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Barry Wilson

Gulf Coast Joint Venture
The Gulf Coast Joint Venture (GCJV) is a bird habitat conservation partnership that spans the coastal portions of Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas. It is one of 14 bird habitat joint ventures within the United States.
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Mapping Fresh, Intermediate, Brackish and Saline Marshes in the North Central Gulf of Mexico Coast to Inform Future Projections
Spatial data depicting marsh types (e.g. fresh, intermediate, brackish and saline) for the north-central Gulf of Mexico coast are inconsistent across the region, limiting the ability of conservation planners to model the current and future capacity of the coast to sustain priority species. The goal of this study was to (1) update the resolution of coastal Texas vegetation data to match that of Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama, and (2) update vegetation maps for the Texas through Alabama region using current Landsat Imagery. Creating consistent regional vegetation maps will enable scientists to model vegetation response to and potential impacts of future climate change.
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The Western Gulf Coast provides important habitat for migratory and resident waterfowl. The mottled duck(Anas fulvigula) relies on this region for all of its life-cycle events. Its relatively small population, limited worldwide range, and generally declining population trajectory has earned it a “Red” status on the Audubon WatchList and is a species of concern among state and federal agencies. The Western Gulf Coast (WGC) mottled duck population decline is believed to be primarily caused by the historical conversion and degradation of coastal wetlands and native prairie, and recent declines in cultivated rice. There is general agreement among experts that negative impacts to nesting and brood-rearing habitat are...
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Assessing the Potential Impact of Sea-Level Rise on Submersed Aquatic Vegetation and Waterfowl in the Northern Gulf of Mexico
Submersed aquatic vegetation (SAV) communities are highly productive ecosystems that provide significant ecological benefits to coastal areas, including essential calories for wintering waterfowl. However, the potential effects of sea-level rise is posing new questions about the future availability of SAV for waterfowl and other coastal wildlife. Of primary concern is the fact that rising seas have the potential to increase salinities in fresh and brackish marshes on the Gulf of Mexico’s coast, changing the distribution and composition of SAV communities, and affecting valuable waterfowl habitat and food resources. Not enough is known about the relationship between salinity and SAV to predict how this important...
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This spatially-explicit decision support tool identifies wetlands and grasslands that are currently suitable for mottled duck nesting and brood rearing activities as well as identify areas that are priority for grassland establishment and freshwater enhancement for mottled duck nesting and brood rearing activities in the Western Gulf Coast. The identification process is based on key biological parameters such as patch size, land use type, distance to habitat, etc. Additionally, these datasets present the data in a form that prioritizes habitat from more suitable to less suitable based on landscape metrics. The scale ranges from 1 to 0, higher value designating higher priority.
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