Measuring Habitat and Biodiversity Outcomes Sara Vickerman and Frank Casey September 26, 2013 Defenders of Wildlife

What is biodiversity? Variety of life and its processes Genetic, species, habitat, large landscapes What is biodiversity? Variety of life and its processes Genetic, species, habitat, large landscapes

Defenders of Wildlife Biodiversity conservation requires: Right amount, configuration, and management of land and water in each region (coarse filter) Attention to individual elements (fine filter) Biodiversity conservation requires: Right amount, configuration, and management of land and water in each region (coarse filter) Attention to individual elements (fine filter)

Defenders of Wildlife Broad agreement that biodiversity is threatened by: Human development Degradation, conversion of native habitat Invasive species Toxics, other direct mortality Climate change Broad agreement that biodiversity is threatened by: Human development Degradation, conversion of native habitat Invasive species Toxics, other direct mortality Climate change

Defenders of Wildlife Many approaches to tracking impacts and conservation outcomes to habitats and species but... Little progress reaching agreement on more consistent approach Many approaches to tracking impacts and conservation outcomes to habitats and species but... Little progress reaching agreement on more consistent approach

Defenders of Wildlife Effectiveness of biodiversity conservation is difficult to measure Goals often not stated or agreed upon May conflict with human activities Focus on single species, habitats Need measures at multiple scales – species to landscapes Effectiveness of biodiversity conservation is difficult to measure Goals often not stated or agreed upon May conflict with human activities Focus on single species, habitats Need measures at multiple scales – species to landscapes

Defenders of Wildlife Status and trends for biodiversity poorly monitored Nobody is responsible for comprehensive system Biodiversity is not uniformly regulated Tendency to re-invent the wheel Low priority for public and policy-makers

Defenders of Wildlife Why consistent metrics? To help improve conservation outcomes – what works, what doesn’t Work across land ownership boundaries Connect disparate program investments to address scale issues Align management plans Apply adaptive management

Defenders of Wildlife Level of involvement Capture everything Precision Practicality Speed Cost

Defenders of Wildlife Purpose To examine a few efforts to date Engage experts in conversation Propose workable, practical framework Test alternative approaches

Defenders of Wildlife Three approaches with considerable overlap Individual habitat metrics Ecological Integrity Assessments Biodiversity Index

Defenders of Wildlife Site level metrics Developed by Willamette Partnership and others Prairie, wetland, salmon, water temperature Focus on regulations that drive trading or mitigation programs Measuring Up report outlined framework for biodiversity metrics

Defenders of Wildlife Defenders metrics Natural Resources Conservation Service, Bullitt funded Address unregulated biodiversity values in Western U.S. Oak, floodplain, sage brush / sage grouse Percent of optimal ecological functioning

Site level conditions –Context –Vegetation –Species –Abiotic –Practices –Risk Defenders of Wildlife What the metrics measure

Defenders of Wildlife Sagebrush metric: Final scores

Defenders of Wildlife Where to find these metrics Marketplace for Nature web site Counting on the Environment – Willamette Partnership

Defenders of Wildlife Challenge with site level metrics Should they be habitat specific? How many habitats? Who develops, maintains, updates them? How do they connect to larger landscape scale metrics? Not useful for landscape scale conservation planning

Setting Ecological Integrity Goals Setting Ecological Integrity Goals Rank A Rank B Rank C Rank D Increasing human disturbance Increasing ecological integrity Ecosystem Conservation Goal

Ecological Integrity Monitoring Level 1) Remote assessment Level 2) Rapid field assessment Level 3) Intensive assessment

Level 1: Remote assessment Landscape context – Connectivity, surrounding land use, patch size, and stressors

Level 2: Rapid field assessment  Landscape characteristics  Vegetation cover and composition  Soil condition  Disturbance regimes  Wildlife abundance and composition  Stressors  Calibration of remote techniques

Level 2: Rapid field assessment Photo plots as example

Level 3: Intensive assessment

Defenders of Wildlife Application Initially to select priority conservation areas Useful where natural habitat of interest Also used for wetland assessment, monitoring Expanded to measure habitat quality Can be applied at multiple scales NatureServe network supports

Defenders of Wildlife Challenges Might not fit where biodiversity is a secondary goal Less useful where data are limited - like other methods, requires sustained investment

Challenge of representing biodiversity

Biodiversity is an ecosystem service People harvest, consume wild plants and animals Healthy ecosystems filter water, control erosion, pollinate crops Nature has cultural (existence) values Landscape pattern, functions, species, combine – Biodiversity Service Score

Biodiversity can be characterized by: Mapped features Quantitative tabular data Narrative description

Assumptions underlying biodiversity framework Coarse filter looks at habitat abundance, type, integrity, rarity and distribution Fine filter looks at species needs not captured in coarse filter Ecological integrity characterizes functioning systems that support native biodiversity

Ecological integrity Vegetation, structure, composition Ecological processes – fire, hydrology Species composition –Common species –Invasive species Rare, uncommon species not good indicators

Species measures Rarity weighting applied – priority Relevant regulations Migratory patterns for some fish, wildlife Population sizes Biotic condition

Defenders of Wildlife Application for biodiversity index Broad scale conservation planning Context of ecosystem service assessments Linked to social, economic factors Impact of corporate sourcing decisions

Defenders of Wildlife Challenges May be too complex as presented Needs translation for broad application Requires high quality, detailed information Challenges May be too complex as presented Needs translation for broad application Requires high quality, detailed information

Defenders of Wildlife Questions for the group Examples of habitat/biodiversity measures ? Other approaches? Field applications? Collaborate to find creative solutions?

Defenders of Wildlife Sara Vickerman Defenders of Wildlife