Vegetation Mapping of Kushiro Wetland in Northeast Hokkaido, Japan: Application of SPOT images, Aerial Balloon Photographs and airborne color near infrared ( CNIR ) Images for classification Results and conclusions Aerial balloon photo interpretation and vegetation map The interpretation of aerial balloon mosaicked photographs with high resolution enabled us to identify the vegetation up to specific ten types and twenty-seven categories of individual vegetation in each wetland type. " Figure 3 " and " Figure 4 " shows the all vegetation map and preservative vegetation map constructed by photo interpretation, respectively. We could identify 58species in all. 10types and 27categories of individual vegetation communities and 5types and 11 categories for conservation species( Figure 5 ). The individual categories and vegetation types were as follows: 3 types and 5 individual categories in the low moor (1. auiherbosa type; Potamogeton octandrus. poir, 2. shrub and herbaceous type; Alnus japonica, Alnus japonica - Phragmites communis, Alnus japonica - Carex spp.-Phragmites communis, Alunus japonica - Carex spp.), one type and one category in transitional moor, (3. herbaceous type; Carex spp.), 3 types and 6 categories in the low-transitional moor, (4. shrub, small shrub and herbaceous type; Myrica gale var. tomentosa, Myrica gale var. tomentosa - Carex.spp - Chamaedaphne calyculata Moench - Vaccinium uliginosum, 5. small pool, small shrub and herbaceous type; Carex stipata (Muhlenberg) - Phragmites communis, Carex spp. - Vaccinium uliginosum, Carex middendoffii, 6. small shrub and herbaceous type; Carex middendoffii - Chamaedaphne calyculata Moench - Vaccinium uliginosum ), one type and one category in transitional moor, (7. herbaceous type; Carex spp.), 3 types and 13 categories in the high moor, ( 8. pool, moss, herbaceous and alpine plant type; pool - Sphagnum fuscum, pool - Eriophorum gracile - Eriophorum vaginatum, pool - Sphagnum fuscum - Eriophorum vaginatum, pool - Equiserum fluviatile(L.) - Menyanthes trifoliate, pool - Hosta rectifolia - Loiseleuria procumbens - Empetrum nigrum, 9. moss and dwarf shrub type; Sphagnum fuscum - Sphagnum subfuvum, Sphagnum magellanicum, Sphagnum fuscum- Sphagnum papillocum, Sphagnum - Carex spp.- Loiseleuria procumbens - Empetrum uliginosum, Sphagnum fimbriatum - Sphagnum subsecundum-Carex spp, 10. small pool and herbaceous type; Equiserum fluviatile(L.) - Eriophrum gracile - Menyanthes trifoliate, Equiserum fluviatile(L.) - Eriophorum gracile, Equiserum fluviatile(L.) - Phragmites communis - Chamaedaphne calyculata Moench). As for Carex spp., it included Carex lasiocarpa, Carex pseudo curaica, Carex middendoffi, Carex myngbyei. We could discriminate the difference of the distribution of Equiserum fluviatile(L.), Carex spp. and auiherbosa. We could detect the difference of the phenology of Carex spp. This difference represented the darker brown patches (non-heads or forming of the heads) and light brown-pink patches (heads with flowers) in the transitional moor. And moreover, we could discriminate the vitality, the status of the condition of vegetation in Phragmites communis. This represented the brown-darker green patches (weak or deteriorated leaves, dominated in the dry inland away from the Akanuma pond) and the blue-green patches (vigorous leaves, dominated within 100 m from Akanuma pond). And further more, we clearly identified the four species of Sphagnum mosses, Sphagnum fuscum, Sphagnum subfuvum, Sphagnum magellanicum, and Sphagnum papillocum. It was effective to classify especially among the vegetation such as small shrub mixed with herbaceous plants, moss bog with pools and dwarf shrubs with sedge, moss and alpine plants by comparing to the intensive ground truth data.
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