Maps of habitat suitability improvement potential for the Pinon Mesa Gunnison Sage-grouse (Centrocercus minimus) satellite population in Southwestern Colorado

Dates

Publication Date: 2024-08-26
Time Period: 2022-03-01

Citation

Shyvers, J.E., Van Schmidt, N.D., Saher, J., Heinrichs, J.A., O'Donnell, M.S., and Aldridge, C.L., 2024, Maps of habitat suitability improvement potential for the Gunnison Sage-grouse (Centrocercus minimus) satellite populations in Southwestern Colorado: U.S. Geological Survey data release, https://doi.org/10.5066/P9VBT1ER.

Summary

Habitat restoration efforts to conserve wildlife species are often conducted along a range of local site conditions, with limited information available to gauge relative outcomes for habitat suitability among sites and identify those that may lead to the greatest returns on restoration investment. We leveraged existing resource selection function models to generate heatmaps of spatially varying habitat suitability improvement potential for the Gunnison Sage-grouse (Centrocercus minimus) based on a suite of habitat restoration actions deployed across crucial habitats within six remaining satellite populations. We first simulated expected change in model covariates (habitat features) from a suite of restoration actions (increasing sagebrush, [...]

Summary

Habitat restoration efforts to conserve wildlife species are often conducted along a range of local site conditions, with limited information available to gauge relative outcomes for habitat suitability among sites and identify those that may lead to the greatest returns on restoration investment. We leveraged existing resource selection function models to generate heatmaps of spatially varying habitat suitability improvement potential for the Gunnison Sage-grouse (Centrocercus minimus) based on a suite of habitat restoration actions deployed across crucial habitats within six remaining satellite populations. We first simulated expected change in model covariates (habitat features) from a suite of restoration actions (increasing sagebrush, herbaceous, or litter cover, non-sagebrush shrub management, installation of mesic improvement structures, and removal of invasive plants) to generate modified input layers for each. We then reran the original models using these modified layers and calculated the predicted change in habitat suitability across space. The resulting heatmaps identify areas with the greatest improvement potential for each restoration action to help guide strategic restoration planning for the species.

This data release, for the Pinon Mesa satellite population, includes a set of 15 total raster files. These include: 7 uncategorized heatmaps illustrating predicted change in Gunnison Sage-grouse habitat suitability across space following habitat restoration actions (either single or combined), 7 categorized heatmaps additionally showing areas where 1) new habitat was created, 2) non-habitat remained non-habitat despite management interventions, or 3) negative changes in suitability were observed, and 1 heatmap illustrating predicted changes in suitability following new or worsening pinyon-juniper invasion. Habitat restorations vary by population depending on the reference model. We only ran management action simulations when the reference model had covariates suitable for the simulation (for example, pinyon juniper removal was only run when pinyon juniper was a covariate; See Saher and others (2022) for model details).

Raster file names are coded as follows:

PMb = Pinon Mesa Breeding
PMs = Pinon Mesa Summer

combo = combined actions
lit_incr = increase litter cover
mes_impr = mesic improvements (increase in area)
pj_inv = pinyon-juniper invasion (increase in area)
pj_rm = pinyon-juniper removal (decrease in area)
sgh_incr = increase sagebrush height
shh_decr = decrease shrub height

C = CATEGORIZED Maps
V = UNCATEGORIZED Maps
X = INVASION (categorized) Maps

Contacts

Point of Contact :: Cameron L Aldridge, U.S. Geological Survey, ROCKY MOUNTAIN REGION
Originator :: Jessica E. Shyvers, Nathan D. Van Schmidt, Dorothy (Joanne) Saher, Julie A Heinrichs, Michael S O'Donnell, Cameron L Aldridge
Publisher :: GS ScienceBase
Metadata Contact :: Fort Data Management
SDC Data Owner :: Fort Collins Science Center
USGS Mission Area :: Ecosystems
Distributor :: U.S. Geological Survey - ScienceBase

Attached Files

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Pinon_Mesa_Metadata_05142024.xml Original FGDC Metadata	View	56.05 KB	application/fgdc+xml
PMb_combo_C.tif		138.5 KB	image/geotiff
PMb_combo_V.tif		209.82 KB	image/geotiff
PMb_lit_incrC.tif		133.95 KB	image/geotiff
PMb_lit_incrV.tif		176.03 KB	image/geotiff
PMb_mes_imprC.tif		91.55 KB	image/geotiff
PMb_mes_imprV.tif		96.45 KB	image/geotiff
PMb_pj_invX.tif		142.1 KB	image/geotiff
PMb_pj_rmC.tif		139.35 KB	image/geotiff
PMb_pj_rmV.tif		204.96 KB	image/geotiff
PMb_sgh_incrC.tif		116.69 KB	image/geotiff
PMb_sgh_incrV.tif		141.65 KB	image/geotiff
PMb_shh_decrC.tif		125.91 KB	image/geotiff
PMb_shh_decrV.tif		151.31 KB	image/geotiff
PMs_mes_imprC.tif		116.42 KB	image/geotiff
PMs_mes_imprV.tif		117.23 KB	image/geotiff
FINAL_Universal_CATEGORIZED_Change_Maps.lyrx		7.38 KB	text/plain
FINAL_Universal_INVASION_Change_Maps.lyrx		7 KB	text/plain
FINAL_Universal_VALUE_Change_Maps.lyrx		7.73 KB	text/plain

Related External Resources

Type: Publication that references this resource

Shyvers, J. E., N. D. Van Schmidt, J. Saher, J. A. Heinrichs, M. S. O’Donnell, and C. L. Aldridge. 2024. Leveraging local habitat suitability models to enhance restoration benefits for species of conservation concern. Biodiversity and Conservation. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10531-024-02886-x	https://doi.org/10.1007/s10531-024-02886-x

Purpose

The heatmaps generated illustrate spatial variation in the potential for habitat restoration actions, aimed at benefiting Gunnison Sage-grouse, to improve habitat suitability across the Pinon Mesa satellite population. They are intended to be used in combination with local knowledge and expertise to identify priority areas for deploying limited management resources, thereby serving as valuable decision-support tools to guide strategic restoration planning efforts for recovery of the species.

Maps of habitat suitability improvement potential for the Pinon Mesa Gunnison Sage-grouse (Centrocercus minimus) satellite population in Southwestern Colorado

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