Elk Habitat Selection in Western Oregon and Washington:
Models for a New Century
Agenda:
April 19, 2010
LaSells Stewart Center, Oregon State Univ., Corvallis, Oregon
Time
Title
Speaker
4:00 – 4:15 pm
Draft Modeling Results for Example Westside Study
Areas
Management Applications for Westside Habitats
Mary Rowland
USFS, PNW Res. Station
Mike Wisdom
4:15 – 5:00 pm
Wrap-up, Q&A Session
All speakers/panel
1:00 – 1:20 pm
1:20 – 1:50 pm
1:50 – 2:10 pm
2:10 – 2:40 pm
2:40 – 3:10 pm
3:10 - 3:30 pm
3:30 – 4:00 pm
New Westside Elk Models - What, Why, and How
Mike Wisdom
USFS, PNW Res. Station
Incorporating Nutrition in Westside Elk Habitat
John and Rachel Cook
Models
NCASI
Sources of Elk Location Data
Priscilla Coe
ODFW
Selection and Development of Spatial Covariate Layers Bridgett Naylor
USFS, PNW Res. Station
Resource Selection Modeling Approach to Westside
Ryan Nielson
Elk Habitat Models
WEST, Inc.
BREAK
NA
Sponsored by:
 National Fish & Wildlife Foundation
 Boone and Crockett Club
 Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation
Collaborators:
 USDA Forest Service
• Pacific Northwest Research Station
• Pacific Northwest Region
 Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife
 Washington Department of Fish and
Wildlife
 National Council for Air and Stream
Improvement
 Sporting Conservation Council
 USDA Forest Service
 Bureau of Land Management
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Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe
Makah Nation
Muckleshoot Indian Tribe
Quileute Indian Tribe
Sauk-Suiattle Indian Tribe
WEST, Inc.
Oregon State University
Oregon State University Extension Service
Modeling Covariates Considered:
Nutrition:
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Mean dietary digestible energy (DDE)*
Mean accepted biomass (AB)
Distance to nearest patch of marginal or better nutrition (2 patch sizes)
Percent area in marginal or better nutrition class
Mean DDE in marginal or better nutrition class
Distance to nearest patch of good or excellent nutrition
Human
disturbance:
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Distance to nearest high traffic open road
Distance to nearest low traffic open road
Distance to nearest closed road
Distance to nearest open road
Distance to nearest road, all types
Distance to nearest road or trail open to public motorized use
Distance to nearest road open to public motorized use
Distance to nearest road or trail open only to administrative motorized use
Density of roads and trails open to public motorized use
Density of roads open to public motorized use
Vegetation:
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Mean overstory canopy cover (CC)
Dominant CC class
Distance to nearest forage patch
Distance to nearest cover patch (3 patch sizes)
Distance to nearest cover-forage edge
Distance to optimal cover
Distance to thermal cover
Distance to hiding cover
Cover-forage ratio
Mean habitat effectiveness for size and spacing of cover and forage (HEs)
Cover quality
Physical/Other:
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Mean percent slope
Median percent slope
Percent slope (center point)
Dominant slope class
Percent area in flat to gentle slopes
Percent area in moderate to steep slopes
Percent area in very steep slopes
Cosine and sine of aspect
Convexity
Curvature
Mean solar radiation
Distance to water
Dominant landowner
*Bold font indicates covariates brought forward in final model selection process.