Suburban v Rural Eastern Screech Owls in Texas:

Nested earlier (urban heat island)

Larger clutches (more food)

More and larger fledglings (food and low predation)

More recruits into population

Higher fitness

(McKinney 2002 BioScience 52:883-890)

Controlling Sprawl• Sprawl is a strong driver of the urban footprint

– results in loss, fragmentation, and degradation of habitat

– increases energy use– increases pollution from commuting

• Growth Management is needed to control it– Limits most future growth inside Urban Growth

Boundary– May just displace the problem if regional planning is

not incorporated (leapfrogging)

Growth Management Act - King County Comprehensive Plan

Clustered subdivision has • smaller lots• higher density of homes• majority of the site left as open space

Gillham 2002

Subdivision Planning

standard clustered

Wildlife Conservation in Urban Areas

1. Preserve large areas of habitat the area, numbers, and connectivity of reserves

should be maximized buffers should be maintained around reserves the amount of edge and degree of fragmentation

within reserves should be minimized the scale of reserve planning should be expanded

beyond the local area to include entire watersheds and bioregions

(Marzluff and Ewing 2001)

Wildlife Conservation in Urban Areas

2. Enhance habitat locally• Retain as much natural habitat

as possible (especially new housing)

• Plant native plants, fruit-producing exotics

• Retain understory and snags• Minimize lawn cover

3. Provide essential resources: Places to breed (nest boxes, platforms,

trees) Feeding stations (squirrels, birds) Water Cover (vegetation)

4. Provide protection from domestic predators

• control dog and cat behavior

Wildlife Conservation in Urban Areas

5. Reduce accidental mortality:• Birds crashing into windows

• 3.5 million birds/yr• Birds hitting buildings, towers, etc.

• 1.5 million birds/yr• Avoid planting fruit-bearing plants/trees

next to highways• Clean bird feeders frequently

(Salmonella)

Wildlife Conservation in Urban Areas

6. Support urban planning initiatives and education

• Clustered development• Growth management• Open space preservation

Wildlife Conservation in Urban Areas

Urban Ecology

• Traditional view:‘Natural’ ecosystems impacted by humans

Abiotic & Biotic Components

HUMANS

Urban Ecosystems• Urban Ecology view (one version):

Added layers:start with natural ecosystems (biophysical template)built (physical) systemssocial systems

Abiotic & BioticBuilt systems

Social systems

URBAN ECOLOGY• Brings together ecology of nature and

ecology of humans in the urban environment.

• City as a dynamic organism, composed of multiple systems that interact across different scales with varying intensities.

• Requires interdisciplinary approach.

Alberti & Marzluff (2005)

Impacts of 2nd home developmentM. Kondo, R. Rivera & S.Rullman

• Land conversion in exurban and rural areas has become the nation’s dominant mode of land development

• In areas with particular key natural amenities, second homes may be a significant part of this land conversion

• Much of the second home development occurs in areas that are ecologically sensitive and high in native biodiversity

• Second homes create an increase in the number of households and may lead to more complex ecological consequences than simply the space they occupy

Washington State Counties

Spatial Analysis Results

Common Themes in Both Case Study Counties:• Open space resources drive second home location (shorelines,

public land)

Unique Characteristics of Case Study Counties:• Okanogan

– Small parcels more prone to second home development– Second home location driven by aesthetic rather than

recreational preferences• San Juan

– Ferry access less important to second home owners than primary

– Steep slopes prone to second home development

Interview Findings• Maintain strong ties to the metropolitan area• Escape & privacy strong drivers* • Yet “community” in area of second home also a strong

driver for many• Design/build or landscape management opportunities• Seeking and maintaining an ideal image or “myth”

-looking for unchanging and constant landscape-maintain the character of the area

Low (0-2)

Medium (3-5)

High (6-12)Wal

kabi

lity

Low High

NDVI

Walkable Destinations and NDVI

1 mile

Greenspace, neighborhood walkability, and resident health:J. Tilt, T. Unfried & B. Rocca

NDVI, BMI and Walkability

Low NDVI, High Walkability High NDVI, High Walkability

23

23.5

24

24.5

25

25.5

Low (0-2) Medium (3-5) High (6-12)

Walkability (Number of destination types within 0.4 miles)

