Application of IBI and UAV Remote Sensing Technology to Assess Ecosystem Health of Poyang Lake Wetland

Abstract

IBI is a widely used approach for assessing ecological integrity of wetland, it’s easy to be understood by the public. The ecosystem health of Poyang Lake Wetland was evaluated by IBI combined with UAV remote sensing technology. IBI was developed by means of vegetation data collected from Poyang Lake Wetland. 49 candidate vegetation metrics were tested for their ability to discriminate between sampling points with different interference levels. 8 metrics were eventually selected, and then they were transformed into uniform scores using ratio score method, the sum of the metric scores at a site becomes the IBI scores. Based on the 95% percentile of value in all sites, the criteria of health ranking is determined. The distribution range below 95% percentile is divided into 4 quarters. Result shows that among all sites, 6 were healthy, 12 were subhealthy, 8 were good-to-fair, 3 were fair and 1 was poor. The health status of Poyang Lake Wetland is closely related to the disturbance of human activities, and the health status of wetland in nature reserve is obviously superior to other areas.