Groundbreaking data project aims to protect wildlife
2016 lidar-derived tree cover (light and dark green), overlaid with 2011 habitat blocks (yellow), highlights the opportunities to improve Vermont Conservation Design with new data that account for connecting landscapes, state officials said. (Image Provided)
Vermont’s conservation efforts are getting an important data technology upgrade, thanks to some new grant funding.
This week, the Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department won a $106,256 competitive federal grant to use groundbreaking new data to help conservation planners protect plants, animals and natural habitats in the face of climate change, according to Wednesday’s announcement. The process is based on Vermont Conservation Design, a science-based assessment of Vermont’s ecologically functional landscape. The new data approach helps guide strategic fish and wildlife conservation, notably through upgraded mapping capability.
“With this grant, we are excited to fine-tune our assessment to better identify lands and waters that contribute to Vermont’s healthy environment with climate change in mind,” said Director of Wildlife Mark Scott in a statement.
This work will help priority species, from moose and northern long-eared bats to native bees and rare plants, remain healthy and able to adapt to changes in the climate, Scott added.
First released in 2015, Vermont Conservation Design maps the habitat needed to ensure Vermont’s wildlife remains healthy and abundant. Six years later, new state-wide “Lidar” data from the Vermont Center for Geographic Information provide an opportunity to upgrade this conservation tool, officials said.
Lidar, short for Light Detection and Ranging, is a remote sensing technology that uses aircraft-mounted laser scanners and a global positioning system to map landscape texture, giving researchers a more accurate understanding of land cover. It provides 400 times higher resolution than any previous landcover data.
The new data will reveal critical details for wildlife movement and ecological connections, like hedgerows through fields and forest edges close to roads. These connections allow animals to move from one habitat block to the next as they adjust their ranges to climate change, as officials said in this week’s announcement.
“These very detailed land cover maps will help us find the places where wildlife, such as black bears and bobcats, can travel between large patches of forest,” said Jens Hilke, a conservation planner at Vermont Fish and Wildlife. “It is critical that wildlife have the ability to move around the state and beyond, especially as climate change pushes plants and animals into new habitats.”
— Gareth Henderson
