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Habitat Data (habitat + data)
Selected AbstractsConcurrent assessment of fish and habitat in warmwater streams in WyomingFISHERIES MANAGEMENT & ECOLOGY, Issue 1 2006M. C. QUIST Abstract, Fisheries research and management in North America have focused largely on sport fishes, but native non-game fishes have attracted increased attention due to their declines. The Warmwater Stream Assessment (WSA) was developed to evaluate simultaneously both fish and habitat in Wyoming streams by a process that includes three major components: (1) stream-reach selection and accumulation of existing information, (2) fish and habitat sampling and (3) summarisation and evaluation of fish and habitat information. Fish are sampled by electric fishing or seining and habitat is measured at reach and channel-unit (i.e. pool, run, riffle, side channel, or backwater) scales. Fish and habitat data are subsequently summarised using a data-matrix approach. Hierarchical decision trees are used to assess critical habitat requirements for each fish species expected or found in the reach. Combined measurements of available habitat and the ecology of individual species contribute to the evaluation of the observed fish assemblage. The WSA incorporates knowledge of the fish assemblage and habitat features to enable inferences of factors likely influencing both the fish assemblage and their habitat. The WSA was developed for warmwater streams in Wyoming, but its philosophy, process and conceptual basis may be applied to environmental assessments in other geographical areas. [source] Habitat influences on urban avian assemblagesIBIS, Issue 1 2009KARL L. EVANS Urbanization is increasing across the globe and there is growing interest in urban ecology and a recognition that developed areas may be important for conservation. We review the factors influencing urban avian assemblages, focusing on habitat type and anthropogenic resource provision, and analyse data from a common bird monitoring scheme to assess some of these issues. The review suggests that (1) local factors are more important than regional ones in determining the species richness of urban avian assemblages, raising the potential for the management of urban sites to deliver conservation; (2) habitat fragmentation frequently influences urban avian assemblages, with the effects of patch size being greater than those of isolation, and (3) urban bird assemblages appear to respond positively to increasing the structural complexity, species richness of woody vegetation and supplementary feeding, and negatively to human disturbance. Data from Britain's Breeding Bird Survey, combined with habitat data obtained from aerial photographs, were used to assess a number of these issues at the resolution of 1-km squares. Green-space constituted 45% of these squares, and domestic gardens contributed 50% of this green-space, though their contribution to large continuous patches of green-space was negligible. There was no significant positive correlation between the densities of individual species in urban areas and surrounding rural areas. Rural species richness declined with increasing latitude, but urban species richness was not correlated with latitude. This contrast contributes to slightly higher avian species richness in rural squares in Southern England than urban ones. Occupancy and abundance were strongly positively correlated in urban avian assemblages, and some indicator species of conservation concern occurred in few urban areas and at low densities. Such species will require conservation action to be precisely targeted within urban areas. Of the urban indicators of conservation concern, only the House Sparrow Passer domesticus and Common Starling Sturnus vulgaris were more abundant in urban than rural areas. Moreover, the densities of these two species were strongly and positively correlated, indicating that they may be limited by shared resources, such as nest-sites or supplementary food. There was little evidence that high densities of nest-predating corvids were associated with reduced densities of their prey species. Species richness and the densities of individual species frequently declined with an increasing number of buildings. Current trends for the densification of many British urban areas are thus likely to be detrimental for many bird species. [source] Predicting the population consequences of human disturbance for Ringed Plovers Charadrius hiaticula: a game theory approachIBIS, Issue 2007DURWYN LILEY Human disturbance and its potential impacts upon bird populations are currently topical and contentious issues for conservationists. Although many studies have revealed a behavioural impact, or even direct effect on breeding success or survival, these cannot usually be extended to predict the impact on population size. Here we present a population model that allows predictions of the effect that changes in human numbers, visiting a 9-km-long section of the coastline, may have upon the size of a Ringed Plover Charadrius