Refinement of the Arc-Habcap model to predict habitat effectiveness for elk

Abstract

Wildlife habitat modeling is increasingly important for managers who need to assess the effects of land management activities. We evaluated the performance of a spatially explicit deterministic habitat model (Arc-Habcap) that predicts habitat effectiveness for elk. We used five years of radio-telemetry locations of elk from Custer State Park (CSP), South Dakota, to test predicted habitat effectiveness by the model. Arc-Habcap forage and coverforage proximity components predicted elk distribution in CSP. However, the cover component failed to predict elk distribution in CSP. Habitat effectiveness calculated as the geometric mean of the model components failed to predict elk distribution and resulted in under-utilization of habitats predicted to be good and over-utilization of habitats predicted to be poor. We developed a new formula to calculate habitat effectiveness as an arithmetic average of the model components that weighted forage more than cover or cover-forage proximity. The new formula predicted actual elk distribution across categories of habitat effectiveness. Elk selected cover and forage areas

Citation

Benkobi, Lakhdar; Rumble, Mark A.; Brundige, Gary C.; Millspaugh, Joshua J. 2004. Refinement of the Arc-Habcap model to predict habitat effectiveness for elk. Res. Pap. RMRS-RP-51. Fort Collins, CO: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station. 18 p.