1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:05,366 - Up next, we have Valorie Marie from Biological Science with, 2 00:00:05,366 --> 00:00:10,032 “Drone Imagery Enables Fine-Scale Detection of Sagebrush Dieback 3 00:00:10,033 --> 00:00:12,699 “During a Summer Heatwave.” 4 00:00:12,700 --> 00:00:16,333 Valorie, take it away. 5 00:00:16,333 --> 00:00:19,233 - Thank you. So, sagebrush species 6 00:00:19,233 --> 00:00:22,333 are an essential part of the western desert ecosystem. 7 00:00:22,333 --> 00:00:26,166 It has many influences on local recreation and employment. 8 00:00:26,166 --> 00:00:29,032 These shrubs help to prevent erosion, capture water, 9 00:00:29,033 --> 00:00:32,166 sustain wild animal populations, and more. 10 00:00:32,166 --> 00:00:35,199 Climate change imposes a large threat to these populations, 11 00:00:35,200 --> 00:00:38,666 as we see a climbing number of wildfires, less precipitation, 12 00:00:38,666 --> 00:00:40,832 and more high-heat summer days. 13 00:00:40,833 --> 00:00:43,766 This project focuses on the latter issue by comparing imagery 14 00:00:43,766 --> 00:00:45,899 taken at Castle Rock State Park 15 00:00:45,900 --> 00:00:48,000 over the summer of 2021, 16 00:00:48,000 --> 00:00:52,566 when an unprecedented heatwave went over that area. 17 00:00:52,566 --> 00:00:56,799 We used drones to gather imagery overhead in June and September. 18 00:00:56,800 --> 00:00:59,600 Then, I used software to stitch these images together 19 00:00:59,600 --> 00:01:02,700 into one large image with high resolution. 20 00:01:02,700 --> 00:01:06,000 You can see that on my slide, in the top two photos. 21 00:01:06,000 --> 00:01:07,866 By outlining individual shrubs, 22 00:01:07,866 --> 00:01:11,299 I was able to extract the green band of the color images 23 00:01:11,300 --> 00:01:14,666 and collect the Green Leaf Index inside that perimeter. 24 00:01:14,666 --> 00:01:17,299 You can see that in my bottom two photos. 25 00:01:17,300 --> 00:01:20,733 Greenness directly corresponds to photosynthetic activity 26 00:01:20,733 --> 00:01:23,033 and the wellbeing of a plant. 27 00:01:23,033 --> 00:01:24,866 The Green Leaf Index gives me a number 28 00:01:24,866 --> 00:01:28,199 for how much green there is between zero and one. 29 00:01:28,200 --> 00:01:30,233 After comparing the two time steppes, 30 00:01:30,233 --> 00:01:33,699 I found that 72% of the shrubs had lost green, 31 00:01:33,700 --> 00:01:36,433 and 28% had gained green. 32 00:01:36,433 --> 00:01:38,199 Of the shrubs that lost their greenness, 33 00:01:38,200 --> 00:01:40,900 there was an average loss of 10.8%, 34 00:01:40,900 --> 00:01:42,666 and of the shrubs that gained their greenness, 35 00:01:42,666 --> 00:01:45,332 there was an average gain of 5%. 36 00:01:45,333 --> 00:01:47,633 This location is one site out of four, 37 00:01:47,633 --> 00:01:51,299 along an elevation gradient with several different shrub species. 38 00:01:51,300 --> 00:01:54,533 The next step is to run this same Green Leaf Index 39 00:01:54,533 --> 00:01:58,433 on all four of the Castle Rock sites from June and September. 40 00:01:58,433 --> 00:02:00,599 This will give us a wider range of data analyses 41 00:02:00,600 --> 00:02:04,000 over that same 2021 heatwave. 42 00:02:04,000 --> 00:02:06,666 These methods allow us to identify resilient shrubs 43 00:02:06,666 --> 00:02:09,499 that have retained their greenness during this heat wave, 44 00:02:09,500 --> 00:02:14,266 and we can target those shrubs to collect seeds for restoration pursuits. 45 00:02:14,266 --> 00:02:16,299 The advantage of drone data is to have a map 46 00:02:16,300 --> 00:02:19,433 that spans hundreds or thousands of individual shrubs, 47 00:02:19,433 --> 00:02:22,533 which is more data than we could collect on the ground. 48 00:02:22,533 --> 00:02:25,233 This research brings vital information to the conversation 49 00:02:25,233 --> 00:02:28,566 of where and how to allocate tight budget funds 50 00:02:28,566 --> 00:02:33,266 on conservation of the sagebrush steppe that so many of us depend on. 51 00:02:33,266 --> 00:02:36,566 It also shows that one hot and dry summer 52 00:02:36,566 --> 00:02:39,332 can have on this slow growing plant. 53 00:02:39,333 --> 00:02:40,466 If you have any questions for me, 54 00:02:40,466 --> 00:02:44,632 my project number is 95 in group B. Thank you. 55 00:02:44,633 --> 00:02:46,399 - Thanks so much, Valorie.