hiaticula population. Human disturbance affects Ringed Plovers in our study area through birds avoiding areas of high disturbance and, in addition, through the accidental trampling of a small number of nests by people walking on the beach. Using the level of human disturbance and habitat variables (which define territory quality) it is possible to predict which areas of beach are occupied and therefore the sites available to the population. Breeding success, for a given area of beach, can be predicted from habitat data. Incorporating known, density-independent, adult mortality allows the equilibrium population size to be predicted. This provides a model that predicts population size. This model is then used to predict the population that the site would support with different, hypothetical, levels of disturbance. If nest loss from human activity was prevented, for example by fencing nests, we predict the Plover population size would increase by 8%. A complete absence of human disturbance would cause a population increase of 85%. If the numbers of people were to double, we predict the population would decrease by 23%. [source] Using habitat distribution models to evaluate large-scale landscape priorities for spatially dynamic speciesJOURNAL OF APPLIED ECOLOGY, Issue 1 2008Regan Early Summary 1Large-scale conservation planning requires the identification of priority areas in which species have a high likelihood of long-term persistence. This typically requires high spatial resolution data on species and their habitat. Such data are rarely available at a large geographical scale, so distribution modelling is often required to identify the locations of priority areas. However, distribution modelling may be difficult when a species is either not recorded, or not present, at many of the locations that are actually suitable for it. This is an inherent problem for species that exhibit metapopulation dynamics. 2Rather than basing species distribution models on species locations, we investigated the consequences of predicting the distribution of suitable habitat, and thus inferring species presence/absence. We used habitat surveys to define a vegetation category which is suitable for a threatened species that has spatially dynamic populations (the butterfly Euphydryas aurinia), and used this as the response variable in distribution models. Thus, we developed a practical strategy to obtain high resolution (1 ha) large scale conservation solutions for E. aurinia in Wales, UK. 3Habitat-based distribution models had high discriminatory power. They could generalize over a large spatial extent and on average predicted 86% of the current distribution of E. aurinia in Wales. Models based on species locations had lower discriminatory power and were poorer at generalizing throughout Wales. 4Surfaces depicting the connectivity of each grid cell were calculated for the predicted distribution of E. aurinia habitat. Connectivity surfaces provided a distance-weighted measure of the concentration of habitat in the surrounding landscape, and helped identify areas where the persistence of E. aurinia populations is expected to be highest. These identified successfully known areas of high conservation priority for E. aurinia. These connectivity surfaces allow conservation planning to take into account long-term spatial population dynamics, which would be impossible without being able to predict the species' distribution over a large spatial extent. 5Synthesis and applications. Where species location data are unsuitable for building high resolution predictive habitat distribution models, habitat data of sufficient quality can be easier to collect. We show that they can perform as well as or better than species data as a response variable. When coupled with a technique to translate distribution model predictions into landscape priority (such as connectivity calculations), we believe this approach will be a powerful tool for large-scale conservation planning. [source] Using GIS to relate small mammal abundance and landscape structure at multiple spatial extents: the northern flying squirrel in Alberta, CanadaJOURNAL OF APPLIED ECOLOGY, Issue 3 2005MATTHEW WHEATLEY Summary 1It is common practice to evaluate the potential effects of management scenarios on animal populations using geographical information systems (GIS) that relate proximate landscape structure or general habitat types to indices of animal abundance. Implicit in this approach is that the animal population responds to landscape features at the spatial grain and extent represented in available digital map inventories. 2The northern flying squirrel Glaucomys sabrinus is of particular interest in North American forest management because it is known from the Pacific North-West as a habitat specialist, a keystone species of old-growth coniferous forest and an important disperser of hypogeous, mycorrhizal fungal spores. Using a GIS approach we tested whether the relative abundance of flying squirrel in northern Alberta, Canada, is related to old forest, conifer forest and relevant landscape features as quantified from management-based digital forest inventories. 