DOQ over Mount Olympus, Olympic Peninsula, Washington (from USGS)
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DOQ over Mount Olympus, Olympic Peninsula, Washington (from USGS) |
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Biological corridors were designed in an effort to escape from problems associated with island biogeography. So called "islands" are created when distinct areas are placed into an environmental management plan while the surrounding environment is subject to the deleterious effects of the human induced pressures of "no" management. A corridor connects individual protected places in order to place the zone of management into a larger context. The use of a GIS to locate and facilitate a spatial context for these corridors is one goal of conservationists today. A GIS analysis process, known as Gap Analysis, can facilitate the planning, modeling, or coordinating of biological corridors. This is done by analyzing the species diversity within managed areas and comparing it to the levels of species diversity outside of these isolated zones, thereby statistically and visually identifying the "gaps" in management (1) .
The purpose of this project was to try to create an ecological corridor for one region using parameters that were established from a different region where a corridor currently exists. The existing corridor in this scenario is located in southeastern Costa Rica in a district called Talamanca. The Talamancan Biological Corridor is a conservation plan that currently involves the inhabitants of this ecoregion and is funded by the Costa Rican Ministry of Energy and the Environment and The Nature Conservancy. Parameters were isolated from this unique region in order to define and create an analog in North America. A portion of the Olympic Peninsula was chosen for the location of the analog after analyzing initial ArcView data. The objectives were to:
This term report will offer an example of hypothetical conservation plans for the Olympic Peninsula. In addition, it will create base maps that can be used as a tool for community based understandings of an ecoregion. The use of ArcView for identifying both social and scientific factors makes it an interdisciplinary tool, useful for attaining spatial and temporal processes.
- isolate and identify parameters
- define a site location
- identify areas of management versus areas of use or residential land
- define biological corridor boundaries and
- devise a community participation plan for its success.
In the following sections, the background for biological corridors will be
given describing current trends and original findings in present
corridors. An introduction to the Talamancan Biological Corridor of Costa
Rica and its key associations which became the parameters for the project will
be discussed and some details on the Olympic Peninsula will also be described in
order to gain a better understanding of the site for the study. The
procedures section will describe the coverages and steps that were taken in
order to accomplish the layouts. A brief analysis will follow and then will be
summed up in the conclusion.
Dating back to the establishment of the first US National Parks, places of high aesthetic quality with a characteristic of being "wild" or "natural", were placed into zones of protection. These areas through time have remained an historical remnant of the landscape while the surrounding environment, outside of the boundaries of protection, have been subject to the effects of use and change. Human induced modifications, such as monoculture farming, clear cut forestry, and expanding urban developments (to name just a few), rapidly altered the biodiversity levels of flora and fauna in the Americas. These alterations of the environment made the landscape more hospitable to aggressive species which could tolerate and even thrive in such disturbance. In turn reducing the amount of endemic flora and fauna and furthering the reduction of species. While this was (and still is) occurring, the landscape that was designated as special and placed into protection, became more and more unlike the environment beyond its borders, creating what are known as "islands". Over the past 30 years a lot of research has been focused on how to achieve a biologically diverse and sustainable natural environment outside of these isolated islands (2). Landscape ecologists, geographers and wildlife biologists alike were frequently asking the same questions on how to protect for maximum species diversity in areas beyond the protected wilderness. The responses ranged, but often a similar answer was found to be: protect for the species at the top of the food chain, such as a bear or a wolf, and if they can sustain themselves, then other species along the food chain will also. This will ensure food chain complexity and enough genetic diversity to maintain what is considered a high level of biodiversity (3). It is from these tenets of thought that the notion of biological corridors came about. Paths of migration in between isolated zones of management would become a corridor through which large mammals could pass and sustain themselves. In addition to large mammals, flora and other fauna could more easily pass genetic material along an area that is somewhat contiguous than one that has been fragmented and parceled up, thus contributing to increased biodiversity.
