Species Monitoring Using Unmanned Aerial Vehicle to Reveal the Ecological Role of Plateau Pika in Maintaining Vegetation Diversity on the Northeastern Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau
Plateau pika (<i>Ochotona curzoniae</i>, hereafter pika) is considered to exert a profound impact on vegetation species diversity of alpine grasslands. Great efforts have been made at mound or quadrat scales; nevertheless, there is still controversy about the effect of pika. It is vital...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
MDPI AG
2020-08-01
|
| Series: | Remote Sensing |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/12/15/2480 |
| _version_ | 1797560445709582336 |
|---|---|
| author | Yu Qin Yi Sun Wei Zhang Yan Qin Jianjun Chen Zhiwei Wang Zhaoye Zhou |
| author_facet | Yu Qin Yi Sun Wei Zhang Yan Qin Jianjun Chen Zhiwei Wang Zhaoye Zhou |
| author_sort | Yu Qin |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Plateau pika (<i>Ochotona curzoniae</i>, hereafter pika) is considered to exert a profound impact on vegetation species diversity of alpine grasslands. Great efforts have been made at mound or quadrat scales; nevertheless, there is still controversy about the effect of pika. It is vital to monitor vegetation species composition in natural heterogeneous ecosystems at a large scale to accurately evaluate the real role of pika. In this study, we performed field survey at 55 alpine grassland sites across the Shule River Basin using combined methods of aerial photographing using an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) and traditional ground measurement. Based on our UAV operation system, Fragmentation Monitoring and Analysis with aerial Photography (FragMAP), aerial images were acquired. Plot-scale vegetation species were visually identified, and total pika burrow exits were automatically retrieved using the self-developed image processing software. We found that there were significant linear relationships between the vegetation species diversity indexes obtained by these two methods. Additionally, the total number of identified species by the UAV method was 71, which was higher than the Quadrat method recognition, with the quantity of 63. Our results indicate that the UAV was suitable for long-term repeated monitoring vegetation species composition of multiple alpine grasslands at plot scale. With the merits of UAV, it confirmed that pika’s disturbance belonged to the medium level, with the density ranging from 30.17 to 65.53 ha<sup>−1</sup>. Under this density level, pika had a positive effect on vegetation species diversity, particularly for the species richness of sedge and forb. These findings conclude that the UAV was an efficient and economic tool for species monitoring to reveal the role of pika in the alpine grasslands. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T18:00:37Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-08a1a61bc9884e06865b3e34462dd6c9 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2072-4292 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T18:00:37Z |
| publishDate | 2020-08-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Remote Sensing |
| spelling | doaj.art-08a1a61bc9884e06865b3e34462dd6c92023-11-20T08:52:51ZengMDPI AGRemote Sensing2072-42922020-08-011215248010.3390/rs12152480Species Monitoring Using Unmanned Aerial Vehicle to Reveal the Ecological Role of Plateau Pika in Maintaining Vegetation Diversity on the Northeastern Qinghai-Tibetan PlateauYu Qin0Yi Sun1Wei Zhang2Yan Qin3Jianjun Chen4Zhiwei Wang5Zhaoye Zhou6State Key Laboratory of Cryospheric Sciences, Northwest Institute of Eco-Environment and Resources, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 320 Donggang West Road, Lanzhou 730000, ChinaInstitute of Fragile Ecosystem and Environment, School of Geographic Sciences, Nantong University, 999 Tongjing Road, Nantong 226007, ChinaState Key Laboratory of Cryospheric Sciences, Northwest Institute of Eco-Environment and Resources, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 320 Donggang West Road, Lanzhou 730000, ChinaState Key Laboratory of Cryospheric Sciences, Northwest Institute of Eco-Environment and Resources, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 320 Donggang West Road, Lanzhou 730000, ChinaCollege of Geomatics and Geoinformation, Guilin University of Technology, 12 Jiangan Road, Guilin 541004, ChinaState Key Laboratory of Cryospheric Sciences, Northwest Institute of Eco-Environment and Resources, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 320 Donggang West Road, Lanzhou 730000, ChinaSchool of Civil Engineering, Lanzhou University of Technology, Lanzhou 730050, ChinaPlateau pika (<i>Ochotona curzoniae</i>, hereafter pika) is considered to exert a profound impact on vegetation species diversity of alpine grasslands. Great efforts have been made at mound or quadrat scales; nevertheless, there is