Small unmanned aerial vehicles (micro‐UAVs, drones) in plant ecology

TLDR

Low‑elevation surveys with small UAVs can map vegetation across small to medium regions, offering broad applications in plant ecology. The study provides an overview of methods and procedures for conducting small‑UAV surveys and illustrates their applications in plant ecology. Surveys were conducted by flying a small drone along transects, generating orthomosaics and DSMs, and performing manual and automated vegetation classification to estimate species coverage and create regional maps. Manual and automated habitat classification were accurate, and the surveys showed that small drones can efficiently map species distribution with minimal impact on sensitive habitats.

Abstract

Low-elevation surveys with small aerial drones (micro-unmanned aerial vehicles [UAVs]) may be used for a wide variety of applications in plant ecology, including mapping vegetation over small- to medium-sized regions. We provide an overview of methods and procedures for conducting surveys and illustrate some of these applications.Aerial images were obtained by flying a small drone along transects over the area of interest. Images were used to create a composite image (orthomosaic) and a digital surface model (DSM). Vegetation classification was conducted manually and using an automated routine. Coverage of an individual species was estimated from aerial images.We created a vegetation map for the entire region from the orthomosaic and DSM, and mapped the density of one species. Comparison of our manual and automated habitat classification confirmed that our mapping methods were accurate. A species with high contrast to the background matrix allowed adequate estimate of its coverage.The example surveys demonstrate that small aerial drones are capable of gathering large amounts of information on the distribution of vegetation and individual species with minimal impact to sensitive habitats. Low-elevation aerial surveys have potential for a wide range of applications in plant ecology.