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Initial Project Goals and Plans in Preparation for 2014 AAG Annual Meeting. Dr. Rebecca Lewison & Jennifer Feltner Biology Department. Goals/Papers/Products. Next 1-2 years Conduct a pilot test using cameras/occupancy modeling
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Initial Project Goals and Plans in Preparation for 2014 AAG Annual Meeting Dr. Rebecca Lewison & Jennifer Feltner Biology Department
Goals/Papers/Products Next 1-2 years • Conduct a pilot test using cameras/occupancy modeling • Write a short paper on results from pilot test and applicability to other primate species • Complete coursework at SDSU/UC Davis by Spring 2015 • Launch full-time field work and data collection Photo by Xi Zhinong
Goals/Papers/Products Next ~ 5 years • Complete data collection/analyses • Publish several papers • My findings for occupancy and habitat suitability modeling • Survey techniques for monitoring primates • Contribute to papers produced by other PIs/grad students on CNH project • Popular article on cross-disciplinary collaborations in science Photo by Xi Zhinong
Current Research Objectives: Apply a multi-season occupancy model to investigate ecological and anthropogenic factors affecting monkey distribution and habitat use Construct a spatially explicit co-occurrence and habitat suitability model to characterize patterns of monkey and human space/resource overlap Evaluate the effectiveness of PES as a conservation tool for monkeys Data Needs: I plan to collect/gather data on monkey occupancy and distribution and the following environmental and anthropogenic covariates: vegetation type, canopy cover, elevation/slope/aspect, food resources, human activities, distance to roads, major villages and tourist areas, distance to farmland and PES parcels
Data I will collect • Camera Trap Images • - Monkey use/occupancy • - Human use • - Other species • Vegetation Sampling • - Microhabitat (5x5m) vegetation plot sampling at each camera station: vertical structure, canopy cover, tree dbh, understory density, stand density • - Additional vegetation sampling, using plots, line transects, or other survey methods especially to ID/locate important monkey food resources • Line transects or other survey methods to collect human use, disturbance data • Locations of roads, major villages and tourist areas, distance to farmland and PES parcels
Data I will need from others • Remote Sensing data • Vegetation sampling from 210 plots (dominant plant species compositions and percent cover, etc.) • Land cover classification/vegetation type (currently 7 types) • Canopy fractional cover • Participatory mapping • GPS points of homes, villages, resource collection, community forests, etc. • If available info on what resources are exacted (buds, wood, hunting) • Stakeholder Survey • GPS locations of resource collection activities or households that list resource extraction as their livelihood • Locations of PES parcels – do we have this? • Locations of important monkey food trees – does FNNR have this?
Potential timeline for doing fieldwork Feb/March 2014 Trip Goals • Get familiar with landscape, terrain, habitat • Test 3-4 cameras in field • Befriend Niu; establish grounds for data-sharing by bringing an image sorting database, sound-triggered sensing device/camera, etc • Assist remote sensing team; learn vegetation sampling techniques 2014/2015 School Year • Currently unsure if taking a quarter off from the UC Davis will be an option given course requirements I need to fulfill in order to advance to candidacy • If possible, would like to conduct a short pilot test over winter and/or spring breaks – install cameras in December 2014 – pull in March 2015. 2015/2016 School Year • Latest for beginning full-time field work – hope to stay in China for extended period of time: 9-12 months
Questions?? Photo by Cyril Ruoso