Use of Unoccupied Aerial Systems to Characterize Woody Vegetation across Silvopastoral Systems in Ecuador.

David Green; Pete Smith; Juan Pablo Inamagua Uyaguari; P Sangoluisa; J. Torres; Nuala Fitton

doi:10.3390/rs14143386

Use of Unoccupied Aerial Systems to Characterize Woody Vegetation across Silvopastoral Systems in Ecuador.

David Green, Pete Smith, Juan Pablo Inamagua Uyaguari^* (Corresponding Author), P Sangoluisa, J. Torres, Nuala Fitton

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

2 Citations (Scopus)

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Abstract

The trees in pastures are recognized for the benefits they provide to livestock, farmers, and the environment; nevertheless, their study has been restricted to small areas, making it difficult to upscale this information to national levels. For tropical developing countries, it is particularly important to understand the contribution of these systems to national carbon budgets. However, the costs associated with performing field measurements might limit the acquisition of this information. The use of unoccupied aerial systems (UAS) for ecological surveys has proved useful for collecting information at larger scales and with significantly lower costs. This study proposes a methodology that integrates field and UAS surveys to study trees on pasture areas across different terrain conditions. Our overall objective was to test the suitability of UAS surveys to the estimation of aboveground biomass (AGB), relying mainly on open-source software. The tree heights and crown diameters were measured on 0.1-hectare circular plots installed on pasture areas on livestock farms in the Amazon and Coastal regions in Ecuador. An UAS survey was performed on 1-hectare plots containing the circular plots. Field measurements were compared against canopy-height model values and biomass estimates using the two sources of information. Our results demonstrate that UAS surveys can be useful for identifying tree spatial arrangements and provide good estimates of tree height (RMSE values ranged from 0.01 to 3.53 m), crown diameter (RMSE values ranged from 0.04 to 4.47 m), and tree density (density differences ranging from 21.5 to 64.3%), which have a direct impact on biomass estimates. The differences in biomass estimates between the UAS and the field-measured values ranged from 25 to 75%, depending on site characteristics, such as slope and tree coverage. The results suggest that UASs are reliable and feasible tools with which to study tree characteristics on pastures, covering larger areas than field methods only.

Original language	English
Article number	3386
Number of pages	21
Journal	Remote Sensing
Volume	14
Early online date	14 Jul 2022
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.3390/rs14143386
Publication status	Published - 14 Jul 2022

Bibliographical note

Funding: This research was funded by the IRSAE network, through a mobility grant, and financial
support from Universidad de Cuenca, Ecuador, and University of Aberdeen, UK. The Climate Smart
Livestock Project is a joint initiative from the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock (MAG) and the
Ministry of Environment (MAE) in Ecuador, funded by the Global Environment Facility (GEF) and
implemented by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).

Acknowledgments: The authors are grateful for the help from the field teams of the Climate Smart
Livestock Project (CSLP), Ecuador, especially to Jhonny Delva and Juan Merino from CSLP for their
support on the coordination and field data collection. Since this research is part of a PhD thesis, we
are thankful to the University of Aberdeen, UK, for the Elphinstone scholarship and Universidad de
Cuenca, Ecuador, for financial support

Data Availability Statement

Data Availability Statement: Data are available upon request.

Keywords

photogrammetry
silvopastoral
livestock landscapes

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Iñamagua-Uyaguari_etal_RS_Use_Of_Unoccupied_VoR
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Cite this

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title = "Use of Unoccupied Aerial Systems to Characterize Woody Vegetation across Silvopastoral Systems in Ecuador.",

abstract = "The trees in pastures are recognized for the benefits they provide to livestock, farmers, and the environment; nevertheless, their study has been restricted to small areas, making it difficult to upscale this information to national levels. For tropical developing countries, it is particularly important to understand the contribution of these systems to national carbon budgets. However, the costs associated with performing field measurements might limit the acquisition of this information. The use of unoccupied aerial systems (UAS) for ecological surveys has proved useful for collecting information at larger scales and with significantly lower costs. This study proposes a methodology that integrates field and UAS surveys to study trees on pasture areas across different terrain conditions. Our overall objective was to test the suitability of UAS surveys to the estimation of aboveground biomass (AGB), relying mainly on open-source software. The tree heights and crown diameters were measured on 0.1-hectare circular plots installed on pasture areas on livestock farms in the Amazon and Coastal regions in Ecuador. An UAS survey was performed on 1-hectare plots containing the circular plots. Field measurements were compared against canopy-height model values and biomass estimates using the two sources of information. Our results demonstrate that UAS surveys can be useful for identifying tree spatial arrangements and provide good estimates of tree height (RMSE values ranged from 0.01 to 3.53 m), crown diameter (RMSE values ranged from 0.04 to 4.47 m), and tree density (density differences ranging from 21.5 to 64.3%), which have a direct impact on biomass estimates. The differences in biomass estimates between the UAS and the field-measured values ranged from 25 to 75%, depending on site characteristics, such as slope and tree coverage. The results suggest that UASs are reliable and feasible tools with which to study tree characteristics on pastures, covering larger areas than field methods only.",

