An AI-assisted review of where aerial tree seeding has taken us since our first trials in 2016.
When we started this blog back in 2016, aerial tree seeding in East Africa was still very much an experiment.
Our aim was simply to collect ideas, research papers, videos and experiences from around the world and see whether any of them could be adapted to tropical Africa. At the time, there was surprisingly little published work on aerial seeding in dryland tropical ecosystems, particularly using indigenous tree species. (Seedballs Kenya)
We were asking questions rather than claiming to have answers.
Could seed coatings improve survival?
Would biochar seedballs reduce seed predation?
Could helicopters, fixed-wing aircraft or even balloons become practical restoration tools?
Which species might actually work?
How much of the challenge was engineering, and how much was simply ecology?
Ten years later, many of those questions remain. But we have learned a great deal.
One thing hasn't changed...
Nature is still in charge.
Aerial seeding is simply another way of dispersing seed.
Once that seed reaches the ground, exactly the same ecological processes take over as they have done for millions of years.
Rainfall.
Competition.
Soils.
Microsites.
Browsing.
Fire.
Seed predators.
Luck 🍀
Some of the ideas from 2016 still seem remarkably relevant
Looking back at our original list of research priorities, many remain active areas of research today.
These included:
matching the right species to the right sites
improving seed coatings
protecting seeds from rodents, ants and birds
developing coatings that retain moisture
improving aerial delivery systems
determining the best methods of seed broadcasting
understanding seasonal grazing pressure etc.
Interestingly, these are still among the biggest questions being asked by restoration scientists today.
What has changed?
Probably the biggest difference is not the seed.
It's the information.
In 2016, most aerial seeding simply involved dropping seed over suitable-looking habitat.
Today we have access to tools that barely existed ten years ago.
Digital communication to communities in restoration areas
Satellite imagery.
High-resolution drone mapping.
LiDAR.
Artificial intelligence.
Machine learning.
All of these can help decide where seed should be placed rather than simply how it should be distributed.
How AI is beginning to help
Artificial intelligence will not replace foresters, pilots or ecologists any time soon.
Instead, it is becoming another tool that helps us make better decisions.
Around the world, researchers and restoration companies are beginning to use AI to:
identify degraded areas from satellite imagery
distinguish grassland from regenerating woodland
map erosion and water flow
identify suitable microsites for different tree species
optimise drone flight paths
estimate vegetation recovery from repeated aerial surveys
automatically count seedlings from drone photographs
predict which restoration sites are most likely to succeed based on rainfall, soils and previous monitoring. (ResearchGate)
The right seed.
In the right place.
Trees and UAVs
When we began this blog, drones capable of carrying useful payloads were still relatively uncommon.
Today they are becoming standard restoration tools.
Unlike aircraft, drones can:
fly low and slowly
revisit exactly the same location
map restoration sites before seeding
monitor germination afterwards
reach steep or inaccessible terrain
distribute seed in small targeted patches rather than entire landscapes.
With Kenya Flying Labs and Konza Technopolis
KBC Business News https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CiBr_n5DG40
Kenya has also moved forward
One exciting development is that aerial seeding is no longer just an interesting experiment.
It is becoming part of national restoration planning.
Recent pilot projects in Kenya have demonstrated that aerial seeding can restore difficult terrain at a fraction of the cost of conventional seedling planting while covering thousands of hectares in only a few days. The pilots have also highlighted important lessons, such as matching species to sites, involving local communities, and recognising that very light seeds may require pelleting or seedballs to improve targeting. (Drone seeding)
It is encouraging to see many of the questions we were asking in 2016 now being tested at operational scales.
But let's not get carried away...
There is also a tendency for aerial seeding to be presented as a miracle solution.
It isn't.
All projects around the world will always face:
germination
climatic change effects
seed and seedling attrition
lack of long-term (multi decadal) monitoring.
Biochar Seedballs
One of the reasons we became interested in seedballs in the first place was that they addressed several of the practical problems associated with aerial seeding.
They can:
increase seed weight and size for more accurate aerial distribution
protect seeds from some predators
reduce mechanical damage during broadcasting
incorporate nutrients or beneficial microbes
potentially retain moisture around germinating seed
allow mixtures of different sized seed species to be distributed together.
Whether these advantages justify manufacturing costs depends on the ecosystem, timing, species and restoration objectives.
A final thought
Back in 2016 we ended our first article by saying:
"After all, hundreds of species of trees have spent millions of years perfecting aerial tree seeding. With a bit of help, perhaps with technology and information transfer, we can find a way to make planting and growing billions of trees more cost effective."
Ten years later, that still feels true.
Demand for wood products is ever increasing
Technology keeps improving.
Aircraft are becoming smarter.
Drones are becoming more capable.
Artificial intelligence is helping us understand landscapes in extraordinary detail.
But forests still grow one seed at a time.
Editor's note
This article was AI-assisted. Artificial intelligence was used to help review recent literature, identify emerging technologies, organise information and draft most of this text. The opinions, field observations and editorial direction remain those of Seedballs Kenya, and—as always—we welcome corrections, new research and practical experiences from others working in aerial restoration.
No comments:
Post a Comment