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Mapping Giant Reed (Arundo donax) Infestations along the Texas–Mexico Portion of the Rio Grande with Aerial Photography

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Chenghai Yang ,
James H. Everitt  and
John A. Goolsby
Chenghai Yang*
Affiliation:
USDA-ARS, Kika de la Garza Subtropical Agricultural Research Center, 2413 E. Highway 83, Weslaco, TX 78596
James H. Everitt
Affiliation:
USDA-ARS, Kika de la Garza Subtropical Agricultural Research Center, 2413 E. Highway 83, Weslaco, TX 78596
John A. Goolsby
Affiliation:
USDA-ARS, Kika de la Garza Subtropical Agricultural Research Center, 2413 E. Highway 83, Weslaco, TX 78596
*
Corresponding author's E-mail: chenghai.yang@ars.usda.gov
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Abstract

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Giant reed is an invasive weed throughout the southern half of the United States, with the densest stands growing along the coastal rivers of southern California and the Rio Grande in Texas. The objective of this study was to use aerial photography to map giant reed infestations and to estimate infested areas along the Texas–Mexico portion of the Rio Grande. Aerial color-infrared photographs were taken along the Rio Grande between Brownsville and El Paso, TX, in June and July 2002. Based on the aerial photographs and ground surveys, the portion of the river from San Ygnacio to Lajitas, which has a river length of 898 km (558 mi), was found to be infested with giant reed. To estimate infested areas along both sides of the river, 65 (13.5%) of the 480 aerial photographs taken between Lajitas and San Ygnacio were randomly selected. The aerial photographs were digitized, rectified to Google Earth imagery, and then classified using maximum-likelihood classification techniques. The infested areas on both sides of the river, as well as water area and river length, from each photographic image were determined. Based on the estimates from the 65 aerial photos, the ratio of giant reed area to water area and the ratio of giant reed area to river length were calculated. The total giant reed area along the Rio Grande between Lajitas and San Ygnacio was estimated to be 5,981 ha (14,779 ac) with 3,714 ha or 62% on the U.S. side and 2,267 ha or 38% on the Mexican side. This study provides the first accurate estimates of giant reed infestations along the Texas–Mexico portion of the Rio Grande and will be useful for both land owners and government agencies for the estimation of water usage and economic loss and for the management and control of giant reed.

Keywords

Giant reedArundo donax L.Invasive weedarea estimationimage classificationmaximum likelihood classifier
Type
Research Article
Information
Invasive Plant Science and Management , Volume 4 , Issue 4 , December 2011 , pp. 402 - 410
Creative Commons
Creative Common License - CCCreative Common License - BY
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright
Copyright © Weed Science Society of America

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