Corridors, as a conservation model, have gained acceptance over the past five years and have been modified in spatial scale, temporal scale and in context. The spatial scale of the corridor can range from very small to large in terms of the ground area covered. On a small scale, corridors within cities and public gardens are being created as scenic pathways. While even in neighborhoods, corridors are being planned connecting local parks and reserves where native vegetation and wildlife habitats can be joined as a contiguous unit. The North Quimper Peninsula Wildlife Corridor is an example of this small scale, local level plan . The corridor is specifically a "wildlife corridor", not a public access corridor that can be walked by community members (4). In addition, regional corridors are being promoted. The Talamanca Biological Corridor in Costa Rica is an ecoregion corridor, designed to incorporate a number of different protected areas, indigenous reserves, and multi-use areas. This Corridor will be discussed further in the following section on Talamanca.
While on the other end of the spectrum, strategies for creating corridors
over large multi-national territories are currently in the works. In North
America, the Yellowstone to Yukon
(Y2Y) is an effort by a number of different non governmental organizations
and Canadian governmental organizations to create a bi-national corridor between
the USA and Canada. This was 
promoted out of habitat
concerns for the Grizzly Bear, the wolf, and the lynx which inhabit this
region. In addition to being a wildlife corridor this plan serves to
integrate the intermontane region of the west and the north (5). Another large scale corridor plan is taking place in
Central America. The Mesoamerican Biological Corridor is currently being
developed and designed to integrate the Biosphere reserves and National Parks
that dot the landscape of this unique land bridge between continents.
Originally called El Paseo de la Pantera, or the Path of the Panther, for
its focus on a wildlife corridor for the migrating species. The Corridor
is an international conservation plan is designed for all 7 countries of
Mesoamerica, it is presently in development in many countries and receiving
funds in the excess of $60 million as a GEF (Global Environmental Facility)
project (6).
The temporal scale of these corridors corresponds to its spatial
extension. Smaller, more locally based corridors can succeed in less time
if commitment and response is positive to the project. Whereas larger,
regionally extensive corridors have a timeline that is forecast into the future,
up to three generations or longer from now (7). In terms of development of a project of such
spatial and temporal scale, the planning that is occurring now entails getting
the local inhabitants or people affected by the project involved or apprised of
such motives for the future. This is where the context of the
wildlife corridor shifts to a social corridor and becomes less of
a model from conservation biology and more of a social, sustainable development
plan. The success of the corridor depends upon the people residing near or
in the path of the corridor and if they are not incorporated into its
development, then the chances for completion are diminished. Involving
community participation and interest in the corridor has been attempted in
numerous ways; purchasing of land by land owners, financial incentive,
willing volunteer participation, and reciprocity. The Talamanca Biological
Corridor is a project that has been underway since 1992 in Costa Rica and has
proven to be not only a project about conservation but, it has been about
creating linkages between community members and facilitating coordination and
the flow of information between and among them. In the case of the Talamancan
Biological Corridor, the social linkages that have been created have
incorporated many inhabitants to willingly and earnestly participate in plans
for creating a regional biological corridor.
Talamanca is a district located in southeastern Costa Rica at
roughly N 9o45', W 83o 00'. It extends from the highlands
of central Costa Rica, at an elevation of roughly 12,000 feet to the Caribbean
Coast at sea level, and it is bounded on the south by the Sixaola river, which
divides the Costa Rican and Panamanian border. It includes part of the La
Amistad Binational Park to the north and the Gandoca Manzanillo Reserve out into
the Caribbean sea. Due to the altitudinal gradient and geographic location,
there is a high level of biodiversity, and known to be a habitat for numerous
endangered bird species as well as endemic flora. This region occupies 9
out of the 12 categorized "life zones" which are present in the country (8). In addition to the physical and biological diversity,
Talamanca is also culturally diverse. The people of Talamanca are of
Afrocaribbean descent, residents of one of the three indigenous reserves,
immigrant mestizos from other regions of Costa Rica and Central America, or
foreigners (many Italians, Germans, and Americans) that have bought up land in
the area.
