United States Environmental Protection Agency Office of Research and Development National Exposure Research Laboratory Research Abstract Government Performance Results Act (GPRA) Goal #4 Annual Performance Measure #362 Significant Research Findings: Development of Habitat Models for 71 Vertebrate Species Across Nevada Scientific Past national focus on threatened and endangered species has drawn attention to Problem and the relatively small number of taxa in the most desperate condition. In contrast, Policy Issues directing conservation attention toward maintaining relatively intact biological systems and communities is proactive, potentially less expensive, and capable of identifying in advance significant areas for planning. The Gap Analysis Program (GAP) is a national program of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), Biological Resources Division that maps the distribution of plant communities and selected animal species and compares these distributions with land stewardship to identify biotic elements at potential risk of endangerment. To date, GAP products have been conducted on a per-state basis, and have been completed for most states. A limitation of this approach, however, has been that each state has conducted the land cover mapping and vertebrate habitat modeling in different ways, which has precluded a comprehensive, ecoregional approach to resource management. To alleviate these limitations, GAP has conducted its first regional project, the Southwest Regional Gap Analysis Project (SWReGAP), which encompasses the states of Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, Utah, and Nevada. EPA has been a partner in conducting this project, and has had primary responsibility for the Nevada ecoregional component, including land cover mapping, land stewardship mapping, and development of 71 of the 833 vertebrate habitat distribution models represented in the project. The objective of this Annual Performance Measure was to develop models for predicted habitat distribution for 71 vertebrate species that reside, breed, or use habitat in the 5-state region. The range of these 71 species is primarily within Nevada. These models are based on the concept of wildlife habitat relationships, defined as a statement describing resources and conditions present in areas where a species persists and reproduces or otherwise occurs. Knowledge for such relationships was drawn primarily from published literature, but also from unpublished sources and expert input in some cases. Data layers represented in the models included the geographic range (represented by USGS hydrologic units), SWReGAP land cover data sets, elevation, proximity to various hydrologic features, topographic features (e.g., slope, landform), and soil characteristics. Draft models were reviewed internally, and expert review was contributed through workshops and in individual participation. Each model received formal review through workshops and/or Web-based protocols by at least one external expert, Research Approach ------- resulting in over 1,200 reviews by over 80 experts for the 833 species. Results and The models and associated metadata are available at Impact http://fws-nmcfwru.nmsu.edu/swregap/habitatreview/select_species.htm. These models provide spatially explicit predictions of habitat for each species that will be useful to land managers, scientists, and the general public regarding land use research, policy, planning, and management. Because all the models were conducted in a similar fashion, and the SWReGAP project as a whole was conducted in a consistent manner, land managers will have the capability of assessing the status of biodiversity and evaluating other resources over by far the largest area within the U.S. No other program provides habitat models for all vertebrate species inhabiting an area. The models for the SWReGAP project were completed in collaboration with groups at New Mexico Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit (USGS at New Mexico State University), Utah State University, Colorado Division of Wildlife, Colorado Plateau Biological Station (USGS), and NatureServe. Funding to ORD/NERL/ESD was provided from interagency agreement No. RW14939145 from USGS, Biological Resources Division. The models and associated metadata are available at: http://fws-nmcfwru.nmsu.edu/swregap/habitatreview/select_species.htm. Bradford, D.F., Kepner, W.G., and Sajwaj, T.D. "An Approach for Determining Regional Land Cover and Vertebrate Species Habitat Distributions in the American Southwest: the Southwest Regional Gap Analysis Project." Symposium on Scale and Sustainability, Mojave Desert Science Symposium, Redlands, California, 2004. Future A follow-on effort will be conducted to evaluate model accuracy using Research independent data sets for selected species and areas in New Mexico and Arizona. Contacts for Questions and inquiries can be directed to: Additional Information David F. Bradford, Ph.D. U.S. EPA, Office of Research and Development National Exposure Research Laboratory Landscape Ecology Branch P.O. Box 93478 Las Vegas, NV 89193-3478 Phone: 702/798-2681 E-mail: bradford.david@epa.gov Funding for this project was through the U.S. Geological Survey, Biological Resources Division (interagency agreement RW14939145) and the U.S. EPA's Office of Research and Development, National Exposure Research Laboratory. The work was conducted by the Environmental Sciences Division. Research Collaboration and Research Products ------- |