Post on 02-Jan-2016
Conserving Birds & Their Habitats
Great Plains Landscape Conservation Cooperative Monitoring Grid
Rob Sparks and David Hanni
Conserving birds and their habitats.
Presentation Outline
• Current RMBO monitoring programs
• GPLCC standardized grid
• GPLCC landbird monitoring strata
• Conservation products
Conserving birds and their habitats.
Guidelines for Avian Monitoring
Goal 1: Integrate monitoring into bird management and conservation practices.
Goal 2: Coordinate monitoring programs among organizations and integrate them across spatial scales.
Goal 3: Increase the value of monitoring information by improving statistical design.
Goal 4: Maintain bird population monitoring data in modern data management systems.
http://www.nabci-us.org/aboutnabci/monitoringreportfinal0307.pdf
Conserving birds and their habitats.
Our Objectives
1) Provide a design framework to integrate bird monitoring efforts
2) Precisely estimate distribution, density, site occupancy, population trends and species richness
3) Provide habitat association data relevant to landscape changes
4) Maintain a high-quality database, accessible online
5) Create decision support tools to help guide conservation efforts
Conserving birds and their habitats.
Bird Conservation Regions
Conserving birds and their habitats.
Current Monitoring Programs
All lands in BCR 17
All lands in CO, WY and MT
Portions of 9 additional states
All BLM lands in: CO, WY, MT, ND, SD
All USFS lands in Regions 1 & 2 (CO, WY, NE, KS, SD, ND, ID, MT)
3 National Forests in Region 3(Kaibab, Coconino, Prescott)
Conserving birds and their habitats.
2010 Landbird Monitoring
Conserving birds and their habitats.
Colorado Division of WildlifeWyoming Game and Fish DepartmentMontana Fish, Wildlife and ParksSouth Dakota Game, Fish and ParksUSFS: 27 National Forests, 9 National
Grasslands, 4 regions, 12 statesBLM in 5 statesNational Park Service…(continued)
Current Partnerships
Conserving birds and their habitats.
Northern Great Plains Joint VentureAudubon WyomingWyoming Natural Diversity DatabaseMontana Natural Heritage ProgramIdaho Bird ObservatoryAvian Science CenterGreat Plains Landscape Conservation
Cooperative
Current Partnerships (cont.)
Conserving birds and their habitats.
Sampling Design and Methods
• Sampling Frame• Sampling Units• Sample Selection• Sample Allocation (effort)• Sampling Methods
Conserving birds and their habitats.
Sampling Frame: BCRs
Conserving birds and their habitats.
Sampling Units
1 km2 cell
Step 1: Overlay grid on sampling frame
Step 2: Attribute each cell with pertinent data (unique ID, spatial location, land ownership, elevation, soil type, …)
Conserving birds and their habitats.
Sample Selection
Spatially Balanced: Generalized Random Tessellation Stratification (GRTS)
Ensures a spatially balanced distribution of samples within each stratum
~ Random
Analyses can incorporate spatial information in estimation of sampling variance
Conserving birds and their habitats.
• Minimum of 2 samples required/stratum Recommend 10
• Determined by funding partners• May vary annually
Sample Allocation
Conserving birds and their habitats.
Example: Base Sample in BCR 18
Conserving birds and their habitats.
Additional Samples in Colorado
Conserving birds and their habitats.
Additional Samples - Comanche NG
Conserving birds and their habitats.
Sampling methods
• 16 points per cell 250 m spacing 125 m from edge
• 6 minute point count 1 minute intervals
• Record distance to each bird seen or heard
• Record species and sex for each observation
Conserving birds and their habitats.
Questions?
Jeff Jones
Conserving birds and their habitats.
GPLCC Monitoring Grid Objectives
• Create a standardized monitoring grid• USNG or MGRS
• Develop long term bird monitoring strata for GPLCC• Grid attributes
• Select samples• Spatially balanced sampling
– GRTS function in R
Conserving birds and their habitats.
Great Plains LCC
Landscape Conservation Cooperatives (LCCs)
• Science-based Partnerships
• Help guide and coordinate conservation efforts at regional levels
• Great Plains LCC consists of BCRs 18 & 19
Conserving birds and their habitats.
GPLCC Monitoring Grid
• The need for a monitoring framework at the regional level• Spatial context for statistical inferences and
predictions
• USNG Monitoring Grid• Biologists can use grid to monitor a variety of taxa at
multiple scales• Key grid elements: spatial extent, datum/projection,
scalability, standards
Conserving birds and their habitats.
US National Grid (USNG)
• USNG identified as a potential standard for monitoring populations at regional levels
• Developed by FGDC for emergency response coordination
• 1-km square grid cells
• Contains key elements for a proper monitoring grid (national coverage, commonly used datum/projection, scalable)
Conserving birds and their habitats.
