Geoprocessing Division, Foundation for Science, Technology and Space Applications - FUNCATE, São José dos Campos, SP, 12210-131, Brazil.
Sci Rep. 2021 Oct 14;11(1):20437. doi: 10.1038/s41598-021-99304-x.
Mapping the spatial distribution of a plant is a current challenge in ecology. Here, a convolutional neural network (CNN) and 33,798 Sentinel-2 satellite images were used to detect and map forest stands dominated by trees of the genus Pleroma by their magenta-to-deep-purple blossoms in the entire Brazilian Atlantic Forest domain, from June 2016 to July 2020. The Pleroma genus, known for its pioneer behaviour, was detected in an area representing 10.8% of the Atlantic Forest, associated negatively with temperature and positively with elevation, slope, tree cover and precipitation. The detection of another genus by the model, 18% of all the detections contained only pink blooming Handroanthus trees, highlighted that botanical identification from space must be taken with caution, particularly outside the known distribution range of the species. The Pleroma blossom seasonality occurred over a period of ~5-6 months centered on the March equinox and populations with distinct blossom timings were found. Our results indicate that in the Atlantic Forest, the remaining natural forest is less diverse than expected but is at least recovering from degradation. Our study suggests a method to produce ecological-domain scale maps of tree genera and species based on their blossoms that could be used for tree studies and biodiversity assessments.
绘制植物的空间分布是生态学目前面临的一个挑战。在这里，我们使用卷积神经网络（CNN）和 33798 张 Sentinel-2 卫星图像，从 2016 年 6 月到 2020 年 7 月，在整个巴西大西洋森林地区，探测和绘制以深紫红色花朵为特征的 Pleroma 属树木为主的森林林分。以先锋行为而闻名的 Pleroma 属在代表大西洋森林 10.8%的区域被探测到，它与温度呈负相关，与海拔、坡度、树冠覆盖和降水呈正相关。该模型还探测到另一个属，即 Handroanthus 属，其中 18%的树木仅开粉红色的花朵，这突出表明从太空中进行植物鉴定必须谨慎，特别是在物种已知分布范围之外。Pleroma 花朵的季节性在春分前后的大约 5-6 个月内发生，并且发现了具有不同开花时间的种群。我们的研究结果表明，在大西洋森林中，剩余的天然森林的多样性低于预期，但至少正在从退化中恢复。我们的研究提出了一种基于花朵绘制树木属和种的生态域尺度地图的方法，该方法可用于树木研究和生物多样性评估。
