{"id":575,"date":"2024-05-30T14:59:51","date_gmt":"2024-05-30T21:59:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/labs.wsu.edu\/meddenslab\/?page_id=575"},"modified":"2026-04-02T14:58:13","modified_gmt":"2026-04-02T21:58:13","slug":"rocky-habitat","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/labs.wsu.edu\/meddenslab\/projects\/rocky-habitat\/","title":{"rendered":"Mapping Rocky Habitat and Associated Species"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Mapping and protecting rocky habitat in the Cascades Mountains and Columbia River Gorge for the conservation of climate-sensitive species<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"Talus
Researcher, Ana Torres Ferreira, taking photographs of a talus slope in the North Cascades National Park for photogrammetry<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Project Description<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

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 \u2018barren land\u2019. 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).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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.<\/p>\n\n\n

\r\n \n
\r\n\t\n\n
\"American
American pika<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n<\/div>\r\n\n\n
\r\n\t\n\n
\"Larch
Larch Mountain salamander<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n<\/div>\r\n\n<\/div>\n\n
\r\n \n
\r\n\t\n\n

Personnel<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Principal Investigator<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
    \n
  • Arjan Meddens<\/strong> (School of the Environment, WSU)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n

    Co-Investigators<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
      \n
    • Lisa Shipley<\/strong> (Washington State University)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    • Amanda Stahl<\/strong> (Washington State University)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    • Andrew Hudak <\/strong>(US Forest Service)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    • Benjamin Bright<\/strong> (US Forest Service)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    • Meghan Camp<\/strong> (Cramer Fish Sciences)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n

      Researchers<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
        \n
      • Okikiola Michael Alegbeleye<\/strong> (Washington State University)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
      • Ana Torres Ferreira <\/strong>(Washington State University)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
      • Allison Stift<\/strong> (Washington State University)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
      • Joe Celebrezze <\/strong>(Washington State University)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
      • Mason Mahacek<\/strong> (Washington State University)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n

        Collaborators<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
          \n
        • Doug Glavish <\/strong>(US Forest Service)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
        • Donald Brown <\/strong>(US Forest Service)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
        • Adam Duarte <\/strong>(US Forest Service)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
        • Keith Folkerts <\/strong>(WA Dept. of Fish and Wildlife)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
        • Jeff Azerrod <\/strong>(WA Dept. of Fish and Wildlife)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
        • Julia Michalak <\/strong>(WA Dept. of Fish and Wildlife)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
        • Tara <\/strong>Chestnu<\/b>t <\/strong>(National Park Service)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
        • Jason Ransom <\/strong>(National Park Service)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n<\/div>\r\n\n\n
          \r\n\t\n\n

          Funding<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

          This project was funded by NASA, categorized as A.40 Earth Sciences Applications: Ecological Conservation<\/p>\n\n<\/div>\r\n\n<\/div>\n\n\n

          Photo Gallery<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

          Field Photos<\/h3>\n\n\n
          \r\n \n
          \r\n\t\n\n
          \"Researcher
          Researcher, Ana Torres Ferreira, surveying a talus slope<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

          <\/p>\n\n<\/div>\r\n\n\n

          \r\n\t\n\n
          \"Shady
          Working in a shaded broken rock habitat<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

          <\/p>\n\n<\/div>\r\n\n\n

          \r\n\t\n\n
          \"Talus
          Scenery surrounding rocky habitat field sites<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n<\/div>\r\n\n<\/div>\n\n
          \r\n \n
          \r\n\t\n\n
          \"Two
          Backpacking through alpine landscapes, along a talus edge<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n<\/div>\r\n\n\n
          \r\n\t\n\n
          \"Broken
          Broken rock habitat with scattered conifers<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n<\/div>\r\n\n<\/div>\n\n\n

          Ground-Based Structure-from-Motion (SfM)<\/h3>\n\n\n
          \r\n \n
          \r\n\t\n\n
          \"Orthomosaic
          Orthomosaic derived from photos taken while training for field work; in Pullman, WA<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

          <\/p>\n\n<\/div>\r\n\n\n

          \r\n\t\n\n
          \"DEM
          Digital surface model generated by interpolating between points using a dense point cloud; in Pullman, WA at field training location<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n<\/div>\r\n\n<\/div>\n\n\n

          <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

          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, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":38066,"featured_media":0,"parent":6,"menu_order":5,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":[],"categories":[],"tags":[],"wsuwp_university_location":[],"wsuwp_university_org":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/labs.wsu.edu\/meddenslab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/575"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/labs.wsu.edu\/meddenslab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/labs.wsu.edu\/meddenslab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/labs.wsu.edu\/meddenslab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/38066"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/labs.wsu.edu\/meddenslab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=575"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/labs.wsu.edu\/meddenslab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/575\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":662,"href":"https:\/\/labs.wsu.edu\/meddenslab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/575\/revisions\/662"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/labs.wsu.edu\/meddenslab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/6"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/labs.wsu.edu\/meddenslab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=575"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/labs.wsu.edu\/meddenslab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=575"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/labs.wsu.edu\/meddenslab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=575"},{"taxonomy":"wsuwp_university_location","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/labs.wsu.edu\/meddenslab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/wsuwp_university_location?post=575"},{"taxonomy":"wsuwp_university_org","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/labs.wsu.edu\/meddenslab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/wsuwp_university_org?post=575"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}