Rangeland Ecology & Management

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Evaluation of habitat structural measures in a shrubland community
Author
Harrell, W. C.
Fuhlendorf, S. D.
Publisher
Society for Range Management
Publication Year
2002-09-01
Body

Accurate and efficient monitoring of habitat structure on rangelands is important for understanding wildlife responses to land management practices. Unfortunately, studies of wildlife responses to changes in habitat structure often use monitoring techniques that fail to measure variation in multiple structural dimensions. Our objectives were to evaluate relationships between measures of habitat structure in a shrubland community and to discuss the usefulness of several techniques in integrating multiple structural dimensions into a single index of habitat structure. We evaluated relationships between shrub cover, herbaceous cover, shrub patch number, average shrub patch size, average vegetation height, visual obstruction across multiple strata of a profile board, cone of vulnerability, and angle of obstruction using a principle component analysis. Many of these variables were redundant with each other. Average visual obstruction estimates, using a profile board, were associated with variability in vertical structure as indicated by its association with height. Coefficients of variation for cone of vulnerability and visual obstruction were dependent upon their means and of limited use in describing horizontal patchiness. In contrast, shrub patch number was not linearly correlated with any other single measure in our analysis, and may be useful in describing horizontal patchiness. Cone of vulnerability and angle of obstruction are recently developed techniques that provided useful, single indices of multidimensional habitat structure. Efficient monitoring of wildlife habitat structure should employ multiple, independent techniques that measure distinct dimensions of habitat structure or a single measure that integrates multiple dimensions. The Journal of Range Management archives are made available by the Society for Range Management and the University of Arizona Libraries. Contact lbry-journals@email.arizona.edu for further information. Migrated from OJS platform August 2020

Language
en
Resource Type
Text
Document Type
Journal Issue/Article
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
10.2307/4003227
Additional Information
Harrell, W. C., & Fuhlendorf, S. D. (2002). Evaluation of habitat structural measures in a shrubland community. Journal of Range Management, 55(5), 488-493.
IISN
0022-409X
OAI Identifier
oai:repository.arizona.edu:10150/643688
Journal Volume
55
Journal Number
5
Journal Pages
488-493
Journal Name
Journal of Range Management
Keywords
stand structure
shrublands
visual obstruction
Artemisia filifolia
dimensions
angle of obstruction
cone of vulnerability
habitat structure
landscape ecology
habitats
understory
Quercus havardii
Oklahoma
plant density
Texas
canopy
cone of vulnerability
gallinaceous bird
sand shinnery
vegetation structure
visual obstruction
patchiness
heterogeneity