Designing Landscapes for Sustainable Bird Populations

1
Designing Landscapes for Sustainable Bird
Populations

• Structured Decision Making Workshop
• Atlantic Coast Joint Venture

2
Problem
Biological planning - Ecological context

• Develop a methodology for assessing and designing
  landscapes for sustainable populations of birds
  and other wildlife in the SAMBI area that can
  be applied in other areas of the eastern United
  States.
• Prioritizes landscape based on current and
  potential future conditions
• Conservation implementation on the priority areas
  is expected to result in target populations of
  birds associated with these ecosystems.
• Selection of areas based on fundamental concepts
  of landscape ecology and conservation biology.
• Can be updated periodically as new data become
  available.

3
Workshop objectives
Biological planning Species Selection/Habitat
Relationships
Conservation Design Desired Landscape
Configuration

• Determine which species should be used to design
  landscapes based on their habitat requirements.
• Which species represent unique map-able habitat
  requirements?
• Determine important landscape characteristics for
  each habitat
• Which habitat landscape characteristics are
  important in prioritizing areas?
• Which characteristics are compensatory and which
  are limiting?

4
Species selection
Biological planning Species Selection/Habitat
Relationships

• Determine which species should be used to design
  landscapes
• Classify surrogacy of each species
• Flagship charismatic species that attract
  public support
• Umbrella species that require large areas of
  habitat, thus conferring protection to other
  species
• Biodiversity presence may indicate high species
  richness
• Keystone species that are critical...
• Determine habitat characteristics for each
  species
• Determine the intangible tradeoffs
• Bio-political constraints

5
Habitat and landscape criteria
Conservation Design Desired Landscape
Configuration

• Determine habitat characteristics that are
  critical to the landscape design
• Classify surrogacy of each habitat
• Flagship charismatic habitat that attracts
  public support
• Biodiversity possess high species richness
• Unique required for some species to be present
• Determine landscape criteria for each habitat
• Identify limiting factors
• Determine the intangible tradeoffs
• Bio-political constraints

6
Designing Landscapes for Sustainable Bird
Populations

• Structured Decision Making Workshop
• Atlantic Coast Joint Venture

7
Five core elements - PrOACT

• Problem Solve the right problem
• Objectives Describe the desired outcomes
• Alternatives Consider any reasonable actions
  that achieve the outcomes
• Consequences Describe how well alternatives
  meet objectives
• Tradeoffs Evaluate consequences of each
  alternative
• Core of structured decision making (Hammond et
  al., 1999).

8
Problem

• Develop a methodology for assessing and designing
  landscapes for sustainable populations of birds
  and other wildlife in the SAMBI area that can
  be applied in other areas of the eastern United
  States.
• Prioritizes landscape based on current and
  potential future conditions
• Conservation implementation on the priority areas
  is expected to result in target populations of
  birds associated with these ecosystems.
• Selection of areas based on fundamental concepts
  of landscape ecology and conservation biology.
• Can be updated periodically as new data become
  available.

9
Dividing the problem
Biological planning Species Selection/Habitat
Relationships

• Problem1 Identify a group of birds (focal
  species) associated with open pine systems that
  represent co-occurring species, are a reliable
  tool for biodiversity assessment, and are
  sensitive to resources, area, connectivity, and
  natural processes.
• Problem2 Identify characteristics of priority
  areas for conserving and restoring open pines
  systems that satisfy criteria for quantity,
  configuration, and location to achieve target
  populations of the umbrella species.

10
Species selection
Biological planning Species Selection/Habitat
Relationships

• Determine which species should be used to design
  landscapes
• Determine key habitat characteristics for each
  species
• Classify surrogacy of each species
• Flagship charismatic species that attract
  public support
• Umbrella species that require large areas of
  habitat, thus conferring protection to other
  species
• Biodiversity presence may indicate high species
  richness
• Keystone species that are critical to ecosystem
  function.
• Determine the intangible tradeoffs
• Bio-political constraints

11
Assessing consequences
Biological planning Species Selection/Habitat
Relationships

• Basis
• Preference to high priority species
• Unidentified attributes?

Habitat Characteristics Habitat Characteristics Habitat Characteristics Habitat Characteristics Habitat Characteristics Habitat Characteristics Habitat Characteristics Habitat Characteristics Habitat Characteristics
Species Low Canopy Cover Diverse, Herb-aceous Under-story Low Basal Area/ Tree Density Old trees Snags Large Patch Size High Fire Frequency Growing Season Fire Bare Ground Wet Savannah/ Bogs
BASP X X X X X
BRNU X X X
HESP X X X X X X
NOBO X X X X X X
RCWO X X X X X
AMKE X X X X
12
Designing Landscapes for Sustainable Bird
Populations

• Structured Decision Making Workshop
• Atlantic Coast Joint Venture

13
Dividing the problem
Conservation Design Desired Landscape
Configuration

• Problem1 Identify a group of birds (focal
  species) associated with open pine systems that
  represent co-occurring species, are a reliable
  tool for biodiversity assessment, and are
  sensitive to resources, area, connectivity, and
  natural processes.
• Problem2 Identify characteristics of priority
  areas for conserving and restoring open pines
  systems that satisfy criteria for quantity,
  configuration, and location to achieve target
  populations of the umbrella species.

14
Habitat and landscape criteria
Conservation Design Desired Landscape
Configuration

• Determine habitat characteristics that are
  critical to the landscape design
• Identify limiting versus compensatory
  characteristics
• Classify surrogacy of each habitat
• Flagship charismatic habitat that attracts
  public support
• Biodiversity possess high species richness
• Unique required for some species to be present
• Determine the intangible tradeoffs
• Bio-political constraints

15
Homework

• Review the problem statement
• Did we get it right?
• Look over the species x habitat attributes tables
• SAMBI species and habitat characteristics are
  next
• Look over the landscape prioritization objectives
• What other characteristics are important?