From Meadow to Map: Integrating Field Surveys and Interactive Visualizations for Invasive Species Management in a National Park

Abstract

Invasive species are an important and growing issue of concern for land managers, and the ability to collect and visualize species coverage data is vital to the management of invasive and native species. This is particularly true of spatial data, which provides invaluable information on location, establishment rates, and spread rates necessary for managing habitats. However, current methods of collection are rarely integrated into a full management tool, making it difficult to quickly collect and visualize multiple years of data for multiple species. We created the Geospatial Meadow Management Tool (GMMT) to provide a complete framework from geospatial data collection to web visualization. We demonstrate the utility of our approach using Valley Forge National Historical Park meadow survey data. The GMMT was created through the ArcGIS suite of software, taking advantage of the modularity of multiple processes, and incorporating an online visualization dashboard that allows for quick and efficient data analysis. Using Valley Forge National Historical Park as a case study, the GMMT provides a wide range of useful species coverage data and visualizations that provide simple yet insightful ways to understand species distribution. This tool highlights the ability of a web-based visualization tool to be modified to incorporate the needs of users, providing powerful visuals for non-GIS experts. Future avenues for this work include highlighted open-data and community engagement, such as citizen science, to address the increasing threat of invasive species both on and off public lands.

Evaluating individual tree species classification performance across diverse environments

“…This investigation addressed how intraspecific variation of tree species across ecosystems affected species classifications from imaging spectroscopy data, which is an important consideration in large-scale vegetation mapping. Implications of accurate vegetation species classifications across large geographic areas include developing baseline species distributions for tracking future range shifts [5][6][7], identifying locations where rare species exist [1], and monitoring invasive species [2][3][4]. Here we demonstrated that despite the high intra-specific variability of M. polymorpha across ecosystems, accurate classifications of this species were possible.…”

“…Spatial information on tree species distributions has many conservation applications including monitoring keystone or endangered species [1], invasive species tracking [2][3][4], and modeling climate change outcomes [5][6][7], among others. Remote sensing data are increasingly being used to circumvent the limitations of traditional field-based forest inventories.…”

Development of a Land Suitability Analysis Model for Slums Relocation: The Case of Cairo, Egypt

“…GIS models for slums development and planning are usually created using ESRI ModelBuilder which is an ArcGIS application to generate, edit, and analyze models (Alzahrani, 2022). Model Builder introduces graphical user interface, which makes it easier to design, visualize, edit, and carry out geoprocessing workflows, as well as to publish and use outputs across various geographic contexts (Randall et al, 2022).…”