A method for rapid, spatially explicit habitat assessment for forestsongbirds

The management of forest ecosystems for sustainability requires knowledge of the abundance and distribution of all resources, including wood and wildlife, and the ability to predict the impact of managementon these resources. Spatially explicit inventories for wildlife are lacking for the vast majority of species. We propose, with example, amethod of rapid habitat assessment which can be conducted with available data to produce a spatially explicit inventory of habitat for a species. Information from the literature and some census data were used to construct a simple model of potential habitat for a boreal forest songbird. Available spatial data, including landcover from LandsatTM data, and a digital elevation model, were used to map the distribution of key habitat characteristics onto the landscape. We argue forthe development of these preliminary wildlife habitat models using habitat characteristics that are mappable with currently available remotely sensed data. Given the current trend toward the development of large scale databases of topography and extant land cover, spatially explicit potential habitat models can be efficiently and inexpensively developed to provide a framework for incorporating wildlife habitatinto forest management. The relationships between rapid habitat assessment, long-term studies, monitoring, and population viability analysis are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]