With advances to UAV technology, in particular with regards to digital image sensors, applications of visible and thermal infrared imagery applied to forest ecosystems are increasing. In this case study methods for mapping thermal infrared temperature within hardwood and pine recreational study sites are employed. Absolute forest ecosystem surface temperature values were calculated from UAV obtained digital imagery to compare microclimate habitat within two hiking trails on the Stephen. F. Austin State University Campus. Results show that hardwood study site had a mean temperature that was significantly lower than that of the pine study site, whereas there was no difference between trail area and the entire study site. It indicates that UAV digital thermal infrared data can be used for recreation management purposes. Recreational foresters, with access to thermal infrared UAV data, can make more informed management decisions about the forest resources within their management jurisdiction.

Natural disasters, such as tornados, high wind damage, lightning strikes, ice storms, snow storms, and historic flood events, can cause extensive damage to natural resources. Drones, with their ability to observe the surface of the earth from a distance can provide individuals involved with disaster management evaluation and cleanup effort’s information not accessible or not possible with a traditional field-based site visit. Faculty within the Arthur Temple College of Forestry and Agriculture at Stephen F. Austin State University are researching and demonstrating how drones can be used in a host of natural resource activities including assisting disaster management efforts.

Students under the direction of geospatial science faculty, 30 real-world distances were measured on the campus of Stephen F. Austin State University in the field with tape. Students were then instructed on how to measure all 30 real-world features remotely using drone imagery, point cloud data, pictometry data and the Google Earth Pro online interface. Real-world measurements were compared to remote sensing measurements taken by the students to calculate the root mean square error (RMSE). In addition, an ANOVA was conducted on the absolute errors to determine the statistical significance of the variation among the remotely sensed methods, while a Tukey test was performed to assess the statistical significance between the methods. Students discovered that the RMSE results indicate that the pictometry measurements were the most accurate, with an RMSE of 0.68 meters, and that the point cloud data were the least accurate, with an RMSE of 1.27 meters. The ANOVA results indicate that there was a significant difference in the mean absolute error among the methods, whereas the point cloud data, with a mean absolute error of 1.0423 meters, were significantly less accurate than those of the other methods, which was confirmed by the Tukey test.

While aerial photography continues to play an integral role in forest management, its data acquisition can now be obtained through an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), commonly referred as a drone, instead of conventional manned aircraft. With its feasibility, a drone can be programed to take off, fly over an area following predefined paths and take images, then return to the home spot automatically. When flying over forests, it requires that there is an open space for a vertical takeoff drone to take off vertically and return safely. Hence, the automatic return-to-home feature on the drone is crucial when operating in a woodland landscape. In this project, we assessed the return-to-home landing accuracy based on a permanently marked launch pad nested in a wooded area on the campus of Stephen F. Austin State University in Nacogdoches, Texas. We compared four models of the DJI drone line, with each flown 30 missions over multiple days under different weather conditions. When each drone returned to the home launch spot and landed, the distance and direction from the launch spot to the landing position was measured. Results showed that both the Phantom 4 Advanced and the Spark had superior landing accuracy, whereas the Phantom 3 Advanced was the least accurate trailing behind the Phantom 4 Pro.

This study evaluated two popular software packages currently used within the natural resources profession to create orthophoto mosaics: Drone2Map and Pix4Dmapper. Of particular concern was how effective these two software packages would perform in creating orthophoto mosaics over a city park in East Texas consisting of forest, open grass, and urban concrete surrounding a lake. Two drone flights over the city park were conducted. One flight was at 76 meters (250 feet) above ground with a single pass configuration. The other flight was at 122 meters (400 feet) above ground with a double pass configuration. Upon the completion of each drone flight, two orthophoto mosaics were created for each flight using all images acquired per flight with Drone2Map and Pix4Dmapper software. For the single pass configuration Drone2Map failed to complete a basic orthophoto mosaic.

The use of Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS), also known as drones, is increasing in geospatial science curricula within the United States. Four geospatial science faculty members within the Arthur Temple College of Forestry and Agriculture at Stephen F. Austin State University (SFASU), Texas, focus on applying imagery obtained from drones to map, monitor, and quantify natural resources. To produce society-ready foresters, natural resource managers, and environmental scientists, the geospatial science faculty employ an intensive one-on-one hands-on interactive approach in training future resource management professionals in how to effectively apply drone technology within natural resource endeavors. In particular, recent instruction has focused on training students how to evaluate the amount of overlap and sidelap percentages required within a drone flight to create the optimum orthophoto mosaic. Results indicate that the one-on-one interactive methodology employed by faculty at SFASU produce highly qualified drone pilots capable of providing the drone community with new insights on how to produce accurate orthophoto mosaics in a timely and efficient manner.

