|
Track: Natural Resources and Conservation
Nancy Wright
University of Idaho
Fish & Wildlife Cooperative Research Unit
Univeristy of Idaho/College of Forestry
Moscow, ID 83843
Telephone: 208-885-5788
Fax: 208-885-9080
E-mail: nwright@felis.wildlife.uidaho.edu
Jason Karl, Troy Merrill
CONSERVATION GAP: Applying GAP Analysis to Small Area Management: Two Projects from Idaho
Defining Issue: The use of GAP Analysis to assess biodiversity at the regional level has gained wide acceptance, but most management and planning is conducted locally for small areas. Inappropriate use of regional GAP models at the local level may result in erroneous estimations of biodiversity. New approaches are needed to apply GAP to local level analysis. GIS Solution: Landscape Dynamics Lab uses ARCGRID modeling with vector overlays to demonstrate how data at various scales and resolutions can be combined to address local planning needs. Accuracy is demonstrated using two data sets from Idaho. Methodology: Two separate applications of GAP data conducted for the State of Idaho and local agencies are included in this presentation. Both projects were completed on ArcInfo Version 7.0.4 on Sun SPARC UNIX workstations. The Latah County Planning and Zoning Commission requested maps of the County's critical habitat including wetland and riparian zones, approximate tree size within forested land, and an
estimation of species richness across the County. The critical habitat information would be referenced in their zoning decisions. A rasterized vegetation basemap at 30 m MMU was reclassified into primary shrub, grass, and forest habitats. Riparian and wetland zones were identified from vector stream and soil overlays. Species richness was derived from the combined presence of vertebrate species within the primary habitats. The final product provided a spatial foundation for land use planning that considered the criticalness of biodiversity within the County. Craig Mountain Wildlife Mitigation Area, within the Idaho Department of Fish and Game, requested wildlife/habitat relationship models for their estimated 200 terrestrial vertebrate species. Predicted species distribution maps would be used to monitor habitat while implementing land management objectives and providing recreation facilities within the 100,000 acre WMA. A rasterized vegetation basemap at 30 m MMU was overlaid with stream data from
7.5 min. USGS digital quads. Adaptations of the GAP wildlife/habitat relationship models were run in ARCGRID. Accuracy assessment included expert review and field survey data for breeding birds and woodpeckers. The final product included a hardcopy atlas and an interactive CD-ROM for use in ArcView. Software: These applications were written in ARC Macro Language to run on ARCGRID. The applications demonstrate methods of combining polygon coverages with rasterized basemaps to achieve spatial accuracy in small area applications of GAP.
|
|
