Multi-scale remote sensing models to improve decision-making around waterbird and wetland diversity

Thanks to a grant from the NASA ROSES program, the Ducks Unlimited Great Plains Region has teamed up with scientists from Colorado State University and the University of Montana to develop an open-science tool. This tool will provide estimates of breeding waterbird diversity and abundance in the Prairie Pothole Region (PPR) using multi-scale models of wetland habitat derived from remote sensing. The project will produce high-resolution estimates of habitat heterogeneity, hydroperiods, and ponded water across both the U.S. and Canadian portions of the PPR. These data will enhance conservation decision-making by linking dynamic habitat information with waterbird population models across thousands of wetland basins. The goal is to help update and improve existing conservation tools like the thunderstorm map. Preliminary research that aided in the development of this project was supported by the Prairie Pothole Joint Venture and the USFWS Habitat and Population Evaluation Team and is described at this website: https://www.landscapemodeling.net/water.html.