AI for Restoration and Invasive Species Control

Tim Boesch, AICP, PMP

Mary Barnwell, MNR CERP ISA Arborist

Florida Planning Conference, Tampa September 2024

Brendan Brown, PWS

Tim Boesch, AICP, PMP

Associate, Senior Project Manager

Moderator

planning, and preliminary engineering

Mary Barnwell, MNR

CERP ISA

Arborist

Environmental Lands Management Coordinator, Hillsborough County

▬ AS Biology, BS Marine Science, MS

Natural Resources

▬ Holds 19 Licenses / Certificates

▬ Environmental and Land Management in Hillsborough and Pinellas County

▬ 30 years of experience

Brendan Brown, PWS

Principal, Environmental Scientist, CDM Smith

▬ BS Forestry, MS Biology

▬ Professional Wetland Scientist (PWS) ▬ FAA Certified Drone Pilot ▬ Natural Resources Assessment ▬ Wetlands Delineation ▬ Habitat Restoration ▬ Threatened and Endangered Species ▬ NEPA, HUD, USACE ▬ Work throughout Florida and VA, NC, SC, GA, MS, AR, IA, TX

listen. think. deliver.

AI for Restoration and Invasive Species Control (Part 1 – Hillsborough

County)

This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY

Rhodine Scrub

Bell Creek Triple Creek Ranch

Fish Hawk Creek Fish Hawk Creek

Fish Hawk Creek

Source: Esri,

Hillsborough County Conservation & Environmental Lands

• There are 82,339 acres of Environmental & Conservation Lands in Hillsborough County

Wildland Urban Interface

Management Challenges

• Prescribed burns to stimulate native ecosystems and reduce wildfire risks.

• Invasive species control (plant and animal)

• Habitat rehabilitation & restoration

• Species Management

• Coordinate preservation, public access, education, and volunteer activities.

• Development Review for land adjacent to preserves

Fire is Natural and Unavoidable in the Florida Landscape

Lush & Rapid Growth of Vegetation,

Highly flamable plants

Frequent Lightning

Prescribed Fire Statistics

From 01/2013 to 08/28/2024

Fire in Florida

- 08/28/2024

1,024,013 Authorized Fires

Totaling 27,330,198 acres

Average Year in Florida

120,000 authorizations over 2 million acres

Why is Fire Important - Biodiversity

Burrowing Owls & Smutgrass

Sandhill Cranes and Open Marshes

Hillsborough County Conservation & Environmental Lands

• Fire management –prescribed burns to prevent wildfire and manage ecological resources is integral

• Approximately 60,170 acres are managed with prescribed fire or are subject to wildfires

• Infestations of exotic invasive grasses prevalent

Defining Fire Management Goals

From Prescribed Burned Policy (2015) and Draft Wildland Fire SOP

• Ecological benefit – burns to maintain/improve intact natural communities or imperiled species’ habitats are nearly always prioritized over significantly altered sites

• Likelihood of achieving the intended outcomes – likelihood of meeting the land management objective with fire within the prescribed parameters

• Public safety – burns that significantly reduce fire-related risk to life and property – heavy fuel loading, invasive species

• Window of opportunity – weather and seasonal constraints required for safety and meeting objectives

• Obligation – agreements that require ELM to conduct a burn by a specific date – restoration project, cattle lease, timber management zone/carbon sequencing, mitigation – gopher tortoise habitat or imperiled plant recovery

Hillsborough County Burn Acreage

Ecological Burning

• ELAPP Annual Goal by 2029 = 9,142 acres

• Current Annual Goal = 3,700 acres

• ELAPP Mean per Year (2014-2023) = 4,782 acres

Florida Forestry Service –Wildfire Fuel Mitigation Services

• Focus on heavy rough & mechanical reduction

• Threat to homes & infrastructure

• Several cooperative projects completed in Hillsborough County

Florida Forestry Firewise USA Recommendations

• Defensible space 30-200 feet from home

• Most recommendations pertain to vegetation – ladder fuels, continuity, flammability, species, mulches

• Species recommendations – for planting/for removal

• https://www.fdacs.gov/ForestWildfire/For-Communities/FirewiseUSA/Create-Defensible-SpaceAround-Homes

Hillsborough County Compatibility Plan

• Development Services may require an applicant to develop and submit a compatibility plan for preservation land owned by public or private non-profit conservation organization.

• Must be approved by the managing entity

• On-site preservation requires buffers be maintained and also requires the applicant to prepare & submit a management plan.

• Requires designated manager, or entity responsible for management

What Compatibility Plan Does

• Informs purchasers or tenants of resource management practices: ecological burning, pesticide usage, exotic plant and animal removal, usage of heavy equipment and machinery

• Other management practices in the resource management plan, and amendments.

• Preserves are protected by Ordinance 08-17. This includes the prohibition against the disposal of yard waste and introduction of certain animals and plants. Restrictions upon certain types of animals/pets that the public may bring into the Preserve.

• Land uses that may be prohibited include ATV use, horseback riding, paintball, digging, hunting, unauthorized structures. Also campfires.

• There is a Prohibited Plant List – Invasive species – essentially the FISC (Florida Invasive Species Council) list (in existence at the time of signing)

Compatibility PlanProhibited Plants

• Over 60 invasive plants on list

• Includes flammable species such as cogongrass, napier grass, Australian pine, Melaleuca, yew podocarpus.

