Stream restoration efforts often aim at restoring the physical complexity in streams, as an increased habitat heterogeneity is believed to increase biodiversity. It is important to quantify the physical complexity of streams before and after restoration, to know what actions are needed, and to monitor the results of the restoration. The use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and geographic information systems (GIS) for data acquisition is rapidly increasing, and the use of UAVs and GIS could facilitate the monitoring process. The aim of this study was to determine how the spatial complexity in streams can be determined by using UAVs and GIS. The physical features and the spatial complexity were quantified in five reaches in the Lögde River, pre- and post-restoration, by analyzing UAV photos in a GIS program. Three of six reach descriptive metrics, and three of seven complexity metrics, were shown significantly different after restoration. To validate the GIS analyzing method, a qualitative comparison of data from the GIS analysis to field survey data was conducted. The GIS method was shown effective for distinguishing morphological features on a larger spatial scale, and to show the spatial distribution of instream features, such as wood pieces and boulders. The accuracy when digitizing the bankfull edge of the stream was low on small scales, and the method likely underestimates the number of wood pieces and boulders in the streams. Preferable camera settings and weather conditions to avoid blurry UAV photos, and thereby enhance the accuracy of the GIS analysis, are discussed.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UPSALLA1/oai:DiVA.org:umu-160181 |
| Date | January 2019 |
| Creators | Karlsten, Annika |
| Publisher | Umeå universitet, Institutionen för ekologi, miljö och geovetenskap |
| Source Sets | DiVA Archive at Upsalla University |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Student thesis, info:eu-repo/semantics/bachelorThesis, text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Rights | info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
Page generated in 0.0016 seconds