Thursday, August 9, 2007: 1:30 PM-5:00 PM
C3&4, San Jose McEnery Convention Center
OOS 45 - The Gap Analysis Program: Addressing the future needs of ecological research, conservation, and restoration
The primary goal of the Gap Analysis Program (GAP) is ‘to keep common species common’ by providing data and facilitating its application for proactive conservation of our nation’s biodiversity. Data generated and used by GAP have been applied to a wide array of ecological research needs and conservation priorities including restoration. A recent review of GAP data applications indicated the primary uses have included resource management, biodiversity assessment, conservation planning, site prioritization, and as a component of State Wildlife Action Plans (SWAPs). However, the same review indicated data users would like to see modifications to GAP data. These modifications included finer scale mapping of select species, improved mapping of linear corridors, better delineation between forest types, additional information on habitat condition, species’ abundance, threats to habitat and species, and more regional and aquatic data. The speakers in our session will discuss how GAP is addressing these requests for data modifications. Finer scale mapping of species is important for species conservation and recovery at local and regional scales. Longleaf pine ecosystems have declined dramatically in the Southeastern U.S. To understand and more effectively conserve and restore these ecosystems, fine scale mapping, better delineation of this forest type, and information on habitat conditions and threats are needed. Also, the Northwest Gap Analysis Project is addressing the need for finer scale species mapping by including habitat mapping in its species modeling of the region. We are incorporating species abundance, productivity, and survival data into the species models to improve mapping at a local scale. Our intent is to make regional species mapping more useful to local land managers. Furthermore, finer scale imagery data, such as LIDAR, are becoming more readily available and we are exploring its potential to improve our species models especially those models that include linear corridor habitat types, such as riparian corridors. Lastly, finer scale mapping is being used to identify threats to freshwater ecosystems in Nebraska, Iowa, Missouri, and Kansas. Our session speakers will discuss the use of GAP data to address all these topics. GAP is conducting more regional projects and using regional data to prioritize and provide ecological context to conservation and restoration efforts. We will show how GAP data can potentially identify priorities for ecological restoration using the National Wildlife Refuge System as a case study.
Organizer:Jocelyn L. Aycrigg, University of Idaho
Co-organizers:Kevin Gergely, U. S. Geological Survey
Alexa McKerrow, North Carolina State University
Jill Maxwell, University of Idaho
Moderator:Julie Prior-Magee, U. S. Geological Survey
1:30 PMOOS 45-1Tailoring GAP data in response to users' input: GAP data in State Wildlife Action Plans
Jill Maxwell, National Gap Analysis Program, University of Idaho
1:50 PMOOS 45-2Fine-scale mapping of species for the Northwest Gap Analysis Project
Jocelyn L. Aycrigg, University of Idaho, Gary P. Beauvais, University of Wyoming
2:10 PMOOS 45-3Potential of LIDAR data to improve species modeling and habitat characterization
Sebastian Martinuzzi, University of Idaho, Lee Vierling, University of Idaho, William Gould, USDA Forest Service, Kerri Vierling, University of Idaho, Andrew Hudak, USDA Forest Service, Ross F. Nelson, National Aeronautics and Space Administration
2:30 PMOOS 45-4Using the Gap Analysis Project land cover to map potential restoration sites within the range of Longleaf pine (Pinus palustris)
Alexa McKerrow, North Carolina State University, Adam Terando, Pennsylvania State University, Cecil Frost, University of North Carolina
2:50 PMOOS 45-5Developing a decision-support tool for longleaf pine conservation in the Southeast
Kevin Kleiner, Auburn University, Allison Vogt, East Gulf Coastal Plain Joint Venture, Mark D. Mackenzie, Auburn University, James B. Grand, Auburn University
3:10 PM Break
3:20 PMOOS 45-6Improvements in core Aquatic GAP datasets: Species models and human threat indices
Gust Annis, University of Missouri, Scott Sowa, University of Missouri
3:40 PMOOS 45-7Protected areas in their ecological context: Case study of the National Wildlife Refuge System
Kevin Gergely, U. S. Geological Survey, J. Michael Scott, University of Idaho, Thomas Loveland, U.S. Geological Survey
4:00 PMOOS 45-8The dynamic human footprint: A measure of conservation success
Aaron Haines, University of Idaho, Matthias Leu, U.S. Geological Survey, J. Michael Scott, University of Idaho, Kerry P. Reese, University of Idaho

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