weather effects on winter and fall waterfowl habitat … effects on winter and fall waterfowl...

Weather Effects on Winter and Fall Waterfowl Habitat in the Gulf Coast

Tara Rodgers, The University of Oklahoma Southern Climate Impacts Planning Program Intern

Tara.S.Rodgers-1@ou.edu

Stephen J. DeMaso, Monitoring Coordinator Gulf Coast Joint Venture Steve_Demaso@fws.gov

Nicholas Enwright, GIS Specialist II Gulf Coast Joint Venture

enwrightn@usgs.gov

OBJECTIVE The Gulf Coast Joint Venture (GCJV) desires an appropriate parameter that explains environmental influences on seasonal waterfowl habitat within agricultural landscapes of the GCJV region

RESULTS | Correlation Results Handout Some Caveats: Analysis is based on average of the chosen weather stations in the area. Also no significant indices for the TX Chenier Plains

METHODOLOGY Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI): Based on probability of precipitation departures for any period of time SPI scale:

Standardized Precipitation-Evapotranspiration Index (SPEI): Takes the premise of the SPI and added a temperature component to capture a simplified water balance. The SPEI scale is: ≥ 2 0 ≤ - 2 WET NEAR NORMAL DRY

The Palmer Drought Severity Index (PDSI): The PDSI is a meteorological drought index, and it responds to weather conditions that have been abnormally dry or abnormally wet. The PDSI scale is: ≥ 4 0 ≤ - 4 WET NEAR NORMAL DRY

Statistical Methods: Pearson’s Correlation, Spearman’s Correlation, and Linear Regression. A small sample size was a limitation in the statistics. Special thanks to: Mark Shafer, SCIPP, and OU

Laguna Madre

AREAS OF STUDY The study was focused on 3 main regions within the GCJV region. The habitat is important to ephemeral wetlands for migratory waterfowl. Our hypothesis was that the amount of suitable habitat each year is related to rainfall, temperature, and drought patterns

LA Chenier Plains

The GCJV uses satellite imagery to quantitatively assess abundance of these habitats.

Moist Soil Habitats

Flooded Agricultural

Lands

Seasonally & Temporarily

Flooded Wetlands

Texas Mid-Coast

y = 11096x + 23411R² = 0.34876

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

-3.00 -2.00 -1.00 0.00 1.00 2.00 3.00

Shal

low

Flo

oded

Acr

es

Thou

sand

s

SPI 2

Pooled SPI 2

y = 9783.5x + 28093R² = 0.6874

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

-4.00 -2.00 0.00 2.00 4.00

Shal

low

Flo

oded

Acr

es Thou

sand

s

PDSI

Pooled PDSI

y = -79226x + 175825R² = 0.41858

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

350

-4.00 -2.00 0.00 2.00 4.00

Shal

low

Flo

oded

Acr

es

Thou

sand

s

SPEI

Pooled SPEI 3

y = -86067x + 179862R² = 0.45515

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

350

-4.00 -2.00 0.00 2.00 4.00

Shal

low

Flo

oded

Acr

es

Thou

sand

s

SPI

Pooled SPI 3

y = 6398.9x + 32403R² = 0.31491

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

-4.00 -2.00 0.00 2.00 4.00

Shal

low

Flo

oded

Acr

es

Thou

sand

s

SPI

Pooled SPI 4

y = 5872.9x + 32095R² = 0.30097

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

-4.00 -2.00 0.00 2.00 4.00

Shal

low

Flo

oded

Acr

es

Thou

sand

s

SPI

Pooled SPI 2

≥ 2 0 ≤ - 2 WET NEAR NORMAL DRY

Landsat mosaics were comprised to assess waterfowl habitat on days within the periods that had cloud free images