Monitoring native and alien species spread to alpine tundra: botanical research and airborne technology combined to assess conservation risk

Result code in IS VaVaI

<a href="https://www.isvavai.cz/riv?ss=detail&h=RIV%2F67985939%3A_____%2F24%3A00651645" target="_blank" >RIV/67985939:_____/24:00651645 - isvavai.cz</a>

Result on the web

<a href="https://www.eo4plantinvasions.cz/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/drony_IAVS24_final2.pdf" target="_blank" >https://www.eo4plantinvasions.cz/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/drony_IAVS24_final2.pdf</a>

DOI - Digital Object Identifier

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Result language

angličtina

Original language name

Monitoring native and alien species spread to alpine tundra: botanical research and airborne technology combined to assess conservation risk

Original language description

The highly specialized and vulnerable plant communities of the Arctic-Alpine tundra are preserved in the transboundary national parks of the Krkonoše/Karkonosze Mts in the Czech Republic and Poland. In this area, rare and original communities have evolved under different human impacts since the 16th century, and in the last decades, they have faced increasing pressure from global changes. Our research documented an increase in species from 196 to 270 over the previous 40 years. Monitoring the area surrounding roads and hiking trails above the treeline showed that thermophilous, nutrient-demanding, and shade-tolerant species have increased recently. Many increasing species are alien, apophyte or native expansive, spreading from lower altitudes and leeward sites with deeper soil. For our research project, “Monitoring the spread and management of invasive and expansive species using advanced Earth observation methods”, we selected three alien (Rumex alpinus, Lupinus polyphyllus, and Telekia speciosa) and two native (Veratrum lobelianum, Senecio nemorensis agg.) species. All are strong competitors and dominants of new communities and threaten protected species and natural habitats. We aim to design and automate a technology for monitoring their spread and evaluate the effectiveness of different management practices (grazing, mowing, chemical treatment, mulching), to achieve this, we will combine botanical mapping and the UAV imagery classification. The early detection of undesirable species in poorly accessible mountain terrain that hosts many endemics, glacial relics, and rare protected species with a limited capacity for recovery is a crucial factor for effective conservation management.

Czech name

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Czech description

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Type

O - Miscellaneous

CEP classification

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OECD FORD branch

10611 - Plant sciences, botany

Project

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Continuities

I - Institucionalni podpora na dlouhodoby koncepcni rozvoj vyzkumne organizace

Publication year

2024

Confidentiality

S - Úplné a pravdivé údaje o projektu nepodléhají ochraně podle zvláštních právních předpisů