3We related squirrel abundance, estimated through live trapping, to habitat type (forest composition: conifer, mixed-wood and deciduous) and landscape structure (stand height, stand age, stand heterogeneity and anthropogenic disturbance) at three spatial extents (50 m, 150 m and 300 m) around each site. 4Relative abundances of northern flying squirrel populations in northern and western Alberta were similar to those previously reported from other regions of North America. Capture rates were variable among sites, but showed no trends with respect to year or provincial natural region (foothills vs. boreal). 5Average flying squirrel abundance was similar in all habitats, with increased values within mixed-wood stands at large spatial extents (300 m) and within deciduous-dominated stands at smaller spatial extents (50 m). No relationship was found between squirrel abundance and conifer composition or stand age at any spatial extent. 6None of the landscape variables calculated from GIS forest inventories predicted squirrel abundance at the 50-m or 150-m spatial extents. However, at the 300-m spatial extent we found a negative, significant relationship between average stand height and squirrel abundance. 7Synthesis and applications. Boreal and foothill populations of northern flying squirrel in Canada appear unrelated to landscape composition at the relatively large spatial resolutions characteristic of resource inventory data commonly used for management and planning in these regions. Flying squirrel populations do not appear clearly associated with old-aged or conifer forests; rather, they appear as habitat generalists. This study suggests that northern, interior populations of northern flying squirrel are probably more related to stand-level components of forest structure, such as food, microclimate (e.g. moisture) and understorey complexity, variables not commonly available in large-scale digital map inventories. We conclude that the available digital habitat data potentially exclude relevant, spatially dependent information and could be used inappropriately for predicting the abundance of some species in management decision making. [source] Entre Ríos Seedeater (Sporophila zelichi): a species that never wasJOURNAL OF FIELD ORNITHOLOGY, Issue 4 2008Juan I. Areta ABSTRACT Entre Ríos Seedeaters (Sporophila zelichi), also called Zelich's Seedeaters, White-collared Seedeaters, and Narosky's Seedeaters, are one of the rarest birds in the Neotropics. However, doubts have been raised about the validity of this species. Therefore, I evaluated the systematic status of Entre Ríos Seedeaters based on analysis of previously unpublished vocal and habitat data. I tested four hypotheses regarding the systematic status of S. zelichi: Good Species Hypothesis (valid species), Hybridization Hypothesis (hybrid S. palustris×S. cinnamomea), Color Morph Hypothesis I (morph of S. cinnamomea), and Color Morph Hypothesis II (morph of S. palustris). The songs and preferred habitat of S. zelichi are indistinguishable from those of Marsh Seedeaters (S. palustris), and the songs of both forms have exhibited similar changes from the early 1990s to 2003,2007. In contrast, the songs and preferred habitat of Chestnut Seedeaters (S. cinnamomea) differ from those of S. zelichi. Therefore, the Good Species Hypothesis is rejected by vocalization and habitat data, the Hybrid Hypothesis is undermined by the absence of shared vocal characters and limited habitat overlap of the proposed parental forms S. cinnamomea/S. palustris, and Color Morph Hypothesis I is rejected by both song and habitat data. However, Color Morph Hypothesis II is supported by both song and habitat data. Thus, I propose that S. zelichi be considered a color morph of S. palustris. SINOPSIS El Capuchino de Collar Blanco (S. zelichi) es una de las aves más raras del Neotrópico. Su validez como especie se ha puesto en duda repetidas veces. Por esto, evalué el status de S. zelichi basándome en el análisis de datos de vocalizaciones y hábitat previamente no publicados. Pongo a prueba explícitamente cuatro hipótesis sobre el estatus sistemático de S. zelichi: hipótesis de especie buena (especie válida), hipótesis de hibridación (híbrido S. palustris x S. cinnamomea), morfo de color I (morfo de S. cinnamomea) y morfo de color II (S. palustris). El Capuchino de Collar Blanco es indistinguible del Capuchino Pecho Blanco (S. palustris) tanto en voces como en hábitat preferido, y las vocalizaciones de ambos cambiaron en tándem entre principios de los 1990's y 2003,2007. El Capuchino Castaño (S. cinnamomea) difiere marcadamende de S. zelichi en vocalizaciones y hábitat preferido. Por lo tanto, la hipótesis de especie buena es refutada por los datos de vocalizaciones y hábitat, la hipótesis de hibridación no es apoyada por la falta de caracteres vocales compartidos y la escasa superposición de hábitat entre sus supuestas formas parentales S. cinnamomea/S. palustris, la hipótesis de morfo de color I es refutada por los datos de vocalizaciones y hábitat. Sin embargo, la hipótesis de morfo de color II es fuertemente corroborada por los datos de vocalizaciones y hábitat. Propongo tratar a S. zelichi como morfo de color de S. palustris. [source] Modelling the distribution of badgers Meles meles: comparing predictions from field-based and remotely derived habitat dataMAMMAL REVIEW, Issue 1 2007GERALDINE NEWTON-CROSS ABSTRACT 1Environmental heterogeneity is important in determining the distribution and abundance of organisms at various spatial scales. The ability to understand and predict distribution patterns is important for solving many management problems in conservation biology and wildlife epidemiology. 