Drone-Based Identification and Monitoring of Two Invasive Alien Plant Species in Open Sand Grasslands by Six RGB Vegetation Indices

Today, invasive alien species cause serious trouble for biodiversity and ecosystem services, which are essential for human survival. In order to effectively manage invasive species, it is important to know their current distribution and the dynamics of their spread. Unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) monitoring is one of the best tools for gathering this information from large areas. Vegetation indices for multispectral camera images are often used for this, but RGB colour-based vegetation indices can provide a simpler and less expensive solution. The goal was to examine whether six RGB indices are suitable for identifying invasive plant species in the QGIS environment on UAV images. To examine this, we determined the shoot area and number of common milkweed (Asclepias syriaca) and the inflorescence area and number of blanket flowers (Gaillardia pulchella) as two typical invasive species in open sandy grasslands. According to the results, the cover area of common milkweed was best identified with the TGI and SSI indices. The producers' accuracy was 76.38% (TGI) and 67.02% (SSI), while the user's accuracy was 75.42% (TGI) and 75.12% (SSI), respectively. For the cover area of blanket flower, the IF index proved to be the most suitable index. In spite of this, it gave a low producer's accuracy of 43.74% and user's accuracy of 51.4%. The used methods were not suitable for the determination of milkweed shoot and the blanket flower inflorescence number, due to significant overestimation. With the methods presented here, the data of large populations of invasive species can be processed in a simple, fast, and cost-effective manner, which can ensure the precise planning of treatments for nature conservation practitioners.

Automated summary

Invasive alien species pose a serious threat to biodiversity and ecosystem services and knowing their distribution and spread dynamics is crucial for effective management. Unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) monitoring, using RGB color-based vegetation indices, was examined for identifying invasive plant species. The TGI and SSI indices were found to be the most suitable for identifying the cover area of common milkweed, while the IF index was the most suitable for blanket flower. However, the methods used were not suitable for determining milkweed shoot and blanket flower inflorescence number due to significant overestimation.