CREATION OF A HABITAT SUITABILITY SPATIAL MODEL FOR RIPARIAN BRUSH RABBIT AS A SPECIES RECOVERY TOOL

Ashley Verna; River Partners; averna@riverpartners.org; Dr. Sarah Gaffney, Emma Havstad, Haley Mirts

The riparian brush rabbit (Sylvilagus bachmani riparius), a federally and state listed endangered subspecies of brush rabbit, is found within California’s Central Valley. Currently, less than 1% of its historic habitat exists in areas of the southern San Joaquin River Delta, remnant and restored riparian zones along the lower San Joaquin River, and riparian forests of the lower Stanislaus River. Without rapid and large-scale habitat conservation and/or creation, the taxon’s long-term viability is poor. Creating additional, flood-safe, populations is a priority recovery action for the subspecies. To identify areas of suitable habitat, and prioritize property for conservation and habitat restoration, we developed a multi-faceted spatial model of the historic range that incorporates camera trap occupancy of two subpopulations, habitat vegetation metrics, maximum entropy (MaxENT), minimized normalized difference water index (MNDWI), and conservation potential to create a ranked index of property within the historic range. This model will be used to plan future conservation actions, such as land acquisition, restoration, and translocation to expand habitat and further secure the subspecies.

Working Toward Success in Wildlife Restoration & Species Recovery 
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