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1 March 2011 Factors Influencing the Distribution of Northern Spotted Owls in the Eastern Cascades, Washington
Craig Loehle, Larry Irwin, John Beebe, Tracy Fleming
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Abstract

The Northern Spotted Owl (Strix occidentalis caurina) population is declining throughout its range in the United States and adjacent Canada and is facing increasing pressure from the invading Barred Owl (Strix varia). In this study, we characterize Spotted Owl habitat associations and develop 2 new habitat selection models for the eastern Washington Cascade Range. Topographic and habitat data were compiled at 2 scales (0.25 and 1.0 mi) around 224 Spotted Owl activity centers, or sites, and at 160 random locations in the same geographic region, and used to develop models for predicting owl distributions. Univariate analysis found that owl sites occurred below 5000-ft elevation and were more likely to occur as area in the >71% crown-cover class increased. Owl sites were found to be more likely to occur closer to streams and to be rare in the Subalpine Fir (Abies lasiocarpa) vegetation type. The 9–25″ tree size-class was a significant predictor of the distribution of owl sites. Habitat models were constructed that were moderately successful at predicting owl-site distribution. Models from the largest scale tested (1.0-mi radius) were the most predictive, at 80% accuracy. Top-ranked models included overstory canopy cover, tree size, elevation, precipitation, distance to stream, and tree species as predictors. The resulting models can be used to help identify likely sites for surveys and to inform conservation and landscape management activities associated with forest-health restoration.

Craig Loehle, Larry Irwin, John Beebe, and Tracy Fleming "Factors Influencing the Distribution of Northern Spotted Owls in the Eastern Cascades, Washington," Northwestern Naturalist 92(1), 19-36, (1 March 2011). https://doi.org/10.1898/09-33.1
Received: 16 October 2009; Accepted: 1 August 2010; Published: 1 March 2011
KEYWORDS
conservation
habitat model
home range
Northern Spotted Owl
Strix occidentalis caurina
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