Northwest Habitat/ Biodiversity Metrics:

Northwest Habitat/ Biodiversity Metrics:

OakFloodplain

Sagebrush/Sage Grouse

Defenders of Wildlife


Metrics

Sagebrush/ Sage Grouse Floodplai

n

Oak

• Conservation priorities • Potential for regulation (sage

grouse) • Priority for incentive programs


How habitats were selected

• Adamus Resource Assessment

• Willamette Partnership facilitation

• Expert advisors met 3 times

• Field testing at 5+ sites • Extensive checking of

calculators• Development of user’s

guides


Process for building metrics


Level of involvementCapture everything

PrecisionPracticalitySpeedCost


Our Partners

American Bird Conservancy

The Nature Conservancy

Willamette University

Heritage Seedlings

U.S. Forest Service

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board

Zena Timber

Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife

Lost Lagoon Farm

Yamhill Co. District Conservationist

Oregon Institute for Natural Resources

Kenagy Farm

Clackamas Soil and Water Conservation District

Columbia Land Trust

Natural Resource Conservation Service

Wildwood, Mahonia

McKenzie Land Trust

Greenbelt Land Trust

Polk County Conservationist

Oregon State University

Willamette Partnership


Oak


FloodplainAmerican Bird Conservancy

City of Yakima Washington


U.S. Forest Service




University of Oregon

Oregon Institute for Natural Resources

Clackamas Soil and Water Conservation District

Natural Resource Conservation Service

Wildwood, Mahonia

Environmental Protection Agency

Department of Environmental Quality

Freshwater Trust

Greenbelt Land Trust

McKenzie Land Trust

Columbia Land Trust

Oregon State University

Willamette University

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers

Zena Timber

Lost Lagoon Farm

Kenagy Farm



Sagebrush/sage grouseEcotrust


U.S.D.A. Eastern Oregon Agricultural Research Center



Western Governors Association, Columbia Plateau Project

Ecosystem Management Research Institute

Oregon State University Extension Service

Natural Resources Conservation Service

Oregon State University Department of Rangeland Ecology and Management

Harney County Watershed Council

Bureau of Land Management

Environmental Defense Fund


U.S. Geological Survey


• Rapid assessments• Ecological

baseline• Impact of

development• Ecological

improvement• Measure outcomes• Mitigation

programs Defenders of Wildlife

How the metrics can be used

• Measuring Up categories–Context–Vegetation–Species–Abiotic–Practices–Risk


What the metrics measure


Context• Priority conservation area

• Connectivity

• Compatible neighbors


Vegetation• Amount of natural land cover

• Forest canopy

• Composition

• Invasive species


Special status animal & plant species


Abiotic• Proximity to water

• Area of site flooded


Practices• Feasibility of burning

• Adaptive management


Risk• Proximity to roads

• Influence of water diversions

• Structures and development





Sagebrush/Sage Grouse Habitat Metric


• Consult with landowner• Research project site• Aerial image, map retrieval• Designation of project site boundaries

• Consult with landowner• Research project site• Aerial image, map retrieval• Designation of project site

boundaries

Sagebrush metric: In the office

• Gather transect data

• Revise answers as necessary


Sagebrush metric: At the project site

Transfer field data to calculator


Sagebrush metric: Back at the office


Calculator• Excel workbook:

– Cover page– Data entry– Species

information– Field forms

• Scores automatically calculated

• Error checks• Score = % optimum

habitat quality


Sagebrush metric: Final scores


Sagebrush metric: Final scores


Sagebrush final score vs.sage grouse final score

• Sage grouse indicator (leks) not in sagebrush score

• Sensitive species not in sage grouse score

• Provide detailed site-level biological inventories

• Support landscape-scale conservation planning decisions


What the metrics do not do

• Collaborative, adaptive management

• Integrated team approach to calculator development

• Extensive review• More field testing• More time to

develop• Economies of

scale


Lessons learned

• Consistent national framework?

• Organized by plant communities?

• Habitats, species, or both?

• Which habitats, species, why, and how many?


What’s next?

Cost effectiveUniformityEasy to use

Consistent format, but flexible for different

habitats/speciesDefenders of Wildlife

Benefits of a metrics framework

• Who develops, manages suite of metrics?

• How to connect to broader scale priorities?

• How to apply across jurisdictions and ownerships?

• Flexibility for specific ecosystems, program needs?

• Initial and long term funding? Defenders of Wildlife

Challenges remain

• Partnership agreement • Reach agreement on overall

structure for habitat types• Assemble a team –

public/private partnership • Secure funding from multiple

sources • Identify a management

structure – outside government?


Building a consistent framework

Marketplace for Nature:

New portal in theConservation Registry


Conservation Registry: 7 state portals, 12 partner portals, 100,000 projects

www.conservationregistry.org

Conservation Registry:Home of the National Conservation Easement Database

nced.conservationregistry.org

Conservation Registry:Showing projects relative to priorities

nced.conservationregistry.org

marketplace.conservationregistry.org

Marketplace for Nature portal

Habitat metrics: user’s guides & calculators

New data fields for marketplace projects

Search terms: Biodiversity, Wetlands, Pollinators, Carbon

Project detail pages: targeted ecosystem services, credit summary


Questions?

Sara VickermanDefenders of Wildlife

[email protected]

www.conservationregsitry.org



Questions?

Sara VickermanDefenders of Wildlife

[email protected]

www.conservationregsitry.org


Northwest Habitat/ Biodiversity Metrics:

Documents

defenders of wildlife

wildlife serviceu

forest serviceu

water area of site

timesfield testing