CASIOPA
We Are The Centre Of Applied Science In Ontario Protected Areas (CASIOPA)
We provide state of the science workshops and networking for all those interested in protected areas, with an emphasis for solutions based on social, natural, and physical science for best practices in all types of protected areas.
RESCHEDULED FOR MARCH 25 1400-1500 H EDT
Understanding ‘the scale problem’ in characterization of habitats for species conservation and protected areas’ research
Juan Sebastian Sanchez Castillo, MES, University of Waterloo.
Habitat characterization studies can help analyze threats to biodiversity and have become more useful as more ecological data becomes available, especially with open-source databases.
The challenge is to unpack the complexity caused by how individuals and, collectively, species respond to different ecological cues at different scales. For example, how do different individuals and species of birds respond to habitat characteristics if they are tens of meters away from a possibly desirable habitat vs being hundreds or thousands of meters away? Do they respond to finer scale cue such as food sources or do they respond to the broader ‘bird’s-eye’ view of a landscape pattern far below them as they fly?
The answer is often both - but that still requires ecologists to devise methods and analyses to determine which scale-dependent cues are important and when. With this information, one can better determine an effective conservation and restoration strategy via habitat management. This has to be studied carefully because of the ‘scale problem’ – a research making errors in assuming or inferring about how organisms respond to ecological cues at different scales (such as linear distances).
The objectives of this webinar are to:
· Explore our understanding of the scale problem and its relevance to habitat characterization studies.
· Examine if there is any scientific consensus on the problem of scale.
· Examine how different theoretical and methodological frameworks are being used to analyze scale dependency on habitat selection within and between species.
Zoom Registration Link for the March 25 meeting:
https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZwod-irrz4rHNTE01A7qsnnDA3HzkMngcbs
After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.
