Part 2: Remote sensing of Cape Sable Seaside Sparrow breeding habitat and determinants of territory density; Part 3: SIMSPAR: A Spatially-explicit Individual-based Object-oriented Simulation Model for the Cape Sable Seaside Sparrow in the Everglades and Big Cypress Landscapes

Nott, P.

Part 2: Satellite data and demographic surveys of Cape Sable Seaside Sparrow breeding activity were used to construct a model to identify potential breeding habitat. A number of habitat rules were resolved to define the spatial extent of potential breeding habitat. The territory density of sparrows was found to be an increasing function of the percent cover of a particular habitat supertype (aggregation of structurally similar habitat classes). This habitat class includes floral alliances similar to those previously found to be associated with known breeding areas. Furthermore, sparrow territories were found only in areas where a minimum critical threshold coverage of that habitat supertype was exceeded. Analyses of seven years of population survey data for this area reveal recent declines in breeding territory density. These declines show a spatial pattern. Territory densities are declining in the drier habitat near the center of the largest sub-population, but are stable or slightly increasing in the peripheral marshy areas (with low breeding habitat cover in 1993). We suspect these declines are due to microhabitat changes, shrub invasion or anthropogenic disturbance. We compare habitat selection characteristics of the Cape Sable Seaside Sparrow with those of other Seaside Sparrow races at the scale of their ecological neighborhood". Finally, we highlight the advantages of combining this model with a spatially explicit population model for conservation management of this species. Part 3: A spatially explicit individual based model was designed as a management tool for the Cape Sable Seaside Sparrow (Ammodramus maritimus mirabilis) of the Florida Everglades. The model includes landscape layers of habitat and topography at 500-m resolution. The population model considers each individual in a small population and its response to the changing landscape and other individuals. The life history and behavioral characteristics of model individuals are based on field observations of the species. Spatial and temporal patterns of breeding success are determined by historical daily patterns of water levels acting upon the landscape. The processes of mortality, mate choice, and dispersal are expressed stochastically; hence the model was implemented as Monte Carlo simulations. To validate the model the results of these were analyzed to allow comparison with demographic survey data . Individual mortality rate and female's ability to locate unmated males were identified as crucial factors affecting the survival of Cape Sable Seaside Sparrows in a dynamic landscape. It also represents one of the models within the Across Trophic Level System Simulation (ATLSS) Program of the U.S. Geological Survey, Biological Resources Division. This is an ecosystem-wide model designed to predict the impact of alternative hydrologic scenarios on a number of species and the resources they depend upon The Endangered Cape Sable Seaside-Sparrow (Ammodramus maritimus mirabilis) in habits . the freshwater marl prairies in the interior of Everglades National Park. Since 1850, hydrologic projects have affected the vegetation of South Florida, including the Cape Sable sparrow's habitat. Sparrow numbers have declined by over 50% in the past five years, when high water levels flooded one of the two core populations. Using nest locations, we produced a conservative classification scheme, and determined how much suitable habitat was available to the sparrow from 1992 to 1996. We then used vegetation data from ground surveys to identify specific vegetation characteristics that were correlated with our satellite classification. These characteristics may indicate satellite-visible habitat features. We measured the total area of suitable habitat available to sparrows in each year, and discuss implications of our study for conservation of the species.