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Abstract The purpose of this study is to develop an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV)‐based remote sensing method that can estimate vegetation indicators in arid and semiarid rangelands. This method was used to quantify six rangeland indicators (canopy size, bare soil gap size, plant height, scaled height, vegetation cover, and bare soil cover) in a semiarid grass–shrub ecosystem. The drone‐based estimates were validated with field measurements by using the standard transect methods (gap intercept, drop disk, and line‐point intercept methods) in the spring and summer of 2017. The drone‐based estimates showed strong agreements with in situ measurements in cases where deciduous vegetation (mesquite) had leaves withR2for bare soil gap size and vegetation height of 0.97 and 0.89 in the summer, respectively. The RMSE of bare soil gap size and vegetation height are 0.2 m and 6.72 cm in the summer, respectively. Based on these results, we found that drone‐based remote sensing proved to be an efficient and highly accurate method that serves as a complement to field measurements for rangeland indicator estimation. We discussed the possible applications of drone‐based products on arid and semiarid rangelands: the spatially explicit input of an ecological model, to detect and characterize non‐stationarity, and to detect landscape anisotropy.
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Review and assessment of smartphone apps for forest restoration monitoring
With increased interest in forest restoration comes an urgent need to provide accurate, scalable, and cost‐effective monitoring tools. The ubiquity of smartphones has led to a surge in monitoring apps. We reviewed and assessed monitoring apps found through web searches and conversations with practitioners. We identified 42 apps that (1) automatically monitor indicators or (2) facilitate data entry. We selected the five most promising from the first category, based on their relevance, availability, stability, and user support. We compared them to traditional field techniques in a well‐studied restoration project in Costa Rica. We received further feedback from 15 collaborator organizations that evaluated these in their corresponding field restoration sites. Diameter measurements correlated well with traditional tape‐based measurements (R2 = 0.86–0.89). Canopy openness and ground cover showed weaker correlations to densiometer and quadrat cover measurements (R2 = 0.42–0.51). Apps did not improve labor efficiency but do preclude the purchase of specialized field equipment. The apps reviewed here need further development and validation to support monitoring adequately, especially in the tropics. Estimates of development and maintenance costs, as well as statistics on user uptake, are required for cost‐effective development. We recommend a coordinated effort to develop dedicated restoration monitoring apps that can speed up and standardize the collection of indicators and provide evidence on restoration outcomes alongside a centralized repository of this information.
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- PAR ID:
- 10555154
- Publisher / Repository:
- Wiley
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Restoration Ecology
- Volume:
- 32
- Issue:
- 4
- ISSN:
- 1061-2971
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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Accepted Manuscript1.0
- Journal Article:
- https://doi.org/10.1111/rec.14136
