Testing a GIS Model of Habitat Suitability for a Declining Grassland Bird

Abstract

Demand for information that can be used to manage loggerhead shrikes has recently increased because of concern over declining populations and loss of open, non-forested habitat. A previously-developed habitat model was modified to predict shrike habitat quality on Fort Riley Military Reservation (FRMR) in Kansas. Shrike habitat suitability indices were calculated based on the amount of potential and usable foraging habitat, and the number of potential nesting sites within a specified area. Interpretation of high quality digital photographs was used to delineate land cover classes, hedgerows and tree counts. These data were entered into a geographic information system (GIS) as individual data sets. The shrike habitat model was then employed to produce a GIS database predicting low, moderate, and high quality shrike habitat throughout the Reservation. Model results indicated that 67% of the Reservation was suitable habitat for loggerhead shrikes. Although over 80% of FRMR was mapped as grassland, the presence of few to several isolated trees or hedgerows was identified as a key factor in modeling habitat suitability. The accuracy of the GIS model was 82% in predicting suitable (moderate and high quality) loggerhead shrike habitat using an independent set of 66 recent shrike observations. The number of potential nesting sites and percent cover of usable foraging habitat were significantly related to habitat suitability of the sites occupied by shrikes.

A rapid approach to modeling species–habitat relationships

“…The grid cell technique is well suited to developing maps of habitat suitability (e.g., Rubec et al 2001) or occupancy ( Figure 1) and thus could be used in this manner. A grid cell map could be also used to prioritize management or restoration efforts by distinguishing habitat suitability across a landscape (e.g., Lauver et al 2002). Grid cell classification will be especially useful for situations where vegetation data require frequent updates due to continually changing vegetation conditions from management activities or natural processes.…”

Temporal habitat suitability modeling of Caspian shad (Alosa spp.) in the southern Caspian Sea

“…The four most common empirical HSI models, namely the continued product model (CPM) (Grebenkov et al, 2006;Chen et al, 2009), arithmetic mean model (AMM) Tian et al, 2009;Chen et al, 2010), geometric mean model (GMM) (Lauver et al, 2002;Tian et al, 2009), and minimum model (MINM) (Van Der Lee et al, 2006), were used to construct an optimal HSI model as follows.…”

Impact of the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act on Species of Special Concern in Pennsylvania

“…the vegetation height should be at least one meter in height with a percent cover of 40-85% (Chapman et al 1978;Rummel and Brenner, 2003a, b), 2) tree canopy cover of 40% or less, and 3) adequate patch size to reduce interactions between territorial species. Using GIS technology (Lauver et al, 2002) as a tool in landscape ecology, the arrangement of grasslands upon the landscape can be incorporated into life history models for individual species or communities as an aid to resource mangers and planners. Although, additional studies are necessary in order to estimate the critical field size and habitat structure for threatened and endangered species.…”