Fall NEARC 2018

AUTHORS: Jesse M. Rubenstein, University of Connecticut's Center for Land Use Education and Research (CLEAR)

ABSTRACT: The Golden-winged Warbler (GWWA) is a near-threatened bird species that has been significantly affected by habitat loss, with international decreases of approximately two-thirds since the 1960s. GWWA are important because they are an umbrella species for 38 bird species of conservation concern, as well as endangered mammals, all of which would benefit from the protection of GWWA habitat. To help address this problem, a study using ArcGIS Pro, including new tools, which were previously unavailable in ArcMap, was conducted to create a habitat suitability model (HSM) for GWWA in New York. HSMs are powerful tools commonly used by ornithologists when identifying locations to concentrate conservation efforts for a species. HSM parameters utilized in this study were created from GWWA management reports and peer reviewed literature. Land cover data came from the most recent National Land Cover Database. Important raster and vector tools used for analysis were Focal Statistics, Summarize Within, and Raster Calculator. The model was validated using recent GWWA sightings from Cornell’s eBird Program, which is a citizen science/crowd sourced based program. Hotspot analysis results identified clusters of towns containing habitat that are not currently part of the GWWA conservation focal area, which is a designated zone laid out by organizations and government agencies monitoring the species. These unmonitored regions should be considered for inclusion in the conservation focal area, as they may contain large amounts of unprotected habitat that could benefit the species.