xamining Burrowing Owl (Athene cunicularia) habitat based on terrain-derived environmental metrics

Abstract

Burrowing Owls nest in underground burrows primarily in sparsely vegetated areas in the western and southwestern areas of North America. Much of their time is spent on or low to the ground making terrain a large determinant of their habitat selection. Burrowing Owls are widespread and maintain a conservation status of ‘least concern’ but have begun to encounter habitat loss on the fringes of the range and have special statuses in Mexico, Canada, and some states in the USA. Here, we test the ability of high-resolution, terrain-based metrics to identify their habitat use patterns across portions of New Mexico, Texas, Colorado, Oklahoma, and Kansas. We used a 1-m^2 digital elevation model to derive terrain metrics such as a landform classification, slope classification, solar exposure estimates (WH/m^2), heat load (MJ/cm^2/yr), and orientation, among others. We present the methods that we used to generate the terrain metrics and the outcomes of our assessments of the ability to estimate their habitat use patterns via terrain-based metrics. These metrics derive from elevation, which is static and unrelated to seasonal changes of the environment and serves as a proxy for how heat and water move across the surfaces, which, when coupled with latitude, subsequently impacts ecoregions and species assemblages. Our approach is based on freely accessible data and is easily replicable.


Authors: Kline Alt, Collin Philipps, Justin White