Mapping Invasive Iceplant Extent in Southern Coastal California Using High-Resolution Aerial Imagery - Code Repository
Carmen Galaz García1, Julien Brun2, and Benjamin S. Halpern 1,3
1: National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis, University of California Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA 93101
2: Research Data Services, Library, University of California Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA 93106
3: Bren School of Environmental Science and Management, University of California Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA 93106
Invasive species, Iceplant, Carpobrotus Edulis, Remote sensing, NAIP, Random forest, Machine learning, Texture, Microsoft Planetary Computer
This repository contains the code associated to the paper "Mapping Invasive Iceplant Extent in Southern Coastal California Using High-Resolution Aerial Imagery".
Invasive species threaten natural ecosystems globally, displacing native species and causing biodiversity loss. In coastal areas with Mediterranean climate, iceplant (Carpobrotus edulis) has become highly invasive, forming large monospecific zones that compete for resources with native plant species, including threatened or endangered species. Despite the widespread impact of iceplant across coastal areas with a Mediterranean climate, there is no precise information on where it is and how much it has spread. This study focuses on mapping and quantifying iceplant extent along the Santa Barbara County coast in California, USA, by leveraging machine learning methods to identify iceplant in images from the 2020 National Agriculture Imagery Program (NAIP) archive at 0.6 m/pixel resolution. The result is a high-accuracy map showing iceplant locations in 2020 and statistics about the fraction of the landscape covered by this invasive species. Additionally, this study's use of open data and reproducible data analysis and validation workflow opens the door for the methods presented to be adapted and applied across California and all other Mediterranean climatic regions, plus over time to comprehend the spread and mitigation of iceplant invasions.
The final map depicting iceplant (Carpobrotus edulis) locations in Santa Barbara County coast on 2020 can be found here:
Carmen Galaz García, Julien Brun, & Benjamin Halpern. (2023). Iceplant (Carpobrotus edulis) locations in Santa Barbara County coast (2020). Knowledge Network for Biocomplexity. https://knb.ecoinformatics.org/view/urn%3Auuid%3A4bd049c8-d5bd-4214-80d8-b2938c0d46af
This work was supported by a gift from Microsoft (funding code 8-448755-17211-EC417).