Transcript Weingartner

Rapid Assessment of Invasive Plant Species for
Establishing Management Priorities:
Progressive, Strategic Invasive Plant Management for Resource
Managers
Lori Weingartner,, M.GIS Candidate
Advisor Dr. David A. Mortensen
Department of Geography, Pennsylvania State University
Spring 2014
Outline
• Introduction
– Project Objectives
– Background including scenario
• Methodology
• Case Study:
–
•
•
•
•
Allegheny Railroad Portage National Historic Site (ALPO)
Summary
Future steps
Literature Cited
Questions
Introduction: Project Objectives
•Decision Support for Invasive Plant Management Strategies:
The goal is to develop a tool that easy to use for an individual with
limited GIS experience and inexpensive. Allows available data to be
used when more complete data is unavailable.
Source: http://richertart.com/SpringDesertVista.jpg &
http://igetready.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/question-markconfusion.jpg.
All rights reserved. Used for educational purposes only.
Introduction: Background
• What are invasive plants?
• Why do they need to be managed?
• Why not wait for more complete data?
What are invasive plants? Why do we manage them?
•
A species is considered invasive only if it causes harm. There are many nonnative
species that are either not expected to disrupt ecosystem process or have become
naturalized.
•
Invasive plants have the potential to:
•
Decrease biodiversity
•
Alter ecosystem processes
•
Impede efforts to restore threatened and endangered species
Before
1992: Phragmites, purple loosestrife and spatterdock
After!
2005: wild rice, an essential resource for migratory birds
An Ideal Scenario
Ideally, a natural
resource manager
would have recent
survey data
demonstrating the
distribution of NIS
within the
agencies’
boundaries.
This data would
enable her to
develop a coherent
well organized
Invasive
Management Plan
Source: https://www.cnps.org/cnps/images/vegetation/map-carrizo_veg-2013.jpg All rights reserved. Reproduced here for educational
purposes only
Phragmites australis
U.S. FISH & WILDLIFE SERVICE Dollars Spent on Invasive Species Management on
NWR 2004-2010 (U.S. FISH & WILDLIFE SERVICE 2010).
From the Ideal to the Real: A less ideal scenario
A newly appointed refuge biologist at a small desert USFWS refuge receives
a phone call from a volunteer agency offering to bring 50 high school
students to the refuge for NIS control.
The refuge does not have an existing stand alone Invasive Management Plan
and although one was approved several years ago, the funding has been cut.
The refuge does have an excellent,
though seasonal bio-technician with
some GIS experience.
The biotech can rely on personal
experience and pick a location for the
students to work or use available remote
sensing technology in conjunction with
personal experience.
Source: http://richertart.com/SpringDesertVista.jpg &
http://igetready.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/question-markconfusion.jpg
All rights reserved. Reproduced here for educational purposes only
Reminder of Project Objectives:
Need:
Decision making strategy tool:
• Resource managers are often called
upon to make rapid decisions for
management with limited information.
• The goal is to develop a tool that easy
to use for an individual with limited
GIS experience and inexpensive.
• Readily available remote sensing
technology and geographic information
systems can improve the decision
making process even when complete
and accurate survey data is
unavailable.
• Allows available data to be used when
more complete data is unavailable
Overview of Methodology
a) Add site boundary
b) Add buffer surrounding boundary
c) Download National Land Cover Data
and Tiger Street Data
d) Clip to extended boundary
e) Reclassify NLCD data as disturbed
and undisturbed
f) Classify street data as disturbed
g) Buffer disturbed areas
h) Classify undisturbed areas as core
habitat
i) Region group core habitat patches
j) Rank core patches
Habitat Classification
N
Mean % NIS Cover
St. Dev.
Edge
85
9
10
Disturbed
30
16.2
12.3
Core
17
9.2
14.3
Percent Cover for Invasive Plants
30
Number of Plots
per Habitat
Classification
20
Edge
Disturbed
Core
10
0
0
.0-10
10-20
20-30
30-40
Percent Cover
30-50
50-60
Eastern Hemlock- Tuliptree -Birch Forest; core site with 26.7 %
invasive plant cover
Sugar maple floodplain; 2 core sites with 43% invasive plant cover
Habitat Classification
N
Mean %NIS Cover
St. Dev.
Edge
85
9
10
Disturbed
30
16.2
12.3
Core
17
9.2
14.3
Core (remove outliers)
17
3.4
4.9
Percent Cover for Invasive Plants
(after removing core outliers)
30
Number of Plots
per Habitat
Classification
20
Edge
Disturbed
Core
10
0
0
.0-10
10-20
20-30
30-40
Percent Cover
30-50
50-60
Rew and Maxwell 2006
Remaining Steps
I am currently applying the tool
to other sites and trying the analysis
with different buffer sizes. I hope to
integrate those results into the final
presentation.
I hope to present a poster for RAMIP at
the Mid-Atlantic Invasive Plant Council
Conference in August.
Spotted knapweed invading a forest area in Oregon
from a road.
Literature cited
Anderson, D. 2011. House funding plan would close 140 federal refuges, wildlife supporters warn. StarTribune.
http://www.startribune.com/sports/blogs/125912953.html .
California Invasive Plant Council (Cal-IPC). 2010. Economic impacts of invasive plants in California. Available from
http://www.cal-ipc.org/ip/research/cost.php (Accessed November 2011).
Joshi, C., de Leeuw, J., and van Duren I.C. (2004). Remote sensing and GIS applications
for mapping and spatial modeling of invasive species. In: ISPRS 2004: Proceedings of the XXth ISPRS Congress: Geo-imagery
bridging continents, 12-23 July 2004, Istanbul, Turkey. Comm. VII, pp 669-677.
National Invasive Species Council. 2001. Meeting the Invasive Species Challenge: National Invasive Species Management
Plan. Available from http://www.invasivespeciesinfo.gov/docs/council/mpfinal.pdf (Accessed November 2011).
McNamara, D., M. Mlynarek. 2007. Invasive Free Zone: Invasive Plants Management Plan. U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service.
Available from http://www.fws.gov/invasives/staffTrainingModule/pdfs/planning/InvasiveFreeZoneMgmtPlan.pdf
(Accessed November 2011).
Rew, L.J. and B.D. Maxwell. 2006. Stratified Random Sampling Method. Pages 49-55 in Rew, L. and Pokorny, editors. 2006.
Inventory and Survey Methods for Nonindigenous Plant Species. Montana State University Extension, Center for Invasive Plant
Management.
U.S. FISH & WILDLIFE SERVICE. 2011. FWS Dollars Spent on Invasive Species Management on NWR 2004-2010. Available
from http://www.fws.gov/invasives/pdfs/Invasive%20Species%20Program%20Fact%20Sheet%202010.pdf
(Accessed November 2011).
Zimmerman, E. March 2007. Distribution and abundance of nonnative plant species at Johnstown Flood National Memorial and
Allegheny Portage Railroad National Historic Site. Technical Report NPS/NER/NRTR—2007/083. National Park Service.
Philadelphia, PA.
Questions and Comments