Quantifying Rural Hunter Access in Alaska

Despite hunter access influencing harvest success, few studies have quantified characteristics of hunter access. Based on spatially explicit interview data, we used geographic information system (GIS) analyses to calculate access pathways and distances that rural hunters traveled to moose (Alces alces) harvest locations in Interior Alaska. Using Jenks Natural Breaks classification, approximately 53%, 21%, 5%, and 21% of harvest locations occurred along navigable rivers within 0 to 24, 25 to 52, 53 to 86, and >86 km (0 to 14, 15 to 32, 33 to 53, and >53 mi), respectively, from the hunter’s community of residence. We used moose density estimates in the area being accessed by hunters to calculate annual moose harvest. Our results were similar to estimates from independent sources that used more standardized methods (e.g., agency household surveys). This suggests that our access-based approach has potential to provide an alternative method for estimating harvest intensity in areas where harvest report data are considered unreliable. Also, our findings demonstrated how insight on hunter access may help prioritize areas for active management.     

Hunters’ knowledge,attitudes, and practices towards wildlife diseases in Ohio

This article used ethnographic methods to examine how Ohio hunters’ knowledge, attitudes, and practices affect risk exposure to infectious disease. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with hunters from Southeast Ohio, and an online survey was distributed to a random sample of licensed Ohio hunters. Data analyses indicated that Ohio hunters learn about wildlife disease through word-of-mouth, hunting publications, and online sources. They perceived low-to-no risk of exposure to infectious diseases. Although hunters were generally knowledgeable about infectious wildlife diseases, they were more concerned about the impact on wildlife populations than their own health. The results contribute to a better understanding of the role of hunter behavior in response to disease events, the identification of future interventions that would most effectively inform hunters about wildlife diseases, and how to minimize their risk of exposure.     

Risk Sensitivity and Hunter Perceptions of Chronic Wasting Disease Risk and Other Hunting,Wildlife, and Health Risks

This article examined relationships among hunter perceptions of personal health risks from chronic wasting disease (CWD), knowledge and information about CWD, and perceptions of other hunting, wildlife, and health risks. Data were obtained from surveys of 2,725 deer and elk hunters in Colorado. Cluster analysis grouped hunters into no (42%), slight (44%), and moderate (14%) risk groups based on perceptions of personal health risks from CWD (e.g., concern about health, become ill from CWD). There were minimal differences among groups in demographics, information sources, and knowledge about CWD. Hunters who perceived higher health risks from CWD (i.e., moderate risk), however, perceived greater risks associated with CWD to other humans, CWD to wildlife, hunting to personal health, other diseases to health, and the future of hunting. These findings illustrated the concept of risk sensitivity where hunters who perceived higher risks from CWD were predisposed to rate all other risks as large.     

GPS Collar Sampling Frequency: Effects on Measures of Resource Use

A challenge in animal behavior studies using Global Positioning System (GPS) collars is selecting a sampling frequency to accomplish desired goals. High data resolution (i.e., frequent sampling) is appealing, because it maximizes behavioral information garnered. Extended sampling might be needed, however, to describe long term behaviors or seasonal dynamics. Because tradeoffs exist between high data resolution and sampling duration, we evaluated the effects of variable GPS sampling intervals on proportions of pastures used by cattle and distance traveled per day. This was accomplished with GPS collars configured to record cattle positions every 5 min for 15 d in three 829–864-ha pastures. Data were iteratively reduced to simulate increasingly longer GPS recording intervals from once every 10 min up to once daily. Two techniques were used to measure the percentage of pastures accessed by cattle. The first counted only pixels containing GPS coordinates. The second counted pixels containing coordinates and/or traversed by lines between vertices. Expansion of GPS recording intervals decreased (P < 0.01) estimates of the proportion of pastures visited by cattle with rates of decline best fit by exponential decay functions for both line and point techniques (R² = 0.93 and 0.97, respectively). Spatial errors accompanying less frequent sampling intervals, however, were extremely large with the line technique and misrepresented areas visited by cattle. Expansion of GPS sampling intervals decreased (P < 0.001) distance traveled per day by cattle about 10% with each iteration. If travel corridors or accurate assessments of resources accessed are of critical concern, then longer GPS integration intervals should be avoided because they propagate flawed spatial interpretations. Similarly, if accurate measures of travel distances are critical, we suggest using a relatively frequent GPS recording interval.     

