https://vital.seals.ac.za/vital/access/manager/Index ${session.getAttribute("locale")} 5 https://vital.seals.ac.za/vital/access/manager/Repository/vital:20626 8 ha). Small wetlands (< 2 ha), by contrast, are often overlooked and unprotected due to the lack of detailed inventories at a scale that is appropriate for their inclusion. The main aim of this study was to determine if remote sensing (RS) and Geographical Information System (GIS) techniques could detect changes in small, ephemeral wetlands within areas under different management regimes in the Nelson Mandela Bay Metropole (NMBM) at different time intervals. Further, to explore the potential of hyperspectral remote sensing for the discrimination between plant species and to see if differences could be detected in the same species within two areas different management regimes. Four SPOT satellite images taken within a 6-year period (2006-2012) were analysed to detect land cover land changes. Supervised classification to classify land cover classes and post-classification change detection was used. Proportions of dense vegetation were higher in the conservation area and bare surface was higher outside that conservation area in the metropolitan open space area. Statistical tests were performed to compare the spectral responses of the four individual wetland sites using Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) and red edge position (REP) .REP results for conserved sites showed significant differences (P < 0.05), as opposed to non-conserved ones. By implication, wetland vegetation that is in less degraded condition can be spectrally discriminated, than the one that is most degraded. Field spectroscopy and multi-temporal imagery can be useful in studying small wetlands.]]> Wed 12 May 2021 22:50:34 SAST ]]>