The Corridor project encompasses 31,500 hectares or 78,000
acres of Talamancan land. It is designed to create a corridor between two
different Biological Reserves and 3 different Indigenous Reserves (Bri Bri,
Cabecar, and Kekoldi) (9). Although, the Project has served to be a forum
for interaction and coordination among different groups as well as promoting
conservation. Conservation efforts that are emphasized are 1)
reforestation with native trees, 2) environmental education and 3) controlled
tourism. The socioeconomic history of Talamanca is very complex and
intricately tied to the reason there is a need for a conservation and management
plan today. The main income source for people has been based on export
commodities that are produced in this zone. Cacao was the main export crop
in Talamanca until the 1970's when a fungus, Monilia, infected the majority of
trees. Land that was once put into cacao production, quickly shifted to
banana and plantain monoculture plantations. Presently, these extensive
plantations owned by Dole and Chiquita cover the river valley bottom and coast,
and serve as a source of concern for inhabitants because of the chemical inputs
that contaminate the watershed. In addition, local farmers, once they are
displaced by the large corporations, move inland, to farm and produce their own
crops on steeper slopes. This has lead to increased erosion and subsequent
sedimentation into the rivers. In the higher elevations of Talamanca,
logging of valuable native trees for export is a major income source.
Native trees, such as Pilon or purple heart, are harvested and then cut into
board feet for export. Large areas are being over harvested and little
effort has been made to reforest the slopes, resulting in rapid soil erosion,
increased sedimentation into the watershed and a continuing decimation of the
coral reef as a result of these heavy sediment loads.
An increasingly important income source, especially on the coast, is
tourism. However, increased-uncontrolled tourism can be a problem as
foreigners move to Talamanca and purchase large tracts of land, establishing
tourism businesses that put the local inhabitants out of business. These
activities, banana production, logging and tourism have each been identified, by
the inhabitants of Talamanca, as non sustainable and areas of concern because of
their environmental impacts, the lack of resource management, and the
competition at an unfair advantage. It is out of this situation outlined above
that the Talamancan Biological Corridor Project was proposed and carried out.
Fields of Bananas, looking from Talamanca across |
Stump of endemic Zara species |
The key parameters that were identified about this area for creation of a
North American analog were as follows:
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TIGER census data |
Cultural Features of Talamanca - Land Tenure
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EPA Land Use and Land
Cover
EPA BASINS coverages |
Known for its rain and infamous land use debates over
Old Growth Forest and the Spotted Owl, the Peninsula proves to be an interesting
environment for the proposal of a Biological Corridor. Not denying that it
would be a hotly contested plan, as many environmental issues which might
impinge upon industry or private use of land are, it is an environment that has
numerous factors which align themselves with the data of Talamanca. The
Olympic Peninsula, bounded by the Pacific Ocean to the West, the Strait of
Juan de Fuca to the North and Puget Sound to the east, is a varied terrain of
glacier capped mountains (with Mt. Olympus, the highest at 7,965 feet), mixed
forest and rain forest at mid-elevation and coastal wetlands toward the
lowlands. The center of the Peninsula is divided by the Olympic Mountains, an
uplifted, folded and fractured rock formation that has been shaped and continues
to be altered by the power of glaciers (10). Sub alpine meadows flank the mountains and then
to the west descends into a mixed evergreen forest complex of Douglas Fir trees,
Sitka spruce, Western red cedar and Western hemlocks, a forest that is known as
a true rain forest because of the excessive amount of precipitation due to its
location on the coastal side of a mountain range (11). Gradually this forest complex makes its way to
the coast where the maritime Pacific winds and subsequent moisture, allow dense
vegetation of salal, oregon grape, low oregon grape and other endemic species to
cover the ground, while hydrophilic epiphytes grow from the tree canopy.