Anaxyrus microscaphus (The Arizona Toad) is an at-risk species that is endemic to the southwestern United States. Despite conservation concerns, little is known about the ecological drivers of its distribution and habitat use. We investigated the potential distribution of A. microscaphus at the range-wide scale and local scales (i.e., Zion National Park), using MaxEnt to model habitat suitability under current and future climate scenarios. Our models incorporated 12 environmental variables, including climatic, geomorphological, and remotely sensed data. The results showed good model accuracy, with temperature and elevation being the top contributing variables. Currently, 42.6% of the park’s area provides a suitable habitat for A. microscaphus, but projections for 2050 and 2070 indicate a significant reduction in suitable habitat across its range. Temperature was the most influential variable, with habitat suitability decreasing as the annual mean temperatures exceeded 10 °C. Precipitation, vegetation, and topography variables also significantly contributed to the models. The most suitable habitat within Zion National Park occurred along sloped rivers and streams and in valleys with sandy soils, emphasizing the importance of riparian habitat conservation for A. microscaphus survival and persistence. As climate change progresses, the species’ habitat is expected to become increasingly constrained across local and range-wide scales. Our models demonstrated a shift in the suitable habitat towards major river systems, indicating a potential reliance on larger permanent river systems as smaller, more ephemeral habitats decrease in size and abundance. Future management strategies should prioritize conserving and enhancing the resilience of these habitats. MaxEnt models can guide population survey efforts and facilitate the identification of priority conservation areas, saving time and resources for species of concern such as A. microscaphus. Further research, including field surveys and large-scale analyses, is necessary to further refine our understanding of this species’ distribution and how it may be impacted by climate and habitat change.

In recent years, the use of Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) to obtain imagery for photogrammetry has become commonplace.Using these data to develop 3D products has also grown significantly in both research and commercial applications.This study aims to find a relatively simple and low cost UAS flight method as a means to obtain data to produce a 3D model suitable for 3D printing.The study subject chosen to assess different flight methods was the Caddo House at Caddo Mounds State Historical Site located near Alto, Cherokee County, Texas, USA.To collect images for analysis, a DJI Phantom 4 Pro UAS was used with Pix4DCapture mission control app.Two main missions were carried out, one being a pre-defined double-grid flight, and the other being an orbital free-flight method.The findings of this study indicate that if the goal is to create a true-to-life 3D model of an object using UAS, the best method would be a curated orbital free-flight method.If there is time constraint and the subject is sufficiently large and not considerably irregular, a double-grid mission with sufficient forward and side overlap can produce desirable results, but with a slight loss of fine details.The 3D model developed from the curated orbital flight method was successfully printed with a customer grade FDM 3D printer.

Flower-visiting insects have co-evolved with flowering plants. While it has been shown that floral traits and environmental factors influence insect visitation during the day, it is still unclear how these factors influence their visitation at night. We sampled a montane meadow located near Jilin in northeastern China in July and August of 2019, for 4 nights each month, and two time periods each night. We sampled 94 flower-visiting insect species in total and documented floral traits and ambient factors. We first allocated all the insects to three functional groups (pollination, predation, and herbivory). Most nocturnal insects exhibited predation behavior, and had the highest species turnover rate. We then focused on environmental factors and found that ambient temperature and relative humidity strongly influenced the diversity of flower-visiting insects. In addition, variation partitioning analysis suggested that ambient temperature had a stronger effect on the flower-visiting insects during the early night hours, whereas relative humidity had a stronger effect on them in the later night hours. Finally, focusing on floral traits, most insects preferred flowers with moderately sized corolla diameters (20 to 30 mm). Furthermore, display size had a strong linear correlation with flower-visiting insect species richness and frequency of presence. In sum, our findings suggest that ambient temperature, relative humidity and floral display size strongly regulate the behavior of nocturnal flower-visiting insects.

The use of Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS), also known as drones is increasing in geospatial science curricula within the United States. Within the Arthur Temple College of Forestry and Agriculture (ATCOFA) at Stephen F. Austin State University, Texas, seniors in the geospatial science program complete capstone projects to evaluate current geospatial technology to investigate complex ecological, social and environmental issues. Under the umbrella of a student initiated and designed senior project, students designed a study to estimate height of buildings with UAS data incorporating UAS data, LP360 and ArcScene programs, and Pictometry web-based interface. Results from a statistical analysis of the data confirm that geospatial science height estimation techniques can provide accurate estimates of height remotely. The independence of the students completing the project with UAS data for LP360 and ArcScene estimations, and utilizing Pictometry as an on-onscreen measuring tool, point to the need to integrate remote sensing, statistical analysis and synthesis of data into undergraduate geospatial science curricula. This reinforces the hands-on learning approach within ATCOFA and provides guidance to integrate the use of UAS in natural resource education.

