Modelling the current fractional cover of an invasive alien plant and drivers of its invasion in a dryland ecosystem.

ABSTRACT: The development of spatially differentiated management strategies against invasive alien plant species requires a detailed understanding of their current distribution and of the level of invasion across the invaded range. The objectives of this study were to estimate the current fractional cover gradient of invasive trees of the genus Prosopis in the Afar Region, Ethiopia, and to identify drivers of its invasion. We used seventeen explanatory variables describing Landsat 8 image reflectance, topography, climate and landscape structures to model the current cover of Prosopis across the invaded range using the random forest (RF) algorithm. Validation of the RF algorithm confirmed high model performance with an accuracy of 92% and a Kappa-coefficient of 0.8. We found that, within 35 years aft

SUBMITTER: Shiferaw H 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6367408 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature