Multi-species/habitat Ecological Evaluation Modeling
Leonard Pearlstine, Frank J. Mazzotti, and Gareth Mann
University of Florida, Davie, FL
Laura Brandt and Dawn Jennings
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Boynton Beach and Jacksonville, FL
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s South Florida Multi- Species Recovery Plan
(MSRP), outlines recovery objectives for threatened and endangered (T&E) species and their habitats in South Florida and is specifically designed to recover multiple species through the restoration of ecological communities in South
Florida. Incorporation of this information into map layers that can be manipulated using GIS (Geographic Information Systems) to examine regional patterns of potential habitats and habitat protection needs will assist in the development of an implementation plan for the MSRP.
The University of Florida in cooperation with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has developed habitat models for the 22 terrestrial vertebrate T&E species listed in MSRP. An ArcGIS user interface provides quick access to the most common tasks that are anticipated with using the MSRP models for decision-making.
Potential habitat models are spatial analyses that map habitat for a particular species based on the species’ range, land cover affinities, dispersion distances and minimum critical area requirements. The land cover classification used as the base for species modeling is the Florida Gap Analysis Program (FL GAP)(Pearlstine et al. 2002) land cover classification of 1993-94 Landsat Thematic Mapper satellite imagery. The land covers are ranked in 4 categories: preferred, suitable, used if adjacent to preferred or suitable habitat, and not used. Range maps were adapted from the Rare and Endangered Biota of Florida series (Humphrey 1992, Rodgers, et al . 1996, Moler 1992).
Less detailed potential habitat models also were adapted from the FL GAP for all of the State’s terrestrial vertebrate species. Combining these modeled data layers with conservation land boundaries from the Florida Natural Areas Inventory mapping program allows evaluation of how protection of potential habitat for individual T&E species can contribute to the protection of potential habitat for other T&E species and all other terrestrial vertebrates (Mazzotti et al. 2001). This type of analysis can be used to assess the potential impacts of changes in land use from development or restoration (Figure 1) on T&E and other species, and

can be used to help set priorities for acquisition, protection, and management of areas.
Modeling proceeded in the ArcObjects/Visual Basic programming environment.
This included conversion of existing models to ArcObjects. The modeling objective was to keep the models current with the direction of ESRI GIS software development. In general, the object-oriented programming environment allows for considerably improved efficiency, improved ease of updating, and prepares the models for integration into user and management-friendly interfaces.
The user interface sits on top of the ArcGIS program and all the functionality of
ArcGIS is still available to the user, however, it is not necessary for users to know how to use ArcGIS to take advantage of the spatial analysis tools available in the
MSRP User Interface. Opening the MSRP Habitat Modeling Tools in ArcGIS presents options for running the T&E species or FL GAP species models within selected areas of interest and for alternative base land uses/land covers, comparing the differences in potential habitat among different scenerios, and generating reports of species richness, habitat overlaps (i.e., what species are protected when a particular species’ habitat is identified and protected, Table 1), and habitat areas.
Table 1. Example of species habitat protection in South Florida. The second column is the number of vertebrate species protected when habitat is protected for the T&E species in column one and was set where 50% of the area had at least that richness value.
Species name
Florida Panther
Sand Skink
Number of other vertebrate species protected
92
18
Amount of habitat outside of existing conservation lands
High
High
Everglade Snail Kite
Key Largo Woodrat
62
76
Moderate
Moderate
American Crocodile 72
79
Low
Low Cape Sable Seaside
Sparrow

Worst
Lake
Okeechobee
Best
Figure 1. Site selection rankings for a CERP project storage reservoir north of
Lake Okeechobee. In this example, the ranking was based on distance away from overall species richness of T&E and FL GAP habitats.
Literature Cited
Humphrey, S. (ed.) Rare and Endangered Biotia of Florida: Volume 1. Mammals.
University Press of Florida, Gainesville, FL. : 1992.
Mazzotti, F.J., L.G. Pearlstine and L.A. Brandt. 2001. A Multi-species/habitat
Ecological Evaluation of Alternative Everglades Restoration Plans.
September 2001 Progress Report to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service,
Vero Beach, FL.
Moler, P. E. (ed.) Rare and Endangered Biota of Florida: Volume III. Amphibians and Reptiles. Gainesville, Florida: University of Florida; 1992
Pearlstine, L., S. Smith, L. Brandt, C. Allen, W. Kitchens, and J. Stenberg. 2002.
Assessing State-Wide Biodiversity in the Florida Gap Analysis Project.
Journal of Environmental Management 66(2): 127-144.
Rodgers, J.A.; H.W. Kale; H.T. Smith (ed.) Rare and Endangered Biota of
Florida: Volume V. Birds. Gainesville, Florida: University of Florida;
1996.
Gareth Mann, Fort Lauderdale Research and Education Center, University of
Florida, 3205 College Ave, Davie, FL, 33314.
Phone: (954) 577-6354, email: Considathis@aol.com