Tools & Packages

Open-source software is central to reproducible ecological research. Here are the tools I develop and maintain.

iLAND Workbench

๐ŸŒฒ iLAND Workbench โ€” A QGIS Plugin for Forest Landscape Modeling

A dockable QGIS plugin that brings the iLAND individual-based forest landscape and disturbance model into a GIS workflow. It provides runtime management, module exploration, data-preparation pipelines for climate, soil, and stand-grid inputs, and reproducible analysis workflows โ€” all from within QGIS.

DOI

GitHub Repository QGIS Plugin Repository

iLAND Workbench bridges the gap between the iLAND simulation model and the QGIS ecosystem, making forest landscape modeling accessible without leaving your GIS environment. Key capabilities include:

  • Runtime management with automatic download and verification of iLANDc across Windows, macOS, and Linux
  • Module and submodule exploration directly from the iLAND source tree
  • Complete climate workflows: future climate download, historical data, and conversion/validation pipelines
  • Soil data acquisition from SSURGO and SoilGrids
  • Stand-grid source workflows via LANDFIRE EVT and ESA WorldCover
  • Landscape pre-flight validation before model creation
  • Interactive SQLite plot browser for inspecting exported iLand output databases
  • Full QGIS Processing provider integration
# Requires QGIS Desktop 3.28 or newer
# In QGIS: Plugins โ†’ Manage and Install Plugins โ†’ Install from ZIP
# Download iland_qgis_plugin.zip from the GitHub Releases page

The plugin ships as a small, runtime-free package. The native iLAND console runtime (iLANDc) needed to run simulations is acquired automatically on first use.

@software{paudel2026iland,
  author    = {Paudel, Sushil},
  title     = {{iLAND Workbench: QGIS-based iLAND Workbench for
                hassle-free installation and reproducible analysis
                workflows}},
  year      = {2026},
  version   = {4.1.0},
  publisher = {Zenodo},
  doi       = {10.5281/zenodo.19300115},
  url       = {https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.19300115}
}

forestPulse

๐Ÿ“ฆ forestPulse โ€” An R Package for Forest Change Analysis

forestPulse provides streamlined workflows for analyzing forest disturbance and recovery using satellite remote sensing data. It simplifies complex geospatial operations into accessible R functions.

GitHub Repository

forestPulse is designed to make forest change analysis more accessible to ecologists and conservation practitioners. The package handles:

  • Satellite image preprocessing and time series construction
  • Forest disturbance detection algorithms
  • Change magnitude and timing estimation
  • Visualization of forest dynamics
# Install from GitHub
# install.packages("devtools")
devtools::install_github("thecedarlab/forestPulse")
library(forestPulse)

# Example workflow (placeholder)
# Load your study area
# Process satellite time series
# Detect forest changes
# Visualize results

Full documentation and vignettes coming soon.

Other Resources

๐ŸŽฅ ### GeoAI for Ecology (YouTube) Video tutorials on remote sensing, GIS, R programming, and geospatial AI methods for ecological research.

Visit Channel

Tutorials R GIS

๐Ÿ’ป ### Code & Data Reproducible code and datasets accompanying publications and tutorials. All hosted on GitHub under the CEDAR Lab organization.

Browse Repos

Open Source Reproducible