Investigating the applicability of UAVs in characterizing desert shrub biomass and developing biological indicators for the selection of suitable revegetation sites
“…Previous studies have illustrated that most vegetation cover detected in Kuwait deserts consists of annual plants that appear only after high rainfall seasons, providing considerable variation in plant coverage from one year to another [ 31 ]. However, perennial plants are limited, as they are presented in protected and uncontaminated fenced sites where anthropogenic activities are not present [ 32 ]. The succession process of vegetation survival and regrowth over contaminated soils also depends on the type of soil, with different soil types supporting particular plant species.…”
This study assesses the impact of total petroleum hydrocarbon (TPH) concentration and soil parameters (heavy metals, chemical properties, and water-soluble boron) on the succession process of vegetation survival in the Al-Burgan oil field in Kuwait. A total of 145 soil samples were randomly collected from the three main types of hydrocarbon contamination, including dry oil lake (DOL), wet oil lake (WOL), and tarcrete. Sampling was also extended to noncontaminated bare soils that were considered reference sites. Remote-sensing data from Sentinel-2 were also processed to assess the level of contamination in relation to soil surface cover. The results showed that TPH concentration was significantly higher in WOL and DOL (87,961.4 and 35,740.6 mg/kg, respectively) compared with that in tarcrete (24,063.3 mg/kg), leading to a significant increase in soil minerals and heavy metals, greater than 50 mg/kg for Ba, and 10 mg/kg for V, Zn, Ni, and Cr. Such high concentrations of heavy metals massively affected the native vegetation’s resiliency at these sites (<5% vegetation cover). However, vegetation cover was significantly higher (60%) at tarcrete-contaminated sites, as TPH concentration was lower, almost similar to that in uncontaminated areas, especially at subsurface soil layers. The presence of vegetation at tarcrete locations was also associated with the lower concentration of Ba, V, Zn, Ni, and Cr. The growth of native vegetation was more likely related to the low concentration of TPH contamination at the subsurface layer of the soils in tarcrete sites, making them more suitable sites for restoration and revegetation planning. We concluded that further investigations are required to provide greater insight into the native plants’ phytoextraction potential and phytoremediation.
“…Previous studies have illustrated that most vegetation cover detected in Kuwait deserts consists of annual plants that appear only after high rainfall seasons, providing considerable variation in plant coverage from one year to another [ 31 ]. However, perennial plants are limited, as they are presented in protected and uncontaminated fenced sites where anthropogenic activities are not present [ 32 ]. The succession process of vegetation survival and regrowth over contaminated soils also depends on the type of soil, with different soil types supporting particular plant species.…”
This study assesses the impact of total petroleum hydrocarbon (TPH) concentration and soil parameters (heavy metals, chemical properties, and water-soluble boron) on the succession process of vegetation survival in the Al-Burgan oil field in Kuwait. A total of 145 soil samples were randomly collected from the three main types of hydrocarbon contamination, including dry oil lake (DOL), wet oil lake (WOL), and tarcrete. Sampling was also extended to noncontaminated bare soils that were considered reference sites. Remote-sensing data from Sentinel-2 were also processed to assess the level of contamination in relation to soil surface cover. The results showed that TPH concentration was significantly higher in WOL and DOL (87,961.4 and 35,740.6 mg/kg, respectively) compared with that in tarcrete (24,063.3 mg/kg), leading to a significant increase in soil minerals and heavy metals, greater than 50 mg/kg for Ba, and 10 mg/kg for V, Zn, Ni, and Cr. Such high concentrations of heavy metals massively affected the native vegetation’s resiliency at these sites (<5% vegetation cover). However, vegetation cover was significantly higher (60%) at tarcrete-contaminated sites, as TPH concentration was lower, almost similar to that in uncontaminated areas, especially at subsurface soil layers. The presence of vegetation at tarcrete locations was also associated with the lower concentration of Ba, V, Zn, Ni, and Cr. The growth of native vegetation was more likely related to the low concentration of TPH contamination at the subsurface layer of the soils in tarcrete sites, making them more suitable sites for restoration and revegetation planning. We concluded that further investigations are required to provide greater insight into the native plants’ phytoextraction potential and phytoremediation.
“…The unit of each pixel was 30m*30m. The shnet is a GIS technology used to create rectangular grids that mosaic the study area into uniform units (Xu et al, 2017;Abdullah et al, 2021). In this study, we used the spatial analysis tools in ArcMap software (10.8.2) to develop a grid map for the core zone, buffer zone, experimental zone and non-reserve (Fig.…”
Biodiversity loss is a critical challenge globally, and protected areas (PAs) has been established as an important policy tool for conservation. However, doubts exist regarding their effectiveness, and their policy effects and spatial spillover effects on surrounding areas are poorly understood. To address this, this study evaluated the effectiveness of Heilongjiang Nanwenghe National Nature Reserve (HNNNR) in China by using a combination of the InVEST model and the improved SDID model. The study covers a time span of approximately 31 years (1990–2020) and is divided into two periods (1990–1999 and 1999–2020), which allows for the assessment of the effects of nature reserves in the region. Our results showed that: (1) The establishment of HNNNR has improved the habitat quality in the reserve and Non-reserve area, with a greater impact on habitat quality in non-reserve areas than in the reserve; (2) The core zone within HNNNR showed the most significant improvement in habitat quality, while the buffer zone showed the least improvement; (3) The improvement of habitat quality in non-reserve area was mainly contributed by the policy spatial spillover effects, where the buffer zone has the strongest spillover benefits to the non-reserve, but the core zone has the weakest spillover effects to the non-reserve. Our results show the beneficial impact of a nature reserve for improving habitat quality in and around the reserve. This study provides a quantitative paradigm for assessing the conservation effectiveness of PAs across temporal and spatial scales.
“…Next, coverage (%) of 76 shrubs were selected randomly and used to estimate the AGB was estimated according to the following equation: where AGB: Above Ground Biomass (g/m2) and VC: estimated vegetation coverage (%) Fig. 3 Created grids map using fishnet method considering the size of field quadrate (3m x 1m) [2] . …”
Section: Estimation Of Above Ground Biomass (Agb)mentioning
Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) have started to receive more attention in the ecological field in the past 15 years, as they provide very high-resolution imagery that ranges from meters to millimeters. Very high-resolution multispectral imagery obtained from UAVs can help in assessing and monitoring native desert vegetation. Thus, this study use UAVs to develop a method to estimate the biomass and carbon stock of native desert shrubs. The method integrates different techniques and software to monitor native plants' coverage, biomass, and carbon stock. The techniques used in this work are also applicable for other native desert shrubs in the region and could support ecosystem managers in assessing and monitoring arid ecosystems and restoration and revegetation programs. A three-stage image and data management are discussed, including: (1) fieldwork and image acquisition using UAVs, (2) image pre-processing, and (3) image processing using different techniques and software.
Determining shrub biomass is not restricted to multispectral data only but could be applicable for RGB data since it mainly depends on the DSM and DTM.
Allometric parameters could help in estimating desert shrub biomass which could be measured easily and rapidly using UAV imagery.
SVM Supervised classification could help in distinguishing between native shrubs and grasses.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
