MAPPING BIODIVERSITY METRICS REPRESENTING ECOSYSTEM SERVICES AT THE LANDSCAPE SCALE IN THE AMERICAN SOUTHWEST

Transcription

1 MAPPING BIODIVERSITY METRICS REPRESENTING ECOSYSTEM SERVICES AT THE LANDSCAPE SCALE IN THE AMERICAN SOUTHWEST Kenneth G. Boykin 1, William G. Kepner 2, David F. Bradford 2, Kevin J.Gergely 3, and Anne C. Neale 2 1 New Mexico State University, 2 U.S. Environmental Protection Agency 3 U.S. Geological Survey, Gap Analysis Program Photo by Adriel Heisey

2 EPA Atlas Vision/Implementation Cultural, Aesthetic value Water Quality Climate Regulation Contain series of clickable background maps Select ecosystem services from Table of Contents Allow stacking of multiple services Water Quantity/ Timing Air Quality Multiple metrics for each category Ancillary data Protection from Weather Hazards Food, Fiber, and Fuels Habitat/Maintenance of Biodiversity Include potential and future scenarios Allow user to place their area in context of others

3 Evaluation Factors for Selecting Indicators Focus on Clients, e.g. FWS, BLM, USFS, & State departments of environment and natural resources (State & Tribal Wildlife Grants Program- $90M in FY10) Include decision makers include a suite of indicators to inform tradeoffs Select scale best needed to inform the decision select & evaluate within the timeframe needed to inform decision select indicators that can easily be interpreted by non-scientists W. Munns, April 2010

4 Scaling of Services San Pedro Abemarle Pamlico (AP) Objective Tampa Bay Develop and produce maps of an ecosystem service (e.g., habitat provisioning a surrogate measure of biodiversity) based on current condition and available data for place-based, regional, and national scales of interest.

5 Gap Analysis Products and Data Sources (Southwest Regional Example) Available Data Land cover dataset Terrestrial vertebrate models Land ownership/stewardship Land Stewardship Species Richness Habitat Models Land Cover

6 Sources used in National GAP Land cover data Available Data - Level 1-8 classes - Level 2 43 classes - Level classes

7 Metrics to Measure Biodiversity Outcomes of joint EPA/USGS/FWS Workshop on Biodiversity/Habitat Metrics (Oct. 2009, Reston, VA) Terrestrial Vertebrates Species of Greatest Conservation Need Harvestable Species Ecological Systems (Land Cover) All Species All Species Big Game Richness/Diversity Amphibians Amphibians Upland Game Birds Birds Furbearers Mammals Mammals Waterfowl Reptiles Bats T & E Species Category Recreational Hunting Wildlife cultural, spiritual, intrinsic Biodiversity for its intrinsic value, ecosystem resilience Species Composition Intactness Rarity/scarcity of ecological systems Reptiles

8 Analysis Habitat/Maintenance of Biodiversity San Pedro Data Tampa Bay Data Local Stakeholder Input Metrics (Indices) Albemarle- Pamlico Data SWReGAP Data Scale Relevant Metrics SEGAP Data Regional Index = pixel value/highest pixel value in study area National GAP Data National

9 San Pedro River Basin AGAVES (Assessment of Goods and Valuation of Ecosystem Services) Prioritized Ecosystem Services Water provisioning Habitat provisioning Carbon sequestration Cultural / Recreation

10

11 San Pedro Total Vertebrate Richness

12 San Pedro Total Bird Species Richness

13 Formation (NLCD) Total Amphibian s Number of Species Birds Mammals Barren Lands Reptiles Areal Extent Evergreen Forest % Deciduous Forest Shrub/Scrub % Grassland % Woody Wetland % Emergent Wetland Barren Lands Urban/Agriculture Water Total

14 Southwest Terrestrial Vertebrate Richness Based on 8-digit Hydrological Unit Code San Pedro n = 452 spp

15 240 m data resolution SW Richness Photo by Jason Bak Species of Greatest Conservation Need (SGCN species) All Species species Photo by Jason Bak

16 SW Richness Birds SGCN 198 Species Total Species Photo by Jason Bak

17 Macho B Richness Bats 19 SGCN Species T&E Species 24 Species

18 Upland Game 43 Species Furbearers 23 Species Richness Harvestable Species Photo by BISON-M Big Game 14 Species Waterfowl 34 Species Photo by Mike Alm

19 Ecological System Richness 500 m Neighborhood 125 classes 10 km Neighborhood

20 Conceptual Analysis

21 Radar Graphs Habitat/Maintenance of Biodiversity Land Cover Richness (10km Neighborhood) All Species Reptiles Amphibians Bats -SGCN 0.50 Birds Southwest Harvestable-Furbearer 0.25 Mammals Rio Grande Harvestable-Waterfowl Harvestable - Big Game SGCN -All SGCN -Reptiles San Pedro Harvestable- Upland Harvestable - All T& E Species SGCN -Birds SGCN -Mammals SGCN -Amphibians Average Index Southwest San Pedro Rio Grande Average Index Value Average of each mapped pixel value in study area /highest mapped pixel value in area.

22 Bar Graph Habitat/Maintenance of Biodiversity 1.00 Average Index Value Southwest San Pedro Rio Grande

23 Local Efforts Landscape Conservation Cooperatives State Wildlife Action Plans Secretarial Order No establishes Landscape Conservation Cooperatives, which are management-science partnerships that inform integrated resource-management actions across landscapes (February 22, 2010).

24 Species Richness by Scale Taxon San Pedro Southwest Albemarle Pamlico Tampa Bay * * Preliminary Data Southeast Nation Amphibians Birds Mammals Reptiles Total Species

25 General Conclusions Deductive modeling appears promising for mapping and quantifying metrics of habitat provisioning at multiple scales Evaluating metrics (e.g., indices, species groups, keystone species, or guilds) First level effort and further work is underway Application at national scale (USGS-GAP) Ability to map wildlife as an Ecosystem Service (EPA) Provides reference conditions for alternative future scenarios (e.g. climate change, urbanization) Establish common sense indicators of ES for end-user and decision maker needs Landscape Conservation Cooperatives State Wildlife Action Plans Local Initiatives (e.g. AGAVES)

26 Contact Information Kenneth G. Boykin Center for Applied Spatial Ecology, New Mexico State University, New Mexico Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit Las Cruces, NM William G. Kepner David F. Bradford Anne C. Neale USEPA, Office of Research and Development Las Vegas, NV and Research Park, NC Kevin J. Gergely USGS National Gap Analysis Program Moscow ID