BM

I Low NDVIHigh NDVI

ConclusionsDestinations within walking distance from homes

Walking Trips

Vegetation

BMI NDVI Subjective Greenness

Using Predicted Land Cover Change to Predict Changes in Biodiversity in the Central Puget Sound, Washington, USA

Jeffrey Hepinstall, Marina Alberti, John Marzluff

University of Washington

Integrated Conceptual Model of Coupled Natural-Human Systems

Demographic, Markets,And Development

BehaviorsUrbanSim Parcel

Agents and Mechanisms Computational Models

Bird Abundance / Species Richness Model

Ecological Processes

Patch

Land Use/Land CoverInteractions

Land Cover Change Model Pixel

Focal Unit

Pixel probabilitiesof land cover transition

Monte Carlo Simulations

Predicted Land Cover Time 3

Observed Land Cover Time 3

Predicting Landscape Change

Land Cover Time 1

Land CoverTime 2

Multinomial Logit equations of

Land cover transitions

ExplanatoryVariables (n = 68)

Native Forest

Seattle

Cascade Foothills

Land Cover conversions to:-Clearcut forest-Low & Medium Intensity Urban

Forest Functionality:A three-dimensional approach using bird

richness, home values, and resident satisfaction

Dave Oleyar*Dave Oleyar*John WitheyJohn Withey

Andrew Bjorn Andrew Bjorn Adrienne GreveAdrienne Greve

• EconomicEconomic : extraction income, increased property values: extraction income, increased property values

• SocialSocial : recreation and other direct uses, viewshed, : recreation and other direct uses, viewshed, psychological and physical health benefitspsychological and physical health benefits

• EcologicalEcological : biodiversity protection, wildlife habitat, : biodiversity protection, wildlife habitat, ecosystem servicesecosystem services

Forests are Valued in many ways….

• How do How do economic, social, economic, social, and and ecological ecological functions functions interact with each other in an urbanizing area?interact with each other in an urbanizing area?

Different Stakeholders Value Different Forest Functions

Study area is King County, WA

Urban Gradient

URBAN GRADIENT SCOREURBAN GRADIENT SCORE

High

High

LowLow

Population Density (-0.817)Population Density (-0.817)

Distance to nearest forest patch (-0.753)Distance to nearest forest patch (-0.753)

% Forest (0.871)% Forest (0.871)

Size of nearest forest patch (0.709)Size of nearest forest patch (0.709)

• Linking Linking results to results to common common framework framework (gradient)(gradient)

• Examine Examine relative relative tradeoffs tradeoffs among among different different functionsfunctions

Integrating results

Gradient Score

-4 -3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3 4

Pro

porti

on o

f Max

imum

Fun

ctio

n V

alue

0.0

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

1.0

Home sales price effects(max = 6.6% premium)

Satisfaction with neighborhood(max = 1.6 adjusted factor score)Bird species richness(max = 16 species predicted)

Gradient Score-4 -3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3 4

Pro

porti

on o

f Max

imum

Fun

ctio

n V

alue

0.0

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

1.0

Home sales price effects(max = 6.6% premium)

Satisfaction with neighborhood(max = 1.6 adjusted factor score)Bird species richness(max = 16 species predicted)

• Identify areas of interest- divergence, convergenceIdentify areas of interest- divergence, convergence

Integrating results

‘Urban’ ‘Suburban’ ‘Exurban’

Gradient Score-4 -3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3 4

Pro

porti

on o

f Max

imum

Fun

ctio

n V

alue

0.0

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

1.0

Home sales price effects(max = 6.6% premium)

Satisfaction with neighborhood(max = 1.6 adjusted factor score)Bird species richness(max = 16 species predicted)

A B C

Locations and examples of on the ground locations of gradient segments.

‘Urban’

‘Suburban’

‘Exurban’

Wildlife Science Paper:

Due next Thursday, 12 November 2009.

Questions???

In case you are interested in learning more about current studies of wolf/elk dynamics, Dr. Scott Creel from Montana State Univ. is giving a talk today at 400 in the Biology Dept  Seminar:

Behavioral, Ecological, Physiological and Demographic Responses of Elk to Wolves

Location: Physics-Astronomy A102  See the below link for more details :

http://www.biology.washington.edu/index.html?navID=34&qtr=aut