This project is a collaborative research effort with the University of Maine (Dr. Mindy Crandall, Dr. Erin-Simons Legaard, Dr. Brian Roth, Dr. Dan Hayes, Tony Guay, PhD Candidate Elias Ayrey, and former MS Candidate Karin Bothwell), Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife (Ryan Robicheau, Chuck Hulsey, Nathan Bieber, and Don Katnik), JD Irving Woodlands Ltd. (John Gilbert and Ked Coffin), and retired MDIFW biologist Rich Hoppe. The goal of this integrated project is to expand current wildlife habitat, forest management, and landscape dynamics knowledge in a novel way, bridging previous work and newly available spatial data to contribute information that will help reduce landowner uncertainty and achieve better habitat results in deer wintering areas.
Objectives of this study coordinated by my lab include:
· Develop two predictive spatially explicit habitat quality models from digital elevation models, Enhanced Forest Inventory metrics derived from LiDAR, traditional forest inventories and expert observer opinion.
· Develop ecological based habitat models using winter occupancy of deer as quality indicator.
· Map the existing distribution of deer winter habitat based on habitat quality indices at a landscape level using available 3-D LiDAR.
Funding and research partners for this project include:
Wheatland Geospatial Programs, University of Maine
Cooperative Forestry Research Unit
Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife
JD Irving Woodlands Ltd.
Objectives of this study coordinated by my lab include:
· Develop two predictive spatially explicit habitat quality models from digital elevation models, Enhanced Forest Inventory metrics derived from LiDAR, traditional forest inventories and expert observer opinion.
· Develop ecological based habitat models using winter occupancy of deer as quality indicator.
· Map the existing distribution of deer winter habitat based on habitat quality indices at a landscape level using available 3-D LiDAR.
Funding and research partners for this project include:
Wheatland Geospatial Programs, University of Maine
Cooperative Forestry Research Unit
Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife
JD Irving Woodlands Ltd.