Exploring the Social Habitat for Hunting: Toward a Comprehensive Framework for Understanding Hunter Recruitment and Retention

Decades of decline in the number of hunters in the United States have made hunter recruitment and retention (HRR) a high priority within the North American wildlife management community. Sociodemographic changes (e.g., urbanization, shifting racial/ethnic composition, parcelization of rural properties) suggest a need to re-examine conventional knowledge of HRR processes and develop insight that reflects contemporary contexts. In this article, we emphasize the “social habitat” for hunting and adopt a social–ecological model of hunting behavior to explore the myriad factors that interact to influence HRR at multiple scales. We examine the dynamic, hierarchical social structures that influence HRR, including forces that operate at the individual, micro (e.g., family), meso (e.g., community), and macro (e.g., society) levels. The review suggests that future research addressing HRR could expand to account for a broader, more diverse social habitat for hunting that includes these multiple scales.     

Motivations and support for regulations: a typology of eastern wild turkey hunters

To determine the diverse motivations of eastern wild turkey (Meleagris gallopavo) hunters, a self-administered questionnaire was developed and mailed to a sample of 5,000 licensed turkey hunters in Tennessee (response rate = 36%). A cluster analysis yielded three types of respondents in terms of their hunting motivations: social harvesters (44%), experiential harvesters (22%), and social outdoor enthusiasts (34%). Hunters in these segments were then analyzed to compare their support for various hunting regulations. While 61% of Tennessee eastern wild turkey hunters reported to be satisfied with current regulations, harvest-motivated hunters were less receptive to regulations that would limit season lengths or bag limits while socially motivated hunters were more accepting. The hunter groups did not differ in their preference for decentralizing regulations by management zones. Findings from this article may guide wildlife managers in designing socially acceptable regulations.     

Ecological scale and seasonal heterogeneity in the spatial behaviors of giant pandas

We report on the first study to track the spatial behaviors of wild giant pandas (Ailuropoda melanoleuca) using high‐resolution global positioning system (GPS) telemetry. Between 2008 and 2009, 4 pandas (2 male and 2 female) were tracked in Foping Reserve, China for an average of 305 days (± 54.8 SE). Panda home ranges were larger than those of previous very high frequency tracking studies, with a bimodal distribution of space‐use and distinct winter and summer centers of activity. Home range sizes were larger in winter than in summer, although there was considerable individual variability. All tracked pandas exhibited individualistic, unoriented and multiphasic movement paths, with a high level of tortuosity within seasonal core habitats and directed, linear, large‐scale movements between habitats. Pandas moved from low elevation winter habitats to high elevation (>2000 m) summer habitats in May, when temperatures averaged 17.5 °C (± 0.3 SE), and these large‐scale movements took <1 month to complete. The peak in panda mean elevation occurred in Jul, after which they began slow, large‐scale movements back to winter habitats that were completed in Nov. An adult female panda made 2 longdistance movements during the mating season. Pandas remain close to rivers and streams during winter, possibly reflecting the elevated water requirements to digest their high‐fiber food. Panda movement path tortuosity and first‐passage‐time as a function of spatial scale indicated a mean peak in habitat search effort and patch use of approximately 700 m. Despite a high degree of spatial overlap between panda home ranges, particularly in winter, we detected neither avoidance nor attraction behavior between conspecifics.     

Legitimization of Regulatory Norms: Waterfowl Hunter Acceptance of Changing Duck Bag Limits

Few studies have examined response to regulatory change over time, or addressed hunter attitudes about changes in hunting bag limits. This article explores Minnesota waterfowl hunters’ attitudes about duck bag limits, examining attitudes about two state duck bag limits that were initially more restrictive than the maximum set by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), but then increased to match federal limits. Results are from four mail surveys that examined attitudes about bag limits over time. Following two bag limit increases, a greater proportion of hunters rated the new bag limit “too high” and a smaller proportion rated it “too low.” Several years following the first bag limit increase, the proportion of hunters who indicated that the limit was “too high” had declined, suggesting hunter acceptance of the new regulation. Results suggest that waterfowl bag limits may represent legal norms that influence hunter attitudes and gain legitimacy over time.     

