Predicting the distribution of Eastern Grey Kangaroos by remote sensing assessment of food resources.

This study demonstrates how the distribution of animals can be described using remotely sensed data at a scale in the order of square kilometers. Kangaroo distribution has been monitored at regional scales using aerial surveys and detailed field study. This study attempts to fill the gap between local and regional scales by using Landsat derived vegetation characteristics to provide animal distribution details at local scale. Field surveys of Eastern Grey kangaroos and vegetation biomass were undertaken at the Warrumbungle National Park, New South Wales, Australia. The distribution and abundance of kangaroos and plant biomass were compared with remotely sensed vegetation characteristics taken from Landsat TM imagery. The distribution of green, short (< 5cm) blade grass biomass (the preferred kangaroo food resource) was patchy and positively correlated with kangaroo density and Landsat spectral bands 1, 2, 3 and a principal component combination of bands 1-7 (excluding band 6). Total population density was positively correlated with blade grass biomass and Landsat band 3. The dispersion of kangaroos within habitats was patchy, even though the Landsat image defined habitats as being homogeneous. This study clearly demonstrates the value of Landsat data to environmental management in the past and present

Native vegetation of the southern forests : south-east highlands, Australian alps, south-west Slopes, and SE Corner bioregions

The Southern Forests study area covers an area of about six million hectares of south-eastern New South Wales, south of Oberon and Kiama and east of Albury and Boorowa (latitude 33° 02’–37 ° 06’ S; longitude 146° 56’ – 147° 06’ E). The total area of existing vegetation mapped was three million hectares (3 120 400 hectares) or about 50% of the study area. Terrestrial, wetland and estuarine vegetation of the Southern Forests region were classified into 206 vegetation groups and mapped at a scale between 1: 25 000 and 1: 100 000. The classification was based on a cluster analysis of detailed field surveys of vascular plants, as well as field knowledge in the absence of field survey data. The primary classification was based on 3740 vegetation samples with full floristics cover abundance data. Additional classifications of full floristics presence-absence and tree canopy data were carried out to guide mapping in areas with few full floristic samples. The mapping of extant vegetation was carried out by tagging vegetation polygons with vegetation codes, guided by expert knowledge, using field survey data classified into vegetation groups, remote sensing, and other environmental spatial data. The mapping of pre-1750 vegetation involved tagging of soils mapping with vegetation codes at 1: 100 000 scale, guided by spatial modelling of vegetation groups using generalised additive statistical models (GAMS), and expert knowledge. Profiles of each of the vegetation groups on the CD-ROM* provide key indicator species, descriptions, statistics and lists of informative plant species. The 206 vegetation groups cover the full range of natural vegetation, including rainforests, moist eucalypt forests, dry shrub forests, grassy forests, mallee low forests, heathlands, shrublands, grasslands and wetlands. There are 138 groups of Eucalyptus forests or woodlands, 12 rainforest groups, and 46 non-forest groups. Of the 206 groups, 193 were classified and mapped in the study area. Thirteen vegetation groups were not mapped because of their small size and lack of samples, or because they fell outside the study area. Updated regional extant and pre-1750 vegetation maps of southern New South Wales have been produced in 2005, based on those originally prepared in 2000 for the southern Regional Forest Agreement (RFA). Further validation and remapping of extant vegetation over 10% of the study area has subsequently improved the quality of the vegetation map, and removed some of the errors in the original version. The revised map provides a reasonable representation of native vegetation at a scale between 1: 25 000 and 1: 100 000 across the study area. In 2005 native vegetation covers 50% of the study area. Environmental pressures on the remaining vegetation include clearing, habitat degradation from weeds and nutrification, severe droughts, changing fire regimes, and urbanisation. Grassy woodlands and forests, temperate grasslands, and coastal and riparian vegetation have been the most reduced in areal extent. Over 90% of the grassy woodlands and temperate grasslands have been lost. Conservation of the remaining vegetation in these formations is problematic because of the small, discontinuous, and degraded nature of the remaining patches of vegetation

Applications of GIS and Remote Sensing for the Characterization of Habitat for Threatened and Endangered Species

Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and remote sensing technologies were used to identify and describe potential habitat for three species endemic to the Southwestern United States; the Golden-cheeked Warbler (Dendroica chrysoparia), the Black-capped Vireo (Vireo atricapillus), and the Texas kangaroo rat (Dipodomys elator). For each species, the computerized classification of digital satellite imagery was integrated with ancillary spatial information (e.g. soils, geology, and land use) to construct a data base to be used for ecological evaluation as well as habitat protection and management measures

