Goal of the Lecture. Lecture Structure. FWF 410: Wildlife Habitat Evaluation. To introduce students to the basic steps of wildlife habitat evaluation.

Transcription

1 FWF 410: Wildlife Habitat Evaluation Matthew J. Gray, Ph.D. College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources University of Tennessee-Knoxville Goal of the Lecture To introduce students to the basic steps of wildlife habitat evaluation. Reading Assignments: Chap 17: Direct & Indirect Methods to Measure Habitat Use First Fourth Order Selection Measuring Food Use & Availability Aggregate Percent vs. Volume Chap 18: Importance of Knowing Autecology Macro- vs. Micro-habitat Features Sampling a Pterocarpus forest in Puerto Rico Lecture Structure I. Goal of Wildlife Habitat Evaluation II. III. Steps to a Wildlife Habitat Analysis Some Important Response Variables 1

2 What were they? Habitat Evaluation Goal To Measure Habitat Components! Abiotic Factors (ambient, water, soil) Biotic Factors (vegetation and animals) Spatial Structure: patches & residing populations In General, survival, reproduction, fitness Habitat Quality!! Habitat components that we measure for research or management are called response variables. 1 Problem Statement 1) Estimation: 2) Correlation: This is your management question. 3) Hypothesis Testing: Obtain an accurate estimate of a response variable. Estimate population size of animals or plants. e.g., How quail are at Kyker Bottoms WMA? Relate a response variable of interest to other variables. Relate animal (or plant) densities to habitat components. e.g., Is quail abundance associated with rainfall, seed production, vertical structure, litter depth? Comparing a response variable between 2 or more populations (treatments). e.g., Is quail abundance different between fall and spring burned warm-season grass fields? 2 Construct List of Response Variables This is what you want to measure to answer your question. NOTE: In order to formulate a good question and compile a list of reasonable variables, often a LITERATURE REVIEW is necessary. Is quail abundance different between fall and spring burned warm-season grasslands and why? What should we measure? What affects survival, reproduction, fitness? YOUR THOUGHTS??? 2

3 Important Abiotic Response Variables Weather Water Atmospheric and Other Physical Conditions Availability Chemistry Soil Temperature Barometric pressure Precipitation Wind speed and direction Humidity Frances ph, O 2, salinity, nutrients, contaminants Turbidity Type ph Moisture Organic composition Chemicals Measure during animal use. Important Biotic Response Variables Demographics Animal Populations Observation/ Nutrition Capture Abundance Survival Reproduction Recruitment Movement Diet composition/preference Body mass, length, fat Pelage/plumage condition Activity Budgets Physiological condition Feeding Alert Breeding Moving Resting Antagonistic Escape Territories Courtship Nest/den sites Rearing sites Community Species Richness & Diversity Species composition and interactions Important Biotic Response Variables Vegetation Community Composition Horizontal Cover Species/snag abundance or density % Cover of Life Forms (1 m 2 ) Species richness and diversity Grass (Poaceae) Woody Forb Dead OM Exotic or rare species occurrence Vine Bareground Understory: All herbaceous vegetation & woody plants <1.4 m in height Life Forms = 1 m 2 Forest = 40 m 2 Midstory: All woody vegetation >1.4 m in (non-canopy) height & < 4.5 inches dbh Forest = 100 m 2 Overstory: All woody vegetation >1.4 m in height & > 4.5 inches dbh (canopy trees) Forest = 400 m 2 % Canopy Cover (plot center) Daubenmire Frame, Densiometer Vertical Structure Visual Obscurity Plant Height Productivity Profile Board, Clinometer DBH, BA, Biomass, Seed Fall 3

4 Important Spatial Structure Response Variables Spatial Positioning Patch Size 3 km radius MNN Study Patch MNN All Patch Percent & Number of Patch Interspersion/Juxtaposition Index Geometric Complexity 2,830 ha Edge Density (m/ha) Landscape Shape Index Land-use Richness Shannon Diversity 3 Conceive Sampling Design This is how you are going to objectively collect your data. Some Designs 761,130 E, 3,943,544 N Kyker Bottoms 761,338 E, 3,943,544 N Simple Random Multi-stage Systematic Double Sampling Stratified Adaptive Sampling GPS Locations Simple Random Cluster Distance Sampling 761,130 E, 3,943,397 N Generating Random Coordinates in Excel 761,338 E, 3,943,397 N 4 Measure Response Variables Here you collect your data. Three Critical Points: 1) METICULOUS 2) CONSISTENT 3) OBJECTIVE How much data should I collect? Can estimate required sample size! Need previous research, σ 4

5 5 Analyze and Present Your Data Consult your resident statistician. Z-tests on means and proportions One-sample, paired, two-sample t-tests Chi-square tests ANOVA, MANOVA, R-M ANOVA Correlation Regression Ordination Modeling Table, Figures, Graphs: Always be very clear and concise, and follow the format of your agency or journal intended for publication. Journal of Wildlife Management Guidelines: Ratti and Smith (1998) 6 Refrain from Speculation Interpret Your Results Stay within the Inferential Bounds of your Data. For Example: Make sure your conclusions are restricted to your response variables. Suppose we document that ruffed grouse droppings are greatest under lodgepole pine and Engelmann spruce, it would be inappropriate to conclude that these tree species are important for feeding. What information is necessary to What would be appropriate? make the above conclusion? Biological vs. Statistical Significance NOTE: Just because statistical differences (95% certainty, α=0.05) are not detected, does not mean that biological differences (75% certainty, α=0.25) do not exist. 7 8 Make Management Recommendations & Construct New Hypotheses Develop New Questions. Speculation Allowed. Identify limits of data Let results guide new TESTABLE questions Write Final Report Peer-editing is Important!! Ruffed grouse use lodgepole pine and Engelmann spruce for feeding. Time-activity, Fecal or Crop Analyses Correct overlooked errors Reach most sound conclusions Build writing skills and knowledge through constructive comments 5