habitat conditions and targets
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Habitat Conditions and Targets
How did we get here?
Overview
What is a condition? What is a target? Fisher data used Characterizing
conditions Target estimation Example Operational
application Summarize process
Conditions and Targets
Provide forestry personnel with an idea of:• What good fisher
habitat looks like • How much of it is
needed by fishersUsed to provide guidance to help make operational decisions in fisher habitat
Habitat Relationships Across BC
Forest composition varies considerably across regions Species composition Tree growth and decay Understory diversity
and cover Desired Habitat
Conditions and Targets vary too
What do fishers need?
1. Collect information on fishers Capture, radiotag and monitor fishers to:
1. Identify the structures used by fishers for rearing offspring and resting.
2. Identify the stands used by fishers for rearing, resting, foraging, and movement.
3. Determine the size and composition of the home range of each tagged fisher.
What do fishers need?
1. Collect information on fishers
2. Measure habitats used by fishers a) Characterize the
MINIMUM STRUCTURAL ATTRIBUTES of rearing and resting sites
b) Characterize HIGH-QUALITY STAND ATTRIBUTES of stands used by fishers [VRI]
At as leading speciesQ_DIAM_125=24.4 cmPROJ_AGE_1=128PROJ_HT_1=27.1
How much do fishers need?
1. Collect information on fishers
2. Measure habitats used by fishers
3. Estimate targetsa) Estimate the MINIMUM DENSITY of “high-quality stands” needed for each behaviour within each home range
b) Estimate the TOTAL NUMBER OF STRUCTURES that need to occur within the home range.
18.9% of homerange in “high-quality” den stands
Say What?
• Minimum Structural Attributes??
• High-Quality Stand Attributes??
• Minimum Stand Density??
• Total Number of Structures??
MINIMUM STRUCTURAL ATTRIBUTES
0
2
4
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0 20 40 60 80 100DBH (cm)
Num
ber
of r
est
site
s
Why 75%?
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
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0 20 40 60 80 100DBH (cm)
Num
ber
of r
est
site
s
mean:47.6 cmSD: 14 cm
Why 75%?
75% of rest sites were >39.5 cm
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
18
0 20 40 60 80 100DBH (cm)
Num
ber
of r
est
site
s
Why 75%?
Bigger actually is better
0%
25%
50%
75%
100%
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70DBH (cm)
Prob
abilit
y of
use
HIGH-QUALITY STAND ATTRIBUTES
MINIMUM STAND DENSITY
TOTAL NUMBER OF STRUCTURES
Desir
ed
Habi
tat
Cond
ition
s
This process allows us to:1. Identify the minimum characteristics of
trees used by fishers for rearing and resting.
2. Identify high- and low-quality stands for each activity.
3. Identify the minimum density of “high-quality” stands that support fishers.
4. Estimate the total number of structures¹ that fishers need within home ranges.
¹ that meet minimum criteria of (1)
Summary
A Few Important Notes
Not all trees that meet the minimum criteria are suitable
Things we can measure vs. things fishers need
TOTAL NUMBER OF STRUCTURES is based on the things we can measure
Refining the minimum criteria to better reflect what fishers need would refine the target.
1
A Few Important Notes
Males don’t really matter! Female fishers are the real habitat
specialists• Have to find enough structures and
habitats to support themselves in a smaller area than males
Males simply go wherever the girls are…and pick up food along the way
Conditions and targets that we present are derived from data on female fishers
2
How would they get used?Conditions and Targets
Applying Targets
HUH??5,250 aspen trees >40 cm dbh and 2,620 balsam poplar trees >54 cm dbh in a 30 km² area?
Targets for each harvest unit depend upon features of:1. LANDSCAPE: Density of high-quality stands
[above or below minimum requirement]2. STAND: relative quality of the stands
[high- or low-quality for each activity]3. SUB-STAND: Timber cruise or site-plan
ground data[density of minimum structural attributes or other features]
What are the Targets?
Targets - Landscape Assessment
MINIMUM STAND DENSITY
Information needed:1. Identify stands with
“High-Quality Stand Attributes”• QUERY VRI
2. Determine where the density of high-quality stands is greater than the “Minimum Stand Density”• SPATIAL ANALYSIS
Allows licencee to determine if proposed block is in an area with sufficient density of stands.
HIGH-QUALITY STAND ATTRIBUTES
Targets - Stand AssessmentHIGH-QUALITY STAND ATTRIBUTESMINIMUM STRUCTURAL ATTRIBUTES
Information needed:1. Determine if unit is in a
“High-quality stand”• VRI QUERY
2. Determine if this stand is rare in the surrounding landscape• LANDSCAPE
ASSESSMENT3. Estimate density of
structures that meet minimum structural attributes• CRUISE OR SITE PLAN
DATA
Decisions, decisions…
Landscape AboveMinimum Stand Density
BelowMinimum Stand Density
Meet High-quality Stand AttributesStand
Sub-Stand
Not Meet High-quality Stand Attributes
Trees with MinimumStructural Attributes Abundant
Trees with MinimumStructural Attributes Rare
Assessments and Targets
The results of the landscape and stand assessment helps guide targets for the unit Rearing Resting Foraging MovementLikely considerable overlap Meet multiple targets with
single prescription
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