Ecology of the desert kit fox (Vulpes macrotis arsipus) in Chuckwalla Valley, California

The desert kit fox (Vulpes macrotis arsipus) is an uncommon to rare inhabitant of the Mojave and Colorado deserts in California. This previously low-key subspecies is now being threatened by a suite of direct and indirect impacts due to the rapid increase in large-scale industrial renewable energy development in important habitat areas. This study attempts to assess habitat selection by desert kit foxes in Chuckwalla Valley, CA, in the context of the increasing presence of solar energy project sites in the area. An Unmanned Aerial System (UAS) was used to assess desert kit fox burrow and vegetation density from aerial imagery, and line-transect surveys were conducted to assess desert kit fox scat, prey, and predator densities. The presence of localized land development and an existing Habitat Suitability Index were assessed using GIS. The relationship between these variables and the desert kit foxes was assessed by fitting Generalized Linear Models. I found that ecological predictors of desert kit fox habitat occupancy gauged by burrow density can contradict those of habitat use gauged by scat density. Thus, habitat suitability and habitat connectivity may be impacted differently by land development. Proximity to development directly influenced habitat occupancy and use models as well. The Habitat Suitability Index based on widely accepted desert kit fox ecology was strongly contradicted by regression results and individual observations. In addition, coyote presence was found to negatively impact habitat occupancy and use, which suggests that water availability associated with land development may indirectly impact desert kit foxes. I conclude that current knowledge and the assumptions of cumulative impacts of land development are inadequate for the assessment of the impacts of large-scale renewable energy development in desert kit fox habitat

Predictively Mapping the Plant Associations of the North Fork John Day Wilderness in Northeastern Oregon Using Classification Tree Modeling

Shifting perspectives on restoration and management of public lands in the inland West have resulted in an increased need for maps of potential natural vegetation which cover large areas at sufficient scale to delineate individual stands . In this study, classification tree modeling was used to predictively model and map the plant association types of a relatively undisturbed wilderness area in the Blue Mountains of northeastern Oregon. Models were developed using field data and data derived from a geographic information system database. Elevation, slope, aspect, annual precipitation, solar radiation, soil type, and topographic position were important predictor variables. The model predicted plant association types with a relatively high degree of accuracy for most plant association types, with the lowest accuracy for the types within the grand fir series. Fuzzy confusion analysis was used to analyze model performance, and indicated the overall model accuracy was 72%

Remote sensing and geographic information systems: charting Sin Nombre virus infections in deer mice.

We tested environmental data from remote sensing and geographic information system maps as indicators of Sin Nombre virus (SNV) infections in deer mouse (Peromyscus maniculatus) populations in the Walker River Basin, Nevada and California. We determined by serologic testing the presence of SNV infections in deer mice from 144 field sites. We used remote sensing and geographic information systems data to characterize the vegetation type and density, elevation, slope, and hydrologic features of each site. The data retroactively predicted infection status of deer mice with up to 80% accuracy. If models of SNV temporal dynamics can be integrated with baseline spatial models, human risk for infection may be assessed with reasonable accuracy

The Ecological Benefits of Protected Areas in California Funded Through Local Direct Democracy

Recent research shows current conservation funding falls short of what is required to meet conservation targets. However the expansion of conventional funding sources to bridge this shortfall is not likely to occur. Conservation organizations may be able to leverage unconventional funding sources and protection mechanisms, such as protected areas (PAs) funded through the local ballot box, to fill the gap. However, there are concerns that such PAs may be biased in their protection. Additionally, before other forms of conservation can be included in planning, the quality of the benefit provided must be confirmed. In Chapter 1, we show how the protection of species and habitat types by ballot box PAs compares to two PA types funded by more conventional means in the state of California. We make these comparisons using two different data types for species and habitat types: presence and proportion of range covered. We find that ballot box PAs do not protect a different number of habitat types than would be expected from random nor do they represent habitat types disproportionally different than are found across the entire state of California. We find mixed results for species that are affected by the data type (presence vs. range) and species class (e.g. amphibian, bird, mammal, reptile). In Chapter 2, we show how the condition of PAs funded through action by local communities at the ballot box compares to protected areas funded by a state public agency as estimated by coverage by exotic species. We then show if properties of the PAs or human-mediated onsite disturbance are able to predict the coverage by exotic species. We find that exotic species coverage does not differ between PA types. In our sample, elevation was the only significant predictor of exotic species coverage. Our findings suggest that ballot box PAs protect representative habitat types, but may disproportionately protect more common species and that ballot PAs are in no poorer condition than a conventional PA type funded by a state public agency