USNG (cont.)
• Based on the NAD 83 geographic coordinate system• Universal Transverse Mercator (UTM)
projection• Similar to the Military Grid Reference
System (MGRS)• MGRS uses WGS 84 datum
• Covers the entire United States• MGRS worldwide coverage
Conserving birds and their habitats.
USNG Scalability• The unique addressing system for the USNG allows
scalability from 100,000-km square to 1-m square. • Labeling system
– UTM Zone Designation. – 100,000-meter square designation– USNG: unique grid coordinates for a 1-km square
• Eastings/Northings
• Each 1-kilometer square grid cell has a spatial address (e.g. 13TGF3437)– Grid zone designator (13T)– 100,000-meter square identification (GF)– Unique grid coordinates (3437)/Eastings (34), Northings (37)
Conserving birds and their habitats.
USNG Issues
• Zipper effect: Cells along UTM zone junctions are smaller than 1-km square. • Only affects 0.33% of grid cells in GPLCC• Causes sampling problems; may bias estimates• Many possible solutions
– Remove zipper cells– Merge zipper cells to adjacent cells– Overlap zone junction cells
Conserving birds and their habitats.
Zipper Effect
Conserving birds and their habitats.
Zipper Effect Solution: Merge Cells
• Merged cells smaller than 0.95-km square into their adjacent cells• Equal probability of being
selected• No gaps or overlap• If selected for sampling, a 1-
km square will be randomly placed inside cell
Conserving birds and their habitats.
Grid Attribution
• We used GIS to attribute GPLCC grid• NRCS Soils
• NRCS Major Land Resource Areas (ecoregions)
• Federally owned or managed lands
• National Hydrography Dataset (NHD) Strahler order
• USFS proclaimed boundaries
• Nebraska: Biologically Unique Landscapes
• Priority Conservation Areas
Conserving birds and their habitats.
Final Product
• ArcGIS geodatabase• Grid datasets established by UTM zone, State,
and BCR–Location of cell centroid
• Naming convention:“STATE_USNG_UTMxx_BCRxx”
Example: CO_USNG_UTM13_BCR18
Conserving birds and their habitats.
Benefits of a standardized grid
• Same starting point• Spatial continuity across different projects
• Decrease project costs, necessary labor, and duplicate sampling efforts• No need to create multiple grids for multiple
projects
Conserving birds and their habitats.
Benefits (Cont.)
• Should improve partnership coordination at the landscape and local level to accomplish shared conservation goals (ABC and NBII)
• Can also be used for other monitoring programs• FLAM surveys across western US• Bat surveys USFS• Grouse Surveys CDOW
Conserving birds and their habitats.
Stratification Development
Stratification should be defined by areas to which we want to make inferences
Strata are based on fixed attributes • Federal/state land ownership• Elevation, latitude, soil type, ecoregion
All vegetation types available for sampling
Flexible: Each state within the BCR and each BCR within a state can be stratified differently (depending on local needs)
Conserving birds and their habitats.
GPLCC Stratification
Strata based on GIS layers:• NRCS Ecoregions • Soils• Federal Land Ownership• Rivers (Strahler order)• Biologically Unique
Landscapes (NE)• Priority Conservation Areas
Conserving birds and their habitats.
NE BCR 18 Strata
• Pine Ridge BUL• Wildcat Hills BUL• Niobrara River• Oglala N.G• Agate Fossil Beds
N.M
Conserving birds and their habitats.
NE BCR 19 Strata
• Rainwater Basin• Loess Uplands
Ecoregion• Niobrara River• Nebraska Sand
Hills Ecoregion• Rolling Plains and
Breaks Ecoregion• Crescent Lake,
Valentine NWR
Conserving birds and their habitats.
WY BCR 18 Strata
• BLM lands• DOD lands• All other lands
Conserving birds and their habitats.
NM BCR 18 Strata
• Soils• Alfisols• Aridosols• Entisols• Inceptisols• Mollisols• Vertisols• Rock Outcrop
• Rivers
Conserving birds and their habitats.
KS BCR 18 Strata
• Priority Conservation Areas
• Central High Tableland Ecoregion
• Cimarron N.G• Rivers
Conserving birds and their habitats.
KS BCR 19 Strata
• Priority Conservation Areas
• Rivers• All Other
Conserving birds and their habitats.
CO BCR 18 Strata
• Pawnee N.G• Comanche N.G• DOD lands• North of Platte R. • Platte River• Platte R. to I-70• I-70 to Arkansas R. • Arkansas River• South of Arkansas
River
Conserving birds and their habitats.
OK BCR 18 Strata
• Southern High Plains Northern Part Ecoregion (Private lands)
• Rita Blanca N.G.• Rivers
Conserving birds and their habitats.
