An Assessment and Management Protocol for Arundo donax in the Salinas Valley Watershed

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An Assessment and Management Protocol for Arundo
donax in the Salinas Valley Watershed

• by Alana J. Oakins
• May 2001

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What is Arundo?
culm
rhizomes

• invasive non-native species
• introduced in the 1800s
• rated 1 of 5 top species of concern by CALEPPC
• many associated environmental problems

roots
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Why Should We Care?

• out-competes native vegetation
• inability to provide habitat and food for native
  species

• negatively affects stream flow and morphology
• water intensive

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What can we do?

• federal, state and local weed laws (e.g.
  Clintons Executive Order and SB1740 AB1168)
• economic and ethical implications to different
  stakeholders like landowners, agricultural
  community, and nurseries
• research (e.g. mapping studies)

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Study Objectives

• to assess the feasibility of mapping Arundo using
  remote sensing
• to offer a policy recommendation for Monterey
  County

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Assessing Arundo using Remote Sensing

• Why map Arundo?
• -its the first step
• -locating made easier
• -assess quantity
• -assess invasiveness
• -gives future direction
• Therefore
• Can Arundo be differentiated from similar
  vegetation?

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Study Site

• near Gonzales, CA

Levee Road
River-Gonzales Road
Salinas River
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Methods

• Acquired imageryColor-IR
• Groundtruthed the image
• Created training classes
• Trained computer in TnTmips (MicroImages, 1999)
• Supervised classification

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Results
-Arundo is significantly different than similar
vegetation
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• Mapped Arundo with an accuracy of 95

Salinas River
Legend Green-Arundo Red-Willow Pink-Cottonwood Pur
ple-Oak Yellow-Grasses and Shrubs White-Bare
Ground Dark Blue-Water (deep) Light Blue-Water
(shallow) Black polygons-groundtruth data and
training classes
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Discussion

• use a Color-IR
• nominal pixel size of 2 m
• supervised classification
• red and green light reflectance bands

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A proposed policy

• Arundo be included in the Monterey County Weed
  Management Plan
• funds be allocated for further Arundo research
  (e.g. mapping entire infestation)

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An Effective policy...

• completely understand why Arundo even exists in
  Monterey County
• look to successful management examples as a guide
• public and private collaboration

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Acknowledgements

• Scott Hennessy
• The Watershed Institute
• Dr. Lars Pierce
• Dr. David Takacs
• Lee Johnson
• Bruce Delgado