Abstract
Invasive plant species pose a direct threat to biodiversity and ecosystem services. Among these, Rosa rugosa has had a severe impact on Baltic coastal ecosystems in recent decades. Accurate mapping and monitoring tools are essential to quantify the location and spatial extent of invasive plant species to support eradication programs. In this paper we combined RGB images obtained using an Unoccupied Aerial Vehicle, with multispectral PlanetScope images to map the extent of R. rugosa at seven locations along the Estonian coastline. We used RGB-based vegetation indices and 3D canopy metrics in combination with a random forest algorithm to map R. rugosa thickets, obtaining high mapping accuracies (Sensitivity = 0.92, specificity = 0.96). We then used the R. rugosa presence/absence maps as a training dataset to predict the fractional cover based on multispectral vegetation indices derived from the PlanetScope constellation and an Extreme Gradient Boosting algorithm (XGBoost). The XGBoost algorithm yielded high fractional cover prediction accuracies (RMSE = 0.11, R2 = 0.70). An in-depth accuracy assessment based on site-specific validations revealed notable differences in accuracy between study sites (highest R2 = 0.74, lowest R2 = 0.03). We attribute these differences to the various stages of R. rugosa invasion and the density of thickets. In conclusion, the combination of RGB UAV images and multispectral PlanetScope images is a cost-effective method to map R. rugosa in highly heterogeneous coastal ecosystems. We propose this approach as a valuable tool to extend the highly local geographical scope of UAV assessments into wider areas and regional evaluations.
Original language | English |
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Article number | 117693 |
Journal | Journal of Environmental Management |
Volume | 336 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 11 Mar 2023 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:The authors would like to express their gratitude to the Estonian Research Council for funding this work. This study was supported by the Estonian Research Council ( EAG204 ). Likewise, the authors would like to thank the Ecosystem Services Partnership for the opportunity to present this work.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 The Authors
Keywords
- Unoccupied aerial vehicles
- Coast
- Invasive species
- Satellite
- Machine learning
- Rosa rugosa
- Estonia
- Baltic