Oklahoma Project
Compilation and analysis of wildlife data to inform natural resource management
September 2021 - September 2022
Personnel
Participating Agencies
- Dugway Proving Ground
Lands owned by the Department of Defense (DoD) support the greatest densities of species of conservation concern (i.e., endangered, threatened or otherwise at-risk) of any Federal land agency. Under the provisions of the Endangered Species Act and Sikes Act, the DoD is challenged to protect and provide for the conservation of these species while simultaneously adhering to the military mission. To accomplish this goal, DoD installations develop Integrated Natural Resource Management Plans (INRMPs) to guide management. INRMPs are developed in concert with the state, federal, and non-governmental partners and are revised on a 5-year interval to ensure installations continue to serve the military mission on a sustained basis that supports natural resource stewardship. Empirically-defensible data and transparent analyses of natural resource data are required to inform INRMP development and revision. This project has already completed objectives related to (1) evaluating space use of subadult golden eagle, (2) assessing methods for improving efficiency and reliability of noninvasive genetic sampling, and (3) comparing monitoring methods for kit foxes. In the current phase, this project aims to evaluate the utility and reliability of machine learning for rapid processing and analysis of camera-based data, to quantify the influence of machine-learning errors on parameter estimates, and to assess alternative methods of data handling and analyses that can minimize bias in results. The results of this study have and will inform wildlife monitoring on military installations.
Research Publications | Publication Date |
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Hixson, K. M. , S. J. Slater, R. N. Knight, and R. C. Lonsinger. 2022 Seasonal variation in resource selection by subadult golden eagles in the Great Basin Desert. Wildlife Biology 2022:e01002. | Abstract | Publisher Website | November 2021 |
Lonsinger, R. C., R. N. Knight, and L. P. Waits. 2021. Detection criteria and post-field sample processing influence results and cost efficiency of occupancy-based monitoring. Ecological Application 31(7): e02404. doi: 10.1002/eap.2404 | Abstract | Publisher Website | July 2021 |
Lonsinger, R., B. M. Kluever, L. K. Hall, R. T. Larsen, E. M. Gese, L. P. Waits, and R. N. Knight. 2020. Conservation of kit foxes in the Great Basin Desert: A review and recommendations. Journal of Fish and Wildlife Management 11:679–698. doi:10.1111/JFWM-20-025. | Abstract | Download | Publisher Website | December 2020 |