Transcript Suburban v Rural Eastern Screech Owls in Texas

Suburban v Rural Eastern Screech Owls in Texas:
Nested earlier (urban heat island)
Larger clutches (more food)
More and larger fledglings (food and low predation)
More recruits into population
Higher fitness
(McKinney 2002 BioScience 52:883-890)
Controlling Sprawl
• Sprawl is a strong driver of the urban footprint
– results in loss, fragmentation, and degradation of
habitat
– increases energy use
– increases pollution from commuting
• Growth Management is needed to control it
– Limits most future growth inside Urban Growth
Boundary
– May just displace the problem if regional planning is
not incorporated (leapfrogging)
Growth Management Act - King County Comprehensive
Plan
Subdivision Planning
Clustered subdivision has
• smaller lots
• higher density of homes
• majority of the site left
as open space
Gillham 2002
standard
clustered
Wildlife Conservation in Urban
Areas
1. Preserve large areas of habitat
 the area, numbers, and connectivity of reserves
should be maximized
 buffers should be maintained around reserves
 the amount of edge and degree of fragmentation
within reserves should be minimized
 the scale of reserve planning should be expanded
beyond the local area to include entire watersheds
and bioregions
(Marzluff and Ewing 2001)
Wildlife Conservation in Urban
Areas
2. Enhance habitat locally
• Retain as much natural habitat
as possible (especially new
housing)
• Plant native plants, fruitproducing exotics
• Retain understory and snags
• Minimize lawn cover
Wildlife Conservation in Urban
Areas
3. Provide essential resources:
 Places to breed (nest boxes, platforms,
trees)
 Feeding stations (squirrels, birds)
 Water
 Cover (vegetation)
4. Provide protection from domestic
predators
• control dog and cat behavior
Wildlife Conservation in Urban
Areas
5. Reduce accidental mortality:
• Birds crashing into windows
• 3.5 million birds/yr
• Birds hitting buildings, towers, etc.
• 1.5 million birds/yr
• Avoid planting fruit-bearing plants/trees
next to highways
• Clean bird feeders frequently
(Salmonella)
Wildlife Conservation in Urban
Areas
6. Support urban planning
initiatives and education
• Clustered development
• Growth management
• Open space preservation
Urban Ecology
• Traditional view:
‘Natural’ ecosystems impacted by humans
HUMANS
Abiotic & Biotic Components
Urban Ecosystems
• Urban Ecology view (one version):
Added layers:
start with natural ecosystems (biophysical template)
built (physical) systems
social systems
Built systems
Abiotic & Biotic
Social systems
URBAN ECOLOGY
• Brings together ecology of nature and
ecology of humans in the urban
environment.
• City as a dynamic organism, composed of
multiple systems that interact across
different scales with varying intensities.
• Requires interdisciplinary approach.
Alberti & Marzluff (2005)
Impacts of 2nd home development
M. Kondo, R. Rivera & S.Rullman
• Land conversion in exurban and rural areas has
become the nation’s dominant mode of land
development
• In areas with particular key natural amenities, second
homes may be a significant part of this land
conversion
• Much of the second home development occurs in
areas that are ecologically sensitive and high in native
biodiversity
• Second homes create an increase in the number of
households and may lead to more complex ecological
consequences than simply the space they occupy
Washington State Counties
Spatial Analysis Results
Common Themes in Both Case Study Counties:
• Open space resources drive second home location (shorelines,
public land)
Unique Characteristics of Case Study Counties:
• Okanogan
– Small parcels more prone to second home development
– Second home location driven by aesthetic rather than
recreational preferences
• San Juan
– Ferry access less important to second home owners than
primary
– Steep slopes prone to second home development
Interview Findings
• Maintain strong ties to the metropolitan area
