Mapping and protecting rocky habitat in the Cascades Mountains and Columbia River Gorge for the conservation of climate-sensitive species
Project Description
Rocky habitat is vital for over two thousand vertebrate species across the globe. A variety of vulnerable species depend on rocky habitat to hide from or survey for predators or for thermal refuge. Therefore, rocky habitats have been identified as priority habitat for conservation efforts by federal (US Forest Service) and state (WA Dept. of Fish and Wildlife) organizations. Despite the apparent importance of rocky habitat, land cover mapping efforts (e.g., NLCD, CORINE) rarely explicitly map rocky habitat and, instead, they include rocky habitat in a category such as ‘barren land’. Furthermore, rocky habitat has yet to be characterized on a broad spatial extent, making it challenging to determine habitat suitability for vulnerable species-of-interest. These gaps in knowledge act as obstacles for conservation efforts. To address these knowledge gaps, we sought to map and characterize rocky habitat, analyze habitat connectivity in the Washington Cascade mountains, and formulate species distribution maps for species-of-interest (American pika, hoary marmot, and Larch Mountain salamander).
This work involves various objectives including: (1) classifying rocky habitat using random forest models; (2) observing presence and activity of our species-of-interest; (3) using photogrammetry and/or drone imagery to establish orthomosaics of rocky habitat patches, allowing us to characterize the habitat (e.g., measure rock size, rock irregularity, rock type, and vegetation cover); and (4) establishing habitat connectivity, suitability, and characterization maps. By collaborating with state (e.g., WA Dept. of Fish and Wildlife) and federal (e.g., US Forest Service and National Park Service) organizations, we targeted our research to current conservation goals.
Photo Gallery
Field Photos
Ground-Based Structure-from-Motion (SfM)
