Emily Wier
11.20.09
Assignment 7
Description: Changing land use has been associated with species decline and extinction. I
propose to research this association between the decline of bird species and changing land use in
Massachusetts. In addition, expanding human populations also have a negative impact on
populations of species. I would like to determine the relationship between bird populations and
the human population. Asking these questions can help us determine which areas should be set
aside for these bird populations and whether the establishment of reserves is even possible.
Examples: Schleupner and Link (2008) project the changes in bird species that would result if
grassland habitat in Germany were converted into agriculture. Their analysis followed four bird
species that have experienced recent decline and showed that breeding pairs for all four species
would be reduced in the three scenarios tested. They used GIS to create the different projections
and map out the area currently in use by the bird species.
Wakelin and Hill (2007) investigated the impact associated with land use changes to the local
populations of blue swallows in South Africa. Their results using GIS analysis showed a great
change in land use at the different study sites over the survey period. The loss of grassland since
the 1980s was correlated with declines in the blue swallow populations because they prefer to
nest in these habitats.
Acevedo and Restrepo (2008) used breeding bird survey data for Puerto Rico to determine
whether a relationship existed between land use type and endemic or exotic species. They found
most endemic birds to exist primarily in forest whereas exotic species were more likely to be
found in open habitats.
The distribution of great bustards (a species of European bird) was predicted based on optimal
habitat data in a study done by Osborne et al (2001). GIS was used to compare optimal habitat
with bird census data, determining the areas where optimal habitat overlapped with actual
populations. They found that different aspects of habitat, such as roads, were important
predictors of whether a population existed in that locale.
Methods:
- select by attribute: regions that have suffered the sharpest declines in birds
- select by location: the percent change in bird populations for each land use type
- select by location: the percent change in bird populations for changes in human populations
- I would like to do future projections for land use change and how that would affect bird
populations but feel this would be too difficult
Data Layers:
- breeding bird survey data on how much populations in Massachusetts have declined (USGS)
- land use (MassGIS); I would like to use data corresponding to both current land use types as
well as how land use has changed
- population size by block (MassGIS); I would like to use data showing how population size has
changed
- minimum accuracy: I don’t need high accuracy for this project because I will be plotting ranges
against land use types. Accuracy should be less than 0.25 miles.
References:
Acevedo, M.A. and C. Restrepo. 2008. Land-cover and land-use change and its contribution to
the large-scale organization of Puerto Rico’s bird assemblages. Diversity and Distributions.
14:114-122.
Osborne, P.E., J.C. Alonso, and R.G. Bryant. 2001. Modeling landscape-scale habitat use using
GIS and remote sensing: a case study with great bustards. Journal of Applied Ecology. 28: 458471.
Schleupner, C. and P.M. Link. 2008. Potential impacts on important bird habitats in Eiderstedt
(Schleswig-Holstein) caused by agricultural land use changes. Applied Geography. 28: 237-247.
Wakelin, J. and T.R. Hill. 2007. The impact of land transformation on breeding blue swallows
Hirundo atrocaerulea Sundevall, in Kwazulu-Natal, South Africa. Journal for Nature
Conservation. 15:245-255.