Abstract
Abstract. The biological invasion is considered the second largest global threat to the maintenance and conservation of natural ecosystems biodiversity. Strategies and actions that guide the control and monitoring of invasive species in protected areas are still a challenge on the management of these areas. Remote sensing is potential tool to detect and monitoring these species, gaining a timeline scale and allowing the adoption of more effective control methods. In this study, search to evaluate the vegetation index potential by using multispectral images acquired by UAV as a support on detection and monitoring of invasive plants in Quarta Colônia State Park located on the Brazil’s southern region. A sampling area with a density of invasive plants above 80% was evaluated, with predominance of Psidium guajava and Ligustrum lucidum, generating a large data set from the extracted indexes. Among the evaluated index, the ones that showed the most potential in this study were Green Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (GNDVI), Plant Senescence Reflectance Index (PSRI) and Red Green Ratio Index (RGRI). Believe us that the use of UAVs platforms will be an important tool for the management of invasive species in protected areas.
Highlights
Until the end of 20th century the monitoring by images was a difficult task to researchers due to the shortage and high cost of equipment and technology based
Green Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (GNDVI) presented the lowest coefficient of variation (CV%) for the analyzed data set
The use of aircraft and image spectrometers to detect and map pigments is new, but the image spectroscopy potential to detect and quantify leaf pigments for physiology studies and canopy ecology is recognized (Ustin, et al, 2009), enhance possibilities with the popularization of multispectral sensors coupled to UAVs because of scale refinement. It was evaluated the potential of data acquisition for vegetation index generation from images obtained by a multispectral sensor coupled to a UAV platform and its possible application as a support in the detection and control of areas contaminated by invasive plants
Summary
Until the end of 20th century the monitoring by images was a difficult task to researchers due to the shortage and high cost of equipment and technology based. Disturbed ecosystems associated to the distinct uses of the soil around the protected areas, provide seed propagation for the colonization of these natural environment, leading to the establishment and success of the invasion (Stadler et al, 2000; Stohlgren, 2002). The management of protected areas still lacks of better strategies to the eradication, control and mitigation of damage caused by invasive species (Foxcroft et al, 2009). In this sense, the remote sensing has shown potential to identify and manage areas contaminated by invasive plants, contributing to the management and efficiency of control actions
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