vegetation functioning is also influenced by environmental drivers such as temperature, climatic seasonality, drought recurrence, and soil properties that interact with terrain heterogeneity. Understanding how these elements operate at the micro-scale is essential for interpreting the spatial variability of photosynthetic vigor and canopy water condition. This study evaluates the relationships between the topographic metrics Topographic Position Index (TPI), Terrain Ruggedness Index (TRI), and Diurnal Anisotropic Heat Index (DAH) and two spectral proxies of vegetation condition, the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) and the Normalized Difference Moisture Index (NDMI), in Los Nogales Nature Sanctuary (central Chile). Multitemporal Sentinel-2 time series (2017-2025) were analyzed using Generalized Additive Models (GAMs) with Gaussian distribution and cubic splines to detect non-linear topographic responses. All topographic predictors were statistically significant (p < 0.001). NDVI and NDMI values were higher in concave and less rugged areas, decreasing toward convex and thermally exposed slopes. NDMI exhibited greater sensitivity to topographic position and thermal anisotropy, indicating the strong dependence of vegetation water condition on topographically driven water redistribution. These results highlight the role of terrain in modulating vegetation vigor and moisture in Mediterranean ecosystems.This research was funded by Anglo American Chile, contract number 5.23.0022.1 "Servicio de Estudios de Conservacion de Humedales Altoandinos Hijuela C en Santuario de la Naturaleza Los Nogales".MDPI AGRepositorio Institucional de la Universitat Politècnica de València Riunet20262026-02-02journal articlehttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_6501VoRhttp://purl.org/coar/version/c_970fb48d4fbd8a85info:eu-repo/semantics/articleapplication/pdfhttps://riunet.upv.es/handle/10251/234038reponame:RiuNet. Repositorio Institucional de la Universitat Politécnica de Valénciainstname:Universitat Politècnica de València (UPV)Inglésengopen accesshttp://purl.org/coar/access_right/c_abf2Reconocimiento (by)http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccessoai:dnet:riunet______::7b2cbe2192ddd9df5e631f44cd2bdc502026-06-13T07:49:27Z
dc.title.none.fl_str_mv Topographic Modulation of Vegetation Vigor and Moisture Condition in Mediterranean Ravine Ecosystems of Central Chile
title Topographic Modulation of Vegetation Vigor and Moisture Condition in Mediterranean Ravine Ecosystems of Central Chile
spellingShingle Topographic Modulation of Vegetation Vigor and Moisture Condition in Mediterranean Ravine Ecosystems of Central Chile
Garrido-Leiva, Jesica
Topography
Mediterranean ecosystems
Vegetation moisture
Terrain metrics
NDVI
NDMI
Sentinel-2
GAM
title_short Topographic Modulation of Vegetation Vigor and Moisture Condition in Mediterranean Ravine Ecosystems of Central Chile
title_full Topographic Modulation of Vegetation Vigor and Moisture Condition in Mediterranean Ravine Ecosystems of Central Chile
title_fullStr Topographic Modulation of Vegetation Vigor and Moisture Condition in Mediterranean Ravine Ecosystems of Central Chile
title_full_unstemmed Topographic Modulation of Vegetation Vigor and Moisture Condition in Mediterranean Ravine Ecosystems of Central Chile
title_sort Topographic Modulation of Vegetation Vigor and Moisture Condition in Mediterranean Ravine Ecosystems of Central Chile
dc.creator.none.fl_str_mv Garrido-Leiva, Jesica
Duran-Garate, Leonardo
Perez-Martinez, Waldo
author Garrido-Leiva, Jesica
author_facet Garrido-Leiva, Jesica
Duran-Garate, Leonardo
Perez-Martinez, Waldo
author_role author
author2 Duran-Garate, Leonardo
Perez-Martinez, Waldo
author2_role author
author
dc.contributor.none.fl_str_mv Repositorio Institucional de la Universitat Politècnica de València Riunet
dc.subject.none.fl_str_mv Topography
Mediterranean ecosystems
Vegetation moisture
Terrain metrics
NDVI
NDMI
Sentinel-2
GAM
topic Topography
Mediterranean ecosystems
Vegetation moisture
Terrain metrics
NDVI
NDMI
Sentinel-2
GAM
description [EN] Topography regulates vegetation functioning by controlling water redistribution, micro-climate, and solar exposure. In Mediterranean ecosystems, where water availability constitutes a fundamental limiting factor, vegetation functioning is also influenced by environmental drivers such as temperature, climatic seasonality, drought recurrence, and soil properties that interact with terrain heterogeneity. Understanding how these elements operate at the micro-scale is essential for interpreting the spatial variability of photosynthetic vigor and canopy water condition. This study evaluates the relationships between the topographic metrics Topographic Position Index (TPI), Terrain Ruggedness Index (TRI), and Diurnal Anisotropic Heat Index (DAH) and two spectral proxies of vegetation condition, the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) and the Normalized Difference Moisture Index (NDMI), in Los Nogales Nature Sanctuary (central Chile). Multitemporal Sentinel-2 time series (2017-2025) were analyzed using Generalized Additive Models (GAMs) with Gaussian distribution and cubic splines to detect non-linear topographic responses. All topographic predictors were statistically significant (p < 0.001). NDVI and NDMI values were higher in concave and less rugged areas, decreasing toward convex and thermally exposed slopes. NDMI exhibited greater sensitivity to topographic position and thermal anisotropy, indicating the strong dependence of vegetation water condition on topographically driven water redistribution. These results highlight the role of terrain in modulating vegetation vigor and moisture in Mediterranean ecosystems.
publishDate 2026
dc.date.none.fl_str_mv 2026
2026-02-02
dc.type.none.fl_str_mv journal article
http://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_6501
VoR
http://purl.org/coar/version/c_970fb48d4fbd8a85
dc.type.openaire.fl_str_mv info:eu-repo/semantics/article
format article
dc.identifier.none.fl_str_mv https://riunet.upv.es/handle/10251/234038
url https://riunet.upv.es/handle/10251/234038
dc.language.none.fl_str_mv Inglés
eng
language_invalid_str_mv Inglés
language eng
dc.rights.none.fl_str_mv open access
http://purl.org/coar/access_right/c_abf2
Reconocimiento (by)
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
dc.rights.openaire.fl_str_mv info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
rights_invalid_str_mv open access
http://purl.org/coar/access_right/c_abf2
Reconocimiento (by)
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
eu_rights_str_mv openAccess
dc.format.none.fl_str_mv application/pdf
dc.publisher.none.fl_str_mv MDPI AG
publisher.none.fl_str_mv MDPI AG
dc.source.none.fl_str_mv reponame:RiuNet. Repositorio Institucional de la Universitat Politécnica de Valéncia
instname:Universitat Politècnica de València (UPV)
instname_str Universitat Politècnica de València (UPV)
reponame_str RiuNet. Repositorio Institucional de la Universitat Politécnica de Valéncia
collection RiuNet. Repositorio Institucional de la Universitat Politécnica de Valéncia
repository.name.fl_str_mv
repository.mail.fl_str_mv
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