Predicting bird habitat quality from a geospatial analysis of FIA data

Abstract

The ability to assess the influence of site-scale forest structure on avian habitat suitability at an ecoregional scale remains a major methodological constraint to effective biological planning for forest land birds in North America. We evaluated the feasibility of using forest inventory and analysis (FIA) data to define vegetation structure within forest patches, which were delineated from independent geospatial data sets of ecological subsection, forest type, and landform class. We used Swainson?s warbler (Limnothlypis swainsonii, Audubon) as a model to demonstrate how to integrate FIA data with geospatial data sets to estimate and monitor habitat suitability for a priority bird species in the West Gulf Coastal Plain/Ouachita Mountains Bird Conservation Region.