Date of Award

12-2022

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science in Environmental Sciences

Department

Geography and Environmental Studies

First Reader/Committee Chair

Dr. Jennifer Alford

Abstract

Holcomb Valley, with a general elevation between 2200-2257m, is in the Northeast of Big Bear Lake in the San Bernardino Mountains. Holcomb Valley is covered by Alpine meadows, unlike most mountain landscapes, which are rarely found in Mediterranean climates such as California. The cultural-environmental history of the San Bernardino Mountains in the past century speaks of intense anthropogenic activities such as timbering, grazing, gold mining, and extreme climate changes (i.e., drought, fires, floods). A study is conducted to identify and calculate the changes in the Alpine meadows at Holcomb Valley. The climatical data has been acquired to compute and visualize precipitation, temperature patterns, and drought index at the study site. The USGS LANDSAT satellite imageries and NAIP Orthophotos are used to visualize and quantify the change in the condition and the size of the Holcomb Valley meadow habitat. This study uses two different methods for 43 years from 1997-2021 and 20 years from 2000-2020. For the 43 years study, the GIS Remote Sensing technology of NDVI is used to visualize and quantify the change in the health of the vegetation and the size change in the meadows. The NAIP Orthophotos are used for polygon digitization and quantification of size change in meadows for the 20 years period. The results will show the types and amount of change in the meadow habitats at Holcomb Valley.

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