Abstract
 Predicting Changes in Grizzly Bear Habitat Quality Using Geoprocessing Scripts Track: Forestry, Wildlife, and Fisheries Management Author(s): Jerome Cranston This paper describes how a Python geoprocessing script enables resource planners to predict changes in grizzly bear habitat quality caused by forestry development. Since 1999, the Foothills Model Forest Grizzly Bear Research Program (FMFGBRP) has been studying grizzly bears (Ursus arctos) to provide land managers with the knowledge and tools to ensure the long-term conservation of this species in Alberta. Raster-based GIS maps have been created covering 54 percent of the grizzly bear range in Alberta that combine GPS locations with remote sensing imagery to model two aspects of grizzly bear habitat quality--resource availability and security--as a function of landscape variables such as vegetation, terrain, and human access. The FMFGBRP has developed a script that incorporates proposed development scenarios into landscape variables and regenerates the habitat models based on these new inputs. Jerome Cranston Foothills Model Forest GIS Box 6330 1176 Switzer Dr. Hinton , Alberta T7V 1X6 CA Phone: (780) 865-8312 E-mail: jerome.cranston@gov.ab.ca |
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