Blog Post 7: Final Poster

Blog Post 6

After a very stressful week with very confusing and hard to work with data, I finally have some substantial progress made on what will go on my final poster.
Kernel density finally worked after many issues on my computer led to Dr. M having to do it on her computer for me (thank you!!!).
I now have three kernel density rasters showing the density of peregrine falcon sightings in 2017 (based on birder citizen- science program "Ebird" data) for winter only, summer only, and year round data. I then overlaid the USGS maps of the winter, summer, and year round ranges to see if the sighting locations lined up with the expected range. I have been messing around with the colors to try and find the best way of portraying the overlap (or lack thereof) between the two layers. I might consider doing a raster analysis now that we have done chapter 11 to identify the areas where the two areas do actually overlap, and what percentage of the range that actually adds up to. There's lots more to do but I feel ore on track now!

Blog Post 5

This week I have been working on getting my data from ebird (that finally arrived) into ArcMap. I have run into several problems in this process. First it was taking far too long to get the map to draw and the program kept crashing. Then I went through the excel sheet and selected only 2017 sightings/ observations and that worked much more quickly. I have been able to link the excel sheet by adding X,Y data, but there are always a few points misplotted. The points pretty much make up the shape of the US, including Alaska and Hawaii, but there are always a few points that look like they would be across the Atlantic somewhere in Europe, which I know is incorrect because this is only US data. So I don't know if this is an issue within ArcMap drawing the points, or if this is an issue within the ebird data that is incorrect, and I am not sure if I should take it out becuase I don't know how it will affect my overall data.

The next problem I keep running into is that I cannot export my data from the temporary event that is created when you link XY data into a feature class that way I can manipulate and work with the data later in my mapping. I did some googling, and I found that some of the error messages I got when I tried to export the data may be because the values in the table may not be accepted. So I went through the excel sheet and changed all of the values in the field titles to 10 characters no spaces or special characters, and I got rid of any fields I don't need in the table. I also changed everything to text format, except latitude and longitude, which would not draw when in text format. Even after all this, I still cannot export the data into a feature class, and I cannot figure out anything else I am doing wrong. I get errors saying the table could not be found, and that the data can't be exported. If anyone has any ideas about someting I may be missing, please let me know.

My nect step when I (hopefully) get the data to export is to create a density map using kernel density in ArcMap, which is something I am going to have to do a bit of research into how to do.

Blog 4 Update

This graph is a rough representation of the Peregrine Falcon habitat data overlaid with US Urban Areas data.

Blog Post 4

This week I have not made any changes to the maps I have made, but I have found new data available through ebird detailing 2016 peregrine falcon observations. I have run into a few problems with this data:
1. It is data for all of the birds they have on record, so it is a huge file and requires me to isolate peregrine falcons. I also only have a sample so I do not know what the real data look like. Which brings us to...
2. I will have to write up an abstract/ proposal to request the full set of data from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology to obtain the full data that I need, with all of the observations. This will be a massive file, and I can already foresee issues downloading it if/when I get it.

I have also been working on finding new land use/ land cover data, because I was unhappy with the way the urban areas layer I had chosen before was working (or not working). I have been trying to download this new data from the NLCD, but I keep running into issues where it tells me I cannot unzip the folder because the G Drive is full...

I think I have decided that the direction I want to move towards with my data is comparing the 2001 range data with the 2016 ebird observation data, to see if the birds have stayed within that range or if anything has changed in 15 years.
I am not sure if I will get to compare ideal peregrine falcon habitat based on certain criteria as I wanted too, but I think their range does cover what is considered (by the birds) good habitat, so maybe I can map urban areas over the range map instead, to see if urbanization poses a potential threat to their range.

Blog Post 3

This week I have been working on adding a US Forest Fragmentation layer from ArcGIS online.



I am hoping to overlap or line this data up with my habitat data raster.
I am working on acquiring additional data as well from eBird, which I have to request from them by writing an abstract. That is what I will be working on this coming week.
I also have data about US Urban Areas that I was hoping to compare with the peregrine falcon habitat data, but the data only shows when zoomed in because there is a lot of data, so I would not be able to show the US as a whole. I will be deciding whether to use or scrap this data this week as well.

