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Abstract for the poster presented at the 2003 Hawaii Conservation Conference Spatial habitat modeling of Hawaiian forest bird densities for estimation of population size and distribution. P. Marcos Gorresen, Richard J. Camp, Bethany L. Woodworth, and Thane K. Pratt. USGS Pacific Island Ecosystem Research Center, P.O. Box 44, Hawaii National Park, HI 96718. The Pacific Island Ecosystems Research Center of the USGS Biological Resources Division has developed a GIS-intensive ecological study of the Hawaiian avifauna: the Hawaii Forest Bird Interagency Database Project. The project has produced a relational database of all forest bird survey data collected in the state since the mid-1970s. More than ¾ million records from over 400 surveys on all the major islands are included in the database. GIS has been used to integrate information on species densities at surveyed locations with habitat data derived from remote sensing and field sampling, and to develop predictive models at the landscape level. We analyzed data from 65 variable circular plot surveys within a 64,843-hectare study area on the northeastern slopes of the Island of Hawaii that encompasses the Hakalau Forest National Wildlife Refuge. Results are presented for 8 native and 2 alien bird species. The models have used an autoregressive method that incorporates a spatially autocorrelated error structure, thereby accounting for fine-scale autocorrelation in density and habitat variables. Coarse-scale autocorrelation was controlled with trend surface terms. Estimates of densities were generated for all 1-hectare cells within the study area, and totaled to estimate population size. Density surface maps based on models that incorporate habitat characteristics more accurately depict the relationships of bird density and habitat than inter- and extrapolation of survey site data alone. Such modeling products will assist in guiding future census and management efforts. |
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Department of the Interior |
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