Abstract

Assessment of Fall Shorebird Habitat Availability on Inland-Managed Habitats
Track: Conservation
Authors: Mark Parr

The Gulf Coast Joint Venture (GCJV) is a partnership between federal, state, and non-profit organizations dedicated to the conservation of priority bird habitat along the western U.S. Gulf of Mexico. The GCJV's Shorebird Working Group developed population and habitat objectives for a set of shorebird species that use inland and/or managed wetlands, such as waterfowl impoundments, rice fields, and aquaculture ponds. To determine the amount of this shallow water/mudflat habitat, and the between year variability, we classified Landsat imagery from 1999, 2002, and 2004 into 4 classes: water, flooded vegetation, saturated soil, and other. Additional groundtruthing data was used to estimate the proportion of shallow versus deep water in the inland/agricultural zone, which was then applied to the total water acreage derived from classifications to determine a final amount of shallow water habitat. This information will be used to identify habitat deficits and focus conservation efforts for fall transient shorebirds.