2The badger Meles meles is a highly adaptable, medium-sized carnivore, distributed throughout temperate Eurasia, which shows a wide diversity of social and spatial organization. Within Britain, badgers are not only legally protected, but they also serve as a wildlife host for bovine tuberculosis Mycobacterium bovis. An evaluation of the role of badgers in the dynamics of this infection depends on understanding the responses of badgers to the environment at different spatial scales. 3The use of digital data to provide information on habitats for distribution models is becoming common. Digital data are increasingly accessible and are generally cheaper than field surveys. There has been little research, however, to compare the accuracy of models based on field-derived and remotely derived data. 4In this paper, we make quantified comparisons between large-scale presence/absence models for badgers in Britain, based on field-surveyed habitat data and remotely derived digital data, comprising elevation, geology and soil. 5We developed four models: 1980s badger survey data using field-based and digital data, and 1990s badger survey data using field-based and digital data. We divided each of the four datasets into two subsets and used one subset for training (developing) the model and the other for testing it. 6All four training models had classification accuracies in excess of 69%. The models generated from digital data were slightly more accurate than those generated from field-derived habitat data. 7The high classificatory ability of the digital-based models suggests that the use of digital data may overcome many of the problems associated with field data in wildlife-habitat modelling, such as cost and restricted geographical coverage, without any significant impact on model performance for some species. The more widespread use of digital data in wildlife-habitat models should enhance their accuracy, repeatability and applicability and make them better-suited as tools to aid policy- and decision-making processes. [source] Habitat suitability analysis for lacustrine brown trout (Salmo trutta) in Lake Walchensee, Germany: implications for the conservation of an endangered flagship speciesAQUATIC CONSERVATION: MARINE AND FRESHWATER ECOSYSTEMS, Issue 1 2010Marco Denic Abstract 1.The lacustrine brown trout (Salmo trutta) is endangered and of high conservation importance. In the only spawning habitat of the population in the Bavarian Lake Walchensee, the River Obernach, a substantial decrease in spawning runs has been reported. In this study, the present ecological state of the spawning stream was analysed with the objective of identifying life-stage specific limitations to successful recruitment attributable to deficiencies in (i) spawning migration, (ii) spawning habitat quality, and (iii) habitat quality for juveniles. 2.Structural stream analysis showed that discharge and several migration barriers , particularly near the river outlet into the lake , prevent successful spawning migrations at normal water levels. Migration barriers are probably the main limiting factor for reproduction of lacustrine brown trout, whereas structural variability of the Obernach meets the habitat requirements of both spawners and juveniles. 3.Spawning site quality was suitable for trout, as indicated by stream substratum texture and high exchange rates between free-flowing water and the interstitial zone in physico-chemical parameters (redox potential, dissolved oxygen, pH, temperature and conductivity). 4.Analyses of fish community structure revealed dominance of lithophilic species, in particular of riverine brown trout (Salmo trutta). Its density and intact demographic population structure suggest that spawning and juvenile habitat quality for salmonids is not limiting. Recapture of stocked lacustrine trout juveniles also indicates habitat suitability for the juvenile stage. 5.In conclusion, the results show that the methodology used in this study is suitable for the identification of life-stage specific habitat deficiencies in lacustrine brown trout and other fish species. Availability of habitat data throughout the species' distribution range is a first crucial step for the development of an effective recovery plan. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] | ||||||||||