Population, Distribution, and Habitat Study for

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Population, Distribution, and Habitat Study
for Threatened, Endangered, and Sensitive
Plants and Animals Within Hill Air Force
Base Restricted Air Space and Associated Public
Lands
Terry Sharik - PI
Mike Connover - Avifauna Ted Evans - Terrestrial
Invertebrates Chuck Hawkins - Aquatic
Organisms R. Douglas Ramsey - GIS DB
Development David Roberts - Vegetation
Modeling Leila Shultz - Floristics Neil West -
Ecosystem Classification Mike Wolfe - Mammals
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Study area consists of 11 million acres in Utahs
West Desert and a portion of eastern Nevada
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The goal of the HAFB project is to systematically
sample various landscapes for floral and faunal
threatened, endangered and otherwise sensitive
species and model their habitats to predict where
they may occur and if they will impact training
activities.
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Subsections developed using an energy and
nutrient flow model are used to stratify sampling
locations.
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Study plots shown here for the 1997 field season
are dispersed to characterize floral and faunal
resources. Dispersal of study sites
is determined by identifying homogeneous
landscape units based on a hierarchical ecoregion
classification system
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Location of TES species are maintained at
two levels of resolution. The first level is
equal to the resolution of the GPS system used to
identify the study site. The second level is
set at the section level to protect the exact
locations of TES species.
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The project takes advantage of existing databases
such as this digital atlas of vascular plant
locations for Utah.
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The GAP Analysis database (shown here for the
Utah portion of the study area) is used to
identify areas of potential habitats for up
to 525 vertebrate species.
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A user interface developed around ESRIs ArcView
software is used to allow managers to locate and
relate individual species locations