Survey Design and Database Management for Adaptive Monitoring of Forest Wildlife on the Piedmont National Wildlife Refuge.
Dr. Michael J. Conroy, Georgia Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602.
Summary: Managers at the Piedmont National Wildlife Refuge are charged with sustaining populations of several wildlife species, including the endangered red-cockaded woodpecker (Picoides borealis) but also species of concern such as the wood thrush (Hylostichla mustelina) and other shrub-nesting neotropical migratory birds. Silvicultural methods such as thinning and prescribed burning are important tools in this management. Because of differences in the habitat requirements among these species, management that is optimal for one may negatively affect others. Thus an ecosystem approach is desirable, in which critical objectives (i.e., sustenance of RCW populations) are met without unnecessary detrimental impacts to remaining resource objectives. Because uncertainty exists in exactly how each group of species will respond to management, we are examining Adaptive Resource Management (ARM) as a possible tool to assist with decision making. A study of ARM at PNWR is nearing completion under the direction of Dr. Michael Conroy at the Georgia Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit to develop a multispecies wildlife management-research-monitoring program using principles of adaptive optimization ( see completed project ). Although an optimization model has been developed, and linked to a refuge GIS map, inadequacies in historical forest inventory, mapping, and wildlife survey data will detract from the full utility of this approach as a management tool. In addition, existing data sources remain principally as paper records, preventing their ready incorporation into the modeling tools under develop by Dr. Conroy's group.
Continued support is needed to enable the research products to be incorporated into Refuge management. Specifically support is needed in the following areas, which constitute the deliverables of the project:
1. Consultation between the PI and his graduate students or postdoctoral associates, and Refuge staff, on the design of forest vegetation and bird population monitoring. In particular, a systematic approach to vegetation sampling must be developed, that incorporates key habitat elements thought to be important to the refuge-wide management of RCW and forest songbirds.
2. Updating of existing GIS maps (completed as part of the above-referenced project) to incorporate additional data collected as under item 1.
3. Development of system for the description and computer coding of forest management prescriptions, heretofore mainly kept in paper form (e.g., annotated maps).
4. Synthesis of data collected under items 1-3 into a comprehensive database, usable by refuge staff, and linkable to the decision support tools under development in the modeling project.