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Heather Baldwin

Grassland quality and pollinator habitat across southwest Louisiana
Over the past few decades, there has been a significant loss of pollinators, including honey bees, native bees, birds, bats, and butterflies (Committee on the Status of Pollinators in North America 2007). The problem is serious and requires immediate attention to ensure the sustainability of our food production systems, avoid additional economic impacts, and protect the health of our ecosystems. On June 20, 2014, President Obama issued a Presidential memorandum entitled “Creating a Federal Strategy to Promote the Health of Honey Bees and Other Pollinators.” In response to the President’s memorandum, the Louisiana Federal Pollinator Partnership was formed by the USGS, EPA, NRCS, and the FWS. The partnership is working...
Categories: Data, Project
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The dataset includes Land Use/Land Cover types throughout the Chenier Eco-Region in Southwest Louisiana. Using the 2015 National Aerial Imagery Program (NAIP) dataset (1m) as the basemap, E-Cognition image objects were derived from the multiresolution segmentation algorithm at 75 and 250 segments. Attempts to refine the data training methods using E-cognition, to extrapolate automating categories of this information to the entire map resulted with exceedingly low accuracy. Therefore, a raster was produced by piecing together several data resources, which provide reliable data for specific LandUse/LandCover (LULC) categories. This process involved stitching together more reliable sources for specific categories to...
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The dataset includes Land Use/Land Cover types throughout the Chenier Eco-Region in Southwest Louisiana. Using the 2015 NAIP dataset (1m) as the basemap, E-Cognition image objects were derived from the multiresolution segmentation algorithm at 75 and 250 segments. Attempts to refine the data training methods using E-cognition, to extrapolate automating categories of this information to the entire map resulted with exceedingly low accuracy. Therefore, a raster was produced by piecing together several data resources, which provide reliable data for specific LULC categories. This process involved stitching together more reliable sources for specific categories to apply to higher resolution (75) segmentation product....
Collaborative landscape conservation planning is largely limited by the quality of spatial data which can be applied to decision support tools to inform conservation decisions. Conservation entities across the Western Gulf Coastal Plain are taking a collaborative, strategic, landscape scale approach to conservation planning. This effort encourages communication and implementation of restoration and habitat enhancement actions within water sheds. Land cover datasets available within this geography hinder the efficiency of such efforts due to low resolution quality and limited details associated with land use categories. In collaboration with the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department and the Gulf Coast Prairie Landscape...
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Potential pollinator habitat was derived by ranking land use classifications and grassland quality based on ground truthing and remotely sensed features indicative of remnant prairie. High resolution (10m) land use data served as the basemap (Hartley et al 2017) from which most categories were identified. All known prairie remnants, prairie plantings, and clusters of mima mounds were delineated. Mima mounds were detected by deriving a slope at 1m scale with greater than 5% from high resolution LiDar data (3m). Mima mounds are indicative of areas in which the topsoil has not been significantly disturbed, and therefore have a higher potential to contain native prairie vegetation. Based on an in-depth literature review...
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