Mississippi Alluvial Valley Forest Birds - Protection (Southeast Blueprint Indicator)

Reason for Selection This indicator reflects the importance of conserving large forested tracts in the MAV that provide important habitat for interior forest breeding birds and other species. Agriculture and development have greatly reduced the extent of the bottomland hardwood forests that historically dominated the MAV, while changes in hydrology and forest management have altered the structure and composition of the remaining forests. This indicator also promotes consistency with the forest protection priorities of the Lower Mississippi Valley Joint Venture, which serve as a key resource for land trusts and other conservation partners in the MAV looking to advance bird conservation objectives through strategic forest protection. Input Data * [Mississippi Alluvial Valley (MAV) Forest Protection Model] from the Lower Mississippi Valley Joint Venture (LMVJV) This model identifies forest patches that are a priority for future protection “based on benefits to forest bird conservation afforded by forest patch area, geographic location, and hydrologic condition” (Elliott et al. 2020). It excludes already protected lands. The model first identifies as meriting protection existing forest patches in the MAV with interior cores (<250 m from a hostile edge) that are either ≥1,600 ha in size or adjacent to high priority areas from the complementary reforestation model. It then prioritizes based on the percent of the patch that is unprotected, also factoring in core size, proximity to reforestation priorities, and flood frequency. The model awards the highest scores to unprotected patches that are ≥2,000 ha (~5,000 acres), the least flood-prone (and therefore at higher risk of agricultural conversion), and adjacent to reforestation priorities. The model characteristics are based on the habitat needed to support a source population of three species of interior forest breeding birds: Swainson’s warbler, swallow-tailed kite, and cerulean warbler. These species received the highest overall priority score in [the 1999 Partners in Flight Plan for the MAV] based on their level of conservation concern. Each bird is used to represent an ecological suite of species with similar habitat needs. Swainson’s warbler also represents prothonotary warbler, hooded warbler, wood thrush, and Acadian flycatcher; cerulean warbler also represents Kentucky warbler, summer tanager, yellow-billed cuckoo, and eastern wood-pewee; and swallow-tailed kite also represents red-shouldered hawk, broad-winged hawk, pileated woodpecker, and Cooper’s hawk (Mini and Elliott 2022). * [Base Blueprint 2022 extent] * [Southeast Blueprint 2023 extent] Mapping Steps * Reproject the Mississippi Alluvial Valley (MAV) Forest Protection Model to NAD 1983 Contiguous USA Albers (EPSG 5070). * Reclassify the LMVJV source data as seen in the legend below. * Clip to the spatial extent of Base Blueprint 2022. * As a final step, clip to the spatial extent of Southeast Blueprint 2023. Note: For more details on the mapping steps, code used to create this layer is available in the [Southeast Blueprint Data Download] under > 6_Code. Final indicator values Indicator values are assigned as follows: 10 = Highest priority forest breeding bird habitat patch for future protection (score >90-100) 9 = (score >80-90) 8 = (score >70-80) 7 = (score >60-70) 6 = (score >50-60) 5 = (score >40-50) 4 = (score >30-40) 3 = (score >20-30) 2 = (score >10-20) 1 = Lowest priority (score >0-10) 0 = Not a priority (score = 0) Known Issues * The forest bird protection model identifies large forest patches using 2011 Landsat data, which does not reflect more recent changes in landcover. As a result, this indicator may include patches fragmented by recent development that no longer meet the protection criteria. Conversely, this indicator may also overlook patches reforested in the last decade that now meet the protection criteria. * Similarly, the forest bird protection model uses an older version of the Protected Areas Database of the United States (PAD-US 2.0) and therefore may miss more recently conserved lands. As a result, the indicator likely undervalues forest patches near newly protected areas, or protected areas added for the first time in the more recent versions of PAD-US (versions 2.1 and 3.0). * Because birds are highly mobile and migratory, the forest bird protection model does not prioritize opportunities to improve the connectivity of the conservation estate. This dataset is not intended to identify high priority linkages between protected areas that may support isolated populations of less mobile species like black bear. The forest bird protection model also does not emphasize the value of creating new foundational protected areas in places that don’t currently have any. As these opportunities are outside the scope of the source data, this indicator largely does not capture them. Disclaimer: Comparing with Older Indicator Versions There are numerous problems with using Southeast Blueprint indicators for change analysis. Please consult Blueprint staff if you would like to do this (email [hilary_morris@fws.gov]). Literature Cited Elliott AB, Mini AE, McKnight SK, Twedt DJ. Conservation–Protection of Forests for Wildlife in the Mississippi Alluvial Valley. Forests. 2020; 11(1):75. [https://doi.org/10.3390/f11010075]. [[https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5bb3865d2727be6f94acf2fc/t/5e15ea9decbb473fb91c6d30/1597419918742/MAV+Forest+Protection]]. Mini, Anne, and Blaine Elliott. March 17, 2022. Forest conservation priorities for landbirds in the Mississippi Alluvial Valley. Webinar hosted by the Southeast Conservation Adaptation Strategy. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ggYjN3XdfMM&t=819s]].