ASSESSMENT ON THE HABITAT QUALITY AND COST-EFFECTIVENESS OF POLLINATOR ENHANCEMENT: ROADSIDES VS. CP42: AN INTEGRATED REMOTE SENSING, IMAGE DETECTION, AND ECONOMICS APPROACH

The interdisciplinary team will develop a suite of tools to achieve theproposed objectives:1) use remote sensing techniques to identify the spectral characteristics of flower patches validated with data collected from field work to quantify the floral coverage in grassland and pollinator habitat enrolled in the CRP; 2) quantify the current abundance of forage resources on roadsides by conducting detailed road surveys to collect imagery data on flower abundance and estimate flower percentages through image classification and detection techniques; 3) collaborate with the ND Department of Transportation on the impact of ditch management on forage resources; and 4) assess the cost effectiveness and provide policy recommendations of incorporating roadsides as an alternative habitat enhancement and compare the results to the current CRP pollinator habitat practice CP42.The ultimate goal of this proposed research is to identify successful habitat enhancement strategies to support pollinators in intensively managed agricultural landscapes with both environmental and economic criteria.