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Great Plains Landscape Conservation Cooperative Monitoring Grid

Great Plains Landscape Conservation Cooperative Monitoring Grid. Rob Sparks and David Hanni. Presentation Outline. Current RMBO monitoring programs GPLCC standardized grid GPLCC landbird monitoring strata Conservation products. Guidelines for Avian Monitoring.

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Great Plains Landscape Conservation Cooperative Monitoring Grid

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  1. Great Plains Landscape Conservation Cooperative Monitoring Grid Rob Sparks and David Hanni

  2. Presentation Outline Current RMBO monitoring programs GPLCC standardized grid GPLCC landbirdmonitoring strata Conservation products

  3. Guidelines for Avian Monitoring Goal 1: Integrate monitoring into bird management and conservation practices. Goal 2: Coordinate monitoring programs among organizations and integrate them across spatial scales. Goal 3: Increase the value of monitoring information by improving statistical design. Goal 4: Maintain bird population monitoring data in modern data management systems. http://www.nabci-us.org/aboutnabci/monitoringreportfinal0307.pdf

  4. Our Objectives • Provide a design framework to integrate bird monitoring efforts • Precisely estimate distribution, density, site occupancy, population trends and species richness • Provide habitat association data relevant to landscape changes • Maintain a high-quality database, accessible online • Create decision support tools to help guide conservation efforts

  5. Bird Conservation Regions

  6. CurrentMonitoring Programs All lands in BCR 17 All lands in CO, WY and MT Portions of 9 additional states All BLM lands in: CO, WY, MT, ND, SD All USFS lands in Regions 1 & 2 (CO, WY, NE, KS, SD, ND, ID, MT) 3 National Forests in Region 3 (Kaibab, Coconino, Prescott)

  7. 2010 Landbird Monitoring

  8. Current Partnerships • Colorado Division of Wildlife • Wyoming Game and Fish Department • Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks • South Dakota Game, Fish and Parks • USFS: 27 NationalForests, 9 National Grasslands, 4 regions, 12 states • BLM in 5 states • National Park Service • …(continued)

  9. Current Partnerships (cont.) • Northern Great Plains Joint Venture • Audubon Wyoming • Wyoming Natural Diversity Database • Montana Natural Heritage Program • Idaho Bird Observatory • Avian Science Center • Great Plains Landscape Conservation Cooperative

  10. Sampling Design and Methods Sampling Frame Sampling Units Sample Selection Sample Allocation (effort) Sampling Methods

  11. Sampling Frame: BCRs

  12. Sampling Units 1 km2 cell Step 1: Overlay grid on sampling frame Step 2: Attribute each cell with pertinent data (unique ID, spatial location, land ownership, elevation, soil type, …)

  13. Sample Selection Spatially Balanced: Generalized Random Tessellation Stratification (GRTS) • Ensures a spatially balanced distribution of samples within each stratum • ~ Random • Analyses can incorporate spatial information in estimation of sampling variance

  14. Sample Allocation Minimum of 2 samples required/stratum Recommend 10 Determined by funding partners May vary annually

  15. Example: Base Sample in BCR 18

  16. Additional Samples in Colorado

  17. Additional Samples - Comanche NG

  18. Sampling methods • 16 points per cell • 250 m spacing • 125 m from edge • 6 minute point count • 1 minute intervals • Record distance to each bird seen or heard • Record species and sex for each observation

  19. Questions? Jeff Jones

  20. GPLCC Monitoring Grid Objectives • Create a standardized monitoring grid • USNG or MGRS • Develop long term bird monitoring strata for GPLCC • Grid attributes • Select samples • Spatially balanced sampling • GRTS function in R

  21. Great Plains LCC Landscape Conservation Cooperatives (LCCs) • Science-based Partnerships • Help guide and coordinate conservation efforts at regional levels • Great Plains LCC consists of BCRs 18 & 19

  22. GPLCC Monitoring Grid • The need for a monitoring framework at the regional level • Spatial context for statistical inferences and predictions • USNG Monitoring Grid • Biologists can use grid to monitor a variety of taxa at multiple scales • Key grid elements: spatial extent, datum/projection, scalability, standards

  23. US National Grid (USNG) • USNG identified as a potential standard for monitoring populations at regional levels • Developed by FGDC for emergency response coordination • 1-km square grid cells • Contains key elements for a proper monitoring grid (national coverage, commonly used datum/projection, scalable)

  24. USNG (cont.) • Based on the NAD 83 geographic coordinate system • Universal Transverse Mercator (UTM) projection • Similar to the Military Grid Reference System (MGRS) • MGRS uses WGS 84 datum • Covers the entire United States • MGRS worldwide coverage

  25. USNG Scalability • The unique addressing system for the USNG allows scalability from 100,000-km square to 1-m square. • Labeling system • UTM Zone Designation. • 100,000-meter square designation • USNG: unique grid coordinates for a 1-km square • Eastings/Northings • Each 1-kilometer square grid cell has a spatial address (e.g. 13TGF3437) • Grid zone designator (13T) • 100,000-meter square identification (GF) • Unique grid coordinates (3437)/Eastings (34), Northings (37)

