XVI International Botanical Congess

Sierra de Arteaga in Northern Mexico represents an important biological area at the regional level due to its great diversity in species and endemism. The plant communities show phenological changes that can be identified in the remotely sensed images. Individual and multitemporal images classifications were performed. The multitemporal analysis allowed the detection of the phenological changes in to the classification process, thus providing a higher confiability percentage accurate result in the mapping of the vegetation. Phenological plant changes related to the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) presented a strong relation with the canopy cover, therefore sensibility of NDVI values represent the seasonal bahavior of the different plant communities. Radiance value was also used to recognize the phenological changes through the year.