Anthropogenic water sources and the effects on Sonoran Desert small mammal communities

abstract: Anthropogenic water sources (AWS) are developed water sources used as a management tool for desert wildlife species. Studies documenting the effects of AWS are often focused on game species; whereas, the effects on non-target wildlife are less understood. We used live trapping techniques to investigate rodent abundance, biomass, and diversity metrics near AWS and paired control sites; we sampled vegetation to determine rodent-habitat associations in the Sauceda Mountains of the Sonoran Desert in Arizona. A total of 370 individual mammals representing three genera and eight species were captured in 4,800 trap nights from winter 2011 to spring 2012. A multi-response permutation procedure was used to identify differences in small mammal community abundance and biomass by season and treatment. Rodent abundance, biomass, and richness were greater at AWS compared to control sites. Patterns of abundance and biomass were driven by the desert pocket mouse (Chaetodipus penicillatus) which was the most common capture and two times more numerous at AWS compared to controls. Vegetation characteristics, explored using principal components analysis, were similar between AWS and controls. Two species that prefer vegetation structure, Bailey’s pocket mouse (C. baileyi) and white-throated woodrat (Neotoma albigula), had greater abundances and biomass near AWS and were associated with habitat having high cactus density. Although small mammals do not drink free-water, perhaps higher abundances of some species of desert rodents at AWS could be related to artificial structure associated with construction or other resources. Compared to the 30-year average of precipitation for the area, the period of our study occurred during a dry winter. During dry periods, perhaps AWS provide resources to rodents related to moisture.The final version of this article, as published in PeerJ, can be viewed online at: https://peerj.com/articles/4003

The Role of Landscape in the Distribution of Deer-Vehicle Collisions in Two Counties in South-Central Mississippi

The number of deer killed by vehicle collisions each year in the United States exceeds the number of deer killed annually through hunting. Deer-vehicle collisions (DVCs) have a vast negative impact on the economy, traffic safety, and general wellbeing of otherwise healthy deer populations. To mitigate DVCs, it is imperative to gain a better understanding of the factors that play a role in their spatial distribution. Much of the existing research has been inconclusive, pointing to a variety of factors that cause DVCs that are specific to study site and region. Very little DVC research has been undertaken in the southern United States, which makes the region particularly important with regard to this issue. Through the use of GIS, remotely sensed imagery, and statistical analysis, this thesis evaluates landscape factors that contribute to the spatial distribution of DVCs within Forrest and Lamar Counties in Mississippi

Pleistocene divergence of two disjunct conifers in the eastern Australian temperate zone

The eastern Australian temperate biota harbours many plants with fragmented geographic ranges distributed over 1000s of kilometres, yet the spatial genetic structure of their populations remains largely unstudied. In this study, we investigated genetic variation of the nuclear internal transcribed spacer (ITS) and chloroplast DNA sequences to disentangle the phylogeography of two widely distributed but highly fragmented eastern Australian fire-sensitive temperate conifers: Callitris oblonga (12 populations and 121 individuals) and C. rhomboidea (22 populations and 263 individuals). The three highly disjunct populations of C. oblonga all had unique chloroplast and ITS haplotypes consistent with the classification of these three populations as distinct subspecies. Molecular dating indicates that divergences of these populations occurred pre- to mid- Pleistocene (2.66 to 1.08 mya). Callitris rhomboidea showed greater diversity of chloroplast haplotypes which was strongly phylogeographically structured (Gst = 0.972), with haplotypes unique to specific geographic regions. ITS haplotype diversity was far higher than in C. oblonga with 38 haplotypes displaying high geographic structuring (Gst = 0.387) with many population-specific haplotypes. A phylogeographic break was identified between populations north and south of eastern Victoria dated at 0.43–0.47 mya. In both species, the strong genetic structuring of both chloroplast and ITS haplotypes provides evidence that their widespread ranges have resulted from long term persistence in low fire frequency refugia combined with poor dispersal. Any loss of populations due to increasing fire frequency or habitat loss is likely to result in a reduction of genetic diversity