RECORD
Modeling Landscape Change and Evaluating Ecological Effects of Landscape Composition and Configuration in Northern Idaho
- Title:
- Modeling Landscape Change and Evaluating Ecological Effects of Landscape Composition and Configuration in Northern Idaho
- Creator:
- Pocewicz, Amy Lynne
- Date Created:
- 2006-11
- Description:
- Future landscape changes in two northern Idaho counties were projected using a unique agent-based model based on private landowner decisions, and the ecological impact of land uses and their configuration was measured via forest nitrogen (N) dynamics and butterfly densities. The agent-based model resulted in landscape projections within range of those based on historical trends and was less affected by errors in image classification. This model was also adjusted to reflect the effects of two alternative policy scenarios on enrollment in the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) and forest thinning. While policies oriented toward increasing enrollment in the CRP resulted in a significant increase in CRP lands, policies targeting increased forest thinning on private non-industrial lands had little effect. Forest edges bordering agricultural fields appeared to receive N fertilizer inputs, which may increase tree growth or susceptibility to insects and disease. In 27 forest edge sampling sites stratified by adjacent N fertilization history, I found that conifer foliage nitrogen stable isotopes (δ15N) and percent nitrogen (%N), shrub root δ15N, and bulk soil N were greater and soil carbon-to-nitrogen (C/N) ratios lower at forest edges than interiors, regardless of adjacent fertilization history. For shrub foliage and bulk soil δ15N, shrub root %N and C/N ratios, and soil nitrate, significant edge-interior differences were limited to forests bordering lands that had been fertilized currently or historically. Shrub root %N was greater at forest edges bordering agriculture than at those bordering never-fertilized grasslands. The number of butterfly species, community-level density, and densities of most groupings of butterflies were negatively correlated with tree canopy cover and positively correlated with nectar plant cover. Only lycaenid density was positively correlated with host plant cover. We found a negative correlation between Celastrina echo adult density and that of its host plant foliar %N. When represented at a landscape scale, nectar resources were only positively correlated with the density of large, flower-nectaring, polyphagous butterflies, suggesting that large butterflies are better able to disperse in search of preferred resources. Our findings emphasize the importance of nectar resources and that butterfly habitat resources must be considered across multiple spatial scales.
- Document Type:
- Dissertation
- Subjects:
- UIEF landscape change land cover change forest composition forest nitrogen nitrogen butterfly density forest thinning forest ecology
- Location:
- UIEF
- Latitude:
- 46.869607
- Longitude:
- -116.733856
- Publisher:
- ProQuest Dissertations Publishing
- Department:
- Forest, Rangeland, and Fire Sciences
- Type:
- Text
Source
- Preferred Citation:
- "Modeling Landscape Change and Evaluating Ecological Effects of Landscape Composition and Configuration in Northern Idaho", UIEF Research Exchange, University of Idaho Library Digital Collections, https://www.lib.uidaho.edu/digital/uief/items/uief_0203.html
Rights
- Rights:
- In copyright, educational use permitted.
- Standardized Rights:
- http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC-EDU/1.0/