Research Accomplishment Reports 2009

Assessing the Invasion Pattern of Exotic Plants in Forest Ecosystems in Kentucky

S. Fei
Department of Forestry

 

Non-Technical Summary

Our ability to effectively prevent and/or mitigate the invasion of exotic species is hindered by the limited knowledge of understanding and predicting the spatial invasion patterns of exotic species. This project will a)quantify the spatial distribution and abundance of invasive exotic plant species in forest ecosystems in Kentucky as a function of landscape structure, disturbance, and other influential factors; and b) develop predictive models to detect, monitor, prevent, and mitigate the invasion of exotic plant species in forest ecosystems in Kentucky.

2009 Project Description

Activities: 1. Field data on over 200 plots have been collected and analyzed for Jefferson Memorial Forest. 2. Comparison of mapping invasive species using high-resolution and medium-resolution images was conducted. 3. Field sample of hyper-spectral images on invasive and native species were conducted. 4. Conducted a state-wide weedy invasive survey based on two sources of data, Kentucky Weed Identification Form and Herbaria records. 5. Two manuscripts were prepared.

Events: Introduced the invasive species concepts and management options to students during the UK Forestry Summer Camp in Robinson Forest. These include conferences, demonstration sites, field days, symposia, workshops, and trainings.

Products: 1. An invasive species database for Jefferson Memorial Forest. 2. A weedy invasive species database for Kentucky. 3. a new method to map understory invasive species using high resolution aerial photos with a feature based remote sensing program.

Dissemination: The proceedings of the 2008 Kentucky Invasive Species Conference were distributed to over 150 natural resource managers, landscaping and nursery industries, researchers and general public.

2009 Impact

1. The summer camp program raised the awareness of college students (15 students total) about the impact of invasive species and the available management options.

2. The dissemination of conference proceedings raised the awareness of invasive species and their management for audiences within and beyond Kentucky. Our proceedings and related documents have been visited 1,713 times during 2009.

3. Our new method of mapping understory invasive species can assist mapping the precise spatial distribution of invasive species.

2009 Publications

Fei, S., W. Thomas, and J. Stringer. 2009. Empowering Forestry with Geospatial Technology. Journal of Forestry 107: 84-89.

Fei, S., N. Kong, J. Clark, and M. Shouse. 2009. Mapping and Modelling Species Distribution to Combat Invasive Exotic Plant Species. Book chapter in ISOME-V (J. Wu and F. Li eds.). (accepted).

Shouse M. and S. Fei. 2008. Object-Oriented Image Analysis: A Tool for Invasive Plant Mapping. In Fei and Lhotka eds. Proceedings of the 2008 Invasive Species Conference. 203-207.

Rieske-Kinney, L. J. Harwood, J. Obrycki, S. Fei, and F. Yang. 2008. Evaluating the threat of the invasive hemlock woolly adelgid: From satellites to cells. Invasive Species Conference. In Fei and Lhotka eds. Proceedings of the 2008 Invasive Species Conference. 221-228.

Fei, S. and N. Kong. 2009. Invasive Species Distribution in the Southeastern U.S. The 23rd annual Meeting of the Society for Conservation Biology. July 11-17, 2009. Beijing, China.

Shouse, M. and S. Fei. 2009. Mapping Invasive Plants Using Feature Extraction. 54th Association of American Geographers 2009 Annual Meeting. 22-27 March 2009. Las Vegas, NV.

Clark, J.T., S. Fei, N. Kong, L.K. Rieske-Kinney, and J. Obrycki. 2009. Mapping eastern hemlock and modeling hemlock woolly adelgid invasion in eastern Kentucky. 54th Association of American Geographers 2009 Annual Meeting. 22-27 March 2009, Las Vegas, NV.