The red imported fire ant (Solenopsis invicta) native to South America is a noxious invasive species in many parts of the world. The venom secreted from the S. invicta stinger is a potent topical insecticide and it is fatal to other ants. In the southern USA, however, this ant species is often displaced by Rasberry crazy ant (Nylanderia fulva), another invader from South America. The recent antidote hypothesis does not fully explain why N. fulva displaces S. invicta. Is there a winning offensive strategy that N. fulva uses to fight against S. invicta? To better understand the relationships between two species, we investigated the responses of both N. fulva and S. invicta to their major secondary metabolites alone or combination in comparison with no treatment or water. First, we examined the impacts of topical application of alkaloids extracted from S. invicta gasters (venom) and formic acid on S. invicta including the treatments by alkaloids, formic acid, mixtures of both, and formic acid following alkaloids. Second, we examined the impacts of topical application of fresh fluid dispersed from S. invicta gasters (venom) and formic acid on N. fulva including the treatments by venom, formic acid, formic acid following venom, and water following venom. Third, we examined the impacts of topical application of alkaloids extracted from S. invicta and formic acid on N. fulva including the treatments by alkaloids, formic acid, mixtures of both, and formic acid following alkaloids. Then, we studied the response of S. invicta to the separate or combined application of formic acid, 2-tridecanone, and n-undecane, three known metabolites produced by N. fulva. We finally conducted the conflict experiments of the two species to observe the behavior of each during the process. We found that S. invicta and N. fulva can use alkaloids and formic acid, respectively, to kill their competitors. However, these weapons are costly to the producers because they are also fatal to themselves when externally applied. Application of the S. invicta venom or alkaloids can kill both ant species and following uses of formic acid enhanced the mortality. This indicates that formic acid does not detoxify the S. invicta venom or alkaloids. Our earlier investigation found that the S. invicta workers with gaster injury demonstrated higher mortality than the uninjured ants. Therefore, our findings suggest that N. fulva can displace the S. invicta is largely because they have enormous populations and can use formic acid as offensive weapons to kill S. invicta.

Digital preservation of library materials has increased the need for methods to access the documents and contents maintained in digital archives. The use of altmetrics to quantify the impact of scholarly works, including PlumX, is increasing readership by listing articles in reference services. The outreach from the digital repository ScholarWorks at Stephen F. Austin State University (SFASU) highlights the impact within the natural resources community from Digital Commons, Forest Sciences Commons; and from the Natural Products Chemistry and Pharmacognosy Commons. The use of PlumX altmetrics was examined to evaluate usage, impact, and digital audience downloads for the Arthur Temple College of Forestry and Agriculture (ATCOFA) at SFASU.

CITYgreen Geographic Information Systems software was used to develop a campus wide cover type map for Stephen F. Austin State University in an environmental science landscape ecology course. The finding indicated an equal division of forest cover type compared to impervious surface of buildings and paved surface. Once the classification was completed, students chose an area for reforestation identified in CITYgreen, while raising funds for the purchase of trees for the project. Before completing the project, students reviewed tenets of landscape ecology, civic ecology education, and benefits of urban forestry. At the completion of the project, students reviewed service-learning aspects of campus beautification reflecting on making a difference, working outdoors, and using high end technology to complete a real-world environmental project incorporating partnerships and teamwork. The outcome demonstrates the benefits of applying ecological planning to complete an environmental project based on a perceived need within a campus setting.

Faculty within the Arthur Temple College of Forestry and Agriculture (ATCOFA) at Stephen F. Austin State University in Nacogdoches, Texas are integrating drone technology into their curriculum to introduce students to the use of high-end technology within a natural-resource-based decisionmaking process. Drones are currently being integrated across the curriculum within ATCOFA, including 10 geographic information systems (GIS) courses for students pursuing the B.S. in Spatial Science and within six non-GIS specific courses for students pursuing the B. S. in Forestry. Results indicate that drone technology can be an effective tool in enhancing a student's academic experience and provides students with a skill set required for future natural-resource professionals.

Two senior undergraduate students within the environmental science division at Stephen F. Austin State University (SFASU) quantitatively diagnosed the environmental, ecological, and socioeconomic dynamics involved in plastic recycling. This study incorporated actively collecting recycled plastic bottles on campus to produce an enumerated analysis of recycling on campus; and to gain an understanding of the socioeconomics of recycling via an anonymous survey used to determine the recycling knowledgebase of natural resource students at SFASU. Undergraduate students, via their incorporation into a campus wide environmental site assessment of recycling plastic bottles, were able to apply their classroom knowledge to a real-world environmental concern thus making them more well-rounded and society-ready environmental scientists.

