Identifying species from the air: UAVs and the very high resolution challenge for plant conservation
The Pacific Equatorial dry forest of Northern Peru is recognised for its unique endemic biodiversity. Although highly threatened the forest provides livelihoods and ecosystem services to local communities. As agro-industrial expansion and climatic variation transform the region, close ecosystem moni...
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| Format: | Article |
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Public Library of Science
2017
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| Online Access: | https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/48772/ |
| _version_ | 1848797842510970880 |
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| author | Baena, Susana Moat, Justin Whaley, Oliver Boyd, Doreen S. |
| author_facet | Baena, Susana Moat, Justin Whaley, Oliver Boyd, Doreen S. |
| author_sort | Baena, Susana |
| building | Nottingham Research Data Repository |
| collection | Online Access |
| description | The Pacific Equatorial dry forest of Northern Peru is recognised for its unique endemic biodiversity. Although highly threatened the forest provides livelihoods and ecosystem services to local communities. As agro-industrial expansion and climatic variation transform the region, close ecosystem monitoring is essential for viable adaptation strategies. UAVs offer an affordable alternative to satellites in obtaining both colour and near infrared imagery to meet the specific requirements of spatial and temporal resolution of a monitoring system. Combining this with their capacity to produce three dimensional models of the environment provides an invaluable tool for species level monitoring. Here we demonstrate that object based image analysis of very high resolution UAV images can identify and quantify keystone tree species and their health across wide heterogeneous landscapes. The analysis exposes the state of the vegetation and serves as a baseline for monitoring and adaptive implementation of community based conservation and restoration in the area. |
| first_indexed | 2025-11-14T20:10:18Z |
| format | Article |
| id | nottingham-48772 |
| institution | University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus |
| institution_category | Local University |
| last_indexed | 2025-11-14T20:10:18Z |
| publishDate | 2017 |
| publisher | Public Library of Science |
| recordtype | eprints |
| repository_type | Digital Repository |
| spelling | nottingham-487722020-05-04T19:19:32Z https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/48772/ Identifying species from the air: UAVs and the very high resolution challenge for plant conservation Baena, Susana Moat, Justin Whaley, Oliver Boyd, Doreen S. The Pacific Equatorial dry forest of Northern Peru is recognised for its unique endemic biodiversity. Although highly threatened the forest provides livelihoods and ecosystem services to local communities. As agro-industrial expansion and climatic variation transform the region, close ecosystem monitoring is essential for viable adaptation strategies. UAVs offer an affordable alternative to satellites in obtaining both colour and near infrared imagery to meet the specific requirements of spatial and temporal resolution of a monitoring system. Combining this with their capacity to produce three dimensional models of the environment provides an invaluable tool for species level monitoring. Here we demonstrate that object based image analysis of very high resolution UAV images can identify and quantify keystone tree species and their health across wide heterogeneous landscapes. The analysis exposes the state of the vegetation and serves as a baseline for monitoring and adaptive implementation of community based conservation and restoration in the area. Public Library of Science 2017-11-27 Article PeerReviewed Baena, Susana, Moat, Justin, Whaley, Oliver and Boyd, Doreen S. (2017) Identifying species from the air: UAVs and the very high resolution challenge for plant conservation. PLoS ONE, 12 (11). e0188714. ISSN 1932-6203 http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0188714 doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0188714 doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0188714 |
| spellingShingle | Baena, Susana Moat, Justin Whaley, Oliver Boyd, Doreen S. Identifying species from the air: UAVs and the very high resolution challenge for plant conservation |
| title | Identifying species from the air: UAVs and the very high resolution challenge for plant conservation |
| title_full | Identifying species from the air: UAVs and the very high resolution challenge for plant conservation |
| title_fullStr | Identifying species from the air: UAVs and the very high resolution challenge for plant conservation |
| title_full_unstemmed | Identifying species from the air: UAVs and the very high resolution challenge for plant conservation |
| title_short | Identifying species from the air: UAVs and the very high resolution challenge for plant conservation |
| title_sort | identifying species from the air: uavs and the very high resolution challenge for plant conservation |
| url | https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/48772/ https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/48772/ https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/48772/ |