Grantee Research Project Results
1999 Progress Report: Methodologies for Extrapolating from Local to Regional Ecosystem Scales: Scaling Functions and Thresholds in Animal Responses to Landscape Pattern and Land Use
EPA Grant Number: R826764Title: Methodologies for Extrapolating from Local to Regional Ecosystem Scales: Scaling Functions and Thresholds in Animal Responses to Landscape Pattern and Land Use
Investigators: Wiens, John A. , Horne, Beatrice Van
Institution: Colorado State University
EPA Project Officer: Hahn, Intaek
Project Period: October 1, 1998 through September 30, 2001 (Extended to December 31, 2002)
Project Period Covered by this Report: October 1, 1998 through September 30, 1999
Project Amount: $581,519
RFA: Regional Scale Analysis and Assessment (1998) RFA Text | Recipients Lists
Research Category: Aquatic Ecosystems , Ecological Indicators/Assessment/Restoration
Objective:
To develop and test new concepts and methods for evaluating how the dynamics of ecological systems change with changes in scale in ecological landscapes, and whether there are predictable thresholds in the scaling responses of ecological systems. We will derive mathematical scaling functions and GIS-based spatial models to assess how information gathered at fine scales in intensive studies can be extrapolated to the broad scales of ecological monitoring and environmental risk assessment. Such models will be used to predict the effects of landscape change associated with human activities on plant and animal distribution, community biodiversity, and the functional organization of ecosystems at multiple scales of resolution.
Progress Summary:
Because the award was received well into the academic year, the research team (a Postdoctoral Associate and two Graduate Research Assistants) could not be assembled until summer 1999. Since that time, we have focused on the first major area of research activity: developing methods and protocols for analyzing the scaling relationships of several well-studied systems using data sets that are already available. We have gathered data sets containing spatially referenced information on the environment (e.g., soil type and structure, vegetation coverages, precipitation, temperature, elevation, land use) and elements of the associated biota for three situations: (1) grasshopper species in eastern Wyoming; (2) breeding songbirds in the Snake River Birds of Prey National Conservation Area in Idaho; and (3) breeding birds recorded in Breeding Bird Surveys conducted over a broad regional transect from northeastern Colorado to central Kansas. For each of these data sets, we are conducting analyses using: (1) multivariate statistics to determine environmental gradients; (2) spatial statistics (including some procedures developed as part of this research) to examine the spatial structure of the data sets; and (3) multiscale correlational analyses to assess how the relations between organisms, environments, and landscapes change with changes in the spatial scale of resolution. Considerable effort was required to assemble data sets in a way that would permit such analyses. This work is a necessary first step in determining exactly how ecological systems change with scale and how changing land-use patterns might alter these scaling responses. Effective management and protection of the environment requires a consideration of scale-dependent effects, and these initial analyses will produce a protocol and model framework for developing scaling functions that may be applied to specific situations. This work also will provide the methodological foundation for the second phase of the research, which will be initiated during the spring of 2000 (see below).
Future Activities:
We will continue conducting the analyses of existing data sets to develop our methods and approaches. To test this methodology, we will initiate field studies during spring and summer 2000. We will collect data on landscape configuration, environmental conditions, land-use practices, and the distribution and abundance of several target taxa (beetles, birds, butterflies) at five primary study sites located along a broad gradient in precipitation, primary production, and land use. This transect will extend from the shortgrass steppe in northeastern Colorado to the tallgrass prairie in central Kansas. This work will represent the second stage in developing a protocol and models that may have general use in linking fine-scale ecological research with broad-scale applications.
Journal Articles:
No journal articles submitted with this report: View all 38 publications for this projectSupplemental Keywords:
ecological effects, sensitive populations, ecosystem, indicators, scaling, terrestrial, habitat, biology, ecology, modeling, monitoring, surveys, measurement methods, landsat, remote sensing, western, central, Colorado, CO, Kansas, KS, Wyoming, WY, Idaho, ID, birds, insects., RFA, Scientific Discipline, Geographic Area, Ecosystem Protection/Environmental Exposure & Risk, Ecosystem/Assessment/Indicators, Ecosystem Protection, climate change, State, Monitoring/Modeling, Ecological Effects - Environmental Exposure & Risk, Regional/Scaling, Environmental Monitoring, Ecological Risk Assessment, Ecological Indicators, Agricultural Engineering, ecological exposure, EMAP, scaling, landscapes, risk assessment, extrapolation methods, biodiversity, ecosystem assessment, landscape context, Idaho (ID), terrestrial ecosystems, animal responses, spatial scale, New Mexico (NM), conservation, land use change, regional scale impacts, GIS, conservation , landscape patterns, grazing, indicators, land use, land management, Environmental Monitoring & Assessment ProgramProgress and Final Reports:
Original AbstractThe perspectives, information and conclusions conveyed in research project abstracts, progress reports, final reports, journal abstracts and journal publications convey the viewpoints of the principal investigator and may not represent the views and policies of ORD and EPA. Conclusions drawn by the principal investigators have not been reviewed by the Agency.