Desert environments are sensitive to disturbances, and, once disturbed, their functions and processes can take many years to recover. The ability to map and detect changes in landscape components such as ephemeral streams and vegetation communities is necessary to understand the effects of disturbance on ecosystem and hydrologic functions. This talk will describe the use of remote sensing to (1) produce high-resolution maps of ephemeral stream network and (2) investigate internal changes in dryland vegetation communities as early indicators of disturbance.