Movements and diving behavior of internesting green turtles along Pacific Costa Rica

Using satellite transmitters, we determined the internesting movements, spatial ecology and diving behavior of East Pacific green turtles (Chelonia mydas) nesting on Nombre de Jesús and Zapotillal beaches along the Pacific coast of northwestern Costa Rica. Kernel density analysis indicated that turtles spent most of their time in a particularly small area in the vicinity of the nesting beaches (50% utilization distribution was an area of 3 km²). Minimum daily distance traveled during a 12 day internesting period was 4.6 ± 3.5 km. Dives were short and primarily occupied the upper 10 m of the water column. Turtles spent most of their time resting at the surface and conducting U‐dives (ranging from 60 to 81% of the total tracking time involved in those activities). Turtles showed a strong diel pattern, U‐dives mainly took place during the day and turtles spent a large amount of time resting at the surface at night. The lack of long‐distance movements demonstrated that this area was heavily utilized by turtles during the nesting season and, therefore, was a crucial location for conservation of this highly endangered green turtle population. The unique behavior of these turtles in resting at the surface at night might make them particularly vulnerable to fishing activities near the nesting beaches.     

Seroepidemiological studies of zoonotic infections in hunters in southeastern Austria--prevalences,risk factors,and preventive methods

The aim of this study was to investigate the seroprevalences to zoonotic pathogens in hunters, to propose preventive measures and to obtain more information about the occurrence of zoonotic pathogens in local wild animal populations. From 146 male and 3 female hunters originating from the south-eastern Austrian federal states of Styria and Burgenland blood samples were taken and anamnestic data were obtained using a questionnaire. The serological investigations included the following viral, bacterial and parasitic zoonotic agents or zoonoses, respectively (antibody-seroprevalences in brackets): encephalomyocarditis virus (EMCV, 15%), Puumala-Hantavirus (10%), Newcastle Disease virus (NDV, 4%), borreliosis (IgG 42%, IgM 7%), brucellosis (1%), chlamydiosis (3%), ehrlichiosis (IgG 15%, IgM 3%), leptospirosis (10%), tularaemia (3%), Q fever (0%), Echinococcus multilocularis/E. granulosus (5%/11%), toxocariasis (17%). Out of a control group of 50 persons (urban population, no hunters) only one person was found to be seropositive for Toxocara canis and NDV and four for EMCV, all other results were negative in the control group. The high seroprevalences especially to Borrelia burgdorferi s.l., Ehrlichia spp., Leptospira interrogans, E. granulosus, E. multilocularis, encephalomyocarditis virus and Puumala virus demonstrate that hunters are particularly exposed to zoonotic pathogens. It should also be noted that one hunter was seropositive for Brucella abortus and five exhibited antibodies to Francisella tularensis. In these cases, as well as in the cases of the 15 seropositives for Leptospira interrogans, the suspected source of infection may--besides rodents--also include wild boars and brown hares. The infections with NDV and Chlamydophila psittaci may be traced back to contact with certain species of birds (potential risk: aviaries). For Hantaviruses, rodents are considered to be the main source of human infections.     

Wildlife Value Orientations Among Hunters,Landowners, and the General Public: A Danish Comparative Quantitative Study

This article examined wildlife value orientations among hunters (n = 1,130) and landowners (n = 1,207) in comparison to the general public (n = 1,001 adults) in Denmark, a highly urbanized European country. Respondents were categorized into four value types based on their responses to 19 statements. Significant differences in wildlife value orientations were found. Mutualists and distanced dominated in the public; most landowners and hunters were utilitarian followed by pluralist. Male hunters were more utilitarian than female. More active hunters were more utilitarian; hunters belonging to a hunting association were more utilitarian than those who did not belong to associations. Full-time farmers were more utilitarian than part-time farmers, and conventional farmers were more utilitarian than organic farmers. No significant difference with regard to residence for all three groups was found. Future studies should link what landowners and hunters actually do for the wildlife, and what the influencing factors are (e.g., incentive schemes) with their wildlife value orientations.     