The Olympic Peninsula is known to have at least 8 plant species and 18 animal
species that are endemic solely to the peninsula (12).
The land tenure of the Peninsula is divided between the National Park
Service, The Forest Service, 4 different indian reservations, private land
owners and large multinational corporations interested in harvesting the timber
(Trillium, Weyerhaeuser, General Pacific, and others). The Park service
has a large percentage of the territory in protection around the Olympic
National Park which includes 1 million acres, mostly over the mountain
range but also along the western coast and the north coast (13). 
The Forest Service has lands that are in
multi-use zones and divided into what are known as AMA's (Adaptive Management
Areas) which total 120,000 acres around the Peninsula. AMA's are regions
where the land is divided into distinct management zones. There are a
number of different strategies for the management of forest stands. One
method is known as the Biodiversity Pathway. This is a technique which
seeks to develop the most diverse ecological structure by protecting for key
species within the forest, it is a technique that is very labor intensive but
has the highest ecological as well as wood productivity output (14). These management techniques are a move away
from the modern form of clearcutting which occurs generally on private land and
over vast areas. The process of clear cutting is very
economical from the extractors point of view because of its accessibility to
trees and for road construction. However, ecologically it destroys most habitat,
increases erosion, and decreases soil tilth and fertility.
The patches that
you can see are taken from USGS image over the Olympic Peninsula near the city
of Forks in 1990. The whiter reflectance is the soil reflection with a mix
of a pattern of roads around the clear-cut site.
This project has been based around the idea of accumulating data into which
an idea for a corridor could be projected. The access to proper data was
the procedure which took a lot of the time for the project. The search for
data has been endless. Texas has an incredible amount of data available to
interested individuals at the TNRIS site as well as through local connections,
however, access to data for Washington was not as readily available. The
Washington data was found mostly at Federal Sites, such as the USGS and the
EPA. I did encounter many on line lists with helpful information.
The Starting the
Hunt site has a great organization to find geospatial datasets and search
either by subject or by state. The site that had the most useful links was
an EPA data library site for
Region 10, the Pacific Northwest. In addition to the information
that was found at that location, other data was compiled by PRISM, USGS, and the
BIER. However, in the BASINS data from the EPA coverages from wells
to statsgo soil layers, to mining sites, to fish populations, and to land use
maps, are included in the data. All of this information has been very
relevant to the data needed for the Corridor.
Precipitation Data was downloaded from the PRISM site.
This has the annual precipitation levels for the region of interest. For
Olympic Peninsula the variables match the humid tropical environment of Costa
Rica. The data was downloaded and the precipitation of the Olympic
Peninsula was selected, while isohyets outside of the needed area were
deselected. The legend was altered to Graduated Color and Range.
Another physical parameter that I wanted to have was the digital elevation model of Peninsula. The dems could be found at the USGS ftp site. The DEMs at the USGS ftp site could be down loaded and then merged into one single coverage in Arc Info, however two of the files that were required, the quads of Cape Flattery, WA and Victoria, WA were not importing properly. Fortunately, the Basins site had DEMS linked with the information. These are covered by a visible mesh grid that creates an image of raised relief. However, to obtain a smooth merged DEM I converted 7 shape files to a grid and then designed a legend that would emphasize the different elevations from the coast to the mountains.
The other features that I was interested in knowing were the cultural regions and the territory of the National Parks and the Forest Lands. In the Basins file, was a Managed Areas shape file. Part of the table for this included the boundaries of the parks and the Indian reservations as well as their names and a series of codes.
I opened up this information as a dbase file to Excel and inserted the fields
Levels and Leveltest. I wanted to have a numeric field that would be
a value when converted into a gridfile and joined with the other county
information. I chose the numbers of 1 - 3.
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Limited Use "Protected" |
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AMA's Logging Mining |
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Developed with roads and housing sections |
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What is the result is an area that can be evaluated according to its land use and land cover as well as by looking at the pre-existing levels of management. The following Corridor was created according to those factors.
