DOI: 10.5061/dryad.631q1
title: Data from: Unmanned aerial systems measure structural habitat features for wildlife across multiple scales

description: 1.Assessing habitat quality is a primary goal of ecologists. However,
 evaluating habitat features that relate strongly to habitat quality at
 fine-scale resolutions across broad-scale extents is challenging. Unmanned
 aerial systems (UAS) provide an avenue for bridging the gap between
 relatively high spatial resolution, low spatial extent field-based habitat
 quality measurements and lower spatial resolution, higher spatial extent
 satellite-based remote sensing. Our goal in this study was to evaluate the
 potential for UAS structure from motion (SfM) to estimate several
 dimensions of habitat quality that provide potential security from
 predators and forage for pygmy rabbits (Brachylagus idahoensis) in a
 sagebrush-steppe environment. 2.At the plant and patch scales, we compared
 UAS-derived estimates of vegetation height, volume (estimate of food
 availability), and canopy cover to estimates from ground-based terrestrial
 laser scanning (TLS), and field-based measurements. Then, we mapped
 habitat features across two sagebrush landscapes in Idaho, USA, using
 point clouds derived from UAS SfM. 3.At the individual plant scale, the
 UAS-derived estimates matched those from TLS for height (r2 = 0.85),
 volume (r2 = 0.94), and canopy cover (r2 = 0.68). However, there was less
 agreement with field-based measurements of height (r2 = 0.67), volume (r2
 = 0.31), and canopy cover (r2 = 0.29). At the patch scale, UAS-derived
 estimates provided a better fit to field-based measurements (r2 =
 0.51-0.78) than at the plant scale. Landscape-scale maps created from UAS
 were able to distinguish structural heterogeneity between key patch types.
 4.Our work demonstrates that UAS was able to accurately estimate habitat
 heterogeneity for a key terrestrial vertebrate at multiple spatial scales.
 Given that many of the vegetation metrics we focus on are important for a
 wide variety of species, our work illustrates a general remote sensing
 approach for mapping and monitoring fine-resolution habitat quality across
 broad landscapes for use in studies of animal ecology, conservation, and
 land management.
description: Landscape-scale maps of
 structural quality derived from UAS SfM at the Camas study site, Idaho,
 USAUnmanned aerial system
 (UAS) structural quality maps derived from structure from motion (SfM)
 photogrammetry at the Camas study site in Idaho, USA. The dense point
 cloud was produced in Agisoft PhotoScan, and then height filtered with the
 BCAL LiDAR Tools to create a canopy height model (5-cm pixel resolution).
 Separate maps of maximum vegetation height, volume, and canopy cover were
 then produced in ArcGIS at 1-m pixel resolution.Camas_landscape_maps.zipLandscape-scale maps of structural quality derived from UAS SfM at the Cedar Gulch study site, Idaho, USAUnmanned aerial system (UAS) structural quality maps derived from structure from motion (SfM) photogrammetry at the Cedar Gulch study site in Idaho, USA. The dense point cloud was produced in Pix4D, and then height filtered with the BCAL LiDAR Tools to create a canopy height model (5-cm pixel resolution). Separate maps of maximum vegetation height, volume, and canopy cover were then produced in ArcGIS at 1-m pixel resolution.Cedar_landscape_maps.zipUAS-TLS plant-scale structural metricsPlant-scale comparison of unmanned aerial system (UAS) structure from motion (SfM) and terrestrial laser scanning (TLS) structural metrics (shrub height, shrub volume, and canopy cover) at two study sites in Idaho, USA.uas_tls_plant.csvUAS-Field plant-scale structural metricsPlant-scale comparison of unmanned aerial system (UAS) structure from motion (SfM) structural metrics and field-based measurements (shrub height, shrub volume, and canopy cover) at two study sites in Idaho, USA.uas_field_plant.csvUAS-Field patch-scale structural metricsPatch-scale comparison of unmanned aerial system (UAS) structure from motion (SfM) structural metrics and field-based measurements (shrub height, shrub volume, and canopy cover) at two study sites in Idaho, USA.uas_field_patch.csv