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Modeling interactions betweenspotted owl and barred owl populations in fire-prone forests
Citation:
Singleton, P., B. Marcot, J. Lehmkuhl, M. Raphael, R. Kennedy, AND N. H. SCHUMAKER. Modeling interactions betweenspotted owl and barred owl populations in fire-prone forests. Presented at Ecological Society of America, Portland, OR, August 05 - 10, 2012.
Impact/Purpose:
Efforts to conserve northern spotted owls (Strix occidentalis caurina) in the eastern Cascades of Washington must merge the challenges of providing sufficient structurally complex forest habitat in a fire-prone landscape with the limitations imposed through competitive interactions with a recently established population of barred owls (Strix varia).
Description:
Background / Question / Methods Efforts to conserve northern spotted owls (Strix occidentalis caurina) in the eastern Cascades of Washington must merge the challenges of providing sufficient structurally complex forest habitat in a fire-prone landscape with the limitations imposed through competitive interactions with a recently established population of barred owls (Strix varia). Barred owl individuals tend to displace spotted owls from optimal habitats, and from established nesting sites. We used HexSim to develop a northern spotted owl population model that could simultaneously address the effects of both changing habitat structure and barred owl distribution. Our model allowed us to examine likely future spotted owl population trends within the Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest, Washington. Results / Conclusions We used HexSim to quantify spotted owl population size, dispersal patterns, the spatial distribution of births and deaths, and other metrics, both with and without barred owl interactions. The influence of barred owls led to substantial differences in both the size and distribution of the simulated spotted owl population. We are also using our population model to evaluate conservation strategies for northern spotted owls in fire-prone forests using a management-focused multi-model framework that carefully captures the interactions between forest management strategies, forest growth rates, and the risk of high intensity wildfire.