The aim of this study was to identify the exact boundaries of forest habitats, predominantly Natura 2000 habitats in the area of Čierny Balog, Central Slovakia, as well as verify the possibilities of differentiation of single habitats by using Sentinel-2 satellite images. A specialized software called NaturaSat was used to segment the areas of four habitat types. Spectral characteristics inside the segmented areas were calculated and tested by ANOVA and PERMANOVA analyses. We obtained significant differences, which we consider a promising result and verification of the methods used. This type of new identification for habitats is a necessary step for automatic monitoring of habitat areas and condition changes by satellite data.

Keywords: ecosystem mapping, Sentinel-2, remote sensing, mountain forest, habitat changes

This contribution was supported by grant APVV 16-0431 and VEGA 2/0119/19.

Skidmore, A. N. Pettorelli, N. C. Coops, G. N. Geller, M. Hansen, R. Lucas, et al. 2015. Agree on biodiversity metrics to track from space. Nature 523, 403-405.