Details
Original language | English |
---|---|
Article number | 139204 |
Journal | Science of the Total Environment |
Volume | 732 |
Early online date | 11 May 2020 |
Publication status | Published - 25 Aug 2020 |
Externally published | Yes |
Abstract
The development of biodiversity-friendly agricultural landscapes is of major importance to meet the sustainable development challenges of our time. The emergence of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), i.e. drones, has opened a new set of research and management opportunities to achieve this goal. On the one hand, this review summarizes UAV applications in agricultural landscapes, focusing on biodiversity conservation and agricultural land monitoring, based on a systematic review of the literature that resulted in 550 studies. Additionally, the review proposes how to integrate UAV research in these fields and point to new potential applications that may contribute to biodiversity-friendly agricultural landscapes. UAV-based imagery can be used to identify and monitor plants, floral resources and animals, facilitating the detection of quality habitats with high prediction power. Through vegetation indices derived from their sensors, UAVs can estimate biomass, monitor crop plant health and stress, detect pest or pathogen infestations, monitor soil fertility and target patches of high weed or invasive plant pressure, allowing precise management practices and reduced agrochemical input. Thereby, UAVs are helping to design biodiversity-friendly agricultural landscapes and to mitigate yield-biodiversity trade-offs. In conclusion, UAV applications have become a major means of biodiversity conservation and biodiversity-friendly management in agriculture, while latest developments, such as the miniaturization and decreasing costs of hyperspectral sensors, promise many new applications for the future.
Keywords
- Drones, Precision agriculture, Smart farming, UAV, Unmanned aerial systems (UAS), Vegetation monitoring, Yield-biodiversity trade-offs
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Environmental Science(all)
- Environmental Engineering
- Environmental Science(all)
- Environmental Chemistry
- Environmental Science(all)
- Waste Management and Disposal
- Environmental Science(all)
- Pollution
Sustainable Development Goals
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In: Science of the Total Environment, Vol. 732, 139204, 25.08.2020.
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Research › peer review
}
TY - JOUR
T1 - Unmanned aerial vehicles for biodiversity-friendly agricultural landscapes
T2 - A systematic review
AU - Librán-Embid, Felipe Miguel
AU - Klaus, Felix
AU - Tscharntke, Teja
AU - Grass, Ingo
N1 - Funding information: This research was supported by the German Research Association (DFG) Research Training Group 1644 “Scaling Problems in Statistics”, grant no. 152112243 . We thank two anonymous reviewers and the editor for the valuable comments that improved the manuscript. Our gratitude goes also to Emmeline Topp, Kevin Li and Carolina Ocampo Ariza for proofreading the manuscript.
PY - 2020/8/25
Y1 - 2020/8/25
N2 - The development of biodiversity-friendly agricultural landscapes is of major importance to meet the sustainable development challenges of our time. The emergence of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), i.e. drones, has opened a new set of research and management opportunities to achieve this goal. On the one hand, this review summarizes UAV applications in agricultural landscapes, focusing on biodiversity conservation and agricultural land monitoring, based on a systematic review of the literature that resulted in 550 studies. Additionally, the review proposes how to integrate UAV research in these fields and point to new potential applications that may contribute to biodiversity-friendly agricultural landscapes. UAV-based imagery can be used to identify and monitor plants, floral resources and animals, facilitating the detection of quality habitats with high prediction power. Through vegetation indices derived from their sensors, UAVs can estimate biomass, monitor crop plant health and stress, detect pest or pathogen infestations, monitor soil fertility and target patches of high weed or invasive plant pressure, allowing precise management practices and reduced agrochemical input. Thereby, UAVs are helping to design biodiversity-friendly agricultural landscapes and to mitigate yield-biodiversity trade-offs. In conclusion, UAV applications have become a major means of biodiversity conservation and biodiversity-friendly management in agriculture, while latest developments, such as the miniaturization and decreasing costs of hyperspectral sensors, promise many new applications for the future.
AB - The development of biodiversity-friendly agricultural landscapes is of major importance to meet the sustainable development challenges of our time. The emergence of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), i.e. drones, has opened a new set of research and management opportunities to achieve this goal. On the one hand, this review summarizes UAV applications in agricultural landscapes, focusing on biodiversity conservation and agricultural land monitoring, based on a systematic review of the literature that resulted in 550 studies. Additionally, the review proposes how to integrate UAV research in these fields and point to new potential applications that may contribute to biodiversity-friendly agricultural landscapes. UAV-based imagery can be used to identify and monitor plants, floral resources and animals, facilitating the detection of quality habitats with high prediction power. Through vegetation indices derived from their sensors, UAVs can estimate biomass, monitor crop plant health and stress, detect pest or pathogen infestations, monitor soil fertility and target patches of high weed or invasive plant pressure, allowing precise management practices and reduced agrochemical input. Thereby, UAVs are helping to design biodiversity-friendly agricultural landscapes and to mitigate yield-biodiversity trade-offs. In conclusion, UAV applications have become a major means of biodiversity conservation and biodiversity-friendly management in agriculture, while latest developments, such as the miniaturization and decreasing costs of hyperspectral sensors, promise many new applications for the future.
KW - Drones
KW - Precision agriculture
KW - Smart farming
KW - UAV
KW - Unmanned aerial systems (UAS)
KW - Vegetation monitoring
KW - Yield-biodiversity trade-offs
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85084704549&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.139204
DO - 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.139204
M3 - Article
VL - 732
JO - Science of the Total Environment
JF - Science of the Total Environment
SN - 0048-9697
M1 - 139204
ER -