  26. USNG Issues • Zipper effect: Cells along UTM zone junctions are smaller than 1-km square. • Only affects 0.33% of grid cells in GPLCC • Causes sampling problems; may bias estimates • Many possible solutions • Remove zipper cells • Merge zipper cells to adjacent cells • Overlap zone junction cells

  27. Zipper Effect

  28. Zipper Effect Solution: Merge Cells • Merged cells smaller than 0.95-km square into their adjacent cells • Equal probability of being selected • No gaps or overlap • If selected for sampling, a 1-km square will be randomly placed inside cell

  29. Grid Attribution • We used GIS to attribute GPLCC grid • NRCS Soils • NRCS Major Land Resource Areas (ecoregions) • Federally owned or managed lands • National Hydrography Dataset (NHD) Strahler order • USFS proclaimed boundaries • Nebraska: Biologically Unique Landscapes • Priority Conservation Areas

  30. Final Product • ArcGISgeodatabase • Grid datasets established by UTM zone, State, and BCR • Location of cell centroid • Naming convention: “STATE_USNG_UTMxx_BCRxx” Example: CO_USNG_UTM13_BCR18

  31. Benefits of a standardized grid • Same starting point • Spatial continuity across different projects • Decrease project costs, necessary labor, and duplicate sampling efforts • No need to create multiple grids for multiple projects

  32. Benefits (Cont.) • Should improve partnership coordination at the landscape and local level to accomplish shared conservation goals (ABC and NBII) • Can also be used for other monitoring programs • FLAM surveys across western US • Bat surveys USFS • Grouse Surveys CDOW

  33. Stratification Development Stratification should be defined by areas to which we want to make inferences Strata are based on fixed attributes • Federal/state land ownership • Elevation, latitude, soil type, ecoregion All vegetation types available for sampling Flexible: Each state within the BCR and each BCR within a state can be stratified differently (depending on local needs)

  34. GPLCC Stratification Strata based on GIS layers: NRCS Ecoregions Soils Federal Land Ownership Rivers (Strahler order) Biologically Unique Landscapes (NE) Priority Conservation Areas

  35. NE BCR 18 Strata • Pine Ridge BUL • Wildcat Hills BUL • Niobrara River • Oglala N.G • Agate Fossil Beds N.M

  36. NE BCR 19 Strata • Rainwater Basin • Loess Uplands Ecoregion • Niobrara River • Nebraska Sand Hills Ecoregion • Rolling Plains and Breaks Ecoregion • Crescent Lake, Valentine NWR

  37. WY BCR 18 Strata BLM lands DOD lands All other lands

  38. NM BCR 18 Strata • Soils • Alfisols • Aridosols • Entisols • Inceptisols • Mollisols • Vertisols • Rock Outcrop • Rivers

  39. KS BCR 18 Strata Priority Conservation Areas Central High Tableland Ecoregion Cimarron N.G Rivers

  40. KS BCR 19 Strata Priority Conservation Areas Rivers All Other

  41. CO BCR 18 Strata Pawnee N.G Comanche N.G DOD lands North of Platte R. Platte River Platte R. to I-70 I-70 to Arkansas R. Arkansas River South of Arkansas River

  42. OK BCR 18 Strata Southern High Plains Northern Part Ecoregion (Private lands) Rita Blanca N.G. Rivers

  43. OK BCR 19 Strata • Black Kettle N.G. • Ecoregions: North Cross Timbers Central Rolling Red Plains Southern High Plains & Breaks Central Rolling Red Prairies Wichita Mtns • Rivers • USFWS

  44. TX BCR 18 Strata • Rita Blanca N.G. • Ecoregions: Southern High Plains N. Part Southern High Plains S. Part Edwards Plateau Southern Desertic Basins • Rivers • USFWS

  45. Integrating USNG Grids • USFWS lands • Muleshoe National Wildlife Refuge • 250 meter USNG grids nesting in the 1km grids • Repeat visits • Same methods

  46. Muleshoe National Wildlife Refuge

  47. TX BCR 19 Strata • Ecoregions: Southern High Plains Breaks Central Rolling Plains Red Prairies Central Rolling Plains W. Part Edwards Plateau • Rivers

  48. Benefits of Integrated Monitoring Collaboration Shared costs among partners Handles fluctuating funding Ability to compare bird trend to habitat trend Ability to compare local to regional results Flexibility in stratification All vegetation types available for sampling Can be (is) used for other taxa

  49. Questions? Bill Schmoker

  50. Conservation products • Density/Occupancy estimates • BCR/State level • Stratum level • Habitat occupancies at multiple scales • Brewer’s Sparrow • Maxent modeling • Grasshopper Sparrow • Chestnut-collared Longspur

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