Hunter acceptance of antlerless moose harvest in Alaska: Importance of agency trust,proximity of hunter residence to hunting area,and hunting experience

Liberalized harvest of antlerless moose (Alces alces) in Alaska has resulted in conflict between wildlife managers and hunters. To address this issue, I surveyed moose hunters (n = 845, 35% response rate) to quantify and characterize acceptance of antlerless moose harvest. I found that 16%, 69%, and 15% of hunters thought antlerless hunts were always, sometimes, or never acceptable, respectively. Characteristics of the never acceptable group frequently differed from the other two groups. Using a multinomial logistic regression, I estimated that the odds of a hunter being in the never acceptable group was more likely if he/she strongly distrusted agency data (odds = 4.8), resided in the area with antlerless hunts (odds = 3.5), and had >20 years of moose hunting experience (odds = 3.4). My findings imply that a relatively small proportion of hunters can disproportionately direct wildlife management attention, especially in the absence of scientifically derived information on the human dimensions.     

Winter Resource Selection by Mule Deer on the Wyoming–Colorado Border Prior to Wind Energy Development

Areas identified as winter range are important seasonal habitats for mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus) because they can moderate overwinter mortality by providing thermal cover and forage. Therefore, identifying seasonally important resources is a conservation priority, especially when sensitive areas are proposed for development. We used data collected from global positioning system (GPS) collars fitted on female mule deer (n = 19; one location every 3 h) to identify resources important during winter (23 February 2011–30 April 2011; 1 November 2011–15 January 2012) in a region spanning southern Wyoming and northern Colorado that has been proposed for wind energy development. The study period included portions of two consecutive winters but were pooled for analysis. We used methods to account for GPS biases, fractal analyses to determine perceived spatial scale, and discrete choice models and conditional logistic regression to assess resource selection prior to development (i.e., baseline data). Resource selection by female mule deer revealed similar patterns between active (0600–1800 hours) and nonactive (2100–0300 hours) periods. Deer selected most strongly for proximity to rock outcrops and shrubland and average values of slope. Deer tended to avoid roads and grasslands; all other landscape features had minimal influence on resource selection (hazard ratios near, or overlapping, 1). Using the fixed-effects coefficient estimates, we developed two spatially explicit maps that depicted probability of mule deer occurrence across the landscape. Based on an independent validation sample, each map (active and nonactive) validated well with a greater percentage of locations occurring in the two highest probability of use bins. These maps offer guidance to managing mule deer populations, conserving important seasonal habitats, and mitigating development (e.g., wind energy) in areas identified as important to mule deer.     

Relationship of Community Characteristics to Harvest Reporting: Comparative Study of Household Surveys and Harvest Tickets in Alaska

Accurate harvest reporting is critical for wildlife management. Rural Alaskan communities reported a median of 42% of moose harvested via traditional harvest tickets compared to those reported in household surveys. This harvest-report ratio did not change over time. Twice as many moose were reported harvested during subsistence household surveys (n = 8,039) than on hunter harvest tickets (n = 3,557). Percentage of the community that was indigenous, used and shared moose, and absence of a wildlife biologist or road access were associated with low harvest-report ratios. Analysis revealed that household surveys provide important information about moose harvest rates and their use should be expanded. Reporting rates might be improved by building trust through respectful dialogue between hunters and managers and by placing more emphasis on the benefits of reporting harvests and less emphasis on enforcement.     

Seasonal Resource Selection and Distributional Response by Elk to Development of a Natural Gas Field

Global energy demand is predicted to increase dramatically, suggesting the need to understand the role of disturbance from energy development better and to develop more efficient conservation strategies for affected wildlife populations. We evaluated elk (Cervus elaphus) response to disturbance associated with natural gas development in summer and winter, including shifts in resource selection and concomitant distribution. We collected elk locations prior to (1992–1995) and during (2008–2010) coal bed natural gas (CBNG) development in the ∼ 498-km² Fortification Creek Area (FCA) of northeastern Wyoming, USA, where approximately 700 CBNG wells and 542 km of collector, local, and resource roads were developed from 2000 through 2010. We developed resource selection functions for summer and winter using coordinate data from VHF-collared female elk prior to CBNG development and similar location data from GPS-collared female elk during CBNG development to assess spatial selection shifts. By pooling across all locations we created population level models for each time period (e.g., pre- and during development) and incorporated individual variation through bootstrapping standard errors for parameter estimates. Comparison of elk resource selection prior to and during natural gas development demonstrated behavioral and distributional shifts whereby during development, elk demonstrated a higher propensity to use distance and escape cover to minimize exposure to roads. Specifically, during-development elk selected areas with greater Rocky Mountain juniper (Juniperus scopulorum Sarg.) cover, increased terrain ruggedness, and farther from CBNG roads than prior to development. Elk distributional changes resulting from avoidance behavior led to a loss of high-use areas by 43.1% and 50.2% in summer and winter, respectively. We suggest reducing traffic, protecting woody escape cover, and maintaining refugia within the energy-development footprint to promote persistence of elk within energy fields.     