Phoradendron leucarpum (American Mistletoe) is a hemiparasitic plant that infects deciduous trees across the United States. We examined the feasibility of using an unmanned aircraft system (UAS) to detect and quantify American Mistletoe in an urban environment compared to ground-count surveys. On average, regardless of tree height, we detected more American Mistletoe plants using the UAS compared to the ground-count surveys; our estimates of American Mistletoe load nearly doubled when we used the UAS. In the ground-count surveys, our ability to accurately count the number of American Mistletoe plants decreased with increasing tree height. These results demonstrate that UAS can help researchers and managers to accurately predict the parasite load of trees to produce a more accurate hazard rating as well as help quantify the resource availability for wildlife in urban environments.

The advancement of drones has revolutionized the production of aerial imagery. Using a drone with its associated flight control and image processing applications, a high resolution orthorectified mosaic from multiple individual aerial images can be produced within just a few hours. However, the positional precision and accuracy of any orthomosaic produced should not be overlooked. In this project, we flew a DJI Phantom drone once a month over a seven-month period over Oak Grove Cemetery in Nacogdoches, Texas, USA resulting in seven orthomosaics of the same location. We identified 30 ground control points (GCPs) based on permanent features in the cemetery and recorded the geographic coordinates of each GCP on each of the seven orthomosaics. Analyzing the cluster of each GCP containing seven coincident positions depicts the positional precision of the orthomosaics. Our analysis is an attempt to answer the fundamental question, “Are we obtaining the same geographic coordinates for the same feature found on every aerial image mosaic captured by a drone over time?” The results showed that the positional precision was higher at the center of the orthomosaic compared to the edge areas. In addition, the positional precision was lower parallel to the direction of the drone flight.

The use of Virtual Globes and Pictometry continues to expand and develop in undergraduate spatial science education. Spatial science undergraduates measured the area of 30 rectangles on the earth’s surface and compared them to Pictometry hyperspectral imagery measurements within a web-based interface and the Google Earth interface compared to ArcGIS Explorer, Map Developers and ArcMap using the ArcMap 10.5.2 interface. An analysis of variance of the absolute mean area errors (p-value of 0.009271) concluded the accuracy of the five area measurements were statistically different at the 95% confidence interval. A Tukey pair-wise test found that the Pictometry and Google Earth methods were more accurate than the ArcGIS Explorer, Map Developers and ArcMap methods. The lowest standard deviation of errors (72.6 sq. ft.) for Pictometry was the most accurate and precise method for on-screen area measurement, followed by Google Earth (SD = 205.0 sq. ft.). The high variation of area measurement error from ArcMap, Map Developers, and ArcGIS Explorer made them less reliable as an alternative to field measurements with ArcMap the worst (SD = 915.1 sq. ft.). The results indicate that Pictometry and Google Earth could both be used to accurately estimate area using on-screen measurements compared to in situ area measurement assessments.

Undergraduate students pursuing a Bachelor of Science in Forestry (BSF) at Stephen F. Austin State University (SFA) within the Arthur Temple College of Forestry and Agriculture (ATCOFA) attend an intensive 6-week hands-on instruction in applied field methods. The second week of field station is focused on land measurement activities to introduce students to practical, hands-on, and technology based ways to survey forest boundaries. On Monday of the second week students are introduced to the concepts of how to use a handheld compass to navigate from point to point, use a consumer-grade handheld Global Positioning System (GPS) unit for collecting the geographic coordinates of given locations, use a GPS unit to calculate the area of a forest opening, use a GPS unit to walk and record a forest hiking trail, and evaluate the accuracy of their GPS derived locations via a Root Mean Square Error (RMSE) analysis. RMSE analysis between a students collected geographic coordinates and the instructors collected geographic coordinates indicated that the students were sufficient in correctly recording the geographic coordinates of point, line, and polygon features identified in the field. Grades on the student submitted reports summarizing Monday’s activities resulted in 33 of 56 students (59.0%) receiving a high A, 14 of 56 students (25.0%) receiving a low A, and 9 of 56 students (16.0%) receiving a high B indicating that the interactive hands-on nature of ATCOFA’s field station is effective at providing students with real-world applications whereby they will be ready to make a difference the day after graduation. Interactive drone imagery and video integrated into the daily activities in the field to enhance a student’s understanding of their specific objectives provided the students in the field with a bird’s eye perspective of the landscape to aid their understanding and planning of the field tasks assigned. In conclusion, employers can have confidence that when hiring recent BSF graduates from ATCOFA that the students have been introduced to geospatial technologies within a proven one-on-one instruction methodology designed to increase cognitive retention and can traverse from location to location accurately and record the geographic coordinates of earth surface features correctly.