Case Study: Leading National Park achieves targeted rare-plant protection and reduced fieldwork with Intetics' LiDAR-based predictive vegetation maps

National Park Protects Rare Plants With Predictive Growth Map Created With LiDAR Data

Leading National Park enlisted Intetics to help identify and protect rare coastal plant species by creating a predictive vegetation distribution map. The park’s challenge was to improve rare-species management across an 18+ km coastal strip, reduce extensive fieldwork, and obtain an accurate statistical model that could reliably predict plant growth using available survey data.

Intetics developed a LiDAR-driven solution: a high-resolution digital elevation model plus supplemental raster layers (distance to sea, inlets, freshwater seepage, slope), tested predictors against field presence/absence data, and ran statistical modeling to produce species distribution maps (e.g., Mentha aquatica and Parnassia palustris) with assessed accuracy. The Intetics tool delivered a complete predictive model covering the coastal territory, significantly reduced time and cost of fieldwork, and enabled the park to target conservation actions by predicting habitats at specified probability thresholds.