GPS Error in Studies Addressing Animal Movements and Activities

Global Positioning System (GPS) error, associated with free-ranging animal studies, remains a concern in range/animal research. For distance measures, errors may be additive over time and increase as sampling frequency intensifies. The first study assayed effects of coordinate integration time (10 hourly intervals), 10 GPS collars, and range of unit movement (0 to 90 m in 10-m intervals as treatments) on bias of GPS measures of distance. “Bias” was the difference between measured distances and distances derived from GPS coordinates of units moved over a surveyed grid. A second study evaluated four methods (regression modeling, minimum distance threshold, motion sensor threshold, and a combined minimum distance/motion sensor technique) for extracting perceived movements from GPS data acquired from cattle. A classification assessment compared observation data of cattle with their corresponding GPS records after filtering by the four techniques. Except for immobile GPS collars in study 1, bias of distance measures was inconsequential for movements ranging from 10 to 90 m (differentially corrected mean bias = 0.18 m ± 0.12 m SE). When collars were immobile, GPS error generated about 1.7 m ± 0.7 m SE of perceived travel per record with postdifferentially corrected coordinates (P &spilt; 0.05), and 3.9 m ± 0.8 m SE with uncorrected data. At specific times, post-differential correction failures can affect (P ≤ 0.05) GPS measures of distance. Using any of four proposed techniques, one may effectively filter data sets to remove perceived travel accrued when cattle were resting with 81% to 92% of resting intervals correctly classified. The most effective regression technique suggested cattle travels were overestimated by about 15.2% or 1.15 km daily without filtering.     

Spatial and genotypic clustering of Salmonella over time in a swine production unit

Transmission patterns of Salmonella in a swine production unit were investigated by statistical analysis of the spatial distribution of isolates and the clustering of genotypes over a 12-week period. The study unit was a breeding-gestation building in a single-site farrow-to-finish swine production system. During the summer of 2003, 1746 pen floor samples were collected during 6 visits conducted at 2-week intervals. Genotyping was performed on the 107 Salmonella isolates obtained using repetitive sequence PCR (3 primers: REP, BOX, ERIC). Genetic similarity was evaluated by DNA fragment matching and hierarchical cluster analysis based on genetic similarities. For each visit, the distance at which spatial clustering of Salmonella isolates occurred was estimated using second order analyses. Significant spatial clustering of Salmonella up to a distance of 15.2m was identified for 4 of the 6 farm visits, those for which the prevalence of Salmonella was the highest. Cluster analysis of genetic similarities identified 4 groups of Salmonella isolates at the level of at least 85% similarity in rep-PCR fragment matching patterns. Genetic clusters were relatively homogeneous for time of visit, with each genetic cluster consisting of isolates from the same or temporally adjacent visits. The correlation between genetic similarity and spatial proximity between pairs of Salmonella isolates, and the correlation between these measures and differences in time of sampling, were evaluated using Mantel's r. There was a strong positive correlation (r=0.62, p<0.0001) between genetic distance and time of sampling, indicating evolution of the Salmonella population over time. For 4 of the 6 visits, a pattern of decreasing genetic similarity between isolates with increasing distance between sampling locations was apparent. However, when viewed over all 6 visits, Salmonella was concentrated in one area of the building and did not move in any specific direction. These results suggest that a particular genotype of Salmonella, if introduced in the breeding-gestation unit of a swine farm would evolve slowly over short time intervals; its spatial distribution would be limited primarily to adjacent or nearby pens. In this study spatial analysis (e.g., Ripley's K-function) and matrix correlation methods (e.g., Mantel's r) expanded upon cluster analysis of genotypic similarities to provide additional interpretable information regarding the spatial distances to which Salmonella is transmitted over time in swine production facilities.     