• Escape & privacy strong drivers*
• Yet “community” in area of second home also a strong
driver for many
• Design/build or landscape management opportunities
• Seeking and maintaining an ideal image or “myth”
-looking for unchanging and constant landscape
-maintain the character of the area
Greenspace, neighborhood
walkability, and resident health:
J. Tilt, T. Unfried & B. Rocca
Walkable Destinations
and NDVI
NDVI
Walkability
Low
High
Low (0-2)
Medium (3-5)
High (6-12)
1 mile
NDVI, BMI and Walkability
25.5
25
24.5
BMI
Low NDVI
High NDVI
24
23.5
23
Low (0-2)
Medium (3-5)
High (6-12)
Walkability
(Number of destination types within 0.4 miles)
Low NDVI, High Walkability
High NDVI, High Walkability
Conclusions
Destinations
within walking
distance from
homes
Walking Trips
Vegetation
BMI
NDVI
Subjective
Greenness
Using Predicted Land Cover Change to Predict Changes in
Biodiversity in the Central Puget Sound, Washington, USA
Jeffrey Hepinstall, Marina Alberti,
John Marzluff
University of Washington
Integrated Conceptual Model of Coupled
Natural-Human Systems
Agents and Mechanisms
Demographic, Markets,
And Development
Behaviors
Land Use/
Land Cover
Interactions
Ecological
Processes
Computational Models
UrbanSim
Focal Unit
Parcel
Land Cover Change Model
Pixel
Bird Abundance / Species
Richness Model
Patch
Predicting Landscape Change
Land Cover
Time 1
Land Cover
Time 2
Predicted Land
Cover Time 3
Explanatory
Variables (n = 68)
Multinomial Logit
equations of
Land cover transitions
Observed Land
Cover Time 3
Monte Carlo Simulations
Pixel probabilities
of land cover transition
Native Forest
Land Cover conversions to:
-Clearcut forest
-Low & Medium Intensity Urban
Seattle
Cascade Foothills
Forest Functionality:
A three-dimensional approach using bird
richness, home values, and resident
satisfaction
Dave Oleyar*
John Withey
Andrew Bjorn
Adrienne Greve
Forests are Valued in many ways….
• Economic : extraction income, increased property values
• Social : recreation and other direct uses, viewshed,
psychological and physical health benefits
• Ecological : biodiversity protection, wildlife habitat,
ecosystem services
Different Stakeholders Value
Different Forest Functions
• How do economic, social, and ecological functions
interact with each other in an urbanizing area?
Study area is King
County, WA
Urban Gradient
Population Density (-0.817)
Distance to nearest forest patch (-0.753)
% Forest (0.871)
Size of nearest forest patch (0.709)
High
Low
URBAN GRADIENT SCORE
• Linking
results to
common
framework
(gradient)
• Examine
relative
tradeoffs
among
different
functions
Proportion of Maximum Function Value
Integrating results
1.0
0.8
Home sales price effects
(max = 6.6% premium)
0.6
Satisfaction with neighborhood
(max = 1.6 adjusted factor score)
Bird species richness
(max = 16 species predicted)
0.4
0.2
0.0
-4
-3
-2
-1
0
Gradient Score
1
2
3
4
Integrating results
• Identify areas of interest- divergence, convergence
Proportion of Maximum Function Value
‘Urban’
‘Suburban’
‘Exurban’
1.0
0.8
Home sales price effects
(max = 6.6% premium)
0.6
Satisfaction with neighborhood
(max = 1.6 adjusted factor score)
Bird species richness
(max = 16 species predicted)
0.4
0.2
0.0
-4
-3
-2
-1
0
Gradient Score
1
2
3
4
‘Urban’
‘Suburban’
A
Locations and examples of on the ground
locations of gradient segments.
Proportion of Maximum Function Value
‘Exurban’
C
B
1.0
0.8
0.6
0.4
0.2
0.0
-4
-3
-2
-1
0
Gradient Score
1
2
3
Wildlife Science Paper:
Due next Thursday, 12 November 2009.
Questions???
In case you are interested in learning more about current studies
of wolf/elk dynamics, Dr. Scott Creel from Montana State Univ.
is giving a talk today at 400 in the Biology Dept Seminar:
Behavioral, Ecological, Physiological and Demographic
Responses of Elk to Wolves
Location: Physics-Astronomy A102
See the below link for more details :
http://www.biology.washington.edu/index.html?navID=34&q
tr=aut