PARENT SESSION
Poster Session #16: Landscape Ecology I.
Monday, August 5. Presentation from 5:00 PM to 6:30 PM. Exhibit Hall B & C, TCC

Scale dependency in habitat selection by cavity nesting birds in Fishlake National Forest, Utah.

SCHULTZ, RANDALL^*,1, EDWARDS, THOMAS², MOISEN, GRETCHEN³, FRESCINO, TRACEY³, ¹ Utah State University, Logan, Utah² USGS Biological Resources Division, Logan, Utah³ USDA Forest Service, Ogden, Utah

ABSTRACT- The ability to use landscape data to predict species presence is a desirable goal in applied ecology. The acquisition of landscape data provides a desirable alternative to field microhabitat sampling, which is often time consuming and labor intensive. Our objective is to evaluate the relative ability of habitat models to predict cavity nesting bird species presence in Fishlake National Forest, Utah. Using nest site data from 2001, we developed models at three spatial scales, the nest tree (micro-scale), nest plot (meso-scale), and the landscape (macro-scale). We also built models incorporating data from multiple spatial scales. Our modeling approach is based on logistic regression applied to data collected during 2001. Ultimately, the results from this study can be used to identify the most useful variables and their associated spatial scales for predicting cavity nesting bird species presence. In addition, the results will demonstrate the ability of landscape data to predict cavity nesting bird presence. If models built using only landscape data predict accurately, these models can be quickly and easily applied to the management of cavity nesting birds in Fishlake National Forest, Utah.

KEY WORDS: scale