A remote sensing approach to assess the historical invasion of Phragmites australis in a brackish coastal marsh

作者：Jason S. Hagani, John Y. Takekawa, Steven C. Chappell, Richelle L. Tanner, Adrienne R. Ernst, Karin M. Kettenring · 发表于：Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution · 年份：2023 · DOI：10.3389/fevo.2023.1171245 · 被引用次数：10 · 研究领域：Coastal wetland ecosystem dynamics、Land Use and Ecosystem Services、Ecology and Vegetation Dynamics Studies

Introduction Coastal estuarine wetlands provide important habitats for a variety of endemic flora and fauna but are particularly vulnerable to biological invasions. Regular monitoring of changes in these vulnerable wetlands has become increasingly important for effective management, especially considering threats from climate change effects and human disturbance. Historical analyzes of plant invasions may guide targeted management strategies to eradicate harmful species. Estimating the distribution of invasive species has never been more accessible with the improved availability of high-resolution data and innovations in remote sensing, estimating the distribution of invasive species has never been more accessible. Methods We assessed the spread of non-native Phragmites australis subsp. australis in Suisun Marsh on the upper San Francisco Estuary, one of the largest brackish coastal wetlands in North America. Suisun Marsh consists of managed and tidal wetlands, and efforts have been made to control invasive P. australis on the managed wetlands to support habitat values for wildlife. We used remote-sensing analyzes of publicly available, biennial color-infrared images taken by the National Agriculture Imagery Program (NAIP) to map the expansion of invasive P. australis across two decades. We generated random forest classifications of representative images to map the distribution of P. australis , then calculated a variety of metrics describing the rate and spatial extent of th...