Cooperative Agreement G25AC00127

PROJECT PERIOD: 5 16 2025-5 15 2027PROJECT TITLE: USING SUAS TO MONITOR AND SURVEY REGENERATION AND RECRUITMENT IN AREAS OF FOREST CANOPY LOSSAWARD PURPOSE: THOUSANDS OF HECTARES OF FLOODPLAIN FOREST CANOPY HAVE BEEN LOST IN THE UPPER MISSISSIPPI RIVER SYSTEM (UMRS) FOLLOWING PROLONGED FLOODING IN 2018-2019. QUESTIONS REMAIN AS TO WHETHER THIS LOSS IS TEMPORARY OR PERMANENT, WHY SOME AREAS MAY BE RESILIENT WHILE OTHERS ARE NOT, HOW THE FOREST IS REGENERATING, AND WHAT THIS CAN TELL US ABOUT WHERE THESE LANDSCAPES ARE HEADED. WE KNOW FLOODPLAIN FORESTS IN THE UMRS ARE IMPACTED BY INVASIVE SPECIES, CHANGES IN INUNDATION PATTERNS AND A CHANGING CLIMATE, AND THAT REGENERATION PATTERNS AND REGENERATION SUCCESS VARY ACROSS THE SYSTEM. FORESTS COMMONLY REGENERATE AFTER DISTURBANCES AND UMRS FORESTS THAT RECENTLY EXPERIENCED HEAVY MORTALITY MAY JUST BE STARTING OVER, BUT ARE THEY? THERE IS A TIME-SENSITIVE NATURAL EXPERIMENT UNDERWAY, THE OUTCOME OF WHICH WILL DICTATE THE SUCCESSIONAL PATHWAYS OF VAST AREAS OF THE UMRS FLOODPLAIN LANDSCAPE FOR GENERATIONS. RESULTS FROM THIS PROJECT WILL PROVIDE CRITICAL INFORMATION ABOUT THE PATHWAYS THESE AREAS ARE FOLLOWING, WHERE THEY MAY LEAD, AND WHAT FACTORS MAY INFLUENCE THEIR DIRECTION. TO ADDRESS THE NEED TO CAPTURE THESE EPHEMERAL CONDITIONS OVER LARGE AREAS AT A HIGH RESOLUTION QUICKLY, PLAN TO DEPLOY SMALL UNCREWED AERIAL SYSTEMS (SUAS) AND FIELD CREWS CONCURRENTLY TO ADDRESS THREE QUESTIONS CRITICAL TO UMRS PARTNERS, SCIENTISTS, AND LANDSCAPE MANAGERS: 1) ARE UMRS FLOODPLAIN FORESTS THAT RECENTLY EXPERIENCED HEAVY CANOPY MORTALITY REGENERATING? 2) WHAT SUCCESSIONAL PATHWAYS ARE REGENERATING FORESTS FOLLOWING? AND 3) CAN SUAS SUPPLEMENT OR SUPPLANT ON-THE-GROUND VEGETATION DATA COLLECTION? ACTIVITIES TO BE PERFORMED: PLAN TO DEPLOY SMALL UNCREWED AERIAL SYSTEMS (SUAS) TO COLLECT VEGETATION DATA. THESE PLATFORMS CAN SAFELY AND QUICKLY ASSESS LARGE AREAS WITH HIGH-RESOLUTION SENSORS. CONCURRENT WITH SUAS SURVEYS, GROUND SURVEY DATA WILL ALSO BE COLLECTED. ONCE BOTH FIELD AND SUAS DATA HAVE BEEN COLLECTED AND PROCESSED, IT WILL BE ANALYZED TO DETERMINE GENERAL VEGETATION COMPOSITION AND STRUCTURE, THE EXTENT TO WHICH NATURAL REGENERATION IS PRESENT, AND THE DEGREE OF SIMILARITY BETWEEN GROUND AND SUAS DATA. DELIVERABLES AND EXPECTED OUTCOMES: RESULTS WILL PROVIDE RESEARCHERS ACROSS THE UMRS WITH INFORMATION ON WHETHER SUAS CAN BE USED TO IMPROVE, SUPPLEMENT, OR SUPPLANT THEIR EXISTING DATA STREAMS, AND ASSIST IN UNDERSTANDING THE PROGRESSION OF THIS FLOODPLAIN FOREST MASS MORTALITY EVENT. SPECIFIC DELIVERABLES INCLUDE IMAGERY AND PLOT DATA WITH A FINAL REPOSITORY IN SCIENCEBASE, A PEER-REVIEWED MANUSCRIPT DEVELOPED FOR PUBLICATION IN A SCIENTIFIC JOURNAL, AND RESULTS PRESENTED AT REGIONAL AND OR NATIONAL-LEVEL CONFERENCES OR MEETINGS. INTENDED BENEFICIARIES: KNOWLEDGE GAINED FROM THIS STUDY WILL BENEFIT NATURAL RESOURCE MANAGERS IN THE UMRS ACROSS A SPECTRUM OF FEDERAL AND STATE AGENCIES AND NON-GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS. FOR EXAMPLE, RESULTS WILL DIRECTLY INFORM PLANNING AND IMPLEMENTATION EFFORTS ASSOCIATED WITH THE FEDERAL UPPER MISSISSIPPI RIVER RESTORATION PROGRAM. RESTORING HEALTHY RIVERS IN TURN BENEFITS RIVER COMMUNITIES, OTHER STAKEHOLDERS, AND MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC WHO USE THESE AREAS FOR HUNTING, FISHING, AND OTHER FORMS OF OUTDOOR RECREATION. SUBRECIPIENT ACTIVITIES: N A