Spectral identification of native and non-native plant species for biodiversity assessments

Abstract

Invasive species are one of the main drivers of biodiversity loss. In the past decade, the development of environmental spectroscopy, both field spectrometers and airborne imaging spectrometers, has allowed progress in identifying individual species from remote sensing data. However, use of environmental spectroscopy for species identification needs understanding at a more fundamental level, especially the development of generalized methodologies and rules for detection and mapping, which is an area of active research today. These issues will be explored using examples from a wide range of habitats and site conditions, towards the development of a robust methodology to identify native and non-native species.