UAVs in pursuit of plant conservation - Real world experiences

Small Unmanned Aerial Systems (UASs) (more commonly called Unmanned Aerial Vehicles, UAVs or drones), have the potential to enhance current understanding and management of a range of environmental applications. There has been much coverage on the use of UAVs for conservation applications in the recent years, yet little on specific applications in plant conservation. Here we present our experience of using an off-the-shelf fixed wing UAV for plant conservation projects ranging from Peru's hyper-arid vegetation to the dry forests of the Caribbean and finally to the humid forest of South Africa and the Brazilian Amazon. We present our findings from over ten successful (but also our unsuccessful) field work campaigns flying over 4500 km. We show how the technology is being used for mapping, quantifying and monitoring plant species, but also review the real-world issues of using UAVs, particularly in remote areas.