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author = "David Green and Pete Smith and {Inamagua Uyaguari}, {Juan Pablo} and P Sangoluisa and J. Torres and Nuala Fitton",

note = "Funding: This research was funded by the IRSAE network, through a mobility grant, and financial support from Universidad de Cuenca, Ecuador, and University of Aberdeen, UK. The Climate Smart Livestock Project is a joint initiative from the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock (MAG) and the Ministry of Environment (MAE) in Ecuador, funded by the Global Environment Facility (GEF) and implemented by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). Acknowledgments: The authors are grateful for the help from the field teams of the Climate Smart Livestock Project (CSLP), Ecuador, especially to Jhonny Delva and Juan Merino from CSLP for their support on the coordination and field data collection. Since this research is part of a PhD thesis, we are thankful to the University of Aberdeen, UK, for the Elphinstone scholarship and Universidad de Cuenca, Ecuador, for financial support",

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AU - Smith, Pete

AU - Inamagua Uyaguari, Juan Pablo

AU - Sangoluisa, P

AU - Torres, J.

AU - Fitton, Nuala

N1 - Funding: This research was funded by the IRSAE network, through a mobility grant, and financial support from Universidad de Cuenca, Ecuador, and University of Aberdeen, UK. The Climate Smart Livestock Project is a joint initiative from the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock (MAG) and the Ministry of Environment (MAE) in Ecuador, funded by the Global Environment Facility (GEF) and implemented by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). Acknowledgments: The authors are grateful for the help from the field teams of the Climate Smart Livestock Project (CSLP), Ecuador, especially to Jhonny Delva and Juan Merino from CSLP for their support on the coordination and field data collection. Since this research is part of a PhD thesis, we are thankful to the University of Aberdeen, UK, for the Elphinstone scholarship and Universidad de Cuenca, Ecuador, for financial support

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N2 - The trees in pastures are recognized for the benefits they provide to livestock, farmers, and the environment; nevertheless, their study has been restricted to small areas, making it difficult to upscale this information to national levels. For tropical developing countries, it is particularly important to understand the contribution of these systems to national carbon budgets. However, the costs associated with performing field measurements might limit the acquisition of this information. The use of unoccupied aerial systems (UAS) for ecological surveys has proved useful for collecting information at larger scales and with significantly lower costs. This study proposes a methodology that integrates field and UAS surveys to study trees on pasture areas across different terrain conditions. Our overall objective was to test the suitability of UAS surveys to the estimation of aboveground biomass (AGB), relying mainly on open-source software. The tree heights and crown diameters were measured on 0.1-hectare circular plots installed on pasture areas on livestock farms in the Amazon and Coastal regions in Ecuador. An UAS survey was performed on 1-hectare plots containing the circular plots. Field measurements were compared against canopy-height model values and biomass estimates using the two sources of information. Our results demonstrate that UAS surveys can be useful for identifying tree spatial arrangements and provide good estimates of tree height (RMSE values ranged from 0.01 to 3.53 m), crown diameter (RMSE values ranged from 0.04 to 4.47 m), and tree density (density differences ranging from 21.5 to 64.3%), which have a direct impact on biomass estimates. The differences in biomass estimates between the UAS and the field-measured values ranged from 25 to 75%, depending on site characteristics, such as slope and tree coverage. The results suggest that UASs are reliable and feasible tools with which to study tree characteristics on pastures, covering larger areas than field methods only.

AB - The trees in pastures are recognized for the benefits they provide to livestock, farmers, and the environment; nevertheless, their study has been restricted to small areas, making it difficult to upscale this information to national levels. For tropical developing countries, it is particularly important to understand the contribution of these systems to national carbon budgets. However, the costs associated with performing field measurements might limit the acquisition of this information. The use of unoccupied aerial systems (UAS) for ecological surveys has proved useful for collecting information at larger scales and with significantly lower costs. This study proposes a methodology that integrates field and UAS surveys to study trees on pasture areas across different terrain conditions. Our overall objective was to test the suitability of UAS surveys to the estimation of aboveground biomass (AGB), relying mainly on open-source software. The tree heights and crown diameters were measured on 0.1-hectare circular plots installed on pasture areas on livestock farms in the Amazon and Coastal regions in Ecuador. An UAS survey was performed on 1-hectare plots containing the circular plots. Field measurements were compared against canopy-height model values and biomass estimates using the two sources of information. Our results demonstrate that UAS surveys can be useful for identifying tree spatial arrangements and provide good estimates of tree height (RMSE values ranged from 0.01 to 3.53 m), crown diameter (RMSE values ranged from 0.04 to 4.47 m), and tree density (density differences ranging from 21.5 to 64.3%), which have a direct impact on biomass estimates. The differences in biomass estimates between the UAS and the field-measured values ranged from 25 to 75%, depending on site characteristics, such as slope and tree coverage. The results suggest that UASs are reliable and feasible tools with which to study tree characteristics on pastures, covering larger areas than field methods only.

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KW - silvopastoral

KW - livestock landscapes

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DO - 10.3390/rs14143386

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JO - Remote Sensing

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M1 - 3386

ER -

Use of Unoccupied Aerial Systems to Characterize Woody Vegetation across Silvopastoral Systems in Ecuador.

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Data Availability Statement

Keywords

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