Grantee Research Project Results
1998 Progress Report: Development And Testing Of A Multi-Resource Landscape-Scale Ecological Indicator: Forest Fragmentation, Structure, and Distribution Relative to Topography
EPA Grant Number: R826598Title: Development And Testing Of A Multi-Resource Landscape-Scale Ecological Indicator: Forest Fragmentation, Structure, and Distribution Relative to Topography
Investigators: Seagle, Steven W. , Townsend, Philip A.
Institution: University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science
EPA Project Officer: Packard, Benjamin H
Project Period: October 1, 1998 through September 30, 2003
Project Period Covered by this Report: October 1, 1998 through September 30, 1999
Project Amount: $683,374
RFA: Ecological Indicators (1998) RFA Text | Recipients Lists
Research Category: Ecological Indicators/Assessment/Restoration , Aquatic Ecosystems
Objective:
The objective of this project is to understand how water quality and avian habitat quality vary across landscapes as a function of topography. The primary hypothesis is that these two resources covary in a predictable manner, and indicators that simultaneously reflect both resources can be developed from databases of topography, land use, and remotely sensed forest structure.Progress Summary:
Work in the first year of funding focused on: (1) selection and mapping of field sites for empirical studies of avian diversity and reproduction; (2) an intensive spring/summer field season censusing avian species; (3) collection of field data on forest structure within field sites; and (4) obtaining and analyzing remote sensing imagery (LandsatTM and synthetic aperture radar). Two supplements to our original project research plan included quantification of food availability for ground-feeding forest birds and collection of tree cores to quantify forest productivity at all field sites.
Task 1 of this project examines forest cover distribution and fragmentation within large, multiple-land use watersheds in relation to previously documented water quality parameters. Landsat imagery for the Mid-Atlantic Highlands and Chesapeake Bay Watershed has been georeferenced, and classification of land uses is underway. Current work is focused on a pilot study area in the upper Potomac River Watershed. This pilot area includes the field study sites. Water quality data for the pilot study area and the region are being compiled for comparison with forest distribution characteristics.
Task 2 has two primary objectives: to test the hypothesis that topographically induced moisture conditions influence the density, diversity, and reproductive success of forest interior songbirds; and to establish an ability to map forest vertical structure using radar remote sensing. Twenty study sites were established based on four criteria: (1) located within forest interior; (2) primarily deciduous; (3) composed of mature forest; and (4) representative of either wet or dry topographic positions. Study sites were equally stratified between the high rainfall Appalachian Plateau and the low rainfall Ridge-and-Valley physiographic provinces. Mapping of avian territories and reproduction on these study sites from mid-June until mid-August resulted in over 13,000 bird observations. Computer-generated maps are being used to analyze territory boundaries and to assign reproductive status to each territory, study site, topographic position, and ultimately to each physiographic province. Extensive sampling to characterize forest vertical structure and composition for these field sites also was carried out. These data currently are being used to analyze synthetic aperture radar and Landsat thematic mapper images, with the goal of predicting both forest structure and composition from remotely sensed imagery. Ultimately, there are plans to map forest interior bird habitat quality over large regions using satellite imagery (to determine forest fragmentation and vertical structure) and topography (as a predictor of avian productivity).
Task 3, development of indicators for both water quality and avian habitat quality, is dependent on completion of Tasks 1 and 2. Research on this task will begin in the next reporting period.
Future Activities:
For Task 1, topographic indices will be used to define the spatial distribution of areas likely to contribute to stream flow within the upper Potomac pilot study area. In conjunction with forest coverage, these areas will allow calculation of forest statistics (such as percent forest, amount of forest edge, and forest fractal dimension) to compare with water quality for the pilot area. Similar analyses for multiple watersheds of differing land use characteristics will then be pursued. Analyses of Year 1 forest structure data in conjunction with radar imagery will define a parsimonious set of field measurements that reflect forest structure and are predictable from imagery. With this guidance, extensive field measurements will be made to characterize forest structure over the range of topographic and vegetation conditions found in the Mid-Atlantic Highlands. Maps of forest structure will then be developed. A second year of avian reproduction data will be collected, with greater attention given to unique aspect/slope positions and ranking of study sites by site index. By the third quarter of 2000, it is expected that all components needed to develop ecological indicators (Task 3) for the upper Potomac River Watershed will be in place. This watershed will serve as the pilot for examining indicator configurations that reflect both water quality and avian habitat quality before larger scale applications are begun.Journal Articles:
No journal articles submitted with this report: View all 38 publications for this projectSupplemental Keywords:
water, watersheds, population, ecosystem, indicators, scaling, terrestrial, habitat, biology, ecology, hydrology satellite, Landsat, remote sensing, northeast, Atlantic coast, Chesapeake Bay, Mid-Atlantic, Maryland, MD, Pennsylvania, PA, West Virginia, WV, EPA Region 3., RFA, Scientific Discipline, Water, Geographic Area, Ecosystem Protection/Environmental Exposure & Risk, Water & Watershed, Ecology, Hydrology, Ecosystem/Assessment/Indicators, Ecosystem Protection, Ecological Effects - Environmental Exposure & Risk, Forestry, Ecological Risk Assessment, Mid-Atlantic, Biology, Geology, Watersheds, Ecological Indicators, EPA Region, risk assessment, remote sensing, landscape indicator, multi-level indicators, stream ecosystems, Region 3, bird habitat, ecosystem indicators, estuarine ecosystems, gypsy moth, Mid-Atlantic Highlands, terrestrial, aquatic ecosystems, water quality, stress responses, defoliation, land useRelevant Websites:
Progress 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.