The phenomenon of biological invasions represents one of the most significant threats to biodiversity. A fundamental aspect of combating invasive plant species is the comprehension of the spatial and temporal alterations in their population dynamics. One of the important habitats of the European Union is the Pannon sand grasslands in Hungary, which are primarily threatened by the invasive common milkweed (Asclepias syriaca). The objective of this study was to ascertain the efficacy of drone imaging in examining the spatial patterns of milkweed shoots in comparison to ground survey data. To facilitate comparison, a survey was conducted on 12 milkweed populations in the Fülöpháza area of Kiskunság National Park. In each population, a 12-meter transect (comprising six contiguous 2 m × 2 m quadrats) was designated within which the positions of the shoots were recorded with centimeter accuracy through ground surveys. The individual shoots were marked on images captured from an altitude of 20 m using a drone. The results indicated that the number of shoots identified in the drone images was slightly lower than in the ground surveys; however, a positive correlation was observed between the two datasets (r = 0.9594). A strong positive correlation was evident between the ground and drone surveys in terms of both the average distance between shoots and the observed pattern (r = 0.933 and r = 0.9146). In light of these findings, it can be concluded that drone imaging represents an effective method for examining the size and pattern of populations. Consequently, it may prove to be a valuable tool for the accurate planning of invasive species management in conservation efforts and the monitoring of the effectiveness of treatments.

Department of Plant Biology University of Szeged Közép fasor 52 Szeged 6726 Hungary

Institute of Photonics and Electronics Czech Academy of Sciences Chaberská 1014 57 182 52 Praha 8 Kobylisy Czech Republic

Zobrazit více v PubMed

Inderjit, S. (ed)

Kettunen, M. et al. Technical support to EU strategy on invasive alien species (IAS).

Olden, J. D., Comte, L. & Giam, X. The homogocene: A research prospectus for the study of biotic homogenisation.

Maxwell, B. D., Lehnhoff, E. & Rew, L. J. The rationale for monitoring invasive plant populations as a crucial step for management.

Blossey, B. Before, during and after: the need for long-term monitoring in invasive plant species management.

Brodrick, P. G., Davies, A. B. & Asner, G. P. Uncovering ecological patterns with convolutional neural networks. PubMed

Meron, E. From patterns to function in living systems: dryland ecosystems as a case study.

Cavender-Bares, J., Gamon, J. A. & Townsend, P. A. The use of remote sensing to enhance biodiversity monitoring and detection: A critical challenge for the twenty-first century. In

Cavender-Bares, J., Schweiger, A. K., Pinto-Ledezma, J. N. & Meireles, J. E. Applying remote sensing to biodiversity science. In

Call, L. J. & Nilsen, E. T. Analysis of Spatial patterns and Spatial association between the invasive tree-of-heaven (

Bennett, J. J. et al. Evidence for scale-dependent root-augmentation feedback and its role in halting the spread of a Pantropical shrub into an endemic sedge. PubMed PMC

Müllerová, J., Brundu, G., Große-Stoltenberg, A., Kattenborn, T. & Richardson, D. M. Pattern to process, research to practice: remote sensing of plant invasions.

Bakacsy, L. & Bagi, I. Survival and regeneration ability of clonal common milkweed ( PubMed PMC

Li, J. & Dong, M. Fine-scale clonal structure and diversity of invasive plant

Bolch, E. A. et al. Remote detection of invasive alien species. In

Erfanifard, Y., Kraszewski, B. & Stereńczak, K. Integration of remote sensing in Spatial ecology: assessing the interspecific interactions of two plant species in a semi-arid woodland using unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) photogrammetric data. PubMed

CABI.

DAISIE. European Invasive Alien Species Gateway.

European Commission. List of Invasive Alien Species of Union concern.

GRIIS. The Global Register of Invasive Species.

EPPO & The European and Mediterranean Plant Protection Organization.

Bagi, I. & Bakacsy, L. Közönséges selyemkóró (

Tokarska-Guzik, B., Pisarczyk, E. & Risk assessment of

Bakacsy, L. Invasion impact is conditioned by initial vegetation States.

Follak, S. et al. Monograph of invasive plants in Europe N° 6:

Bagi, I. (Common milkweed (

Szilassi, P. et al. Understanding the environmental background of an invasive plant species ( PubMed PMC

Tóth, K.

Bölöni, J., Molnár, Z. & Kun, A.

Botta-Dukát, Z. Invasion of alien species to Hungarian (semi-) natural habitats.

Kovács-Láng, E. et al. Changes in the composition of sand grasslands along a Climatic gradient in Hungary and implications for climate change.

Mázsa, K., Mészáros, R. & Kalapos, T. Ecophysiological background of microhabitat preference by soil-living lichens in a sand grassland-forest mosaic; study plan and initial results.

Bakacsy, L. et al. Drone-based identification and monitoring of two invasive alien plant species in open sand grasslands by six RGB vegetation indices.

Bakó, G. Az özönnövények feltérképezése a beavatkozás megtervezéséhez és precíziós kivitelezéséhez. In

Cruzan, M. B. et al. Small unmanned aerial vehicles (micro-UAVs, drones) in plant ecology. PubMed PMC

Papp, L. et al. Monitoring invasive plant species using hyperspectral remote sensing data.

Lam, O. H. Y. et al. An open source workflow for weed mapping in native grassland using unmanned aerial vehicle: using

Dao, P. D., Axiotis, A. & He, Y. Mapping native and invasive grassland species and characterizing topography-driven species dynamics using high Spatial resolution hyperspectral imagery.

Barbizan Sühs, R., Ziller, S. R. & Dechoum, M. Is the use of drones cost-effective and efficient in detecting invasive alien trees? A case study from a subtropical coastal ecosystem.