OK BCR 19 Strata• Black Kettle N.G.• Ecoregions:
North Cross Timbers
Central Rolling Red Plains
Southern High Plains & Breaks
Central Rolling Red Prairies
Wichita Mtns• Rivers• USFWS
Conserving birds and their habitats.
TX BCR 18 Strata
• Rita Blanca N.G.• Ecoregions:
Southern High Plains N. Part
Southern High Plains S. Part
Edwards PlateauSouthern Desertic
Basins• Rivers• USFWS
Conserving birds and their habitats.
Integrating USNG Grids
• USFWS lands• Muleshoe National Wildlife Refuge
– 250 meter USNG grids nesting in the 1km grids– Repeat visits– Same methods
Conserving birds and their habitats.
Muleshoe National Wildlife Refuge
Conserving birds and their habitats.
TX BCR 19 Strata
• Ecoregions:
Southern High Plains Breaks
Central Rolling Plains Red Prairies
Central Rolling Plains W. Part
Edwards Plateau• Rivers
Conserving birds and their habitats.
• Collaboration• Shared costs among partners• Handles fluctuating funding• Ability to compare bird trend to habitat trend• Ability to compare local to regional results• Flexibility in stratification• All vegetation types available for sampling• Can be (is) used for other taxa
Benefits of Integrated Monitoring
Conserving birds and their habitats.
Questions?
Bill Schmoker
Conserving birds and their habitats.
Conservation products
• Density/Occupancy estimates• BCR/State level• Stratum level
• Habitat occupancies at multiple scales• Brewer’s Sparrow
• Maxent modeling• Grasshopper Sparrow• Chestnut-collared Longspur
Conserving birds and their habitats.
Analytical methods
Estimate detection probability and density• Distance sampling (Buckland et al. 2001)
• Removal sampling (Farnsworth et al. 2002)
Estimate detection probability and occupancy rate
• Combined Removal and Occupancy modeling (Pavlacky et al. in press)
Habitat modeling
Conserving birds and their habitats.
Results: Density and Abundance
Example: Brewer’s Sparrow
D N %CV n
Pawnee N.G 12.22 213,801 31 84
Comanche N.G 6.78 32,811 71 8
Colorado BCR 18 4.92 558,368 33 55
Conserving birds and their habitats.
Results: Site Occupancy
Example: Brewer’s Sparrow
Psi %CV n Tran
Pawnee N.G 0.222 63 2
Comanche N.G 0.293 61 2
Colorado BCR 18 0.253 28 15
Conserving birds and their habitats.
Habitat occupancy at multiple scales
• Can large-scale monitoring inform habitat management local scales?
• Local scale• Territory occupancy
• Habitat condition
• Habitat degradation
• Large scale• Regional occupancy
• Landscape context
• Habitat loss and fragmentation
Conserving birds and their habitats.
Brewer’s Sparrow (Spizella breweri)
• Southern Rockies / Colorado Plateau Bird Conservation Region (BCR 16)
• Sagebrush obligate
• Species of conservation concern
• BBS: 50% decline in 25 years
Conserving birds and their habitats.
Predicted distribution: BCR 16
Wyoming
ColoradoProbability of occupancy0.30 - 0.390.40 - 0.490.50 - 0.590.60 - 0.690.70 - 0.790.80 - 0.890.90 - 1.00
Conserving birds and their habitats.
Large-scale regional occupancy
Sagebrush area (%)
0 20 40 60 80 100
Pro
babi
lity
of la
rge-
scal
e oc
cup
ancy
(P
si)
0.0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
1.0
Mean patch size of sagebrush (ha)
0 20 40 60 80 100P
roba
bilit
y of
larg
e-sc
ale
occu
panc
y (P
si)
0.0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
1.0
Conserving birds and their habitats.
Small-scale territory occupancy
Sagebrush cover (%)
0 10 20 30 40 50
Pro
babi
lity
of s
ma
ll-sc
ale
occu
panc
y (T
heta
)
0.0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
Tree canopy cover (%)
0 20 40 60 80P
roba
bilit
y of
sm
all-
scal
e oc
cupa
ncy
(The
ta)
0.0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
Conserving birds and their habitats.
Small-scale territory occupancy
Grass height (cm)
0 10 20 30 40 50 60P
roba
bilit
y of
sm
all-
scal
e oc
cupa
ncy
(The
ta)
0.0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
Shrub height of all species (m)
0 1 2 3 4
Pro
babi
lity
of s
ma
ll-sc
ale
occu
panc
y (T
heta
)
0.0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
Conserving birds and their habitats.
South Dakota
Maximum Entropy Models
Conserving birds and their habitats.
South Dakota
Maximum Entropy Models
Conserving birds and their habitats.
Questions?
Jim Watson