Wildlife Habitat and Riparian Function Modeling

The credibility of relationships used to show the impacts of forest management on habitat and stream conditions is a central issue to the future of successful management decisions. Many basic research studies over the last decade have measured the impacts of various forest stand conditions on habitat, both in riparian zones and uplands. In particular, riparian and upland habitat studies carried out for the Timber, Fish and Wildlife Cooperative Monitoring Evaluation and Research Committee (TFW/CMER) have recently been released. While these studies assessed wildlife populations as dependent upon stand conditions, they did not attempt to build the models directly linking habitat-suitability measures to the evolution of forest stands under management, which is the ultimate use of these studies for determining best management practices.

The SATSOP Management Plan has been providing a pilot test and case study for developing upland habitat models using the Habitat Evaluation Procedure (HEP) developed for this site by Washington Fish and Wildlife. A range of management alternatives and resulting Habitat Suitability Indices (HSI) are being evaluated using LMS. These models will then be tested and applied to other sites. RTI staff are currently implementing a Habitat Evaluation Procedure as a module of the Landscape Management System (LMS) as way to integrate forest growth and yield models with existing wildlife models. For the abstract of this work, a corosponding presentation, and poster, click here. Kevin Cedar is one of the RTI staff members currently working in this field. His master's thesis paper, Using Silviculture to Sustain Wildlife Habitat: Assessing Changes and Trade-offs in Forest Habitats Using a Habitat Evaluation Procedure within the LMS, relates directly with habitat evaluation.

The six instream functionality indicators identified in the National Council for Air and Stream Improvement (NCASI) Bulletin 799 (streambank stability, sediment reduction, chemical removal, shade & temperature, large woody debris, particulate matter) are being evaluated for developing similar forest dependent instream functionality measures linked to LMS.

Gaps in bird habitat data were evaluated in order to determine future data monitoring needs. A similar gap analysis is needed for data on mammals. Periodic re-measurements are needed on the TFW/CMER stand/habitat plots. Tom Bloxton was RTI's staff biologist. View his master's thesis paper, Prey Abundance, Space Use, Demography, and Foraging Habitat of Northern Goshawks in Western Washington (PDF format).