FD2-1: Early successional vegetation types are vulnerable to invasion by exotic species because (1) there is less biotic control over establishment in early succession, and (2), once establishment occurs, early successional stands are strongly driven by feedbacks that can be modified by invaders, so invaders have a potentially strong effect on ecosystem function.

Alaska has few invasive plant species, and most are associated with the road system. One species, Melilotus alba, has been found to be colonizing river floodplains at places where they intersect with roads. We will focus our efforts on the developing Melilotus infestation on the Matanuska River floodplain, near Palmer, Alaska. We will use a camera mounted on a servos and suspended from a small helium blimp tethered to the ground (a near-Earth remote sensing system) to photograph the infestation from up to 200 m. We'll use a GIS to measure the infestation and document its spread. Our ultimate goal will be to develop detection and description tools for land managers to use in remotely describing Melilotus infestations around the state.