A more accurate method for defining areas where a corridor could occur is through the use of Remote Sensing Images, ground truthing and vegetation data. This in part has been done with Gap Analysis. Gap Analysis is being done in Washington state and throughout the US by utilizing the above materials and better data as well as mathematically calibrating where regions fit on what is known as a Conservation Priority Index, CPI. The results of Gap Analysis could be coordinated with Environmental Planners and Communities in order to develop a Biological Corridor.
A community participation plan for the corridor would need to incorporate the "users" and inhabitants of the zone. This would be various land managers of the Olympic National Park, the Forest Service, and selected individuals representing the communities that fall within the corridor, as well as participation from various associations and possibly even the corporations that have a connection to the region. This group would then work together in planning and development of the boundaries of the corridor, thus facilitating an interaction among and between the regional population. The park service might allow corridor participants to selectively gather native species in order to establish native seed/vegetation nurseries. These plants could then be given to corporations that are active in the corridor (or sold for profit to those corporations that are not) for revegetation projects. The Forest Service and Park Service could provide technical and informative classes to inhabitants in order to, 1) educate about proper forest management techniques, 2) further skills and techniques associated with restoration, 3) create job skills training and employment opportunities for local populations, and 4) build social linkages between themselves and the communities. In addition, the Corridor could be emphasized for ecotourism purposes. This could provide low impact tourism to the region and provide a financial incentive for locally based businesses to become actively involved in carrying out the corridor. A participation plan is as unique to the people of a region as it is to the place that a corridor would be designed. The mapping of where it might be is useless, unless the inhabitants are actively involved in deciding the boundaries. In sum, the participation of the inhabitants is what makes a corridor successful.
In conclusion, I feel that had the appropriate data been available (remote
sensing images) and vegetation data, a more accurate assessment could have taken
place. This project was more an adventure in accessing and attempting to
use data as well as learning about the multitudes of sources that are available
that It is hard to incorporate cultural and physical characteristics into
a model, however, through the use of a GIS there is a better way of
understanding the interconnectedness and relations in our social and ecological
corridors.
(1) Gonzalez-Rebeles, C. Burke, V. Jennings, D "Transnational Gap Analysis of the Rio Bravo/Rio Grande Region", Photogrammetric Engineering & Remote Sensing, November 1998, p. 1115-1118. (return)
(2) Forman, R., Land Mosaics: The Ecology of Landscapes and Regions, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, England, 1995. (return)
(3) Beazley, K., "Ecological Considerations For Protected Area System Design", Proceedings of the Nova Scotian Institute of Science, 1997(return)
(4) Jefferson Land Trust, http://www.olympus.net/community/saveland/corridor.htm, updated 9/6/97. (return)
(5) Stewart, Craig, Miistakis Institute, http://www.rockies.ca/Y2Y/why.htm, last update August 14, 1998. (return)
(6) Coates, G.editor, Central America: A Natural and Cultural History, Yale University Press, 1998. (return)
(7) B. Saxton, Miistakis Institute, http://www.rockies.ca/ last update 1998. (return)
(8) Bustillos y Chaverria, Corredor Biologico, Working Paper, 1998. (return)
(9) Borge, C., Castillo, R, Cultura Y Conservacion En La Talamanca Indigena , San Jose, Costa Rica EUNED, 1997. (return)
(10) Gabler, Sager, Brazier and Wise, ed. Essentials of Physical Geography, Saunders College Publishing, 1993.(return)
(11) NPS, Mount Rainier and Olympic Parks Trail Map, 1995. (return)
(13) Forest Service, Official Olympic National
Forest Site,http://www.olympus.net/onf/ecomgt/nwfp/nwfp.html, USDA 1996 - 1998
(return)
(14) Wind's Eye Design,
http://www.olympus.net/onf/ecomgt/nwfp/nwfp.html, Official Olympic National
Forest Site, USDA 1996-1998 (return)