still controversy about the effect of pika. It is vital to monitor vegetation species composition in natural heterogeneous ecosystems at a large scale to accurately evaluate the real role of pika. In this study, we performed field survey at 55 alpine grassland sites across the Shule River Basin using combined methods of aerial photographing using an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) and traditional ground measurement. Based on our UAV operation system, Fragmentation Monitoring and Analysis with aerial Photography (FragMAP), aerial images were acquired. Plot-scale vegetation species were visually identified, and total pika burrow exits were automatically retrieved using the self-developed image processing software. We found that there were significant linear relationships between the vegetation species diversity indexes obtained by these two methods. Additionally, the total number of identified species by the UAV method was 71, which was higher than the Quadrat method recognition, with the quantity of 63. Our results indicate that the UAV was suitable for long-term repeated monitoring vegetation species composition of multiple alpine grasslands at plot scale. With the merits of UAV, it confirmed that pika’s disturbance belonged to the medium level, with the density ranging from 30.17 to 65.53 ha<sup>−1</sup>. Under this density level, pika had a positive effect on vegetation species diversity, particularly for the species richness of sedge and forb. These findings conclude that the UAV was an efficient and economic tool for species monitoring to reveal the role of pika in the alpine grasslands.https://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/12/15/2480UAVvegetation species compositionpika’s disturbancealpine grasslandsthe Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau |
| spellingShingle | Yu Qin Yi Sun Wei Zhang Yan Qin Jianjun Chen Zhiwei Wang Zhaoye Zhou Species Monitoring Using Unmanned Aerial Vehicle to Reveal the Ecological Role of Plateau Pika in Maintaining Vegetation Diversity on the Northeastern Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau Remote Sensing UAV vegetation species composition pika’s disturbance alpine grasslands the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau |
| title | Species Monitoring Using Unmanned Aerial Vehicle to Reveal the Ecological Role of Plateau Pika in Maintaining Vegetation Diversity on the Northeastern Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau |
| title_full | Species Monitoring Using Unmanned Aerial Vehicle to Reveal the Ecological Role of Plateau Pika in Maintaining Vegetation Diversity on the Northeastern Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau |
| title_fullStr | Species Monitoring Using Unmanned Aerial Vehicle to Reveal the Ecological Role of Plateau Pika in Maintaining Vegetation Diversity on the Northeastern Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau |
| title_full_unstemmed | Species Monitoring Using Unmanned Aerial Vehicle to Reveal the Ecological Role of Plateau Pika in Maintaining Vegetation Diversity on the Northeastern Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau |
| title_short | Species Monitoring Using Unmanned Aerial Vehicle to Reveal the Ecological Role of Plateau Pika in Maintaining Vegetation Diversity on the Northeastern Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau |
| title_sort | species monitoring using unmanned aerial vehicle to reveal the ecological role of plateau pika in maintaining vegetation diversity on the northeastern qinghai tibetan plateau |
| topic | UAV vegetation species composition pika’s disturbance alpine grasslands the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/12/15/2480 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT yuqin speciesmonitoringusingunmannedaerialvehicletorevealtheecologicalroleofplateaupikainmaintainingvegetationdiversityonthenortheasternqinghaitibetanplateau AT yisun speciesmonitoringusingunmannedaerialvehicletorevealtheecologicalroleofplateaupikainmaintainingvegetationdiversityonthenortheasternqinghaitibetanplateau AT weizhang speciesmonitoringusingunmannedaerialvehicletorevealtheecologicalroleofplateaupikainmaintainingvegetationdiversityonthenortheasternqinghaitibetanplateau AT yanqin speciesmonitoringusingunmannedaerialvehicletorevealtheecologicalroleofplateaupikainmaintainingvegetationdiversityonthenortheasternqinghaitibetanplateau AT jianjunchen speciesmonitoringusingunmannedaerialvehicletorevealtheecologicalroleofplateaupikainmaintainingvegetationdiversityonthenortheasternqinghaitibetanplateau AT zhiweiwang speciesmonitoringusingunmannedaerialvehicletorevealtheecologicalroleofplateaupikainmaintainingvegetationdiversityonthenortheasternqinghaitibetanplateau AT zhaoyezhou speciesmonitoringusingunmannedaerialvehicletorevealtheecologicalroleofplateaupikainmaintainingvegetationdiversityonthenortheasternqinghaitibetanplateau |