Martin Wyttenbach, master student, Zentr. Naturmanagement ZHAW
Assessing the spatio-temporal pattern of winter sports activities to minimize disturbance in
capercaillie habitats
Move workshop, 27.10.2011
Keywords: GPS logging, backcountry skiing, snowshoeing, Tetrao urogallus, wildlife management, visitor management, recreation ecology, human wildlife conflict, Biosfera Val Mustair
mafreina Management • Freizeit • Natur Move Workshop Zürich, 27.10. 2011
2
Bild tiere im winter
• Info wildtiere
Bild: Roland Graf
Disturbance of capercaillie habitats
mafreina Management • Freizeit • Natur Move Workshop Zürich, 27.10. 2011
3
Problems
• Assessing spatial disturbance effects of
wintersport activities on capercaillies
• Identify and quantify the capercaillie habitats
affected by backcountry skiers and snowshoers
• Find a measure to describe disturbance intensity
-> suggest management actions
mafreina Management • Freizeit • Natur Move Workshop Zürich, 27.10. 2011
4
GPS-LoggingSkitourenrouten Val Müstair
• Skitouren val müstair fokus piz daint
Piz DoraPiz Turettas
Karte: Swisstopo 1:200`000
TschiervStart Touren 2009
Start Touren 2010
mafreina Management • Freizeit • Natur Move Workshop Zürich, 27.10. 2011
5
Piz Dora
Ascent Piz Dora
Karte: Swisstopo 1:200`000
mafreina Management • Freizeit • Natur Move Workshop Zürich, 27.10. 2011
6
Spatial analysisdata
• GPS tracks (ski-/snowboard- and snowshoetours) and official routes were
used as vector line data
• All other data were converted into raster (cell size 25 m)
• buffer of 100 m around GPS tracks (capercaillie flushing distance)
mafreina Management • Freizeit • Natur Move Workshop Zürich, 27.10. 2011
7
1. Line density (simple density)
• Density of GPS tracks within a range of 100 m for each raster cell
(km/km2).
• A straight crossing through the density extent of one raster cell is 200 m
(equalling a density of 0.2 km / 0.0314 km2).
Calculation of crossings
• Total numer of crossings per raster cell (n)
n = (L1 + L2)
D
Spatial analysis
D
L1: 170 mL2: 230 mD: 200m
mafreina Management • Freizeit • Natur Move Workshop Zürich, 27.10. 2011
8
2. Counting
Translation of relative densities into absolute numbers (combination of GPS
tracking and data from camera traps)
• Camera traps: 69 recreationalists per week (average count)
• dataset: 70 GPS tracks passing through the camera trap location
-> density from GPS track data used in the analysis represents an average
number of crossings per week
Spatial analysis
mafreina Management • Freizeit • Natur Move Workshop Zürich, 27.10. 2011
9
3. Classification
1) not affected = no crossings at all;
2) low = 1 to 3 (includes single trips with roaming patterns);
3) medium = 4 to 24
(4) intense = 25 and more.
Spatial analysis
mafreina Management • Freizeit • Natur Move Workshop Zürich, 27.10. 2011
10
Overall densities
Karte: Swisstopo 1:200`000
mafreina Management • Freizeit • Natur Move Workshop Zürich, 27.10. 2011
11
Capercaillie core habitat
mafreina Management • Freizeit • Natur Move Workshop Zürich, 27.10. 2011
12
Improvements
• Trips as vector point data (points per area as a measure
for disturbance)
• Seperate class for brakes -> method to define brakes
• Differenciate ascent and descent
• Further methods to assess spatio-temporal use by
recreationalists?
• Analysis of behavior refering to official routes and
activitys?
mafreina Management • Freizeit • Natur Move Workshop Zürich, 27.10. 2011
13
Thank you for your attention!
mafreina Management • Freizeit • Natur Move Workshop Zürich, 27.10. 2011
14
Questions• Further methods to assess spatio-temporal use by
recreationalists?
• Precision of classification; expl: low 1 – 3 crossings
including roaming patterns -> identification and
classification of roaming patterns
• Analysis of behavior refering to official routes and
activitys?
Top Related