Invasive Grasses Thrive on Altered Lands

Row crops

Cattle Grazing on leased lands Present Day. Little Manatee River

Exotic Invasive Vegetation

the presence of flammable invaders, including cogongrass, increased fire occurrence by between 27 and 230 percent (Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences, University of Colorado, Boulder)

Exotic Grasses – High Fuel Loading

Exotic Grasses – Lower Fuel Loading

• Bahia grass • Smutgrass

Rx for Exotic Invasive Grasses include Chemical Herbicides

• Public Resistance & Concerns About Environmental & Human Health Effects

• High Cost

• Resistance & No New Development

• Non-Target Damage

• Drift – Crops, Bees, Fish Farms

Camp Bayou Cogongrass

RX Fire Prescriptions, Chemical Treatments, and Wildfire Risk Mitigation: Require DATA.

• Species ID

• Where and how much

• Patterns & Interactions

• Landscape Context

• Response to applied treatments (fire & herbicides)

• Response to natural events (flooding)

• Expanding or contracting

• Outlier individuals

NEXT –Drones & AI

AI for Restoration and Invasive Species Control (Part 2)

Brendan Brown, PWS

What happens NEXT is happening NOW.

Field work is an invaluable, but limiting factor.

Explicit results, but a fraction of the site.

Satellite/plane data is widely available but low spatial or temporal resolution.

We are finally seeing the promise of machine learning being delivered, but environmental applications are lagging.

Full site, detailed results to drive data to decisions.

An expert-centered digital pipeline empowers better decisions.

▬ Surveyors

▬ Engineers

▬ Geologists

▬ Scientists

▬ FAA-certified drone pilots

▬ Remote sensing

▬ Machine learning

Remote Sensing is more powerful than ever.

▬ Common collection platforms

– Satellite, plane, UAVs/drones

▬ Common sensors

– Camera, thermal, lidar multispectral, hyperspectral

▬ Common products

– Imagery, elevation

▬ Choosing the right tools

– Site size, project needs

Modern-day computer processing power has opened the door to widespread use of AI.

Machine learning models are used to predict values or variables of interest based on input data.

Model Variables

Target Variable

Machine learning models are used to predict values or variables of interest based on input data.

Model Variables

Target Variable

Training Data

Validation Data

Training data is then used to train the machine learning model.

MACHINE LEARNING MODEL DATA INPUTS

GROUND TRUTHING

Model predictions are then compared to data of known values to determine model accuracy.

DATA INPUTS

MACHINE

LEARNING MODEL

MODEL

PREDICTIONS

MEASURED AGAINST

GROUND TRUTHING

Land Management: Invasive and native species identification

How do we identify invasive species and assess the effectiveness of treatments to remove them?

Traditional approach for invasive species mapping is labor-intensive.

CDM Smith developed patent-pending data collection methods to increase efficiency and improve model accuracy.

CDM Smith created high-resolution 10-band orthophotographs.

Resolution 3-in per pixel

Image

False Color Composite Aerial with Near-infrared

Cogongrass stands out based on its near infrared signature.

Machine learning can use spectral patterns to identify species.

Average of Species

Individual Species Plot

Blue-1 Blue-2 Green-1 Green-2 Red-1 Red-2 Rededge-1 Rededge-2 Rededge-3 Near Infrared

Cogongrass

Broomsedge

10-band

Multispectral Drone Data

Even if spectral patterns are similar, machine learning can separate species.

Average of Species

Individual Species Plot

Multispectral Drone Data

Blue-1 Blue-2 Green-1 Green-2 Red-1 Red-2 Rededge-1 Rededge-2 Rededge-3 Near Infrared

Cogongrass

Bahiagrass

10-band

CDM Smith developed a high accuracy map of native and exotic species using machine learning.

Overallmachine learning model accuracy: > 80%

Pixel size = 3 inches

Exotic/Fire Species

Native/Fire Species

Machine learning model results can be used to pinpoint locations of exotic and native fire

species.

There are multiple advantages of using these technologies.

Save time/shorten schedule

Reduce field labor

Increase human safety

There are multiple advantages of using these technologies.

Save time/shorten schedule

Reduce field labor

Increase human safety

Higher quality data

Digital record

Data consistency

Data repeatability

Track change over time

100% site coverage

There are multiple advantages of using these technologies.

Save time/shorten schedule

Reduce field labor

Increase human safety

Higher quality data

Digital record

Data consistency

Data repeatability

Track change over time

100% site coverage

These technologies can improve the efficiency, scale, and accuracy of environmental evaluations conducted on public lands:

▬ Threatened and endangered species habitat

▬ Native plant communities

▬ Biodiversity

▬ Biomass/carbon sequestration

▬ Invasive and exotic species

▬ Wildland fire activities

▬ Resilience

▬ Track affects of climate change

The right questions can help determine the scale, sensors, models, and outputs to optimize data collection and analysis.

▬ What do I want to identify or know about my land?

▬ How big of an area of interest is there?

▬ Why do I want to know this (regulatory, restoration, risk mitigation)?

▬ How might I use this information?

▬ How frequently do I need to assess change or the target of interest?

▬ What baseline data do I have?

▬ What is the size of the problem?

▬ How common is the target of interest on the landscape?

▬ Are there site constraints or access issues?

What happens NEXT is happening NOW. Let’s shape your NOW together.