The Ornithodolite as a tool to quantify animal space use and habitat selection: a case study with birds diving in tidal waters

Animal‐attached technologies can be powerful means to quantify space use and behavior; however, there are also ethical implications associated with capturing and instrumenting animals. Furthermore, tagging approaches are not necessarily well‐suited for examining the movements of multiple individuals within specific, local areas of interest. Here, we assess a method of quantifying animal space use based on a modified theodolite with an inbuilt laser rangefinder. Using a database of >4200 tracks of migrating birds, we show that detection distance increases with bird body mass (range 5 g to >10 kg). The maximum distance recorded to a bird was 5500 m and measurement error was ≤5 m for targets within this distance range: a level comparable to methods such as GPS tagging. We go on to present a case study where this method was used to assess habitat selection in seabirds operating in dynamic coastal waters close to a tidal turbine. Combining positional data with outputs from a hydrographic model revealed that great cormorants (Phalacrocorax carbo) appeared to be highly selective of current characteristics in space and time, exploiting areas where mean current speeds were <0.8 m·s^?1 and diving at times when turbulent energy levels were low. These birds also oriented into tidal currents during dives. Taken together, this suggests that collision risks are low for cormorants at this site, as the 2 conditions avoided by cormorants (high mean current speeds and turbulence levels) are associated with operational tidal turbines. Overall, we suggest that this modified theodolite system is well‐suited to the quantification of movement in small areas associated with particular development strategies, including sustainable energy devices.     

Low-Cost Global Positioning System Tracking Collars for Use on Cattle

Commercially available global positioning system (GPS) tracking collars for cattle are cost prohibitive for most researchers. This paper presents a low-cost alternative to those collars (Knight GPS tracking collars) and compares their performance to a popular commercially available collar. A list of required materials and detailed instructions on fabrication are available in the supplementary content. Brangus cows (n = 8) were tracked with both LOTEK 3300 and Knight GPS tracking collars for 31 d beginning 14 March 2015 at the Chihuahuan Desert Rangeland Research Center 37 km north of Las Cruces, New Mexico. Locations were recorded every 10 min and used to calculate mean slope, elevation, distance from water, distance traveled per d, and elevation for each cow. No differences were detected (P ≥ 0.37) between collar types for location, slope, or distance from water. However, the distance traveled tended (P = 0.08) to be lower for Knight collars (6 171 m d^? 1) compared with Lotek collars (7 104 m d^? 1). Lotek collars recorded more (P ≤ 0.001) of the potential locations (99.9%) than the Knight collars (66.2%). Although the Knight collars failed to record all of the potential positions, they still provided a good indication of cattle locations on extensive pastures located in the Chihuahuan Desert.     

Spatial Predictions of Cover Attributes of Rangeland Ecosystems Using Regression Kriging and Remote Sensing

Sound rangeland management requires accurate information on rangeland condition over large landscapes. A commonly applied approach to making spatial predictions of attributes related to rangeland condition (e.g., shrub or bare ground cover) from remote sensing is via regression between field and remotely sensed data. This has worked well in some situations but has limited utility when correlations between field and image data are low and it does not take advantage of all information contained in the field data. I compared spatial predictions from generalized least-squares (GLS) regression to a geostatistical interpolator, regression kriging (RK), for three rangeland attributes (percent cover of shrubs, bare ground, and cheatgrass [Bromus tectorum L.]) in a southern Idaho study area. The RK technique combines GLS regression with spatial interpolation of the residuals to improve predictions of rangeland condition attributes over large landscapes. I employed a remote-sensing technique, object-based image analysis (OBIA), to segment Landsat 5 Thematic Mapper images into polygons (i.e., objects) because previous research has shown that OBIA yields higher image-to-field data correlations and can be used to select appropriate scales for analysis. Spatial dependence, the decrease in autocorrelation with increasing distance, was strongest for percent shrub cover (samples autocorrelated up to a distance [i.e., range] of 19 098 m) but present in all three variables (range of 12 646 m and 768 m for bare ground and cheatgrass cover, respectively). As a result, RK produced more accurate results than GLS regression alone for all three attributes when predicted versus observed values of each attribute were measured by leave-one-out cross validation. The results of RK could be used in assessments of rangeland conditions over large landscapes. The ability to create maps quantifying how prediction confidence changes with distance from field samples is a significant benefit of regression kriging and makes this approach suitable for landscape-level management planning.