The Use of Remote Sensing in Habitat Management for Wildlife

1
The Use of Remote Sensing in Habitat Management
for Wildlife
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• Helen Holdsworth
• EES 5053
• University of Texas at San Antonio
• December 2, 2006

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Problem Statement

• Habitat fragmentation and urban encroachment are
  two of the major factors threatening wildlife
  species around the world.

The ability to accurately assess habitat with
remote sensing imagery should allow researchers
to be more specific in their assessments and
recommendations for habitat management.
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Overview

• Introduction
• Methods
• Results
• Management Implications
• Conclusions

fcit.usf.edu
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animals.timduru.org
4
Landscape Metrics Associated with Habitat Use by
Ocelots in South Texas

• Hypothesis Prefer large patches of closed canopy
  avoid large patches of unsuitable habitat
• Location Laguna Atascosa National Wildlife
  Refuge

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Methods

• August 1991 Landsat Thematic Mapper imagery
• Aerial photos
• Digital orthophoto quadrangles

Image from TNRIS
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Methods

• Used supervised and unsupervised classification
  for better accuracy
• 4 land cover classes
• Urban/barren
• Water
• Closed canopy
• Open canopy

Image from published paper, Journal of Wildlife
Management
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Methods

• Landscape Metrics
• Number of patches
• Shape
• Patch size
• Edge
• Mean nearest neighbor

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Results Management Implications
Image from Google Earth

• Closed canopy shows a great degree of
  fragmentation.
• Ocelots used the largest patches available.
• Decisions must consider size, shape, and edge.
• Consider conserving areas with smaller patches.

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Landscape Models to Predict the Influence of
Forest Structure on Tassel-Eared Squirrel
Populations

• Question Which characteristic best predicts
  squirrel density recruitment?
• Location Mogollon Plateau in northern Arizona

Image from www.forestera.nau.edu/vw2/images/wmpala
__assess_area.gif
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Methods

• Data from Forest Ecosystem Restoration Analysis
• Ground measurements
• Digital orthophotos
• ETM imagery

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Results Management Implications

• Squirrel density best predicted by basel area
• Recruitment best predicted by canopy cover
• Remove smaller trees
• Leave larger patches with moderate-to-high canopy
  cover

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Identifying Suitable Sites for Florida Panther
Reintroduction

• Question Which areas would be good for panther
  reintroduction?
• Location Historic range of panther

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Methods

• GIS map layers at 500 x 500 m
• 1992 National Land Cover Data

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Results Management Implications

• Identified 9 potential sites with the historic
  range
• Need field survey at local scale to verify
• Need remote inaccessible areas

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Analysis of The Use of Remote Sensing
Ocelot Research

• 1991 Landsat Thematic Mapper
• Spatial resolution of 30 m on bands 1-5, 7
• Spatial resolution of 120 m on band 6
• No problems reported

http//edcsns17.cr.usgs.gov/EarthExplorer/
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Analysis of The Use of Remote Sensing
Squirrel Research

• Enhance Thematic Mapper Plus (ETM)
• Spatial resolution of 30 m on bands 1-5, 7
• Spatial resolution of 120 m on band 6
• Spatial resolution of 15 m on band 8
• No problems reported

http//edcsns17.cr.usgs.gov/EarthExplorer/
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Analysis of The Use of Remote Sensing
Panther Research

• GIS map layers at 500 x 500 m
• 1992 National Land Cover Data
• Could not incorporate fine scale characteristics

http//edcsns17.cr.usgs.gov/EarthExplorer/
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Conclusions
www.treknature.com

• Many imagery tools available
• What you use depends on your resources
• Should see more research and recommendations
  based on remote imagery use
• Probably always need some ground-truthing

fcit.usf.edu
animals.timduru.org