Quantitative analysis of woodpecker habitat using high-resolution airborne LiDAR estimates of forest structure and composition

REMOTE SENSING OF ENVIRONMENT

卷:145

Article

Garabedian, James E.¹  McGaughey, Robert J.²  Reutebuch, Stephen E.²  Parresol, Bernard R.³  Kilgo, John C.⁴  Moorman, Christopher E.⁵  Peterson, M. Nils⁵ 

[1] N Carolina State Univ, Dept Forestry & Environm Resources, Raleigh, NC 27695 USA

[2] Univ Washington, USDA Forest Serv, Pacific Northwest Stnn, Seattle, WA 98195 USA

[3] USDA Forest Serv, Southern Res Stn, Asheville, NC 28803 USA

[4] USDA Forest Serv, Southern Res Stn, New Ellenton, SC 29809 USA

[5] N Carolina State Univ, Fisheries Wildlife & Conservat Biol Program, Raleigh, NC 27695 USA

关键词: Habitat conservation;    Forest structure;    Landscape;    Prediction confidence interval;    Red-cockaded woodpecker;    Remote sensing;    Savannah River Site;    Spatially explicit;    Wildlife;   

DOI  :  10.1016/j.rse.2014.01.022

来源: Elsevier

【 摘 要 】

Light detection and ranging (LiDAR) technology has the potential to radically alter the way researchers and managers collect data on wildlife-habitat relationships. To date, the technology has fostered several novel approaches to characterizing avian habitat, but has been limited by the lack of detailed LiDAR-habitat attributes relevant to species across a continuum of spatial grain sizes and habitat requirements. We demonstrate a novel three-step approach for using LiDAR data to evaluate habitat based on multiple habitat attributes and accounting for their influence at multiple grain sizes using federally endangered red-cockaded woodpecker (RCW; Picoides borealis) foraging habitat data from the Savannah River Site (SRS) in South Carolina, USA First, we used high density LiDAR data (10 returns/m(2)) to predict detailed forest attributes at 20-m resolution across the entire SRS using a complementary application of nonlinear seemingly unrelated regression and multiple linear regression models. Next, we expanded on previous applications of LiDAR by constructing 95% joint prediction confidence intervals to quantify prediction error at various spatial aggregations and habitat thresholds to determine a biologically and statistically meaningful grain size. Finally, we used aggregations of 20-m cells and associated confidence interval boundaries to demonstrate a new approach to produce maps of RCW foraging habitat conditions based on the guidelines described in the species' recovery plan. Predictive power (R-2) of regression models developed to populate raster layers ranged from 034 to 0.81, and prediction error decreased as aggregate size increased, but minimal reductions in prediction error were observed beyond 0.64-ha (4 x 4 20-m cells) aggregates. Mapping habitat quality while accounting for prediction error provided a robust method to determine the potential range of habitat conditions and specific attributes that were limiting in terms of the amount of suitable habitat. The sequential steps of our analytical approach provide a useful framework to extract detailed and reliable habitat attributes for a forest-dwelling habitat specialist, broadening the potential to apply LiDAR in conservation and management of wildlife populations. (C) 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

【 授权许可】

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