Blog Post 2

So far the progress I have made for my course project is displaying data on two maps. I have one map that displays raster data of suitable peregrine falcon habitat. This USGS data is based on 2001 ground conditions. They applied a deductive habitat model to "remotely-sensed data layers within the species known range." There is also a vector map of the known range, which is also based on 2001 ground conditions, and was "created by attributing sub-watershed polygons with information of a species presence, origin, seasonal and reproductive use."

I am a bit torn about whether I should use one over the other, or both. One of my main concerns with this data is that the ground conditions are based in 2001. The metadata does point to the fact that the data was compiled between 2008 and 2013, which is more recent. I cannot find nationwide data that is more recent than that. 

My next steps will be applying forest fragmentation data and urbanization effects on the displayed habitat/range data.

Peregrine Falcon Project Proposal

Introduction: Peregrine Falcons were once a federally critically endangered species because of the effects of DDT on the eggshells of the offspring of birds of prey. The low survivability of their young caused the peregrine falcon population to plummet. The population has recovered considerably since then, but the peregrine falcons are still endangered in the state of New York. It is important to continue to monitor the peregrine population in New York to ensure the population continues to grow and the species can eventually be taken off the endangered list.

This involves identifying and protecting ideal habitats for nesting sites, and keeping records of mating pairs and sightings throughout the year and during migration season. Mapping these areas will help conservationists to find trends and locate ideal habitats for further population recovery.

Objectives: The purpose of this project is to identify current peregrine falcon habitats and identify additional suitable habitats within the state for further population expansion and protection. Migration patterns throughout the state will also be mapped. The map will also consider how habitat fragmentation and urbanization may effect peregrine falcon habitat.

Methodology: This map will include areas where peregrine falcons are currently known to nest, points where they are spotted during migration, and areas that fulfill criteria for ideal peregrine habitat and nesting sites for potential future habitats. It will be broken up by migration time, full year, and breeding season maps. The maps will include layers with city area and habitat fragmentation compared against peregrine habitat to see if there is any effects from human presence.

Deliverables: This map will be helpful for conservationists for monitoring and protecting the peregrine falcon population in New York State. It may also be useful for birders who like to watch peregrine falcons. It could be important for planning architecture and other land uses because they would need to consider if the area that they plan to manipulate will interfere with current or future peregrine habitats. 

Data Sources: EBird has a lot of sightings data, and the DEC has information and images of their distribution throughout New York State during breeding, migration, and year-round.

Citations:
U.S. Geological Survey - Gap Analysis Project, 2017, Peregrine Falcon (Falco peregrinus)
bPEFAx_CONUS_2001v1 Range Map, http://doi.org/10.5066/F7X92985.


U.S. Geological Survey - Gap Analysis Project, 2017, Peregrine Falcon (Falco peregrinus) bPEFAx_CONUS_2001v1 Habitat Map, http://doi.org/10.5066/F7TT4PBM.

Habitat fragmentation in forests (2013) [image service]. ESRI, Inc. on ArcGIS Online. URL: https://landscape3.arcgis.com/arcgis/rest/services/USA_Forest_Fragmentation/ImageServer 

USA Urban Areas (2014) [feature layer]. ESRI, Inc. on ArcGIS Online. URL: https://services.arcgis.com/P3ePLMYs2RVChkJx/arcgis/rest/services/USA_Urban_Areas/FeatureServer 

Work Plan:

Week 1: Gather data and organize. Find correlations. Compile all layers needed for the 

map.

Week 2: Create base map of USA, add downloaded data of habitats/ distribution and match coordinate systems.

Week 3: Define and search for criteria for suitable habitats from a topographic map of 

the state. Select and isolate these areas and create a layer showing them.

Week 4: Separate data into time periods-- decide on time frame and split up into 

breeding, migration, and year round locations.

Week 5: Analyze data from sightings. Create a layer of these points.

Week 6: Poster production

Week 7: Poster peer review

Week 8: Final poster

Week 9: Presentation