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Evaluating a Rapid Aerial Survey for Floating-Leaved Aquatic Vegetation

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Abstract

Aerial surveys are a valuable tool for monitoring wildlife and their habitats throughout North America, but manned aerial surveys for monitoring aquatic vegetation communities have seldom been evaluated rigorously. We used a fixed-wing aircraft and modified double observer method to survey an invasive aquatic macrophyte, water hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes), and other floating-leaved aquatic vegetation along Illinois River to evaluate detection probability and error associated with size, extent, and species identification during aerial surveys. Generally, error rates for species identification (range = −3.7% − 1.0% mean error) and extent (\( \overset{-}{\boldsymbol{x}} \) = 2.2 ± 2.2% error) were low, but aerial estimates of bed size (\( \overset{-}{\boldsymbol{x}} \) = −0.65 ± 0.17 ha mean error) were less accurate. Aerial surveys were rapid (< 6 h/survey) and achieved reasonable estimates of species identification, species composition of beds, and bed size when beds were >0.04 ha. However, size estimates were much less accurate when beds were <0.04 ha. If precise spatial data are required, especially for small beds of aquatic vegetation, remote sensing technology and ground-surveillance may be better options than high-speed aerial surveys. However, census-style aerial surveys provide a cost-efficient and rapid technique for estimating coverage of large (>0.04 ha) beds and tracking occurrence of individual species of floating-leaved aquatic vegetation.

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Acknowledgements

This research was funded by the Illinois Department of Natural Resources through the Great Lakes Restoration Act, the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, the Illinois Natural History Survey, and Western Illinois University. Aviation services were provided by M. Cruce of Cruce Aviation. We thank S. Jenkins, J. Lamer, and J. Pendleton for formatting and revisions of early drafts, and thank field assistants G. Fretueg, M. Larruer, and D. McClain.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Illinois Natural History Survey, Forbes Biological Station, 20003 N County Road 1770E, Havana, IL, 62644, USA

    Jay A. VonBank, Aaron P. Yetter & Heath M. Hagy

  2. Texas A&M University – Kingsville, 700 University Blvd, Kingsville, TX, 78363, USA

    Jay A. VonBank

  3. Illinois Natural History Survey, Illinois River Biological Station, 704 North Schrader Avenue, Havana, IL, 62644, USA

    Andrew F. Casper

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  1. Jay A. VonBank
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Correspondence to Jay A. VonBank.

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VonBank, J.A., Casper, A.F., Yetter, A.P. et al. Evaluating a Rapid Aerial Survey for Floating-Leaved Aquatic Vegetation. Wetlands 37, 753–762 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13157-017-0910-8

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